I’m on my way to New York right now to cook on The Today Show. I’d like to say that I’m cool enough to not think this is a big deal, but I’m not. I’m thrilled, and also a little nervous (significant nervousness is scheduled for the late 9am hour on Wednesday morning). Before I… Read More
How do you like your cookies? For me, cookies need to be soft and chewy. Did you know there is a bit of a personality test that goes along with cookie preferences? Here it is: Chewy: You’re generally flexibly and easy going Crispy: You like to be in control Soft center: You tend towards the… Read More
Chocolate stout cheesecake Fudgesicle Would you judge me if I tell you that I’m not a huge fan of ice cream? Clearly, I like it just fine I have several ice cream recipes on this blog, but it’s never my first choice. Of course, I’ll eat it, although I do tend to prefer it in… Read More
I made you a summery pie with a Double IPA Don’t be scared, this double IPA plays nice, I promise. I’m hesitant with double and triple IPA’s, over hopping a beer can result in a poorly balanced, pinchy tasting, bitter-in-a-bad-way beer that leads to my hesitation to sample the D & T IPA’s. That’s… Read More
Something about this just isn’t right, it’s a cookie made to dunk in your beer. Who does that? Maybe I’m trying to start a beer cookie revolution that ends with crumbs at the bottom of your pint glass. Maybe I just liked the alliteration, or maybe this just ends up working. You’ll have to judge… Read More
last September I was able to visit Bear Republic. I was able to jump behind the bar, chat with brewers and sample everything from the Peter Brown Tribute to the Grand Am, right from the source. Solid beers that are becoming easier to find across the US as their distribution expands. Maybe it was the gorgeous… Read More
Let’s talk about chocolate stouts for a minute. If you aren’t aquatinted with these Dark Knights, you might be under the impression that your beer will be like a tall glass of malty chocolate milk. For the most part, that isn’t the case. While I was at Hanger 24, those awesome guys let me… Read More
Before I get to the lemon bars that were more than a year in the making, I need to talk about these beer glasses. These glasses are more than just vessels of craft beer glory, they are a indicator of the thread of craft beer weaving itself through the mainstream. Crate and Barrel, a mecca… Read More
Yesterday I was a guest on KCRW’s St. Patricks day episode of Good Food. The host was Evan Kleiman, a chef, author and Los Angeles food scene legend. She called my recipes, “smart,” which if you are a home cook, sitting in front of an accomplished chef, is the best word you can hear. We… Read More
In my world, this is dessert. But that being said, I ate it at 3 in the afternoon (mostly because I wanted to make it for you, and I refuse to photograph using artificial light, necessitating a mid-day desert for picture taking purposes). Breakfast in my land, is savory. Although I occasionally indulge in sugar… Read More
I need your help. I’m somewhere around halfway done with this cookbook, and I need some feedback. I have about 50 recipes ready to go, but they have never been cooked outside of my kitchen. I want to know if they work for you, if you like them (or didn’t), if the directions make sense.… Read More
I think I want my next cookbook to be The Chocolate Stout Cookbook. It really is my favorite beer to cook with. Not just for the Christmas Cookie of all Christmas Cookies, it’s also awesome for braising meat with. And even in the dead of summer, in the middle of the Mojave Desert, I’d still… Read More
The best thing happened on Thanksgiving. Just about 18 hours prior to Turkey Tip-Off, my small gathering of 4 people more than tripled into a 14 person party that ended in cocktails, poker, and eating pie right out of the pan. How great is that? I was happy with the idea of a small gathering,… Read More
Have you ever served on a jury? I have. A few years ago I was put on a federal case at the Los Angeles court house. The defendant was a smarmy little man who was, without a doubt, about a thousand percent guilty of smuggling 3 million dollars worth of Ecstasy into the country… Read More
I have some news. If you Follow me on Twitter, you probably already know the Big News. I signed a book deal on Thursday. A publisher has actually decided to pay me to write a cookbook. How amazing is that? Writing a cookbook has long been on my list of goals, and as I somewhat… Read More
This is totally easy. I promise. At a beer event a few weeks ago, I had a guy call my recipes, “Foodie but accessible. They sounds hard and impressive, but once you read the recipe it’s actually really easy.” I like that. This recipe is the same way. It sounds really hard, making truffles… Read More
To be honest, I haven’t always loved IPA’s. It took me a while, although not as long as resolving my mint aversion, and now I can pretty firmly place myself in that Hop Heads category I used to shy away from. I discover that a dry hopped IPA gives me the delicate flavors… Read More
I hope you don’t mind my excessive use of stout over the past few weeks, but to be honest I’m really not sorry. I love stouts, I’m unreasonably excited about stouts being back “in season,” and we are only about 2 weeks away from International Stout Day. I’m geting you all stocked up on… Read More