Category Archives: Obsessions

Sep 10
0

This Week’s Spontaneous Sauce – Quick Tomato Chile Jam

By | Books, Ingredients, Obsessions, Sauces, Seasonal | No Comments

I’m usually a big fan of frozen fish, but I recently found myself with a bunch of mediocre wild salmon fillets. They didn’t thaw well and had little salmon flavor. In Mastering Sauces, I write about how you need to think creatively and come up with ways to make your food better, rather than settle for something unsatisfying. I decided to follow my own advice and Change the Ratio of Flavorful and Flavorless Components. (Maximize Flavor -Page 38) I spelunked in the fridge for inspiration and decided to make salmon burgers and a good sauce. I chopped the fish and mixed it with a duxelle of sauteed of shallots, garlic, and portabella mushrooms. Then I stirred in lots of freshly blanched, chopped spinach, and some cooked quinoa. I added a couple of eggs to hold it together and seasoned the mix with lots of black pepper and my secret seasoning…

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Jul 03
2

Talk Less. Teach More

By | Adventures, Obsessions, Seasonal | No Comments

Five weeks ago I thought I’d dip my toe into a picturesque pond and now I’m in the belly of a whale. Just over a month ago, I sent an email to a new Facebook Friend introducing myself. I had seen his post that the Wine Country Culinary Institute in Walla Walla was looking for an adjunct professor for summer quarter. I have teaching experience. My summer work schedule was portable. Dad’s basement is always free, and his deck has an absolutely stunning view of the Blue Mountains. Why not? I would read, write, and do lots of creative recipe testing with the amazing local produce. Dad and I might go fly fishing on the rare weekend I didn’t make the 300 mile drive back home. You can see it, can’t you? The grassy bank and buttercups? The dragonflies and gently rippled waters? WHAMMO! Whale food. I’ve taught a lot…

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May 10
0

Nettles

By | Adventures, Ingredients, Local, Obsessions, Sauces, Seasonal | No Comments

Why, oh why, would I want to eat a wild plant that stings? My skin is so sensitive that I get rashes after a night on hotel sheets. Why would I voluntarily wander in the woods, plucking leaves that are famous for causing painful welts? Because, I’ve always wanted to test my culinary mettle with nettle. Last year I was particularly motivated because I wanted to include a nettle pesto recipe in Mastering Sauces. Our friends, the magnificent Runnings, have several acres of wilderness and woods just half an hour away. Last year, my foraging adventure evolved into a feast and a pretty great party, so I invited myself over for a repeat performance. This year, instead of stressing about testing and logging recipes and the threat of serious allergic reaction, I was able to just have fun. Nettles are treated as “no big deal” by locavore cooks and herbalists….

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Apr 12
0

Okonomiyaki – Osaka Pancakes

By | Dishes, Ingredients, Obsessions, Sauces | No Comments

Okonomi = as you like it. Yaki = cooked or grilled.  How can you help becoming obsessed with such a dish? I currently want to eat these Osaka-style cabbage pancakes at every meal. My first few attempts at home were not great. Cabbage in crepe-ish pancake batter does not an okonomiyaki make. I tried some Korean panjeon mix and that was even worse.  Finally, I called in an expert; Mayu Jensen. Mayu is married to Jeff’s cousin, Tim Jensen. Tim has lived in Japan for nearly 30 years.  After a successful career in the Tokyo rock and roll industry, they moved to a traditional mountain house in Nagano. They visit every holiday season and sometimes tack on a little extra time because paper walls make for brutal winters. This year, while Tim and Jeff re-ignited their childhood slot-car rivalry, Mayu and I went to our excellent Japanese supermarket, Uwajimaya. She patiently listened as I explained…

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Oct 12
0

Cooking with Fire

By | Entertaining, Ingredients, Obsessions, People, Seasonal, Tools and Equipment, Traditions | No Comments

For roughly thirty years, my family has had an annual “Grape Stomp” where we pick and crush the fruit from an acre of vines planted in front of my parent’s Walla Walla home. The first grapes ripened just as I graduated from French culinary school so this event became my favorite performance stage. This year, I got the fire bug. We have cooked several of these meals in or over live fire. Once, we buried a bunch of stuff in a pit and covered them with grape must. Another year my friend, Doug Cooper, rigged a makeshift rotisserie using the churning mechanism from an old ice cream maker. We have spun legs of lamb suspended by tripods. People still talk about Scott Wellsandt’s incredible paellas. This year, I wanted very little fuss and lots of flexibility because there were very important considerations besides the food. This was our first party in…

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Sep 12
1

Great Grandma’s Pickles

By | Dishes, Obsessions, People, Preserving, Seasonal, Traditions | No Comments

My ancestors were a colorful bunch, but they were not cooks. My Grandma’s grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches and brownies were spectacular. Since we liked them so much, and we only visited her for a week in the summers, that’s all she would make us – for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Inheriting three collections of treasured, sticky recipes tucked into  boxes and books seemed like a goldmine. Unfortunately 99% of them called for boxes of JellO, canned condensed soup, and/or Crisco. The only decent cook on either side was my Mother’s Grandmother, Catherine Miller. She was a first generation German/Russian immigrant who came to Washington near the turn of the 20th century. I remember her as a tiny woman with thin dresses and a thick accent. Mom had a few fond memories of rustic cabbagey and noodley dishes, but all I ever remember tasting at her house was second hand…

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