July 2026
It’s been a light month not so much for cooking, but for anything that felt noteworthy enough to document it and take notes. The weather has been extremely hot, which makes me feel guilty and a bit ridiculous firing up the oven, and it’s been a hit-and-miss July for some of my favorite produce.
June 2026
The last month has continued to be a bit liminal. The weather can’t quite make up its mind, and the produce has been a similar story. I willed warmer weather into being with at least one dinner I hosted.
RecipeCá Hấp (Vietnamese-style Steamed Fish)
This is my North American adaptation of an Australian take on a traditional Vietnamese technique for doing steamed fish, cá hấp. It’s great, though I won’t even begin to pretend this is authentic, or that I know anything about the cultural context.
RecipeMochi
The procedure for doing the mochi itself is somewhat specific to the Tiger SMJ-B18U machine. The water and rice amounts, or the timings might work in other machines. From experience, however, each machine tends to require a bit of finesse to get right.
RecipeRisotto al cavolo nero
This is great to do in the depths of winter when everything else is incredibly beige. The kale is in season even in the depths of winter, and this makes for a wonderfully verdant dish to cut through the gray skies.