Agile Test Kitchen

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • Fish
  • Plants
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosures
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Fish
  • Plants
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosures
×
Home

About

  • Share
  • Tweet

welcome

Hey, I'm Deanna!

I like cooking in restaurants.

At home, not so much.

I don't like the shopping for ingredients, making over leftovers, feeding a static audience, doing lots of unappealing prep work, using freezer technology rather than the freshest ingredients possible, dealing with a constant sink full of dirty dishes, and not getting paid to do it all.

.

I actually do like cooking but prefer to do it professionally, which I did for 10 years in all manner of restaurant kitchens including 2 and 3 Michelin starred ones and in 4 different countries.

Part of it was seeing the daily drudgery of my immigrant mom trying to figure out what to feed us kids of all of the time.  There was no way my cheap ass dad was going to pay for a restaurant meal.  That's too expensive.

As a child, I always wondered what other foods tasted like besides what my mom made, Taco Bell, and McDonald's.

As a an adult, I came to see cooking at home as a sign of being too poor to eat out.  I vowed never to eat at home, ate most of my meals from restaurants, and traveled to over 30 countries just to see what other foods tasted like.

While eating my way through the culinary mecca of Barcelona, I received a message that my mom had terminal cancer and only 3 months to live.  I fled home to California, and she died a month later, bedridden and speechless from the throat surgery that prolonged her life for a single month. 

I had never bothered to ask for her recipes, and it was too late to get them.

So, this blog is an attempt to recreate and create recipes inspired by my mom, using whole grains, all natural ingredients, and mostly vegan recipes supplemented with fish and a few occasional meats.  (Meat is expensive, and my dad is cheap, remember?)

With the proliferation of organic food, sustainable seafood, and pasture raised meats, you can actually make higher quality meals at home than you can get from a restaurant.  The cost is too high for most restaurants to use those premium ingredients and sell dishes at a price people will pay for.

But you can make your own high quality meals at home, and it doesn't have to be hard or  require lots of ingredients, time, or dirty dishes.

Keep following for easy to make recipes inspired by my mom's home cooking.

I miss her so much.

Maybe these recipes will inspire you, just as much as my mom has inspired me.

Happy cooking,

♥ Deanna


Top 10 Recipes

  • crab roll on a white plate with a red striped towel in the background
    How to Make the Best Crab Roll (with minimal mayo)
  • Collage of 4 crab meat recipes
    17 Inspiring Crabmeat Recipes (to make with fresh lump crab)
  • Dungeness crabmeat pasta in a silver skillet
    Quick & Easy Crabmeat Pasta with White Wine Garlic Sauce
  • a white cup and teapot holding lemongrass tea with fresh cut stalks of lemongrass in the background
    How to make Fresh Lemongrass Tea (no sugar recipe)
  • Calamari Puttanesca (15 minute meal)
  • 4 salmon collars with different toppings on a rectangular black plate with parsley garnish and lemon wedges
    Fun Baked Salmon Collars (oven or air fryer)
  • Two whole baked trout on a white oval plate with roasted fennel and meyer lemon sauce
    Oven Baked Trout with Fennel and Zingy Lemon Sauce
  • baked sockeye salmon in foil with green onion slices and teriyaki glaze on top
    Easy Baked Sockeye Salmon in Foil (Teriyaki-ish)
  • korean sardines on a gray rectangular plate
    15 Minute Korean Sardines (with canned fish)
  • Baked haddock on a white plate with lemon and potatoes
    What to Serve with Baked Haddock (14 American Sides)

more about me....

Fun Facts

  • Fact 1
  • Fact 2
  • Fact 3

Contact

Email agiletestkitchen (at) gmail <dot> com

  • Share
  • Tweet

Welcome!

I cooked in professional kitchens for 10 years, but at home I can barely get myself to boil water.

More about me

Popular

  • Kale and spinach salad with apple cider vinaigrette in a wooden bowl
    Kale and Baby Spinach Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
  • Butternut squash apple soup in a gray bowl with coconut milk, pumpkin seeds, and fresh thyme garnish
    The Best Butternut Squash Apple Soup (vegan)
  • Honey garlic burssel sprouts on a pink round plate
    Honey Garlic Brussel Sprouts (roasted or air fried)
  • Collage of 4 Thanksgiving seafood recipes
    17 Thanksgiving Seafood Ideas to Add to Your Holiday Menu

Seasonal

  • Pan seared sockeye salmon filet on a white oval plate with brussel sprouts
    Quick Pan Seared Sockeye Salmon (with a savory rub)
  • 2 biscoff smore sandwiches on a gray plate
    Air Fryer S'mores (with vegan option)
  • multiple gilda appetizers on a white rectangular plate
    Gilda Appetizer (a salty, sultry, spicy skewer)
  • 18 Butterfly Pea Flower Recipes (with sweet & savory inspiration)

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • About

Copyright © 2025 Agile Test Kitchen