Alien Pods (Fig and Goat Cheese Salad with Balsamic Glaze)

Here's one more Halloween recipe before I switch my focus to fall comfort food and holiday cooking. I'll keep it short and sweet wit...

Spicy Salami Spread (Nduja) – Almost Instant Soft Serve Salami

I’m not saying this spicy salami spread is as good as traditional nduja, but I am saying this takes about 3 months less time to make, and st...

Sweet Potato Soufflés – Even Easier Than Easy

Soufflés have always had the reputation for being a difficult, and temperamental thing to make, which I’ve never really understood. As long ...

Baked Potato Puffs – A New Way to Pomme Dauphine from a Potato Fiend

The hardest line cook job I ever had was working the broiler station at the Carnelian Room, where on a busy night I’d prepare over 250 steak...

Abracadabra Platter (Purple Crudite and Cheese Tray)

It's been a few months since my last post. My best laid plans for my annual "Summer of Halloween" never quite got going this y...

Avocado Ricotta Crostini – Start Spreading the News

Michele and I were in Oakland recently, at a restaurant called Southie , when I saw something I’d never seen before; avocado and ricotta che...

Apple Butter – Everything Apple Sauce Wishes It Could Be

Sure this apple butter recipe takes many hours to cook, but the recipe is quite easy (after you slice 5 pounds of apples), and once done, yo...

Summer Tomato Tart – Better Than a Nude Beach

One of these days Michele and I will travel to the south of France, where we’ll make it a point to eat this amazing tomato tart at least onc...

Poutine – You'll Ruin French Fries and Like It

As the old joke goes, it takes a lot of time and effort to make poutine, but at least when you’re finally done you get to eat soggy fries. A...

Homemade Cheese Curds – Plan B

Making your own cheese curds at home requires several special ingredients, takes many, many hours, and there are a lot of steps. Other than ...

Roasted Zombie Brain (Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower)

I have a huge crush on purple cauliflower. I mean take a look at this gorgeousness! Cauliflower is an easy vegetable to transform into Hallo...

Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao) – Sweet, Steamy Memories

In younger, leaner times, I’d often rely on the delicious, inexpensive calorie bomb that is the steamed barbecue pork bun. They were twice t...

Lemon Jalapeño Marinated Mussels – Definitely My First or Second Favorite Way to Eat Mussels

I might give you a different answer in the middle of February, when there’s nothing better than a hot bowl of mussels, swimming in some kind...