Hummus can be more than a dip eaten by itself with bread. This recipe illustrates this point and is adapted from On the Hummus Route: A Journey Between Cities, People, and Dreams. It combines an Aleppo-style hummus with pan-fried lamb seasoned with Aleppo pepper. It made a nice main course last night with fresh pitas. Read More …
Carol recently served her sisters a set of Moroccan salads for lunch, and my two favorites were this one and Zaalook (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad). This is adapted from a recipe Carol found on line at www.onceuponachef.com. It will serve 6-8 people as a side dish and takes about 15 minutes to prepare and Read More …
Our recent tour of Morocco introduced us to Moroccan “salads”, which are vegetable dishes typically served at room temperature rather than salads as we usually think of them in the US. Bowls of various Moroccan salads are frequently served at the beginning of meals. We learned how to make this very popular salad at a Read More …
A few weeks ago I spotted a recipe on America’s Test Kitchen for “Best Crab Cakes”. The key idea of this recipe was to use a shrimp mousse (ground shrimp and cream) to bind together the crab cakes instead of bread crumbs, mayonnaise or eggs. I thought this worked very well, but Carol objected to Read More …
Jambalaya is a Cajun rice dish. This version is adapted from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen and is made from ingredients which any Cajun household would have on hand. The one hard to find ingredient for non-Cajuns is Tasso which is a spiced ham. (The link is to my recipe for it. Ordinary ham can Read More …
This is a Swedish supper dish which we have made several times over the years. This version is adapted from one of our oldest cookbooks, The Time-Life International Cookbook. This makes 2 servings and takes less than 30 minutes and is made from pantry ingredients. 1-2 Tbs. butter 8 oz. lean bacon (such as Canadian Read More …
This version of spaghetti is a good mid-week choice since it can be made quickly and almost entirely with pantry ingredients. It calls for fresh basil, but if that is unavailable, dried basil could be used. This version makes two servings and is adapted from a spaghetti con tonno recipe at parade.com 4.5 oz. spaghetti Read More …
This variation of flan uses fresh or frozen coconut and is adapted from Mariana Valasquez’s book Colombiana. It needs to be prepared well in advance since it needs to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours. It makes 8 servings and is not very sweet. I found frozen shredded coconut at the Read More …
Ajvar is a roasted pepper and eggplant spread which is very popular in the Balkans. Some 10 years ago we hosted overnight a Serbian exchange student. He noticed a jar of ajvar in our refrigerator and demolished it. It was the taste of home. This version is adapted from The Best of Croatian Cooking. Normally Read More …
This method of cooking tuna was inspired by the Spanish classic Gambas al Ajillo (Shrimp in Garlic Sauce), with tuna replacing the shrimp. I have now made this a couple of times, and it makes an excellent dish with some good crusty bread, salad and a nice white wine. Quantities are for 2 people. It Read More …