Bacon’s Many Uses

Then there’s Task #386, Setting Smoothly Rich Background Music for Chicken Dishes.    Though today’s entry, Adobo Aromatic Chicken, is a Filipino poultry preparation, bacon infuses the chicken with its signature buttery smokiness when its fat is used to pan sear the bird initially.  After that, bacon itself makes an appearance just before serving, when…

Treasure Beyond Gold and Jewels

Indeed, Persian cookery engages not just the eyes and nose, but it captivates the taste buds as well, unfolding flavors that subtly hint at the delights that await.  The visuals, though, beguile, and make the first pass at seduction. Persians call the pilaf Javaher Polow, or Jeweled Rice, and fittingly so.  Saffron sets the rice…

It’s All in the Sauce

When Cambodians make Chicken Samlá Curry they put everything into the soupy basting sauce – lemongrass, ginger, lime zest, garlic, coconut milk…everything.  Even the chicken itself luxuriates in the impossibly fragrant mixtures, absorbing all manner of wonderful tastes. One thing this “curry” doesn’t have, though, is curry itself.  The name is assigned to any number…

It All Leads to This

August brings exuberant gardens yielding fresh basil, green beans and tomatoes by the basketful, and people firing up the grill in preparation for a balmy evening outdoors enjoyed with family and neighbors.  Plenty of good times and happy memories as we head into one final month of glorious weather.  This is summer’s moment. Today’s entry…

Various Limes

Indeed, today brings Chicken Posole, as well as the limes that make it so delectable a soup.  There’s the citrus, of course, which contributes a vibrant zing, a sweetly tangy melody that boosts the other flavors.  The fruit’s qualities are familiar and require little additional elaboration. However, another sort of lime is significant too.  It…

These Guys Again?

It must be easy to forget all the effort expended in juicing and zesting Key Limes, because less than a year after the cheesecake ordeal, here we are again.  Do you realize how many limes it takes to yield even the relatively limited quantities of essence described in the recipe below?  No wonder most people…

Summertime’s Keys

Today’s entry is key to the upcoming season in more ways than one.  To begin, the summery concoction featured above, Key Lime Cheesecake, represents a warm-weather classic, which hopefully will ignite summer’s engines and will get things moving after the chill has lingered far too long. Key limes’ bright, citrusy, almost floral notes give any dish they touch…

Imagine Yourself in Acapulco…

All sorts of amazing produce abound.  On the trees, in the gardens, at the marketplace.  Everywhere.   Now think of that fresh goodness collected for just one dish, a deeply flavorful and satisfying chicken soup.  A perfect offering from a land without winters. No, this isn’t the first time chicken soup has found its way to these…