Hot pork puns, Hot pork buns

I could go full hog on this post and turn a sows ear into a purse but I am too busy bringing home the bacon to feast on the trough of puns available to me.  Just the mention of pork belly makes most women recoil with fear as they visualize themselves in their summer bikinis. 

Putting some Chang Shui in my cooking and other strange Kombu-nations

I recently borrowed this book from work and have been enjoying it completely.  First of all it is a very fun read. I especially like the part where he talks about how he came up with the name of his restaurant “It is no accident that Momofuku sounds like motherfucker” he states.

Dog and Pony show

The past week has been filled with activity.  The garden is pumping out beautiful produce and we have been of course feasting on the bounty.  Just finished cooking a Greek casserole called Pastitsio (dubbed Greek lasagna by Saveur) using mostly what I had in the garden. Last night I decided to finally attempt to grill [...]

Treasures from the Garden

This past weekend we had 21 close friends and family over for lunch at our house.  This time of year the garden is beaming with produce and begging for simple dishes that exploit the flavors of the summer sun.  I made an awesome Asian slaw and used Vietnamese cilantro from the garden (very unique flavor) [...]

Red hot tamale

If there is one project I have been fairly consistent about, it is the monthly entry for Deep Plate blog.  The above picture I sneaked in after teaching a class on Vegetarian cuisine, Flavors of the Southwest: Tamales.  It is the Deep Plate entry for August. Some of you that know me well might be [...]

You put the mango in the coconut

One of the really exciting aspects of my new job as GM and Exec chef at the Kitchen Table is I get to research and teach classes on world cuisines that are out of my comfort zone.  In my past two jobs my main focus was on French and Italian cuisines. Now I could be [...]

The new reality

OK so I have been remiss in writing recently.  I don’t really have an excuse but certainly there has been a lot of change in my life recently and it seems time is slipping away from me at a faster pace than usual. My new job at the Kitchen Table has been a departure from [...]

April’s Deep Plate Entry: Deer in headlights

It’s that time again.  Every month I wait in anticipation of the next plate Bauscher will send so I can start to imagine what I will compose.  It has become somewhat of a ritual.   This time I wanted to use some Venison tenderloin that a friend of ours gave us.   Chris Aamot is extremely generous [...]

Don’t Ha ve a Gao, it’s just the inspiration for the March Deep Plate entry

Terrible puns aside,  I have been wanting to make these little shrimp Dim Sum treasures for over 6 years now.  Chinese New Year issuing the year of the Tiger seems an appropriate time.  Ha Gao are made from a wheat starch dough and can sometimes be cut with tapioca flour. One of my must stops [...]

February Deep Plate Blog Entry

For February’s entry I decided to do some sweetbreads.  My mother in law was staying with us and said she really liked them so I figured lets put something together for Deep Plate as well.  I had some Fox Fire Farm sweetbreads in the freezer that they had sent me as a sample. Their lamb [...]