Lisa on June 18th, 2010

Maybe it’s a childhood memory or maybe it’s something I dreamed, but it seems to me that super-tiny shrimp were popular in cold salads when I was a kid.  I have absolutely no idea what they were called…I just remember thinking they were the cutest things ever.  Can’t remember what they tasted like, either.
Whether it [...]

Continue reading about Tiny Shrimp = Big Flavor

Lisa on May 28th, 2010

As already mentioned in my previous post, I love pineapples.  (When I was attending a Spanish-language school in Costa Rica, our chosen names were a combination of our favorite fruit + our favorite color.  That made me Piña Violeta, or “purple pineapple.”)  Most of the time, I cut up a fresh pineapple and eat it; [...]

Continue reading about Sweet Pineapples Can Also Be Savory

Lisa on April 28th, 2010

Of all the grains in the world, rice might be my favorite: it makes great flour, freshly-cooked rice is welcome in everything from pilafs to grape leaves, leftover rice is perfect in savory casseroles as well as sweet puddings, and even in the U.S., there are dozens of varieties of rice on our grocery store [...]

Continue reading about Baking Rice into Something Savory

Lisa on March 8th, 2010

I used to think that hummus was a great dip. Then I moved on to thinking it was a great condiment and dip. These days, I’ve given up trying to categorize hummus — I’m willing to try it with darned near anything. (And I’m usually glad I did!) Somehow, that combination of smooth, creamy chickpeas [...]

Continue reading about The Many Affinities of Hummus

Lisa on March 1st, 2010

Who says a tuna casserole can’t be glamorous?  (Or gorgeous, for that matter.)  It’s simply a matter of choosing your cheeses wisely — scrumptious cheese makes for a scrumptious casserole.  For this concoction, I was fortunate to have a complementary selection of cheeses on hand: herbed Brie, English Stilton, and Dutch Parrano (which is a [...]

Continue reading about Comfort Food Goes High-End

Lisa on February 17th, 2010

Things are not always as they seem, not even in the world of cheese.  Having grown up eating my share of pizza, I thought I knew what mozzarella tasted like, but when I took my first bite of mozzarella di bufalo — made of 100% buffalo milk — I realized I’d been missing out on [...]

Continue reading about Ricotta, Take Two