I asked my Mom for a couple of Chinese New Year recipes to give to you, and here is one she came up with, called 100 Flower Blossoms. This dish is meant to wish you a blossoming and beautiful beginning in the new year. Mom chose broccoli and cauliflower for their...
Chinese Marbled Tea Egg Recipe
This Marbled Tea Egg recipe serves up eggs with a beautiful marbled surface. They are simmered in a savory liquid with star anise, cinnamon sticks, Sichuan peppercorns, and black tea until soaked with the flavors of the spices and a refreshing tea fragrance. They look...
Cannellini Bean Spread Recipe
I wrote and rewrote this paragraph four times (Can you see the groove the delete key has made?), and each time I failed to capture just exactly what I want to say. So, at the risk of sounding like an infatuated, love-struck married woman, I'm just gonna put it out...
Honey Soy Skirt Steak with Shitake Mushroom Recipe
The trouble with food writers writing about their favorite things is that one of two things usually happens: Either the product runs out or the prices get jacked up. Sometimes with enough hype, both happen. It pains me so much that I used to be able to buy skirt steak...
Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Chili Mayo Recipe
This was one of the recipes that I had wanted to include in my cookbook, but totally forgot about it! Too late now, as all my recipes and photos have been submitted to the publisher. boo for me but yay for you! And yay for Nathan, who loves Coconut Shrimp with Sweet...
Lamb Kabob with Spicy Mango Chutney and Whipped Feta Recipe
Click for 6 additional photos of Lamb Kabob with Spicy Mango Chutney and Whipped Feta It's not easy trying to come up with great recipes I think you all will enjoy. Some weeks, I just want to cuddle up on the couch and French kiss a bag of Styrofoam cheese puffs. But...
Duck Breast with Sweet and Sour Cranberry Chutney Recipe
I got a chance to chat with Asian superstar chef Ming Tsai and ask him about his holiday plans - he's preparing a slow roasted lamb for his family and gave me some tips for my Christmukkah meal. I'm making Ming's Seared Duck Breast with Sweet and Sour Cranberry...
Crispy Crepes with Apple, Brie and Prosciutto
(click on above image for 6 additional photos) Thanksgiving is always about the dinner, and it seems as though every food story and recipe out there features the turkey, side dishes or dessert for the main meal. So, I thought I'd do something a little different and...
How to Sharpen Your Knives
ch um...okay, I lied. I'm not going to talk much about SHARPENING knives...but rather HONING or STEELING your knives. But I think most home cooks think that using the rod pictured above is for sharpening. Read on - I've interviewed Chad Ward, a knife expert and author...
Stir Fried Beef and Nectarines Recipe
Click on image for a photoset of 9 additional images (including one shot taken with my point and shoot camera) What you'll learn: How to properly cut your nectarines (or peaches!) for this Stir Fried Beef and Nectarines Recipe The ideal way to fry (not steam!)...
Broccoli Beef Recipe
The ultimate Chinese Beef and Broccoli recipe: learn how to get perfect crisp-crunchy broccoli florets and succulent and tender beef with a savory marinade and simple stir-frying techniques. Why this Beef and Broccoli recipe works: Sure, it's easy to throw everything...
Club Med Salsa Mexicana and Guacamole
(click on the above photo for a slideshow of 11 photos with food photography/styling commentary) While at Club Med Ixtapa, I ate more chips, salsa mexicana and guacamole than possible for a person my size. A big plate like this accompanied almost every single one of...
Warm Fig, Apple and Gorgonzola Flatbread
Update 12/8/09 I'm thrilled to share that I'm a featured blogger for Oprah's Holiday 2009 where this recipe is being featured! *** While I love to make my own pizza or flatbread dough from scratch, sometimes I just don't feel like getting my hands all messy with...
Artisan Steak Tasting
"So, have you ever thought about doing a steak tasting?" was the start of the first emails I'd gotten from Carrie Oliver of Oliver Ranch Company. I was intrigued, but wasn't convinced that the taste of steak could go much more beyond the grades of tough Select,...
Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Soy Browned Butter
(slideshow of 10 step-by-step photos that led up to the money-shot of the Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Soy Browned Butter) My inbox is filled with emails from supporters of the "eating local" movement, urging people to consume food that is grown and produced in...
Lamb Chops with Curried Pears
See shot-by-shot commentary of photos that led up to the money shot. Rock Star Chef Kerry Simon A couple of weeks ago during a trip to Los Angeles, I bumped into rock star chef Kerry Simon at every kitchen fanatic's dream bookstore, The Cook's Library. What elevates...
Chinese Chicken Salad
(click on photo for shot-by-shot food styling and photography analysis of some of the photos that led up to the "money shot") Chinese restaurants in China don't really have Chinese Chicken Salad on their menus, it's a creation of Chinese-American restaurants!...
Sweet and Sour Chicken
When Elise asked me to be a guest writer for Simply Recipes, we decided to take Chinese favorites and make them better, lighter and easier to cook at home. So, I grabbed a take-out menu from the local Chinese restaurant and I will be working my way around those...
Thai Curry Beef Skewers + Guest Writer for Martha Stewart
I'm a guest writer over at Martha Stewart Everyday Food! Have you been to their website? They've got thousands of recipes, all of them simple and perfect for dinner tonight. My kids made Thai Curry Beef Skewers and Grilled Banana with Dark Chocolate for them. Come on...
Meeting Food Network’s Dave Lieberman
So, what do you say to break the ice when you meet one of People Magazine's 50 Hottest Bachelors? bluhbhlubhlbuhbbbbbb We'll I'm going to let you guess what I said (and let you win something cool) A few nights ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dave Lieberman,...