This started out as a Groundhog’s Day menu with as much chocolate in it as possible from the recipes in my Try file–because my sister has decided that Groundhog’s Day is the chocolate holiday, and who am I to argue with solid logic? But we had to postpone, and it ended up being Valentine’s DayContinue reading “ESC #34: Groundhog’s/Valentine’s Day”
Category Archives: blackbird
ESC #33: Year of the Snake
I love any excuse to pull out Mr. Dragon: just please don’t tell him he cosplayed as a snake this year (made possible by his lack of any legs)…. We pulled a selection of dim-sum-adjacent recipes from my Try file for a Lunar New Year brunch. I think the youtiao were the biggest hit b/cContinue reading “ESC #33: Year of the Snake”
Catching up with ESC: 30-32
Just focus on the cute olive penguins and ignore how far behind I got with documenting these…. The penguins were from #31: Tree-hunting Edition, and they weren’t actually experimental—I’ve made them before. I don’t remember where I got the recipe/idea (you can basically see how to make them). I’m going to go out on aContinue reading “Catching up with ESC: 30-32”
Colonial Thanksgiving
I love this woman’s channel: she cooks like it’s 1799, with zero commentary. This Thanksgiving dinner looks pretty legit, and you know I’m a sucker for live-fire cooking. Happy Thanksgiving! youtube.com/watch
ESC #30: Birthday Edition
I had kinda given up on ever being able to make the “linguine ricci di mare” recipe from my Try file because it involves fresh sea-urchin roe (most commonly known by its Japanese name, uni). When its fresh, uni is one of the best things you can put in your mouth on the planet: itContinue reading “ESC #30: Birthday Edition”
ESC #29
In which we encounter the only true failure of the ESC series to date…. An Asian theme on this one. The winner for everyone was the dessert. The lumpia were very good as well, and the chive green beans straightforward and flexible. David Chang’s Spicy Pork Sausage Ragu with Rice Cakes was the problem here;Continue reading “ESC #29”
ESCs #27 and #28
[Insert usual apology for the lack of pictures; as is manifestly apparent at this point, I can’t cook and take photos at the same time….] ESC #26 had a Southwest Asian vibe. The fish curry and samosas were the standouts. The cauliflower was fine, and the golden compote, while promising on paper, turned out tooContinue reading “ESCs #27 and #28”
Kimchi Grilled Cheese and Doenjang Tomato Soup
I cannot believe I haven’t posted on this as this has been my go-to easy, quick comfort meal when I’m not feeling good or it’s crummy out, for at least the last 3 years. Maybe it was because I kept messing around with the tomato soup b/c I didn’t feel like I had it dialedContinue reading “Kimchi Grilled Cheese and Doenjang Tomato Soup”
ESC #26
This one had a sort of late-summer-at-an-Argentinian-estancia theme. It was all pretty good, but the lomo al trapo stole the show—as you would expect from a $90 piece of meat that you wrap in a red-wine soaked dish towel and throw into a fire…as long as it comes out right, which it did b/c it’sContinue reading “ESC #26”
Cold Spicy Ramen
I love Shin Ramyeon when I’m exhausted and in the mood for something quick and comforting—but not when it’s in the 90s out. But, hold the phone, did you know you can make cold spicy ramen/ramyeon? Yes, you can. Here I garnished with surimi, a hard-boiled egg, some julienned spicy soy radish pickles and freshContinue reading “Cold Spicy Ramen”
