Lend Me Your Ears

“I come to bury Caesar Salad, not to prepare it.”  So wrote Shakespeare in Julius Caesar.  More or less. Well, maybe not the part disparaging a wonderfully worthy salad (attempted here summers ago), but the preface, soliciting ears, definitely.  Round up all your corn, whether acquired from the garden, supermarket or roadside stand.  In return…

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…

Two-Headed Creature

All sorts of wonders skulk this time of year, and if you’re not careful one of them will claim you. Well, this Halloween’s soul must be particularly needy, as it’s grasped at not one recipe, but at two. Both courtesy of The Nightmare Before Dinner, chef Zach Neil’s collection of deliciously spooky dishes from his…

Where the Jungle Blankets the Andes

You’ll find Colombia, where the mountain chain’s northern end reaches to within miles of both the Pacific and the Caribbean.  Here the cuisine celebrates the broad availability of goods from the mountains (potatoes), the temperate valleys (corn, peas and bell peppers) and the tropical plains (annatto seeds and, of course, the coconut).  Combine these ingredients,…

Give the Blender a Break

In the Ecuadoran soup on which today’s entry is based, the broth and such are put through a blender one last time, just before service, ensuring a smooth consistency.  That’s a shame, as it also pulverizes the bits of color and the traces of texture that make Shrimp and Corn Chowder so interesting, so appealing.…