East Carolina Style. Way East.

When you’re in the mood for a pulled pork sandwich, nothing matches that beguiling combination of smoky, slightly tangy and majorly savory the east offers with such pride. East Carolina? Well, maybe there too, but even more evocative flavors are to be found in East Asia. In Thailand, specifically. Thus, when Food & Wine suggested…

First Up

On and on winter seemed to go, month following month, unrelieved. Just when the greys and the browns threatened permanence, and greenery faded to a memory which maybe never really was after all, the earth stirred. Weary at first, a subtle softening here, a brief thaw there. Maybe a sporadic glint of brightness. Then, one…

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…

Dishwasher’s Holiday

Whether that dishwasher is a person, or an appliance, little matter. Making a complete dinner that cooks up in one tray is sure to save on dirty dishes now and on work later. That’s the beauty of Chicken Traybake, a concoction in which, as the name suggests, poultry, a side, and a sauce for both…

All Mixed Up

It’s not the recipe’s fault, though. When it names the ingredients to accompany mango and chicken in the wok, it lists nothing more specific than “fresh stir-fry vegetables.” Therefore, the decision is each cook’s, and there’s no telling where personal tastes will take things. For example, today’s offering brings carrots, bell peppers bean sprouts and…

Two for One

Really, it’s a marvel of applications.  Create one creamy, savory garlic-butter sauce flecked with chopped cilantro, and use it for both parts of today’s meal, the shrimp and the baguette.  Use the same grill even to cook both.  One sauce, two creations – Shrimp Scampi and Garlic Bread.  What a bang for that particular buck!…

Hail, Caesar!

Not Caesar Augustus, but Caesar Cardini, the restauranteur who invented this salad at his establishment in Acapulco, Mexico in the 1920s.  By legend, Cardini ran out of ingredients for a conventional salad at a particularly busy moment and, instead of giving in, he persisted and improvised with whatever the kitchen had on hand. This included…