Catering Client: Hannah Schuman, Producer
Event: Craft Service for 25
Escape from Myrtle Broadway is an upcoming short film written by Eric Sacks and directed by Sam Radutsky. It is about two brothers finding their way through life in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. Over 3 days, I prepared 3 hearty meals, individually boxes for the cast and crew.
This is a sponsored post. TL:DR I’m working with Allwell Greens and receive gifted products for events and content.
I met Judy and John Cari of Allwell Greens through my friend Liza de Guia. Liza produces a tv show called Food. Curated. on NYC Life. She hosted a party to celebrate the release of season 6 at The Woods in Williamsburg. It was a huge community potluck with featured chefs and local businesses. I brought a tray of vegan pancit and steamed persimmon buns. As I browsed two whole rooms full of food, split into sweet and savory; I found small boxes of fresh bok choy. I took one and looked at it quizzically, “What’s this doing here?” John leaned over and said, “Go ahead! Take it home!” And Judy added, ”It’s bok choy from our farm.”
I was surprised to hear about their vertical farm in Long Island City. Allwell Greens exclusively grows sustainable Asian greens! I was so happy to learn about them because I buy a lot of Asian produce and would like to serve locally grown vegetables. John showed me photos of their mini-farm and told me about scientific trials on the resilience of their plants.
At home, I marveled at how long the petit bok choy lasted in the fridge. They were still perky and crisp after 3 weeks! Judy invited me to visit the farm and showed me around. Because they grow everything in a closed system, their crops are pesticide and herbicide-free. Plus, you don’t need to wash the vegetables when you take them home. They are so crisp and flavorful that you can eat them raw in salads. She even let me peek at some experiments for future crops. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Judy and John love to eat at restaurants, too. We have since become great friends and collaborators thanks to our introduction through Liza. I periodically join them for a calm afternoon of harvesting bok choy.
To learn more about Allwell Greens watch their feature on season 6, episode 6 of Food. Curated..
As of 4/17/24, you can get Allwell Greens in the NYC area from Farm to People, Umami Cart, Essex Farm at Essex Market, Urban Market, Jubilee Marketplace, Dumbo Market, and Double Green Produce. Stay tuned to their Instagram for updated vendors.
Here are the most current offerings from AllwellGreens.com. Pay attention to their social media for specialty harvests and tests for new veggies.
The Shanghai Bok Choy has a bulbous light green stem and oval leaves. It is a mild and sweet-tasting vegetable. Shanghai Bok Choy is the most versatile leafy green in Asian greens, great for stir-fries, soups, grilling, and is a great crispy green for salads.
Yu Choy's literal translation means "oil vegetable" in Chinese. It has a crunchy stalk, oval-shaped leaves and when it blooms there are small edible yellow flowers. Yu Choy has a sweet, green taste similar to baby spinach, with subtle peppery notes. It is great for stir-fries, steaming, and blanching.
The delicate leaves are dark green to light green, the stems are a milky white color, crisp, smooth, and wide. Baby White Bok Choy is tender and crunchy with a sweet, mild cabbage-like flavor with a slight mineral note. It is used in stir-fries, soups, and salads.
The stems are pale green, smooth, and crunchy, and the broad blue-green to dark green, waxy leaves are semi-glossy. Our Gailan is harvested while they are young, hence why we call it "petite". Our Gailan will taste sweeter and less bitter than the larger full-grown version.
Water Spinach also known as Kong Xin Cai/Kang Kung Belacan, has become a regular in Asian and Southeast Asian households. The stem is hollow and the leaves are tender, when cooked the crunchiness of the stems complements the soft tender leaves with a crisp clean taste.
Here is a running list of dishes I’ve made with Allwell Greens!
Bok Choy Ranch Salad
Crispy loose leaves of bok choy over a yogurt-based ranch dressing with sunflower seeds and watermelon radish.
Yu Choy Cream Cheese Dip
Just like spinach dip! I sauteed and squeezed all the liquid from a box of yu choy. I mixed it with cream cheese and spices for dipping bread and crudites. It could be served cold or warmed up, too.
Shiso Bun Cha
Allwell’s specialty shiso leaves are so big! They’re great for wrapping bbq, but also amazing in raw salads. Here I mixed it with some frisee, spicy microgreens, cucumber, and rice noodles to go with a piquant fish sauce dressing.
Allwell Greens is a vertical farm located in Long Island City. It was founded by Judy and John Cari. Their goal is to revolutionize the Asian produce business by providing responsibly grown, pesticide-free heritage Asian greens.
I am an unofficial ambassador for Allwell Greens. I receive gifted products for my events and content.
Watermelon and Red Birds is my second cookbook collaboration with author Nicole Taylor. This recipe collection is unique in its scope and the way it is organized. It is the first Juneteenth-focused cookbook in existence! Instead of the typical table of contents divided by breakfast, lunch, or dinner; it is organized by the components that make up a great celebration, be it Juneteenth, anniversary, or birthday:
Spice Blends
Red Drinks
Festivals & Fairs
Cookout & BBQ
Potato, Green, & Fruit Salads
Snow Cones, Ice pops, & Ice Cream
Cake! Cake! Cake! (And a Couple of Pies)
Everyday Juneteenth
In the foreword, Stephen Satterfield writes, “These recipes are illustrative of [Nicole’s] gifts, moving us seamlessly from the historic to the contemporary, with ingredients and rhetoric together reinforcing a clear thesis—’I put on for my people.’”
For my part, I helped Nicole develop, refine, and test recipes she already had percolating in her notebooks. Sometimes an author has a glut of ideas and needs help focusing them down or exploring their variations. This project was also a test of strength for us during the COVID-19 pandemic with unstable grocery prices, shortages, and adjusting to a new way of working. Our proof of life and joy are here in this book. These stories are here to stay. If you don’t have a copy, buy one here.
So, what are my 5 best recipes in Watermelon & Red Birds?
It’s always difficult for me to choose favorites among a pile of treasure, but I chose these recipes based on their ease and riffs on classics.
Savory Elephant Ears - I had never heard of elephant ears before meeting Nicole, so I had a fun time researching them. They are large discs of deep-fried dough that are finished with cinnamon sugar. Our version makes it savory with a cheddar and black pepper sprinkle.
Wavy Fries with Blue Cheese Dip & Lemon Pepper - We originally wanted to include waffle fries, but it’s not easy for a home cook to get the tools to make them. We opted for a wavy cutter to bring about that festival feel with the flavors of the famous lemon pepper wings of the South.
Apricot Lamb Chops with Green Garlic Chimichurri - A luxurious treat, worthy of celebration. It’ll be easiest to get lamb and green garlic in the Springtime, a little bit ahead of June. For those that have my first cookbook, Showdown, you know that I love being around the grill. Lamb chops cook very quickly and go great with grilled apricots that get even better when their sugars caramelize.
Chile Marshmallow Pies - I had so much fun recreating Moon Pies! They were one of my favorite gas station treats on family road trips. Our version whips up homemade marshmallows spiked with jalapeno and lime. Rounds of chile marshmallow get sandwiched between buckwheat graham crackers and the whole thing is dipped in chocolate.
Devil’s Food Ice Box Cake - We developed our own recipe for chocolate wafers and that’s the hardest part. The rest is easy! Layer the homemade wafers with chocolate cream cheese filling and freeze it. When it’s set, press pecans into the sides before you slice it up.
For a plant-based menu, there are plenty of options! These are my favorite vegetarian items, but many of the recipes can be adjusted easily. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, there are two chapters dedicated to frozen desserts and cake.
Meatless Baked Beans
Zucchini Corn Dogs
Summer Peas, Green Beans, & Corn Salad
Garlicky Okra and Rice (minus the fish sauce, of course!)
Corn Ice Cream Sandwiches
You do not need a grill to enjoy these cookout recipes. I included oven method alternatives that do not skimp on flavor.
Beef Ribs with Harissa
Rodeo Turkey Legs
Chorizo Corn Chip Nachos
Late Night Steak Tostada
Blueberry & Beef Puff Pies
In the years after publishing the Watermelon & Red Birds, I found myself looping back toward these recipes.
Strawberry Lemonade
Pork Chops with Dukkah
Quick Pickles (especially the red onions)
Broiler Salmon with Romesco
Roasted Nectarine Sundae with Honey Vanilla Ice Cream, Pistachio Brittle, and Caramel Sauce
I would love to hear if you cooked any of the recipes and posted them to social media. Make sure to tag me or send them along via email to randwiches at email dot com.
I’m asking myself the question that makes me audibly gasp when others ask it. What are my 5 favorite recipes in my own cookbook? In college, I remember learning about positioning—in the sense of regarding a particular kind of person when you consider their background and preferences. The answer to every subjective question in the world can change when you think about someone’s positioning. At the time of publishing Showdown, my favorite recipes were different from the ones I’m choosing now. It’s like I’m on a boat in a sea of my own creations and I’ll pull up different dishes on different days.
Today, I’m writing to you as a 39-year-old who has published, developed, or tested 13 cookbooks. My palate has expanded to include many new cuisines that I had not yet tried when I was 32 years old. I can also tell you the recipes that I revisited in my everyday life and what were successes to people who bought the book. If you don’t have a copy, those in the U.S. can get a signed one here. For worldwide shipping, click here (these copies are not signed).
So, what are my 5 best recipes in Showdown?
I look to these recipes for fun weekend projects or if folks are coming over. They have sub recipes and may take a day or two of prep, but they’re worth it. Some protein components like chili, meatballs, bacon, chicken, and burgers can be flash-frozen for later.
Cocoa Coriander Chili
20K Meatballs Under the Sea (Sub Sandwich)
Make Your Own Damn Bacon
Chicken Mole Torta
Baa-Daas Burger
When you feel like you’ve had enough meat for the week or want to accommodate those with plant-based diets, these are my hearty, savory meals I like to make.
Black Bean and Pepita Balls
Smoked Vegetables and Fruits
Roasted Stuffed Poblano Flatbread
Potato Salad with Wasabi Sesame Seeds
Mushroom Hoagie
Listen, I live in New York, I know how hard it is to find space to grill. It’s not always easy to camp out for a public grill at the park, too. These recipes are perfectly fine with an oven or toaster oven. In all honesty, it’s much cleaner than breaking out the grill.
Dirty South Biscuits and Gravy
Cherry Chocolate Meatballs
Shumai, Oh My
Pulled Chicken Mole
Crunchy Elote
My friend, thank you for your trust. These are some of my favorite projects. Finding out that my charcoal grill could also function as a smoker blew my mind. When you’re done grilling, consider smoking some extra veggies and fruits for later.
Homemade Tasso (so you can make The Smokemonster chili)
Grilled Flakey Flatbread
“I Like It Shallot” Burger
Adobo Wangs
Grilled Stone Fruit
I haven’t counted the times that I’ve made these dishes, but I have a pretty good idea of what is in rotation. The thing is, the recipes in this book were already some of my greatest hits. It’s nice to develop muscle memory about these five entries and to know their shopping lists without looking them up.
Fuzzy Five-Spice Meatballs
Carne Asada
Bacon Chili Oil
Herb Slaw
Chocolate Bark
I would love to hear if you cooked any of my recipes and posted them to social media. Make sure to tag me or send them along via email to randwiches at email dot com.
Catering Client: Breanne Thomas, Producer
Event: Craft Service for 20
The Shadow Wrangler is a narrative short film by director and actor Grace Rex. It is debuting at Florida Film Festival on April 13, 2024 and will screen at Maryland Film Festival on May 5th, 2024.
About the film:
An audiobook narrator tries to finish recording a western erotica novel in her closet while various disruptions inhibit her progress.Over two days and two locations in Brooklyn and Queens, I served healthy meals to a crew that fluctuated between 14 and 20 members. For the menu, I stayed away from red meat on account of a few allergies and dietary restrictions.
This is a sponsored post and contains affiliate links. TL:DR I’m working with D’Artagnan and earn commissions when you shop through my link.
For years D’Artagnan has been a leader in specialty meats and the only place to get duck, truffles, and foie gras shipped to your door. With the rise of many other services, D’Artagnan has persisted in its mission to consciously raise meats from independent farms to keep their practices transparent.
I was lucky enough to attend the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference in 2018 and caught a duck butchery demonstration with Ariane Daguin, the owner and CEO of D’Artagnan. She also happened to receive a Trailblazer award that year. She made herself available to the audience to ask questions about her landmark products and how hands-on she is in the production process. She is known for launching the first domestically made foie gras in the United States. D’Artagnan defines foie gras as “enhanced” duck or goose liver. It’s a fraught food because geese and ducks are typically force-fed to enlarge their liver. The practice was even banned in California and has been tied up in courts up through last year. At D’Artagnan, they make foie gras from Moulard ducks and explain their stress-free process:
“Waterfowl have a natural propensity to gorge themselves before leaving on long migratory flights. They store the fat in their liver, which serves as a gas tank, and under the skin, which protects them from the cold at high altitudes. Humans discovered this fattened and delicious liver while hunting migratory ducks and geese, and soon found a way to reproduce it when the fowl was domesticated. The first record of fattening ducks is in Egyptian tombs, where vivid paintings depict the special feeding. Since the esophagus of a duck is thickened to protect it from harm when swallowing whole fish, frogs, and other prey, it is impervious to pain. A small funnel slipped into the mouth of the duck delivers a quick burst of mashed corn directly to the gullet. This high-calorie diet reproduces the natural process of gorging and causes the liver to expand and grow fatty.”
To be honest, I rarely ate duck. My family never cooked it and it felt too expensive to splurge on Peking duck at restaurants. Duck was part of my culinary awakening in my late 20’s, I tore through Kitchen Confidential and visited Les Halles where Anthony Bourdain used to work. I ordered the duck confit and it clicked. How wonderful is it that duck can taste so good, get so crispy, and even better, you can use its rendered fat to roast potatoes. It’s lower in saturated fat and higher amounts of “good” unsaturated fats compared to beef and pork fat. Whenever I need duck, premium charcuterie, and ethically made foie gras, I look to D’Artagnan.
Here is a running list of dishes that I’ve made with D’Artagnan products.
Foie Gras Butter
I ordered the foie gras chunks, which are offcuts of the larger pate and torchon. I trimmed them and tossed them in a dry cure. After curing overnight, I blended the foie one piece at a time into softened unsalted butter. The result is a luxurious smooth butter for biscuits, finishing steaks, and fancy floats for soup.
Cheese & Charcuterie Grazing Board
For Valentine’s Day, I created large grazing boards with cheeses, fruits, nuts, and homemade focaccia. I also featured D’Artagnan duck rillettes, the above foie gras butter, wagyu bresaola, wild boar lonza, and sliced Iberico jamon.
Jamon Iberico & Mushroom Nabe
Japanese nabe or hot pot is traditionally made with uncured pork belly. It is generally advised that bacon is too salty for this application, but a single slice of this otherwise vegetable forward dish gives it a savory, luxe finish when you dip it in ponzu and eat it.
D’Artagnan is an online meat and luxury food company. They are known for their free-range, natural production, and sustainable humane farming practices on products from organic chicken to grass-fed beef to lamb, heritage pork, and other meats. They are also a leading source of specialty mushrooms, foie gras, and finishing oils. Moreover, they partner with independent family farms and ranches. You won’t catch them using added antibiotics or hormones.
I am an affiliate partner. That means that I get compensated by D’Artagnan for every purchase made through my links on this post.
Catering Client: Yael Grundseit, Director
Event: Craft Service for 14
A Big Hug is a tender short film about a young girl coming to terms with her changing body and sexuality. I arranged for meal drop off for the short two-day shoot hosted in Brooklyn. I was able to source the compostable boxes (pictured above) with dividers for the different components of each meal. I offered two proteins each day supplemented with incredible local Asian vegetables and herbs from Allwell Greens.
This is a sponsored post and contains affiliate links. TL:DR Use the code RANDWICHES when you shop on BurlapAndBarrel.com to get a FREE grinder of Robusta Black Peppercorns with any purchase of $15 or more.
Burlap & Barrel is a Queens-based public benefit company that is revolutionizing spices. On paper, they’re ticking all the feel-good-about-the-world boxes like working with small farms to build more equity and sustainability. Their sourcing is an educational touchpoint, too, broadening our knowledge of food systems, and highlighting the importance of traceability with regard to organic products and human rights. On top of all that, the spices are freaking good, strongly flavored, and intoxicatingly fragrant. You won’t find old bottles of Burlap & Barrel in my pantry because I’m reaching for them almost every day in the kitchen.
I’m so proud to partner with a company that holds the same culinary values as me. When you try Burlap & Barrel, use the code RANDWICHES when you shop on BurlapAndBarrel.com to get a FREE grinder of Robusta Black Peppercorns with any purchase of $15 or more.
I was so lucky to meet co-founder Ethan Frisch through my friend Max Falkowitz, who wrote a culinary trivia card game called TASTE TEST. Together, we hosted a panel of professionals for an online game show stream (watch the archive here). Ethan was so knowledgeable and fun to hang out with. Later on, I was happy to celebrate with the Burlap & Barrel team when they appeared on Shark Tank. I’m glad to be part of the community and can’t wait to keep expanding my spice knowledge, one bottle at a time.
Burlap & Barrel has an immense catalog, so please let me introduce you to my stand-bys and some new favorites. Bookmark this page because I’m going to update the guide as I try more spices.
I know this goes against my advice about grinding spices before you use them. This bay leaf powder from Denizli, Turkey is the exception. The leaves are so strong that they retain their volatile oils in this lovely green powder. When cooking, replace a single bay leaf with 1/8th teaspoon of ground laurel bay leaves.
Urfa biber peppers are grown in Turkey about 4 hours away from Aleppo, Syria. While I love throwing Aleppo pepper on everything, urfa peppers are unique in their umami and light spice. After they’re harvested, they’re sundried to concentrate their flavor. This particular bottle comes with a little sunflower oil to help the flakes bloom, but they’re perfectly safe to keep in the pantry. I like to use it in tandem with black lime on chicken or hummus.
When I tried ground royal cinnamon for the first time, I coughed. It is much more spicy and potent than any other cinnamon I have tried. Grocery store cinnamon sticks sit for so long on the shelf that my general idea of cinnamon had been pretty weak. My advice: when you use royal cinnamon in recipes, start with half of the suggested amount and add more if needed.
I did not know this was a THING. Just like you would use bay leaves for a flavor base, cinnamon tree leaves are a welcome addition to stews, beans, and braises. They’re perfect for a tiny essence of cinnamon versus a shotgun blast of pure ground royal cinnamon. I’ve improved the black bean recipe from my cookbook with them! I also have torched the leaves slightly for infusing bourbon.
While these cumin seeds look tinier than grocery store cumin, they’re a lightning bolt of flavor. These babies are foraged in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. I love to use cumin in my carne asada marinade and in chili.
Don’t know what to get? Add a Spice Surprise to your cart. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know this is very much in the spirit of Random Sandwiches. If you’re easily paralyzed by choice, this is the perfect solution.
Burlap & Barrel is a Public Benefit Corporation building new international spice supply chains that are equitable, transparent, and traceable.
I am an affiliate partner. That means that I get compensated by Burlap & Barrel for every purchase made through my links on this post.
Head to BurlapandBarrel.com and add $15 USD worth of items to your cart. Then, add the 1.8oz Robustra Black Peppercorn grinder-top jar to your cart. Upon check out, enter the code RANDWICHES on the right side. It should look like this photo on the right, the grinder should be marked as free. The code will not work for any other product or size.
What a year. It’s dizzying to think of everything I made in my kitchen (and other’s people’s kitchens) in 2023. I can never describe my cooking in a word or theme, but I can tell you I have cool clients who trust me to create unique menus. There was no shortage of snacky bites, hot dogs, sandwiches, and cheese. Last year, I promised myself to explore more seafood and I plan to keep it in my weekly rotation. I’m also letting go of the “I’m not a baker!!” mantra. It turns out that I can bake. I accomplished a long-term goal of making my own bread for the return of random sandwiches—which I was very nervous to bring back into the world. Through cookbook testing, I learned a lot about plant-based eating and Vietnamese cookery.
To everyone who ate my experiments, thank you. Here’s to more communal eating, cookbooks, and knowledge sharing 🥂
Here are 23 dope recipes I developed over the last 12 months.
1. Cheese Board Smörgåstårta
Laughing Cow Spread (Patreon)
Sweet Blue Cheese Filling (Patreon)
Cider Cheddar Filling (Patreon)
2. Fried Chicken N’ Spam Musubi
3. Ocean Teal Ginger Chicken Bao
4. Asparagus Sea Bean Miso Soup (Patreon)
5. Marinated Tofu Mochi Pocket (Patreon)
6. Lion’s Mane Satay with Peanut Sauce
7. Scallion Pancake Hot Dog
8. Stuffed Bries
9. Sourdough Loaf Pizza
10. Peppers, Please! Ssamjang Mayo with Tortilla Crunchies
11. Furikakemari Damacy: Yuzu Mayo & Crunchy Furikake (Patreon)
12. Eggplant “Parm”: Eggplant Lasagna with Mushroom Bechamel
13. The Boba Shop: Taiwanese Fried Chicken & Champagne Pickles
14. Mortadella Melt with Pickled Pears
15. Tomato Pesto Scramble (Patreon)
16. Ramp Leaf Pasta with Ranch Cream
17. Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Ramp & Chorizo (Patreon)
18. Figure 8 Larb Dumplings
19. Faroe Island Salmon Namerou (Patreon)
20. Banana Leaf Wrapped Salmon
21. Shiitake Cured Salmon
22. Ube Funfetti Cake with Pandan Frosting
23. Aji Verde Tostone
Some of these recipes are on my Patreon for a small monthly fee. Others, I would love to fully write for publication 🤗 If you’re an editor interested in any of these, please get in touch!
For the past three years, I’ve been serving hot dogs at Wonderville, a Bushwick bar and indie game arcade. It all started with Mama O’s Kimchipalooza back in 2021. My friend Kheedim asked me to grill up kimchi burgers and hot dogs for the all-day event. We had so many Brooklyn Cured hot dogs left that I asked my friends at Wonderville if I could try to see the rest. What started as a pop-up on a whim turned into a fully-fledged hot dog menu with rotating choices every month. Mark and Steph, the owners of Wonderville, also surprised me with an official neon sign in the window! If you ever stop by, please take a photo with the sign (and/or your hot dog) and tag @randwiches on Instagram. It’d make me so happy!
On February 5, 2024, I’m hosting my second-ever Hot Dog Appreciation Night where I’ll give out certificates and prizes to the people who have helped me name every hot dog menu item with a video game or pop culture pun. We need your help to determine the best named and best tasting hot dogs.
VOTING HAS CLOSED! Thanks for participating. The winner will be announced (and served) at the Hot Dog Appreciation Night on 2/5/24.
