In The Kitchen Now: Korean Stewed Tofu with Green Onion Salad and Crisp Bacon / June 11, 2016 by Cynthia Raub

Subtle is rarely a word used to Korean food and this dish is no exception. I'm in a tofu phase right now and I want to eat it in every way possible: in soups, fried in squares with soy sauce, and baked and tossed in salads. Although I love tofu in all of the various preparations, this one is my favorite. I went back and forth between calling this a Korean style mapo tofu, but I decided against it. It's similar in that the tofu is stewed in a fermented chili sauce, but this version does not include the distinct Sichuan peppercorn. While the chili sauce makes the tofu piquant, pungent and dare I say, peppery- the green onions makes the dish... pervasive. In case it wasn't robust enough, the addition of bacon lardons for a crisp chew rounds out the texture and adds a deliciously fatty depth in every bite.

Korean Stewed Tofu with Green Onion Salad and Crisp Bacon

The Shared Thai Fish Cakes / April 19, 2016 by Amy Cantu

I have been biding my time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to hit my dad up for his recipe for Tod Mun - Thai fish cake fritters. These savory fried morsels make me really happy - the kind of happy where all my deep-fried dreams come true (because really, all of my dreams involve food and anything deep-fried is by nature, dream-worthy). My son's preschool hosted a Multi-Cultural Event to celebrate the community's different heritages and as a fundraiser for New Child Fundamentals, a non-profit that supports children and their families. Voila! The perfect opportunity presented itself, and you better believe that I called Grandpa Audy immediately for this recipe. So we gathered together in my kitchen to fry up a batch of these crispy and *mildly* spicy fish cake fritters (these are preschoolers after all). My son gobbled up three of them before we even got these to school, and when they finally made their appearance, they disappeared in five minutes flat. You snooze, you lose (or just make them yourself)!

Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes) with Cucumber-Peanut Relish

The Shared Chili / February 2, 2016 by Amy Cantu

I have never been a real football fan, or really a sports enthusiast of any kind. (What can I say? Watching sports makes my eyes roll into the back of my head, where I fall into a deep coma until halftime.) Watching a game is only fun if I’m hanging out with my friends and cheering loudly while waving brightly colored pennants and pompoms. It’s the shared experience that makes it worthwhile; but, the real reason I agree to watch any game at all is for the shared food. Tailgating is the BEST! I love all the feasting on barbecue meats, grazing on the vast spread of finger foods, and the imbibing of cold alcoholic beverages to wash it all down. By the time that’s all done and over with, I’m feeling so good that sure, I’ll happily watch the game too. If I sound like a little piggy right now, that’s because I am. (And you know you are too, because you’re reading a food blog!) Then there’s the Super Bowl - I am excited to host a Super Bowl Party for the simple reason that I adore a giant pot of chili with all the fixings. There’s nothing better than cozying up on the couch with a steaming bowl of spicy chili, heaped with shredded cheese, onions, and cilantro. How can you top that? Have Cynthia make a fresh batch of buttery cornbread and slather it with even more butter. Bliss. Maybe this year, I’ll also try to figure out which team is which.

Chicken Chili

All-Purpose Cornbread