Use Your Noodle


Pad Thai is a prominent offering in Siamese restaurants, no matter whether it’s served up in the dining room, or if it’s delivered. With good reason, of course. Juicy chicken is sliced thinly and is woven among chewy rice noodles. The combination is drenched in a luscious sauce exuberant with Southeast Asian flavors, including tangy… Continue reading Use Your Noodle

Veggies, All of It?


Yep, that’s right.  Today’s entry is completely vegetarian-friendly, from the first cilantro leaf to the last grain of rice.  Yet it’s warming and satisfying, due to hearty pieces of sweet potato and a lusciously rich peanut butter-tomato sauce.  Honestly, you won’t spend the whole time you’re eating fantasizing about other ingredients.  Mainly because you already… Continue reading Veggies, All of It?

Ditch the Sticks?


Generally speaking, the Japanese are well-mannered, and they’re most enthusiastic about dining’s refined rituals. (Actually, that can be said, with minor qualifications, of many peoples.) Anyway, it’s not too often a Japan-forward company will advise diners to put down their chopsticks and to eat with their fingers. Yet, that’s precisely what Toiro, a company specializing… Continue reading Ditch the Sticks?

Dabbling in Stocks


Stocks are simple, really. Pick a good one and, if things work as they should, a modest investment up front will yield generous dividends for a long time. This applies to investments, and doubly so to soup stocks. This site doesn’t have much to say about financial planning, though, which leaves only one topic, a… Continue reading Dabbling in Stocks

En la Cocina de Mama


Or, for Anglos, translated to English, “In Mom’s Kitchen.”  That’s where Mexico City chef Enrique Olvera had the best Entomatado de Res, or Beef and Tomatillo Stew, he ever experienced (or created) in his illustrious career.  Splendid as a standalone dish or in filling warm corn tortillas, it’s home-cooked meat and potatoes made infinitely more… Continue reading En la Cocina de Mama

There Once Was a Chef on Nantucket…


Who used oysters and clams by the bucket Until one day the market ran dry So the chef asked, “Why not give lobsters a try?” To those who think chowder means clams, I say…” The rest has been lost, but you might speculate. Point is, summer often includes a trip to the beach, and shore… Continue reading There Once Was a Chef on Nantucket…

Malabar Coast


On India’s southwestern coast, the sun bejewels a sea washing tropical shores fragrant with flowering spices.  Can somewhere as lavishly endowed with vibrant vistas, aromas and colors produce anything other than an exuberant cuisine?  Definitely, the state of Kerala does, and one of its favorite creations, Chemmeen Moilee, Curried Shrimp and Coconut Soup, headlines today.… Continue reading Malabar Coast

Tried and New


Whatever else its challenges, the oncoming coldness makes hearty meals beautifully satisfying and even more delicious. These charms glow with additional radiance when novel ingredients take their appreciation to brand-new levels. Food which already was warmly comforting becomes bracing in its newfound delights. Chicken stew is a great example. The Korean version is called Dak… Continue reading Tried and New