Round Up - Links & Recommendations

The perfect spoon, a few recipes, health tips, and more.

Hey, everyone!

It’s been a while since I’ve sent out a round up-style newsletter. I used to do these monthly, but moving forward I plan to just send them out whenever I have enough random things bookmarked and/or thoughts to share to fill up a newsletter.

These emails tend to be an eclectic mix of things I’ve been using, thinking about, or enjoying. And I plan to keep it that way. Feel free to shoot me an email if you’ve got any feedback or questions!

Myles

Gestura Spoons

A couple of years ago I was eating at one of Sean Brock’s restaurants in Nashville and I noticed some of the line cooks using these spoons. If you’ve been following this newsletter for a while, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of spoons. I’ve previously recommended the Gray Kunz and Mercer plating spoons, but this Gestura spoon might be the best in the game.

This spoon has a few cool features. First, it has a large bowl that makes it great for basting, sauce work, and plating while also being deep enough to comfortably hold liquid. The volume of the spoon is exactly 1 tbsp, which makes it super convenient for measuring and scaling recipes. Plus it has a tapered tip for pouring and a long handle for basting/stirring. It’s super thoughtfully designed and very well-made. I’ve had it for a month now and I use it all the time.

Noma Projects

Noma Projects, the product line from the renowned restaurant in Copenhagen, has been releasing some really fun stuff recently. I love playing around with these condiments because they’re so unique— they really force you to get creative and come up with cool ways to use them. They also have a bunch of great recipes on their site for inspiration. I’ve tried a few recently.

• Dashi RDX: Imagine soy sauce and dashi had a baby. It’s great over fish, on top of rice bowls, in vinaigrettes, or just drizzled over fresh summer tomatoes.

• Mushroom Garum: This is almost like a fish sauce that’s made with smoked mushrooms instead of anchovies. Super umami and great in dressings and sauces. I like adding it to butter and basting a steak with it.

• Corn Yuzu Hot Sauce: A very unique hot sauce. Pairs beautifully with roasted or fried sweet potatoes. Or mix with sour cream and mayo to make a great sauce for a cabbage slaw.

Their recently-released Aged Pumpkin Vinegar also sounds incredible.

August.Build

My friend Kevin Rooke has been working on this site for a while now, and I’m excited to see it start to gain some traction. August.build is a database of “buy it for life” items— really high-quality, well-made gear that’s designed to last a lifetime. He’s got a bunch of fantastic kitchen/cookware recommendations on there.

A Couple of Simple Recipes

Here are a couple of simple dishes I’ve been enjoying recently. You’ll notice these recipes aren’t too exact, since they’re very forgiving and have a lot of wiggle room.

Pistachio Herb Rice

I love white rice. It’s by far the grain I eat the most. And while I’m happy to eat it on its own, I’m also constantly playing around with fun upgrades— different cooking liquids, fats, and additional flavorings.

This one has been a staple for me lately. Rise a cup of basmati rice, then cook it, substituting chicken or beef bone broth for water. Once it has cooked, add in a big squeeze of lemon juice, some lemon zest, some chopped up herbs (I used parsley, cilantro, and dill), a bunch of chopped pistachios, and some olive oil. Stir it to combine everything, then top with more pistachos and a big drizzle of olive oil. This is excellent served with these meatballs and the yogurt sauce I outlined here.

Chickpea Pepper Salad

This is another fun one that comes together quick with pantry staples.

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add in some olive oil, and drop in one finely chopped shallot. Cook until the shallot is softened (a couple minutes). Add in a can of drained chickpeas, and toss to coat in the oil. Season with salt and your favorite spice blend (I used this one). Add in some diced roasted piquillo peppers or roasted red peppers. Once they’re heated through, pull it off the heat.

Add the mixture to a bowl, and add in a bunch of chopped fresh herbs and a big squeeze of lemon juice. Toss to combine. Optionally, top it with some crumbled feta cheese.

Casey & Calley Means on JRE

This is a really fantastic (and alarming) conversation about the current state of US healthcare, pharma, and some ways we might be able to sort out the mess that is the current system.

Calley Means is the co-founder, along with my friend Justin Mares, of TrueMed, a really cool company that allows you to purchase health-related items with pre-tax HSA/FSA money. Check it out.

Bioenergetics and Ray Peat

Speaking of health, I’ve been going down a bit of a Dr. Ray Peat rabbit hole recently. His work can feel a bit unapproachable at first, but I’ve found his ideas to be incredibly informative and they’ve challenged a lot of my conventional thinking about health.

It’s hard to sum up his philosophy, but at a high level it’s all about increasing the amount of energy that your body produces. He challenges a lot of the thinking that comes out of the Paleo/keto/ancestral sphere. This book is a great place to start to learn more about the bioenergetic approach to health. I also recommend this interview with Rick Rubin and Carnivore Aurelius. CA is someone who started his health journey with a focus on low carb/keto and gradually came to incorporate a lot of Ray Peat’s ideas. He does a great job of describing both the science and the rationale behind it.

Some Great Music

A few things I’ve been digging recently.