This is about the time of year where we are all just about fed up. The weather is by turns glum, stormy, angry, and generally ill-tempered, there’s little of the new season‘s growth to enjoy yet, and reserves of patience are at their annual low. A freshly baked batch of muffins may not dispel all […]
Kibbeh is one of the stalwarts of Levantine cooking, and comes in as many versions as there are towns or people who make it.
Last week with our recipe for the Syrian dip muhamarra, we embarked on a perilous culinary adventure: trying to recreate authentic versions of classic Middle Eastern dishes. Why perilous? Well, my grandmother and grandfather couldn’t, between the two of them, agree on the best way to make charoset. Trying to come up with a recipe […]
Winter cooking is often pantry cooking. When the rain is coming down at a 45° angle, the last thing most of us want to do is brave the elements to make a grocery run. It’s handy to have a stash of recipes that rely on what you already have in the cupboard – and conversely, […]
Tomatoes are still, mercifully, quite readily available. Though we hate to think about it, this won’t always be the case. In just a few short weeks, tomatoes—at least the good, locally grown varieties—will be gone on winter hiatus. It always seems to come too soon, and it always somehow seems to take us by surprise. […]
Quinoa isn’t just for Passover anymore. Revered by the Incas as sacred, quinoa looks like a grain but is actually a plant related to beets, chard, and spinach. Its tiny seeds cook up into fluffy, nutty goodness in fifteen minutes, and can be used in any number of ways. Quinoa is fantastic for vegetarians and […]
As you may recall, we recently delved into the wonderful world of cheese-making. And when we did, we told you to save up all that leftover whey, as we’d be featuring it in a recipe sometime soon. Soon, dear cooks and bakers, has arrived. Now, what if you don’t happen to have embarked on the […]
Ricotta is a summer cheese. And as the weather warms up, Jewish people start to think about the Hebrew holiday of Shavuot – the holiday that features dairy so prominently. In part it’s a question of ecology: meat is a high-impact food, and if we can all cut down a bit, the planet be much […]
Many of us are rushing around today, crossing things off lists though simultaneously putting new ones on, trying to get ready for Rosh Hashanah. It’s a big food holiday – bigger than most, even – and most of us will have family recipes and traditional fare serving as the staples for dinner tonight. Far be […]
It’s about this time of year that the air starts to change. Evenings cool off and breezes pick up. Put another way: it is a time to put some food by, as the old phrase goes, the season for trying to make freshly harvested vegetables last as long as they possibly can. We’ve already explored […]
There is something so profoundly compelling about a dish named buckle. Just think of it: buttery golden batter, giving way – buckling – under the weight of juicy, jammy, slightly caramelized hunks of fruit. A buckle is more exuberant than a plate of muffins, yet more modest than a cake. Serve it with coffee in […]
Zucchini flowers, or squash blossoms (for culinary purposes these are interchangeable), are one of those off-the-supermarket-beaten-path ingredients you tend to find only at farmers’ markets or fancy restaurants. (Or Italy, though that doesn’t really help most of us all that much.) This elusiveness means that if you do come into a supply – either because […]
Ful medames; ta’miyya; bissara — fava beans have given rise to iconic dishes across the Middle East. Egyptian cuisine is unimaginable without them. They’ve been a staple in the region for about eight thousand years, and were one of the first plants cultivated for food. Most often, they are used in their dried form: rehydrated […]
Shelled those garden peas? Now you have a soup you can make from the unused pea pods.