• My Love Affair with Toast

    My Love Affair with Toast

    I’m about to make a scandalous admission, the sort of thing that usually requires a press conference and a disappointed looking wife standing next to you: I’ve been having a sordid affair… a sordid affair with toast. Now I know what you’re thinking. “Toast? TOAST? You’re having a sordid affair with toast? Couldn’t you have…

  • What’s Up With These Black Chickpeas?

    What’s Up With These Black Chickpeas?

    At Cookbook, the delightful store in Echo Park where I bought my first bag of Rancho Gordo beans, I came upon a bag of black chickpeas. “What’s up with these black chickpeas?” I asked the nice people there. “They’re just like regular chickpeas,” said Robert, one of those nice people. “Except…well…they’re black.” With a sales…

  • 60 Second Aioli

    60 Second Aioli

    Infomercials rarely inspire awe, and yet I vividly remember watching a commercial for a handblender–this was back in the 90s, I think–that showed a glass jar filled with eggs and oil; then the hand blender plunged in, the host pressed a button, and magically it became mayonnaise. It was like watching a David Copperfield special…

  • The Best Curry of Your Life

    The Best Curry of Your Life

    Go ahead and imagine the most flavorful bite of food you can. What makes it so flavorful? Is it the amount of salt? The amount of heat? The amount of fat? The amount of acidity? All of these factors come into play in this recipe for lamb curry from April Bloomfield’s A Girl and Her…

  • The Winners of the 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt (Sponsored By The CIA)

    The Winners of the 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt (Sponsored By The CIA)

    Look at how much fun everyone had! I have to confess, when I typed up the Scavenger Hunt list last week, I was worried that (a) maybe no one would compete (this was my first year not centering it around a specific city; so the challenges were broader); and (b) that those who DID compete…

  • The 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt (Sponsored By The Culinary Institute of America) Starts Now

    The 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt (Sponsored By The Culinary Institute of America) Starts Now

    On your marks…get set…. Ok, wait! Before you get started scavenger hunting, I need to tell you a few things about the 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt. First: choose your partner wisely. Not only will you be spending all weekend with them; if you win, you’ll be cooking together for four days at the CIA.…

  • English Porridge

    English Porridge

    As someone who’s starred in “Oliver” twice–as Oliver in 5th grade and Fagan in 7th grade–I know a thing or two about porridge (aka: “gruel”). Rule one: don’t ask for “more” or you’ll be dragged by your ear out into the snow and sold to a mortician. Rule two: it’s best not served from a…

  • The Pancake at Canelé

    The Pancake at Canelé

    We need to talk about the pancake at Canelé in Atwater Village. I mean, look at it: it’s totally outrageous. It’s puffed up like a blowfish and it’s filled, almost defiantly, with a Meyer lemon custard. Dusted with powdered sugar and served with a lemon wedge, this pancake puts all other pancakes to shame. Is…

  • One Bag of Lentils, Two Dinners

    One Bag of Lentils, Two Dinners

    There are two kinds of people who cook at home: the first kind chooses an elaborate recipe, buys all of the ingredients, spends hours cooking it, invites friends to eat it, spends hours cleaning it, and takes the rest of the week off. The other kind has long-range vision, makes a large batch of something…

  • Fresh Springtime Pasta with Farmer’s Market Asparagus and Fava Beans

    Fresh Springtime Pasta with Farmer’s Market Asparagus and Fava Beans

    After hauling home fresh asparagus and fava beans from the farmer’s market, I stood on a chair and made a loud declaration: “I will not adulterate these beacons of springtime with a convoluted recipe that obfuscates their natural glory!” Getting down from the chair, I thought about my declaration and realized that to live up…