From Scratch

The first time I saw a smoothie maker for sale I had an “only in America” moment. It looked just like a blender with a different name. To this day I don’t know the difference between the two. I also don’t know any people who have a blender and a smoothie maker, but I’m willing […]

This easy, one-layer cake defies the usual techniques and I wouldn’t have noticed the recipe if I hadn’t spotted a pet peeve: expresso for espresso. That the word appeared on a box of Domino powdered (icing) sugar only increased my irritation. Domino is our top sugar producer and they should know better. Of course, they […]

This spice rub is the companion recipe to Pineapple Salsa and can be used when grilling chicken, turkey or pork indoors or out. It’s a keeper for me, for a couple reasons.
Sure, we can buy spice rubs but like taco seasoning mixes, they tend to have more sodium than anyone needs when eating sensibily. Like all […]

This is a perfect, refreshing accompaniment to grilled poultry or pork. Its tropical flavors are welcome in hot weather and complement chicken, turkey or pork that’s been prepared with its companion recipe, a Caribbean spice rub. Both recipes are fine on their own but together, they are more.
I found this at Fine Cooking, in one of the […]

Think of this as a cousin to Spanish rice but with a kick, a high kick the Rockettes might envy. I love rice, I love hot stuff. Put ‘em together and I’m in heaven.
You can tone it down, of course. Most of the heat is from Tabasco sauce, not the jalapenos, which are mild. I […]

There’s nothing like a heat wave to make me crave fresh fruits and when it happens this early — it’s still officially spring — I search my recipes for something fast, light and refreshing. It was 94 degrees yesterday (34C) and even hotter in New York and Washington. More of the same is expected today.
This somewhat-unusual […]

This is the companion recipe to the gingered carrot soup I posted a few days ago. Like the soup, it’s fabulous and can stand on its own but they are better together; their flavors compliment each other perfectly. It’s fast, simple and tastes as if it required a lot more work. It epitomizes the wisdom of […]

I’ve been cooking frequently with ginger the past few months. I love the depth it brings to a dish, even when used in small amounts. And I’m especially fond of Asian flavors, so when this recipe showed up in the Healthy Dinners widget, it went onto my “to try” list.
I made it in April with […]

So the other day I was in the produce department at the supermarket and was about to buy a few bananas at 79¢ per pound when I noticed a couple brown paper bags marked 99¢. Inside were eight or nine bananas and only a few were beginning to develop spots. I took one, a middle-aged […]

Like most people, when I think of vindaloo I think of a hot dish, one of the hottest on the menu, and one that needs a long and low stay in the oven. This vindaloo is different on both counts. It’s dinner on the table in well under an hour and it’s as mild — […]

I tried a recipe from last week’s Washington Post for a fast version of pork vindaloo – I’m posting it separately and the link is below. This mild paste was an alternative to jarred curry paste and I’m glad I tried it. It gave the dish a restaurant quality and would be wonderful with other […]

It’s not hyberbole. This really is the best marinade recipe I’ve ever used. It’s also a recipe for chicken fajitas, but I love the marinade so much I often use it on its own. 
This gets raves. The herbs are right, the acids are right and the chicken is moist and delectable whether it’s grilled outdoors or […]

The convenience of no-bake fruit pies can’t be denied, but neither can their frequent shortcomings. Often they’re little more than a baked pie shell with fruit in a runny pool of syrup or they’re strawberries coated with a neon-red, artificial-tasting, cloyingly-sweet commercial glaze.
My mother used to make a no-bake strawberry pie that didn’t pool, but […]

Since I do practice what I advocate — cuisine d’opportunité – I have another, but very different, raspberry recipe on the heels of raspberry fool. I found gorgeous berries at a great price a few days ago and bought several containers; the savings with this raspberry vinaigrette recipe alone pays for them all.
I don’t know what bothers […]

This is one fool I’ll suffer gladly and it doesn’t have to be a raspberry fool. Strawberry fool, blackberry fool, blueberry fool are all welcome. Even red currant fool, which is why I learned to make this in the first place.
This dessert is a cousin to the trifle and goes back hundreds of years. In […]