Woo, this one was chef-y; at least the main course. I cannot for the life of me locate the Food & Wine recipe for Grilled Black Cod and Herb Bundles with Elk Spice online anymore, but it’s probably not up your alley unless your alley runs behind a Michelin-starred destination restaurant on an island inContinue reading “ESC #24”
Category Archives: blackbird
ESC #23: Afternoon Tea Edition
Well, as usual, I didn’t take photos, and that seems particularly unforgivable when you’re stacking lovely little tea goodies on étagères…. But as there’s no going back, I’ll just give you notes on the menu. Personally my favorites were the mini lobster rolls and the scones, the latter of which got a little melty inContinue reading “ESC #23: Afternoon Tea Edition”
Biscuits
I’m not much of a baker, but I make really good biscuits. That’s because they happen to fall right into my wheelhouse as a baker, which sits somewhere near the crossroads of Lazy Efficient St. and Impatient Ln. I can have them ready to go into the oven in the time it takes it toContinue reading “Biscuits”
ESC #22
This one had a rough Moroccan theme. The Bizzy Izzy cocktail was OK, but I got a little loosey-goosey with the substitutions (arrack for bourbon–I know, what was I thinking?) and had to off-road pretty significantly to save it–turned it into a champagne cocktail, because who doesn’t like a champagne cocktail? I can’t give youContinue reading “ESC #22”
ESC #21: Father’s Day Edition
A week late, sorry. I went through my Try file and picked out all the recipes I thought my dad would have liked best. Of course, it ended up skewing German…. The Black Forest Cake was a knockout and not hard at all to make—once you got past the hand-grating of 9 oz of semisweetContinue reading “ESC #21: Father’s Day Edition”
ESC #20: DessArt Day 2 (with linocuts!)
Credit to my friend Gina for the clever name for our casual art workshop-plus-dessert-bar series (it’s a series now because we’ve had 2! And there’s a third planned for August now on bookmaking…). Here were the recipes this time. They were all pretty good, but I think the favorites were the blackberry tart and theContinue reading “ESC #20: DessArt Day 2 (with linocuts!)”
Tisane of the Week: Rose Honeysuckle Mint (etc.)
I inherited a crazy yard—really a mini urban farm complete with livestock (the chickens were written into the counter-offer): there are six fruit trees (sadly down from 8), 7 raised beds in different levels of the yard, and untold numbers of flowering shrubs and annuals, not to mention patches of perennial herbs here and there.Continue reading “Tisane of the Week: Rose Honeysuckle Mint (etc.)”
Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
I know…. Spaghetti squash is so 2000s Paleo, right along with Zoodles and all that carb-phobic jazz. But this dish turns out to be really good. Split a spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the seeds, rub with olive oil, and roast until really nice and soft and roasty; it took a solid 40 minutesContinue reading “Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash”
Letter of Recommendation: FOOD⭐️STAR
Ever since we lost Japanese Style Originator from Netflix, I’ve been missing their deep-dive videos into traditional ways of making and doing things. Fortunately, I found FOOD⭐️STAR, which fills part of that gap for me. They’re particularly strong on artisan bakeries in Japan, both traditional and Western style ones, but they also feature wagashi (teaContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: FOOD⭐️STAR”
ESC #19: Dessert Bar (and suminagashi)
My friend Nicole, an art professor, came up with the idea of doing a little home suminagashi (paper marbling with Japanese ink) workshop for some friends, and I thought it sounded like a great time to clear out some desserts from my Try file in Paprika; apparently, when I save recipes, about 2 out ofContinue reading “ESC #19: Dessert Bar (and suminagashi)”