6 hardboiled eggs (instructions follow)
2 T capers, rinsed & drained
1 carrot, small dice
2 sticks celery, small dice
1/2 red onion, small dice
1/2 C homemmade or b’n’b pickles, small dice
rice vinegar
olive oil/macadamia oil
mustard powder
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper generously
For hardboiled eggs: Put the raw eggs in a pot with water, not too large of a pot, and [...]

I’ve posted about my favorite Italian comfort food before, but I’ve decided it’s time to wow you with its deliciousness in a way that will allow replication. This dish was the very first recipe (and demonstration of technique) I learned in Marcella Ansaldo’s introduction to Italian Regional Cuisine course at International Culinary School Apicius in [...]

For the Tri Tip (can sub skirt or flank steak, etc)
1 tri tip, marinaded at least 2 hours, up to 36
marinade:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup teriyaki or similar sauce
1/4 cup oil (your choice)
1 tbsp chili flakes
2 shots whiskey/brandy/etc
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
Grill to your best ability.
For the Favas:
1-2lb fresh fava beans in their pods
2 large [...]

The recipe from Smitten Kitchen was rather perfect (if not caloric–mine, the way I followed, served 12 peices, each I figured out has 260 calories, 12 grams of fat (2 are saturated), 60mg of cholesterol, 145mg of sodium, 1mg of potassium, 33 carbs (20 are sugar), 5 grams of protein, 2% vit A, 4% calcium, [...]

We had a little surf n turf on Friday evening–a little inspiration from my love/hate visit to Andronico’s in SF. I picked up more of those delicious blue Mexican prawns, and a really gorgeous rib eye steak. Our grill had a little party. Here’s how I warmed up the guests:
Prawns
Marinate in 1-2 T olive oil, [...]

Proportion for each serving of 6 shrimp:
2T minced garlic
3T olive oil
2T lemon/lime juice
1T minced cilantro
salt & pepper
Clean your shrimp by removing the vein which runs along the outer curve (this is its intestinal tract and its contents are gritty and gross to eat–so cut with a small knife along the top ridge, and then rinse [...]

For his birthday, this evening I made:
- filet mignon with port reduction
- garlic-orange rainbow chard
- israeli couscous with cinnamon & laurel leaf
There is a love-hate relationship with Andronico’s markets that I’m sure many of you in the SF bay area can relate to. They have beautiful meat. They have beautiful almost everything, and everything costs [...]

Should I ever succumb to death, this is where I wish to rest.
Most of you probably don’t know I’m in sales–a colleague of mine is prospecting Omnivore Books here in San Francisco–I had NEVER heard of the place and although they’re closed on Monday, I’m ready to grab my sleeping bag, call in sick tomorrow [...]

For some time, I’ve been considering a home produce delivery, as the Bay Area has a large selection of vendors for this purpose–from private farms to co-op vendors who source several farms and deliver, there’s a wealth of good, organic produce in these parts. I had put off starting the shipments because I was torn [...]

History has it that Pasta (in this case, Rigatoni) puttanesca had something to do with prostituites in Naples, but all I can tell you is it’s great in winter and terribly typically Mediterranean.
180g rigatoni (pasta for 2-3), dry
80g (several T) good quality tomato paste
1 yellow bell pepper
1/3 red bell pepper
2 T capers (packed in salt [...]