Gazpacho, a chilled liquid salad, is a Spanish classic for high summer when tomatoes are at their best. This straight-forward version is adapted from one of my oldest and most well-worn cookbooks, The Time-Life International Cookbook. It will serve 6 to 8 and needs to be made a few hours before serving to meld and Read More …
One of the first cookbooks I bought many years ago was Better Than Store Bought, which was about making at home foods which Americans normally purchase. This was a very useful idea when I lived in Thailand and many American products were unavailable or very expensive. One of the recipes in the book was about Read More …
I have made sauteed mushrooms a number of different ways. This simple version was quite a hit with the family at the beach last week. A double recipe quickly disappeared. 2 lbs. quartered mushrooms 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 onion chopped 1/4 cup olive oil 1 Tbs. brandy 1/4 cup chopped parsley 2-3 Tbs. fresh 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 …
A frequent problem in cooking is what to do with a partially consumed avocado. Cut avocados are quickly oxidized by contact with the air into an unappealing brown color. I recently saw an article suggesting storing cut avocados in water, and it does work. Because avocados are high in fat, they do not mix much Read More …
This easy and tasty cold soup is adapted from South African Cooking in the USA. I chose to make it vs. some similar recipes since it did not call for any herbs which I did not have. (On the other hand, some dill would have been good in it.) I used a hothouse cucumber, but Read More …
Successfully grilling potatoes is really about technique vs. recipe. Here is how I did this batch of grilled potatoes for two persons last night, following some ideas in realsimple.com. 12 small Yukon Gold potatoes, washed and cut in half 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 Tbs. olive oil ½ tsp. dried oregano Salt Bring the potatoes Read More …
The grilled peppers and onions are one of the best parts of fajitas, but they are a bit tricky to get just right. You want a nice (but not excessive) amount of char, and you also want everything to be cooked through and to be in suitable sized pieces. I have tried a number of Read More …
I was looking for a spice mix or garnish to go with grilled cauliflower, and saw a pistachio dukkah recipe on Cook’s Illustrated. Since I had almonds on hand, I substituted them for the pistachios. This made a nice accent to the grilled cauliflower. 1-1/2 Tbs. sesame seeds, toasted 1-1/2 tsp. coriander seeds, toasted ¾ Read More …
Grilled cauliflower is very popular these days, and if done well, it is very tasty. This version is based on an article by Cook’s Illustrated. To get the cauliflower to be both nicely grilled and cooked through, it is deep seasoned by dunking in a brine, microwaved until tender, and finished on the grill. The Read More …