One of the most exciting cookbooks I’ve come across this year is Asha Gomez’s My Two Souths. Gomez spent her childhood in Kerala, at the southern tip of India. She learned to cook with her family there, and was often called upon to hand-grind spice mixes, reveling in the scents of classic South Indian spices like black…
Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Sesame-Lemon Dressing
On our way home from a Thanksgiving family reunion in Phoenix, Arne and I stopped in Flagstaff for lunch at a place called Pita Jungle. It’s an Arizona chain (with one location in California). It sounded like a pleasingly healthy, vegetable-focused option – just what we were in the mood for. As soon as we…
Smoked Trout and Strawberry Salad with Sweet Cream Dressing
The strawberries have been a surprise of the most delightful kind. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I am a deeply lazy gardener. I never remember to water, so we set up an automatic system. I’m terrible about deadheading (as you can see in the photo below, with all that sprouted mustard in the top…
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.
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.
Creamy Japanese Carrot-Ginger Salad Dressing
Not long ago we visited Arne’s parents in Woodland Park, Colorado, where they took us to a bustling restaurant called Fusion Japan. The place was jam-packed, and I have rarely seen servers hustling the way our waitress did! For some reason we each ordered a different chicken dish. (We didn’t try the sushi – a…
Singapore Crab Cakes with Sweet and Tangy Red Chile Sauce
I am a sucker for the words “street food.” They call to mind the most exciting and delectable experiences: sizzling fish tacos handed down from the window of a brightly painted truck; smoky grilled meat sticky with spicy lemongrass-chile sauce; colorful drinks in plastic bags, skewered with straws for sipping; steaming bowls of soup slurped…
Sticky, Spicy Beer BBQ Sauce with bonus recipe: Perfect Baby Back Ribs
I’m sort of a barbecue sauce fanatic. Though we skipped it this year because last year’s entry line was hours long, we love to attend the annual Fiery Foods Show, paying special attention to barbecue sauces. And that’s a lot of barbecue sauces – enough that the official name of the event is “National Fiery…
Tofu and Vegetables in Peanut-Miso Velvet
I’m rescuing this recipe from the archives. A few nights ago I looked it up and cooked it for dinner, and I was surprised and dismayed to see that I had made some big errors. The kind of errors that make readers really annoyed with you. Most notably, I had failed to explain where to…
Seared Scallops in Orange-Scented Caramel Sauce
It’s been almost two weeks since I posted, and I apologize. I was sick last week. It’s no fun to be sick on Thanksgiving! Sore throat, stuffy nose… trouble swallowing, reduced sense of taste… just not a blast on the great eat-a-thon of Turkey Day! But I’m back. And not just back, but back with…