Persimmons are one of my favorite fruit. I bet one does not hear that too often, but these orange fruits really are one of my favorites. To be specific I am talking about the acorn shaped Hachiya persimmon not the squat round Fuyu one. The Hachiya persimmon is very astringent and really inedible unless very […]
Alinea: PERSIMMON, Aroma Strip, Carrot, Red Curry Read More »
It’s not often that I get to capture a season, a moment in time or a childhood memory in a dish that I created. This here is one of those though. It might not look like it, but for me, this dessert is pure Lebanese. It captures the beautiful fragrance of citrus blossoms from many
Citrus Blossom, Pistachio, Meyer Lemon Read More »
Francisco Migoya from the CIA (the Culinary Institute of America, not the other CIA) is a superb pastry chef and judging from his books, an excellent teacher. He has 3 books and I got a hold of two of them so far, Elements of Desserts and Frozen Desserts. While I have many high end, modern
Pear, Caramelized Genoa Bread, Chocolate Veil Read More »
This is a vegan gelato and I was going to label this entry as Vegan PB&J Gelato, but somehow this misses the point and emphasizes the wrong thing. This is a delicious intensely flavored gelato that happens to contain no eggs or dairy! The good people from the Modernist Cuisine books set out to make
Modernist Cuisine: PB&J Gelato Read More »
Thai curries are one of my favorite south Asian foods that I don’t cook as much as I should. Every time I make it at home from scratch by pounding (actually, usually I use the food processor and then finish the paste in the mortar) together chilies, lemongrass, shallots, galangal and a host of other
Thai Curry Pork, Forbidden Rice and Watermelon Read More »
There is a great selection of citrus fruit at this time of the year. For a nice dinner recently, scallops were the main star since they are one of Diana’s favorite seafood items. Since I had a couple more scallops than I needed for the main course (twice cooked scallops, polenta and swiss chard) I
Scallop Crudo and Citrus Read More »
From the title of this recipe one would not know what to expect. Is it a hot chcolate drink? Just warmed chocolate? Honestly it sounds a bit boring. Boring, though, this recipe is not! Without waxing with no end about the nuances of this dish I have to say that this dessert from Alinea is
Alinea: Chocolate, warmed to 94 degrees Read More »
Fall is finally here -more or less I suppose- and changing the way I cook is natural. Even if I can find tomatoes and peppers well into November and December I still prefer to cook more “orange” and “brown” stuff. It makes me and Diana happy to pick up some winter squashes or sweet potatoes and start cooking
Alinea: BOAR, Shallot, Cider, Burning Oak Leaves Read More »
When I think of Texas fruits, two immediately come to mind, ruby red grapefruit and peaches. That’s fairly narrow thinking, since Texas is so huge and offers a large variety of climates and vegetation. It’s those two fruits that always pop to mind though. Recently on a road trip outside of Houston, I noticed a
Peaches and Cream, Streusel and Cherries Read More »
If we are going to kill and eat animals, we really should try to utilize as much of the carcass as possible. Only eating the “good parts” is very wasteful and disrespectful to the critter that died so we can eat. I do believe that, but I have to admit that offal cuts can be challenging. Most of
Under Pressure: Calf’s Heart Confit, Toasted Pecans, Cherries, Baby Beets Read More »