I don’t have many fancy gadgets in the kitchen — sous-vide cooking and flavored foams just seem like too much work to me — but I consider my ice cream maker to be an indispensable culinary aid. Ditto for my blender. If you have those two kitchen helpers, making ice cream becomes ridiculously easy. Not [...]
About a year ago, I attended a potluck with some very unique culinary contributions. Probably the most unique of them all was a bowl of what I’d assumed were whole-wheat noodles tossed with alfredo sauce. Darn, I remember thinking. Guess I gotta avoid that — it’s definitely a mess of gluten. I proceeded to happily [...]
Continue reading about They’re Crunchy and They’re Noodle-y…and They’re Kelp!
Interesting note about cashews: the nut actually grows off of the end of a fruit. The fruit — called a “cashew apple” — is also edible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t travel well; the only time I’ve ever seen anything made of cashew apple Stateside was a bottled Brazilian beverage I stumbled across in (of all places) [...]
What to do when a friend gives you the gift of perfectly sweet honeydew? It depends how quickly you want to enjoy it! I thought about blending it with coconut milk and honey to make ice cream, but then I decided that I didn’t want to wait for the ice cream maker to do its [...]
Until I took my first bite of this fruit-filled crepe, I had forgotten about blintzes, but then fond memories of the frozen blintzes from Trader Joe’s came rushing back. If you haven’t had a blintz, though, don’t worry — you’ll still be amazed by how creamy, rich, and sweet these crepes are. Happily, they’re a [...]
I always liked creamed spinach when I was a kid: it was rich and soft and vaguely nutmeggy, and it seemed to be just as good with chicken as it was with lamb or beef or veggies or whatever you wanted to serve it with. What I didn’t realize back then was how incredibly easy [...]
Assuming you have a sizable and sharp knife (an 8″ chef’s knife is ideal), winter squash is a great wintertime ingredient: it’s plentiful, versatile, and inexpensive. You can roast it and eat straight out of the skin, or you can simmer cut-up chunks of it in water or broth and then drain it and mash [...]
Continue reading about Making Winter Velvet Out of Winter Squash
Natural peanut butter is one of my favorite foods. Not only does it taste so good that it’s addictive, it transcends sandwiches and chocolate cups to create lusciously creamy soups, sauces, and sautées. PB is also easy enough to make yourself: just put 1 cup of unsalted peanuts, 1 tablespoon unrefined peanut oil, and a [...]
Continue reading about Taking Peanut Butter Past the Sandwich
I just love northern African cuisine — it’s fragrant and nuanced, yet easy to prepare and dependent on inexpensive staples like rice, lentils, and legumes. You may need to purchase a few spices to make your dishes more authentic, but spices last for six months to a year if you store them in a cool [...]
