by rivka
on March 15, 2013
A few months back, I bought a cookbook for just one recipe. The book was Marion Cunningham’s The Breakfast Book. The recipe was Cream Biscuits, i.e. the most perfect and foolproof biscuits that ever were. I read about them on Molly’s site and knew at once that whatever book they were in was a book I should own.
I have something of a history when it comes to buying books based on one great recipe. When I was in college, I bought The New Best Recipe because a friend had made these thick and chewy triple chocolate cookies from it that absolutely blew me away. I bought Nigel Slater’s Appetite because our friend Josh made this oxtail stew that had me going, against all good judgement, for a fourth helping. So I wasn’t too worried that a biscuit recipe, already available online, had me jonesing for a book. I figured there were plenty of other things in it worth making.
Turns out, I was right.
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by rivka
on March 13, 2013
So far, it’s been the kind of month where I’m eating lunch from food trucks and takeout for dinner at the office. Stew season is slipping away, and I haven’t nearly had my fill. (Though, just to be clear, I’ve had more than enough winter weather. Who’s ready for spring?)
In weeks like these, where I feel constantly behind, it’s hard to find down time at night. As a result, I occasionally take the extra 20 minutes at home in the morning to make a proper breakfast. I understand this flexibility to be a luxury; these days, most of my friends are packing diaper bags and hustling a herd of children out the door every morning. But for me, those 20 minutes make me feel civilized and satisfied.
In spring, it’s yogurt, granola, and some frozen blueberries (which I rinse with warm water to thaw). But it’s still March, and much as I’d like to deny it, it’s still pretty cold out. For frosty mornings like this one, I humbly recommend this porridge.
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by rivka
on March 11, 2013
Remember that post I wrote back in January about our trip to Vietnam? Well, there was a second half to that trip. After traipsing around Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi for a week, we flew over to Chiang Mai and spent a week exploring Thailand. I figured I’d tell you about the trip in stages, because gosh, there’s so much to tell. But then January was a crazy month, and February was, too, and before I knew it, it was March. (Can you believe it’s March?) Well, now I’m finally back. I’ve gotten emails from quite a few of you asking for the details of this half of my trip – it seems there are quite a few of you who are planning trips to Thailand – so, without further ado, here are some vignettes from week 2.
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is a small city in northern Thailand, and it’s the starting point for many of the treks, bike trips, and other activities in the north. It’s a bit of a hippie town, with enough yoga studios to hit a different one every day for weeks. However, it’s also a tremendous food city, with plenty of hole-in-the-wall establishments that serve the unique food of northern Thailand.
Gat Luang
We started our first day in Chiang Mai by walking from the center of the city to just beyond its northeastern edge, to explore the neighborhood and markets of Gat Luang. We first learned about Gat Luang from Robyn Echhardt and David Hagerman, intrepid travelers of Asia and masterminds of the Eating Asia blog. Eating Asia was an invaluable resource to us throughout our trip, and Robyn graciously answered many little questions via twitter across those two weeks.
While in Chiang Mai, Robyn and David adopt Gat Luang as their home base. They’ve spent many weeks and months exploring the food markets of Gat Luang and getting to know their vendors. They’ve written extensively about two markets in particular: Warorot market and Don Lam Yai market. We visited both.
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by rivka
on March 1, 2013
In the words of Amanda Hesser, this drink is not for delicate flowers. It’s a bit like eggnog, but my god, it’s so much better. It’s foamy and fluffy, hot and sweet and plenty alcoholic. If you’re one of those types who craves a hot toddy from time to time but laments the fact that they can be so watered down and boring, well then: I have just the drink for you.
Friends, meet Tom and Jerry.
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by rivka
on February 26, 2013
It’s cold outside. I hear it’s snowing somewhere.
Inside, it’s warm. We made soup.
It’s a riff on the rather ubiquitous curried squash soup, but I had a huge bag of carrots to use up, so in they went. Keeping with the whatever’s-in-the-fridge theme, this is a water-based soup; we didn’t have broth, and I’ve been busy enough that I was in no mood to make some.
I’ve made it three times. The first time, I used a bit of miso and some thai curry paste (from a jar, available at most grocery stores). Next, I switched it up and went Indian, with curry powder and cumin seeds. Both were great, both quite easy. I slightly preferred the Indian version, which I tweaked a bit for round three. That’s the take I’m sharing today. It’s a pure soup, one you likely can make with things you already have lying around. Onion, carrots, spices, water. Some coconut milk to bring things together. That’s all, folks.
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by rivka
on February 22, 2013
I know folks can get particular about their cornbread. The southerners have their version, savory and packed stiff with cornmeal. The Yankees swear by something sweeter, softer, moister. To loyalists, altering either recipe can amount to heresy.
I’m a northerner, of course, and in keeping with the customs of my clan, I like a sweet, soft, moist cornbread, with plenty of butter and maybe a dip of jam. I also like it on Thanksgiving, dunked in gravy and spread with cranberry sauce. That I am no purist goes without saying.
Corn muffins live, somehow, above the fray. You can put more cornmeal in them, or less. Add corn kernels, if you please. What the heck: even add maple syrup. It’s all kosher.
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by rivka
on February 19, 2013
The Jewish holiday of Purim was my favorite as a kid. It was the one day of the year when I got to skip the skirt in favor of sweat pants at school (clue: put on a whistle and, oh look, you’re a coach). We got dismissed early, had a carnival for most of the day, and ate ourselves silly. Most of that eating was hamentaschen, which friends give each other on Purim.
The one major design flaw: my mom’s hamentaschen were way better than everyone else’s. In the weeks before Purim started, I’d watch my mom make enough hamentaschen to feed a small army – but by the end of Purim, we’d have only one small box left, and lots of slightly-less-delicious hamentaschen from friends. Call me biased, but every year, I became something of a hoarder, finding and saving my favorite (poppy!) cookies before they were gone for another year.
Why not make more? Because “these hamentaschen came together in a flash!” said no one, ever. But the fruits are worth the labor. And while I always make some poppy seed filling for myself and the three other people who enjoy it, this year, I’ve found a real crowd-pleaser: raspberry chocolate filling.
(For those of you who looked at this picture and balked, fret not! Shortcuts after the jump.)
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by rivka
on February 13, 2013
I’ve been traveling a bunch for work, which has left our fridge less packed than usual. It’s a bummer to open the fridge and so few bags of produce, but D gets positively gleeful about all the open space. O.C.D Organized people just love empty fridges, am I right?
With less time at home, I’m on the lookout for quick weeknight dinners that make use of whatever precious little food I’ve got in the fridge. Bonus points for dishes that aren’t pasta, which is a fallback too often.
This week, I barely cooked at all. I only had one night in town when I wasn’t working late, and our friend Abby was visiting from NY, so we met her at El Chucho, the new Mexican restaurant in Columbia Heights. It’s got a dimly lit interior, tall tables and bar stools, and lots of bearded dudes in plaid shirts walking languidly around with plastic baskets in hand. Walk in, and you feel like you’ve walked into Brooklyn; Abby felt right at home. The food wasn’t bad, the ambiance was fun, and margaritas were on tap. Of course. I bet we’ll be back soon. Meanwhile, we’re copying their dishes at home.
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