Category Archives: Recipes (Savory)

Scallion Oil-Poached Chicken

Posted on by Leave a comment
Classic poached chicken with a vibrant scallion-ginger sauce.
Classic poached chicken with a vibrant scallion-ginger sauce.

Betty Liu makes the rest of us look like slackers.

Not only is she a doctor training to be a surgeon in Boston, but she’s a home-cook so gifted that she created an award-winning food blog, bettysliu.com. Her writing, recipes and photos have appeared in Bon Appetit and Saveur magazines. She’s also taught food photography classes around the world.

On top of that, she debuted this year, the top-selling cookbook, My Shanghai: Recipes and Stories from a City on the Water” (HarperCollins), of which I received a review copy.

My, oh my.

It’s even more impressive when you realize that Liu didn’t even learn to cook until she was in college, and missing her mother’s cooking. Back then, whenever she visited her parents, she cajoled her mother into teaching her how to make her favorite dishes. After college, she worked in Shanghai for a spell, which only deepened her passion for that regional cuisine.

Her cookbook honors her heritage and her family’s cooking, spotlighting the Jiangnan region, which encompasses the lower Yangtzee area, including the city of Shanghai. Not surprisingly, Jiangnan cuisine is all about seasonal fresh ingredients and elevating the natural, pure flavors of the food.

This beautifully illustrated book is complete with lavish photos that bring this region of China to life, as well as useful images that take you step-by-step through specific techniques, including making “Suzhou-Style Mooncakes,” “Scallion Flower Buns,” and “Shanghai Big Wontons.”

Read more

Honey & Sriracha-Glazed Duck Skewers

Posted on by 2 comments
A taste of a yakitori bar in your own home.
A taste of a yakitori bar in your own home.

Duck, duck, sticks.

That’s what this easy grilling recipe is all about.

“Honey & Sriracha-Glazed Duck Skewers” is from the new “Skewered: Recipes for Fire Food on Sticks from Around the World” (Dog ‘n’ Bone), of which I received a review copy. It’s by Marcus Bawdon, who runs the UK BBQ School and is the creator of the cooking site, CountryWoodSmoke.

The book features more than 60 globally-inspired recipes to up your grill game, including “Pina Colada Chicken Skewers,” “Grilled Gnocchi Skewers,” “Burnt Ends and Dill Pickle Skewers,” and the unlikely, “Kangaroo & Bacon Skewers.”

This duck recipe is super easy, but I admit that I took a few liberties with it.

Read more

Chicken (Or Turkey)-Zucchini Meatballs With Feta

Posted on by 7 comments
Zucchini stars in this meatball dish two ways.
Zucchini stars in this meatball dish two ways.

Blessed — or cursed — with too much zucchini?

Then, get grating. And slicing.

Not for ubiquitous zucchini bread. But for dinner on the table in no time flat with the warmth of cumin and the zing of feta.

And all cooked on one sheet pan in the oven.

“Chicken (Or Turkey)-Zucchini Meatballs” is from Brooklyn-based recipe developer Ali Slagle. Published in the New York Times’ “At Home” section during the pandemic, it immediately caught my eye because who doesn’t love meatballs?

Read more

A Unique Rice Cake

Posted on by 8 comments
A showstopping crusty rice cake that's super rich and creamy within.
A showstopping crusty rice cake that’s super rich and creamy within.

As a kid, I remember feeling a little burst of joy whenever the rice steamed and rested just long enough in the hot rice cooker to build up crispy little bits on the bottom.

My mom would scrape them up and pile them on my plate, knowing how much I couldn’t resist the juxtaposition of soft fluffy grains with cracklingly crunchy ones.

Later as an adult, when I first tasted tahdig, the Persian rice specialty that guarantees a bottom crust of full-on golden crunchiness, I was even more smitten.

Now comes “Rice Cake,” which much like this inverted dish itself, I’ve completely gone topsy-turvy for.

It’s Persian goes Italian.

Or tahdig in the spirit of risotto.

As it’s fortified with a load of butter, Parmesan, and creme fraiche.

This amazing recipe is in the new cookbook, “Bavel: Modern Recipes Inspired by the Middle East” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy.

It’s by husband and wife, Chef Ori Menashe and Pastry Chef Genevieve Gergis, owners of the acclaimed Bavel and Bestia restaurants in Los Angeles. It was written in conjunction with Lesley Suter, the former food editor for Los Angeles magazine.

Read more

Miso Pork Stuffed Eggplant

Posted on by Leave a comment
Eggplant cups stuffed with a savory pork and eggplant mixture.
Eggplant cups stuffed with a savory pork and eggplant mixture.

As someone who keeps a bare minimum of apps on her phone, I admit that Kitchen Stories was new to me.

The app was founded in 2014 by two business students with a penchant for cooking. They bill Kitchen Stories as the first video-based, design-oriented cooking app.

Now, the two have come full circle with a Kitchen Stories cookbook, “Anyone Can Cook” (Prestel), of which I received a review copy.

In the cookbook, the app team, based in Berlin, offer up a globally-inspired array of recipes such as “Glass Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Dressing,” “Spicy Chickpea Burgers,” “Savory Dutch Baby with Smoked Salmon and Horseradish,” and “Rigatoni with Walnut-Ricotta Pesto.”

I decided to give it a whirl with “Miso Pork Stuffed Eggplant,” which reminded me of an oversized version of a dim sum specialty.

Read more
« Older Entries Recent Entries »