I've had a great life...its been a roller coaster ride....but backwards...super exhilarating on the uphills and terrifying on the downhills ...this is the tale of that experience on planet earth
I have always loved middle eastern food. When we go to a middle eastern resturant I often order Falaffel. It’s super delicious, super easy to make and also very inexpensive. a cup of dried chickpeas soacked for at leat 24 hours, a couple cloves of garlic, a small onion and a cup of parsley and you get a very tasty flaffel. A teaspoon each of cumin and corriander, salt and pepper, pulsed in a food processor witha little baking soda and a couple table spoons of flour, to a rough texture. You let it rest for a couple hours, then make gold ball size balls to fry. I fried them in peanut oil at 325 degrees till they were a dark brown exterior. That was perfect. Not oily at all and a beautiful cooked ceter that when eaten in a pita with cucmber, red onion, tomato and lettuce all sauced up with lemon tahini and a bit of toum, you have a bite that is wonderful and delicious.
I decided to make Falafel for dinner, and thought, “how hard can it be to make Pita Bread?” It’s really pretty easy. The real secret is to have a VERY hot oven and pizza stone. Each one only takes 3 minutes to bake once the enriched dow
Ingredients
500g bread flour (or AP flour)
10g salt
7g instant yeast
10g sugar or honey
325g warm water
30g olive oil
30 g Greek yogurt
Method
1. Mix
Combine everything until shaggy.
Knead 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
The dough should feel soft and slightly tacky but not sticky.
Cover and let rise 60–90 minutes until doubled.
Divide into:
8 large pitas
Shape into tight balls.
Rest 20 minutes covered.
Roll each into circles:
About 1/4 inch thick
Roughly 6–7 inches wide
Do not flour heavily — excess flour prevents puffing.
I LOVE Eggs Benedict. It is my go to choice when I go out for breakfast. I don’t eat it often because I don’t go out for breakfast much. So, when we had a big Arsenal game on a little later than usual, it presented the opportunity for a great breakfast. We had English Muffins and eggs at home, so all we needed was a little ham. I prefer ham over Canadian bacon myself. We get it cut paper thin at the delly too.
The recipe is pretty easy.
The technical part is the hollandaise souce which you do in a double boiler. Start by whisking the yolks and the lemon juice, and then add the molten butter slowly as you whisk, then add a good pinch of yoru favorite red pepper. We don’t have Cayanne, so we use Peri Peri. WIth the eggs poached and the ham heated and the muffins toasted, you assmble and cover in the yummy sauce.
Growing up, we used to fight about who got the bone marrow when my mom would make marrow bone soup. Then I came to America and had roasted marrow bones in a restuarant. I was in love. I found a butcher who would cut long bones for me so they lay flat and roast them up. They are salted a bit before they go in the oven, then finished with lemon zest and parsley and some red pepper flakes. I serve them with toasted bagette finished with a garlic rub. It is a magicla meal.
Because I am baking bread, we often have some left over bread to use, and bread pudding seems on. Its pretty easy, You make a custard, you soak the bread like you are making french toast, and bake it in the custard then cover it with a sauce, butter, cream, brown sugar and vanilla heated till smooth, and serve it with vanilla ice cream! Delish.
Ingredients
4 cups day-old bread (cubed; brioche or French bread works great)
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Instructions
Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a baking dish.
Soak bread: Place bread cubes in the dish.
Make custard: Whisk milk, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
Combine: Pour over bread; gently press so all pieces absorb liquid.
Add extras: Sprinkle in raisins or chocolate if you like.
Bake: 40–45 minutes, until set and golden on top.
Cool slightly before serving.
Sauce
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cream
Splash of vanilla
Melt together over low heat until smooth—pour over warm pudding.
I love when I crave something. It usually is some sort of comfort food. Heather and I werre talking and I said, “I have been thinking about meatloaf. Meatloaf with mashed potatoes, meatloaf sandwhiches, and meatloaf ravioli in sage brown butter sauce. So, she said, “Well, make a meatloaf!”
So, built a deeply flavorful, crusted, tender, sliceable, week-night-luxury meatloaf—the kind that makes people go quiet after the first bite. This version layers umami + aromatics + texture + glaze contrast so it tastes like something between classic comfort food and a chef’s upgrade.
Meat Blend (key to greatness)
I used:
1 lb ground beef (80/20)
1 lb ground pork
This combo keeps the loaf juicy, rich, and structured.
Aromatic Base (flavor engine)
I ssautéd until soft:
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic
1 celery stalk, minced
1 carrot, finely minced
4 mushrooms finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch salt
Impoirtant note: Let cool before mixing.
This is the difference between good and restaurant-level meatloaf.
Binder (keeps it tender, not dense)
Mix together:
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
½ cup milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp Worcestershire
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
some parm and bread crumbs if needed to get the liquid down
Let soak 2 minutes.
Flavor Boosters (the secret layer)
Add:
½ cup grated parmesan
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
optional: ½ tsp thyme
Combine
Gently mix:
meat + sautéed vegetables + binder + boosters
Do not overwork. Think folding, not kneading.
Shape into a free-form loaf on parchment (better crust than a pan).
Then to get that yummy crust:
Mix:
⅓ cup ketchup
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire
splash apple cider vinegar
Brush half before baking, half midway through.
It really does create that lacquered tangy crust.
Let it cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Then, to create a great gravy, I sliced up an onion, and added them to a pan with all the pan juices I could capture. Once they caramalized, I added some beef stock, soy, red wine vinegar, worcester sauce, and dijon mustard and cooked it down till it tasted good. Then I ran the immersion blender and added a tablespoon of flour and cooked it down till I liked the texture. I turned it down and added 2 tablesoons of cold butter striring it in to make the gravy smooth. It is DELICIOUS.
I love French food. This dish is a perfect example of how the French look at finishing dishes so they taste so good. To make Steak Au Poivre, it makes sense to get the best filet mignon you can find. The dish depends on a great piece of meat. Luckily for us, we had a wonderful filet in the freezer. You want to get the meat to room temperature and then salt them on all sides about a half hour before you start cooking. While they are resting, you want to crush black pepper corns in a pestal till they are roughly broken. This does not work with ground pepper nearly as well. Trust me on this. After the pepper is crushed, coat the meat on all sides by pressing the meat down into the pepper. Reserve the rest for the sauce.
You sear the meat on all sides for a minute or two in butter and a little neutral oil to get a good crust. Then drop the meat onto a cookie sheet and put it in the oven to get to medium rare. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t go over.
The sauce you drop some butter into the pan along the chopped shallots, and a sprig of thyme. Cook till they are soft, then add the reserved pepper, and remove the thyme aftet it sizzles, Add some brandy, and light it. Add the beef stock and cook it down a little, then add the cream adjust for salt and get it into a yummy sauce. Plate the filet, then add the sauce.
My Life: A Memoir 