If you have been to San Francisco’s revered restaurant Gary Danko, then you know the ingredients are the epitome of seasonal foods at their peak. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of enjoying a dinner at Gary Danko with my mom and corn-loving brother. While my mom and I selected scallop and lobster appetizers, my brother ordered the corn soup. I have been trying to replicate this ethereal sweet corn experience ever since.
As I approach 40, I’ve started to think more about what goes in my garbage. ]There are so many ways to repurpose the “undesirable” aspects of ingredients in order to not only reduce waste but also improve flavor. Not to mention that you paid just as much for the “undesirable” aspect of the ingredient as you did for the desirable part. So why not make use of the intense shrimp umami flavor hiding in the shrimp heads and shells by making a simple shrimp stock? Yes, it does take a few extra minutes of prep work, but your taste buds, wallet, and planet will thank you later.
Cape Cod lobster is worthy of an opera. The sweetness of the tail meat, the tenderness of the knuckles, and smell of briny, salty Cape Cod water that lingers on your palate the next morning. This lobster bisque is my ode to Uncle Frank and my way of ensuring that I waste nothing. After we have enjoyed fresh steamed lobsters, I ensure all the meat is removed from the bodies and the legs have been rolled. The shells get combined with whatever vegetables I have readily available (carrot, leek, celery) and submerged in water to make a stock. The stock yields an extra depth of lobster flavor to the bisque.
For my grandmother’s 102nd birthday, we did a steakhouse themed birthday dinner. (Anyone who makes it to 102 deserves a steakhouse dinner.) But, the creamed spinach was just eh. I resigned myself to enjoy creamed spinach when at a restaurant. Until, I received a LOT of beautiful spinach in my weekly CSA box.
There is something magical about Christmas themed treats. For me, sugar cookies are the epitome of Christmas sweets with Italian flag cookies taking a close second. And now, what birthday party or baby shower is complete without themed sugar cookie? I’m not talking about the Pillsbury sugar cookie rolls that you slice and bake. Although, these do evoke a certain childhood nostalgia since they had to fill in the gap years when my mom went on a sugar cookie baking hiatus. I’m talking about the painstaking make-from-scratch sugar cookie dough that you hope might roll out correctly. Then, you pray that the dough will hold its shape as you press the copper or steel cookie cutters into the soft sugar dough.
These are not “authentic” Maryland crab cakes. But what else would you expect from a native Mississippian? This is my version of Maryland crab cakes, but feel free to tinker with the recipe, which is forgiving. Just please don’t substitute the Old Bay Seasoning. It is essential for a Maryland crab cake.
This is not your traditional kitschy Italian restaurant chicken marsala. There will be no attached photos of perfectly browned chicken basking in a caramel-colored marsala cream sauce accented by a few small mushrooms. This is a mountain of rosemary scented roasted mushrooms sandwiched in between creamy mashed potatoes and buttermilk-sage fried chicken.
As I cooked my way through The Foster’s Market Cookbook, I stumbled upon a recipe for basil mayonnaise. I don’t even like mayonnaise. I soon discovered that I loved basil mayonnaise. This is the version that I have settled upon with plenty of lemon juice and garlic alongside the basil.
