Which is why I ping her with “another ‘plop goes the chop!’ night at the AKGrill.”
1 Like
Never let it be said that you’re stingy with the hollandaise sauce
3 Likes
I’m certainly not much of a baker but, pear & blueberry with mascarpone galette kinda thing; poached the pears in agave syrup and some leftover Baumard QdC. Pretty ok, I think all the parts are there, maybe better next time
4 Likes
EXACTLY!!!
I saw it yesterday at Costco and came home to my wife like…
Guess what we’re having for dinner!?!?!?
LOL!!!
1 Like
Maguro no Yamakake (マグロの山かけ).
Marinated diced Yellowfin, grated mountain yam, scallions and chopped Nori. Also steamed yuchoy and daikon salad.
The Marinated Tuna and Grated yam was delicious. So good!
3 Likes
Ramp Risotto, Cod Cheek
If I don’t eat a ramp risotto in April, my year is essentially ruined. Thankfully, 2026 is still up for debate as a whole, but this year’s ramp-sotto is one of the best I’ve ever made.
Big difference this year is that I used David Kinch’s vegetable broth recipe from his Manresa cookbook, which I bought a couple weeks ago after re-watching his season of Mind of a Chef on YouTube. The recipe has all the usual suspects, but includes a tiny amount of sugar, about a cup of white wine, and a start anise pod. The method is also a little different, and I believe inspired by dashi - you combine all your ingredients, bring to a low simmer, hold for 25 mins, then turn of the heat and let steep for 4 hours. It produces a sweet and aromatic stock that was a perfect foil to the ramps. I usually use chicken or shrimp/shellfish stock to make this risotto, but this version let the ramp flavor come to the forefront and become the sole focus.
Typical risotto cooking setup here, but at the final stage when you are adding your butter and emulsifying (la mantecatura) also add in a heavy dollop of ramp coulis (blanche and shock ramp leaves, blend into a paste). Some cod cheeks that I just simply seared in clarified butter and then had the idea to tear them? I don’t know man. I definitely had seconds of this plate.
14 Likes
9 Likes
Did you add ice like a bloody American?
Obscure movie reference.
One of my all time favorite cookbooks.
1 Like
It’s all raw, but felt like it deserved a pic?
Edit: I totally lied. Ended up cooking a bunch of halibut and arrowtooth flounder I caught on my last trip to Neah Bay. I did manage to cook some rice, so there was actually some semblance of a side dish 
8 Likes
Love that wine. Unfortunately, it didn’t sell well here; so, now, virtually impossible to source locally.
1 Like
I was in a friend’s restaurant last night (a Korean restaurant specializing in 1++ grade Hanwoo, a.k.a., “Hanu”, beef from Korea). The fellow assigned to us was new; so, I had to take over the grill & correct/demonstrate to him how to properly cook said beef. He learned quickly, though, and cooked the rest of the 600gm short ribs, as well as the Jeju pork jowls well enough.
600gm 1++ Hanwoo short ribs.
Sliced for grilling.
Jeju pork jowl (hangjeongsal) w/ aged kimchi.
13 Likes
Thumbs up from Jeju! Love to see it.
1 Like
Ramps and fiddleheads are abundant right now, and we still had some burrata from Puglia left from the weekend, so Thursday dinner was a rare meatless night at Casa Kirschbaum and Read.
Started with a radicchio and endive salad with chives, almonds and a lightly spiced honey dijon vinaigrette.
Next, and not the most beautiful, buratta with excellent olive oil and Maldon. A few crostini on the side, not pictured.
Pasta with ramp purée and fiddleheads, very simple but rich and bright with only butter, olive oil, parmesan and lemon zest. Since there were so many, we did a side of extra fiddleheads.
Oh, there was also some wine. The Las Toscas was an incredible pairing with the pasta.
12 Likes
Sarah,
Just out of curiosity are the ramps/fiddleheqds obtainable in a market or do you have to order? I have mail ordered in the past but the quantity was prohibitive to repeat.
We source our seasonal produce from a local farm which supplies mostly restaurants. The ramps and fiddleheads came from there. We do have to order from what’s on offer each week, and he delivers to us along with the restaurants he supplies.
@Zachgoldstein also foraged some ramps for us.
2 Likes
Along with the excellent burrata we had shipped from Italy, we ordered some tortellini from Bologna - classic cheese and meat - since we had capon stock on hand, to make the classic dish from Emilia-Romagna Tortellini in Brodo. The pasta was a bit of a flyer, but it turned out to be very good! Delicate and flavorful, a real treat when combined with the stock. We goosed our basic capon stock by simmering with parmesan rind, then adding in a bit of pork stock and slick of pork fat. Topped the whole thing with some grated parm for a lovely and surprisingly light first course.
We followed with the standard S&J roast chicken, salad, and a whole mess of ramps simply sauteed in olive oil. I’m sorry those are in the fuzzy part of the picture, because they were exquisite. A 2014 Produttori was a very good match, and is in a great place. Light bodied and nicely aromatic, it went well with both courses.
12 Likes
