The Whole Enchilada Part II: Filling and Fixin’s

I like shredded meat fillings in enchiladas, which I will often mix with beans or strips of fire roasted poblano chiles. For vegetarian fillings, I will use the beans and poblano strips, mixed perhaps with roasted sweet bell pepper strips, and sauteed bitter greens like kale or collards. No matter what filling I use, there […]

Feasting Indian-Style

Saturday was a flurry of shopping, visiting, cooking, eating, laughing, and some more eating after that. We celebrated the return of our friend Heather, to the US after spending the summer at a university in Beirut, learning Arabic in an intensive language course. We also celebrated Morganna’s homecoming as well; she has officially moved into […]

Za Jiang Mein

It is hard to eat locally when you cook a lot of Asian foods. For example, the dinner we had Friday night was not exactly what a purist locavore would have approved of. To be sure, the ground pork came from Bluescreek Farms in Marysville, Ohio, and the onions, garlic and cucumber came from the […]

Harnessing the Five Fires

I adore strong flavors, and always have. My mother tells me that when I was teething, I used to run about with a scallion hanging from my mouth, and I would gum it furiously, until green dribbles would stain my lips and chin. She said it looked ghastly and smelled worse, but it kept me […]

Cantonese Minced Chicken in Lettuce Cups

Summer is the perfect time of year to investigate dishes which emphasize light flavors, crisp textures, and use the produce from prolific vegetable gardens. Cantonese cuisine, which is known for its skillful use of minimal seasonings, its emphasis upon contrasting textures and flavors, and colorful, artistic presentation, is a natural fit to the summertime cooking […]