With Internet shopping, pretty much any ingredient can be at our fingertips in a matter of days. That being said, my goal when choosing recipes is to try to stay away from exotic items that can’t be purchased locally. We have to support our local grocery stores if we want them to continue to be …
Continue reading “Keep ‘arayes’ open for a delicious Lebanese dish”
For a couple months now, every time I open the pantry, I glance at this tiny canister of saffron I managed to buy on an extreme clearance. The Britannica Encyclopedia explains that saffron is the most expensive herb because it has to be hand harvested from the tiny stigmas in the center of a particular …
Continue reading “Bored with dinner? End your ‘saffron’ with something totally different”
“What makes them Mexican potatoes?” a friend asked as he scooped my latest food experiment onto his paper plate in our backyard. “I think it’s just the spices that put it in that category,” I told him. He looked at me quizzically and only grabbed a few. But after finishing off that first spoonful and …
Continue reading “You have my ‘parmesan’ to treat yourself to potatoes this weekend”
I’ll admit it. We’ve been in a bit of a meal rut lately. Joey and I have fallen into a pattern of three to five dishes that we make every week, and while our meals are never bad or disappointing, they have been lacking a little excitement. So I decided to pull out a kind …
Continue reading “Try to wrap your mind around enchilada meatballs for dinner”
A few months ago, I was introduced to the deliciousness that is birria. Birria, according to the “My Latin Table” website, is a Mexican dish that traditionally uses lamb but is often made with beef, too. The article goes on to note that it can be eaten as a soup or made into tacos. The …
Continue reading “These tacos must ‘birria’ your next new dinner recipe”
I’m going to need all of you to mentally prepare yourself for the mood I found myself in recently: pantry clean out mode. Once or twice a year, I find myself staring into the abyss that is my pantry and wondering where all of these random food items came from. Because I love to try …
Continue reading “Don’t fritter away dinner this week; try a new side dish”
An article by Eliana Rivero goes into great detail about some of the cultural dishes of Cuba, including a dish I decided to try for this week’s column, congri. According to Rivero, “The name comes from the Creole French words congo and ris (beans and rice) to produce what today is widely consumed by Cubans …
Continue reading “Everyone will want to ‘congri’gate around your table for this dish”
There is an in-depth article that appeared back in 2017 in Texas Monthly by John Nova Lomax about the origins of chili con carne in the United States. It’s a great read, if you get the chance, and apparently there’s a lot of controversy about the recipe’s origins from historians, but I did love a …
Continue reading “Seize the ‘carne’ with a summer-friendly chili recipe”
Even though I try not to heat up the house with my oven too often in the summer, I am definitely willing to make an exception for the right recipe. Last week, that exception came when I decided I didn’t want one of the typical cold summer sides like coleslaw, potato salad or a green …
Continue reading “Roasted vegetables will be the ‘bell’ of the ball this summer”
Quite a number of years ago, when we put our house on the market, our realtor gave us some tips for keeping our home ready for showings. In addition to keeping things clean and organized, he encouraged us to pin back the curtains for plenty of natural light and begged us to take a break …
Continue reading “Meat is ‘naan’ essential for this potato and chickpea curry”
