Category — ALL RECIPES

We have been getting the most gorgeous strawberries from a local farm stand out near Petaluma. In fact, we bought a 3-pack on Sunday morning and they were gone within a few hours. We stopped back at the stand for a full flat that afternoon, and after eating, sharing, and cooking pounds and pounds of strawberries for 24 hours – by Monday night they had all somehow disappeared.

One of the best things to come out of this strawberry extravaganza was these brown butter shortcakes. With the strawberries baked right into the fluffy, slightly sweet biscuits, all you need is a little ice cream or whipped cream and you’re good to go.

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We’re experiencing record high temperatures here in the Bay Area, which makes me want to eat light, bright dinners like this broiled halibut with chermoula. Chermoula is a versatile North African condiment made with toasted spices, cilantro, and parsley, and it goes beautifully with fish.

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I am kind of on a cocktail kick these days. Fresh off the success of my Dolores Park-inspired drink, I decided to take another stab at creating a sweet, spicy, tart cocktail. A sweltering spring day called for an ice-cold concoction with muddled strawberries, fresh lemon juice, vanilla paste, and a jalapeño slice. A healthy pour of vodka and some agave to sweeten it, and another great cocktail was born.

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I like eating edamame as a snack or appetizer, but boiled is just so blah. Since nearly everything is better roasted, I decided to toss some of the whole frozen pods with a couple of flavorful ingredients and roast them in the oven. This yielded a terrific snack that went from freezer to table in about 20 minutes flat.

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Ever since I made the incredible miso butter roast chicken from Use Real Butter, I have been trying to find as many other things as possible to slather with miso butter. In this recipe, I combined asparagus and Brussels sprouts and cooked them with a bit of wine, which gives the dish a tart note that offsets the butter and miso.

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There really is nothing better than a spoonful of slightly warm, wobbly, vanilla-scented custard… is there? I think it’s one of the most satisfying and comforting desserts of all time. This version is simple to make and comes out fabulously every time.

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Yesterday, we closed on a beautiful new house in the Castro, so we’ll be moving from our beloved flat off of Dolores Park. The new place needs about a year’s worth of construction before moving in–including lifting up the house three feet to add a garage. Only in San Francisco! Last night I made a special cocktail to toast this momentous occasion. Gin, lemon juice, cardamom bitters, agave syrup, and a muddled habañero pepper balance and layer perfectly. It’s tart, sweet, spicy, herbal, and complex–just like Dolores Park.

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I don’t know why more folks don’t use wine in cake batter. It makes for a very tender crumb and adds richness and acidity that’s especially welcome in a berry-laden cake like this one. And keeping the strawberries in big chunks lets them sink into the batter and transform each bite into jammy, gooey goodness.

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Another day, another snack. This time I took sweet potato slices to the oven, seasoned with salt, thyme, and a vinegar tang. Fantastic!

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I am a big-time snacker. I love a salty snack with wine or cocktails before dinner, during that afternoon lull around 3 PM when I get sleepy and unmotivated, and late at night watching a movie. I can’t just sit around eating bags of chips all day, so I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting snack ideas that aren’t totally terrible for me. These crispy edamame, seasoned with parmesan and garlic and baked in the oven, are the latest snack craze in my house.

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