monkeymom

What's in a name? A whole lot in the case monkeymom, a San Francisco Bay Area scientist whose ability to monkey about her kitchen (with her kids, no less) is truly awe-inspiring. With numerous contest wins under her toque, monkeymom rises to the challenge of any theme we dream up. Dumplings? No problem -- she's got Scallop Potstickers up her sleeve. Dinner rolls? Even better -- her Heavenly Oatmeal Molasses Rolls take the win.

Monkeymom has been an active presence on food52 for as long as we can remember (check out the shots of her in a slideshow from the first ever food52 potluck in the Bay Area -- more please!). A rare and fabulous quality of her cooking (for her children especially) is that everything, and we mean everything, looks flat-out delicious -- from pizza to panna cotta to pozole. 

Try out her Caramelized Pork Bành Mì and Wishbone Roast Chicken with Herb Butter and you'll see: monkeymom has a way of taking traditional comfort foods and tweaking them with a special technique or creative twist that heightens them to the apotheosis of what they should be. And yet, she knows there's always room for a subtle but sophisticated finish to a meal, like her Holiday Sables, little chocolate cookies iced with ganache and sprinkled with peppermint. Perfect.

Read monkeymom's profile Q&A below:

• What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
  Sea cucumber...yuck. Weird taste and texture.
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• What do you cook when home alone?
  Salad with bacon and an over easy egg on top.
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• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  My big red Le Creuset pot.
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• Your ideal meal:
  A home cooked meal from great cooks with all the family around.
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• Something you'd like a chance to eat or cook:
  So many choices, so little time...the French Laundry maybe?
  
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• The number of bottles of wine you own:
  I can never really keep track.
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• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  Around here 8 adults usually come attached with 8 kids so I guess that means 16!
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• Kitchen pet peeve:
  Inefficient dishwasher loading irks me.
  
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• Your favorite cookbook:
  I am obsessed with Tartine Bread. I also love Pei Mei's Chinese Cook book and Keller's Ad Hoc.