So Many Recipes, So Little Time
One certain thing I can say about my two weeks in China — I did not have enough Chinese food. But I have a couple of Chinese cookbooks now — about two shelves. Almost three? And this trip helped me understand this food a little better so there will be more Chinese food here. Here’s…
Cauliflower is my favorite vegetable and definitely don’t make it often enough. It’s great just steamed with a little salt or dressed up like in this slightly upscale stir-fried version. Karifurore variety with its long open stems, airy florets, and a chewy texture seemed to suite better for this treatment. WHAT WENT IN— olive oil—…
I love ground meat everything — burgers, meatballs, meatloaves, sausages. You name it. That goes back to my mom’s kitchen. Cooking on empty, she would put all available meat scraps through the meat grinder, pump up the flavor with whatever was on hand — salt, pepper, mustard, horseradish, garlic, onions — pump up the quantity…
Here’s an interesting way to take velveting to the next level and create that particular silky slippery texture so characteristic of Cantonese dishes. This chicken with fermented black beans was prepared in a steamer which produced especially tender and not greasy texture. For the side, I stir fried some water spinach with garlic and hot…
For a while, I have been craving congee, an Asian version of rice kasha. As much as I dislike the sweet form of cooked rice known as rice pudding — painful memories of Soviet kindergarten breakfast — that much I love its savory one. Especially with meatballs. And spinach. And especially with Nam Pla Prik….
On a ground meat streak. That’s my cold weather comfort zone. Found this great one pan meatloaf variation in Classic Lebanese Cuisine cookbook by Chef Kamal Al-Faquih. Tweaked it a bit adding more vegetables and lemon juice for potatoes to keep their shape better. WHAT WENT IN— a few baking potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise…
These are probably my favorite mussels. The flavor are distinctly South East Asian — strong but balanced at the same time. And this one you are hearing it from the queen of electric immersion blender: mortar and pestle are better. I made this recipe many times using different equipment. Mortar and pestle make the world…
On Mondays, all our local fishmongers go fishing to The Fulton Fish Market and their stores are closed. Our village, on the other hand, has a rear yard garbage collection on Tuesdays. And there’s none more until the end of the week. Do you see my dilemma? Another reason to love H Mart. This is…
Malaysian Fried shrimp with Tamarind — Udang Goreng Asam from Fish and Shellfish of Williams Sonoma Savoring series. My first book from this set was a garage sale find at my girls’ nursery school. It took me years to discover the real value behind this and other books from the set — most of them…
Years ago, this Gin and Spice Flank Steak was my introduction to juniper berries. Until then, I had only seen them in Crimean juniper groves and had no idea they were edible. Only their scent amplified by hot and sunny air settled in my memory as a symbol of carefree summers. Learning about their culinary…