Category Archives: Recipes (Savory)

Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Part I: The Roast Chicken

Dried rose petals make this roast chicken extra pretty and even more delicious.
Dried rose petals make this roast chicken extra pretty and even more delicious.

Let me just flat-out say that this dish of “Rosy Harissa Chicken” proved to be the most deeply flavorful chicken I’ve had in a long time.

Part of the reason? The addition of dried rose petals.

I know, I know, you’re squinting your eyes in disbelief, thinking that surely that ingredient would make this roast chicken taste unappetizingly of your mother’s face cream.

Granted, on its own, there is a rather potpourri quality to dried rose petals. But when used judiciously with other complementary ingredients, they make everything all together soar.

I got mine as a sample from Selefina Spices, a new online business by Adagio Teas. It’s a natural extension for the tea company, which already sources from farms all over the world.

Selefina's fragrant dried rose petals.
Selefina’s fragrant dried rose petals.

What’s especially nice is that it sells in small quantities to ensure freshness. So, you can buy just the amount you need. For instance, you can get a 0.07-ounce sample of the dried rose petals for only 75 cents, a 2-ounce pinch for $3, or a 1.5-ounce refill for $6.

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Cornish Game Hen Soup — To Sooth and Satisfy

Cornish game hen in a total comfort dish.
Cornish game hen in a total comfort dish.

Our fickle spring weather may be warm one day, and chilly the next. But this is one recipe to keep handy whenever you need a restorative slurp that’s like a great big hug in a bowl.

“Cornish Game Hen Soup” is all that, and straightforward to make, too.

It’s from the new “Korean American” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy, by the gifted New York Times staff food writer Eric Kim.

In this wonderful cookbook, Kim tells the story of being born to Korean immigrant parents trying to make a new life in an Atlanta suburb, where there was no Korean grocery to be found. So, his mother, whom he frustratingly says never measures anything nor ever gives out an entire recipe willingly, adapted and made do. The Korean home-cooking he grew up on was not necessarily completely traditional food, but a delicious amalgamation of cultures and countries flavored with unmistakable can-do spirit.

With bright technicolor photos, the book brings to life his bold, playful, and comforting dishes such as “Creamy Butatini with Roasted Seaweed,” “Meatloaf-Glazed Kalbi with Gamja Salad,” “Kimchi Sandwiches,” and “No-Churn Ice Cream with Dalgona Butterscotch Sauce.”

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A Leaner, Meaner Meatloaf

You can see the grated carrot that gives this quinoa-fortified turkey meatloaf exceptional moistness.
You can see the grated carrot that gives this quinoa-fortified turkey meatloaf exceptional moistness.

When I say “meatloaf,” you go “Yeah, baby!”

When I say “turkey meatloaf,” you go “Uh, okay.”

And when I say “turkey quinoa meatloaf,” do you groan, “Ehhh?!”

If so, you reacted just like my husband when I first proposed making this for dinner.

And like him, you’ll surely be won over from the first moist, flavorful bite.

“Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf” is a recipe from the new “The Art of Pantry Cooking” (Rizzoli), of which I received a review copy. It’s by Ronda Carman, a lifestyle writer and former recipe contributor to Southern Living.

As the name implies, the book’s 100-plus recipes make use of pantry basics that we all do — or should — keep on hand.

What’s more, the chapters are even arranged by ingredient. For instance, got a half-bag of bulgur lying around? Then, make “Lemon-Bulgur Ricotta Pancakes” or “Hearty Tomato Soup with Bulgar.” Hiding a can of chickpeas in the back of a cabinet? Dig it out to use in “Lemon-Parmesan Chickpea Pasta.” Have some leftover panko? Whip up “Sheet-Pan Panko Lamb Meatballs with Walnut Chimichurri Sauce.”

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Frijoles Rojos for Cinco de Mayo — And Beyond

Garnished with creamy, crumbly queso fresco and cilantro, these hearty Mexican black beans can be a meal on their own with rice.
Garnished with creamy, crumbly queso fresco and cilantro, these hearty Mexican black beans can be a meal on their own with rice.

No Cinco de Mayo celebration would be complete without a soul-satisfying pot of hearty and tender beans.

“Frijoles Rojos” is all that — plus vegan.

This classic bean dish is from “Provecho” (Ten Speed Press, 2021), of which I received a review copy. The cookbook is by Edgar Castrejon, a Bay Area chef, recipe developer and photographer, who grew up in Oakland to parents who emigrated from Mexico.

The title of the book comes from the Spanish expression to “wish someone a good meal.” The 100 vegan recipes embody that sentiment in rustic, homey dishes such as “Columbian Empanadas,” “Adobo Mushroom Tacos,” “Tortas de Tofu,” and a clever “Coconut Aquachile” in which the flesh of young coconut stands in for the usual fish.

“Frijoles Rojos” can be made with canned beans or dried. I used Rancho Gordo Midnight Black Beans, soaking them overnight, before cooking them the next day.

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The Only Beef with Broccoli Recipe You’ll Ever Need

Without a doubt, the best beef with broccoli I've ever had.
Without a doubt, the best beef with broccoli I’ve ever had.

True confession: I’ve never been much of a fan of beef with broccoli.

Maybe it’s because I’ve dug into too many dishes of it at Chinese lunch buffets or banquet gatherings that were just so mundane and mediocre, with gloppy, over-cornstarched sauce glueing everything together.

There’s never been a version that’s been memorable and exciting.

Until now.

And of course, it would be created by food scientist, cooking savant, and James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.

If you are an avid stir-fry enthusiast already or a beginner picking up a wok for the very first time, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of his new The Wok: Recipes and Techniques” (W.W. Norton & Company), of which I received a review copy.

It will change how you stir-fry. It will change your life.

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