Veggies, All of It?

Yep, that’s right.  Today’s entry is completely vegetarian-friendly, from the first cilantro leaf to the last grain of rice.  Yet it’s warming and satisfying, due to hearty pieces of sweet potato and a lusciously rich peanut butter-tomato sauce.  Honestly, you won’t spend the whole time you’re eating fantasizing about other ingredients.  Mainly because you already…

Toast’s Higher Calling

Why settle for “mere” toast when greatness waits to join you at the next stop?  After the toaster pops, for a little more time than it would take to butter the bread, a preparation beckons that’s creamy, tangy, spicy, savory and a little sweet too.  Yes, it’s all that – every application that would supplement…

Another Chocolate, Herr Mozart?

Just in time for Mozart’s birthday, coming up Wednesday (it was the 26th of January, if you’re reading this in archive), here’s an Austrian confection, Mozartkugeln (“Mozart Truffles”).  While the composer was famously fond of sweets, Salzburg chocolatier Paul Fürst didn’t invent Mozartkugeln until a century or so after Wolfgang passed to the eternal in…

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…

Syrup’s Rising Soon

Vitality stirs within maple trees, the sap (syrup) beginning to surge, awakening the trees from their hibernations. That’s good news for the trees, as it begins a progress that takes them to this point: (Photo taken early last summer of a maple tree, in the parents’ yard, the author started at age twelve, from seed. …

A Full Basket

A great way to exult in late summer’s benevolence is to wander the sun-dappled path meandering among the garden’s lushness, losing oneself as the occasional light breeze rustles the leaves and serenades a daydream.  When this reverie doesn’t transport you, you load a basket with anything that looks good.  Of course, by August just about…

Rainbows of Rice

It’s simple, really.  Start with plain white rice, nothing special, and choose a direction, savory or sweet.  Rice is wonderfully versatile, and readily lends itself to nearly every imaginable culinary impulse.  Oh, and for an intriguing twist, choose a color to match each variety’s “mood.”  More about this shortly. The yellow course, plotted above, follows…

No Spoon? No Worries!

From here we go without utensils.  With just our fingers, we dine as Ethiopians.  First, tear off a piece of injera, the flatbread on the plate above, beneath the other foods.  Use it to scoop up a bit of stew and pop the whole bundle in your mouth. The yellow preparation catches the eye, doesn’t…

Keeping Cool in the Sun

As summer takes its full stride so does the humidity, especially this year.  When it’s sweltering, stiflingly so, something cool, crisp and fresh is the perfect antidote.  Yes, a salad is just what’s needed to put the mugginess on ice. Naturally, people living at the desert’s edge have learned a thing or two about counteracting…

…and Dumplings Three Ways

Saturday was a busy day, a vast dumpling-construction project of a scope to rival the Great Wall.  Maybe a bit of hyperbole, but the Terrified Amateur started work early in the morning, and very nearly needed to cancel his Saturday-evening plans. Ultimately, though, the effort paid off, producing a vast armada of savory bites.  These…