What to cook + how to cook
Are you kidding me? Street food is where I get a lot of inspiration. Why? What our fellows humans can do in such a limited space with limited resources boggles my Western mind. I love street food since it crystallizes various flavors without all the fluff from a restaurant and server. It’s culture. It’s actually mainstream.
Since tomatoes are such ubiquitous ingredients there is bound to be waste. Waste is not just defined as tossing something into the waste bin and space it occupies in the landfills but actually all the energy it took to bring the tomato to market; fuel, lighting, irrigation, materials, and human resources. Waste doesn’t have to … Continue reading Zero Waste Tomatoes
A proper vegetarian demi-glace is something that simply needs to be in your wheelhouse. It’s such a workhorse of a sauce and you don’t always have to serve it with vegetables. I toyed with various recipes in the past but a couple of years ago I came across the Chef Steps approach to a vegan demi-glace … Continue reading Vegan Demi-Glace, Boom!
The path to get here is so much longer than the recipe itself. Great apple cider vinegar is not hard to make. Let me repeat, great apple cider vinegar is not hard to make but most people are not hanging around on a Sunday and suddenly think that they need to start making their own apple … Continue reading Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
How Do I Do Muhammara? Well, instead of posting yet another muhammara recipe I’d like to show you my favorite way to eat this delightful mix of walnut, pomegranate, roasted pepper and spices from the Middle East. What makes this a particularly special breakfast or brunch are the robust flavors a muhammara spread commands. This … Continue reading A Muhammara Breakfast
Turmeric. Asia, but specifically India has been using this ingredient for ages. It’s in just about every curry recipe I make. But the time has come for the Western culture to finally adopt it, embrace it and bring it on home. Without going all WebMD on everyone, I will say that it absolutely helps me … Continue reading Turmeric Potion
I have had San Diego tacos, street tacos in Ensenada, stuffed my face at a taco bar in Mexico city, filled up at the hipster Barrio Chino in Manhattan and hundreds in between. Fish tacos, carnitas, carne asada, la lengua and many others are definitely high on my list but there is just something about … Continue reading Tacos Al Pastor, Señor
I was walking down the night market in the Muslim quarter of Xi’an, China chasing down all the amazing smells and listening to the cacophony of “sizzle”. I didn’t do a lot of research on Xi’an food so the smells of skewered lamb basted with spicy, nutty sauces were a welcome surprise if not a little euphoric. It was … Continue reading Xi’an Noodle Recipe (A.K.A. Da’ Rizzle)
I had a friend who used to call me that all the time. “Hey, Pickle Pants”. Everyday, of every week, of every month. There is a massive story there but one saved for another article. We made food together, we laughed, we kept each other company (as expats do) and had loads of fun together all … Continue reading Mr. Pickle Pants Recipe
Half my office is vegan or vegetarian so lately I have been cranking those cerebral gears in order to come up with some delicious meals they can eat. One of the late-night, self-assigned responsibilities (that nobody knows of) is to come up with recipes that I can cook for them in Utah. The happier and healthier they … Continue reading Indian Roasted Chickpeas
Homemade Chicken Shawarma (shāwarmā) I will guide you into heaven with this recipe. And with heaven I mean flavor euphoria. I wrangled this recipe out of a woman while hunting for rugs in Istanbul, Turkey. Our first night there a gentleman named Bulit (who apparently knew everyone) met us at the lobby and took us … Continue reading Turkish Shawarma Recipe
