As a reminder, I’m a terrible “blogger” and can’t keep up with posts anymore. As I say in the “sticky” post at the top of my site, I mostly post to Instagram and Twitter these days. Though, I try not to spam social media, so I have a bunch of photos which never make it onto one of those platforms. I still take a lot of photos of my food and cooking, because hey, big dork here. I decided to toss up a couple posts of my cooking and dining from the last few months. Maybe it has some value….perhaps not. I do still enjoy being able to go back and look at my old posts and see what I was up to at the time. Anyways, here is a bunch of good eats, mostly things I cooked, but also some items I either prepared with friends, or friends were solely responsible and I just ate, and ate, and ate….
Top photo – paella with duck, sausage, confit chicken wings, toasted blanched almonds, and of course, . I inevitably use too much rice. The layer of rice , to achieve soccarat success.
Below – holiday excessive food party with friends. There was a ton of food (thanks Rowdy!), and I won’t post it all, but this was super delicious – Alaskan king crab with white truffles, because why the F not? And it tasted amazing. I eat real king crab about once a year now, and it’s such a treat. Other forms of crab pale in comparison.
Nachos! I am loving the hot sauces from Rancho Gordo. The ‘gay caballero’ is a must try.
Late night chicken frying session. Just because.
The same fried chicken, hot sauced up. Have you seen hot chicken? Yeah…it has jumped the shark. It’s still delicious though.
La Calavera bakery at the Morningside Market. Great stuff!
I used a fennel loaf from La Calavera and some really great eggs and potatoes to make an epic breakfast sandwich.
Cassoulet! I loosely follow this Michael Lewis recipe. Duck legs acquired from YDFM.
Border Springs rack of lamb. Perfection!!! Border Springs ain’t cheap, so I’m glad my brother and I nailed the cook temp. Insanely good. I have one more rack in the freezer.
My brother prepared the zucchini with agrodulce from the Prune cookbook to go with the lamb. The zucchini is dried in the oven to simulate the technique of letting the slices dry outdoors in the hot Italian air. It was a super surprisingly different preparation. The texture, the sweetness…it was a really fun dish. I need to cook more out of the Prune cookbook. It’s a classic NYC restaurant and Ms. Hamilton is revered among chefs for a reason.
Screwing around in the kitchen – green lentil and root vegetable Penang curry.
Cast iron cooked pork steak with za’atar, crunchy salad with red olive blue cheese salad dressing. The dressing was a quick riff, and though the purple dressing looks silly, the salty/funky combination was mouth watering.
Hangar steak with a bunch of spices and a buttery pan sauce.
Cacio e Pepe. All about the technique.
Crisped duck confit (which I lightly cured, hence the pink) with smokey paprika sauce. A well executed duck confit leg, broiled to crunchy perfection is a top five single prepared dish for me. The lush skin, the tender meat, the texture, the flavor and fat…it’s what’s going on.
A quick “salad” bowl I made for my son for dinner – pan cooked chickpeas with za’atar and ras el hanout, feta, pickled carrots and pickled okra, olives, and crispy pepperoni. I was surprised, but my two year old loved it! Whenever I can make something different, and my son enjoys, it’s a wonderful feeling. My wife and I have trained our kid well. He won’t eat mac and cheese, but he will devour something like this, or lap up a Malaysian fish head curry without blinking an eye. Proud papa.
My friend Dude did this whole roasted, pickled head of cauliflower with tahini sauce. The light pickling makes it so crunchy and juicy. It was eye opening!
Fattoush salad, again by Dude. I believe both of these recipes are from the .
Smoked prime brisket with my brother. Pretty darn good. Heavy on the salt and pepper. That’s it, a la Franklin BBQ. We followed most of the steps from that Franklin cookbook, which anyone serious about smoking meats should read inside and out. It’s not a recipe book (I think there are fewer than 10 recipes) – it’s a technique and history book.
Late night curry fried rice.
Previous night late night fried rice with mushrooms and bacon. Fried rice is a great “kitchen sink” meal. Toss it in! My Zojirushi rice cooker is a must for anyone cooking rice frequently. It comes out PERFECT.
More hot chicken, with a fennel pollen dusting.
Now I’m hungry, but that’s it! Next up…a mess of dining out from the last few months.