“Casserole.” Just seeing the word can conjure up uncomfortable childhood memories of gelatinous, salty tuna and noodles drowned in processed and canned soup. (“Soup” in this case being somewhat euphemistic. “Liquid cardboard” might be a more apropos description.) But casseroles don’t have to be that way—like the Moroccan tagine, the word “casserole” refers to the [...]
Middle Eastern cuisine is famous for its rich flavors and liberal use of garlic, lemon and spices…cumin and coriander, anyone? The fact that almost every town boasts a Middle Eastern restaurant also testifies to the cuisine’s universal appeal. (When I was living in Germany, my favorite dish was the Turkish Döner Kebap. My second-favorite was [...]
Here’s a twist on taco salads: Ethiopian lamb salads! Simple, satisfying, and significantly lighter than its North American cousin, this salad was a happy meeting of leftovers and inspiration. (I had cooked ground lamb with berbere spice mix, chopped onions, minced garlic and diced tomatoes the day before.) When I saw the lettuce and Greek [...]
It’s easy to make potpourri, and I guarantee your own will smell better than the commercial, chemical-laden types. Just throw the following in a small pot of water (1-2 cups) and let it simmer on a low setting: 2 cinnamon sticks, each broken in half 6 whole cloves 8 cardamom pods, lightly smashed (you can [...]
The jicama acts like water chestnuts by giving this dish a bit of a crunch. If you don’t have jicama, use the chestnuts. Adding the fresh herbs at the end of the cooking ensures that they will maintain their flavor. 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin 1 c. sliced mushrooms 1 medium carrot, sliced ½ cup [...]
Continue reading about New Twist on: Asian Vegetable Stir-Fry
Herbs and spices have been used for millenia for culinary, medical, cosmetic, and religious purposes. Spices have been actively traded on an international level ever since 2,000 B.C.E., when Arab traders brought back pepper, cloves, nutmegs, and other delicacies from the famed Spice Islands (the Molucca islands off the coast of Indonesia). In the 1400s, [...]
