DadCooksDinner Newsletter - July 2026

Sorry I’m a little late with this month’s newsletter. I was out of the country, on a fantastic vacation in Japan. Here’s a picture of Osaka castle as an apology:

Speaking of vacation…

Things I Love: Vacation Cooking Classes

I love to travel, and I love traveling for food. So my favorite way to experience a new city is to go to a local cooking class. Or, if I can’t find one of those, how about a local market tour? (And if I can do both? Heaven.)

A vacation cooking class started DadCooksDinner. For my 40th birthday, I spent a week in Provence with Patrick Payet at his Famous Provence Cooking School. When I got home, my wife asked me to write about it on her family blog. (It was 2008. Everyone had a family blog back then.)

But I wanted more than that - I was a voracious reader of food blogs, and wanted to start my own. But it was 2008 - food blogs were everywhere, the market was oversaturated, there’s no way I’d make a new one work. That trip to Provence tipped me over the edge. If I was going to write about food, I was going to do it right…and here we are, 18 years later.

Cooking classes are a great way to meet locals, learn about their food, and (usually) get some local history while you’re at it. I do a Google search for cooking schools in the area, and check Viator and Get Your Guide. I have had good luck with Traveling Spoon classes, where you go to the house of a local cook. (I had a great visit last year with Suzy in Ghent, Belgium, and just did a class with Sho in Osaka, Japan.)

The trick is finding a class about local specialties. In America, especially, most cooking schools focus on international dinners. Want to know how to make a date night Italian dinner, learn French cooking skills, or make Steakhouse classics? Of course I do, and those classes are great, but most of those I can take at home in Ohio. I’m looking for classes like chicken etouffee in New Orleans or green chile stew in Santa Fe (both of which are on my to-do list in the future.)

As I mentioned, I just got back from a trip to Japan. If you’re visiting Japan, check out Cooking Sun cooking classes and market tours in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. I did them in Kyoto a few years back, and in Tokyo last month - both were excellent.

Japan Recipe Roundup

Speaking of Japan, here are some recipes inspired by my trips there. (Don’t be surprised when there are more in the near future - I just got back with a notebook full of ideas.)

Okonomiyaki

It’s a simple cabbage pancake - but oh so delicious. The only trick is finding the okonomiyaki sauce and kewpie mayo, both of which are available at my local Asian specialty markets.

​ Okonomiyaki - Recipe​

Instant Pot Japanese Curry

I had so much Japanese curry on my trip. Vegetable Japanese Curry was a staple of the breakfast buffets at my hotels, and of course I had to try Kanazawa’s special curry, and a few curry buns from the local bakery…can you tell I’m obsessed?

​Instant Pot Japanese Curry - Recipe​

Egg Salad Sandwich (Tamago Sando)

One of the great parts of visiting Japan is the convenience stores - FamilyMart, Lawson’s, and 7-11. They all compete to have the highest quality and lowest cost food. I love their fried chicken patties (made fresh multiple times during the day), coffee (the automated machine grinds the beans fresh for every cup), and especially the egg salad sandwiches - Tamago Sando. I have to substitute brioche or a fluffy Italian bread for the Japanese Milk Bread that is hard to find in my area, but the sandwich is still great.

​Japanese Egg Salad Sandwich (Tamago Sando) - Recipe​

Wagyu Steak

My wife has a friend in Kobe, which is why we’ve visited Japan over the last few years. Or, at least, that’s why my wife visited. I’m there for the Kobe beef. (And Matsusaka beef. And Omi beef.) Frankly, any Wagyu beef I’ve had in Japan has been fantastic, even when it’s not one of the specific areas famous for Japanese beef. (Wagyu is the generic term - Wa (Japanese) gyu (cattle).)

It’s hard for me to find in my area, but when my local grocery store sold A5 quality wagyu ribeyes a few years back, I jumped at the chance to cook it myself. (My checkbook still has nightmares about the cost, all these years later - but I regret nothing.)

​Wagyu Ribeye Steak - Recipe​

Miso Ramen

Ramen is fantastic, filling, and cheap in Japan. There are ramen shops everywhere, most of which seat about ten people at once. But the turnover is fast, because Ramen is meant to be fast food. Wait in line, get your ticket at the door, hand it to the chef, and get your giant bowl of ramen. Don’t dawdle - eat quick, so the next person in line can use your seat.

Or, you can make it at home and eat it at your leisure.

​Instant Pot Miso Ramen - Recipe​

June Posts Roundup

Instant Pot Lamb Tagine

Tagine has always fascinated me. It’s the pot and the name of the dish? It’s made with lots of dried fruit? And served over couscous? Yes, yes, and yes - and it’s fantastic.

​Instant Pot Lamb Tagine - Recipe​

Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Tortilla Soup

An update of one of my older recipes - this is one that is still in my regular dinner rotation.

​Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Tortilla Soup - Recipe​

Quick Hoisin Chicken Stir Fry

Another update to an older recipe that turned into a rewrite. My son is home from college, and asked how to make the chicken stir fry that’s been a staple in weeknight dinners his whole life. I pointed him towards the recipe I posted back in 2008, but I didn’t realize how much my actual technique has diverged from the recipe over the years. I kept saying “no, don’t do that, do this instead”, until I decided I needed a new recipe. Here it is, with recipe testing from my son.

​Quick Hoisin Chicken Stir Fry - Recipe​

Instant Pot Belgian Mussels

Speaking of traveling for food - one of the best things we ate last summer in Belgium was mussels in Brussels. I finally got around to re-creating the recipe, now that I have a reliable Instant Pot Mussels technique.

​Instant Pot Belgian Mussels - Recipe​

Instant Pot Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf

Another update of one of my classics. I love a good wild rice pilaf, and this is a great way to use the variety of brown and wild rice mixes at my local grocery store.

​Instant Pot Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf - Recipe​

Q&A

Summer is grilling season, so this month’s questions were mostly about my grilling recipes. Here’s one from commenter Tim D about my Grilled BBQ Chicken Thighs recipe:

Question:

Answer: No, I don’t flip the thighs during grilling.

For some context: In this recipe, I’m grilling skin-on chicken thighs with indirect high heat. And the answer is - no, I’m not turning them during cooking. I’m grill-roasting them, using my grill like a charcoal-fired outdoor oven. I prefer indirect heat for skin-on chicken on the grill; direct heat always results in flareups from the dripping chicken fat, burning the chicken before I can get it cooked through. (Burned skin and undercooked chicken is what I get from direct heat, which reminds me of too many sad summer barbecues as a kid.)

Because they’re not getting direct heat from the coals, there’s no need to flip the chicken thighs to grill the other side. The heat in the grill is circulating in the air, cooking the top and bottom of the thighs evenly. The only flipping I do is at the end, when I’m brushing the thighs with barbecue sauce, and that’s just to get an even coating of sauce on the chicken.

What do you think?

That’s it for this month. If you have any other ideas about this newsletter, please let me know! Questions, comments, and ideas are welcome. (I can’t promise I’ll do anything with them, but I am definitely open to new ideas.)

Thanks again, and see you next month!

Mike Vrobel - ​DadCooksDinner.com​​

July 9, 2026