Happy Passover! At some Passover in my family’s history, my mother introduced a new Charoset recipe, and it stuck.  This is a sephardic recipe, meaning it originates from the Jews of Spain.  Like all good isolated jewish communities, they adapted the local flavor palate, as well as slightly different traditions.  While my family heralds from [...]

Some of my favorite meals are born out of leftovers.  There is just something so wonderful about taking extra food from a previous meal, investing a little effort and coming out with something entirely new.  This is especially true for brunch. Take for example, this dish:   Which was born from this dish:   

  Well, I’ve still got more He’brew to get through, and I figured what better way to do it, than to embrace the Jewish food traditions that He’Brew decends from? I invoked my inner Jewish grandmother (“Honey! you’re too thin! eat something!”) and set about making chicken livers.  I just love ‘em.  One of my [...]

    After a very filling dinner of Rejewvenator Braised Chicken, Zak was ready to show off for dessert.  Like any good dinner guest, he had arrived bearing two bottles of booze, and a bottle of beer.  Except the bottles of liquor weren’t for drinking: they were bound to be lit on fire.  Which is really the best part [...]

    So, where to start with all this Rejewventor?  Why braise some chicken, of course. It’s been cold and rainy here in San Francisco, so a comforting braise like this was perfect for a wet evening hiding indoors with friends.  This was actually Elianna’s creation, and she did a bang up job.  She started by searing off the [...]

What to bring to a traif themed Chanukah dinner? (Besides latkes!) Why Bacon Candy, of course!      Here’s how to make it.

  After previous Hopsickle and lamb neck adventures, I wasn’t planning on revisiting either this soon. After a happy accident at the butcher where I wanted a shank, but thanks to a communication mishap, I ended up with a neck instead. Instead of asking to swap it out, I decided to run with it, and [...]

    Every family had their own special holiday traditions.  Mine, for example, involves my mothers ample collection of menorahs that makes the Los Angles Fire Department VERY nervous on the last night when she lights then all (but it’s so festive!) and the cliche-ridden Chinese and movie on Christmas day.  Eli’s family makes latkes.  But not just [...]

  I’m really digging Saison beers these days.  Especially the ones which seem to be laced with a hint of brett, and have that slight farmhouse funk without going overboard.  (See also: The Bruery‘s Saison Rue, and Eli’s favorite, Ommegang’s Hennepin.) This particular bottle of Fantôme hit the balance perfectly – it was distinctly citrusy with a nose of belgium farmhouse [...]

After my meat shopping adventure, I was ready to cook up some lamb’s neck.  I’d had it at Incanto a long time ago, and more recently read a blog post emphasizing that you can braise it similar to osso bucco.  With that in mind I set about creating a basic beer-based braise. I started by dusting my lamb in flour, [...]