The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

WASHINGTON – Some of my favorite chefs and cookbook authors have long raved about Rancho Gordo, the largest purveyor of exotic heirloom beans in the U.S. Well, friends, these fabaceae are worth the hype. 

In case you were wondering, the peas in peas & rice = beans. And you can use virtually any variety you like, dried or canned, but RG’s ayocote morado beans are just sublime here. 

The purple-hued thick-skinned runner bean pairs perfectly with jasmine rice and these ribs, which are rubbed with a flaming hot jerk seasoning mixture and cooked low and slow until the brown sugar and spices caramelize into a beautiful crust. 

Now is the time for you capsaicin-pilled frociaggine to turn up the heat with Scotch bonnets and habaneros. Serve the ribs with crème fraiche, yogurt, sour cream, or labneh to soothe the burn. You could also discard the ribs and seeds from the peppers, but do you want to be safe, or do you want to be cool? 

Just be sure to THOROUGHLY wash your hands before touching your face, eyes, or — God forbid, and unfortunately, I am speaking from experience — your genitals. 

Ribs recipe (courtesy of Harold Dieterle/Sam Sifton, New York Times Cooking): 

1. Heat your oven to 300° F. Place one bunch of roughly chopped scallions, ½ an onion, roughly chopped, 4 cloves of garlic, and 4 habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers, 1 serrano pepper, and a pinch of salt into a food processor. Pulse until well minced
2. Add 2 tablespoons dried thyme, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 2 tablespoons ground allspice, 1 teaspoon chipotle powder or habanero powder, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon chile powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
3. Add ¼ cup soy sauce and blend for 15-20 seconds. Add ¼ cup dark rum and pulse to combine. Add ¼ cup water and pulse again 
4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until ready to use 
5. Remove the membrane from the backs of two racks of baby back pork ribs. Season them “aggressively” with salt and pepper
6. Place each rack of ribs on a large sheet of aluminum foil, slathering each with the marinade. Wrap them tightly in the foil, place them on a sheet pan, and transfer them to the oven to cook for 90 minutes 
7. Unwrap the ribs and douse them again with the jerk marinade. Return the meat, uncovered, to the oven to continue roasting for another 90 minutes “or until the meat is crusty and has just begun to pull back from the bone” 
8. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and then slice into individual ribs to serve

Peas & rice 

1. Preheat oven to 400° F
2. Make a sofrito by blending, with a food processor, ½ an onion, a few hot peppers, a few stalks of celery (or a fennel bulb), and a few large carrots, peeled
3. Heat a few tablespoons of neutral oil in a high-sided heavy-bottomed vessel like an enameled cast iron Dutch oven or a stockpot. Cook the vegetables, covered, for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes, stirring more frequently. Uncover and continue to cook until the vegetables begin to brown as they fry in the oil
4. If you’re using dried beans, add them to the pot now along with 2 quarts of water, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, and 1 teaspoon of Mexican oregano. Season generously with salt, bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer, and cook for 1-3 hours until the beans are tender
5. Add 1 cup of water and a 14 oz can of coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and stir in 2 cups of long grain white rice. Cover and transfer your pot to the oven to bake for 40 minutes. If you’re using canned beans (drained and rinsed), stir them in halfway through cooking 
6. Remove your pot and allow to rest for 15 minutes before fluffing and serving (that’s right, fluffing and serving! Happy Pride!) 

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

WASHINGTON – Today’s recipe comes courtesy of Molly Baz and her new-ish cookbook (new to me, anyway), “More is More.” 

“This salad,” she writes, “is all about letting peak summer melon shine. You’ll make a nutty, green pistachio oil to drench it in, and then toss the fruit with thinly shaved fennel and tons and tons of thick shards of Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s sweet, it’s salty, it’s crunchy and soft simultaneously; it is THE summer salad moment.” 

Melon is the least exciting part of any fruit plate situation but tell me you don’t develop some respect after tasting it with the savory treatment as prepared in this dish. 

1. Add ¼ cup fennel fronds to a food processor with ⅓ cup salted, roasted pistachios, pulsing while slowly adding ⅓ cup good olive oil. Season with flaky salt
2. Thinly slice 2 fennel bulbs and the flesh of one melon. Toss in a large bowl with flaky salt and the juice of 2 lemons 
3. Using a paring knife or vegetable peeler, shave 5 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano 
4. Plate by starting with a small handful of fennel/melon, topping with cheese and pistachio oil, and repeating once 

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

WASHINGTON – Firmly in my bean era, it was only a matter of time before I made pasta e fagioli, a traditional Italian soup of which Carla Lalli Music has a beautiful version that I have lightly modified below. 

Happy Pride! 

I used heirloom yellow eye beans from Rancho Gordo, which were heavenly in this. 

1. Soak ½ pound dry beans overnight in water seasoned with salt
2. Make a double-batch of sofrito: In a food processor, pulse 1 large or two medium-sized yellow onion and 6 garlic cloves until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with 1 fennel bulb or four celery stalks and 4 carrots
3. Heat a 6-quart Dutch oven over medium. Add ½ cup olive oil and cook vegetables for about 3 minutes, seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, checking and stirring every 5-10 minutes, until everything is soft but making sure it doesn’t yet begin to take on color, about 25 minutes. Continue to cook with the lid on, stirring more frequently, until sofrito begins to brown, about 15 minutes more. Uncover and continue to cook until the vegetables are starting to fry in the oil
4. Transfer ½ of the sofrito into a Tupperware and freeze for the future. Add 6 anchovies, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 2 teaspoons fennel seeds, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon turmeric, and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes. Add ¼ cup tomato paste and cook until it turns a deep brick-red, about 3 minutes
5. Add beans along with their soaking liquid. Add 3 bay leaves and enough water to cover the beans by 2-3 inches. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high, season with salt and pepper, and reduce heat. Partially cover the pot and simmer gently, stirring every 20-30 minutes, until beans are starting to soften, 1-2 hours
6. When beans are tender, stir in a bunch of kale or half a head of green cabbage along with a parmesan rind. Cook with lid askew for 30-45 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Spoon about 3 cups of soup into your food processor, blend until smooth, and stir back into your pot
7. Cook ½ pound pasta (I used ditalini, but any short pasta shape will work) until 2-3 minutes shy of al-dente. Drain pasta and add to your soup, tasting and adjusting seasoning again 
8. In a separate skillet, brown 1 pound ground pork until cooked through and then add the meat to your pot, stirring to combine

Serve drizzled with olive oil, fried bread, and grated parmesan (or gruyere, which I used by mistake but turned out to be delicious)

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

WASHINGTON – Health food this is not. Make it for guests, as I did on Saturday, and you will feel less guilty about the calories (and sodium, fat, cholesterol…)

Recipe lightly adapted from Melissa Clark, New York Times Cooking

1. Heat oven to 500° F. Slice 1 pound croissants crosswise and toast on a baking sheet, cut side up, for 5-10 minutes until well browned. Allow to cool and tear into bite sized pieces 
2. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Add 1-2 bunches scallions, white and light green parts, and 1 pound sweet Italian sausage. Cook until mixture is well browned, about 5 minutes, breaking up the meat 
3. Stir in 2 teaspoons finely chopped sage. Remove from heat and toss with croissants in a large bowl
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together 8 eggs, 3 cups whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream, 1½-2 cups grated gruyère cheese, salt, and pepper
5. Lightly butter a 9×13” baking dish. Turn croissant mixture into the pan, spread evenly over the bottom. Add custard mixture and press into croissants. Cover and refrigerate overnight 
6. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350° F, scatter remaining ½-1 cup grated gruyere over top. Transfer to oven and bake for 45 minutes. Allow to rest for 10 minutes and garnish with remaining scallion greens
7. Serve

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

FIRE ISLAND PINES, N.Y. – Last Monday, before heading home to Washington, I made lunch for my friends who were working from their home in the Pines. After our pasta night, they wanted a light meal, and I knew just what to do: my all-time favorite, go-to chicken salad by Martha Rose Shulman for New York Times Cooking. 

Let’s be honest, most chicken salads are mediocre, and many are terrible (why do people add RAISINS?! Disgusting.) An unremarkable lunch that simply gets the job done when you need to scarf something down during a busy workday is fine, but I want more for you; for all of us. 

You will never suffer through another middling, insipid chicken salad after making this recipe just once. Here you’re getting the brightness, the bite, and the complex savoriness of ingredients commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine such as fresh mint and cilantro, lime juice, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and buttermilk. Divine. 

And because it does not rely on mayonnaise to moisten the poached and shredded chicken breasts, Schulman’s recipe is also low-fat, which you should be sure to tell everyone who showers you with compliments when you bring a bowl to your next barbecue, cookout, potluck, pool party, Fourth of July party, or picnic this summer.  

1. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a rolling boil. Add 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and once the water is brought back to a boil, cover and remove your pot from the heat and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes 
2. As you’re waiting, thinly slice 6-10 scallions (both white and green parts), sliver ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chop ¼ cup cilantro, julienne 1 red bell pepper, and mince 1 serrano or jalapeño pepper. Add everything to a large bowl and toss together with 2 cups mung bean sprouts
3. After chicken is rested (at which point it will be fully cooked through), remove the lid, drain the water, shred the meat, season with salt, and combine with the ingredients in your large bowl
4. In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice, 2 teaspoons minced ginger, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 tablespoon fish sauce (preferably Southeast Asian), and a pinch of cayenne. Stir to combine and mix in 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter (creamy or smooth) along with ⅓ cup buttermilk

Taste and adjust seasonings and then serve over romaine lettuce leaves and/or bread, for sandwiches

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

FIRE ISLAND PINES, N.Y. – This weekend, dear friends of mine were kind enough to invite me to their new home in Fire Island Pines, a beautiful Horace Gifford property steps from the beach. 

They and their friends have been doing housework and yardwork in preparation to rent the house out during the high season, but everyone knew better than to ask me to trim trees or power wash the balconies. Instead, I happily volunteered to cook. 

I know where my strengths lie. 

On Friday, I made Alison Roman’s chicken thighs braised with tomatillos, which I served with an assortment of toppings: cilantro, sliced radishes, and diced jalapeno and raw onion (quick-pickled with lime juice to lessen the bite). 

On Saturday, I managed to convince five other gay men to eat pasta. Can you imagine? Colu Henry’s orecchiette with corn, jalapeño, feta, and basil was good enough to make everyone forget about the calories and carbs.

Recipe lightly adapted from New York Times Cooking: 

1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook 1 pound orecchiette until 2-minutes short of al-dente (as indicated in the cooking instructions on the box). Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water 
2. While the pasta cooks, make the sauce: In a 12-inch skillet, melt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and cook 1 jalapeno, diced, along with 4-8 scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced, for 2 minutes
3. Add corn kernels from 5-6 ears, cooking until it starts to brown, 4-6 minutes. Season with salt. Add ¼ cup pasta water and simmer until reduced by half, about 1-2 minutes
4. Add pasta to the skillet, tossing to coat with the sauce. Add 8-10 ounces crumbled feta cheese and another ¼ cup pasta water, stirring until the sauce becomes smooth and creamy and glossy
5. Stop and admire her glow-up

Stir in ½ cup basil and top with more basil

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

WASHINGTON – File this one away for when the weather cools enough that the prospect of turning on your oven doesn’t make you homicidal. Yes, I realize baked ziti is not a summertime dish. No, I don’t care. 

If you hadn’t heard, Alison Roman started a new season of Home Movies, out on YouTube. Her latest video was for cheesy baked shells, which reminded me that I’ve had her baked ziti recipe saved in my New York Times Cooking app for years – but had never made it. 

Well, folks. The dish surpassed my (very high) expectations. 

I have said it once and I’ll say it again: If you want recipes for healthy food, look elsewhere. I am usually cooking with a lot of salt, fat, and carbs. Sometimes you’ll get a salad, but if I am eating a salad, chances are it’s an accompaniment to a main dish. 

Speaking of, the celery salad I wrote about in September 2023 (with cilantro, scallion, sesame, lime, and fish sauce) would be amazing with this baked ziti. 

Recipe adapted from Alison Roman, New York Times Cooking: 

1. In a Dutch oven or other large, heavy bottomed pot with high sides, heat ¼ cup good olive oil over medium. Cook 1 onion, diced, for 8-10 minutes. Add 4 cloves garlic, smashed or diced, and cook for 1-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons tomato paste and cook until it turns a deep brick-red color, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2. Add 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, crushing them with your hands, along with another 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, 20-30 minutes 
3. In a medium bowl, combine 1 pound whole milk ricotta, ½ cup heavy cream, and ½ cup parmesan or pecorino. Season with salt and pepper and set aside
4. As the sauce cooks, heat oven to 425° F. Place a large pot of heavily salted water on the stove and heat on high 
5. Cook pasta until 2 minutes short of al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, drain and rinse the noodles in cold water
6. Mix pasta water with the sauce once it’s done cooking/reducing. Transfer 2 cups of the sauce into a large bowl with your pasta, tossing and stirring to distribute evenly. Spoon more sauce onto the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish (a 9×13” Pyrex works well). Add a third of your pasta, followed by a third of your remaining sauce, half the ricotta mixture, and a third pound of mozzarella. Repeat, beginning with the pasta, one more time. For the final layer, add the last third of your pasta and the last of your sauce before dotting with your remaining mozzarella and shaving more parmesan on top

Bake for 30-40 minutes. Serve, garnished with basil

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

WASHINGTON – Please pardon my delay. I was at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday and started working on this dish on Sunday night when I realized, because I’d failed to read the whole recipe in advance, that it must chill for 4+ hours in the fridge. 

Crème brûlée is a classic. As achievable as it is impressive, you can do 95 percent of the work ahead of time and then pop it under the broiler for a few minutes and voilà! Dessert is served. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to gild the lily. 

I used 6-ounce ramekins. You can use any oven-safe dishes for individual portions; just adjust the bake time accordingly. 

Recipe adapted from Mark Bittman, New York Times Cooking: 

1. Heat oven to 325° F
2. Arrange four 6-ounce ramekins or other individually portioned baking vessels in a high-sided baking dish 
3. In a saucepan, combine 2 cups heavy cream, 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook over low-medium heat until hot (but not bubbling). Remove from heat and remove vanilla bean after a few minutes. (Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract now if you don’t have/didn’t use the bean) 
4. In a large bowl, beat 5 egg yolks with ½ cup granulated white sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in ¼ of the hot cream and then transfer back to your saucepan, using a spatula if necessary to get all the sugar/egg mixture. Stir until combined and then pour into your ramekins
5. Boil enough water to fill your baking dish such that the water goes halfway up the ramekins. Transfer to your oven and bake for 35 minutes 
6. Allow to cool completely. Transfer to refrigerator and chill for 4+ hours or overnight
7. When ready to serve, sprinkle about a teaspoon of sugar over each ramekin in an even layer, place them under a broiler (2-3 inches from the heat source), and cook until sugar is melted and browned, about 5 minutes. Alternatively, use a blowtorch

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

WASHINGTON – My friend Jonathan Lovitz made a beautiful loaf of challah on Friday*** and was kind enough to share the recipe, which comes from food writer Jake Cohen’s bestselling “Jew-ish: A cookbook.” 

Last night, I was slicing the challah in preparation to make Melissa Clark’s crème brulée French toast and accidentally took off the tip of my thumb with a very sharp serrated knife. Which is why the introduction to this week’s column is more brief than usual. 

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix one cup water, heated to 115° F, with 1 packet active dry yeast and 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar. Allow to rest for 10 minutes as the yeast begins to foam
2. Add 6 more tablespoons granulated white sugar, 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, ¼ cup honey, and 3 eggs, mixing on medium speed until uniform
3. Swap whisk attachment for dough hook. Add 5½ cups all-purpose flour and 2 teaspoons salt and mix, gradually increasing the speed from slow to medium as the flour incorporates, until a smooth and elastic dough forms (3-4 minutes)
4. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface to continue kneading by hand for about 5 minutes
5. Grease a medium bowl and your hands with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and add the dough ball, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and rest in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1.5-2 hours
6. Transfer dough to a clean work surface and divide into 4 or 6 equal pieces. Roll each of them into a long rope about 18” in length. Follow Cohen’s instructions on how to braid your challah or watch a tutorial on Youtube 
7. Transfer challah to parchment-lined baking sheet pointing diagonally toward the back left or right corner of your oven. Brush your dough with 1 egg, beaten, and allow it to rise for another hour
8. Preheat oven to 350° F
9. Brush your challah again with another egg. Sprinkle with poppyseeds, sesame seeds, fennel seeds, etc. along with flaky salt
10. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through 

***Jonathan recommends using brown sugar in the dough, along with a pinch of baking powder and an extra egg

The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent serves up another of his delicious weekly recipes

WASHINGTON – It’s mid-April here in Washington, which might as well mean we’re in the dog days of summer. Highs are in the upper 70s, I’ve had nary an opportunity to don a light jacket, and I am already in search of a new summer sandal. Spring has sprung, my friends. 

My friends at Canales Quality Meats were as happy to see me as I was to see them on Friday, as I had made far fewer trips to Eastern Market during the preceding three months. (It’s been cold. I’ve been ordering a lot of Uber Eats.) 

Anyway, I picked up a few beautiful center-cut bone-in pork chops, with the perfect recipe in mind to ring in the summer. And I also took home a full pound of guanciale because one should never pass up such an opportunity. 

This treatment by Melissa Clark is a one-pan wonder. The dish has no business being so delicious with so few ingredients and such minimal effort required to prepare it. 

Recipe is lightly adapted from Clark’s One-Pan Pork Chops With Feta, Snap Peas and Mint, via New York Times Cooking. 

1. Season 2 bone-in pork chops with salt and pepper. Bring the meat to room temperature if it’s been refrigerated and pat it dry with paper towels 
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Sear pork chops on both sides, for about 4 minutes per side. You’re cooking until the internal temperature on a meat thermometer reaches 145° F (my preference, medium-rare) to 160° F (medium). If it’s not done by the time you have a good sear on both sides, cover and reduce heat to cook for another 3-5 minutes. Transfer the pork chops to a plate when they’re finished cooking
3. Return the skillet to medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and, once melted, 4 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add 2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Season with more salt. Stir to combine
4. Return pork chops to the pan, making room to ensure they’re in direct contact with the pan, and then crumble ½ cup feta cheese over top. Cover and cook until cheese begins to melt, about 3 minutes 

Sprinkle ½ cup chopped fresh mint over top along with more scallions and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Serve