This story originally appeared in The Orange County Register.

The homely russet potato is not much to look at — especially when you compare it to the swirling architectural beauty of a head of Romanesco broccoli, or the seductive lipstick-red of a radish. But the russet’s allure lies beneath its skin: a creamy, unblemished flesh so versatile, it can transform into a bevy of appetizing eats using just about any cooking method invented.

Yes, these grubby little tubers clean up real nice.

One of my favorite russet makeovers is the galette, where potatoes take a cue from the Romanesco’s structural swirl. To make a galette, potatoes are cut into thin slices, then arranged in an overlapping spiral to form a circular tart. Between potato layers, you can use your imagination to add aromatics, herbs and cheese to flavor. I love the combination of onions, garlic and rosemary — it’s a fragrant classic that never disappoints in a potato dish. This combo also works well if you plan to serve the galette with meaty main courses like beef and lamb.

Now, it’s true that traditional galettes are prepared with a pastry crust, but this isn’t necessary when you’re using russet potatoes. When the galette is baked, the potato slices act as both crust and filling — the top and bottom layers crisp and brown into a crust all its own, while the galette’s center remains pillowy and light. After baking, the galette is inverted to showcase a smooth, even surface of golden potato goodness. (And I promise, inverting it is a lot easier than you may think.)

There are a few methods for making a potato galette, but the breeziest is baking with a nonstick cookie sheet. The sheet acts as a blank, wide canvas for you to create your masterpiece, and the Teflon coating keeps individual potato slices from sticking to the sheet when you eventually flip the galette over onto a serving plate.

This is also a recipe where you can brush up your knife skills. Making thin, wispy potato slices may take a bit of patience if you’re a newbie, but the end result is well worth it. And don’t worry if your slices are uneven or slivered. You can arrange slices to mask these imperfections – but only if you want. In my experience, the flawed, rustic galettes are the best ones. (more…)

Puff pastry has to be one of the seven wonders of the culinary world. For me at least, it’s right up there with caramelizing sugar and emulsions. I know how it works, I understand the science, but doggonit if it doesn’t make my head shake when I watch the magic happen.

In a nutshell, puff pastry is made by folding the buttery dough over and over and over onto itself so when its baked, it expands like a blowfish on steroids. Traditionally, it was time-consuming to make, but now we have all these shortcuts and even frozen versions, which I hate to admit, I LOVE to use.  When unexpected company drops by to say hello, one can take a thawed sheet of puff pastry, shove in some chocolate chips, cover with coconut flakes and bake it all in the oven for quick sweet appetizer or mini dessert.

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Just some horn-tooting on my end here: My recipe for ginger-scented chicken broth was chosen as a finalist by the editors of Food 52. It’s the same broth I made for the Vietnamese-inspired chicken and rice soup from this post. I’m elated! The other recipe up for the win is really creative — a chicken broth that uses chipotle chili peppers for some bite. The winning recipe will be included in the eventual Food52 cookbook. 

So if you’re a Food52 member, please vote! (If you’re not, you can sign up and join the community.) I’m partial to my own recipe, of course, but I think either recipe up for the win will benefit the cookbook. Thanks for reading!

A few years back, The Orange County Register had one of the most horrendous advertising bloopers I’ve seen to date. There was this campaign called “Take Back the Morning,” which in itself was genius because it encouraged people to carve out some quiet morning time to read the newspaper. I can get behind that.

But then the message was paired with a whole broadsheet page dedicated to the words “GO AWAY” printed larger than any headline that’s ever run in the paper’s recent history. The idea was that a newspaper reader would be sitting in a chair with an open paper shielding him/her from view, with the back of the newspaper facing the rest of the world and telling it to “GO AWAY.” But instead of the morning distractions going away, I heard of a few cases where offended subscribers did instead. 

The idea was quickly whisked away and replaced by better and more successful ads. The “Take Back the Morning” message faded with it, but it shouldn’t have — I really think the advertisers had something there. Why don’t we take back our mornings from the rituals of rushing to work on time? Waking up a tad earlier on weekdays wouldn’t hurt, I think, especially if you filled your newfound time with some baking. Because then, not only would you be taking back your morning, but you’d also have something to take to work with you to remind you of the time you stole from the snooze button. (more…)

When I was a kid, coming home from school to the aromas of cinnamon, star anise and ginger meant that we would have pho for dinner. Score! I’d throw my backpack on the couch and run to the kitchen to watch my grandfather char onions halves and ginger over the open flame of a burner until they turned black. He’d let me add them into the pot when they had cooled a bit.

When I got older and moved out of the house, I took those scents along with me. Nowadays, it seems I can’t make a stock or broth without using those ingredients to flavor them. There’s always a little Vietnamese inspiration in even the most American soups I serve, like split pea or even this chicken and rice soup. It’s good for any occasion, even an elegant one, if you know how to plate it. I’ll explain.

Say you’ve made this soup and you’re eating it out of a mug, only later you realize that you need something more elegant. In other words, something to help you apologize to your boyfriend after you’ve had a fight. Well, you can turn this soup from homey to handsome with just a few tricks. Pack the rice into a small ramekin to mold it into a circular shape, then overturn the ramekin onto a shallow bowl. You’ll have a neat little rice mound where you can artfully arrange the shredded chicken and parsley. And here’s the kicker: If you’re really in the doghouse with your boyfriend, you pour the hot chicken broth into the bowls at tableside. Now that’s service that says “I’m sorry.”

(Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.”)

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