Coffee Braised Pork

When you slow-cook pork in a delicious braising liquid, two awesome things happen – the pork becomes so tender it literally falls apart, and the meat absorbs all the juiciness and flavor of the liquid. When that liquid is coffee… it’s magical. If you dry rub pork with coffee grounds then braise it,  you’re basically…

Spicy Sausage & Mushroom Tomato Sauce Pasta

I adored this spicy sausage and mushroom tomato sauce pasta when I was a kid. My mom always made it with spaghetti noodles, and half the fun was watching my brother eat it. He would suck each individual noodle through his lips, and then eat the sausage and mushrooms later. By the end of the…

Lettuce-less Salad

Sometimes salad kinda bums me out, because even a big bowl of it seems like it’s mostly air. Plus it doesn’t keep well as leftovers once you’ve put the dressing on – nobody likes soggy, wilting lettuce leaves. So this lettuce-less salad is awesome, because it’s a hearty salad you can really dig into. I…

Sesame Snow Pea Salad

Often snow peas come pre-packaged in a one-pound bag, so when I buy them to use in my Creamy Pea Salad (go here for the Guessipe), I end up with quite a lot leftover. I was looking for something other than stir-fry to do with them, and came up with a sesame salad that makes…

Crab Dip

It seems like the only time crab dip is served is at football parties. Don’t get me wrong – I love football and I love crab dip, so I’m not complaining. But crab dip is a wonderful thing. Perhaps I will try to start a movement – make crab dip your every day dip! Hmmm……

Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken

When I was a kid, my grandma often made sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. I loved it, but she lived across the country so when I couldn’t get it from her, it would always be one of the items I ordered at dim sum. There was something kind of magical about peeling open the…

Pesto

Pesto is ideal for a Guessipe, because it’s pretty flexible. While pesto is traditionally made with basil, you can substitute with parsley, cilantro, carrot greens, radish greens, beet greens, and probably others! You can also use walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, or pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts. In this Guessipe I used walnuts and…

Brussels Sprouts Salad

Brussels sprouts have become so trendy that it seems like every restaurant has them on the menu, usually roasted and often with some sort of sweet glaze like balsamic or maple. But I never saw them raw, and began to wonder if you could serve them that way. They do after all resemble tiny cabbages….

Jook

Jook is one of my favorite Thanksgiving family traditions. It is a hearty rice soup, which my family makes using the turkey carcass. We intentionally leave a lot of meat on the bone when carving the turkey, expressly for this purpose. As soon as the turkey is carved, we start the jook cooking, so that…

Chimichurri

One of the things I like best about eating at Argentinean restaurants has always been the chimichurri. Instead of butter or olive oil, chimichurri is usually served with the bread as you wait for your meal to arrive. And once the grilled meats appear (which is usually what you’d be eating at an Argentinean place),…

Chicken Adobo

One of my best friends when I was young was Filipino. There was always something good cooking in her kitchen. My dad used to joke that he knew when I’d been hanging out at her house because I’d come home smelling like food. That was totally ok with me. I was happy to partake in…

Rosemary Walnuts

I try not to buy chips, because I will sit and eat the whole bag in one sitting. So I like to make a batch of these Rosemary Walnuts, which are a healthier snack that satisfies my craving for salt and crunch. It’s also a good way to use up leftover walnuts when I make…