08.05.07

Eye of Newt, Blood of Pig: The black pudding variations

No, we’re not done with the pig’s blood just yet.
In fact, I’ve a feeling there could be 38 different dishes you can cook with Black Pudding. Thirty-eight at the very least.
Not that I plan on naming them all here.
In fact, I’ll just mention two or three.
First off: Chopper’s Lancashire Hotpot. [...]

05.01.07

Mac-n-Cheese: The Final Frontier

Prologue:
At first, I was horrified. Cookiecrumb and Kevin hosting a Mac-n-Cheese event? But I can’t! You don’t understand. I just can’t. I cried to Chopper: Look what they’re doing, I said. How cruel. How evil. Can I ever forgive them? If you make mac-n-cheesy goodness and [...]

16.12.06

Paper Chef Mystic #23: The Curse Defying Edition

It was the event that almost wasn’t. The event that re-emerged from the abyss, from the long lost annals of Gastroblogian history, stifled by photographic traumas, by the death cries of a computer far past its prime, and by the evils of a creature known only by the minacious name Blogger BETA.
The event, Paper [...]

08.09.06

Chopper’s Lab: Menudo - not just a boy band!

Most people recoil in horror when they are told what the primary ingredient is in the classic Mexican breakfast dish menudo. No, it’s not Ricky Martin…
The first time I ever tried menudo was at a tiny Mexican cafe in San Diego back in the mid-nineties. My friends told me it was good, and having never [...]

04.09.06

La Festa al Fresco: A Farmers Market Bounty


07.08.06

Paper Chef 20: The Final Island Edition

This is our last Paper Chef in this house.
In two and a half weeks, we’ll be moving back to Portland after 20 months of camping out and caregiving on an island we only occasionally called home. I can’t say that we’ll miss this disastrously tiny and ill-equipped kitchen, but we will have [...]

15.07.06

The Spice is Right: Salmon Ceviche

Finally!
For the past three months we’ve had a hankering in the worst way to participate in Barbara’s The Spice is Right over at Tigers and Strawberries, and for the past three months, our cooking schedule (such as it is) has failed us. But not this time! Not when chiles are on the [...]

12.07.06

Piggy Goes to War

(In our so-tardy-it-shouldn’t-count second entry for Paper Chef, we stick close to home for our tale of Independence. How close to home? Oh, about 400 yards up the road. And as for that tardy thing — what was it the late, great Douglas Adams once said? Oh yes: “I love [...]

10.07.06

Paper Chef #19: Tamales de Guajolote en Nopales

Paper Chef, July Independence Edition
The ingredients

Corn
Ground Coriander
Pine Nuts
And (from Kevin at Seriously Good): The wild card for this event is Independence Day. Whether you’re American, Ethiopian, Chilean, or Thai, create a recipe that celebrates your nation’s emancipation from its previous rulers or form of government or whatever other thing celebrated to honor nationhood. [...]

05.07.06

Chopper, Beach Gourmet

And now, the celebration post, in which Chopper Dave explains the glorious meal he presented for Mrs D on the occasion of their second anniversary. Alas, no maid outfits, no cotton candy, just fine cooking under a crescent moon on the rocky western shore of San Juan.

As most of you are aware, it was [...]

01.07.06

Vodka Watermelon Canada Day Sorbet

Our tiny kitchen in this home away from home of ours is rife with tragedies (don’t get me started on this week’s flood), but during the hottest of summer days, perhaps our greatest sadness comes not from the kitchen itself but from our lack of an ice cream maker. True, ice cream with actual [...]

08.05.06

Paper Chef #17: Tapas! Tapas! Tapas!

tapas … Chopper made all four of these dishes at once so we could have a true tapas spread (and I could go a little nuts with the photography). I garnished everything with herbs from our garden, quickly snapped away, and then we dug in. And oh, was it good.

30.03.06

Fusing the Wild Vindaloo

pizza vindaloo … But, where the vindaloo mutations on board the good ship Red Dwarf are quite dangerous and must be dealt with (Leopard Lager into the beast’s maw generally does the trick), here on Earth, and at Casa Belly Timber, we find the notion of vindaloo mutations quite intriguing and potentially delicious. …

24.03.06

Healthy, Schmelthy

scotch eggs … Imagine if you will, a hard boiled egg (and already you’ve got some dietician’s voice in your ear, yammering away about bad cholesterol).

Now imagine covering the egg in a layer of deep fried sausage.

Yes, Scotch eggs are that evil. …

11.03.06

Mr. Pibb + Pork = Crazy Delicious

crazy delicious So it’s gettin’ near lunch — time to make some burritos.
Let’s put in something weird!
Like a big bag of Cheetos?
That’s gross!
Yeah I know - hey this’ll satisfy your wishes:
Mr. Pibb + Pork = Crazy Delicious!

Yes we know. There is a special place in hell reserved for us for this post. …

07.03.06

Sin, Quantified

triple chocolate mousse cake … Chopper makes this cake at work. Patrons weep tears of joy over it. I, however, can eat no more than one tiny bite per sitting due to the ultimate evil known as “heavy cream.” If you make this cake and love it, please weep for me. …

15.02.06

Paper Chef #15: Mighty Aphrodite

paper chef 15… Now, I have a personal favorite aphrodisiac. It’s a combination of dark chocolate and Barry White. Gets me every time. …

01.02.06

Chopper’s Cheap Eats: Oxtail

oxtail… First, I found one of my favorite main items in the meat case — oxtail — cheap! $1.49 a pound, and it was the good stuff too — from Misty Isle Farms, near Seattle — so I got two packs. Total so far: $6.50 …

11.01.06

Paper Chef #14: Quinoa Moai

qionoa salmon Babies? What were you people thinking?

Oh, wait. That was us. …

02.01.06

All is lazy on New Year’s Day

new year's day… Football, and the perfect lazy breakfast utility food: the tortilla española.

12.12.05

Cook ‘n Books: Cookies and Rockets!

Jay's cookies … I’ve got a secret to tell you: There’s a UFO hidden in my best friend’s barn.

Actually, that’s not my secret, it’s Vernon Dunham’s secret and I’ll get to Vernon in just a moment. My secret is this: When I’m not doing the food blogging thing, I’m doing the genre fiction thing. …

05.12.05

Paper Chef Lucky 13: Oooh, Fishy, fishy, fishy, fish…

leaping fish… Whoa. Okay, okay, we’re not really going to cook penguin. They’re too cute and fluffy, and honestly where is one supposed to find penguin meat on this short notice? …

18.11.05

Seattle/Stew

irish stew … What does one do after a crazy/busy week full of deadlines and dilemmas? Why one jaunts off to Seattle for the day! …

13.11.05

WDB #9, with Onion Rings

onion rings … Serve with ketchup or barbecue sauce or whatever other condiments you have in your fridge, and — of course — with any left over beer. … Turn on the TV and watch the Seahawks stomp the Rams. …

10.11.05

Mussaman Curry Lamb with Orange and Jasmine Rice

mussaman curry… Mrs D. says: I think I died and went to Thai curry heaven. Seriously, this one rocked our little culinary world. We loved it so much, Chopper made it twice. (And I will force him to make it again, and again, and again…)

01.11.05

Pizza!

pizza… From the crispy, thin crusted, simply topped, New York style, to the hearty, cheesy, thick crusted pan style pizza of Chicago, to the “specialty gourmet” pizzas that originated on the west coast, and infinite others, pizza is one of the most diverse food offerings to share a single name. …

17.10.05

Curry Paste for months!

mortal and pestle… Then, wonder of wonders, I met a chef. Okay, he wasn’t exactly a chef when I met him, but point is, he knew things. Wondrous things. Like: You can make curry paste at home! Really! You can! …

11.10.05

Paper Chef #11: Just Ducky

ravioli … This was the point when we (Mrs. D and I) thought: “How can we make this dish even more fancy?” When we spotted the oregano growing in our yard, the idea came. We took our pasta dough and rolled it out almost as thin as filo, thus allowing one to see things through it. …

05.10.05

Mom’s Secret Stash: Irish Soda Bread

irish soda bread … This book is a Mom Favorite and I’m convinced it’s not just because of the simple, rustic recipes inside, but because of the title. Trust me, in our house growing up, it was all about being Poor Poets. …

28.09.05

Mom’s Secret Stash: Hungarian Goulash

hungarian goulash… Now, here’s what I didn’t realize until a recent browse though The Round-the- — Cookbook: This cookbook contains recipes that I grew up believing were family recipes. All this time I thought family recipes originated on index cards in Mom’s handwriting with multitudes of grease, butter, oil, vanilla, and tomato sauce stains. But no. Now, all I can think is: Hey! Mom! You cheated!

16.09.05

SHF #12: A Custard for all Seasons

custard … In my own personal actor’s nightmare, it goes more like this:

Thomas’ mother enters: “I’ve brought you a custard,” she says and stumbles slightly causing the custard to fly up into the air and land, face down on the stage in front of the gathered cast. …

06.09.05

Paper Chef #10: the New Orleans edition

jambalayaChopper and I have never been to New Orleans and in fact just two weeks ago or less we were brainstorming a potential trip around the country and naming our must-see cities. New Orleans was at the top of my list. I still want to go, though I know it’ll be a while yet. I want to see the New Orleans that once was and will be again. I want to fall in love with her as so many of my friends have. …

12.08.05

SHF #11: The Celestial Coffee Edition

swift tuttle comet truffle … So, here I am, flying solo. Granted, Chopper came home for a brief respite between lunch and dinner shifts and spun me some sugar, but the rest of it is mine, all mine, baby.

And, as usual, I got a little carried away. …

09.08.05

Paper Chef #9: Summer of Prawns

summer of prawns … But what to do about ingredient #4? We had ripe items in our garden, but we wanted something other than a vegetable and Chopper was getting this serious hankering for a Caribbean-themed meal. That’s it, I said, let’s go to the farmer’s market and see if Spot Prawn Guy is there. …

02.08.05

IMBB #17: Two TasteTea Treats

tea smoked oysters …I had a bucket of the puppies crying to be shucked, he McGuyvered up a smoker with drying rack, pie tin, and skillet lid, and provided us with some to-die-for Jasmine Tea Smoked Oysters with Garlic Green Tea Emulsified Vinaigrette. …

27.06.05

IMBB#16: The well-armored egg

souffle in armor … Then (our first trauma), Chopper Dave had to remind me that soft boiled egg yolks are slippery, and the salmon roe would probably glumph into oblivion two seconds after contact. Damn. So much for this week’s crazy idea. …

01.06.05

End of the Month Eggs on Toast #7

eggs in a basket For this, our new culin’ry quest,
We’ve cooked up some eggs, as you’ve guessed.
We took bread for this vittle,
And carved out the middle
And behold, we’ve got Eggs in a Nest!

09.05.05

Paper Chef #6: Just Desserts?

duck confit … We cook to take our minds off the burdens we carry outside the kitchen. We cook so we can lose ourselves in the near-synesthetic experience of an extraordinary meal. We cook to discover the unexpected. …

22.04.05

SHF #7: It Is The Rabbit!

molassess zabaglione Molasses. Color me strange, but I really like the stuff. Maybe it’s those fond memories of home baked gingerbread cookies at Christmas time and me sneaking a spoonful straight from the bottle, or maybe it’s just the label with that grand old rabbit …

15.04.05

Comfort me good

comfort food … Comfort foods (or so they say) have everything to do with two things: childhood memories, and that sweet/fat combo that acts as an instant stress-reliever (well, at least until the next trip to the scales). Mac and cheese, chicken soup, a big dish of chocolate ice cream…

04.04.05

Diving in: Paper Chef #5

quitatta … As soon as we see the list — goat cheese, sherry vinegar, prosciutto, green garlic — he’s talking pizza. For about five minutes. Then the brainstorm hits. A new creation, half quiche, half frittata. That’s it! We’ll make a Quittata! …