Cook Perfect Christmas Cake / Pennsylvania Dutch Baked Corn Pudding / Turmeric Pickle

Blog Post & Recipe: How to cook perfect Christmas cake

A Christmas cake should be rich and spicy; bursting with boozy fruit but never, ever heavy.

Blog Post & Recipe: Pennsylvania Dutch Baked Corn Pudding

Baked corn pudding is generally made with eggs and milk and baked like a custard. My family always added a little cinnamon and vanilla, but still maintained a savory taste using salt and pepper.

Blog Post & Recipe: Fresh Turmeric Pickle

One way we eat it in my family is by simply marinating it in lime juice and salt like you see here. Clean, peel, slice, add some salt to taste & lime juice enough to coat all the slices, jar and refrigerate. If you let it sit for 2-3 days, it gets better from the juices. It is best eaten within a week as a relish.

Stir Fried Dried Cuttlefish (Ojinguh Chae Bokkeum) / Daikon Sweet Pickles / Somtam

Recipe: Stir Fried Dried Cuttlefish (Ojinguh Chae Bokkeum)

A staple side dish in most Korean kitchens and lunchboxes. Takes less than 5 minutes to make and will stay good for a long time. Adjust the amount of red chili paste and sugar depending on how spicy and sweet you like it.

Blog Post & Recipe: Takuwan-Japanese Daikon Sweet Pickles

Making the takuwan yellow comes from the artisan method or old fashioned method of making takuwan in Japan, this longer method can be seen on Takuan/Japanese Pickled Daikon: Basic Recipe by the Shizuoka Gourmet. Mrs. Miyake's recipe is sweet and takes a lot less time.

Blog Post & Recipe: Pok, pok, pok… Somtam!

Somtam comes in many variations depending on the region and personal preferences. In Isaan, or northeastern Thailand, where somtam is often called tam bak hung, plaa raa (fermented fish sauce)—no problem for me in small doses but often an acquired taste for many others—is often added in a papaya salad. The central Thai version often sees the addition of items such as salted egg, grilled pork collar or plaa haeng (ikan bilis, or dried anchovies).

Roast Eggplant with Tomatoes & Mint / 2 Beetroot Soups / Quick Preserved Lemons /

Blog Post & Recipe: roasted eggplant with tomatoes and mint

This is like eggplant bruschetta, except the eggplant is the bruschetta, topped with a Mediterranean summer salsa of a salad.

Blog Post & Recipes: Rich Beet Soup

The winner? The beauty alone of these soups make them worth a try. However, the wonderful earthiness of the Roman recipe can’t quite beat out the overall winning qualities of the modern dish.

Roman-style Beet Soup Recipe ... Modern Beet Soup Recipe

Blog Post & Recipe: Quick Preserved Lemons

So I was pretty thrilled to find out that it's possible to cheat and do a quick preserve. You just chop up some lemons, let them sit in salt and sugar for a couple hours and voilà... they're good to go.

Garlic Dill Pickles / Caramelised Onion Flatbread / Thai Green Curry

Blog Post & Recipe: In a Pickle: How to Make Garlic Dill Pickles

Homemade pickles aren't complicated, but there are a few things you should know before getting started.

5 Things to Know Before Pickling ... The Recipe

Blog Post & Recipe: De Scott Evans -- Caramelized Onion Flatbread

Cover the pastry with the onion mixture and slide into the oven for about 15 minutes until the pastry is fully cooked and the top is golden. Remove from the oven, cut into squares and scatter the fresh marjoram leaves over the top of the flatbread.

Blog Post & Recipe: Thai Green Curry

When you’re shopping for your herbs, there are a few classics to look out for, but this recipe is really open to anything fresh and green. I picked out the best looking stuff at the market and ended up with basil, coriander, lemongrass, scallion, and jalapeno. Like most Thai curries, this one also has ginger, garlic, coriander seed, and black pepper. I’ve also added a little fennel seed to bring out the bright fresh flavor of the greens. For me this dish is all about the sauce, so I like to use steamed jasmine rice, and vegetables with a subtle flavor that won’t overwhelm the herbs

Honey & Rose Water Tapioca / Spicy Pickled Carrots / 5 Chickpea Recipes

Blog Post & Recipe: A Yearning for Change and Heidi Swanson’s Honey & Rose Water Tapioca [ via ]

No doubt, this recipe draws from Middle Eastern influences — pistachios and rose water are a common combination.

Blog Post & Recipe: Spicy Pickled Carrots for the Pickle Party (and she links to pickling group on Facebook).

I've been a bit of a pickling fool this year, so far I have asparagus, radishes, ramps, bread & butters, dill, two types of beans and these beauties.

Blog Post & Recipes: Yummy & Healthy: Chickpeas as the Main Ingredient

What a unique and interesting dish that most of us probably haven't thought of before! There are so many different ways to use this crisp and refreshing ingredient!

Chickpea Quinoa Salad ... Chickpea Fries ... Chickpea Parmesan ... Chickpeas and Balsamic Vinegar Bruschetta ... Chickpea Curry

Caramelised Onion Flatbread / Sweet Potato Hash with Chorizo & Fried Eggs / Spiced Pickled Cherries

Blog Post & Recipe: De Scott Evans-Caramelized Onion Flatbread

Slowly caramelizing onions is a satisfactory substitute to soup-making; it is a long process that continues to warm the kitchen during the last of the chilly days.

Blog Post & Recipe: Sweet potato hash with chorizo and fried eggs

Peel and cube the sweet potatoes into 1cm chunks. Fry in a pan over a medium heat in olive oil until golden on all sides. Add the spices, stirring to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes more.

Recipe: Spiced Pickled Cherries

While they are delicious and I look forward to experimenting with them, I have so many (filled) jars in my canning cabinet it is a little scary. This way I feel no guilt trying to pickle another fruit. Plus it was a super quick canning project, from start to finish, it only took about 20 minutes.

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.

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.

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.

Vietnamese Daikon & Carrot Pickles / Oregano Roasted Beets with Garlic Scapes / Turmeric Ginger Beer

Blog Post & Recipe: Vietnamese Daikon and Carrot Pickles

They're a little like bread and butter pickles, though crispier, not as sweet, and with a slight radish taste from the daikon.

Blog Post & Recipe: Oregano Roasted Beets with Garlic Scapes

Since beets are so sweet all on their own, they need little sprucing up. (Fun fact: Beet sugar makes up about 40% of the world’s sugar.) Here, I simply doctored them up with some garlic scapes and a few sprigs of fresh oregano.

Blog Post & Recipe: Turmeric Ginger Beer

But even when I got the carbonation just right in these recipes (which does take a little precision), brewed ginger beers did not have that fresh spicy kick that I love. In the end, I got the best results from the simplest method. Make a ginger-infused syrup and top with soda water and fresh lemon juice.

Sriracha-Grilled Tofu / Sweet Chilli Sauce / Preserving Olives

Recipe: Sriracha-Grilled Tofu

Make a spicy version of tofu dae-ji, the Korean BBQ dish.

Blog Post & Recipe: mirin

Leng's sweet chilli sauce is not, as you might expect, thick and viscous, rather it is thin, and light and golden, and so very lovely, mostly because it uses quite a lot of mirin.

Sweet Chilli Sauce

Blog Post & Recipe: Preserving Olives

With this method you may end up with olives that are slightly more bitter [than they are when you use a more involved method], but after tasting our friends and considering this process was much nicer on the environment as less salt would be poured down the drains, we were convinced. Also, it’s no where near as much hassle.

And to complement yesterday's interview with Simon Hopkinson, we have an interview with Fergus Henderson.

Asked how he knows when the meat is done, Fergus pushes up his round glasses and says, "It's sort of Jedi Knight, cooking meat. It's—you know Star Wars, the first one? Luke Skywalker's flying down the valley of the Death Star, shooting his missiles, and he hears this voice: 'Luke, put away your sights. Feel the Force.' So he puts away his sights. Feels the Force. Shoots his missile and blows up the Death Star. The same way when you're cooking: You should feel the Force and be a Jedi Knight."

As Fergus puts the Force-felt hunk of meat back onto the counter and tents it with foil, he says, "Now it's resting happily, having an emotional moment."

Set Up a Minimalist Kitchen & Braised Greens with Butter / Cambodian Tilapia Ceviche / Ampelokorfades Toursi (Pickled Vineyard Shoots)

Blog Post & Recipe: how to setup an [ultra] minimalist kitchen

my ultra minimalist kitchen equipment list ... my ultra minimalist pantry essentials

braised greens with butter

Blog Post & Recipe: Roger Mooking Cooks up Justice! Recipe for Cambodian Tilapia Ceviche

In a stainless steel bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over the top of the tilapia pieces. Allow to sit in the juice for seven minutes. Remove the fish only from the sauce.

Blog Post & Recipe: Ampelokorfades Toursi (Pickled Vineyard Shoots)

Shoots are the new plants when growing which include stems, flowering stems with flower buds, and leaves. It was the first time I came across these shoots and did not know much about them. My husband was familiar with them as he told me his mother would cook them and they would eat them in salads as well as stewed with dried legumes.

Pho Ga / Big Bag of Salad / The Bitten Word's Top Recipes of 2010

Recipe: Pho Ga recipe

If you still have a turkey carcase in the fridge ... you can ... use it to make a fantastic stock, the base for a pho ga. Traditionally, poultry pho is a simpler affair than the beef version

Article: The Crisper Whisperer: Big Bag of Salad

First things first: find yourself a one- or even two-gallon zip-top bag or a large glass bowl with a tight-fitting lid. I recommend the bag approach, because zip-top bags are freakishly good at keeping salad fresh.

Blog Post & Recipes: Our 10 Favorite Food Magazine Recipes of the Past Year

More than ten, actually

Crispy Potato Roast ... Indoor Pulled Pork ... Cajun Red Beans and Rice ... Korean Fried Chicken ... Tuna Noodle Casserole with Leeks and Fresh Dill ... Spring Shells and Cheese ... Tipsy Affogato ... Eggplant Parmesan for Two... Sweet and Spicy Fried Peach Pies... Momofuku Milk Bar's Chocolate Malt Cake ... Chicken Chili ... Cauliflower Sformato ... Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust ... Beef Roast Braised with Onions ... Compost Cookies with Cereal Milk Panna Cotta

Salt-Cured Fresh Olives / Lentils with Chocolate / Cara's Top 12 Recipes of 2010

Blog Post & Recipe: Salt-Cured Fresh Olives

The process is simple. Layer fresh black olives with pure sea salt.

Blog Post & Recipe: Lentils with Chocolate. No, really.

Certainly not a common dish anywhere, lentils with chocolate can be found on both sides of the Atlantic in northern Spanish, especially Asturian, and Portuguese cuisine, as well as throughout Latin America. The lentils are usually served soupily with a humble garnish of fried, garlicky croutons and a good glass of red wine

Blog Post & Recipes: Cara's Top 12 Cravings of 2010

Includes links to her husband's Top Twelve and another Top Twelve chosen by her readers.

It seems like all the other bloggers are choosing there Top 10 in 2010, but I started this round-up series by letting my husband pick his favorite dish from each month. So when it it was time for my readers' choice re-cap, I had to play fair and give you 12 recipes too. So why stop now? Here are my Top 12 in 2010.

Chicken Tequila Burgers ... Sesame Maple Ginger Tofu ... Baked Pumpkin Falafel ... Sizzling Haloumi with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes ... Shakshouka ...
Greek-Style Tomato-Braised Cauliflower ... Asian Tuna Salad ... Sweet PB & Berry Omelet ... Sockeye Salmon with Sweet Roasted Corn & Strawberry Salad ... Hummus with Honey and Moroccan Spices ... Lentil & Eggplant Moussaka ... Baked Pumpkin Cranberry Oatmeal Pudding

Spicy Green Tomato & Apple Chutney / Ignore Expiration Dates / FOODday picks 12 favorite recipes of 2010

Blog Post & Recipe: A proper chutney

It’s finally dawning on me that our capacity for sweet preserves is fairly limited, so I knew this year’s project would have to be savory.

English-style Spicy Green Tomato & Apple Chutney

Article: Ignore Expiration Dates

... we should focus our efforts on what really matters to our health—not spoilage bacteria, which are fairly docile, but their malevolent counterparts: disease-causing pathogens ... which infect the food we eat not because it's old but as a result of unsanitary conditions at factories or elsewhere along the supply chain.

Blog Post & Recipes: FOODday picks 12 favorite recipes of 2010

Storm Large's Roasted Vegetables With Toasty Quinoa, Tandoori Fish With Mango and Baby Spinach Salad, Margarita Bars, Bourbon Caramel Sauce, Spicy Chicken Thighs With Apricots and Olives, Grilled Sweet Corn on the Cob With Salty Coconut Cream, Southwestern Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Potato and Corn Salad, Endive, Fennel and Apple Slaw, Potato-Asparagus Soup, Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler, Easy Oven-Roasted Ribs, Thai Chicken Soup

How to Keep Basil Fresh / How to Roast a Whole Pumpkin / and Capsicum Too

Blog Post: How to Keep Basil Fresh for at Least Eleven Days

The trick is to treat the basil like you would a bunch of flowers.

Blog Post: How to roast a whole pumpkin [via Limes & Lycopene]

When it's done, all you do is slice it up and remove the seeds which, btw, are super easy to get out once the pumpkin is cooked.

Blog Post: Roasting transforms bell peppers into a new and versatile vegetable

Once roasted, the thin skin on peppers gets rather tough. To get rid of it easily, place the peppers in a heat-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The residual heat will create steam in the bowl, which will help loosen the skin.

Recipes Using Seeds / Eight Tofu Recipes / 10 Tips for Storing Vegetables & Eggplant Parmigiana

Article & Recipes: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's seed recipes

There are few dishes that can't be improved by the addition of a small handful of seeds.

Poppyseed lemon cake ... Fennel meatballs ... Sesame dressing

Blog Post & Recipes: Weekend Wokking: Tofu - Delicious Round up

Lets see what delish dishes our awesome bloggers has made with this nutritious tofu.

Tandoori Tofu Kebabs ... Tofu with satay sauce ... Mr.Zhengs Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu ... Steamed Fish and Tofu with Chinese Blackbeans ... Tofu and Squash Dumplings ... Semur tahu ... Vietnamese Dau Hu Chien Sot Ca Chua or Vietnamese Fried Tofu with Tomato Sauce ... Indian Style bites

Blog Post & Recipe: 10 tips for optimum vegetable storage

1. select the freshest produce ... 2. minimise physical damage ... 3. dirt is good ... 4. avoid cutting or trimming ... 5. select the best storage temperature ... 6. protect from exposure to light ... 7. minimise dehydration ... 8. avoid condensation & sweating ... 9. beware the banana ... 10. DON”T refrigerate your tomatoes

eggplant (aubergine) parmigiana

Salting Meat / Roast Onion Soup / Cold-Grilled Ribeye Steaks

Blog Post & Recipe: Salting meat - Saltkjöt

Meat may be dry salted or brined. Dry salting is best for lean meat and brining for fatty meat.

Blog Post & Recipes: Roast onion soup

Autumn is pottering, puttering weather ... A simple soup then, as Nigel Slater says, to invigorate.

Roast onion soup ... A basic – very – vegetable stock

Blog Post & Recipe: "Cold-Grilled" Ribeye Steaks with Gremolata

Lynne's advice on the steak (in addition to olive oil, salt and pepper) is to leave it in the fridge until the very last moment before you put it on the grill. That way, you can get a great char on the outside of the meat, while allowing the inside to cook more slowly.

Trail Mix / Cure a Ham / Build a Mud Oven

Forum Post & Recipe: Perfect Trail Mix

The perfect trail mix requires:
* a good balance between crunchy (nuts, cereal or grain-based ingredients) and chewy (chocolate, yogurt, dried fruit) ingredients.
* A good balance between salty and sweet.

Blog Post & Recipe: How to Cure a Ham

Making the brine was simple, though I changed the basic recipe by adding some cloves and molasses and substituting turbinado sugar for the brown. I stuck my ham into the liquid, sealed the container, stuck it in the fridge and then waited.

Blog Post: Build Your Own $20 Outdoor Cob Oven for Great Bread and Pizza (via metafilter).

Compared to masonry ovens, which can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars and usually require cement in their construction ... a cob oven can be made from very simple, locally available materials. (Although it must be said that masonry ovens undoubtedly have a longer lifetime!)