This is a very tasty Uzbek bread whose name resembles the northern Indian bread naan. I made this to go with Non Puju, an Uzbek dish in which a Chinese-style beef stew is served over bread. This version is adapted from Caroline Eden’s Red Sands, which I am reading in preparation for a VMFA trip Read More …
Text to follow This dish of beef served over bread comes from the Dungan people, a Chinese Muslim group now mostly living in Kyrgyzstan. The beef is Chinese-influenced, with Five-Spice Powder, while the bread it is served on, Non, is Uzbek. This is adapted from Caroline Eden’s Red Sands, which I am reading in preparation Read More …
This Catalan dish is like a simplified and quicker paella in which pieces of thin broken pasta take the place of rice. This version is adapted from an article in Milk Street Magazine and will make 4 servings in about 35 minutes. Thus this could be a weeknight dinner. It requires a 12 inch skillet Read More …
This is a very popular soup in Lithuania. The pink color is from the combination of beets and dairy. In Lithuania, the dairy would normally be kefir. In Richmond, while kefir is available, good quality buttermilk and yogurt are more available, and I have substituted 2 parts whole-fat buttermilk and 1 part whole milk yogurt Read More …
Basturma is an air-cured dried beef which is very popular in Armenia. It is like a spicier version of the Italian bresaola or the Spanish cecina. I spotted recipes for how to make it in Saveur.com and in the cookbook Lavash, and decided to make a batch. It was relatively easy and fun to make. Read More …
This Central European classic was an accompaniment to a pork roast, the comfort food of Carol’s childhood. It was easy and very good. Note that this was started the day before, rested overnight in the refrigerator to meld the flavors, and then reheated the second day. This version is adapted from a favorite cookbook, The Read More …
One of the best dishes we had at a recent dinner to a Georgian restaurant in DC was a carrot, cucumber, and Feta salad. After a few tries, this is close to what we enjoyed at the restaurant. The key step is to boil the carrots just until crisp-tender. How long this will take depends Read More …
This recipe is based on the excellent Time-Life International Cookbook. It was one of the first cookbooks we ever received, and our copy is now literally falling apart from heavy use. As the book points out in its introduction to its version of the recipe, in the US the name beef stroganoff is sometimes used Read More …
Stuffed cabbage is classic Eastern European comfort food. If available, they are so much better if made with fermented cabbage leaves, which can be bought at Eastern European groceries, and add a pleasant acidity to the dish. The fermented leaves (which are essentially sauerkraut which has not been shredded) also cut out the otherwise Read More …
This Central Asian cheese spread is like a lighter version of Boursin. I made it from home-made yogurt combining a couple of recipes from Caroline Eden and Eleanor Ford’s very interesting and colorful cookbook Samarkand: Recipes & Stories from Central Asia & The Causasus. 2-1/2 cups whole milk yogurt 1 scallion, finely chopped 1 clove Read More …