i am a food blog

I Am... Flat-Iron Carne Asada Recipe

March 5, 2012 • 17 comments • Posted in: mexican, steak, tortillas

Growing up, I didn't eat a lot of Mexican food. In our house it was all Chinese food all the time thanks to the unadventurous palate of my father. My dad's the kind of man who'll insist on eating Chinese food whether he's at home or on vacation where the only option for Chinese food consists of orange chicken and chop suey.

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I Am... No-Knead Pizza Dough Recipe

March 4, 2012 • 53 comments • Posted in: basil, mozzarella, pizza, tomatoes

If you've tasted the breads at Sullivan Street Bakery, I think you'd agree: Jim Lahey is a genius. And the best part is that he isn't one of those crazy secret-keeping geniuses. In fact, I'd say he's pretty much the opposite of secret: his no-knead bread making method is super well known and documented. In 2006, an article was published in the New York Times about the no-knead bread method and it took the bread baking world by storm. Usually no-kneading means no bread, but not with Lahey's recipe.

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I Am... Skillet Fried Chicken Recipe

March 2, 2012 • 23 comments • Posted in: buttermilk, chicken

We moved to Vancouver from Edmonton when I was eight years old. My mom was tired of the endless snowy winters and mosquito-filled summers. I didn't want to move—my whole life was in Edmonton. My best friend and I spent the first part of the summer before I left practicing letter writing. I was worried I wouldn't have any friends. My parents tried to convince us kids that we'd make lots of new friends in school—at the very least we'd have our cousins.

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I Am... Rigatoni and Cheese Recipe

March 1, 2012 • 5 comments • Posted in: arugula, mint, peas, rigatoni

I'm always on the lookout for great mac and cheese variations. There are so many combos you can make with pasta and cheese and I love them all. Luckily Mike loves them too. It's funny because before me he used to be allergic to cheese–not crazy stop breathing allergic, but definitely break out in hives allergic. After we started going out his allergy disappeared and I like to think that I was the cure. Whatever the reason, I'm happy that we're a cheese eating family.

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I Am... Ham and Cheese Waffle Recipe

February 29, 2012 • 13 comments • Posted in: cheese, ham, waffles

Growing up waffles came out of boxes, not waffle makers, so you can imagine how excited I was when I discovered that Mike had a waffle maker. Soon I was pumping out all sorts of waffles: liege, chocolate, blueberry. I even made waffles to go with fried chicken for a Southern treat.

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I Am... Mushroom Bean Salad Recipe

February 26, 2012 • 3 comments • Posted in: beans, mushrooms, sesame

Living in Vancouver makes it pretty easy to drive down to America — the border's close so it doesn't feel like a huge production and Seattle is far enough away to feel like you're taking a mini-vacation. Sometimes Mike and I head down to Seattle for the day just for fun. I love exploring strange cities and discovering new places to eat. Sometimes I'll luck out and try a dish that will blow me away. The bean salad at Revel did just that.

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I Am... Fennel Pork Meatball Recipe

February 25, 2012 • 28 comments • Posted in: fennel, pork

I first had fennel sausage at Campanglolo, a fun, rustic Italian restaurant in Vancouver. The sausage was scattered on a delicious pizza with just the right amount of crisp and chew. The pizza was fantastic, but the fennel sausage was the star. I literally wanted to pick off the few pieces of sausage on the pie and stuff them into my mouth to make one satisfying bite.

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I Am... Pineapple Guacamole Recipe

February 24, 2012 • 15 comments • Posted in: avocados, bird's eye chili, cilantro, guacamole, lime, mexican, onion

As a child, I never ate avocados. Not because I was put off by them, just because they were never on my radar. Back then, I wasn't as interested in food, so it never occurred to me that avocados might be tasty. When I think about it, my first taste of avocados must've been in a California roll. Even after that, I didn't equate the creamy green stuff in my sushi to the pebbly, greenish-brown, pear-looking rocks in the supermarket.

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I Am... Churros Recipe

February 22, 2012 • 9 comments • Posted in: cinnamon, eggs, sugar

I don't think I've every met anyone who doesn't like churros. Deep fried dough rolled in cinnamon-sugar? What's not to love?! Churros are best straight out of the oil when they're warm and somehow manage to be crispy and soft at the same time. Apparently churros are a breakfast food—I sure could get used to that!

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I Am... Chouquette Recipe

February 21, 2012 • 10 comments • Posted in: eggs, flour, pearl sugar

Biting into a chouquette is a little like biting into a soft, rich, eggy, cloud topped with crunchy sugar. My first taste of these slightly-sweet treats was in Nice, France. Tummy rumbling, Mike and I headed into a bakery. I spied a giant mountain of cream-puff looking pastries and politely pointing, asked for "une, s'il vous plaît." The nice bakery lady didn't laugh at my request or my broken French. Instead, in perfect English she explained that they sold the feather light chouquettes by weight. She wrapped up about 10 of them in a paper bag and twisted it shut. Outside, we ripped the bag apart and dug into the tiny clouds of heaven.