I was told once that the American food that most fascinates foreigners is the Thanksgiving feast. The immutable menu of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie has become an image that those in other countries long to experience. I was surprised …
These are the mashed potatoes that were served at all family gatherings when I was growing up, and I’m pretty sure they are the best out there. I know that I have a certain amount of bias, seeing as these are the taters of my …
For those of us living in tiny homes, vans, buses, and the like, Thanksgiving can be a difficult holiday to celebrate. It is a lot of cooking to be done in that tiny little kitchen. We made it doubly hard on ourselves by opting not to put an oven in our build. This glaring omission for a dedicated cook like myself necessitates a certain amount of creativity when it comes to cooking dishes like bread, pies, and, of course, the thanksgiving turkey. But being the dedicated (stubborn?) person that I am, I have spent months exploring the art of stove top baking and roasting, and I am happy to share that it is quite possible to make a whole Thanksgiving feast in your tiny kitchen. Continue reading Stovetop Roast Turkey
This here is Grandma’s Impossible Pie. We used to eat it every year at Christmas, and I have recently learned why: the “impossible” part of the name refers to how it must be impossible for such an easy pie to be so dang good, …
For me, this recipe is my childhood. Growing up this dish was, at least in my mind, Mom’s specialty. It was one of those special dinners that we didn’t have every week, but every time we did eat it, I wondered why we couldn’t have …
Steak Bearnaise is without a doubt one of the best dishes out there. What on earth is more luxurious than a fine piece of grilled beef drizzled with a hot butter sauce? Flavored with tarragon, shallots, and white wine vinegar, bearnaise sauce somehow adds both creamy decadence and a pleasant acidity to cut through the fat of the beef and butter. Continue reading Dad’s Steak Bearnaise
Furutsu sando is a subtle dessert that celebrates seasonal fruits, tastes delicious, and looks beautiful–sounds like Japanese patisserie. Something like a strawberry shortcake, furutsu sando is a sandwich made with whipped cream, whatever fruits are ripe at the time, and, traditionally, Japanese milk bread. It …
Yakitori, literally “grilled bird,” is a dish of grilled chicken, and is serious business in Japan. Like other culinary specialties in Japan (think sushi, tempura, ramen), there are many restaurants that only serve yakitori. These yakitori joints are hyper-specialized, serving up every part of the …
There is something undeniably wonderful about eating a big platter of sushi out in the middle of nowhere. It just feels so delightfully out of place to set out a tray of sushi rolls in a place that is miles from any water, much less an ocean. For this reason, sushi is one of our favorite fancy meals to make in the bus. That, and the fact that making sushi is actually really easy.
Soba noodles are a Japanese noodle made primarily from buckwheat flour. In parts of Japan, soba is the primary starch, and people often eat them several times a day. The noodles are nutty, slightly bitter, and delicious eaten both in hot soups and cold salads. …