Hi! Thanks for joining me on this adventure. I can’t wait to see where it takes us! I’m thrilled to share my first post with you today and look forward to hearing what you think! The idea behind these “un-recipes” is to help you develop your senses and sensibilities as a cook. Over time, I hope this format will help you acquire the skills and confidence needed to use any recipe as inspiration rather than doctrine.
I've always had a funny relationship with recipes, so imagine my angst when I decided to start a culinary-themed Substack. Everyone will want recipes, I thought, and that thought started to stress me out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of the recipes I’ve developed over the years, and love countless classics written by others (some of which I plan to share here). But recipes, prescriptive and precise by definition, often fail to capture the nuances essential to good cooking. Seasonality, geography, personal preference, and one’s day-to-day reality inevitably affect how a dish turns out. Meaningfully capturing all of these variables in a single recipe is practically impossible.
Instead of exact cooking times and measurements, un-recipes will offer sensory cues and other important information to guide you toward success in the kitchen no matter what you’re making. You’ll learn to discern when you need to adhere to a particular instruction and when you really don’t need to use the same tools or ingredients as me. You’ll grow comfortable with making substitutions, using what you’ve already got on hand, and making tweaks and improvements to follow your own taste.
Please let me know what you think of the format (the video, the written notes, sharing instructive information to help you become a more intuitive cook) and tell me what else you want to learn about, too! Eventually we plan to put posts like this one behind a paywall, but for the first month or so everything (apart from the ability to comment) is open so you can get a feel for what I’m doing here.
Happy cooking, my friends!
Asparagus with Kumquat & Herb Salsa
Snap & peel asparagus:
Choose fatter asparagus spears. They’re more tender!
One bunch will feed 2 to 3 people as a side dish
To snap, aim for the lower ¼ - ⅓ of the stalk
Kids are a great help with stalk snapping
It’s cool to use a light touch when peeling and just take a few strips. No need to strip the stalk bare ;)
Want to learn more about picking a good veggie peeler? Let us know in the comments!
Seed & dice kumquats (or your fruit of choice):
Don’t have or don’t want to use kumquats? Try Meyer lemons, mangoes, cherries, or another stone fruit
A bamboo skewer or small knife can be helpful for seeding
Alternatively, just slice the citrus and swipe seeds off your cutting board as they appear
A sharp knife makes slicing citrus (and everything else!) much easier, as does cutting each kumquat in half first, then cutting from the fruity center out toward the peel
Dice & macerate a spring onion (or other allium):
A shallot, a small red onion, or even green onions could be good here
If using spring onion, dice the bulb and the tender white part of the stalk too
We 🩷 Tart Vinegar (here we used their Salad+Soup Vinegar). Seasoned rice vinegar, champagne or white wine vinegar, even lemon or lime juice could all work — it’s up to you
Finely chop fresh herbs:
We used a mix of cilantro, chervil, and mint
Goes without saying that you can and should use whatever herbs are calling out to you: basil, mint, parsley, chervil, shiso, dill and tarragon are all good options
If you choose to use cilantro, be sure to dice up those tasty stems
If you happen to use parsley, leave those fibrous stems out — please & thank you
Always coat herbs with oil directly after chopping to prevent them from oxidizing and turning brown
Mix herbs, allium & citrus:
Use ~1 part allium to 2 parts fruit and 4 parts herbs
Adjust with salt, oil, and vinegar to taste
This salsa also tastes great over grilled fish, roast chicken, mixed with labneh and served with crudités… Lots of possibilities! Endless? Nearly.
Blanch asparagus:
Water should be super duper salty
Pull asparagus when it’s almost done since even out of the water it will keep cooking
Spread freshly blanched spears out on a parchment-lined baking sheet so they can cool quickly
Drizzle with olive oil asap to prevent your beautiful spears from shriveling
Plate & serve:
Pile cooled asparagus stalks onto a platter
Season lightly with flaky salt
Generously spoon salsa over the asparagus
Enjoy on your own or with friends!
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