Why limit yourself to latkes during Hanukkah? Potato pancakes are for anyone, anytime! After all, they do look like little FSMs, albeit somewhat flattened. I’m sure His Noodliness would still approve. Moreover, savory pancakes can be made from many different root vegetables, in my case baking potatoes and sweet potatoes, with a kick of scallions […]
Tag Archives: recipe
Chicken stock
Monday, 5 January 2009
Chicken, seafood and vegetable stocks are liquid gold. Not only are they essential for soups, but for a wide variety of sauces, they’re indispensable. I’m somewhat surprised I never managed to post a recipe for chicken stock, so here it is. For an added roasty flavor, I bake the chicken carcass beforehand in a 375ºF […]
Sally Lunn bread, version 2.0
Friday, 26 December 2008
It’d been nearly a decade since I’ve felt confident about making Sally Lunn bread again. The last time I tried to bake it, about a couple of years ago, it was dense and unpleasantly over-yeasty. I thought I had lost my touch. Then I decided to weigh out the flour, review Marion Cunningham’s Sally Lunn […]
An extremely untraditional cassoulet involving green lentils
Thursday, 18 December 2008
I often enjoy dishes made with chickpeas and lentils. But my répertoire is deficient in recipes where these delightful legumes participate. So this brings me to the cassoulet, or rather “cassoulet,” which I recently made. The only vaguely French ingredients are green lentils (from France, yet not the Flageolet beans of traditional cassoulet), duck confit, […]
Clam & mussel chowder
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
With today’s overcast skies and hints of rain and chilliness, it’s looking more like Autumn. And so another meal-in-a-bowl recipe, this time the comforting goodness of chowder. (Hey! Both this and the last recipe started with frying up bacon. What’s with that? Need you ask? The Answer: Bacon saves.) If you really don’t like mussels, […]
Americans say chicken stewed in red wine; French say Coq au Vin
Saturday, 22 November 2008
Over here in the West, Autumn hasn’t decided yet to descend upon us. But when the weather does turn cold, it’s hard for me to resist tender poultry steeped in a rich sauce. This recipe is adapted from the coq au vin recipe in The Joy of Cooking. Many steps, but worth the time. It’s […]
Steamed coconut rice pudding: a variation on bibingka
Saturday, 25 October 2008
One Filipino dessert I enjoy is bibingka. That is, if it doesn’t contain rising agents that leave a nasty, astringent aftertaste. Unfortunately, many of the local Filipino bakeries “cheat” and add far too much baking soda or powder, which detract from the sticky goodness. I prefer rice over cassava bibingkas, mainly because I’ve yet to […]
Roasted corn and barley tea
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
When I’m at a Korean restaurant I try to get roasted corn (oksusu cha) or roasted barley (bori cha) tea. Both have a refreshing earthy flavor, without any caffeine. Even though it’s no longer summer over here, the teas are great chilled for the hot Californian days. My version combines both corn and barley. The […]
Moussaka
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Homemade moussaka always seems to be a prolonged, multi-step process. But, oh so tasty. Especially since you can choose what goes in it! Some people love adding carrots and zucchini, but as much as I love those, I prefer to keep the texture simple with the eggplant and potatoes as the vegetable layers.
Salmorejo, a creamy gazpacho without cream
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
While making room in the freezer for this year’s batch of tomato sauce, I came upon several containers of same from previous years. What to do? Make soup! It wasn’t until Simon made the homemade variety that I ever dared to touch tomato soup —after a childhood (and adulthood) of making wrinkled faces at the […]