Kitchen Filter

Homemade ranch dressing. If this doesn't up your fridge-stock game, I am not sure what does. I discovered this was missing in our lives about a year ago. We were frying chicken, folks were coming over for brunch (we do a lot of that), and it struck me that we should try it. I probably had buttermilk in the fridge I wanted to use up. No, it is not low-fat. Nope, it's probably not healthier this way...well, except for the fact there's a complete lack of chemicals and preservatives because I know exactly what went into it. It's mayo, buttermilk, chives I chopped out of the planter on my back porch, garlic, and a few other things you likely have on hand. Here's the basic recipe I use, which is pretty much as easy as "mix it together": http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/buttermilk-ranch-dipping-sauce-for-fried-chicken-recipe.html Note this recipe refers to it as "dipping sauce". Truthfully, I'm not sure of the difference. I like a thick dressing that sticks to salad and doesn't form a puddle at the bottom of bowls, personally. It was just transferred to a jar in the fridge to throw creamy tangy deliciousness on summer vegetables and salads, too. Dig in.

Last year, Anthony Bourdain interviewed Jacques Pepin at the 92nd St Y, and we happily caught it on tv last night. Two of my absolute favorites. JP answers what a good home cook must have: taste. So true - if you don't have taste, you have a hard time winging it in the kitchen. AB tries to get JP to say what he thinks everyone should know how to cook, if they taught the basics in schools - maybe omelets? Roast chicken? The great JP doesn't answer directly, and takes a path to instead demonstrate the emotional role that food plays in our lives. Roast chicken is made in so many ways around the world, and to each individual, that's "the way" to do it. He doesn't say it, but it makes you question if it's right to teach THE recipe...or do you teach A recipe? Or...just do it? When is it cooked? Figure it out! Regardless, it becomes yours in the sense that it is no longer a meal, a dish, something transactional. When young soldiers are away from home, they miss their mother's soup, their father's cake. Food transcends being food; it becomes comfort, security, home. The best answer arrives when he's asked about what he eats at home - he loves his wife's cooking and "fridge soup". Stars! They're just like us...eating leftovers and not being wasteful... Take a look & enjoy: https://www.92y.org/92YLive/Anthony-Bourdain-Jacques-Pepin?92YLive=true

Mystery murky pot on the stove. Otherwise known as: rehydrating black beans. I've decided to take a risk here and NOT soak them first (cue sounds of horror from audience). I happen to have a ton of these in my cabinet from my farm deliveries this winter and want to make sure I cook them, use them, freeze them. - 3 cups dried beans - pick out the junk - Water to cover, at least 1.5 inches over beans - Aromatics; I used garlic, a stalk of fresh tarragon, and a bay leaf Rinse the beans while weeding out the funky ones and rocks. Put in a large steel pot and cover with water. Turn the heat to high and wait for it to boil. Once it does, turn it down to low. Cover, and let it go for 15 minutes. Smash the garlic, and add that plus the tarragon & bay leaf to the pot. I stir every now and then; to be honest, not sure if it's needed. They finished up after an hour and fifteen minutes (which was good; I really needed to get dinner on the table). I let them cool and drain, then used them in a salad. Split the leftovers into 2 freezer bags and lay flat to freeze so you don't get clumps of frozen beans!

Number one topic in our house: food. I love to cook, and I love the creativity and infinite possibilities that food symbolizes. I love that it holds a primal importance to all of us, and that it naturally consumes my thoughts multiple times per day. I know we are beyond lucky to have access to the food we do. The organic, free-range, grass-fed, no antibiotics, humanely raised, wild, farm-to-kitchen/table, locally-produced, sustainably managed wide range of deliciousness arrives from my local grocery, delivery services, CSAs. And sometimes, Doritos. Each home has what I call a kitchen filter. In my house, that is me. I order, purchase, evaluate, select. While I handle most of the dinner planning, my husband cooks too. (And he does it well, I may add. I came home from a meeting tonight to beef in puff pastry. Not kidding.) We talk food with our kids. It's the daily question from my son: what's for dinner? My daughter may win awards for snacking some day. They eat what we eat (again - we are lucky) and while one is on the picky side, I swear it's cheaper to leave the other little palate home with a sitter vs adding to the dinner tab. We also talk food with friends. I have some non-food obsessed friends who have pointed out that I definitely have a favorite topic. There are others who we jointly throw together potlucks with reckless abandon. Weekly. You can see pork belly above, crackling in its own fat in a wok. You either are, or are not, a pork belly person. Which in some ways transcends the seemingly basic requirement of not being vegetarian. It's almost a personality trait. Food people love pork belly. I have a vegetarian friend that I would put in the pork belly crowd, if that makes sense. This is for my pork belly people.