“In our house, the cook gets tired of this stew, but the diners never seem to.” Sonia Uvezian, in her remarkable tome Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen From the Caucasus to the Mediterranean, throughout the Middle East, and then across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World via immigrants from those places, a … Continue reading Lamb Stew with Green Beans and Tomato
Sequestered within their sturdy black shells, succulent mussels, the prize inside, present a dramatic appearance that belies their easy deliciousness. There’s almost no effort to preparing them: usually they come already cleaned by the fish vendor, so need only a dunk in cool water just before cooking to determine that their shells remain closed in the … Continue reading Flashed-in-the-Pan Mussels with Quick Tomato Sauce
Mostly I refrain from offering recipes with three parts because that’s almost a sure bet turn-off unless you’re avid about cooking. On the other hand, when it’s autumn harvest time, and the stolid apple, destined to become winter’s glamour-less workhorse fruit, appears newly luscious with the promise of sweet/tart, fresh, soft crunch, even the usually … Continue reading Apple Fennel Galette
Turning fully ripe Summer/Fall tomatoes into jam is a winsome, and unusual, way to artfully extend their season into winter. I especially like this rendition of tomato jam for its distinctive seasoning, a sweet/savory balance boldly underwritten with allspice. Allspice is the dried berry of P. dioica, a New World plant native to the Antilles Islands, … Continue reading Sweet and Savory Tomato Allspice Jam
Microwave ovens are a glorious tool, a genuine benefit for cooking in modern times. With one and the right ingredients, you can produce spirited flavors in miraculously little time. In particular, microwaving is the way to go for small batches of fruit jams. The method mysteriously intensifies the fruit’s natural sweetness so you need add … Continue reading Small Batch Jams in Micro Minutes: A Modern Miracle
At first I was skeptical of this one pan cooking technique for pasta. It is quite the opposite of the received wisdom on pasta cooking, which calls for lots of water. Putting the new method to the test, I discovered it works perfectly and results in a delicious dish. As a bonus, it’s a thrifty … Continue reading One Pan Bucatini with Leeks, Corn, Parmesan, and Lemon Zest
In international recognition of the importance of legumes as a food group, the United Nations declared 2016 the Year of the Pulse. Its an honorific shout out to the large family of good-for-you dried legumes that include split peas, or lentils, or dal, as they are called in India. These pulses grow prodigiously around the … Continue reading Green Split Pea Soup with Turmeric-Wilted Onions
A few years ago, Rick, the creator of mambo chicken cha cha, received as a gift a selection of curry powders blended by our local spice apothecary and was eager to dance with them. (The original African language meaning of “mambo” is “a dancing conversation with the gods.”) He chose the “face-forward,” slightly spicy Madras … Continue reading Rick’s Mambo Chicken Cha Cha!
My rendition of adobo sauce, a classic of Mexican cooking, came about when Lindy Gullet, second generation owner of Shenandoah Valley’s Noceto Winery in Amador County, California, asked me for a food pairing suggestion to go with Noceto’s Sangiovese di Rosato rose wine. Mildly spicy and deeply flavored adobo sauce, crisp and lively as their … Continue reading Pork Shoulder Roast in Adobo Sauce with Dressed Cilantro
Lonzino di fico, (meaning loin of figs, for the shape, as in pork loin), or salami di fichi (fig “salami”) is a southern Italian concoction of dried figs and nuts, usually walnuts, plus sometimes almonds and/or pistachios, too, and sometimes also dried apricots and/or dates, all finely chopped, laced with anise and lemon (though I prefer … Continue reading Dried Fig and Walnut Lonzino
The Wise Kitchen 