Homemade Celery Salt / Caponata, Eggplant Relish / Creamy Mushroom Soup /

Blog Post & Recipe: Homemade Celery Salt Recipe

If you make some each time you buy a bunch of celery, you end up with a bottomless jar of celery-spiked salt. And this way, minimal celery parts go to waste, except the celery strings - my suspicion is there won't be many tears shed over that.

Blog Post & Recipe: Caponata, Eggplant Relish

The only apparent constants in caponata are eggplants, onions, olive oil, vinegar, and some sort of tomato product, either tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes or both. Other common ingredients include pine nuts, raisins, capers, olives, celery, basil, bell peppers, garlic, parsley and oregano.

Blog Post & Recipe: Creamy Mushroom Soup

I fell in love with the pic of a particular brand of mushroom soup which not only looked creamy white,but had fresh parsley in it- at least the pic had. The pic urged me so strongly to buy it and taste it and lo -the soup did not have any parsley. I know ,you may think of me as a nutcase,but that actually urged me to make a soup with parsley in it.

Melanzane Sott’Olio (Pickled Eggplant) / Cold Borscht / Chicken & Sweet Potato Hotpot

Blog Post & Recipe: Marie’s Melanzane Sott’Olio (Pickled Eggplant) [ via ]

One of the antipasti served at the start of this dinner was a traditional Sicilian pickled eggplant – melanzane sott’olio.

Blog Post & Recipe: cold borscht – chilled beet soup

That tang of the sour cream, the floral cool of the cucumber, the slight bitterness of dill – that’s the stuff you remember years later

Blog Post & Recipe: Angela Hartnett's chicken and sweet potato hotpot recipe

Hotpot is a traditional Lancashire dish made from mutton and topped with sliced potato ... This is my summer version – it has the same characteristics as a solid one-pot wonder, but with lighter ingredients.

Sweet Potato & Brown Rice Salad / Zucchini Silver Dollars / How to Roast Your Own Coffee Beans

Recipe: Sweet potato and brown rice salad

A rustic, nutty little salad I make often.

Blog Post & Recipe: Zucchini Silver Dollars

Growing up, my mother made these frequently – sometimes as a side dish that she served with grilled fish or as a little “nibble” served with cocktails. So, in honor of the current zucchini “bonanza” I pulled this recipe out and decided to give it a bit of a face lift.

Blog Post & Recipe: How to Roast Your Own Coffee Beans

For those of you who just want to test the waters and keep it simple, I am happy to report that you need nothing more than a heavy pan, green coffee beans, and a wooden spoon. Oh, and an exhaust fan: coffee is a spitting, steam-producing dragon in the kitchen, and good ventilation is an absolute must.

Harissa / Beet-Stuffed Beetroot / Jellyfish

Blog Post & Recipe: Homemade Harissa

The ingredients are dried adobo chilis, sundried tomatoes, olive oil garlic, coriander, and caraway ... There are as many ways to use harissa as there are ways to use hot sauce. I tried it out with toasted pita bread, butter, and hard boiled eggs first.

Blog Post & Recipe: Beet Stuffed Beets

I almost like the greens more than the beets themselves! As soon as I get a bunch of beets i chop off the greens and thoroughly wash them to remove all the dirt. They are awesome in salads. But I wanted to do something more with them. I figured it would be fun to stuff a beet… with beet greens.

Blog Post & Recipe: The Nasty Bits: Jellyfish

Dress the jellyfish in chili oil and a bit of soy sauce, Sichuan peppercorns, and a lot of oil made fragrant with browned garlic and scallions. The mixture tastes good with tripe, jellyfish, or even cold-dressed noodles, for that matter. The oil enriches the jellyfish, which has fairly bland flavor for all its textural excitement.

Chai Porridge / Pan-Fried Buttered Cauliflower with a Poached Egg / Maque Choux

Recipe: Chai Oatmeal

Pour milk into a saucepan. Whisk in salt and spices. Add vanilla bean and honey. Stir to blend.

Blog Post & Recipe: Pan-Fried Buttered Cauliflower with a Poached Egg

Chop the cauliflower into pieces, some quite small and others about thumb size. The difference in size will allow some bits to become crispy and the others to be soft and buttery.

Blog Post & Recipe: maque choux aka summer veggie delight

It requires a bit of chopping, but luckily it cooks up at a nice pace. Basically while you’re cooking one thing, you’re chopping the next thing that will be tossed in the pan. The whole thing takes about a half hour or so.

Blueberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam / Braised Daikon / Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

Recipe: Blueberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam

It is a beautiful inky blue-purple and the balsamic and pepper cuts the sweetness just enough.

Blog Post & Recipe: Braised Daikon

Braised daikon is ridiculously simple to make. There are only 3 ingredients. It takes awhile to cook but it is worth the wait. Raw daikon is crunchy and starchy. After being cooked for 40 minutes it becomes tender, soft and delicious. The texture of braised daikon is reminiscent of sea scallops.

Blog Post & Recipe: Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) (the same blogger uses this recipe to make Butter Chicken Burritos)

Butter chicken or murgh makhani, is an Indian dish where chicken that is marinated in a yogurt based marinade filled with aromatic spices is served in a buttery and creamy tomato based sauce. The chicken is normally cooked in a tandoor but you can just as easily grill it or cook it up any way you like.

Potted Shrimp / Braised Eggplant & Tomatoes / Charred Corn Tacos with Zucchini-Radish Slaw

Blog Post & Recipe: How to cook perfect potted shrimps

Potted food, according to food historian Bee Wilson, is a descendant of the pie in which the heavy, air-excluding crust ("medieval cling film" as she wonderfully dubs it) has been replaced by a more elegant spiced butter.

Blog Post & Recipe: Recipe: Braised Eggplant and Tomatoes

I like this recipe a lot because it doesn't try and dress up the eggplant with too much oil or gobs of cheese. So often people will fry up their eggplant (which isn't half-bad, I'll be the first to admit) or douse it with loads of olive oil and cheese while baking in the oven. Especially in the hot summer months, it's nice to let eggplant stand on its own as it does here.

Blog Post & Recipe: charred corn tacos with zucchini-radish slaw

It’s this obsession that finally got me to unearth a dish I’ve been meaning to put my spin on for two years ... The dish is called esquites and from what I understand but have sadly not yet experienced yet in person, it is a street snack in Mexico. Corn is cooked in butter with onions, garlic, chiles, an herb called epazote and salt. It’s then seasoned with lime juice, chile powder and served with mayo in small cups.

Concept: potting!

Spicy Rice Cake (Dukbokki) / Roast Eggplant & Red Capsicum Dip / Green Capsicum in Vinegar & Garlic Sauce (Sirkeli Biber)

Recipe: Spicy rice cake (Dukbokki)

Dukbokki is one of the most popular street foods in Korea. It's very easy to make and a great quick dish for a meal, snack, or girl's night.

Blog Post & Recipe: Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Dip

You slice up the veggies... Give them a good coating of high quality extra virgin olive oil... Toss the vegetables together with salt, pepper, and lots of garlic... Roast the veggies at 400 degrees for 45 minutes... And then puree the roasted vegetables with tomato paste... and then you are done!

Blog Post & Recipe: Green Peppers in Vinegar and Garlic Sauce (Sirkeli Biber)

Inspired by the exuberance of fresh peppers I am giving a simple recipe for a very popular and delicious salad/appetizer/meze, you name it. The ingredients for the sauce are garlic, olive oil, and vinegar, and how much you will add of each depends completely on your preference. If you cannot handle garlic or vinegar well, you can go light on them. I like this salad medium garlicy, yet very vinegary, whereas my cousin's version is quite garlicy and to so much vinegary. The point is you have to decide on the amount of garlic and vinegar.

Celery Risotto / Braised Pumpkin / 3 Confit Recipes

Blog Post & Recipe: Risotto and A Marcella Hazan Recipe

The celery flavour is clear and fresh and there are no distractions, resulting in a wonderful creamy comforting plate of velvet risotto with a little celery crunch and pale elegant colour.

Risotto Col Sedano – Celery Risotto Recipe

Blog Post & Recipe: Easy Braised Pumpkin

Let the pumpkin boil over high heat for about 10 minutes. Lower heat and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. Add few dashes of white pepper. Once pumpkin is tender, it’s ready to be served.

Article & Recipes: Confit: What's good for the goose is good for a lot of other foods

Today almost anything can be "confited" using a variety of fats. Variations are no longer limited to midwinter meals, and the cooking process doesn't necessarily have to take all day.

Shrimp charmoula confit ... Roasted tomato confit with bacon fat ... Caramelized pineapple confit

Fried Lotus Root with Pork / Tasso Ham Gravy Over Chipotle Sweet Potato Biscuits & Collard Greens / 3 Recipes Using Wheatless Noodles

Blog Post & Recipe: Fried Lotus Root with Pork

4. On a slice of lotus root, place a teaspoon of the filling and spread. Put another slice of lotus root on top and press down to make a sandwich.

Blog Post & Recipe: Tasso Ham Gravy Over Chipotle Sweet Potato Biscuits and Collard Greens [via]

Slice open those beautiful biscuits. Scramble up some eggs, and lay a few slices of the tasso ham right on top. Drown in gravy and serve with a big helping of collards.

Article & Recipes: 'No Wheat' Doesn't Mean 'No Noodles'

But if you take a drive (a short one, I hope) to the nearest Asian grocery, there you will find enough wheat-free noodles to feed a gluten-intolerant army. There are mung bean noodles. There are rice noodles. There are sweet potato starch noodles.

Chap Chae (Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Noodles With Beef, Spinach And Sesame Seeds) ... See-Through Noodles With Ground Pork ... Pad See Ew (Sweet And Savory Noodles)

Mayonnaise in 60 Seconds / Silverbeet Stems with Sesame-Yogurt Sauce & Black Sesame Seeds / Ham Cooked in Hay with Beer

Blog Post & Video & Recipe: Mayonnaise in 60 seconds (video recipe)

ALL INGREDIENTS MUST BE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE; YOU NEED AN IMMERSION BLENDER/HAND-HELD BLENDER FOR THIS METHOD

Blog Post & Recipe: Stem that waste

So here is a recipe for chard stems, braised and served with a tahini-yogurt sauce and black sesame seeds. It’s a very simple dish. And if you have the greens, you can cook them and serve the two together. Amounts are really irrelevant here; you can do this with pounds of chard stems if you have them. Just make more sauce as needed.

Chard Stems with Sesame-Yogurt Sauce and Black Sesame Seeds

Blog Post & Recipe: Cooking with hay

[Elena] Molokhovets [author of Russian cookbooks] was using hay to stew cabbage by spreading it on the oven floor ‘as soon as the rye loaves are moved from the oven’ (to judge the right temperature), to boil jars of preserves wrapped in straw to prevent them from knocking, to store eggs and fruit, to test the readiness of cakes etc etc. The possibilities of using hay was truly limitless – a 19th century equivalent to our microwave (not that I own one of course!)!

Ham cooked in hay with beer

Concept: cook with hay. Eat silverbeet stems.

Pancetta-Wrapped Peaches on the BBQ / Tea Smoked Trout / Slow Braised Pork Hocks in Beer

Blog Post & Recipe: Pancetta-Wrapped Peaches on the Grill

Tip: keep the pancetta in the fridge until you are ready to assemble, it's easier to handle when it's still cold.

Blog Post & Recipe: Tea Smoked Trout

Since realising how easy it is to do some casual smoking at home with nothing more than a gas burner, a wok, and a steamer of some description, I’ve turned my hand to many different things. Smoking onions, garlic, capsicum, and soon plan to get a slab of beef brisket in there and made some home made pastrami.

Blog Post & Recipe: Slow Braised Pork Hocks in Beer [via]

Pork hocks are from the shoulder part of the pig. It is parallel to pork shanks with crosses cuts. It is well known for its tenderness and rich flavor. It is also flavorful and is loaded with irresistible aroma. Since this piece generally consists of much skin, tendons and ligaments, it requires long cooking through stewing or braising to be made palatable.

Za’atar / Steak Ceviche & Plantain Fries / Day Lily Stir-Fry

Blog Post & Recipe: Za’atar

Combine. Slap on, so far I’ve had it on chicken, steak and tofu. All great!

Blog Post & Recipe: Food CAN Induce Orgasm: Steak Ceviche & Plantain Fries

Place a bed of plantain fries in a small bowl. Using an ice cream scoop (preferably non-metal), scoop a dollop of ceviche on top of the plantains.

Blog Post & Recipe: The tasty flower in my backyard

The orange day lily, hemerocallis fulva, is native to Asia, where dried buds, or "golden needles" are used in cooking. The bud makes an attractive addition to stir-fries, and it's high in protein and rich in calcium, phosphorus and Vitamin A. The nutritious day lily is so easy to cultivate that it now flourishes wild in 47 American states and two Canadian territories.

Day Lily Stir-fry

Sour Meatballs / Boozy Mint Lemonade Slush / Whipped Cranberry Porridge

Recipe: Sour Meatballs

800 g ground veal
2 medium sized zucchinis
1 egg
1 bundle of mint
...

Blog Post & Recipe: happy hour: boozy mint lemonade slush

The thing is, I don’t have anise seeds, so I went with a classic summer pairing, lemon and mint, which I thought sounded super refreshing, especially for a slush. And since it’s happy hour, a little bourbon doesn’t hurt either.

Blog Post & Recipe: Whipped Cranberry Porridge

Along with rye bread, quark, wild berries and squeaky cheese, whipped lingonberry porridge is definitely on the top 5 of my favourite Finnish foods. Now, there is an obvious lack of frozen lingonberries here in Sydney - so far I haven't found any. The second best option for those wanting to make any lingonberry dishes is, in my opinion, to use frozen cranberries

Sweet Potato Whole Grain Waffles / Crispy Fried Garlic / Sabih

Blog Post & Recipe: Sweet Potato Whole Grain Waffles

Cook in a waffle iron at medium for about 5-7 minutes. These take longer to cook than other waffles we have made.

Blog Post & Recipe: Back to basics - crispy fried garlic 炸蒜米

Crispy fried garlic like crispy fried shallot is very common in S E Asia. Chopped garlic is deep fried till golden it is not bitter but has slightly sweet, caramelised and strong garlicy flavour and deliciously crunchy. Only two ingredients are needed, plenty of garlic and cooking oil.

Recipe: Yotam Ottolenghi's sabih recipe

Iraqi immigrants to Israel in the early 1950s brought with them the fascinating combination of fried aubergine and hard-boiled egg stuffed into fresh pitta (along with plenty of other big-flavoured ingredients). It sounds weird, but it's one of the most exciting street foods you could wish to come across.

Homemade XO Sauce / Homemade Verjuice / Lemon Fish

Blog Post & Recipe: Homemade XO Sauce [ via ]

Here is my homemade version that will set your tastebuds on fire.

Blog Post & Recipe: Homemade Fresh Verjuice

Verjuice is a green and sour juice made from unripe grapes. It is a fantastic alternative to lemon juice. Lemon is considered as the sole source of sour juices by many people, but it is not!

Blog Post & Recipe: Lemon Fish [Simple Home-Cook]

Long long time ago when I was working in Singapore, one of my roommates was a Teochiew lady from Penang. She liked to cook fish with plum sauce, very appetizing sweet and sour taste. Until now, I thought of her every time I cooked or ate something similar to that.

4 Mussel Recipes / 3 Recipes with Cooked Peppers / Scottish Raspberry Jam & 15 Other Jams

Blog Post & Recipes: Medley of mussels

Hints for preparing mussels ...

MUSSELS WITH A TOMATO SAFFRON SAUCE ... STEAMED MUSSELS WITH FENNEL ... COCONUT AND HERB MUSSEL SOUP ... FAMILY-FAVOURITE MUSSEL FRITTERS

Article & Recipes: Pick the perfect peppers

Grilled, roasted or sautéed, a scorched pepper is a thing of deliciousness.

Warm chickpea and onion purée with sizzling peppers and lamb ... Hot chicken with peppers and chilli recipe ... Macedonian grilled vegetable salad recipe

Blog Post & Recipes: Scottish Raspberry Jam

Scottish Raspberry Jam

If you are now in the mood for jam, here a few recipes to tempt you: Strawberry Jam ... Plum Jam ... Mango & Orange Peel Jam ... Rum Pumpkin Jam ... Damson Jam ... Black Cherry & Cointreau Jam ... Strawberry & Rhubarb Jam ... Bramble Jelly ... Wild Fruit Jam ... Mirabelle Jam ... Summer Fruit Jam ... Peach & Apricot Jam ... Mango & Cardamon Jam ... Nectarine Preserve ... Thai Ginger, Rhubarb & Chilli Jam

Squash Blossom Pesto / Sweet Potato Fries with Orange-Nutmeg Salt / 6 Vegetarian Recipes for the Barbeque

Blog Post & Recipe: Squash Blossom Pesto [ via ]

I simple converted my standard pesto recipe, with the addition of saffron from the abandoned sauce recipe, and magic! A vivid orange sauce, nutty with parmesan and pine nuts with this mysterious undernote. Squash blossoms.

Blog Post & Recipe: Sweet Potato Fries with Orange-Nutmeg Salt [ via ]

The best success I had came at the end of my experimental process. I found that a screaming hot oven, a preheated, well-oiled baking sheet and straight or crinkle-cut sweet potatoes turned 3 or 4 times in the oven yielded the best results.

Blog Post & Recipes: Throw Another Melon on the Barbie

The grill, as everyone knows, is the best place to cook a steak, but that doesn’t mean you have to cook a steak every time you fire up the grill.

Vietnamese-Style Portobello Mushrooms ... Watermelon Burgers With Cheese ... Curry-Rubbed Sweet-Potato Planks ... Teriyaki Cabbage Steaks ... Chili-Rubbed Jicama Steaks With Queso Fresco ... Miso-Glazed Eggplant Slices

Roast Tomato & Basil Tart / Adobo / The Science of Pie Dough

Blog Post & Recipe: Roasted Tomato & Basil Tart

Savory tarts are an all in one meal. Eggs, milk, and cheese come together in a flaky crust to create a delicious meal served warm or at room temperature.

Blog Post & Recipe: Adobo adoration

Adobo is perhaps the Philippines’ most popular dish, consisting of pork and/or chicken cooked in a pungent mix of vinegar and soy sauce. Don’t confuse it with the many other variations of adobo (a Spanish term that loosely translates into “marinade” or “dressing”), which range from a thick, chipotle-infused sauce in Mexico to a garlicky dry rub in the Caribbean.

Mom's adobo

Blog Post & Slideshow & Recipe: The Food Lab: The Science of Pie Dough

What I'm after: The kind of crust that's substantial enough that it doesn't sog-out from a juicy filling but tender enough that it flakes in your mouth into buttery shards. A crust with substance, but not chew. A crust that divides along deep faults into many distinct layers separated by tiny air spaces and that cracks when bent. A crust that is never leathery or pliant, but not so tender or crisp that it crumbles instead of flakes. And of course, it should have a deep butteriness coupled with a balanced sweet and salty flavor.

Cucumber & Hakurei Turnip Salad / Sichuan Eggplant / How to Prepare a Geoduck Clam

Blog Post & Recipe: Cucumber and Hakurei Turnip Salad

The Hakurei turnips were delicious. They kind of reminded me of jicama, in that they are just a bit sweet and starchy. They pair great with cucumbers and would add a nice crispness to any salad, really.

Blog Post & Recipe: Sichuan Eggplant (Fish-Fragrant Eggplant)

You see, it doesn’t actually smell or taste like fish. Rather, the name refers to method of preparation usually associated with fish in Sichuan cuisine that results in hot, sour, salty, and sweet flavors all co-mingling on the plate.

Blog Post & Video:
Geoducks: The Only Shellfish Adored By Chinese Chefs, Japanese Gourmands And Native American Divers Alike

The fat, mustard-colored bivalves--whose name is pronounced "gooey duck," not "geo duck"--grow up to three feet long. They have been known to live for up to 150 years, buried a yard in the sea floor and eating whatever algae they can filter from the water immediately above them. ...

How to prepare a geoduck clam for cooking

Mauritian Peanut Sauce / Sweet Potato Soup / Roast Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

Blog Post & Recipe: Easy Mauritian Peanut Sauce

You need to cut everything finely. Chop your tomatoes very finely or simply blend them in a food processor. Also, cut your onions very small.

Blog Post & Recipe: [Dessert] Sweet Potato Soup

The key point of this dessert is to control the sweetness of the soup and texture of the sweet potatoes. The soup base cannot be too bland or too sweet and as for the sweet potato it must not be overcooked or else it will be too soft and affect the overall taste of this dessert.

Blog Post & Recipe: Roasted Brussels Sprout with Balsamic Vinegar

Ever since I discovered the lazy but healthy way to feed myself, I have been really into cooking foods this way. I’m talking about roasting foods, just like for my baked scallops and spicy potato wedges. Basically, foods are tossed with olive oil, then seasoned with the salt and pepper, before popping them into the oven to let it do its magic. With this method, both the cooking and cleaning up is totally no-fuss.

Pickled Radishes / Kaiserschmarrn / Lotus Root and Peanut Soup

Blog Post & Recipe: quick pickled radishes

They pickle so quick they can be ready in (almost) a moment, and they have a bright and sweet taste. Each crunchy radish has only a slight mouth puckering vinegar flavour

Blog Post & Recipe: Sunday Brunch: Kaiserschmarrn

To those unaware of this fantastic comfort food, kaiserschmarrn is essentially a thick scrambled crêpe. Tasting primarily of eggs and sugar, this dish is another meal that reminds me of grandmothers everywhere

Blog Post & Recipe: Lotus Root and Peanut Soup

There are two main categories of Chinese soups. The quick boil soup may involve a little sauteing before prepared stock is poured in. Thin slices of meat and vegetables are added to the stock and lightly cooked. Simmered soups take a longer time to prepare. All ingredients are dumped into a large pot and simmered until the flavors meld together and infuse the soup. Oil is not used and therefore there is no sauteing involved.

Homemade Violet Crumble / The Eskimo Cook Book / How to Peel Ginger

Blog Post & Recipe: Let's Do the Hokey Pokey!

So if you are asking why bother with scratchmade honeycomb if you can get Crunchie or Violet Crumble, I would say, because you can use better chocolate, that's why.

Blog Post & Recipes: The Eskimo Cook Book

The Eskimo Cook Book is a collection of recipes brought together by children at the Shismaref Day School in 1952 and published as a booklet by the 'Alaska Crippled Children's Association'.

Cranberries ... Blueberries ... Lincod Eskimo Ice Cream ... Ahzeeach and Ahlowe'-kuk ... Buegwakuk ... Tomcod Liver and berries ... Ah-pick ... Willow Meats ... Eskimo Ice Cream ... Sue'wok (dried salmon eggs) and berries ... Eggs (duck or sea-gull) ... Conch ... [etc]

Blog Post & Video: How to Peel Ginger

All those little nooks and nubs make peeling ginger with a paring knife a veritable nightmare. Think of the waste! Intolerable. So Amanda dreamt up a trick that requires nothing more than a small spoon and Merrill has a hand at demonstration: you use the spoon's edge to quickly scrape away the root's surprisingly thin skin. It's so safe you could even enlist the wee folk for this task!

Making Tortillas / Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Vinaigrette / White Beans, Sweet Potato & Spinach Tacos

Blog Post & Recipes: Making Tortillas

It is important to note that you will save yourself a lot, a lot, a lot of heartbreak and broken tortillas by lining the top and bottom of your press or pin with plastic wrap, parchment paper or baggies. Especially when working with the stickier dough for flour tortillas, any time saved by skipping this step is just not worth it.

Blog Popst & Recipe: Meatless Monday: Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Vinaigrette

I’ve started grilling mass quantities of vegetables every few days and keeping them in the fridge, so they’re always ready to go. Making an omelet? Why not throw in some grilled onions, peppers and mushrooms. Need a quick lunch? How about some grilled vegetables and tzatziki in a pita? Add them to fajitas or pasta. Or, warm up the vegetables, and add some crumbled goat cheese for a big grilled vegetable salad.

Blog Post & Recipe: White Beans, Sweet Potato, and Spinach Tacos - A Guest Post by Joanne Bruno of Eats Well with Others

You see, you cook this pound of beans. And then you have dinner halfway prepared for every night of the week! You can throw the beans in salads or pasta or soup! Or my new favorite, which is to grab whatever greens I got in my CSA this week (and we all know that we're all getting greens aplenty in our CSA's. Don't even try to pretend otherwise.), wilt them down and saute them. Mix in my bean-of-choice for the week along with a roasted root vegetable. Season with smoked paprika and chipotle chile powder. Throw into a tortilla shell. Call it a taco or burrito or tostada or whatever Mexican dish pops into your head at that moment. And voila.

Concept: Grilled vegetables kept in the fridge. Line "the top and bottom of your press or pin with plastic wrap, parchment paper or baggies" when making tortillas.

4 Vegetable Soups / Spinach Sandwich / Radish & Basil Pesto

Blog Post & Recipes: More soups I've been making

Spicy Coconut Soup ... Radiant Bok Choy ... Lettuce & Potato Soup ... If I have a lot of greens leftover I make Jamie’s Ribollita.

Recipe: Spinach Sandwich

Apply butter on two slices of bread (on one side) and spread this spinach filling all over on one slice, place the other bread slice and toast till golden. Serve warm.

Blog Post & Recipe: Radish and Basil Pesto

This recipe was inspired by a similar one I saw on Clotilde Dusolier's "Chocolate and Zucchini" sometime last year. Hers called for using just the radish greens, and she also used a more traditional hard Italian cheese such as parmesan or romano, typical of a straight basil pesto. I've added some basil for a little more complexity, marcona almonds for their sweetness, feta cheese for its tang, and finely diced radishes for a little extra spice and crunch.

Fried Zucchini with Agrodolce / Easy Indian Cabbage / Homemade Soybean Milk

Recipe: Fried Zucchini with Agrodolce. The recipe comes attached to this interview with Gabrielle Hamilton — "the winner of this year’s James Beard Award for Best New York Chef."

Agrodolce
3 cups cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. chile flakes
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 cup mint leaves

Blog Post & Recipe: Easy Indian Cabbage recipe

Cabbage and cumin seeds are known to help digestion, making this recipe perfect for your stomach!

Blog Post & Recipe: Homemade Soybean Milk ~ 自制豆奶

You will just need soybeans, water, muslin or cheesecloth and of course a blender. Another good thing about making this at home is that you can adjust the amount of sugar you use in the milk or even add some other flavourings like pandan (screwpine) leaves for added fragrance. The important thing to note is that you can't shirk from the straining of the soybean milk as there are lots of remnants of the soybeans left behind. Apart from that, it is very straightforward and extremely easy to make.

Chayote Squash Sambal / Quick Pickled Roots / Grilled Onion Salad

Recipe: Sambal Goreng Manisah, Indonesian Chayote Squash Sambal

Simply delicious sambal with Chayote squash, which is pretty common everyday meal in Indonesia, especially in the island of Java.

Blog Post & Recipe: Quick Pickled Roots

Absolutely anyone can pickle quickly! You can pretty much pickle anything that grows with equal parts vinegar and water, a little salt and some spices. And as long as you're putting the jar in the fridge, no need to be cautious about acidity levels as you would with home canning. The best part? They take no time to make

Blog Post & Recipe: Grilled Onion Salad

Grilled onions can be just as good chilled as hot, especially when you let them marinate in an herb dressing. The grilling produces all sorts of caramelized goodness in the onions, taming their bite and bringing out their natural sweetness. An herby dressing acts like a marinade, further softening the onions, and infusing them with flavor. The best thing? The salad lasts for days, and actually improves with age, as the dressing soaks into the onions.

Pickled Red Onions & Pickled Small White Onions / Black Raspberry Shrub / Barbecue Ribs

Blog Post & Recipe: Torshi Piaz - Pickled Red Onions and Pickled Small White Onions

Torshi is mostly made with vinegar and the taste is rather "torsh" (sour), hence the name.

Blog Post & Recipe: Drink Week, Day Four: Black Raspberry Shrub

Today’s topic is the fruit shrub. These are a concentrated fruit syrup, spiked with vinegar, to give it an appealing sweet/tart flavor profile. They definitely need dilution, so top them with a bit of sparkling water

Blog Post & Recipe: How to cook perfect barbecue ribs

Ribs are one of the great pleasures of carnivorousness, and simplicity itself to prepare, as long as you cook them slow enough to melt the hard-working meat that makes them so tasty, and don't try to get too fancy with the marinade: this is a cut that really doesn't need it.

Platanos Asados con Coco (Coconut Baked Plantains) / Burgers with Blue Cheese Mayo & Sherry Vidalia Onions / Natto Spring Rolls

Recipe: Platanos Asados con Coco (Coconut Baked Plantains)

The warm spice of the cinnamon and wonderful texture from the coconut flakes helps make this an amazing Colombian side dish.

Blog Post & Recipe: Burgers with Blue Cheese Mayo and Sherry Vidalia Onions

One other tip for a great burger? Handle the meat as little as possible, and pack it as loosely as you can while still keeping the patties together.

Blog Post & Recipe: Seriously Asian: Natto Day

This recipe for Natto Spring Rolls comes from Elizabeth Andoh, one of my favorite cookbook authors. She pairs natto with green scallions and seaweed in the filling. I think that basically anything rolled up and deep fried will be good, but imagine biting into a freshly fried spring roll, its shell breaking off in crispy, golden-brown shards to a piping-hot center of natto beans.

Hasselback Beetroot / Roast Sweet Potato Panini / Cook Pizza on the Barbecue

Blog Post & Recipe: Hasselback Beets - Nature's Sweet Side Dish [via]

I always see gorgeous pictures of hasselback potatoes on foodgawker. However, since I didn't have potatoes, I used my picture-perfect beets ...

3 whole beets
olive oil
salt
pepper

Blog Post & Recipe: Roasted Sweet Potato Panini | Inspired by the West

Both Paul and I love avocado, so I just had to test it paired with the sweet potato. I’ve never tried this pairing before, but we love sweet potatoes and we love avocados. Plus, the avocado is in such a lovely color, don’t you think?

Blog Post & Recipe: Grilled Pizza ['grilled' in the American sense]

HOW TO GRILL PIZZA: SIX VERY IMPORTANT RULES:
Oil Everything ... If you have an extra set of hands, avail yourself of them ... Don’t roll your crust too thin ... Use a Cookie Sheet ... Pre-cook Your Toppings ... Three words: slow and low

Grilled Pizza Two Ways
Half Fried Green Tomatoes and Sweet Onions/Half Basic Marinara

Asparagus & Lemon Quinoa Risotto / Chai Iced Tea / Coconut Green Curry Mussels / Ox Tongue Fritters & Green Sauce

Blog Post & Recipe: Asparagus & Lemon Quinoa Risotto

My favorite, lazy way to make quinoa is to throw in some peas and soy sauce. But this time, I was curious how it would work as a risotto. The answer: quite well!

Blog Post & Recipe: Chai Iced Tea

It’s spicy, has a good amount of caffeine (due to the black tea), is milky and sweet, and most important, it’s cold. The sweetened condensed milk is major. If you don’t have a can in your cupboard, and don’t want to buy one, then milk and sugar are totally a workable substitute.

Blog Post & Recipe: coconut green curry mussels

We prep the ingredients (together!) with Andrew picking the mussels over to discard the open or cracked ones. Then he gives them a good rinse and peels a knob of ginger. I busy myself with the lemongrass, the garlic, lime juice, and cilantro. We drop a nob of butter in the pot, and let it melt and get foamy before we bloom the aromatics, stir in coconut milk and curry paste, and add the mussels.

Blog Post & Recipe: tongue and groovy: ox tongue fritters and green sauce (the post includes a link to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's ox tongue, oxtail and pigs' cheek recipes)

First, buy a salted ox tongue from your butcher. It should look like the photo above. You might want to leave it to rinse in cold water for a while before you get properly started - or, if you've got a nice butcher, s/he might have done that for you. Then, cover the tongue with water (you'll need a BIG pan), bring it to the boil, bubble it away for a couple of hours with a few tasty bits and pieces, such as these ...