Here we share some of our favorite recipes.

This recipie is a riff on the popular pulled pork sandwiches and incorporates the use of our delicious bbq sauce. It requires making in advance the cole slaw with the recipe listed below, but it is easy to make. The slaw is a vital ingredient since it adds not only substantial moisture, but a wonderful crunchy texture.

Simply shred a roast chicken (sometimes when we are in a hurry we use a pre-roasted chicken we buy, but normally it is one we rotissere with our meyer lemon rub under the skin) and mix it in a bowl with our bbq sauce so you get the right level of coating to the chicken you prefer. You can use left over Thanksgiving turkey for this as well.

Top it on bread of your choice (hamburger bun, baguette, German fitness bread etc.)

Put a generous helping of Carolina cole slaw on top of the chicken (recipe below).

You can add other toppings if you wish (though we don't) such as fresh tomatoes, cheese etc.

Carolina cole slaw:

1/4 cup distilled persimmon vinegar (found at Korean markets - it is delicious! but you can use champagne or cider vinegar.)

3 tablespoons white cane sugar

3 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil

1 1/4 teaspoons dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

fleur de sel and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Heat vinegar, sugar, oil, mustard and celery seeds over medium heat until sugar dissolves and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in salt and pepper to taste. Cool and then mix with 2 cups of shredded cabbage and carrots in whatever ratio you prefer. You can buy the prepackaged cabbage and carrot slaw ingredients in the market but they usually are in non-recyclable bags which we abhor. This is a great sandwich for the summer, but also in the winter when you want to pretend it is summer.

This recipe was created when we planted some lemon thyme many summers ago and whipped up this spontaneous recipe to use this delicious variation of the herb. You can usually find it in the spring time at nurseries or you can grow it from seed. We highly recommend you give it a shot and try this dish.

2 fillets of opah, swordfish, sturgeon, bluefish (the best are line caught from Nantucket and must be cooked within hours and is Eric's favorite fish) or tuna brushed with olive oil and a tiny bit of fleur de sel and grilled so the inside is moist and flaky but cooked through.

1 ear of corn steamed or grilled.

While fish is grilling and corn is steaming/grilling, mix the following ingredients for the relish in a bowl:

1 mango diced

1 Tablespoon of finely diced yellow onion

5 slices of pickled jalapeno finely diced

8 leaves of lemon sage (they are tiny) chopped to release their flavor

1 Tablespoon of the syrup of an orange or our kumquat marmalade (no rind)

Pinch of fleur de sel

When the fish is done simply set it aside on a plate. When the corn is done, run it under cold water to cool it down enough so you can hold it. Then, holding the cob vertical, with one end on a plate, or cutting board, and the other in your hand (you can insert a small sharp knive in the end to hold it if it is still too hot) slice with a knive from top to bottom strips of corn. They will hold together. Be careful not to cut too deep or you will get the hard pith of the cob. Crumble the kernels into the bowl. Mix the corn and other ingredients together to create the relish. Don't worry if the corn is still warm. Simply add the relish on top of the fish. Serve with a nice potato or green salad for a light summer meal.

Eric loves octopus, and Phineas hates it because of the way it looks. That is good since this salad he gets to eat all himself.

Once we were at a restaurant in Napoli (our favorite Italian big city) called da Dora, where we got a tiny marinated octopus each that we washed down with one of our favorite white wines called Falanghina. (The very best white wine we ever had was at a small restaurant at the beach on Capri by the Punta Carena lighthouse - it was local and dirt cheap and we have no idea what type grape it was and we had so much fun hanging out drinking it with a wild Australian woman called Melissa). The octopus was so delicious due to the freshness, and the infusion of garlic, olive oil and some vinegar. Phineas really had trouble eating it - not because it wasn't delicious (he thought it was) but the way it looked with its little eyes peeking up at him from the plate.

Anyhow, this recipe is inspired by a grocery store that used to be on the corner of Mission and 18th street in San Francisco where Eric lived nearby in 1991-1993. It was owned by a friendly Korean family but lots of the food sold there was for the Spanish speaking locals in the area. They used to make this salad and sell it with their other prepared foods. This is Eric's version of it. It is quite healthy since octopus are so low in fat.

1 big cooked tentacle of octopus (normally for sale at Japanese markets in the sushi section) slicked into 1/4 discs.

Mix in a bowl around a pint of cherry tomatoes chopped in half, or diced fresh tomatoes (you can mix up different varieties for color enhancement like green, yellow, red etc.)

Add a handful of washed and loosely chopped cilantro

1/4 of a red onion (2-3" in diameter size) diced

Juice of one lime - more to taste if you want

1/8 cup of good fruity olive oil

a little less than 1/8 cup of good red vinegar, persimmon vinegar, or rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon of fleur de sel (we only use this since it is more mild in flavor and has less sodium due to the water content)

1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

mix all the ingredients and refrigerate at least 6 hours before eating cold.

We highly recommend you find a used hard cover of her Seasonal Kitchen. It is a terrific, though out of print cookbook from the early 1970s that was way ahead of its time. We use this dressing just about every day and never get sick of it. You can double, or quadruple the recipe to make more if you feed a lot of people.

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon of sea fine salt

1 garlic clove, mashed or minced

2 Tablespoons of good red wine vinegar (get the expensive stuff from Italy)

6 Tablespoons of olive oil (again, get good quality stuff)

2 Tablespoons of finely minced green onions

Large pinch of freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon of capers (packed in salt and not in the liquid)

To prepare: combine mustard, salt, garlic, capers and vinegar in a small mixing bowl and blend into a paste. Whisk the olive oil a little at a time to make a smooth dressing. Add onions and pepper. If refrigerated, we usually put the dressing in a small jar that we then let sit in a bowl of hot water to soften the oil that will solidify in the refrigerator before dressing a salad.

Our favorite salad? Wild arugala with purple radishes and carrots. Super simple and super delicious.

This is one of those rare dishes that is super cheap, results in an abundent supply of food, and is down right delicious. It was created in our post-student days when rents in SF used to be $250 for a room in a flat and you could live off $800 a month - which in those days was mostly allocated to beer and thrift store shopping for clothes, records and books at Thrift Town. (We miss the 17 Reasons Why Sign so much - Eric could see it from his kitchen window at 35A Hoff Street in those days.) This salad is perfect all year, but summer time is a natural for a cold pasta salad like this.

1 lb of Farfalle or Farfalloni pasta cooked, strained and set in a large mixing bowl.

With the pasta still hot, toss first with with a large handful of crumbled feta cheese - more or less to taste - around half a pound. Mix the pasta and cheese so all the pasta is well coated and the cheese begins to melt - around a minute.

Then add 7 oz or so of either pepperoni you cut into 1/4" or 1/2" strips or a nice chorizo that has been sliced into 1/8" thin discs. (Try to find charcuterie that doesn't have any nitrates or preservatives and usually requires refrigeration). Mix well so the heat of the pasta and cheese releases some of the sausage flavors. If you are a big sausage lover, we have learned from experience if you cut it into smaller pieces, you get more sausage oomph per bite. Experience will guide you.

Then add 1 lb of halved cherry tomatoes, or diced tomatoes - we love dry-farmed Early Girls. In fact this is a tomato lovers dish as well. Fresh, organic, backyard tomatoes really shine in this dish since their sweetness complements the spicy smoky flavor of the sausage, and the tang of the feta. Store bought tomatoes are so gross. They subject them with gas to turn them from green to red. That is why they don't taste like tomatoes. And the health risks? Don't ask.

Add some slivers or diced large pieces (1/2") of a combination of yellow, orange or red peppers.

Add some freshly ground pepper, and if you are used to more salty foods, add some salt, but we think the salt from the cheese and sausage is enough, but we aren't big salt people which is why we normally go into a coma after eating at restaurants who use way too much salt and fat. But a pinch or two of fleur de sel won't kill you.

Mix with a high quality olive oil so it covers the pasta well - and will keep it from drying out - and chill. Many expensive California olive oils are way too peppery for our tastes. A little burn is OK, but if it tastes like you just swallowed a chili it is aweful stuff. We will begin selling a very amazing olive oil from a friend of a friend's grove in the hills outside Roma.

Fresh mint goes well with chorizo and pepperoni - so you can toss in some freshly torn leaves just before serving. The cooling effect of the mint or spearmint is nice both for warm weather, and the contrast to the hot elements of the peppers and sausage and black pepper. Or you can do some fresh basil, or any combination of fresh herbs depending on what you like.

This recipe is an adaption of one that was published in the Wall Street Journal about two years ago when they first started publishing recipes in the then new Weekend Journal, and have since scaled back. This is the very best recipe from this time, and is a knock out. Since we cut out just this recipe, we don't know who the chef was, so our apologies - they should be credited for this great dish we have tinkered with. We have also made it with two whole chickens cut up, rubbing the herbs under the skin for a faster dish. If you use the chicken, it will cook in about an hour and a half and we don't marinate it overnight.

This is a perfect dish for the Fall, when the days become shorter and the weather becomes colder, and a nice savory comfort dinner is a great way to ease into the evening.

4-5 lb pork shoulder trimmed of big pieces of fat or two chickens cut up.

Mix in a bowl 1 tablespoon of toasted and ground fennel seed (we grind it in a little braun coffee grinder perfect for spices), 2 teaspoons of cracked peppercorns, 2 Tablespoons of packed fresh chopped rosemary, 2 Tablespoons of packed fresh thyme leaves, four garlic cloves minced or squeezed through a garlic press, 2 Tablespoons of sea salt (we use fleur de sel since it is less salty) and 2 Tablespoons of good olive oil.

Take the herb mixture and rub all over the pork shoulder inside and out. Wrap it in butcher paper (we refuse to use shrink wrap until a biodegradable version is available) and refrigerate overnight. If you use the chicken, simply proceed to the next step.

Preheat an oven to 450.

Peel, halve and core and then quarter 4 tart apples like granny smith.

Peel and slice into strips one medium sized yellow onion.

One carrot sliced into 1/4" discs.

One cup of mushrooms halved.

Take the apples, onions, carrot and mushrooms and toss with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, place in a dutch oven or a lidded pan that will tightly fit the meat and the other ingredients.

Put the meat on top of the vegetables and apples and roast uncovered for 30 minutes.

Turn the heat down to 325 and add 1.5 cups of white wine, cover with a lid or foil, and roast for 2-3 hours for the pork until it pulls away easily with a fork or knife, and 1.5 hours for the chicken.

Put meat on a plate.

Strain the veggies and set aside. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock to the strained wine mixture and bring to a boil in the pot you cooked everything in scraping up any bits on the bottom. Add the veggies again to the sauce and serve. Garlic mashed potatoes is a nice side dish to serve with this.

Eric learned this dish from his college friend Polly who is half Italian about 20 years ago. What makes this so delicious is how the baking transforms the flavor of prosciutto into a buttery and sweet addition to the fresh cheese. You can use penne or rigatoni, or any type of hollow pasta.

Boil one box of rigatoni or penne until it is almost al dente. It will bake in the oven so undercook it a bit. Strain pasta and set aside in a large bowl covered to keep it warm and somewhat wet so it doesn't stick together too much. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.

Thinly slice about 1 lb of fresh mozzarella into little discs and set aside. Have on had around 12 thin slices of Italian prosciutto.

Now for the sauce. If you have fresh tomatoes that is best, if not get the imported San Marazano in the can. Use one can, or around 7-9 fresh, chopped tomatoes. Saute in olive oil three cloves of garlic until light golden in color. Add tomatoes and lower heat. If you use canned tomatoes you must add a little sugar since canned tomatoes usually have citric acid in them and that makes them a little too tart. Just 1-3 teaspoons will do. Another trick to sweeten canned tomatoes is to grate in some fresh carrot into the sauce. This trick Eric learned from one of his high school friend's mother, who was Italian. Add fresh or dried oregano and cook until the sauce thickens just a bit. You can add more olive oil and some sea salt if you want.

When the sauce is done, around 10-15 minutes, add it to the pasta and mix well. Then using a dutch oven or casserole, rub the inside with olive oil. Then add around 1" of pasta/sauce combination, then put a layer of prosciutto, and then on top of this the mozzarella. Repeat this layering in such an order, that the top layer is the prosciutto and on top of this the mozzarella and then around 1/2 cup of fluffy, finely grated Parmesan cheese, and then some freshly ground black pepper. You can drizzle some more olive oil on top. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for around 40 minutes or until the cheese on top is nicely browned. Serves six people.

This is one of the most simple things to make and can easily serve as a sophisticated, yet tasty upgrade as a dip for raw vegetables, steamed asparagus, artichoke etc. It was given long time ago by a friend from Japan who's family owned a restaurant in Tokyo - and was his mother's creation. All you do is add enough mayonnaise (home made is always preferred) to a small bowl that is the amount you need for a dip, and using a fork or small whisk, stir in a few drops of good quality Japanese soy sauce until you arrive at a flavor you like. Some people like just a few drops of soy slightly darkening the color, whereas others like to add more for a richer flavor. Japanese style mayonnaise is more yellow than what American style mayonnaise is like due to the addition of more egg yolks and cider vinegar, so if you make your own experiment with the ratio of yolks to whites, or, try to find a Japanese brand without any MSG - a common additive in the most popular brand called Kewpie.

Using soy sauce adds umami - a fifth taste that the tongue identifies as savory. This same friend also used to add about a tablespoon of soy sauce to tomato sauce when he made it. Yes, it sounds weird, but if you don't add any meat, this slight addition adds a savory, almost meaty flavor. Try it and see. Our bbq sauce we make has soy sauce in it because of the rich flavor it adds. Soy sauce is not just for Asian cooking. Use it instead of salt when you want to add a rich, hearty, savory, almost meat-like flavor to a dish. We recommend you experiment with different types of soy sauce from Japan. Don't use any from China - who knows what is in it. We will avoid any food products from China until there is better regulation and quality control.

This recipe comes from Flo Braker's Baking For All Occasions. Currently this is our favorite chocolate cake recipe! It looks like a lot of directions, but this is a super easy cake to make. We always try to use as many organic ingredients as we can find.

Ingredients:

5 oz (1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter)

12 oz semisweet chocolate chopped into corn kernal size pieces. We use Callebaut in the big blocks. This is simply the best baking chocolate. If you can't find it in your local gourmet shop or supermarket, order it online. It is worth it!

3 Tablespoons unsweetened natural or dutch-processed cocoa powder

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Powdered sugar

Before Baking:

Get a 9" wide round cake pan (straight sides) that is at least 2" high. Then find a larger pan that you can put the smaller baking pan into so there is at least 2" around it. What you will be doing is baking the cake in a water bath. The larger pan holds some water that surrounds the smaller pan. Put the smaller cake pan in the larger pan and add enough water so it reaches just over half way up the side of the smaller pan. Remove the smaller pan and put the larger one with the water in an oven set at 375 to preheat. Take the smaller pan and grease it up good with butter and then sprinkle some flour inside and shake it around to even coat it, then tap out the excess flour. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper cut into a circle so it fits inside the bottom.

To Make the Cake:

Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat in a sauce pan, or microwave it so it melts. Transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool 5 minutes. Stir in the cocoa powder.

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, whisk in a bowl the eggs, egg yolk and sugar and whip until pale yellow and it doubles in volume - about 3 minutes. To tell if it is done, when you remove the mixer whisk the mixture should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon that rests softly on the surface and remains for about 3 seconds before dissolving back into the mixture. Add the vanilla and blend. Fold one third of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture. Then fold in the remaining egg mixture till blended. Pour the batter into the prepared smaller pan you have floured and carefully place it in the pan in the oven with the water so it surrounds the smaller pan.

Bake the cake until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center registers 160 degrees F - or about 30 minutes after you started baking. The chocolate will firm as the cake cools so don't over bake. It needs a full day to get to the right consistency, so don't worry if it looks too soft. Use the thermometer as a guide. Transfer smaller pan with cake to a wire rack to cool for around 10 minutes. Then take a knife and guide it along the outside edge of the cake where it touches the pan. Then place a plate over the pan and turn the cake upside down. Remove the parchment paper and let cake cool. Using a fine-mesh strainer you can sift some powdered sugar on top, or decorate with sliced almonds in a cool pattern. If you leave the cake out overnight to cool, it will develop a thin crust around the outside, that is a nice contrast to the soft center.