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…

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…

Ditch the Sticks?

Generally speaking, the Japanese are well-mannered, and they’re most enthusiastic about dining’s refined rituals. (Actually, that can be said, with minor qualifications, of many peoples.) Anyway, it’s not too often a Japan-forward company will advise diners to put down their chopsticks and to eat with their fingers. Yet, that’s precisely what Toiro, a company specializing…

Dear Santa…

We made you a plateful of Berry Crumb Bars and we left them beneath the tree, as you can see above. We got the idea from AllRecipes magazine, which had the preparation in its October/November 2019 issue. You’ll be so proud, as it took fewer than ten ingredients to prepare these for your enjoyment. That’ll…

My Pie, That’s Why

Doesn’t everybody love baby spinach, pineapple and mushrooms on their pizza?  Seriously?  Why not?  Weirdos. The beauty of Cast Iron Pan Pizzas, though, as dreamt in the January & February 2020 Cook’s Illustrated, is that each pizza is customizable for each person at the table.  In the great deep-dish/thin-crust debate, these pan pizzas definitely side…

Do a Double Dip

Seriously, in this case it’s not rude. In fact, when making Birria Tacos, tortillas are dipped in adobo just before they’re griddle-seared to crispness. Later, each guest is supplied with an individual cup of adobo, meant for dunking each taco as desired, thus amplifying the flavor even more. All in due time, though before we…

“Something Wicked This Way Comes”

What is that?  A witch’s kettle of Thai green curry, perhaps, pieces of zucchini mysteriously bobbing to the surface.  How about pairing it with rice, blacker than midnight, and pulsing with cubed squash, colors of the spooky season?  This is a pairing Martha Stewart imagines and features on her website. (*1)  In keeping with the…

It’s Quick

That’s the whole concept of tempura – once the oil is hot enough to begin bubbling, lightly battered food is dipped in it just long enough to flash cook it and to seal in the flavors.  The batter actually protects the food from the oil and ensures the edibles are steamed, not fried, and that…

Malabar Coast

On India’s southwestern coast, the sun bejewels a sea washing tropical shores fragrant with flowering spices.  Can somewhere as lavishly endowed with vibrant vistas, aromas and colors produce anything other than an exuberant cuisine?  Definitely, the state of Kerala does, and one of its favorite creations, Chemmeen Moilee, Curried Shrimp and Coconut Soup, headlines today.…

A Plate Full of Ghana

It all comes together this week, as one plate holds everything you’d need for a full meal, from meat, to potatoes, to vegetables.  Wrapping the total package in style is a recipe Fine Cooking offered in its April/May 2019 release, Crispy Peanut-Chile Chicken with Sweet Potatoes. The preparation is inspired by Ghana’s affinity for combining…