Traditional tapenade includes the holy trinity of salty garnishing ingredients: olives, anchovies, and capers. It’s an intense blend of flavors and a perfect example of the “a little goes a long way” school of thought. For this batch, though, I’ve decided to go alter the main ingredients and go with the holy trinity of umami, [...]
It’s not just the grass and tulips that are in full bloom: the chives are growing like gangbusters, too. Seeing all of those tall-but-still-tender chives put me in a pesto kind of mood. (Green + herb = pesto in my mind.) It’s still a bit too chilly for basil, though, so I opted to use [...]
Continue reading about From a Garden Bed to a Plate of Pesto
From ras-el-hanout to harissa to preserved lemons, Moroccan cuisine features some of the most stunning flavors on the planet. Sadly, there’s no Moroccan restaurant in my neck of the woods, but it’s easy to include some signature North African inspiration when you’re in your own kitchen. To make this batch of salsa, I blended sautéed [...]
Continue reading about Blending the Familiar with the Exotic: A Taste of North Africa
You might not know what an allium is, but you’ve already enjoyed eating one. Or three or four. The allium family includes two of the world’s most popular ingredients: garlic and onions. Plenty of other beloved veggies are members of the allium family: leeks, green onions (often called scallions), chives, shallots, and ramps (i.e., wild [...]
Continue reading about Making Your Favorite Savory Ingredients into a Triple Play
As long as you’re not planning on stuffing them, when you go for potatoes, give the smallest ones a try. They have a higher skin-to-inner-flesh ratio than the big boys do (which gives them a nutritional edge), they cook much faster thanks to their diminutive stature, and all you have to do to make them [...]
Continue reading about Potatoes Any Way You Want Them: Plain, Sautéed or Herbed
Roasted garlic is the perfect example of how one inexpensive ingredient can become an unbelievably flavorful gourmet-level ingredient. All you need is 45 minutes of hands-off time and a little bit of knowledge. And a sheet of aluminum foil. After you’ve roasted your garlic, you can use it immediately or keep it in the refrigerator [...]
Continue reading about Roasted Garlic: A Gift from the Culinary Gods
You say pa-tay-to, I say pa-tah-to…or I say yuca. Or maybe ñame or taro or edo or any of the many other tuber vegetables there are out there. (Although I would assume that Peruvians — who were the world’s original potato growers — would also say patata since they enjoy over 3,000 varieties of them.) [...]
It’s official: summertime just ain’t summertime unless I have a pesto posting. Or two or three, seeing as I can’t think of a yummier dish to make with my favorite herb! (Although non-classic herbs like cilantro and dill also make great pesto; try pairing the former with almonds and the latter with walnuts.) At this [...]
I have asparagus on the brain. Considering that I recently got back from a trip to Germany, that’s not surprising — Germans go nuts over Spargel (asparagus) at this time of year. According to them, Spargel is the “queen” of vegetables. Not sure what the king is, but the queen sure does pop up on [...]
You can put whatever you want on top of a pizza and still have a “pizza.” Pies can have an infinity of fillings and still be “pies.” The name is all about the structural concept of the dish, not the details. Category dishes like pizzas and pies are fun to play with — although you [...]
Continue reading about Relocating Cilantro to an Italian Classic
