Austin City Bites By Bob & Sue A weekend in the country’s fastest growing city (which embraces its reputation for being weird, as well as the Live Music Capital of the World) included memorable dinners at a prominent food critic’s three favorite restaurants: Qui Credit: Nicolai McCrary Philippine native Paul Qui delivers an eclectic combination of… Read More →
Wok Cooking Essentials Wok cooking is intimidating, but it’s the most versatile and handy tool in your kitchen. It can braise, fry, sauté, and even make a handy smoker (I use one of my woks fitted with a small inset grate to tea smoke duck and squab all the time). Because of its unique shape,… Read More →
Gift Ideas for the Cook in Your Life From fun stocking stuffers and edible indulgences (Roe Caviar, I’m looking at you), to inspiring cookbooks and splurge-worthy kitchen gadgets (who doesn’t want a high-powered blow torch for the perfect golden sear?), here is my gift giving guide for 2015. • • • EAT & DRINK READ … Read More →
Senegalese Summer Rolls By Pierre Thiam This recipe is obviously inspired by the classic Vietnamese summer roll. Senegal saw a wave of Vietnamese immigrants around the time of the First Indochina War while Vietnam and Senegal were both still under French colonial rule. Nems, our take on fried Vietnamese spring rolls, are a beloved staple… Read More →
Beautiful Cuisine from the Italian Riviera By Bob & Sue As the sister restaurant of Michael White’s Marea, Ai Fiori has a Michelin star and an exciting Italian menu. We had a hard time choosing among the many interesting courses but started with the lobster veloute, the chilled corn soup with crab, and a crudo of fluke with American sturgeon… Read More →
I received a lot of questions about this pickle picture on Instagram last week, so here’s the low down. For those of you who want to try it at home, I’ll walk you through my process. I put 15 pounds of washed and dried small pickling cukes—the average size was a little bit bigger than my… Read More →
Southern Ratatouille By Hugh Acheson I love Ratatouille. It screams “summer” in all the right ways and is a great place to put pounds of your garden’s bounty. When the tomato and squash harvests are getting a little out of control, this is the best way to use them up. Recipe from The Broad Fork… Read More →
In the Valley By Bob & Sue With “food churches” Meadowood and The French Laundry temporarily closed, we enjoyed comfort food at many of Napa’s popular restaurants: Cindy Pawlcyn’s Mustards Grill (Yountville) and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen (St. Helena) define modern California cuisine in fun environments with wonderful soups, a wide variety of appetizers, and innovative tweaks to the… Read More →
My next Quarterly box drops in just a few weeks. I’m thrilled with how it’s shaping up. I love surprises, but suck at keeping a secret, so when Quarterly said it was fine if I let a cat out of the bag this time around, I couldn’t wait. As a part of my #ZIM05 box,… Read More →
Chinese Cuisine at Home Chinese cooking has complex, technique-driven elements, which makes it a bit daunting for the average home cook. But if you’re as obsessed with it as I am, that shouldn’t stop you from cooking Chinese food in your own kitchen. So, I’d suggest that you get a great cookbook, and cook a… Read More →
Cookbook Gurus Brothers Matt and Ted Lee grew up in Charleston, South Carolina but attended colleges in Massachusetts. They so missed the foods from back home that they founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, a mail-order Southern food company. When an editor of Travel + Leisure magazine asked them to write a story about road-tripping their home state… Read More →
Spicy Thai Shrimp Salad By Andrew Zimmern This fragrant, fresh Thai shrimp salad hits the spot any time of year. If you can find them at your local Asian market, small Thai eggplant makes a superb addition.
Music City Food + Wine 2014 was the most intimate and fun food fest I have been to in years… Great out-of-town chefs, amazing local restaurateurs and food talent, superb food entrepreneurs and the most carefully-curated Grand Tasting Tent I have ever walked through. You gotta get there next year. Here are a few observations:… Read More →
Go Gourmet on Your Next Camping Trip By Andrew Zimmern For camping trips, I will make the vinaigrette for the mixed veg ahead of time. It keeps for three days very easily and is a great sauce for other grilled poultry or fish when you are looking to shine up a cookout meal.
From the culinary adventures of Bob & Sue… By Bob & Sue Venturing beyond such regular favorites as Coi and Quince while enjoying another great experience at Benu, we secured difficult reservations at these two interesting restaurants: Photo Credit: Dylan + Jeni State Bird Provisions This James Beard award winner for Best New Restaurant in… Read More →
Sin City Recommendations Las Vegas is wholly intoxicating, a city dedicated to sensory overload that’s all about being the biggest and the best. And while chefs from all over the country are generating a lot of great food in glamorous settings on the Strip, you won’t be sorry if you venture off the main drag… Read More →
A Guide to Atlanta’s Best Eats As the chef/partner of The National, Five & Ten, Cinco y Diez and Empire State South, Hugh Acheson’s interpretation of Southern food has earned him many accolades, including the James Beard award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2012. The Canadian-born chef is the author of the JBF award-winning cookbook A New Turn in the South, he’s… Read More →
A Classic Combination By Andrew Zimmern Family meal nights across America just got easier, healthier and budget-friendly. My kid begs for this recipe, and I love making it for him—look at how many veggies are crammed in there! The best part: This healthy, paleo recipe is Whole30 approved!
For the Love of Ramen Ivan Orkin’s path to culinary greatness is somewhat like folklore. A Jewish guy from Long Island falls in love with Japanese culture and cuisine, marries a Japanese woman and moves to Tokyo. In 2007, he opens a ramen shop as a gaijin (foreigner) in a city where residents are passionately… Read More →
Inspired by Chef Ed Lee By Andrew Zimmern I take any excuse I can find to make Louisville chef Ed Lee’s frog legs in fish sauce. I had the opportunity once to stand next to him while he made the dish and I was hooked right away. One day, however, I found myself without frog… Read More →
Old-School Japanese Curry By Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat Let’s dial it back to where it all began: old-school Japanese curry. Sweet-savory, fragrant, rich—and irresistible—this dish calls for the classic Japanese curry ingredients, that is, root vegetables, apple, and beef. And you thicken it using an old-fashioned roux, a French-style thickening agent for sauces made… Read More →
A Classic Combination By Andrew Zimmern Family meal night across America just got easier, and so did entertaining on a budget. Ratatouille paired with roast chicken pieces is a classic combination that even your kids will devour. If you care to, this dish works equally well with turkey quarters on the grill: Use the same… Read More →
Incendiary Chinese Cuisine Many consider Peter Chang to be the greatest Chinese chef cooking in America, and he has a devoted legion of followers to prove it. Chang’s food-obsessed groupies, who’ve spent years chasing the peripatetic chef across the country, are finally at peace now that he’s settled down in Virginia. At Peter Chang’s China Cafe you’ll… Read More →
Going Green in Cleveland At chef Jonathon Sawyer’s flagship Cleveland restaurant, The Greenhouse Tavern, he’s serving incredible French-inspired bistro fare made with local, seasonal ingredients. Not only is he a committed locavore, he’s also running Ohio’s first green certified restaurant, meaning he and his team focus on using recyclables (reclaimed wood paneling and concrete bar tops… Read More →
A Toast to the New Year During Rosh Hashanah at my house, you’ll find dishes ripe with raisins, apples, honey and pomegranate alongside the traditional brisket or roasted chicken and noodle kugel. My grandma’s chopped chicken liver always has a place at my table, but especially during the holidays. This time of year it’s so… Read More →
Savor the Last Days of Summer This end-of-August heat wave has me digging through the archives for refreshing, light recipes for my Labor Day get-together. Here are a few ideas for appetizers and sides that’ll cool you down, from citrusy tomatillo salsa and pistachio-studded guacamole to tuna and cherry ceviche. If you’re looking for an… Read More →
San Francisco’s Pastry Star Melissa Chou has presided over pastries at San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Aziza for the past five years, creating impressive desserts that wowed the folks at the James Beard Foundation (she was a finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2012 and 2013) and San Francisco Magazine, which named her Pastry Chef of the Year… Read More →
Alternatives for the Grill Step away from the traditional burgers and brats, and celebrate the unofficial start of summer with one of these recipes. Grilled lamb is a favorite in my family, it reminds me of little taverns all over Sardinia that serve perfectly charred, herb-infused lamb lollipops. Or get adventurous and try the rich… Read More →
China’s Modern Metropolis By Bob & Sue The food in Shanghai can be a bit sweeter and browner in color than that of its northern neighbor in Beijing, but many of the local foods are available highly spicy if you ask. Lost Heaven offers outstanding food at several locations, with dishes such as delicious kung pao… Read More →
A Sardinian Specialty One of my favorite rites of spring is the first lamb grill of the season, which always reminds me of a family trip to Sardinia, where little taverns serve grilled lamb on the bone with salads like this caponata (an eggplant dish with pine nuts and anchovies). I compose the dish on my plate with cheese, vegetables… Read More →
