Dave Lieberman

​
The poor members of the Westboro Baptist Church and their pointless "God hates fags" signs! If only their blinkered interpretation of God had allowed them to have a little more education, they might have been able to read the message I Am That I Am sent them: He actually hates figs. . . .

Which is all the reason I need to make a tart featuring the sweet fruits. They're not in season right now, but this recipe works just as well with dried figs as with fresh. If your figs are truly bone-dry, soak them for five minutes in hot water. If they've got some give, you can skip that step. Make sure you buy the best chèvre and honey you can; mine came from Soledad Goats and Backyard Bees, respectively.
More >>

Dave Lieberman

​To the right is a picture of the cocktail I drank nearly every single night during the holidays. (On a related note, I may need to get over my horror of Bonobos or other stretchy-waist trousers.)

I couldn't help it. I'm obsessed. I almost never drink cocktails with soda in them, but I've got a secret stash of 1.5-L bottles of Jarritos Toronja behind my wife's scrapbooking supplies.

I've been experimenting with a lot of alcoholic infusions--my counter is a minefield of limoncello and blood orange extract, vanilla extract and celery vodka--but the best so far has been agua picante, or tequila reposado infused with chile and avocado leaf.
More >>

Seabirds Truck

​

Have you ever wanted to cook delicious vegan food like the crew of OC's own Seabirds Truck? Well, fire up your tablets, because over the Christmas weekend, the Birds released an e-cookbook of the all-vegan luxe lonchera's greatest hits.

More >>

Dave Lieberman

​
Quick, what was the first cookie you ever made? If it wasn't a sugar cookie, I bet it was a Toll House chocolate-chip cookie. The famous recipe is printed on the back of the bags of chocolate chips and contains no weird ingredients or odd techniques.
More >>

Sometime duck doesn't taste like chocolate.

​
Have you ever killed a wild animal only to discover that it tastes like crap when you try to eat it?

Come on. Admit it: Your hunting endeavors haven't always put mouth-watering meat on your table.
More >>

Dave Lieberman

​
We've talked here at Stick a Fork In It about infusing your own liquors, which is fun, legal, and inebriating... but the same forces that can infuse celery seed into your vodka or dried chiles into your tequila reposado (which is really, REALLY good) can also save you a heapin' helpin' o' cash. I'm talking about the biggest ripoff in the baking aisle: vanilla extract.
More >>

Flickr user fritish

​

Thanksgiving turkey is one of those traditions you don't mess with - somebody in your family will cut you out of their will if you change the way you cook it. They'll expect the same, oven-roasted bird that's been the done the exact same way in your family since they landed on the Mayflower. But why not buck tradition with a second turkey, cooked outside on the smoker? Here's some ideas for those iconoclasts.

More >>

Dave Lieberman

​
Last week, I talked about how easy it was to make panisses, and the photo (taken with my old iPhone, yeah, yeah, haters gonna hate) had some empanadas in the background. Empanadas are, with about $10 worth of equipment you might not already own, the easiest appetizer to make.
More >>

Dave Lieberman

Panisses and some dandelion--yes, dandelion--empanadas I made the other day.

​You've all heard of Chez Panisse, Alice Waters' breakout restaurant in Berkeley. You can't have avoided mention of it--and it is, to be fair, an outstanding restaurant. But if you aren't French, specifically Provençal, you probably have no idea what the hell panisse means. I speak French fluently--albeit with un p'tit accent savoyard--and I didn't know until I had one the first time.

More >>

More >>