Watch for Tigers!

Particularly good advice when wandering Southeast Asia’s jungled mountains. Ask any local, including the Hmong, a people inhabiting Laos’s out-of-the-way forests. A tiger bite makes quite an impact. In fact, that’s the best way the Hmong have of describing their signature sauce, which they serve with grilled, marinated steak. This, in addition to Blistered Green…

Plenty for Everyone!

That’s what inspired Thanksgiving, isn’t it, a celebration of, and gratitude for, a bountiful harvest?  Today’s entry heartily endorses that appeal with a plate full  of the best of farm, forest and field.  Just the crops alone are well-represented in the produce spilling from the cornucopia below:Today’s feast started with an episode of the Cook’s…

Gold, Delicious

The sun still dapples the land, warming the charmed air and keeping the frosts at bay; for the moment at least. In time, it will be away on holiday too. Until its irresistible return next year, that is. For now, though, it still smiles benevolently upon harvesting the wonders it spent all summer encouraging. Here…

It’s Not Too Late

So you slept in this morning. That’s what weekends are for, isn’t it? It’s too soon for lunch, though you’re hungry now. Unfortunately, it’s too late for breakfast too, right? Nope! That’s exactly why brunch was invented, to satisfy just such a situation. Brilliant! That’s just what Food & Wine had in mind when it…

Again with the Peaches?

Of course. It’s late summer, after all, and the stonefruit is gloriously in season. Time for the produce, which is fantastic most of the time, to attain perfection. Sweet and tangy, juicy and lush, peaches are precisely why we spend the rest of the year dreaming about August. This week, peaches make up a vibrant…

Pretzels! Get Yer Pretzels!

Just like at the game, too, except these are straight from the oven.  The thinnest of crusts provides a salty hint of crunch, before granting access to the soft, pillowed dough beneath.  You can taste the yeast too, contributing something of a savory hug and a whole lot of fluffiness. Sure, soft pretzels also come…

Welcome Back!

Summer’s returning from its vacation soon, and it brings all sorts of nifty things we haven’t seen for nearly a year now, like fresh garden vegetables and cookouts.  What better way to celebrate the season of plenty than with a dinner featuring so much of what gives summer the nicest house on the block? Specifically,…

Hike an Alp or Two

When Austrians want to journey up one side of a mountain and down the other, or to fortify those who will, they prepare an encouraging one-skillet meal replete with what’s necessary for the day’s exertions.   Thus, they invented Tiroler Gröstl, a stamina-building combination of diced potatoes, onion and bacon, traditionally topped with a lightly…

Toast’s Higher Calling

Why settle for “mere” toast when greatness waits to join you at the next stop?  After the toaster pops, for a little more time than it would take to butter the bread, a preparation beckons that’s creamy, tangy, spicy, savory and a little sweet too.  Yes, it’s all that – every application that would supplement…

Good Noodles Take Time

All the more so when they’re prepared in a dining car galley gently swaying along at seventy miles an hour, as was the inspiration for today’s entry.  Dinner was selected not long after crossing the Virginia state line, within view of sunlight glistening across the Potomac.  Although the meal was prepared promptly and efficiently, it…