I know... why bother with homemade corn tortillas when it's so much easier to buy the ones in the bag? First off, if you've never had a fresh corn tortilla before, you really don't know what you're missing. In terms of flavor and freshness, there's really no comparison.
Read MoreSpinach, Leek, and Potato Soup
We've become such stereotypical parents. It seems like we're always nagging the kids to "stop whining" and to "clean up after yourselves." "Eat your greens" is just another one that seems to be on constant repeat. I'm sure I'd tune me out too, if I were a kid. This soup, though, is the one green meal that both the young'ns eat, dare I say enjoy, without our prompting.
Creamy, rich, healthy, and super flavorful... Mmmmm.
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Spicy Korean Chicken Wings
We had it good for about a year, when there was a KyoChon less than 10 minutes away. I’d regularly find myself on a quiet Sunday afternoon, sneaking out during the kids’ nap hour for some of their ridiculously tasty, made-to-order spicy chicken wings. Sadly, they closed their Culver City outpost a year ago, and I’ve had to go without ever since.
Read MoreLake Arrowhead and Lowering Expectations
You can plan, you can pre-visualize, you can summon all the good vibrations in your power. And still, family vacations can be a mess of whining and laughing, fighting and fun.
Maybe it's just that my expectations were too high. I had been, after all, falling asleep for the past couple of weeks, iPhone in hand, scrolling through Redfin listings of mountain cabins in Lake Arrowhead. Fantasizing about owning the perfect retreat to satisfy the wife's need for trees and mountain air. A plot of land for the kids to enjoy the outdoors away from the concrete and traffic. Assuming this weekend up to the mountains went well, maybe a little vacation home was in the cards.
So no pressure, right?
Read MoreJapanese Curry カレー Version 1.0
If you're like me and you grew up on homemade Japanese curry, you know all about the brick. A boxed, vacuum-packed tray of roux that's mixed into a simmering pot of meat and vegetables. As far as I knew, this pre-packaged mix was the only way to get down with homestyle curry.
A few years back, though, I gave up on the stuff. Turn over the box, check out the ingredients, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Because straight up? That $%#@ is nasty. Filler and chemicals. Make it from scratch instead!
Read MoreWhy I got back on the bike a week after a nasty crash
... I squeezed the handbrakes, but it was too late. We collided and I was thrown into a guard rail. I crumpled over the handlebars and my helmet and the right side of my face cracked the metal railing as I fell to the concrete. Blood poured from... somewhere.
Read MoreOrecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Italian Sausage
In case you haven't noticed, a steady supply of broccoli rabe has been coming from our garden for the past month. And while it's delicious prepared simply, usually sauteed in some olive oil with a little garlic and crushed red pepper, it's just as tasty when it's got some other flavors to bounce around with.
Read MoreCurried Kabocha Squash Soup
The best part of any tempura plate has to be the thin, crescent-moon shaped slices of kabocha squash. Smooth and sweet - the sweetest of the winter squashes - they always seem to steal the show. This curry-spiced squash soup is a great way to savor the flavor of kabocha squash without anything else getting in the way.
For the past few weeks, the farmers market's been overflowing with winter squash. This last Saturday, though, these beautiful organic sweet maui onions appeared. Then I remembered this soup recipe, and that the two main ingredients are kabocha squash and onion. Bingo.
Read MoreThe "Go-To" Curry Sauce
Discovering a new ingredient can be like opening a window into a new universe. About 10 years ago, my then-girlfriend/now-wife and I were living in Brooklyn. Prithi, a good friend and film school classmate was hosting a cooking class, where she and her mom made an array of delicious vegetarian Indian dishes. It was there that I was first introduced to curry leaves.
Read MoreCream of Cauliflower Soup with Beet Chips
I dig cauliflower. This wasn't always the case, though. Something about the look of it always creeped me out. Dense, colorless, totally untrustworthy. But now I crave the stuff (and I've since learned that there are plenty of colorful varieties, too).
The head of cauliflower in our fridge was needing some attention. It was getting shoved deeper and deeper to the dark recesses of the bottom shelf, dangerously close to being forgotten about forever. So I was on the lookout for a recipe to help show it some proper love.
Read MoreHow to Make Guava Butter
Each of the last three years, it's happened without fail. Right around the end of October, we'll be making our way through the farmer's market and I'll be stopped dead in my tracks, hypnotized by the sweet, tropical aroma of ripe guava. And before I know it, before I have any clue what to do with them, I've bought a bag.
Read MoreRoasted Butternut Squash
Ahh, fall. The leaves changing color, the chill in the air... Okay, so here in L.A. we don't get either of those in abundance in October. In fact, looking at the weather forecast and we've got high 60's, low 70's through the next week.
Still, though, the flavors of fall are beckoning. And there's nothing like the sweet, rich, and creamy butternut squash to answer that call.
Butternut squash is my favorite of the winter squashes. And this recipe is a simple way to enjoy the natural deliciousness of this versatile ingredient. Sharpen your knife and get chopping!
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An Open Letter to the Critter Digging up my Vegetable Garden
Dear raccoon, opossum, whatever you are...
I know I should take it as a compliment. That our bombed-out, unloved front yard has become more hospitable to the food you're after - grubs, worms, larvae - is a sign that our soil, our biome is healing.
Read MoreReflections on Winning Zelda
1987. I was eight-years-old. As was the tradition, my little sister, two cousins, and I had posted up at Baachan's house for the summer.
For us kids, it was heaven. Cable TV in every room. Free reign of the stocked fridge and pantry. Skateboards, remote control cars, drawers full of puzzles and toys, a full-size basketball hoop. But for those two months in '87, it was all about one thing.
The Legend of Zelda.
Read MoreLemon Thyme Chicken Drumsticks
For some, the lemon, garlic, and thyme flavor combination is old news. For me though, having grown up on standard-issue American supermarket fare, it's downright exotic. Bright, herbaceous, pungent, perfect for helping bring out chicken's inner badass.
Read MoreHomestyle Chicken Teriyaki
It was the smell that defined my childhood. Actually, not just one smell but a perfect three-chord progression of smells that would unfold over the course of a Sunday afternoon. First, the ominous scent of charcoal briquettes lit by twisted coils of newspaper. Then the clean burn of said briquettes heating themselves to an ashen gray. Finally, the dizzying, hypnotic aroma of sugary, soy sauce-soaked meat hitting the flames. I’d cruise my plastic tricycle through the clouds of meat smoke, soaking it in through my pores.
Read MoreSquash Blossom Quesadillas
In case you missed it, I've got two summer squash extruders working overtime in our front yard. As a result, we've got more zucchini than we know what to do with. Also popping off every day, it seems, are these beautiful squash blossoms. They're quite the sight. Paper-thin and brilliant orange, like wisps of fire. Tasty, too.
Read MoreNo Room for Perfect: Family Vacation '14
Maybe it's all those glossy magazine spreads that did it. Or just some pent-up longing for a calm, communal escape. Either way, I’d convinced myself that we had all the makings of a perfect family summer vacation before us.
Read MoreSautéed Shishito Peppers
This summer was the first season I've managed to grow and maintain a vegetable garden with any kind of success. Sure, there was plenty to deal with - an aphid infestation, a dozen or so ravenous hornworms, one-too-many moldy tomatoes - but it's been a deeply satisfying process. What's not to love about having regular access to super fresh, super delicious produce that I wouldn't otherwise buy? Take Japanese shishito peppers, for example.
Read MoreJalapeño Corn Cakes
It's been a tough, tantrum-filled couple of weeks (more on that soon), so not a whole lot of inspired cooking/blogging has been going down in our house. Just a steady diet of beans, rice, quesadillas - anything that you easily reheat or whip together in 10 minutes or less. For a two hour stretch over the weekend, though, I found myself with an empty house and a few ears of corn. It was time for some comfort food.
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