I was in my hometown – Urbana, Illinois – talking to Inga, one of my oldest and dearest friends. We were discussing gardening and cooking, as we inevitably do, when she said something simple that brought me up short. Something like: “I grow a lot of broccoli, because we eat a lot of it, and…
Eating California: Jang Su Jang Korean BBQ
As we were putting our bags in the trunk for our trip to California last month, our neighbor jogged up. He pulled the earbuds from his ears and asked where we were going. We told him, and that we were hoping to find some good food. And thank goodness we did, because all casual-like he…
Ethiopian Huevos Rancheros (Firfir with Egg)
Dear readers, I have found the holy grail! I have often lamented – as regular readers may know – about the lack of a usable Ethiopian cookbook in English.
Berbere: Ethiopia’s Signature Spice
Earlier, I posted a suggested method for Ethiopian injera. (I’m still working on getting it consistent enough to post a real recipe.) Injera, both staple bread and eating utensil, is critical for an Ethiopian meal. Almost as critical is berbere, a lush and complex spice blend that flavors many Ethiopian dishes, including the iconic chicken…
Fresh Corn and Green Chile Fritters
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,…
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….
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,…
Korean Shiitake-Beef Lettuce Wraps
It’s NaBloPoMo on Unfussy Epicure! NaBloPoMo is National Blog Posting Month. Bloggers who choose to participate post to their blogs every day. As with NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month, where participants write a minimum number of words every day – it’s a little hard to pin down what month actually is the official month…
Eating ABQ: Talin Market’s Pop-Up Dumpling Shop!
NOTE: The dumpling shop’s days have changed from Thursdays and Fridays to Fridays and Saturdays. Do not go on Thursday! You will get no dumplings, and you will be sad! I was so excited when I got the event notice from Talin Market’s Facebook page. All it said was “Talin Market Pop-Up Dumpling House starts…