Thanksgiving Stuffing Open Thread

I have received a request for a stuffing thread, because one of my commenters seems to think that his stuffing is the best in the world. Considering that, by his own admission, his pork dry rub ruined some perfectly good salmon steaks, I have a difficult time believing that he has any kitchen skills other [...]

Salmon Doesn’t Have To Be Boring

I have ranted in the past about my feelings for salmon. Oh, when I pull a 15-pounder out of the Pacific off of Mendocino, drive home, have it filleted by a fishmonger friend, and then grill it for dinner? It’s great. But it gets boring after a while. So I decided to cast caution to [...]

Sometimes Fresh Is Best

No, I don’t mean choosing fresh steak over the road-kill you pass on the way to the coffee shop (most of the road-kill around here is squirrel, and while I have been told that squirrel isn’t bad, I am in no rush to find out). I mean freshly prepared dishes, as opposed to food that [...]

…And Sometimes It Isn’t

Mark Bittman published a great recipe in his blog, and his timing couldn’t have been worse. I just finished criticizing him, and he retaliates with an excellent chicken dish that is also simple to prepare. Take a stab at it, but don’t use scallions — shallots are perfect. And I used a few tablespoons of [...]

Sometimes Cooking Is Complicated…

Mark Bittman is a justifiably widely read cook, with a New York Times column called “The Minimalist”  and a fun blog called Bitten on the New York Times web site. As you probably have figured out, he often distills recipes to their essence, in the process paring the steps and ingredients down to a bare [...]

And Sometimes The Good Things Aren’t Expensive

We had a very nice dinner last weekend that included only one loud couple. Unfortunately, the alpha female of the pair demanded a particular dish. Luckily, it was a dish I can do justice to, so all was not lost. Braised lamb shanks is simply a variation of any braised meat recipe: