Category Archives: Cool Cooking Techniques

Messy But Good: Garlicky Roasted Shrimp with Cumin, Ginger & Sesame

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You'll need a stack of napkins to eat these, but they're worth it.
You’ll need a stack of napkins to eat these, but they’re worth it.

Not shrimp boil, but shrimp broil.

That’s what “Garlicky Roasted Shrimp with Cumin, Ginger & Sesame” encapsulates.

Prepare to get down and dirty with this quick and easy dish. That’s because not only do you have to rub seasonings all over and into slit, shell-on shrimp before broiling, but of course once cooked, you have to then peel them to eat.

But like Dungeness crab in-season, these shrimp are well worth the effort and cleanup afterward.

This recipe is from “America’s Test Kitchen 25th Anniversary Cookbook: 500 Recipes That Changed the Way America Cooks” (2024), of which I received a review copy.

Believe me, you’ll get a workout just lifting this 711-page book.

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Zahav’s Braised Lamb Shanks with Sour Cherry & Cola

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Lamb shanks braised low and slow with soda and juice. Yup!
Lamb shanks braised low and slow with soda and juice. Yup!

I am not a soda drinker.

But I am someone who likes to cook and bake with the stuff.

It’s curiosity that draws me, imagining what the fizzy, sweet drink will add to a particular dish or treat.

That’s why “Braised Lamb Shanks with Sour Cherry & Cola” leaped off the pages of the new “Zahav Home” (Harvest, 2024), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Chef Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook, co-owners of the Philadelphia hospitality group, CookNSolo Restaurants, of which the flagship is Zahav. In 2019, that restaurant became the first Israeli and first Philadelphia restaurant to win the James Beard “Outstanding Restaurant” Award. They now own 23 restaurants in three states. Their Zahav Hummus is now sold at Whole Foods Markets across the United States, too.

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Tom Colicchio’s “Possibly the Best Grilled Cheese You’ll Ever Have”

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'Nduja and plenty of mozzarella make this grilled cheese extra messy and delicious.
‘Nduja and plenty of mozzarella make this grilled cheese extra messy and delicious.

Tom Colicchio may be a household name now, thanks to 21 seasons as head judge and executive producer of the Emmy-winning, Bravo hit show “Top Chef.”

But as a kid, he felt a little lost and a lot unsure while growing up in northern New Jersey, especially with a father who was often moody, silent, and a gambling addict.

One day, when he was 13, his mom dragged him to her weekly hair appointment. As he waited, he happened to pick up a magazine, Cuisine. Leafing through it, he grew mesmerized by a recipe for roasted, stuffed eggplant. So much so, that he asked permission to take the magazine home, where he made the dish, the first meal he had ever cooked.

His dad took a taste and remarked, “Not bad, Tom” — words that Colicchio would cherish.

Three years later, when Colicchio was 16 with nary a thought to his future, his father suggested he become a chef, saying, “I think you’d be good at it.” Coming from his usually stoic dad, it carried immeasurable weight and would propel him into his exceedingly successful career.

So Colicchio recounts in his new book, “Why I Cook” (Artisan, 2024), of which I received a review copy.

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Dressed-For-Success Polenta with Herbed Oil

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A beautiful looking polenta that couldn't be easier to make.
A beautiful looking polenta that couldn’t be easier to make.

With gobs of butter and a veritable snowstorm of grated Parmigano.

That’s usually how I make and like my soft polenta.

But this recipe for “Polenta with Herbed Oil” offered another variation, one stripped of all that cheese, trading it instead for a copious amount of dried herbs found easily in my pantry that are steeped in a mixture of warmed butter and olive oil. In the process, it brought to the forefront more of that wonderful toasty corn taste.

This easy recipe is from “Cured” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Steve McHugh, chef-owner of Cured in San Antonio, and Landrace in San Antonio; with assistance from Paula Forbes, a cookbook author, and former editor of Eater and Epicurious.

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ABsteak Makes A Splashy Opening in San Francisco’s Union Square

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Thinly sliced Australian Wagyu brisket awaiting the grill at ABsteak.
Thinly sliced Australian Wagyu brisket awaiting the grill at ABsteak.

Upscale Korean steakhouse ABsteak opened in San Francisco’s Union Square last week with flash and panache, along with plenty of fire, but no smoke, well, thanks to its custom grill-tops that vacuum it all away.

It’s the 28th restaurant worldwide for Seoul-born Chef Akira Back, and only his second one in California (the first being in Los Angeles). In the next two years, he plans to open another 10 around the globe.

Quite the accomplishment for Black who was once a professional snowboarder.

I had a chance to check out the glitzy 6,500-square foot subterranean restaurant, when I was invited in as a guest earlier this week.

The logo'd wall that greets you when you descend the stairs to the restaurant.
The logo’d wall that greets you when you descend the stairs to the restaurant.
A private dining room.
A private dining room.
The centerpiece glass wine display.
The centerpiece glass wine display.

Take the stairs or elevator down one level to find the entrance to the restaurant that’s filled with intriguing details. Look up to find a dramatic ceiling with curving and angular steel supports that change as you walk from the bar-lounge, past the showstopping 200-bottle circular glass wine display and into the dining room. Viewed together, they are supposed to evoke the bones, blood vessels and vertebrae inside a cow.

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