I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
I love eating larb in the spring and summer. The weather is just right for this Laotian meat salad, and it’s easy to make. It is light, refreshing, and healthy, wrapped in lettuce leaves, with tons of fresh herbs from the garden. It really is …
I come from a family of Chinese food snobs. We would never be caught at a strip mall take-out joint or a restaurant with hanging lanterns. In college, I would announce to friends with great authority that it was impossible to find truly authentic Chinese …
No matter the quality, children don’t always appreciate the foods their parents eat. That was certainly the case with my brothers and me, and some of the foods our father cooked. It was especially true of tea smoked chicken. As wisps of smoke from burning …
In 1979 we only had a small black and white television, so I did not watch much as a child. I do remember a commercial for Ortega tacos, in which people debated the best part about having tacos for dinner – making them or eating …
On a Saturday night, if my wife Marci and I have no other plans, we may hang around the kitchen with a glass of wine while I cook up a tasty meal. Sometimes I know exactly what to cook; I’ve thought about it and I’ve …
Banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich made on a toasted French baguette, may be the world’s most perfect sandwich. There are a riot of flavors and textures in every bite that balance each other perfectly. It is sweet and crispy from the daikon radish and carrot …
The best summer foods to grow in your garden are the ones that have the simplest preparations for the table. Asian shishito peppers are one of those foods. They grow easily and abundantly, and when it’s time for harvest, you pick them, sear them for …
People sometimes ask me about my favorite fruit or vegetable that I grow in the garden. Truthfully, the answer is whatever is ripe at the time. But, there are definitely some crops that rise above all others. For example, fresh garlic, which is sticky and …
As I came inside from shoveling a foot of heavy spring snow this morning, I noticed that the leaves are starting to emerge on my potted fig trees, which are still stored in the garage for winter protection. It seems everyone, including the plants, knows …
