Tonight we went to my favorite sushi place…Shogun in Overland Park, KS. (Yes, Kansas seems an odd place for the mecca of sushi, but I’ve eaten sushi in every town I visit. Shogun is best, though Maki in Irvine, CA isn’t too shabby.) So there’s only one problem…I’m vegan. I do have an ace up […]
techniques
Howto: Buy a Knife
A good knife is the most important tool in a cook’s arsenal. Other than proper use of salt and heat, nothing is more essential than the cook’s ability to break food down. If food is not trimmed of excess fat, it becomes a stringy mess; if it is not cut down to regular sized […]
Stir Fry Seitan
Part of my challenge with vegetarianism, especially as I head towards more strict vegetarianism, is getting protein. For the human body to function, even at rest, the USDA recommends 50g of protein per day. For those who do not eat meat, ingesting that much protein can be tough, especially when many vegetarian sources of protein […]
Cheap Entertaining or a Reasonable Facsimile Thereof
This idea has really started to resonate with me. After a Christmas party that carried a nearly $20/head charge, the Super Bowl, and my birthday coming up, entertaining has just been on my mind. I try to stay away from entertaining as a topic here because there are many excellent blogs that cover it. However, I […]
Keeping the Resolution: Saute Without Oil
This is a little trick I have used many times when trying to remove fats and oils from cooking healthy. Instead of sauteing in oil, many types of food can be sauted in broth or stock or soy sauce. The liquid, especially if it is contains a little bit of fat, will prevent the food from burning […]
Howto: Fix a Whole Dungeness Crab
Over the weekend, I went to my local Whole Foods looking for new recipe ideas. As I was passing by the seafood department, I noticed that whole dungeness crabs were on sale for $9/lb. I had just watched an episode of Guy’s Big Bite on Food Network where host Guy Fieri had stir fried whole […]
Happy World Vegan Day!
That’s right, it’s back again for another crazy year. It’s World Vegan Day. I know many of you, my readers, are not vegans, which is just fine. Neither am I. However, there is nothing wrong with trying vegan recipes every now and then (like my soyrizo taquitos for instance…) I was vegan once for about […]
Howto: Simmer
Well now I’ve stepped in it. I’ve decided to tackle the topic of how to simmer food. This is one of those topics that illicits great debate on exactly what the proper way to simmer is, what temperature to use, and how best to deliver heat to the simmering liquid. Before we get into the […]
Howto: Pick a Cheese For Cooking
I was inspired to write this post while standing at the cheese counter trying to find a good soft goat cheese and wearing a facial expression nestled comfortably between bewildered and desperation. I was trying to find cheese for one of my wife’s favorite dishes, queso al horno (whose recipe you can find on Bay […]
Howto: Use Salt
Use of salt is one of the major paradoxes in cooking. On one hand, any doctor worth their salt will tell you to limit your salt intake or all sorts of medical badness will surely arise: heart disease, high blood pressure, and waking up in the morning with a really dry mouth. On the other […]