It’s no secret that I love food trucks, and have been excited to sample their fare in Portland and New York. But possibly my best food-truck experience ever happened Tuesday night, right here in Albuquerque. I have to thank my friend and neighbor Mary. A few weeks ago, she rode by on her adorable flowered…
What I’m Reading Now: Vegetarian Cookbooks
I spend a lot of time reading cookbooks. Kind of a ridiculous amount of time. If they catch my interest, I read them cover-to-cover, like novels. I learn a huge amount that way – even from books I never cook a recipe from – though I often can’t remember what book I saw something in….
Pappardelle with Quick and Luxurious Lemon Cream Sauce
Okay, my friends, here it is: This is the kind of recipe you’re here for. It’s truly luscious, sensuous with cream and bright with tangy lemon. But even better, it is dead simple. The shopping list for this luxurious lemon-cream sauce? Butter, cream, and lemons. I often read in Italian cookbooks that a simple…
Crispy Vietnamese Rice-Flour Crepes with Nuoc Cham
I live near Albuquerque’s International District, which means there are probably 20 Vietnamese restaurants within two miles of my house. I have by no means tried them all, but of those I’ve tried I have three favorites: Banh Mi Coda, an addiction, which I reviewed rapturously here; Banh Mi’s big sister, Cafe Trang, with its…
Three Bean, Three Chile Chili
When you move to New Mexico from the Midwest, things get confusing with the word “chili.” Suddenly a word that’s always had one simple meaning – a comforting, mildly spicy stew of ground beef, tomatoes, and beans – gains another spelling and several new meanings. “Chili” can be the aforementioned stew, or the spicier Texas…
Tomatoes Rockefeller (Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Spinach and Cheese)
I have a problem. The most beautiful, prolific tomato plant in my garden – a Russian hybrid called “Japanese Black Trifele” – is finally ripening its branches full of tomatoes. What’s the problem, you ask? The beautifully pear-shaped fruit don’t taste great. They’re a little watery, a little bland. Not terrible, certainly better than supermarket…
Grill-Roasted Eggplant and Potato Curry with Tomatoes
I may have mentioned my love for eggplant once or twice. It’s in season now, so we’re luxuriating in it, eating it two or three times a week. One of my favorite methods is just to throw it on the grill, whole. The eggplant melts inside while the skin blackens and turns papery. I guess…
Savory Fig and Shallot Jam with bonus recipe: Wilted Spinach Salad with Fig Dressing
Take a deep breath. Can you smell that first whiff of fall in the air? In Albuquerque, the scent of early fall is the rich, mouthwatering aroma of green chile tumbling in the spinning mesh barrels of propane-fired roasters. Take a trip up the mountain, as we did on Saturday, and you’ll be rewarded with…
Japanese Curry Rice
I have hesitated for some time in putting this “recipe” on the blog, because it goes kind of like this: Follow the instructions on the box. But I finally decided to do it for three reasons: 1) Not many Americans know it exists; 2) It’s really delicious; and 3) It’s close to my heart. In…
Eating ABQ: Mean Bao
UPDATE: Mean Bao is now closed. One balmy evening a few weeks ago, Arne and I were walking down Central in Nob Hill when a curious sight met our eyes. In the window of the recently vacated Ecco Gelato space was a sign with a cartoonishly irritated white blob – maybe a marshmallow? a…