All Things Chill

Pork Stew with Lotus and Burdock Roots, Carrot and Baby Bok Choy
Lotus root, burdock root and carrots – three ingredients that should be plentiful as the leaves fall and the nights get a bit colder. Flavor profiles (via my Twitter stream):
Lotus root: Mildly sweet and nutty. Starchy/Fibrous. Keeps firm texture even after 3 hours [...]

Eggs in a Basket cooked in Goat’s Milk Butter, topped with Secret Stash Truffle Salt and served with Heirloom Black Krim Tomato Slices.

Heirloom tomatoes are fragile things. Take them home, give them the white glove treatment and use them as soon as possible. They are not given special treatments to extend their shelf lives [...]

Polenta Trio:
Left: Lobster, cremini, porcini and Chanterelle mushrooms in a cream sauce. Right: Dungeness crab, frisée and breakfast radish with Dijon vinaigrette Not pictured: Various heirloom tomatoes, diced with basil and Beecher’s cheese curds.
iPhone picture of some hastily made “I gotta taste it to make sure it’s good” and “you get the picture aesthetically” [...]

Tonno with Purslane and Toasted Hazelnut on Linguini

Random meal: I prepped for clams in white wine sauce, but when I saw the can of tuna, I picked that instead. WHEEEE. Quick recipe follows:
Start boiling pasta in salted water. 5 minutes in, preheat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic [...]

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms and Soba Noodle Salad with Broccoli and Tofu
When planning a vegetarian offering for last weekend’s BBQ, I made a decision not to make a salad or mushrooms. Living in Seattle, I’ve been beaten over the head COUNTLESS times that vegetarians eat MORE than eggplant and mushrooms. So.. what did I [...]

Vegetarian: Shiitake Mushrooms, Garlic Scapes, and Spring Onions

Beef Noisettes with Shiitake Mushrooms, Garlic Scapes, and Spring Onions
We’re in garlic scape season, which means you really should be hitting up your local farmers’ market and asking for them. This is what they should look like. They’re a crisp, young stalk and impart a garlicy [...]

MAY FIFTH! According to its wiki, “Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for “fifth of May”) is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico.” ALSO CELEBRATED ON EVERY COLLEGE CAMPUS. lols.
To celebrate, my friend KJ gifted me some homemade chorizo [...]

Trying to crank out this blog post as fast as I can since we’re taking a quick trip to Portland today! WHHHEEEEEEE. This is an arugula and strawberry salad with a very mild blue cheese and an aged balsamic dressing. Both the strawberries and arugula were from the New Roots CSA delivery [...]

Oven-“Fried” Cod and Okra with Avocado and Tomato
Seriously. Perfect for a whenever meal.
Put 3/4 cup of cornmeal, 1/4 cup flour, 3 tablespoons cajun seasoning in a container. Crack 2 eggs, scrambled and a small bit of water into another container.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Defrost cod (or any whitefish). [...]

I’m working a later shift tonite, so I had time to make Liana a nice weekend breakfast: krab (someone wanted california rolls 6 months ago lol) omelet with spinach and onions! WHEEEEE. I was so proud that I could make a decent breakfast from freezer leftovers and pantry staples from the old [...]

Inspiration: recipe of Gai Pad Krapow (Thai Basil Chicken) taken from Serious Eats! In my defense, I *did* offer my food, but when you want ramen, you really want ramen! (Sorry for the cheese in the middle)
<3!!!
~Spec

Chicken Cutlets, Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Alternate pic here. Boneless chicken breasts pounded out to 1/2 inch, dredged separately in 3 containers each of flour, beaten eggs and a mixture of red pepper flakes, Kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper and panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs. Brussel sprouts made just like yesterday and mashed potatoes.
The [...]

It’s been snowing here NONSTOP for the past 4 days, which means that my cravings dictate something hearty to warm me up on this first day of winter (yup, today)! CHILI. YAY. Now, there is some debate on which ingredients go into a traditional chili – chuck roast (stew meat) vs. ground [...]