01 Mar 2013 6 Comments
in Food, Humor, Pork, Recipes Tags: beef short rib, Chinese cooking, Don Schnieder, five spice, guanciale, Japanese cooking, jowl, Matthew Tekulsky, monkfish liver, Pork
The other night I was drinking wine and eating monkfish liver with my culinary soulmate, Donnie, and lamenting about when odds-and-ends meat cuts become trendy and then are suddenly expensive.
Pork pops
Take the case of the aforementioned monkfish liver. It used to be the rare non-Japanese person who would try this odd delicacy at the sushi bar, and I could buy a whole softball-sized liver at the Japanese market for a few bucks. More
24 Dec 2012 10 Comments
in Food, Humor, On the Road, Video Tags: blewit, California, candy cap, Christmas, Japanese cooking, matsutake, mushroom hunting, porcini, Sonoma, wild mushrooms
I like the thrill of the hunt. But not one for killing animals or dealing with blood, I mostly limit my hunting to wild mushrooms in the woods and groovy cowboy shirts at thrift stores. It was the former that had my wife and I up to our ears in Sonoma pine duff, hunting the elusive matsutake.
Orange jelly fungus
“Matsutake” translates as “pine mushroom,” since they often grow in symbiotic relationship with pines. “Take” is Japanese for mushroom, while “matsu” means pine — I have a friend named Kazue Matsunaga. I’m not sure what the “naga” part is, but she’s got something to do with pine trees. She’s a “Pine naga-er,” I guess. More
02 Nov 2012 11 Comments
in Humor, Observations, Recipes Tags: food, Japanese cooking, macadamia nuts, potato chips, recipes, salmon, sashimi, snacks, Trader Joe's
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I have a relatively new habit: Macadamia nuts.
I’ve always loved these salty, buttery treats. But in the past limited my consumption to trips to Hawaii, or to the one or two canisters I would bring home from one of those visits — those usually saved for cooking. But I’m a snacker, and looking for a healthier alternative to salty potato chips, I thought I’d purchase a bag of the Australian dry roasted macs at Trader Joes. Surely the $8+ price tag would keep me from developing a habit, I thought. More
17 Aug 2012 8 Comments
in Observations Tags: Asian food, black cod, cooking, Japanese cooking, Kelp, noodles, raw food, Sea Tangle, seaweed, truffle oil
People often give me food. Some people give a bottle of truffle oil or some special salt as a thoughtful gift. Other people, usually family, will drop off cakes or leftovers from parties or wilty vegetables as they attempt to clear out their fridge and lighten their own load. “I brought you some food!” they’ll say. Still others will bring us food when they go on vacation or discover their child is gluten intolerant.
Sea Tangle kelp noodles
Sometimes the “gifts” are useful, sometimes they are not. More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 