No recipe this week. Just a little food for thought from a short road trip.
WE WERE IN DETROIT LAST WEEKEND, visiting our daughter and her boyfriend. As always, it was a feast on many levels. And in many places. This Anthony Bourdain mural is in Flint, Michigan. It was painted in 2019 by Krystal Cooke and was commissioned by Rodney Ott, owner of the Loft bar below it and a big fan of Bourdain. Continue reading “Feasting our eyes (and our bellies) on a Detroit weekend”
Ingredients from around the world create this smoky, big-flavored, slightly spicy lentil soup. Recipe below.
LENTILS ARE A STAPLE AROUND THE WORLD, from India (where 40% of the world’s lentils are consumed) to the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. We’ve shared lentil recipes here from India, France, Turkey, Italy and other spots around the globe. This recipe is a global adventure all its own. Continue reading “Many cultures in a single bowl: Ham Hock and Lentil Soup”
PULSES ARE THE EDIBLE SEEDS OF PLANTS IN THE LEGUME FAMILY. Beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas and such. Food Network calls them a superfood. They’re good for you—high in fiber and protein, and packed with nutrients and antioxidants. And they can help you lose weight. They’re also inexpensive and versatile. Here are seven delicious ways to get more of this superfood on your table. Continue reading “Lentils, beans and peas—seven recipes deliver the pluses of pulses”
Pasta tossed with tangy labneh, lemon juice, peas and bacon is a creamy, weeknight-quick meal that tastes like spring. Recipe below.
LABNEH FIRST APPEARED ON THE BLUE KITCHEN MENU TWO WEEKS AGO, as the main ingredient of our Ramadan-inspired vegetarian Labneh Sandwiches. Having leftover labneh inspired us to make this creamy, tangy pasta dish—and we’re ready to make it again. Continue reading “Quick, easy and deliciously springlike: Labneh Pasta with Peas and Bacon”
With Passover here, matzoh is in your supermarket. Here are two delightful, unexpected ways to enjoy it.
ALONG WITH SHOWERS AND FLOWERS, SPRING BRINGS HOLIDAY EXCUSES TO EAT WELL. Ramadan, which we covered last week with Middle Eastern Labneh Sandwiches, Easter with its various food traditions, and our personal favorite, Passover. With our family scattered, we don’t always manage the full holiday dinner, but we do indulge in a pair of treats made with matzoh. Continue reading “Matzoh Brei for breakfast, Matzoh Crack for dessert”
Sourdough toast topped with labneh, olives, a mix of pickled vegetables and a drizzle of olive oil makes a tangy, delicious, satisfying vegetarian sandwich. Recipe below.
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN STREAMING FROM MUSLIM AND ARAB COUNTRIES to the Detroit area since the1880s—from Syria and Lebanon and Iraq and Egypt and Yemen and India and Bangladesh and Pakistan and many more places, creating the oldest, largest and most diverse Muslim American and Arab American community in the United States. That’s well known. Far less known is one marvelous annual occurrence that our Detroit daughter always speaks of with enormous enthusiasm. I am not talking, yet, about the Hamtramck Yacht Races, but about something far more delicious. I can sum it up in three wonderful words: RAMADAN. FOOD. TRUCKS. Continue reading “A tangy, creamy, vegetarian Middle Eastern treat: Labneh Sandwiches”
Baking soda tenderizes the ground beef in this richly flavored classic chili. Recipe below.
DON’T YOU LOVE IT WHEN COOKING BECOMES A SCIENCE LESSON? We do. In this chili recipe, baking soda (that same thing the fluffs up cakes and cookies) tenderizes the ground beef while making it brown better. Continue reading “The art and science of Classic Beef Chili with Beans”
Homemade apple butter makes pumpkin pie creamier and subtly sweeter. Recipe below.
WHEN TERRY MADE CHRIS SCOTT’S LOVELY JOHNNYCAKES AND APPLE BUTTER a couple weeks back, the apple butter recipe was small compared to most, but it was still a lot of apple butter for a two-person household. We heroically slathered it on waffles and toast and pork sandwiches, but there was still some left. That was when I stumbled across this recipe for apple butter pumpkin pie. Continue reading “Two traditional favorites create one delicious dessert: Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie”
WITH ST. PATRICK’S DAY UPON US, MANY ARE THINKING CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE. Which is fine, except it puts cabbage in an undeserved supporting role—the romantic lead’s goofy buddy. That’s just wrong. In a recent issue of Taste, Rachel Wharton rightly proclaimed “Cabbage is Always King.” She dives deep into cabbage’s history (we’ll share the link further down). But for now, we’d like to share seven recipes that show off the healthy brassica’s flavor and versatility. Continue reading “Step aside, corned beef—seven recipes that make cabbage the star”
Johnnycakes and apple butter create a delicious breakfast that straddles traditional Southern and Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. Recipes below.
LIKE MANY CHEFS, CHRIS SCOTT DEVELOPED HIS LOVE FOR COOKING IN HIS GRANDMOTHER’S KITCHEN. And like many Black Americans, his life has been shaped by migration. After the Civil War, his great grandfather left the South and moved to work in a steel factory in “the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country,” as Scott puts it. So when Scott learned to cook at his grandmother’s side, he picked up traditional Black Southern recipes, of course, but also those of the family’s adopted home, Amish country. Continue reading “Amish soul food from a Top Chef semi-finalist: Johnnycakes and Apple Butter”