Revisiting an Unliked Vegetable

I like bargains, so when I saw a 1-pound package of fresh okra on sale for 99 cents, I immediately bought it.  I didn’t begin salivating because a few minutes later I remembered that I wasn’t very fond of okra.

Welcome to the World of Canned Chicken

Back when the Covid-19 pandemic started, I laid in a lot of supplies.  Gradually, though, I’ve been using them up in my daily cooking.  Only one item I bought gave me pause—the 12.5-ounce cans of cooked chicken breasts.  I noticed them at my big box store because they were sitting alone on a shelf that had been stripped of everything else.

Garam Masala: What Is It and How Do I Use It?

Garam Masala is a spice mixture often used to add flavor and heat to Indian and Pakistani dishes.  There is no official list of spices in Garam Masala, but you are likely to find some combination of cardamom, chili, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, curry leaves, fennel, nutmeg, black pepper and salt.

Discovering Indian Cuisine

Spicy Fish Filets

My first taste of Indian food occurred in New York, when my Indian neighbor took me to a nearby restaurant.  I was totally ignorant about Indian cuisine, so he ordered what he normally ordered.  All I remember is that it was spicy--extremely spicy--so spicy that I needed to drink half a glass of water after each bite.

I never again went to dinner with that neighbor.  But I did come to like Indian food, and for that I can thank Sunset Magazine.

Loving Tandoori Chicken

Photo courtesy Tuttle Publishing

One of the best meals I had in London some years ago was Tandoori Chicken.  I’d never heard of it, but restaurant critics were raving about this spicy Indian chicken baked in a tandoor oven.  I assumed it was mostly exaggeration—until I tasted it myself. 

Thus was born a new family dining-out experience.  At the time our two children were under 8, and they weren’t interested in spicy food.  On the other hand Bart and I couldn’t get enough of this newly discovered way to cook chicken—a way I could not duplicate since my oven didn’t heat to 800 degrees.

Basmati Rice: What Is It and How Do I Cook It?

Before Indian food became popular in the U.S., basmati rice was hard to find except in Indian specialty stores.  Now in California, at least, it’s available everywhere.  It’s more expensive than long-grain American rice.  A grain of basmati rice is a little longer and skinnier than long-grain American rice and, to me, tastes better.

What’s special about basmati rice?  Some rice tastes blah when it’s not covered with sauce.  Basmati rice has a slight nutty flavor and can be served as a plain side dish. However, it also goes well with sauces and is commonly requested in Indian recipes.

How Much Meat Is Too Much?

Eating meat can be a sensitive conversation topic.  Here in California many people pride themselves on following special diets.  If you’re having a dinner party, it’s important to survey everyone to find out what they can/can’t eat.  Often they say they don’t eat meat. This may be one reason so few people I know actually cook.

I persist in inviting people over because I like cooking, but

Turmeric Root: What Is It and How Do I Cook with It?

When a new food item appeared in my local cut-price supermarket, I figured that some people were already fans, while lots of others were wondering what it was.  I was a wonderer, which is how I came to buy some fresh turmeric root.

Tandoori Spice: What Is It and How Do I Use It?

A popular spice used to flavor such Indian dishes as Tandoori Chicken, Tandoori Shrimp, Tandoori Fish, Chicken Tikka, Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Kebabs and Seekh Kebabs, tandoori spice is actually a combination of spices.  The mix varies, depending on who made it, but it most likely includes cardamom, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin, garlic powder, ginger, paprika, turmeric and perhaps a pinch of saffron.  It is dark orange in color and packs quite a taste wallop.  But it’s not burning to the tongue unless it’s overloaded with cayenne pepper.

 If you like your food richly flavored,

Reinventing a Classic Vegetable

Gugarati Green Beans

Sometimes cooking a traditional vegetable a different way makes me think I’m Christopher Columbus discovering a new world.  It happened a while ago with green beans.

My first memory of green beans involved a tuna casserole.  I’m pretty sure those beans came out of a can.  They must have been overcooked because they were soft and squishy.  But at the time I didn’t know they could taste any different.  I just ate what was put in front of me.

Years later I picked some green beans growing in a friend’s garden and discovered:

How Often Do Your Dinners Seem Like Restaurant Fare?

Not very often at my house?  Maybe it’s because I’m usually in a hurry or I’m obsessed with using up leftovers. 

This week I had two graduations to go to, both starting at 6 pm, so eating did not begin until after 8 pm.  Who wants to be in the kitchen after spending two hours in a football stadium cheering on the new grads?

My Worst Food Prep Job

Cooks deal with a lot of yucky jobs in the kitchen, but right now I can’t think of anything worse than removing the skin of a raw chicken.  Maybe I’ll feel differently when I sit down to eat Indian-Style Whole Roast Chicken tonight, but not now.

I Can Make That Too: Chicken Tikka in Mom’s Kitchen vs. the Restaurant Version

Mom's Chicken Tikka

Chicken Tikka is basically an Indian shish kebab with lots of spices.  Traditionally these kebabs are cooked in a tandoor oven, which can heat up to nearly 1,000 degrees.  Indian restaurants have such ovens.  I don’t.  I researched online and found one for $600+. Not worth it.  I decided to use my own oven, which will heat to 545 degrees and makes perfectly respectable Chicken Tikka.

Is Cauliflower the Hot New Kid on the Block?

Roasted Cauliflower

Every so often an old-time vegetable shoots to the top of the fashionable pile.  Recently it was kale.  Now it seems to be cauliflower’s turn.  If you’re tired of boring old white, this vegetable is even available in different colors—green, purple and orange.

I first became aware of cauliflower’s transformation to hotness when my friend Lynne, who has worked in the food industry for many years, told me that she finally found a non-meat item her husband would eat for dinner—Roasted Cauliflower.  She sent me her recipe, and sure enough, it not only looked good but it also tasted good.

India Meets Italy at My Table

Pasta with Indian Cauliflower Sauce

I like food from other countries.  Maybe it’s because I grew up in a Western Pennsylvania coal and steel town populated by many nationalities.  Every summer weekend my family attended a community picnic featuring dishes from a specific nationality.  The Italian Picnic introduced me to Spaghetti and Meatballs and Veal Parmesan.  The Polish Picnic offered Grilled Kielbasas (sausages) and Sauerkraut.  I loved the Flatbread on offer at the Syrian Picnic and the Stuffed Grape Leaves, Baklava and Tiropita (cheese turnovers) at the Greek Picnic.

The Cardamom Pod: What Is It and How Do I Cook with it?

The first time I saw a cardamom pod was in an Indian restaurant.  A bowl of them was sitting by the front door, and I was encouraged to take a few to chew on as I left.  Naturally I assumed cardamom’s main use was as a post-dinner breath freshener.  Later I realized that the little black or brown seeds inside each pod had probably been used in some of the dishes I’d just eaten.

The Joy and Agony of Leftovers

Sometimes I’m thrilled when I open the fridge and see nicely wrapped packages of leftovers.  “Ah,” I think to myself.  “Dinner is going to be easy tonight.  Thank goodness I have a microwave.”

Other times I cringe.  “Oh, no!  Not more turkey.”

Okra: What Is It and How Do I Cook It?

There are two schools of thought about this vegetable: love and hate.  Both exist within my immediate family.  I’m one of the lovers, while my cookbook collaborator, Kevin, is a hater.  Thus we have no okra recipes in our four cookbooks.

Oh Tortilla! How I Love Thee!

Chicken Tikka Masala Tortilla

Tortillas came into my life when I moved to California a few decades ago.  Up until then I didn’t even know there were two types—flour and corn—let alone what to do with them.  Today flour tortillas have become a key ingredient in my diet, although not in the way you might think. 

I use flour tortillas as wraps.  I’ll wrap anything, be it scrambled eggs, tuna salad, black beans with cheese and hummus, shredded rotisserie chicken, pulled pork, sardines--even a tossed salad. 

Mom Cooking Tip 51

According to a friend from India, adding spices directly to oil or butter while it’s heating intensifies their flavor. It works for me.

 See all my Cooking Tips!