You Won’t Believe What’s In This Cornbread

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Cornbread made with cornmeal, corn kernels, and...
Cornbread made with cornmeal, corn kernels, and…

Yes, this particular cornbread is thoroughly corny. In fact, it has three kinds of corn in it:

Cornmeal.

Fresh corn kernels.

And popcorn.

Yup, you read that right.

“Popcorn Cornbread” is featured in the cookbook, “All About Dinner: Simple Meals, Expert Advice” (W.W. Norton & Company, 2019) by award-winning cookbook writer Molly Stevens.

Yes, popcorn!
Yes, popcorn!

This inventive recipe immediately caught my eye because it includes popcorn that’s pulverized in a food processor until it becomes popcorn flour. Whatever you do, just don’t sneeze or be near a fan when you make this flour because the particles are so light, that it doesn’t take much for them to go flying everywhere.

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Grated Fresh Tomato Spaghetti with Anchovies

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Tomatoes two ways -- grated and whole cherry ones -- are featured in this easy pasta dish.
Tomatoes two ways — grated and whole cherry ones — are featured in this easy pasta dish.

Summer is not the time you want to replicate grandma’s hours-simmered ragu sauce.

No, summer is when you want a tomato sauce that comes together in a snap that still boasts that glorious fresh tomato zing.

“Grated Fresh Tomato Spaghetti with Anchovies” is just that dish.

It’s from the new cookbook, “Simple Beautiful Food: Recipes and Riffs for Everyday Cooking” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy. It’s by Amanda Frederickson, a former cook at San Francisco’s Michelin-starred SPQR, who went on to become a recipe developer, test kitchen cook, and cookbook writer for Williams-Sonoma.

The cookbook includes more than 100 recipes very much attuned to Northern California sensibilities, with dishes such as “Smoked Trout Hash,” “Peanut Soba with Chicken and Mint,” “Broiled Halibut with Citrus Salsa,” and “Fruit Salad with Limoncello and Whipped Mascarpone Cheese.”

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Summer’s Pan-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Pork

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Sweet, caramelized tomatoes stuffed with a dumpling-like pork mixture.
Sweet, caramelized tomatoes stuffed with a dumpling-like pork mixture.

Times were when I’d make a special trip to the grocery store at the drop of a hat just to get the precise -sized tomatoes needed for this recipe.

These are not those times, obviously.

Which is why you see this mismatch of tomatoes in this dish instead.

But I’m happy to report that like many things in life, well, size doesn’t matter so much.

Yeah, not quite all the same size. But they'll do in a pinch.
Yeah, not quite all the same size. But they’ll do in a pinch.

“Pan-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Pork” will work out perfectly well, no matter if you have all the same-sized tomatoes or not.

This fun recipe is from “Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors” (Ten Speed Press, 2019), the best-selling cookbook by my friend Andrea Nguyen.

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Perk Things Up with Spice Tribe

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Spice Tribe's Porcini Paradiso blend coats smoked duck incredibly well.
Spice Tribe’s Porcini Paradiso blend coats smoked duck incredibly well.

You know shelter-in-place is getting to us when even a few chefs admit they are sick of cooking at home now.

So rev up your cooking with some new small-batch spice blends with global flavors.

Chef and world traveler Trent Blodgett was inspired to found the San Francisco company, Spice Tribe, after exploring countries from Thailand to Haiti, and marveling at the unique aromas and tastes of each place’s cuisine.

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