use real butter

Recipe: ricotta gnocchi and butter poached lobster

What? Daring COOKS?! You thought it was Daring Bakers, right? Well, I *am* a Daring Baker. I have the scars to prove it. But, I am also a Daring COOK. That’s right kids, double the craziness – the Daring Cooks have launched, so buckle that helmet and fasten your seat belts!

daring cooks – serving up whoopass soup since may 2009

This maiden recipe is hosted by our very own goddess founders: Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice. Yes, these are the women who brought you thousands of cheesecakes, metric tons (tonnes) of buttercream frosting, and vats of chocolate ganache glaze to your web browsers. Now they will do the same this month, with ricotta gnocchi from the Zuni Café Cookbook.

whisking eggs

combining the gnocchi ingredients

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Recipe: deconstructed chili cheese fries

We are almost ready to blow this popsicle stand. Kaweah is off to Camp Crazy and we shall be heading west. In the meantime, my cron jobs should be in working order (i.e. there will be posts in my absence) while I’m out of communication.

Jeremy and I recently sampled an order of chili cheese fries at a local joint in Boulder. We were… underwhelmed. It says less about the place serving the fries and more about the culture here. Why is it so hard to find GOOD chili cheese fries? I wasn’t turned on to chili cheese fries until I went to college in Southern California and it became the goto 2 am calorie (and sodium, and fat) replenisher on those late nights working on AMa 95 homeworks (Techers, YOU know what I’m talking about). My ideal chili cheese fries involve crispy, hot fries (not soggy!), shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and a meaty (no beans), well-spiced chili that needs to be ladled on top. These days we indulge maybe a couple times a year when I make my own chili at home, but forget about ordering it in town. No one does it right.

Which got me thinking. Perhaps I could “challenge” a restaurant to make chili cheese fries? My first candidate was The Kitchen, because I think their fries are the best I’ve ever had and I am convinced they could make one mean bowl of chili (they specialize in ass-kicking food). Friday night, that notion gave way to another inspiration… how about I attempt deconstructed chili cheese fries? Just for shits and giggles, you know. Putting a sophisticated spin on a low brow college favorite.

I combined the typical spices that go into my chili recipe and mixed them with a hefty amount of salt and pepper. After picking up a 3-inch thick slice of beef tenderloin, I packed the spices onto the steak and let it sit for 30 minutes to contemplate its delicious fate.

spices that usually go in my chili

rub it all over the filet mignon

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Recipe: strawberry hazelnut salad

The new lens arrived! We are getting acquainted. I think I like her. K-dawg and I took her out for a test drive yesterday morning.

i love it here, despite the winds

Kaweah exhibited the strangest behavior I’ve ever witnessed in her on the way back out from the lake. I won’t bore you with details, but after discussing with Jeremy last night on the phone, we’re pretty sure it was a mountain lion or bobcat following us for well over a mile. I never thought of Kaweah as “scrumptious” before, but I imagine she must be a tasty looking chubby little morsel for a big cat these days. When we reached the car, we encountered a much friendlier resident (actually, I’m sure if it were large and fanged and clawed like a mountain lion, we might not consider it friendlier).

cute-a-roonie

We had a good friend come up for dinner earlier this week as I needed to pick her brain for information on the Sierra Nevada. For dinner, I made that fan-friggin-tastic roasted pepper and goat cheese tart. You must make it, just do it – it’s freaking awesome and you can replace the goat cheese with feta if you like. I totally cannot shut up about it. I was also working on that strawberry chiffon buttercream cake goodness for dessert. And 30 minutes before M arrived, I remembered that I had forgotten a salad. Hands on hips, foot tapping, brain whirring. I had greens, but what else?

strawberries to the rescue

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