May 21, 2016
Summer is teasing us, offering a few days of sunshine and blue skies only to retract its promise and send clouds and rain next. To be honest, I love cloudy, rainy days and often use them to catch up on my reading. After indulging in Roman history before and after our extended stay in Italy, I have moved on to the Russian dynasty in preparation for an upcoming trip to St Petersburg to visit its... View Article
May 13, 2016
The kitchen for me is sort of a classroom where I can venture to learn anything that interests me at the moment. Today “lesson” was scallion pancakes that have intrigued me for quite sometime. As it is with most things, once you actually do them you realize that they are not that complicated and only require curiosity, some work, skill and willingness to try. Scallion cakes are part of Asian cuisine and I have seen... View Article
May 11, 2016
Mashed potatoes are nice to play with now and then. They make a good canvas for a variety of flavours. Being the starch lover that I am I make them often and try to vary them once in a while, this time with cauliflower and a little steamed kale. I cooked the potatoes together with the cauliflower (you can cook them separately if you wish) to save on washing another pot. When they were cooked... View Article
April 26, 2016
It has been a while since I bought any kitchen gadgets but on a recent trip to Vancouver my son recommended the KitchenAid spiralizer attachment and I went for it instantly. I have a spiralizer thingy at home but it works best with larger vegetables such as potatoes etc. The KitchenAid one apparently works with any size. (nothing to disclose, this is not a promotional post). While in Van City we had dinner at Provence... View Article
April 19, 2016
For some reason I was craving sushi the other day and we went to a local Japanese restaurant to have some. I was discussing the vegetarian options with the server and she suggested a vegetarian bento box that would contain “a nice balance of different items”. Well, perhaps it did but I didn’t get my fill of sushi, with all the tempura, so called salad, more rice and whatnot included in the box. I have... View Article
April 15, 2016
I have been making an effort to use up all of the grains and legumes in my pantry. I am a bit of a shopping addict when it comes to foods, wanting to buy everything in sight. Just think of what I could do with this or that. So inevitably I have jars filled or half filled with barley, wheat berries, various rice grains, lentils and more. I haven’t cooked with barley in a while... View Article
March 31, 2016
I have been cooking red lentils for a long time but never thought of cooking them “dry” meaning, without boiling them in water. Who knew? The other day I came across an image on the internet that looked intriguing. I followed the links to a blog called A Brown Table and found the recipe for braised cabbage and red lentils. The blogger, Nik Sharma comes from a North Indian and Goan family and offers wonderful... View Article
March 24, 2016
Thai cuisine is one of my favourites after everything Mediterranean. I don’t have a large repertoire in Thai dishes and the few things I make are simple and we tend to enjoy them now and then. This is a simple soup with abundance of fresh vegetables suspended in a lime flavoured coconut broth. you can serve it on its own or spoon it over brown rice in a soup bowl. Top it with Thai basil,... View Article
March 21, 2016
I have written about street food in Rome in this post. The two most popular street foods are pizza bianca and pizza rosa. Last night I made pizza dough just for fun and let it rise in the fridge overnight to develop flavour. today I thought I’d make pizza rossa to remind me of what it was like to have it in Rome. A dough based on 3 cups “00” flour made 4 elongated pizzas.... View Article
March 15, 2016
You will have to forgive me for still being immersed in Italian food and culture. On second thought, I shouldn’t have to apologize, it’s fabulous food and I am sharing it with you. So, enjoy. One of the soups we had in Tuscany was pasta and chickpea soup that was simply delicious and just my kind of food. When we returned home I made a lot of soups in the beginning, because they are easy... View Article
March 6, 2016
There is something about pasta al forno that is very comforting and satisfying. Maybe it’s the slightly charred bits on top, or the creamy sauce around the pasta, or the melted cheese. Whatever it is, I sometimes crave the flavours and texture of a pasta that is cooked just below al dente, then mixed with a a sauce and baked in the oven until crispy on top and slightly charred here and there. I tend... View Article
March 2, 2016
If you haven’t been using fennel in your cooking I encourage you to try it. It has a crisp texture and anise-like flavour that may take getting used to but once you do, it’s very attractive. Fennel makes a beautiful base for a salad and pairs well with citrus, pomegranates, olives, celery, Belgian endive and a few cheeses, such as parmesan, pecorino and mild blue cheese. For a salad I like to slice it thinly... View Article
