Category Archives: jay

I hosted a dinner party last night and my friends asked me how I pulled it off all by myself. I told them about ESC and said I just kinda had it down to a science after cooking for 6-9 people every other-ish week for the past 2 years…. But it took a little reflectionContinue reading “Dinner Party Tips & Tricks”

I’ve been cooking at altitude (4500 ft above sea level and above) for my whole life with a couple of brief exceptions, and it’s a lot simpler than cookbooks make it seem if you understand two basic principles: After all my bragging about simplifying things, I do have to point out three exceptions to theContinue reading “Cooking and Baking at Altitude”

In the interest of historical accuracy, my tombstone should read, right under the dates: “This is how long you can make it basically on Greek yoghurt.” I was a picky eater as a kid, had a touchy stomach in my 20s, and have been a lousy planner ever since–which means a spoonful of plain GreekContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Plain Greek Yoghurt”

This is an essay I pitched to a food blog I used to follow, but they didn’t take it, so I’m posting it here! People who love tea often love chocolate, but pairing those indulgences isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. Grown in similar climates on different continents, tea leaves and cacao beans have complex flavor profiles that don’tContinue reading “Pairing Tea and Chocolate”

I have a few go-to ingredients when I need to punch up the flavor of a dish, and unusually for my cooking style—where I like to stick pretty close to whatever tradition I’m working from and not get too fusion-y—I use these ingredients completely indiscriminately. They’re flavor powerhouses, basically: Pomegranate molasses: This has a lip-smackingContinue reading “Unauthorized Uses: Secret Ingredient Edition”

I figured out the grating butter trick the way I figure out almost every hack I have: by being lazy efficient. I keep my butter in the freezer b/c I can’t stand the “refrigerator burn” it gets when it picks up the random smells of the other things in the ‘frig with it. But thatContinue reading “Grating Butter”