Near the Border

Here are a couple tickets for an overnight train trip, complete with sleeping compartment and dinner beforehand in the dining car, courtesy of James Porterfield’s Dining by Rail.  In this case, the meal includes two lines’ specialties, Roast Quebec Capon, as enjoyed for decades aboard the Canadian Pacific’s trains, accompanied by Savory Mushroom Dressing, a…

Plums, Grapes and Pomegranates

The table set before you makes use of all three, taking advantage of the agricultural bounty one finds in Georgia – the country, not the US state.  Though home to some of the Caucasus’s towering peaks, the fertile valleys in between and the Black Sea coastline grant Georgia an abundance reflected in the country’s cuisine.…

Aquaculture

Tilapia enjoys a happy coincidence, its sustainability accelerating smartly with its increased popularity.  As ever more people appreciate the fish’s flavor and culinary versatility, the industry has discovered the freshwater creature adapts particularly well to farm production, ensuring the supply will match demand. Today features two, or perhaps three, recipes from the January/February 2019 Cook’s…

Upstaging the Shrimp

Not an easy thing to do, actually, as shellfish is a personal favorite.  However, as wonderful as the shrimp is in today’s attempt, the shitake mushrooms are even better.  By some degree.  In fact, the dish would be just as scrumptious, just as amazing, with no shrimp and a double serving of mushrooms.  Shocking, but…

Where to Begin?

There’s so much happening in a soup like Cháo Bôi it’s difficult to decide how exactly to classify it.  Sure, broadly speaking, it’s Vietnamese, the recipe found among the pages of a great gift one of you sent a few years back, Andrea Nguyen’s Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. What kind of soup is it, though? …

Identities

When chef Ludo Lefebvre learned his ancestors came not just from France, but from most nations bordering it as well, he honored the Belgians among them by adapting a classic French country dish.  What he created is Poulet à la Crème, made distinctly Belgian by replacing the wine with a good beer from the region. …

Now, That’s Italian

Or so it would seem, with polenta forming a creamy base and Parmigiano Reggiano topping it all with a salty tanginess.  With just a few ingredients and requiring less non-stop attention than cooking a proper polenta usually demands, Oven Polenta with Roasted Mushrooms and Thyme became a keeper when Bon Appetit featured it in the…

Mushrooms, Most Honorable

Indeed, not only do shitake mushrooms bring today’s entry much regard, they also glorify it with anticipation of a great meal.  The Japanese invented a word to describe the fifth element to engage the tongue, umami.  The term has gained wide acclaim lately, both in and out of food circles, and it signifies a delightfully…

Wait, Isn’t It a White with Chicken?

A red wine with red meat and a white vintage is reserved for lighter-colored dishes, right?  Maybe, though if anyone is qualified to exceed that guideline it’s the French, and if one dish can make it work, Coq au Vin will do it.  Besides, after marinating in wine for a whole day, as this chicken…

A Curiosity

“Odd yet savory” works when describing tonight’s concoction, Mushrooms Fester.  As the dish’s title hints, this is among the recipes Addams Family creator Charles Addams collected and intended to put in a macabre-themed cookbook.  Unfortunately, Addams died before he could complete the project, yet his widow gathered what Addams had found, and published it in…