Category Archives: Recipes (Savory)

Way More Than A Grain of Salt

Salt in the form of fish sauce adds umami to these easy kebabs.
Salt in the form of fish sauce adds umami to these easy kebabs.

Anyone who knows me knows that I gravitate to the sweet.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy and appreciate the salty.

After all, salt is one of the most essential ingredients in cooking. It boosts flavor and balances tastes. It can add moisture; and leech out excess liquid to firm up textures. It can also preserve and ferment.

For a real appreciation of all the forms that salt take and what they can do just pick up a copy of “The Miracle of Salt” (Artisan, 2022).

This comprehensive book is by Naomi Duguid, a writer, photographer and world traveler who has made a career out of immersing herself completely in the traditions and cultures of various foodstuffs in her award-winning cookbooks.

This fascinating book looks at how salt is harvested around the world, from Japan to Ethiopia to Gujarat in India. You’ll learn how to use salt in new ways, such as to make your own “Red Miso” from scratch and “Quick Salted Egg Yolks” that can be grated over pasta like bottarga.

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In Praise of Pi Day

Celebrating Pi Day in a big way.
Celebrating Pi Day in a big way.

Someone on social media recently praised the glories of Pie Week, which could only mean that the usual Pie Day or Pi Day has now given way to an entire week of celebrating instead.

That’s my kind of inflation.

But who can blame people for wanting an excuse to indulge in even more crusted creations?

March 14 (or 3/14) commemorates pi, the mathematical constant rounded to 3.14, which is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter. In other words, no matter how small or large the circle, the ratio will always equal 3.14. It’s since turned into a perfect excuse to revel in pie.

Fun fact: Pi Day was founded in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw, who worked at San Francisco’s Exploratorium for decades. How’s that for proud local lore?

You don’t have to be an expert in pi to enjoy pie. In fact, just use the day — or week — to treat yourself to a slice or slab, either homemade or from your favorite bakery.

A mix of mushrooms make up this hearty filling.
A mix of mushrooms make up this hearty filling.

I decided to go savory this year, and attempt something somehow both rustic and regal looking after spying “Mushroom Ragout in A Savory Crust” in the New York Times archives.

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In Praise of Prunes

An easy, delightful pearl couscous salad with orange zest and prunes.
An easy, delightful pearl couscous salad with orange zest and prunes.

There are people who slink through the grocery store, hoping nobody will recognize them, when they have to buy this particular ingredient.

Yes, I’m talking about prunes.

It’s their connotation with being a natural laxative and their association with, well, people of a certain senior age, that have done them in.

Yet we all relish juicy summer plums. It’s only when they get dried and renamed prunes that we get the heebie-jeebies.

That’s precisely when their sweetness and flavor concentrate magnificently, though.

So, just get over it. And grab a bag to make “Spiced Pearl Couscous Salad.”

This easy-peasy recipe is from “Salad” (Smith Street Books, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

It’s one of 100 recipes for salads and dressings in this book by Janneke Philippi, a Dutch food stylist and cookbook author.

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Make It A Pasta Night

Luscious red wine-simmered lamb and sweet peas combine for this easy rigatoni dish.
Luscious red wine-simmered lamb and sweet peas combine for this easy rigatoni dish.

If I had my druthers, I would indeed make every night “Pasta Night”

It’s no secret that I love my carbs, so naturally this cookbook (Rizzoli, 2022), of which I received a review copy, definitely spoke to me.

This collection of more than 60 recipes is by Deborah Kaloper, a Californian turned Aussie, who’s a food writer, chef, pastry chef, and food stylist.

The recipes range from quick sauces to more-time consuming dishes if you want to make your very own pasta to go with. Enjoy everything from “Grilled Lobster Tails with Garlicky Salsa Verde Butter” and “Pappardelle with Beef Cheek Ragu” to “Vegan Mac ‘N’ Cheese” and “Spinach and Three-Cheese Manicotti.”

Just pick up a package of dried rigatoni, turn on the oven, and let it do most of the work for “Lamb Ragu with Rigatoni” that will have your kitchen smelling heavenly.

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Time to Warm Up With Adaptable Winter Squash and White Bean Soup

An easy soup with surprising depth of flavor.
An easy soup with surprising depth of flavor.

If this isn’t soup weather, I don’t know what is.

Between the hail, frost, snow-dusted city streets, and astonishing videos of people cross-country skiing through white-covered Wine Country vineyards, I feel like I need to pile on every wool sweater and down coat that I own just to walk out my front door.

The time is right to quash that chill — with squash.

With “Winter Squash and White Bean Soup” to be exact.

This hearty, velvety and nourishing soup recipe is from “The Complete Modern Pantry” (2022), of which I received a review copy, by America’s Test Kitchen.

This handy-dandy book features more than 350 recipes and tips to teach how to better cook from your pantry, as well as recommendations for ingredients to always keep on hand.

What I especially love about this book is that each recipe features a specific “pantry improv,” so if you don’t have a certain ingredient on hand, there’s a suggested alternative. For “Bucatini with Peas, Kale, and Pancetta,” for instance, you can sub in spinach in place of the kale, and frozen fava beans or edamame for the peas. For “Skillet-Roasted Carrots with Spicy Maple Bread Crumbs,” use honey or agave syrup for the called-for maple syrup or let parsnips stand in for the carrots. For “Caramelized Black Pepper Chicken,” feel free to mix it up and use pork tenderloin instead. And for “Tahini-Banana Snack Cake,” peanut butter or sesame paste can replace the tahini.

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