Oh, the end of summer. How I love the cooling days, the longer evenings, the patches of yellow leaves in the cottonwoods. And how I love the harvest. This is the most wonderful time of year to just go to the growers’ market, co-op, or grocery store, see what’s fresh and beautiful, take it home,…
Archives for 2015
Migas: Eggs Scrambled with Salsa and Tortilla Chips
Well, there you go. I gave you the recipe. It’s in the title. Scramble eggs with salsa and chips. Go to. What, you’re looking for more detail? Okay. I’ve been making migas for years, since our grad-school days when we spent four years in a tiny high-ceilinged apartment like a cracker box stood on end….
Changes Afoot at Talin Pop-Up Dumpling Shop!
If you’ve stopped by Talin’s wonderful Pop-Up Dumpling Shop on a Thursday in August, you probably left disappointed. And if you’ve wandered through the European area recently – where the dumpling shop has had a few small tables wedged in between the service counter, a glass case full of teaware, and shelves full of pasta…
Eating ABQ: Ajiaco Colombian Bistro
I don’t know who gave me my first recommendation for Ajiaco. My friend Carlos, who is originally from Colombia, was in the crowded church social hall after services when someone slipped a business card for the bistro into his hand. “I don’t even know who it was,” he laughed as I examined the mysterious card…
Super-Rich, Super-Easy Vegan Chocolate Mousse
This is one of the greatest bang-for-your buck recipes I have ever come across. It rests quietly in the pages of Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything under the unassuming name “Chocolate Tofu Pudding.” I don’t even remember why I first decided to try it- it must have been because he said it was the…
Homemade Thai Yellow Curry Paste, plus Chicken or Tofu in Yellow Curry
My friend Michelena makes incredible Mexican mole, from scratch. Friends beg her for jars of the thick, luscious sauce. (Well, I did, anyway.) The process takes her two days.
Sichuan Hot-and-Numbing (Ma La) Chile Oil
Until the last decade, the classic Sichuan flavor combination ma la (numbing and hot) was hard to come by in the United States. Sichuan peppercorns, the only common source of the numbing, tingly sensation called ma in Chinese, were banned from import to the US because they could transmit a kind of citrus canker. Fortunately,…
Eating ABQ: Tia Betty Blue’s
This is another one of those “I can’t believe I didn’t share it earlier” reviews. Tia Betty Blue’s opened about three years ago on a neglected stretch of San Mateo not far from Gibson, in a two-story building that used to house a cleaning business. It was a surprise to see someone try a restaurant…
Salmon Rice Bowl with Soy-Wasabi Sauce (Sake-Don)
My recent obsession with Kokoro Japanese Restaurant finally bled over into my own kitchen. I wanted more Japanese food, but I wanted it to be as quick and simple as it was delicious. Paging through my copy of Japanese Soul Cooking, I saw a gorgeous picture of a bowl of vibrant red tuna slices brushed…
Soulful Japanese Food at Kokoro Restaurant
Once upon a time, I read in a now-forgotten cookbook that “There is no such thing as al dente in Japanese noodles.” That author had never had a proper bowl of ramen. To be fair, a proper bowl of ramen is a rare thing. As viewers of the classic Japanese film Tampopo and the less classic…