In the chaotic kitchen of a recipe developer, you get a food blog called FoodMayhem.
I'm Jessica, an Asian-American, born and raised in NYC, and that's Lon, my Jewish, white husband. While professionally trained as a French culinary- and pastry chef, many of FoodMayhem recipes are my attempt to preserve and share authentic Chinese and Taiwanese recipes learned from my mom. We don't eat Chinese food every day, so you'll get a little bit of anything we find delicious enough to share: from our Eastern European side; recipes and techniques learned from my restaurant days; restaurant reviews, food travel tips; and a few other juicy bits along the way. Welcome to FoodMayhem!
I’ve been thinking about making a dish with wheat berries for a while now, and I guess I was jolted with a little bit of inspiration from a pasta dish I had at A Voce. Drawing on the brown butter and sage, that familiar and comforting fall aroma, and enjoying the dabs of natural sweetness from the butternut squash, this dish came together almost by itself.
There are so many goodies to be had from a whole duck. Every part is delicious, and not just the breasts and legs. The skin and fat, even the carcass, is precious. Start with a 4.5 lb headless Pekin (not Peking) or Long Island Duck. Separate the legs and wings for the confit. Save the breasts for a fabulous dish of your choice. Skin the rest of the duck. Take all that extra fat and skin, cut it into pieces, and throw it into a pot with 1/2 cup of water.
Crawfish Gumbo was, by a good margin, the winner of the FoodMayhem Reader’s Choice: Crawfish Season, receiving 35.7% of the votes. There are many recipes already available online for Crawfish Gumbo, so my goal was to write a definitive guide. I’ve made gumbo quite a few times in the past, so I have a few tips to share. This post is more about the tips than anything else.
The number one tip I have for you is (Tip #1): Don’t attempt to make gumbo unless you’re planning to spend the whole day making it!
