The Hemingway on the Beach from Perch Los Angeles, but at home.

Much like the Last Train to Priorat at Boqueria was a sign that I should probably get a bottle of Luxardo maraschino liqueur, my first sip of Perch’s Hemingway on the Beach was the deciding factor to finally pull the trigger because I knew I wanted to make them both at home, and well, I…

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…

Quail simmered in white wine with garlic, sage, and rosemary, inspired by The Silver Spoon.

Quail is not something we have a lot, but it’s one of those proteins we’ll turn to if I’m seeking inspiration and we’ve recently have had everything from meatballs to cutlets to go along with my Sunday pastas. If you’re a fan of the dark meat on chicken, then you’ll love all of the quail,…

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…

Rebekah Peppler’s frites from À Table.

[Editor’s note: if you’re feeling furious/frustrated/terrified right now in light of the leaked SCOTUS draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade and you’re looking for something helpful to do in the short term, please consider donating to local abortion funds to help those who might find themselves needing a lot more resources in the…