Plated dishes – Freddy's Harajuku

Roast Endive with Mortadella Risotto

I was playing around with the concept of cured pork-stuffed roast cabbage, and that is kind of how this dish came about. I switched from cabbage to endive, which is more bitter and more dainty, and instead of doing prosciutto, I used mortadella, which is an Italian bologna. I love using mortadella because it is…

Vegan Cauliflower Risotto

Now this is a recipe that started a long, long time ago during the pandemic when I was making vegan “scallops” using braised cauliflower stems. I did this by trimming down the stems, braising them in a flavorful umami-packed stock so that they actually tasted like something, and then searing them to look like scallops….

New York Strip with Potato Mochi

Meat and potatoes is a classic that I’ve done spins on before on this blog, and I figured, New Year, new take on meat and potatoes? In this case, I wanted to do another steak, but for the potato portion, I wanted to combine experienced from my recent trips to Germany and Japan, paying homage…

Venison with Squash Gnocchi and Blackberry-Sake Jus

Now I already know what you are thinking: that meat is RAW. It’s mooing. So yes, it is very rare, pretty much blue. But when it comes to a lot of game meats, such as venison or elk, cooking any of them past rare either brings out too much gamey flavor, or they turn really…

Fennel-Almond-Blood Orange Panna Cotta

My friend Stephanie and I were having a pizza and pasta night(because she bought a pizza oven and I bought my pasta extruder), so we figured we would have a fun time just making pizza and pasta together! To finish up the dinner, I wanted to make an Italian dessert, just to tie in with…

Spicy Eggplant Pasta

I love eggplant. And I HATE how much the Internet has ruined what an eggplant represents. For me, I try not to associate it with…body parts. Body parts are body parts, vegetables are vegetables. Just clearing that up now, because I feel like anything who reads “spicy eggplant” will have thoughts. Or even just “eggplant”….

Buttered Radish Ribbon Pasta

For Christmas, I purchased a pasta extruder for myself, because certain pasta shapes(i.e. bucatini, penne, and mafaldine) could not be made simply by hand or with ye old pasta crank that I’ve owned since December 2013(crazy to think that was 12 years ago at this point). I first wanted to get a pasta extruder because…

Breakfast Carbonara

This recipe came about because I was making a giant chiffon cake, and had a ton of egg yolks leftover. While I can think of 5-6 desserts off the top of my head that use up said egg yolks, I figured, why not do something savory for a change? I’ve seen people on social media…

Pasta Napolitan

I love love love Japanese/yoshoku stye pasta dishes. They really combine the best of both Western and Eastern cuisines. Pasta Napolitan is an interesting one, because it features spaghetti in a spicy tomato sauce with onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and Vienna sausages. It is hearty, warming, and perfect for what my unofficial theme for January…

Yuzu Castella with Blueberries

This recipe kind of combines two of my old recipes, being my Blueberry Dreams baumkuchen and my yuzu castella strawberry shortcake. I love the combination of blueberries and citrus, since blueberries on their own have such a mild, sweet flavor, while tartness just adds a sharp contrast, keeping things interesting. Yuzu in particular is a…

Bacon, Liver, and Onion Pasta

A while back, I made a liver and onions picatta dish, and it got me craving more calves liver. Which is hilarious because I love calves liver already. When I made that picatta dish, I went with lighter flavors, using a lot of acid, capers, and caramelized onions for a more dainty feel/contrast. So I…

Pork and Mushroom Chowder

This is the perfect dish to embrace two of my favorite savory ingredients in pork belly and mushrooms. Even before I lived in Boston, I always liked chowder for some reason. The idea of a warm, creamy soup with fun, random ingredients running through it was just reminded me of congee, but super Westernized. That…

Fig-Prosciutto Flatbread

Whenever I think of figs in a savory dish, prosciutto and cheese immediately come to mind. I’m not one to shy away from a charcuterie board – honestly, one of my favorite combinations is a punchy cheese, a cold cut, and the fig jam. So in a lot of ways, this flatbread pays homage to…

Meat and Potatoes: a plated dish

Whenever I think of meat and potatoes, steak and mashed potatoes come to mind right away. I almost immediately picture this quintessential dish of a giant slab of red meat with a pile of home fries. I wanted to slightly change that up, by doing potatoes two ways, and trim down the portion to be…

Kale Crespelles with Mushrooms and Hazeluts

This dish has been on my to-make list for ages. I always loved the combination of hazelnut, brown butter, and thyme, mostly because it is woodsy and earthy. While I usually make desserts with that flavor combination, it made just as much sense to do something savory with it as well(since it is an inherently…

Pork Loin and Fennel Salad

This dish is a loose homage to a vitello tonnato. Vitello tonnato is an Italian dish consisting of thinly sliced chilled veal loin with a creamy tuna mayonnaise sauce, usually served with capers, lemon, and parsley. It’s basically a meat salad. I wanted to do something similar to that, but in this case, with pork…

Grilled Pork Loin with Apple Nuoc Cham

This dish came about after I realized I still had 2 whole heads of romaine lettuce, and I was sick of eating a chopped salad. When it comes to lettuce, I had some semi-traumatic experiences as a child since my mom would serve us boiled lettuce. What you don’t think about when it comes to…

Everything Goes On: a plated dessert

This dessert was loosely inspired by my most recent trip to the Big Island, where my friends and I hiked through a dormant volcanic crater in Kilauea. At the bottom of the large crater, there was a surprising amount of plant life that was sprouting out of the black volcanic rock, and the visual contrast…

Liver and Onion Piccata

I am one of those weirdos that likes liver and onions, okay? Back in college, when I was learning Montenegrin food, I noticed liver was a commonly used protein in that cuisine. I still remember when I was auditioning for Masterchef season 10, since I mentioned being a heavy baker more than a savory cook,…

Chorizo Chicken Thighs with Cavatelli

A while ago, I was trying to make a dish with chorizo, but accidentally grabbed Mexican chorizo instead of Spanish chorizo. To confirm the differences here, Mexican chorizo is more like a mince or sausage meat, meant to be cooked to be crumbly. Spanish chorizo is dried and is more like a cured meat product…