Use Your Noodle

Pad Thai is a prominent offering in Siamese restaurants, no matter whether it’s served up in the dining room, or if it’s delivered. With good reason, of course. Juicy chicken is sliced thinly and is woven among chewy rice noodles. The combination is drenched in a luscious sauce exuberant with Southeast Asian flavors, including tangy…

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…

Does Mr. Presley Approve?

You better believe he would. After all, this week brings Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Banana Butter Frosting. As that very combination – PB and bananas – was one of Elvis’s favorites, this is exactly the sort of treat that’d leave the singer All Shook Up. Of course, the beguiling aroma drifts through the kitchen, and…

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…

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…

Paella’s Long-Lost Cousin

So to speak. When the Spanish Empire was in full swing, the mother country influenced much more than just political affairs. She kept matters culinary within her orbit too. Local ingredients and techniques offered countless varieties, but they all flowered from a common inspiration. Such is the case with Caracas-Style Rice with Shrimp. Sure, it…

Gingerbread Man

Or gingerbread woman, depending on who’s pulling the trays from the oven. Not necessarily gingerbread cookies either, strictly speaking, but ginger cookies, at least. Point is, ’tis the season, and ginger is one of those things which make the holidays cozy, jolly and bright. Better yet, imagine what a triple serving of the sweet would…

Tried and New

Whatever else its challenges, the oncoming coldness makes hearty meals beautifully satisfying and even more delicious. These charms glow with additional radiance when novel ingredients take their appreciation to brand-new levels. Food which already was warmly comforting becomes bracing in its newfound delights. Chicken stew is a great example. The Korean version is called Dak…