Crooked Kitchen

This is part of a series of posts I’m bringing back from my previous food blog. The topics might not be as focused, but I think they still deserve to be republished in a current forum. Enjoy this post from February 2007 about my experiment with grinding my own burgers.

Inspired by some talk of homemade burgers, and that I hadn’t had a good burger in a while, I decided to make my own burgers - including grinding my own meat. I reviewed the Good Eats episode on ground beef, and tried to recreate that burger. Instead of Alton Brown’s recommended mixture of half-chuck and half-sirloin, I went with all chuck, a two-pound package of it.

Continue reading to see how I formed the patties and how they turned out »

Earlier this week I picked up some chorizo, and I’ve made chorizo and eggs for breakfast every day since then. The exposure to the Mexican spices and chiles woke up my long-dormant desire to make a big batch of chili, one of my specialties.

I made this chili milder than usual for the benefit of my mother, who can’t handle lots of heat; but I still packed as much chile flavor and deep body into it as I could. I used a method similar to that used for Ragu alla Bolognese, cooking down and caramelizing the vegetables, meat, and tomato paste before adding the liquid.

Continue reading to see the recipe and a full chili pictorial »

Out of all the cookware I own, the ones I like best are made out of cast iron. They’re the most versatile cooking vessels I have. I started using cast iron 4 years ago, when I moved in with someone who preferred cast iron for a lot of his cooking. I had been wanting to try it out ever since watching Alton Brown use it to cook a ribeye. In 2006, I got my own cast iron skillets and began using them daily.

Photo by Southern Foodways Alliance / CC BY 2.0

Continue reading to find out why you should use cast iron, how to choose it, how to season it, and how to cook in it »

The Sushi Bar

One of the reasons I want to save money is to be able to splurge every now and then. One of the things I like to splurge on is good sushi. Eventually, I’ll be able to have my kidney transplant, and unfortunately, the resultant anti-rejection drugs will cause me to not be able to eat raw fish ever again. So before I have my transplant, I’m planning a huge splurge at a top-quality sushi restaurant.

Over the last couple months, I’ve visited a few sushi restaurants in the Santa Barbara area and had some of their best. I’d like to write about the sushi I’ve had.

Continue reading for pictures of all kinds of sushi and sashimi »