Cucumber-Radish Raita
Raita is a simple yogurt-based sauce that can be served with almost any Indian meal. It makes a cooling condiment when a curry gets a little too spicy, but the real beauty is when it is mixed with basmati rice. I find that combination so tasty that I will often skip dessert to make …
Chana Masala (spicy chickpeas) is one of those ten dishes you will find at pretty much every Indian restaurant in America. You can understand why: it is inexpensive to prepare, delicious, healthy and satisfying. The mass prepared versions are usually pretty good, but you can make a similar dish at home and enjoy fresher, more …
Lentil salad went through some bad years in the 80s and 90s, usually flaccid and overdressed, filled with canned vegetables. There was always the shadow of a good, simple, rustic dish there.
I like to make it with French lentils, otherwise known as green lentils. The best ones are from the from the area of …
Flan, aka Creme Caramel, with Burnt Sugar
I've never made flan before, so I had a bit of trepidation when my sister-in-law requested it for her birthday dinner. I knew I could count on Mr. Bayless's classic to send me down the right path, and the trust was well deserved. I opted to raise the degree …
Salad of Puntarelle, Tiny Potatoes and Teleme
Sarina and I both fell in love from afar with these tiny little potatoes from Olsen Farms. We spotted them from a few booths away at the farmer's market, and even though we have several rows of potatoes growing at home, we had to have them. I know it …
Ilan Hall's Top Chef Fideos
I'm an avid fan of Top Chef. Our family has a standing date to watch it on TiVO every week. Of the cooking reality shows (Next Food Network Star, Hell's Kitchen and so on), it is the only one that features people who can really cook, and spends most of the …
Slow roasting tomatoes is alchemy. You put base metal in the oven and a few hours later, you've got gold. In this case, we had a pile of Early Girls that had my rapt attention throughout July as they hurtled towards ripeness. But when they arrived, they were… kind of bland. I knew the Purple …
