All posts tagged: featured

Thanksgiving Dinner 2014: Top 5 Things I Learned in the Kitchen

Published by

Well, Thanksgiving 2014 has come and gone and I hope your holiday was as wonderful as you’d hoped it would be. Mine was fantastic! We had a group of about 10 people for dinner and more friends came later on for drinks and dessert. I can’t even believe that it’s already December, but before we hurl ourselves full force into Christmas mode, I wanted to share 5 things that I learned from this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. 1. Turkey Technique 101. There’s a good way and there’s an even better way. I made two turkeys this year and both employed techniques that I hadn’t used before.  I had intended to make two small  12-14 pound turkeys using the Spatchcocked Turkey with Anise and Orange recipe on the November cover of Bon Appétit Magazine. But, being thrifty, I really tried to get a deal on those two turkeys without having to drive all over town. Turns out this is an impossibility. Yes, you can get great deals on turkeys, but you will have to drive all over town. There’s a long and boring story of …

How to Succeed at Thanksgiving – Fish House Punch

Published by

The Thanksgiving dinner of my fantasies always begins with me wearing a string of pearls and freshly pressed apron, holding aloft a beautifully bronzed roasted turkey, glistening and golden from the oven in all its glory for all to see. My adoring family members’ faces are lit by flickering candlelight and they are hungry and beaming and admiring the gorgeous bird. I cut into the bird and it is succulent and juicy and perfect. All of the side dishes have come out of the oven at just the right time. The vegetables are colorful. Everything looks like a spread in Bon Appétit.  Can you just see it? Isn’t it beautiful? Insert needle-scratch on a record…this is what Thanksgiving really looks like: I have bags under my eyes because I’ve been cooking non-stop for two days. The turkey, does come out of the oven beautiful and bronzed, however upon carving, I realize the breast meat is perfect and the dark meat hasn’t cooked thoroughly–thank you, weirdly calibrated convection setting. I’ve forgotten about the rolls in the oven …

Rockfish and Red Grapefruit Ceviche with Quick Pickled Fennel

Published by

I have a good friend whom I love to watch eat.  Ok, that sounds terribly creepy, but let me explain.  She will assemble a bunch of different ingredients, be it on a spoon, a cracker or a crostini, pop it into her mouth and then exclaim, eyes rolling back in her head: “oh my god that is such a Good Bite!!” Then excitedly, she’ll assemble it again, just the way she did it the first time and make sure everyone gets to experience that Good Bite! It’s so funny and such a pleasure when someone gets that excited about a bite of food, and that is exactly how I felt when I assembled this ceviche.  It looked like a wicked-weird combination of ingredients but when I built a little forkful of it: a little bite of fish, a chili pepper, a bit of grapefruit, a sliver of fennel and a lemon balm leaf; and tasted it, I found myself squealing just like my friend!  It was such a Good Bite!  I immediately called Eric into the kitchen …

Cool Tools: Molcajete | The Only Guacamole Recipe You’ll Ever Need

Published by

  Chips. Salsa. Guacamole. Three simple things that tell me all I need to know about the meal I’m about to have in a Mexican restaurant.  If the salsa arrives and looks and tastes like ketchup, my hopes are dashed and I steel myself for the impending disaster that is surely to follow.  But when the salsa is that perfect blend of fresh, spicy, tart and salty, my tastebuds jump up and do a little dance! And the candle on the cake is when they make guacamole tableside in a molcajete! Ah, guacamole.  For me, it is the quintessential dip. I can eat it by the bowlful and god forbid I should run out of those amazingly light, salty tortilla chips! Why, yes, I would like more chips, please! I am a salsa and guacamole fiend! It’s no wonder I end up taking most of my main dish home in a to-go box! So this guacamole. This is the recipe. The only one you’re ever going to need.  I don’t mind saying that it’s the perfect blend of texture, heat, …