morsels & sauces

Friends, there are so many kinds of kimchi, it's almost overwhelming.   Here are just a few:  10 different kinds of kimchi   and   7 more kinds .   And, people, that's just the tip of the cabbage--there are about 200 more kinds (at least according to   Lucky Peach ). This strong, briny, and  somewhat fizzy amalgamation of veggies is steeped in ginger and g ochugaru (red pepper flakes) for a few days or a few months. And it is so tasty. In all its forms. It should come as so surprise that I have never turned from any banchan (those delectable little side dishes served at Korean restaurants)--fermented, salted, fresh, fried, or otherwise.  Given my proclivities for morsels and sauces, you can imagine that banchan is my favorite part of a Korean meal. And kimchi is always well represented--in its many forms--among banchan . And in my attempts to be a better educated kimchi eater, I can pass on this much about kimchi (with so...

Happy New Year! So if you're in Ohio, West Virginia, or Pennsylvania, and you're from German stock, you just might be eating what we are slurping down today--Brats and Sauerkraut. Like many good luck foods that usher in a new year, the German tradition of eating pork and sauerkraut come  from a long and   superstitious line . From hoppin' john to New Year's doughnuts (I love the Dutch!), feasts of good luck are served all over the world.  But let's face it: the main reason we're eating this dish is because the sauerkraut is darned good. Especially if you make it yourself. Okay, let me take a long divergence into the world of fermentation--a world where sauerkraut is a resident. I am learning how to make small batch kombucha, something I have been wanting to do for a while . I am on my third batch. The first was a massive success in terms of taste, but my scoby didn't grow. So I did a little reading, and it...

What I love the most about my CSA box is the surprise every Tuesday. While Full Belly Farm sends an email newsletter on Monday announcing what they will be sending, I like to resist that siren call and to open the box to find tomatoes and grapes and basil and potatoes.  It's like my own Tuesday-afternoon version of Chopped. Recently one of my mystery ingredients was cabbage. As in more cabbage . As in this is the third time I have gotten cabbage this summer. I never knew there wold be so much cabbage in July.  While certainly this is the tail end of the season for cabbage, it is the key ingredient in all of your slaw needs this summer.  And what better way to make a slaw than one that accompanies an ahi tuna poke bowl?  Have you noticed, by the way, the recent popularity in rice bowl cooking?  They're  everywhere .  As in   everywhere .  Everywhere .  This fascination with servi...

Nope.  It's not possible to have a simpler--or more satisfying--summer dinner.  This week in the CSA box, we were gifted both cabbage and potatoes. In my Midwestern upbringing, this might mean a heavy meal of German Brats and Sauerkraut or smack of Irish (or New England) Boiled Dinner .  Don't get me wrong. I love both. But they both feel a little heavy for a July dinner, don't you think? Deborah Madison, described by Lucky Peach as the "Queen of Greens,"  is America's answer to what to do with the CSA box question.   She is also one of my heroes .  She argues that Summer Braised Cabbage (combined with potatoes and dill and a smattering of fresh feta) will keep dinner on the lighter side, lift the spirits, and keep it all a bit simple in the process. Don't we all need that? Plus, we got to use some of the feta made by the husband-cum-fromager. Seriously, he's getting pretty good at this cheesemaking thing. And thank...

There's a lot of pressure when you put the definite article the  in front of anything. You're suggesting that yours is the one and o nly, the end all be all, the real deal. Such is the case with Ithai Schori and Chris Taylor's hamburger recipe from Twenty Dinners.  They claim that they, in fact, have  The  Hamburger Recipe. I'll let you determine this for yourself. But it is worth the experiment. The somewhat fatty meat lends moisture.  The bourbon lends noticeable and welcome sweetness.  The jalapeno gives a little heat and pop.  The sheer quantity of onions guarantees super juiciness.  This is a nice change of pace from your everyday hamburger.   Seriously, you want to give this a try, don't you?  Pile with grilled red cabbage (or heap it on the side, as I did), and you have a real burger. The slaw was perhaps is a little oily for my taste--you might cut a little of the oil yourself, but the ...