This recipe wasn’t meant to be delicious. That was an accident. What it was meant to be was simple, speedy, and vegetarian. You see, it was Vegetarian Week. Arne and I had competing meetings that would prevent us from having dinner together, and my first thought was just to grab a bite out or eat…
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…
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…
Homemade Sriracha Sauce
It’s a ubiquitous sight in Asian restaurants around the country, that green-lidded squeeze bottle with the rooster on the front. The New York Times and NPR have run stories about it; Bon Appetit declared it “the new king of condiments” and suggested 25 ways to use it. (I think I need to try those shrimp soon.)…
The Farm Cafe’s Eggplant Burgers
Last year, before we went to Portland, I got some great food suggestions from a friend. We followed up on a lot of them – notably Voodoo Doughnut and Beast – but didn’t make it to The Farm Cafe. In my pre-visit research, however, I noticed that the cafe had received much praise for its…