Pan-fried trout filets with Giada De Laurentiis’s pea puree.

One skill I’m really working on in the kitchen right now is getting better with breaking down whole fish, but I will admit that if given the opportunity, I will still go with filets if they are available. This is particularly true with trout, because trout are small, have tons of pin bones , and…

Moorish-spiced chicken thigh salad with pistachios and citrus-yogurt dressing inspired by Spanish Diner in Mercado Little Spain.

We’re in the throes of August, and thanks to climate change, the heat this summer has been incredibly intense and therefore I’m fully in line with Michael about not turning on the stove until late September at the earliest at this point. This of course means that our Tuesday chicken thigh dinners have transferred to…

Fettuccine with prosciutto di Parma, Irish butter, and basil inspired by American Sfoglino.

I have to admit–ever since the decision came down two weeks ago (as I write this) about Roe v. Wade, my creative output has stalled. I was so thankful that I had already procured all of our groceries the day before for the week because the idea of having to think about what to make…

José Andrés’s Catalan sausages with pressure cooker beans.

If you travel out of New York City on Amtrak these days, you’re likely to end up in the Moynihan Train Hall part of Penn Station. Taking over what was the Farley Post Office Building, it’s a beautiful, soaring structure meant to be reminiscent of the old Penn Station that was knocked down in favor…

Crêpes with pickled ramp crème fraîche and scallions.

In Tom Colicchio’s cookbook Think Like a Chef, in his recipe for pickled ramps he suggests that you can make a really good sauce for fish by spooning a few teaspoons of the ramp pickling liquid into creme fraiche. I thought about this recently after I made my most recent batch of pickled ramps, and…

RampFest 2022: revisiting all of the hits made with my favorite spring vegetable.

It’s funny how much happiness $20 can buy, at least when it comes to acquiring five bunches of ramps at the Union Square Greenmarket during our trip to New York in April. To say I doted over those ramps in the hotel room–which, for the record, was kept at a very cold temperature to basically…

José Andrés’s spring leeks with mushrooms from Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America.

Sometimes I’m at a loss for inspiration on what to make for dinner, and that’s when I usually turn to my tapas books to spark my imagination. It may seem counterintuitive to pick several dishes to make instead of just one or two, but I’ve found that once I select one, I can more easily…

Fettuccine with sun-dried tomato and miso pesto.

As much as I love a nice, herby pesto, sometimes I’m craving something a little bit different, and this umami-laden, no-cook sauce fits the bill perfectly. I’ve been on a bit of a kick recently where I combine tomatoes and white miso into various pasta sauces, but this one might be my favorite to-date. For…

Hugh Acheson’s sous vide cheeseburger from Sous Vide.

Nearly a year after we moved to Baltimore, a new restaurant opened up on Cross Street: Bookmakers Cocktail Club. On a street littered with variations on the traditional pub and/or biergarten, Bookmakers was decidedly different: a quasi-speakeasy with gothic decor, an extensive cocktail list, and upscale takes on Southern fare. It was one of the…

Citrus-cured salmon with latkes, Meyer lemon-fennel cream cheese, sumac-pickled onions, and capers.

After my near-religious experience with the house-cured king salmon at Lowell’s Seafood in Pike Place Market, it was only a matter of when, not if, I would be curing some salmon for brunch when we came home. If you look up “cured salmon” or “gravlax” on this blog, you’re going to find all of the…