first
When I was growing up, my Mother never made beans. I only ever ate them when we went out for Mexican food (refried beans) or occasionally with hot dogs (canned baked beans loaded with brown sugar). I was used to seeing garbanzo beans and kidney beans at salad bars but I never chose them. There […]
Many years ago, I had the great good fortune to be traveling in India over Christmas and New Year’s. I didn’t know as much about Indian cuisine as I do now. To play it safe, and avoid Deli belly, I kept my food choices relatively simple. One of the dishes I ordered every day was […]
No matter how many ways you have of preparing potatoes, no matter what your family favorites are, once you try this recipe, it will become your new favorite. If you don’t have mustard seeds, cumin seeds and ground cumin in your spice drawer, you need to buy some. You can find them in small quantities, […]
If you’re planning a party of all appetizers and alcohol, you need at least one fried appetizer. Somewhere there is a written rule about this. Alcohol and fried food are a natural combination. But fried food doesn’t have to be greasy or heavy. You need a combination of the right batter, the correct oil and […]
You know by now I am a cookie lover. These started out as a lemon poppy seed cookie: crunchy, lemony and addictive. I originally made them to be used as a sandwich cookie with a cream cheese lemon filling. They never made it to that stage as I watched people sitting in my kitchen, unable […]
I wanted something crunchy and refreshing as a side salad to compliment the Fish Sliders and Pulled Lamb Sandwiches. I found a recipe from an out-of-print Turkish cookbook and was intrigued. The combination of apples and zucchini with a yoghurt hazelnut dressing was something I had never eaten. The original recipe called for raw garlic […]
This menu has so many assertive flavors that I wanted a salad that was equally assertive and also fresh and delicious. This salad is really all about the dressing. My tasters were asking if they could just eat it right out of the bowl on crackers. The flavors are a bit exotic and seductive. Maybe […]
Bastilla is also called bisteeya, pastilla, b’stilla or bstilla. This is the actual recipe I developed for my friend’s birthday years ago. It might look complicated but it’s basically 3 steps: Make the filling, assemble the bastilla, bake the bastilla. This is really quite doable for everyone. I read many recipes before I created this […]
My love affair with Mexican food began at an early age. As a young child, for a special treat, Friday or Saturday night my parents would take me and my sister to Olvera Street for dinner. At that time, in addition to the many restaurants and stores selling sombreros, ponchos and other tourist treasures, […]
