A Hungry Bear

thomas keller’s yabba dabba do

Monday, December 14, 2009

I picked up Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry cookbook a few months ago, and it’s one of the few that I’ve read cover to cover. The photographs in it are stunning - it really belongs on the coffee table. I’ve only mustered up the courage to make a couple of things from the book, since [...]

new york strip and fall vegetable roast with mustard cream sauce

Thursday, December 3, 2009

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I think I’ve finally started to cook enough roasts that I’m starting to get the hang of it. The most important thing I’ve learned is that you absolutely have to use a meat thermometer, and start checking it not even halfway through the amount of time you think it will need to cook. [...]

stout-braised brisket

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

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To use up the rest of the stout I got for the chocolate stout cupcakes I made last week, I turned to Epicurious. I’ve always thought of brisket as a vehicle for barbecue sauce, so the depth of flavor this dish had without any tomato-based sauce was pretty surprising. Next time I make [...]

jamie oliver’s spaghetti tetrazzini

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

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When I first purchased Jamie Oliver’s cookbook, Jamie’s Italy, I seriously considered making every recipe in the book. I’m not sure why I slowed down with that quest, since I picked it back up again the other day and found another 10 things I want to cook right away. This particular recipe [...]

summer vegetables with chili garlic sauce and deep-fried tofu

Thursday, September 3, 2009

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I know this post is a pretty big departure from the normal meat and potatoes (or meat and pasta) focus of my usual recipes. For whatever reason, maybe some residual effect of seeing Food Inc, I’ve just felt a little more conscious of our meat consumption lately. Nothing extreme, just realizing that I [...]

braised chinese cabbage

Thursday, June 18, 2009

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The picture doesn’t look much more appetizing than the words “braised cabbage”, does it? But I promise this is actually really good. There’s sauteed mushrooms, and toasted sesame oil - so much flavor you won’t even know you’re eating healthy vitamin-packed bok choy or chinese cabbage. Again, I have to get creative [...]

asparagus & mushroom salad with parmesan dressing

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

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I found this simple recipe for roasted asparagus with sauteed mushrooms and a Parmesan reduction dressing (described as a warm “salad”) in Food & Wine a couple of months ago. The torn-out page has been in my food ideas binder for a long time, until I made it, and I think I accidentally tossed [...]

pasta with asparagus, peas & bacon

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

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I should try to play this off as an intentionally designed menu, to celebrate spring with new fresh produce etc… But actually I realized I had nothing planned for dinner, a bunch of asparagus and a few mushrooms in the fridge that were about to go bad, and half a slab of bacon. [...]

the bread bible’s pizza

Friday, March 13, 2009

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You know how you start noticing something all the time only when it becomes important to you? Like you never notice different styles of roof shingles until you need to roof your house, or you really start noticing people’s glasses when you find out you need them yourself? (Maybe it’s just me.) [...]

cream of wild mushroom soup

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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This recipe has been in my bookcase since… college maybe? I remember the first time I made it, transferring batches of the soup into my blender, thinking I was being so efficient by filling the blender to the brim, only to have cream of mushroom soup explode all over my little rental apartment. [...]