Being a vegetarian in Spain is not easy, but if you know what to look for you can eat like a king. Ryan has family in Bilbao and we have been fortunate to visit them a few times together over the years. Our first experience was in the summer of 2011, and while the trip was amazing… getting there was not. Thanks to weather and other delays, our sixteen-hour travel time turned into an unpleasant (and uncomfortable) thirty, leaving us exhausted and worn out by the time we arrived. But the huge hugs and warm welcome we received from all the relatives waiting at the airport made us forget the ordeal we had been through, and for the next four days we had the time of our lives. We had planned our trip to overlap with the city’s annual festival, Aste Nagusia, or “big week.” From morning till night, there were tens of thousands of locals and tourists partying in town, with colorful floats, jaw-dropping fireworks, and delicious street foods on every corner, and this is where Adam tried churros con chocolate for the first time: thin, extra-crispy churros dipped in a cup of rich, thick melted chocolate. Ryan’s family showed us all their favorite local bars and restaurants, took us to the Guggenheim Museum of modern art, and we basically spent the entire visit eating and drinking our way through this lively Basque city. At times, it was tricky to find tapas that we could eat, but almost every bar had a few classic dishes we could enjoy, like traditional Spanish tortilla de patatas, roasted pimientos de país, and the crispy, spicy, dangerously addictive potatoes known as patatas bravas.
Category: Sides
vegetarian tteokbokki
It has been raining here in Los Angeles and we are loving every second. Nothing is more soothing than falling asleep to the sound of drops hitting our rooftop, then waking up to find the plants outside glowing a brilliant green and radiating with life. These cloudy days are perfect for photographing food: the light is softer, diffused, and bluish-white, making everything more vibrant and a pleasure to shoot. Speaking of photography, our friend Soe (Lime & Cilantro), an outstanding cook and photographer (won “Best New Voice” at the Saveur 2016 Blog Awards), recently invited us to participate in a #noodleholicsparty where everyone cooks their favorite noodle dish and shares it today on their website. With a hashtag like that, how could we resist? This spicy and comforting delicacy couldn’t be more fitting for a cold rainy day. It is one of our favorite Korean appetizers, and this vegetarian version is just as flavorful as the original. A fun word to say, tteokbokki (duck-boke-KEE) is also super quick and easy to make!
pistachio feta dip + Napa recap
Tuesday, December 6th, 3:30am. The alarm clock we typically want to throw across the room sounded different that morning. The day we had been looking forward to for months had arrived, so it was easier to get out of bed at that unseemly hour. We had been invited by Teri Turner, the force behind No Crumbs Left, to attend a gathering of bloggers in Northern California where we would eat, cook, and meet in person for the very first time, even though we were already friends through the community of Instagram. Since our little Nissan Leaf only has a range of 84 miles, we rented an SUV to transport us to Napa, along with suitcases, pots and pans for cooking, ice chests full of ingredients, and the most exciting cargo of all: our friend Christine from What Do You Crave! Of all the attendees, Christine was the only one we previously knew. We became fast friends this year, and were beyond excited to road trip with her up to the Bay Area!
twice-baked cheesy mashed potatoes
After this weekend’s near-disaster, we will be giving thanks for hot water at Thanksgiving this year. We awoke Saturday morning to find the water pressure in our house had suddenly dropped to a pathetic trickle, which of course happened on the day we were expecting company. We had big plans to cook with our friend Soe, who was the winner of this year’s Saveur Blog Award for Best New Voice. His beautiful website, Lime and Cilantro, is filled with stunning photography and delicious Burmese recipes including the chickpea tofu he planned to make for the dinner. All this week, we have been cooking up a storm, testing new recipes left and right, and our sink was piled high with dishes from the night before. There we stood, unshaven and unshowered, in the middle of our war zone of a kitchen with no water pressure, and our guest arriving in less than two hours.
the crispiest tofu
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The crispiest tofu is sweeping the land! Say goodbye to soft, flavorless, boring tofu and brace yourselves for its superior successor. Our talented and dear friend Emma K. Morris worked some serious magic to create this newsworthy recipe, and was kind enough to share her secrets with us. Like many people, Emma’s dad didn’t like tofu, but she was convinced that she could come up with a recipe that would change his mind. She rolled up her sleeves, began researching and testing, tasting and retesting, determined to find a way to transform this bland white brick of coagulated soy milk into something that everyone will love. If you set your mind to something, you can accomplish anything—even the impossible—and that is exactly what she did. And her method is pure genius.