The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

SAINT BARTHÉLEMY – Your White House reporter and fearless culinary correspondent is writing to you from St. Barth’s. Well, more accurately, from my coach seat on this United flight where my husband and I just experienced a miracle: our window-seat companion never showed, thereby freeing up the dreaded middle seat. 

Anyway, if you can get your hands on some nori, you will make a more authentic version of tteokguk, the Korean soup eaten on Korean New Year’s Day and Western New Year’s Day that I attempted last week. Look at that peek behind the curtain! Yes, I do make these dishes in advance sometimes.

Even without the dried seaweed paper, this soup is packed with umami-forward flavor. I know, I hate that word too. At this point, though, fighting it feels futile.

This recipe is adapted from Maangchi: 

1. Fill a Dutch oven with water and boil over high heat. Add two-thirds cup flank or skirt steak, cut into 1” pieces and generously seasoned with kosher salt, along with 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2. Turn heat down to medium and cook, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes until the beef is tender
3. Separate the eggs from the yolks of 2 large eggs, putting each into separate bowls, and adding a pinch of salt before mixing with a fork
4. Heat a nonstick pan and spray it with cooking oil. Turn off the heat, and then pour the egg yolk mixture into the pan, trying to spread it into a thin, even layer. Allow it to cook for one minute, flip, and finish cooking for another minute. Transfer to a plate, slice into thin strips, and set aside
5. Add store bought sliced tteok rice cakes, along with 1 tablespoon fish sauce, cooking for 7-8 minutes. Pour in egg whites and cook for 30 seconds. Salt to taste. 

Add sesame oil, ground black pepper, and chopped green onion. Garnish with cilantro and julienned red bell pepper

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – For readers who might be rolling their eyes over my intense parasocial relationship with Alison Roman, I’m sorry. 

I simply had to make the dish featured on the cover of her much-anticipated dessert cookbook, Sweet Enough, because it comes out in 10 days. (Naturally, I preordered my copy months ago.)

You can make it, too, without a stand mixer or oven or any baking equipment or dishes other than a couple of glasses and a fork. You can make it in less than five minutes. You can make it with just full-fat sour cream, berries, and sugar. 

Oh, let’s get this out of the way – if you’re looking at the photos accompanying this column and wondering why there appear to be more than three ingredients, it’s because there are more than three ingredients in the version I made. 

Roman shared the recipe on her Home Movies YouTube channel and suggested a few optional additions for those of us (me, I’m talking about me) who are inclined to make everything more complicated. 

Notwithstanding the upcoming release date for Roman’s new book, I should have saved this column for late spring or early summer, when berries are in season and the prospect of preheating your oven in a small apartment when the weather is sweltering can come between you and your craving for something sweet. 

Then again, I hardly exercised this kind of forethought or planning in these columns before, so why start now? 

Author’s note: The ingredients in step 4 really are optional. Sweetened berries swirled with tart sour cream and served in a glass is nothing short of a revelation. That said, I included step 4 for a reason. 

Second author’s note: I did not include measurements here because you really can’t fuck this up and I don’t know how many people you’re serving, but for reference I used approximately equal quantities of sour cream and raspberries.

1. Crush berries gently with a fork. You want some chunks of fruit in there, so don’t pulverize the fruit into something that looks like a jam or compote. Add sugar to taste
2. Add full fat sour cream to a glass. Martini glasses work especially well here, but you could use a wine glass or low-ball cocktail glass…even a champagne flute 
3. Stir in your berries, using something like a toothpick or chopstick to make a swirl if you are so inclined 

[OPTIONAL] Stir in ½ teaspoon rosewater, top with crumbled Biscoff cookies, and garnish with a whole berry

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – Every so often, I find myself drawn to simplicity in cooking and baking. Sometimes, you can create something magical with just a few ingredients, properly seasoned and prepared. 

Here is one of those instances. You may already have everything you need to make this dish. It has no business being as tasty as it is. Plus, it’s VEGAN! 

Recipe adapted from Colu Henry at New York Times Cooking:

1. Preheat oven to 425°
2. Combine the finely chopped tender leaves and stems from one bunch of parsley with the zest of 1-2 lemons in a small bowl. Set aside
3. In a baking dish or sheet pan, toss together 24 oz cherry tomatoes, ½ cup olive oil, and 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves. Season generously with kosher salt and black pepper before roasting for 20-25 min. 
4. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Cook one yellow onion, thinly sliced, 4-6 garlic cloves, crushed, and 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) for 5 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper 
5. Rinse and stir in 2 cans white beans (navy beans, great northern beans, cannellini beans, baby lima beans, butter beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans…) along with 1.5 cups water mixed with 1 teaspoon vegetable flavored Better than Bouillon, bringing mixture to a simmer. Taste and season with salt and pepper 
6. Crush some of the beans to thicken to your liking  
7. Add roasted tomatoes along with their juices, simmering for 5-10 minutes and checking to adjust your seasoning if necessary
8. Serve topped with lemon-parsley mixture

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – My recipes have not tended to be healthy. So, I figured I would switch it up this week in case anyone has been eating like me and thus elevating their risk for scurvy. 

Since it’s still decidedly wintertime in Washington, this means citrus fruits – and lots of them. 

If you like, call it a winter citrus salad topped with a creamy Meyer lemon dressing. I personally don’t like the word salad and prefer instead “cornucopia of orange” or “Whole Foods Haul.” 

• Assemble the salad with: spinach or arugula, bitter radicchio or red endives, heirloom tomato, slivers of red onion, blood orange, pummelo, mandarin orange, blueberries (mine were thawed from frozen), and grapefruit. Season everything with kosher salt to taste

Make the dressing with: 2 tablespoons red onion, diced, ¼ cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice, along with the zest of one Meyer lemon, freshly ground black pepper, ½ cup olive oil, and ¼ cup full fat Greek yogurt or crème fraîche

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – For the first time since I started this column, I’m featuring food that I didn’t make. 

Our Russian friends invited us over to celebrate Maslenitsa on Friday with homemade blinis, and we arrived to find a gorgeous assortment of sweet and savory options, all prepared by Vitalii Korolkov. 

From what I remember of our friends’ explanation, Maslenitsa is an old folk holiday that precedes Orthodox Lent. The more important takeaway, for me, was that we can do so much better than simple buckwheat pancakes or crepes.

The possibilities are limitless. 

Below is a recipe that I’ve attempted to reverse-engineer from memory, aided by the photographs, for Vitalii’s mushroom-chicken blinis: 

1. Whisk together 4 eggs, 1.5 cups whole milk, 1 cup water, 6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 cups all-purpose flour. Chill for at least an hour
2. Heat a nonstick skillet and use a paper towel to coat the pan with a light layer of neutral oil. Spread ¼ cup of batter in a thin layer, cook for one minute on the first side, and then flip to cook for 30 seconds longer 
3. Continue until you run out of batter
4. Cook 2.5 cups chicken. Melt a couple tablespoons unsalted butter in a large skillet. Add 8 ounces fresh mushrooms and one chopped onion, cooking for 10 minutes
5. Combine mixture with the chicken and assemble blinis as you would burritos (arranging some of the filling in the bottom-center of each, folding in the bottom and then the sides before rolling away from you)

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – Dear Readers, I hope you’ll agree that while I tend to go scratch-made when presented with the option, I’m cognizant of the fact that many foods are just better when they’re store-bought or prepared in a restaurant kitchen.

You might consider the homemade scallion pancakes and crab Rangoon in today’s column a true either-or situation. They’re delicious, to be clear. Better than what you’d find in a restaurant, though? Well, it depends on the restaurant…

These recipes are perfect, however, for folks who either want to try their hand at making Chinese takeout staples or don’t have access to good Chinese takeout.

I might recommend halving the ingredients to sample the finished product before determining whether to make a full batch for your next dinner party. Kind of like a…Chinese trial balloon? (Sorry, but you must admit that joke was topical.)

Recipes below are adapted from “The Woks of Life: Recipes to know and love from a Chinese-American family” 

Crab Rangoon 

1. Heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 1 teaspoon minced or grated ginger root, cooking until fragrant (less than a minute)
2. Stir in 3 tablespoons ketchup, cooking for 30 seconds, and then 3 tablespoons pineapple juice, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 2-3 teaspoons granulated white sugar, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Bring the mixture to a low simmer and then take the saucepan off the heat
3. In a medium-large mixing bowl, combine 4 ounces cream cheese, 2 ounces lump crab meat, ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped scallion
4. Put 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center of each wonton wrapper (you should end up using about 24 unless you’re halving the recipe), brushing the surface around the crab mixture with beaten egg  
5. I don’t know how to explain the method I used to shape my Rangoons, but there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube and yours certainly don’t have to be identical to mine! 
6. Heat 3 inches of neutral oil in a small, deep pot or saucepan until very hot. Fry in batches of 4-5 for about 2 minutes, flipping them over so they’re golden brown on both sides

Scallion pancakes

1. Finely chop 8-10 scallions
2. Brush a dumpling or wonton wrapper with a thin layer of neutral oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, and top with a layer of scallions
3. Top it with another dumpling wrapper and repeat the process until you have 4-5 layers of dumpling wrappers. Use a rolling pin to flatten your pancake

Heat a tablespoon of neutral oil in a nonstick skillet or cast-iron pan over medium heat, and cook pancake for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – Once upon a time, I worked at a bakery-restaurant-coffee house in Greenville, South Carolina that served an unbelievable strawberry cake. 

The recipe for that cake is a closely guarded secret. Here’s this one. 

I’m too tired from baking all day to write more introductory text. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Author’s note: My top cake was undercooked because I should have baked it separately, but I had even less energy than I did room in the oven. (Still…really unusual behavior for me to pay insufficient attention to a top!)

Author’s note #2: I used weight measurements here because if you don’t have the patience to weigh out the ingredients with a kitchen scale, you don’t have the patience for this recipe. 

Make your cakes

1. Grease three 9” round cake pans, lining the bottom of each with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350°
2. In a nonstick cooking vessel with high sides (I used a wok), reduce 2 pounds fresh or frozen strawberries until you have a puree and most of the water is cooked off 
3. In a large bowl, whisk together 495 grams all-purpose flour, 3.25 teaspoons baking powder, 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt, and ¾ teaspoon baking soda
4. In a stand mixer, beat 340.5 grams room temperature unsalted butter on medium until smooth. Add 3 cups granulated white sugar and continue beating on medium-high for 5 minutes
5. Scrape down sides of the bowl and add 6 room temperature egg whites and 3 teaspoons vanilla extract. Beat for 1 minute. Reduce speed to low
6. Gradually alternate between adding flour mixture, all but ½ cup strawberry puree, and ¾ cup whole milk, mixing until smooth. Add a few drops of red food coloring and ½ cup boiling water and stir until combined
7. Divide among pans and bake for 30 minutes, tenting the tops with foil if they get too brown 

Make your strawberry cream cheese icing & assemble the cake

1. With cleaned stand mixer, beat together 340.5 grams room temperature unsalted butter, 340.5 grams room temperature cream cheese, 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract, a big pinch of kosher salt, and a few drops red food coloring, mixing for 5 minutes on medium-high
2. Gradually add 9 cups confectioners’ sugar, alternating with reserved strawberry puree, stirring and then mixing once combined on medium-high until light and airy 
3. Ice your first cake on the top and sides, repeating with your second and third cakes. Stack the first two, topping the second with strawberries and then the third cake. Decorate as desired

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – “Mm food court food.” This was my shady friend Zach Bloom’s sarcastic response to my sending a link to this recipe (“Mall chicken teriyaki”) to the gc. And I get it. These days, should I find myself at a shopping mall, I will almost never be eating in a food court. 

However, the first time I tasted Chinese food was at the Flaming Wok in the Flagstaff (Ariz.) Mall, circa 2003. I was probably 11 years old. It was chicken teriyaki, on a sample platter with each piece on a toothpick. Magic. 

The good thing about making this at home? Quality control. It is the ultimate, the Platonic ideal of shopping mall food court chicken teriyaki if that makes sense? 

The recipe is adapted from The Woks of Life. The cookbook (and blog by the same name) is…seriously incredible. Offering both classic dishes and Americanized takeout favorites. I’m obsessed. Cooking nothing but Chinese food until further notice. 

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 3.5 tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice cooking wine), 3.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 1.5 teaspoons dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (or brown sugar), 2 teaspoons grated ginger root, 1.5 teaspoons sesame oil, 1 small grated garlic clove, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch  
2. Add 2 pounds boneless skinless thicken thighs, cut into 1” chunks. Marinate for 2+ hours
3. Heat a couple tablespoons neutral oil in a large high-sided pan or wok on medium-high heat. Use a slotted spoon to transfer chicken into the cooking vessel, shaking off excess marinade into your mixing bowl, reserving it
4. Sear chicken on one side for one minute. Stir fry for another minute. Then, add reserved marinade, simmering on medium for 10 minutes or so – until the sauce is well thickened and fully coating the chicken

Serve with rice. Garnish with chili flake, chopped scallions, and/or sesame seeds

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – My compulsive habit of buying new cookbooks continues apace, this time with an especially exciting addition to my burgeoning collection: “The Woks of Life: Recipes to know from a Chinese-American family.”

As a longtime devotee of the Leung family’s blog by the same name, I knew it would be safe to decide what to make for dinner on Saturday by cracking open the book to a random page and starting there.

Chicken congee (A.K.A. The best soup for winter colds) (p.134). 

Like a chicken and rice soup but richer – brightened with julienned ginger root, fresh scallion, and cilantro – is there anything better when you’re suffering through a head cold or would like to warm yourself from the inside out? 

No, no there is not. 

Prep the rice and chicken broth 

1. Rinse 1 cup jasmine rice and freeze overnight or for at least 8 hours 
2. In a large stockpot with 1 tablespoon neutral oil, cook one yellow onion, halved, 2 heads garlic, halved, and 4 two-inch pieces ginger root, peeled and halved, all cut-side down, for 4 minutes on medium without stirring until everything is lightly charred and very fragrant
3. Add 6 stalks chopped celery, 5 large chopped carrots, 1 bulb fennel, chopped, and a small handful of whole star anise and black peppercorns, cooking for a further 5 minutes while stirring vigorously until vegetables are softened 
4. Add 1 whole chicken, giblets removed and discarded, along with 12 cups water
5. Bring to a boil and quickly reduce heat to medium-low, simmering gently for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through
6. Carefully remove bird from stockpot and, when cool enough to handle, remove and reserve meat before returning the carcass to the pot
7. Continue cooking on low for about 2 hours, seasoning to taste as you go with salt. Strain and reserve broth, discarding everything else. 

Make the congee

1. Slice 6-9 ounces partially frozen uncooked chicken breast into thin strips measuring about ¹/4″ thick (Do not use the reserved chicken meat that you cooked for your broth. Use that for something else.).Combine it with 2 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon neutral oil, 1.5 teaspoons oyster sauce, ½ teaspoon sesame oil,  ¹/4  teaspoon salt, and ¹/4  teaspoon white pepper. Allow chicken to marinate for 15-20 minutes
2. In a deep pot, combine 5 cups homemade chicken stock with 2 cups water and 1 cup frozen rice, bringing everything to a rolling boil. Cover, reducing heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20-25 minutes without stirring 
3. Uncover the pot, raise heat to medium-high, and stir continuously for 5 minutes or until the soup reaches your desired consistency, adding more water or stock if you wish to thin out the mixture 

Stir in peeled and julienned ginger root, chopped scallions, cilantro, and a Thai red chili pepper, halved crosswise with the stem left intact

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – Remember my fried chicken column? Where I was talking about how many regional variations of the dish there are? And how wonderful it is to live in a world where we can have different types of fried chicken?

Same principle applies to dumplings. (Wow, do I like comfort food!) 

The first time I had pelmeni was at Spacy Cloud, a vegan restaurant where my Russian friend worked as a server-bartender. So, while this recipe calls for a 50-50 mixture of ground beef and pork breakfast sausage, I can tell you meatless alternatives work wonderfully.

Recipe adapted from the cookbook of Yekaterina (Katya) Dobronravova-Levesque M.D.

Make the dough & filling

• Combine 2 cups all-purpose flour with 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a large bowl or flat surface
• Make a well and add 2 eggs with one tablespoon cold water. Knead until smooth. If your dough is too shaggy and isn’t coming together, add more cold water (a tablespoon at a time) 
• Wrap dough with a clean cloth and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator 
• In a large bowl, add 1 pound ground beef, 1 pound pork breakfast sausage, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and a half teaspoon ground black pepper. Grate a large onion into the bowl and mix everything together 

Assemble, boil & serve the pelmeni 

• Divide your dough in half and roll out each piece until they’re very thin, about ⅛.” 
• Make the dumplings with a pelmeni maker. This YouTube video will be more helpful to you than written instructions
• Heat a large stockpot filled with heavily salted water until it reaches a rolling boil. Carefully drop pelmeni into the pot and cook for about 7 minutes. Do not discard the water

Ladle the dumplings into bowls along with the salted, starchy water. Serve with sour cream (or crème fraiche, which is almost always my preference) along with heaps of dill