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 [...]

gnocchi with sage cream sauce

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

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Gnocchi may take a lot of work to prepare, but fortunately they are served best with the simplest of cream-based sauces. This would also work well with any type of pasta, if you’re feeling indulgent. Adapted from Epicurious. Ingredients: 12 ounces gnocchi (frozen), 5-6 minced sage leaves, 2-3 shallots, handful of chopped walnuts, 2 Tablespoons butter, [...]

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. [...]

chicken legs smothered in gravy

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

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After all the turkey we ate last week, you’d think the last thing I’d be craving is more poultry. But, chicken legs are a great way to save some money and balance out the grocery budget. This recipe, from November’s Food & Wine magazine, has a nice bacon and tomato-based gravy that tastes [...]

stir fry bok choy with ginger and garlic

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

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You might have noticed the greens peeking out under the steak I posted yesterday. They were a perfect complement to the steak, since it lent some extra ginger garlic sauce for dipping the meat into. This dish could also work with a little rice and maybe some simple grilled salmon. I found [...]

grilled halibut and vegetables provencale

Thursday, July 16, 2009

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My little container herb garden is growing like crazy these days, and I’m finding more ways than ever to incorporate them in unexpected ways (see this Bufala Negra drink for an unconventional way to enjoy basil). This recipe for grilled halibut and vegetables with fresh herbes de Provence caught my eye, as a way [...]

animal style burger

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

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Anyone who has ever traveled with me to the West coast knows that I’m obsessed with In-n-out Burger. When I was a vegetarian years ago, a co-worker of mine raved about “a burger that needs its own diaper”: the double-double animal style. I was on a business trip in Vegas shortly after coming [...]

mustard and mayo glazed asparagus

Monday, June 8, 2009

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I’ve always been wary of heating or cooking mayonnaise. I avoid recipes that call for mixing it in and then baking (like a lot of spinach artichoke dips, for example), presumably holding on to some superstition from my youth that hot mayo will make you sick. Well, it was a huge surprise for [...]

olive tapenade stuffed chicken

Thursday, April 23, 2009

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Chicken thighs are cheap, but I’m always at a loss for how to make them. Recently I’ve been searching for new ways to try them, and found a recipe on foodblogsearch.com that was really compelling (3 exclamation points convinced me). I made some modifications, but it’s basically just chicken thighs rolled around a [...]

tzatziki sauce

Monday, March 23, 2009

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Tzatziki sauce, or the Greek yogurt-cucumber sauce, is really quite easy to make. I could have picked any number of simple recipes on Epicurious or in my “food ideas binder” that I’ve been saving. But when it came down to it - pita dough was rising, pork was marinating - I wanted to [...]