Things this soup will not do: Win any beauty contests.
Things this soup will do: Warm you to your core on a cold day. Nourish you. Fill your belly. Leave you with an abiding sense of contentment. Wash and fold your clothes.
This is a tradeoff I can live with.
I haven’t been completely sold on the farro …
Strata: a baked egg dish filled with cubes of bread and whatever awesomeness you can muster. I.e. it has all of the appeal of a quiche, but without the slight hassle of pie crust. Also, the starch from the bread tends to stabilize the custard, so you have a somewhat wider safety margin between unset …
Everyone has an opinion about chocolate chip cookies. I like mine cakey and tender, but browned enough to develop some flavor. I'm not a fan of cookies that spread out and get crispy all the way through, and I don't particularly like walnuts in them. I want tasty dark chocolate, and a perceptible level of …
Bocoloes are little pan-fried cake of masa and mashed black beans, typically served as an (appetizer). I learned about them from Diana Kennedy's magnificient My Mexico and thought that I could replace the pork filling with yams, increase the portion, and make an unusual and delicious vegetarian entree.
The cakes came out great; they …
Curd rice is an Indian dish of basmati rice flavored with tangy yogurt, often seasoned with chilis, mustard seeds and curry leaves or cilantro. It is typically served at the end of multi-course South Indian meals, but in my context I'm happy to have it as a side dish with some dal, curry and Indian …
Maybe someday you'll be on vacation.
And on the hot, hot days, every farm stand and farmer's market and U-Pick and roadside honor box will be packed with peaches, peaches so fragrant and ripe and sweet that they would melt into jam if you looked at them cross-eyed.
And after you've eaten as many Early Havens, Red …
You've probably had a tomato and watermelon salad. That combination seems to be all the rage now, and it emphasizes the fact that tomatoes are a fruit, not a vegetable. So why not go the other direction, and put watermelon to work in a soup that is traditionally made with tomatoes?
Like regular gazpacho, this is …
