Just about every culture that cooks rice has a crispy variation, whether it is the beloved crust on the bottom of the Spanish paella, fried rice in Chinese cuisine, or Indian bhel puri (a snack of crispy puffed rice, potatoes and chutney). For Persians, the basic basmati rice pilaf with a crust is called …
Persian-Italian Eggplant Stew – Recipe (Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Yes, I said Persian-Italian. Bear with me here for a second. I was looking for some sort of moist eggplant dish to serve with Persian rice (a wonderful basmati pilaf with a crunchy crust; I’ll tell you about that soon). I came across several recipes for a Persian dish named , which is eggplant braised …
EatYourBooks.com and GobbledyBook.com – Two Sites for Indexing Your Cookbooks
I wanted to let you know about a service I just learned about. EatYourBooks.com has a very clever idea. You have a shelf full of dozens or hundreds of cookbooks, right? But it is a pain in the butt to find all the eggplant recipes in them. So you use the web instead and end …
Risotto Cake with Crispy Ramps – Recipe
Ramps are one of the classic spring foods, along with asparagus, morels, fiddlehead ferns and eggs. If you haven't had ramps, they look a lot like scallions that grew are a big green leaf on top, and indeed they are in the allium family. They have an intense garlicky aroma and flavor that inspires …
Grilled Tofu and Pepper Vegetarian Tacos – Recipe
The secret to delicious Mexican vegetarian food (or vegan, for that matter) is to amp up the flavors and use lots of contrasting textures. These vegetarian tacos have that serious street food flavor, filled with grilled tofu and sauteed peppers, all basted with tangy achiote. They are meant to be just two or three bites. …
Cooking By Hand, by Paul Bertolli – Cookbook Review
Have you ever been at a party and started talking about, say, your new-found appreciation of painting, only to find out that the conversation partner who has been politely humoring you is the curator of the Met? That’s a little bit how I felt reading Paul Bertolli’s Cooking by Hand, which I learned about from …
Grilled Pineapple Salsa – Recipe
I like this salsa for its bright flavors and simplicity – just a few ingredients, and you can throw it together in a few minutes of active time. I served it with tacos that I'll cover it my next post, but it could work well in a Southeast Asian context too, especially if you …
