A 10-minute play.
Setting: Dinner for 8 at Casa Nova.
Act I. The food gets plated in kitchen
Act II. Everyone gets served and I sit at the table.
Act III. No one picks up their forks, but instead look inquiringly at me.
Dialogue
Guests: (with lifted eyebrows and questioning voices) Aren’t you going to take a photo?
Me: (laughing) No, not every meal I cook is presented on FOODalogue.
Guests: (in unison) But this looks sooo good.
Me: O.K. 
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Do you top your burger with a slice of tomato and a slice of onion? A pickle perhaps? Ketchup? I’ve got a much better idea.
I made this dish and used it in lieu of any other topping. While it has all the basic flavors of ketchup and the usual toppings, it’s much more than a condiment. The flavors are very concentrated and depending on the amount of chili you add, it kicks! I made it up as I went along and overdid the chili so I’ll leave that quantity to you if you care to try the recipe. My lips still burn. It’s better than collagen! Continue Reading
This is another good dish for summer because it’s relatively light and can be done on the grill…although I did mine indoors. Also summer is high season for tomato and corn-on-the cob so that was the inspiration for the relish side dish that accompanies the calamari. It’s also heavily laced with ‘gremolata’ which because of the fresh parsley and lemon screams ‘summer’ to me. Continue Reading
Oatmeal…it’s NOT just for breakfast anymore.
I must confess that I’m not a big fan of oatmeal. I don’t dislike it but I don’t crave it either. I eat it 1-2x week because (a) it’s purportedly a cholesterol inhibitor and (b) it varies up my breakfast selections. The other day I had it for lunch. Continue Reading
The FOODalogue kitchen has always been a ‘no-sugar’ zone. I don’t use it in my coffee or other beverages — and I’m not known for making sweet treats. In fact, the pound of sugar I have for guests who request it has been in the cabinet for probably longer than its shelf life (oops). But, I recently discovered gourmet flavored sugars and felt compelled to try them. Back in February I posted Green Bamboo Rice + Sweet Onion Sugar Shrimp. Since then, I’ve been haunted by an expresso sugar I saw in the store and just went back to pick it up (along with a ginger sugar that seemed tasty). Continue Reading
I started out making roasted beets as a simple side dish but I’d been to the green market and had a plethora of fresh vegetables so, little by little, I started adding things. The end result was a vegetable salad with a warm feta dressing and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.
And, I’m not going to lie. Those leftover veggies and dressing are being tossed with pasta tomorrow. Continue Reading
There are 2 things I poach frequently: chicken breasts and salmon. Aside from the health/diet factor of reduced fat, I like that both retain moisture and are cooked in a really short time. My general poaching liquid may include any or all of the following: chicken broth, wine, water, olive oil, lemon, garlic and seasonings.
Because I was headed toward a Mexican dinner, I got the idea to steep it in Azteca Fire tea mix. (It seemed like the appropriate blend for Mexican.) Continue Reading
I really love roasted turkey. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday meal and somewhere around midyear between the last Thanksgiving and the next, I start to crave a taste of the big bird. Fortunately, turkey parts are readily available in the supermarket.
Perhaps when you think of turkey, you simultaneously think of the-belly-busting meal we associate with Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t have to be that way if you don’t fill your plate with 12 side dishes!
This dinner which I prepared for myself was lovely…tasty and aromatically scented by the preparation and the finishing sauce.
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America (and this may be my smallest post on the tour). After hours of googling ‘food of El Salvador” in absolutely every contortion possible, I found hundreds of references to pupusa, a biscuit-like flatbread made from corn — and not much else that was unique. In most part, their ‘traditional dishes’ are those of their neighbors.
Further, aside from the historic saga of conquistadors and Indios, I was really stuck on what to say about the country. Then I stumbled upon an announcement from Lonely Planet naming El Salvador as one of the top 10 countries for 2010. Apparently, they have great weather all year round, their beaches are ‘the best’, it’s not over-crowded with tourists, and it’s less expensive than other destinations. Things were looking up.
I love Thanksgiving. The flavor palette of this holiday meal has me salivating for days before — and digesting/working it off for days after. But what if you could have all of the flavors of Thanksgiving and none of the trappings? And by ‘trappings’, I mean calories.
Imagine you had a shopping list of turkey, pumpkin, sweet potato, apples, raisins…wouldn’t you start thinking “Thanksgiving”?
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