KitchenDaily http://main.kitchendaily.com KitchenDaily http://main.kitchendaily.com/media/feedlogo.gif KitchenDaily http://main.kitchendaily.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Cuban Black Bean Soup (Sopa de Frijoles Negros)http://main.kitchendaily.com/2011/03/31/cuban-black-bean-soup-sopa-de-frijoles-negros/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2011/03/31/cuban-black-bean-soup-sopa-de-frijoles-negros/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2011/03/31/cuban-black-bean-soup-sopa-de-frijoles-negros/#comments
Cuban Black Bean Soup
AlamyIn this installment of Global Cook, Caroline Bates shares her Cuban Black Bean Soup recipe and tips on making a Sopa de Frijoles Negros that would make the Coach House proud.

Red beans, pink beans, yellow beans. Black beans, brown beans, white beans. Beans speckled like Appaloosa ponies and beans that sport cranberry stripes. I love dried beans and their painterly patterns and colors. But what I love most is cooking them and discerning their subtle differences. Some varieties seem best for baking or in golden-crusted gratins. Others shine in chilis or vegetable-rich soups like minestrone. But for soups in which the bean is the star, there's nothing quite like the turtle bean, the jet-black beauty that's a favorite throughout Latin America.

In New York in the 1970s and 1980s, black bean soup was a wildly popular specialty of the Coach House, a restaurant renowned for its fine American cooking. If you couldn't afford to eat there, you could at least make the soup from a widely published recipe. It was quite an undertaking, as restaurant recipes often are. First, the cook was instructed to brown beef bones and a ham hock for a long-simmered stock before even getting to cook the beans (which had soaked overnight). I followed the recipe faithfully, and hours later, after pressing the soup twice through a sieve to achieve the desired smooth puree, all I had was a thin, grainy broth colored an unappetizing purplish-gray. Even the flavor was gray. Was this really the celebrated Coach House soup? "Not the one I remember," said a friend who had actually eaten it at the restaurant.

But that wasn't the only black bean soup in town. At a dinner party, Elena, the Cuban-born hostess, served her mother's sopa de frijoles negros, and I needed only a spoonful to know how a black bean soup should taste. Earthy and nourishing, a soup with substance. A few beans had been pureed as a thickener, but most were left whole, shimmering in their dark broth. Sauteed green peppers, onions, garlic, cumin, and oregano -- a seasoning mixture called a sofrito-had been stirred in for a little sweetness and spice. The guests helped themselves to garnishes of chopped hard-boiled eggs, lemon slices, diced onion, and cubed ham. Some Cubans cook the soup with a hambone, but Elena preferred to leave it out for her vegetarian friends.

The Coach House closed in 1994, and I'll never be able to taste their soup at the source. But I no longer want to. I have the recipe that satisfies me, and it doesn't take a weekend to make.


Get the Cuban Black Bean Soup recipe.


Tips for Cuban Black Bean Soup:
  • Some beans can be presoaked, but black beans just turn gray and lose their flavor. Instead of soaking, cook them a little longer-and make sure they are always covered with liquid. Cooking times are variable and depend on the age of the beans and hardness of water. To cook black beans to tenderness, allow from one to two hours.
  • A typical Cuban sofrito (seasoning mixture) for the soup includes fresh Cubanelles, sweet, yellowish-green peppers that are hard to find. Green Italian frying peppers or mild Anaheim chiles may be substituted.
  • Garnishes for black bean soup are like toppings for an ice cream sundae -- the more the merrier. Start with lemon and hard-boiled eggs. Avocado and black beans harmonize well, and black beans and rice are Latin soul mates.
  • Like all bean soups, this one can be made a day ahead, cooled, and refrigerated. Cooked beans continue to absorb liquid, so you may need to thin the soup with water to the consistency you want.

Shopping resources: I thought I knew my beans until I stumbled on purcellmountainfarms.com, an amazing Idaho source not only for black turtle beans but dozens of other heirloom varieties.

Related Video

Learn how to make vegetable stock.


]]>feature-global-cookCaroline Bates2011-03-31T19:06:00ZFrench Beef Bourguignonhttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2011/02/15/french-beef-bourguignon-recipe-tips/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2011/02/15/french-beef-bourguignon-recipe-tips/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2011/02/15/french-beef-bourguignon-recipe-tips/#comments
boeuf bourguignon recipe
AlamyIn this installment of Global Cook, Caroline Bates shares her Beef Bourguignon recipe and tips on making a Boeuf Bourguignon that would impress Julia Child.

"There are more ways than one to arrive at a good boeuf bourguignon," wrote the late Julia Child, whose Mastering the Art of French Cooking was first published 50 years ago. Both the cookbook and its classic beef stew saw a new surge of popularity after Julie & Julia, the hit movie that shuttles back and forth between Julia's life in France and blogger Julie Powell's determination to cook her way through the book's 524 recipes in 365 days. Fans of the film aren't likely to forget Julie's first disastrous attempt to cook the stew. Lesson learned: Don't begin a long-cooking dish late at night, and go easy on the vodka gimlets. You'll never arrive at a good beef bourguignon if you fall asleep and let it burn to a crisp.

You can't go wrong with the original master recipe of Julia and her French co-authors. Graded on technique and flavor, it passes the test of time with an A-plus. Followed faithfully, it gives a cook the tools and know-how to cook any beef stew, whether styled a la bourguignonne (with bacon, onions, mushrooms, and red Burgundy) or a la flamande (with onions and Belgian beer).

Never one to stick to the same script, Julia made many different boeufs bourguignons. In The Way to Cook (1989), she simplified a few steps (an improvement) and cooked the stew with Zinfandel and, surprisingly, tomatoes. Unchanged were the essentials: Patting the meat dry and browning it thoroughly, cooking the stew at a slow simmer, and paying attention to seemingly minor details that make the difference between an everyday beef stew and a deeply flavorful one you're proud to bring to the table.

Using a battered and beloved orange Le Creuset casserole stained with red wine, I've made many a beef bourguignon, but the one I favor now borrows a lot from Julia. It's a dish I undertake only when I can put my heart in it. Setting aside an afternoon, I go through the steps thoughtfully and without pressure, knowing the reward in store. Julia, as always, said it best: "Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man."

Get the Beef Bourguignon recipe.

Tips for Beef Bourguignon

The beauty of a beef stew is that it can be cooked a day ahead and taste all the better for the aging.

For stew meat, your best bet is boneless beef chuck. Cut it into 2-inch chunks yourself or ask an obliging butcher. Avoid pre-cut stewing beef or any labeled "lean," which turns tough and dry during a long simmering.

I'm always surprised how many recipes for boeuf bourguignon neglect to tell the cook to pat the chunks of meat dry with paper towels. Damp meat will steam but it won't brown. It also won't brown properly if you crowd the chunks in a pan. I probably brown fewer pieces of meat at a time than many recipes suggest, but the results repay the extra effort and time.

Should you flour the meat before or after browning? Either works as a thickener, but I prefer the flavorful crust that forms on pre-floured meat.

If you can find them, frozen, pre-peeled pearl onions are a great convenience and timesaver. Otherwise, blanch pearl onions briefly in boiling water, drain, and peel off the skins.

More on Beef Bourguignon and Julia Child

Also try Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon recipe.
Get one Family Chef's take on yet another Beef Bourguignon.
At Slashfood: Julia Child editor Judith Jones talks about Julie and Julia Author, Julie Powell.

Related Video

Watch this video of Curtis Stone making his Braised Beef Stew recipe.

]]>beeffeature-global-cookfrenchCaroline Bates2011-02-15T13:00:00ZJapanese Nori-Wrapped Salmon with Somen Noodleshttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/12/30/japanese-nori-wrapped-salmon-recipe-tips/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/12/30/japanese-nori-wrapped-salmon-recipe-tips/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/12/30/japanese-nori-wrapped-salmon-recipe-tips/#comments
nori salmon ingredients
AlamyIn this installment of Global Cook, Caroline Bates shares a recipe for Japanese Nori-Wrapped Salmon with Somen Noodles that's easy to make at home.

As a New England kid, seaweed to me meant the shiny, treasure-laden stuff that washed ashore in drifts. I loved combing it for a sand dollar or a shard of beach glass. It was fun to play with, too. I jump-roped with long, slippery ropes of kelp, and planted them in "gardens" for sand castles. My best friend said people even ate seaweed, but I didn't believe her. Swallow a rubbery piece of kelp? Ugh!

Fast forward to a seaside park in Honolulu where ethnobotany students from the University of Hawaii have brought some popular island foods to a potluck picnic. From nori-wrapped sushi, vegetable salads, and a classic Hawaiian poke (cubes of raw ahi tuna with fresh ogo, a local seaweed), to a spice cake speckled with ground kelp instead of raisins, there's an edible seaweed in every dish contributing flavor and crunch. That certain seaweeds can be good to eat as well as good for you (they are vitamin and mineral powerhouses) is the point the students' professor intended to make. An expert on edible seaweeds, she also created that astonishingly delicious kelp cake.

There are no fresh seaweeds where I now live, but Japanese nori, my favorite dried seaweed, is a staple in my kitchen. Crumbled, it seasons steamed rice, cooked noodles, and scrambled eggs with the scent of the sea. Cut into strips, it's a neat wrapper for a salmon or halibut steak. Fish and seaweed -- what could be more natural?

Get the Nori-Wrapped Salmon with Somen Noodles recipe.

Tips for Making Nori-Wrapped Salmon

This recipe calls for boned center-cut salmon steaks at least an inch thick. See the boning directions on the salmon recipe below.

Japanese dried nori is sold in sheets, plain or roasted. The best quality has a greenish-black color. A well-sealed package of nori will keep for months in the freezer.

Wasabi, a green condiment made from a type of horseradish, is packaged as a powder you mix with water or as a ready-to-squeeze paste, which I prefer.

Set a timer when you begin cooking the Japanese white wheat noodles called somen. They quickly turn mushy if cooked longer than 2 minutes.

Shopping Resources: The Japanese ingredients in this dish are available in many supermarkets and natural foods stores. Uwajimaya (uwajimaya.com), a Seattle-based Asian food store, is a comprehensive online source.

More Salmon Recipes and Cooking Advice


]]>easyfeature-global-cookfishhealthyjapanesesalmonseafoodCaroline Bates2010-12-30T13:50:00ZScandinavian Pork Loin with Apricots and Cherrieshttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/12/17/scandinavian-recipe-pork-loin-apricots-cherries/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/12/17/scandinavian-recipe-pork-loin-apricots-cherries/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/12/17/scandinavian-recipe-pork-loin-apricots-cherries/#comments
stuffed pork loin with cherries and apricots
Bon Appetit / AlamyIn this installment of Global Cook, Caroline Bates shares a Scandinavian Pork Loin with Apricots and Cherries recipe that's perfect for Christmas dinner or any other festive meal.

In my second winter in New York, I fell in love with glogg, trolls, straw goats, and wooden elves with red-felt caps in a little Greenwich Village shop that might have been airlifted intact from a Christmas market in Stockholm or Copenhagen. As customers wandered about, the owner passed out mugs of that spicy mulled wine along with sugar-glazed butter cookies and fried rosettes. For a lonely young person in the city, the warmth and sweet tastes of this magical place helped banish a bad case of the holiday blues. What I could never have imagined then was how the experience would continue to flavor my life.

I haven't drunk glogg in years. But every December the comical troll that came home with me joins clusters of Swedish figures brightening every corner of the house. My kitchen is scented with cardamom-spiced pepper nuts, saffron buns, and sugary rosettes made with the same rosette iron I bought in the shop long ago. And some day soon, I'll braise a pork loin stuffed with dried apricots and cherries and serve it with a currant jelly cream sauce. A wonderful old-fashioned recipe from a Swedish friend, it's now a family tradition of mine. In my home, we're all Scandinavians when the holidays come around.

Tips for Scandinavian Pork Loin

Many meat counters feature center-cut pork loins already boned and tied at 1-inch intervals. Some loins may also have a tunnel through the center ready for stuffing. If yours doesn't, use a sharp knife to make a 3/4-inch incision at each end. Force a long skewer through the loin, and enlarge it slightly with the long rounded handle of a wooden spoon.

To brine or not to brine is no longer the question. Today's lean pork is a pale substitute for yesterday's juicy, fat-streaked meat. Soaking it in a seasoned brine plumps it up and heightens the flavor. Plan to do this a day or two before braising the meat.

Shopping resources: If your supermarket comes up short for red currant jelly, try www.Scandiafood.com. Red or black currant preserves can also be used: Heat to melting and strain to remove the small black seeds.

Get the Scandinavian Pork Loin with Apricots and Cherries recipe.

More Scandinavian Food and Style


]]>feature-global-cookscandinavianCaroline Bates2010-12-17T11:30:00ZPortuguese Kale Soup - Caldo Verdehttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/11/29/portuguese-kale-soup-caldo-verde-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/11/29/portuguese-kale-soup-caldo-verde-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/11/29/portuguese-kale-soup-caldo-verde-recipe/#comments
caldo verde kale soup
Getty ImagesIn this installment of Global Cook, Caroline Bates shares a recipe for Caldo Verde or Portuguese Kale Soup that's easy to make at home.

Caldo verde (literally, "green soup"), the national soup of Portugal, also happens to be among the great regional dishes of southeastern New England, where it's also known as "Portuguese soup." We have generations of Portuguese-American cooks to thank for this earthy broth of kale and potatoes spiced with garlicky linguica or chourico, two of the world's best sausages. I grew up eating this old-world classic in its simplest form, and so did Chef Emeril Lagasse, whose hometown, Fall River, Massachusetts, is twelve miles from mine. Emeril's recently posted recipe for a "new-style" caldo verde follows tradition; what's new is a garnish of fresh herbs. But for many caldo verde cooks, potatoes, kale, and onions are just the base on which to build a substantial bean and vegetable soup. Order it at The Moors, one of Provincetown's oldest restaurants, and you're served a huge bowlful with chourico, green cabbage, tomatoes, and beans. It's hearty, healthy, and undeniably delicious. But simplicity becomes a dish with such rustic roots. When I'm hungry for caldo verde, I turn to the humble soup I loved long ago.

Get the Portuguese Caldo Verde recipe.

Tips for Caldo Verde

Use any variety of kale, but dark-green lacinato kale is especially flavorful and colorful. Lacking kale, collard greens are a good alternative.

In a pinch, you can substitute Spanish chorizo or Polish kielbasa for the sausages, but I can't imagine eating this soup without genuine Portuguese linguica or chourico. They are well worth searching out (see online sources below). Finally, like many soups, this one tastes even better a day or two after it is made.
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Shopping resources: Gaspar's Sausage Company (www.gasparssausage.com) in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, specializes in Portuguese linguica and chourico sausages. An excellent Portuguese-style linguica is also available from Usinger's (www.usinger.com), a Milwaukee sausage maker for more than 125 years.
]]>feature-global-cookportuguesesoupCaroline Bates2010-11-29T16:21:00ZIndian Vegetable Kormahttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/09/23/indian-vegetable-korma-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/09/23/indian-vegetable-korma-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/09/23/indian-vegetable-korma-recipe/#comments
Vegetable Korma
AlamyIn this installment of Global Cook, Caroline Bates shares an Indian Vegetable Korma recipe that's easy to make at home.

Once upon a time, all you needed to "curry" a dish was a dash of the yellow powder sold in every supermarket. My mother was of a generation that adored curry powder and the zing it added to creamed mushrooms and chicken. Inspired by an idea in "Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook," she once dazzled her friends with an "Indian" buffet starring chicken and shrimp curries and condiments such as sauteed bananas, peanuts and chutney. We'd never call that Indian now, but curry powder is still the go-to spice in many American kitchens. In 1989, in "The Way To Cook," even Julia Child specified "fragrant curry powder" for an onion soup and a mushroom sauce for shrimp.

It took me years to get up the courage to make an Indian dish myself, and curry powder wasn't one of the ingredients. I knew then that in Indian cookery, the word "curry" referred to a slow braising in spices, not to a spice mixture itself. The name for that was garam masala, and finicky cooks created their own blends of spices and ground them to order. Living near a city with Indian markets was the push I needed. (Now, almost everything you need for Indian cooking is available online.)

An easy lentil soup and a fiery shrimp curry were promising starters. But I realized I was on to something when my vegetable-hating husband ate several vegetarian curries and said, "I hope you make these again." I don't know of another cuisine in the world where a bland and stodgy vegetable (think green beans, or insert your choice here) is transformed into a vibrantly flavorful dish even a carnivore can love. In India, vegetable cookery is both alchemy and art.

Get the Indian Vegetable Korma recipe.

Indian Vegetable Korma Tips

Cloaking vegetables with korma, a creamy and gently aromatic sauce, is typical of the Punjabi region in northwestern India. Some kormas include chiles, but I think their bite overpowers the subtlety of the spices.

This recipe calls for pre-ground spices, but purists may prefer to warm whole spices briefly, to release their flavors, and grind them fresh.

Note that Indian varieties of cumin, coriander seed, and cardamom differ significantly in flavor from supermarket brands.

The long list of ingredients may look daunting, but the dish comes together quickly if you pre-measure the spices and line them up with the prepared vegetables before you begin cooking.

To save time, use frozen green beans and packaged sliced mushrooms.

Shopping resources: Spices (whole or ground), pappadums (in a variety of flavors), and any Indian food you're looking for is available online at iShopIndian.com. They also stock cookbooks and traditional Indian utensils. If you do a fair amount of Indian cooking, check out the handy masala dabba, a nest of seven small spice bowls that fits into an airtight stainless steel container. Kalustyans.com is also a good source for Indian ingredients.


]]>feature-global-cookindianvegetableCaroline Bates2010-09-23T13:55:00ZMoroccan-Style Chicken with Shallots, Apricots and Honeyhttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/08/31/moroccan-style-chicken-with-shallots-apricots-and-honey/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/08/31/moroccan-style-chicken-with-shallots-apricots-and-honey/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/08/31/moroccan-style-chicken-with-shallots-apricots-and-honey/#comments
Moroccan food
Getty ImagesBack in the early 1970s, like many cooks hungry for excitement, I lapped up any book that took me to exotic and unfamiliar kitchens. The first cookbook that transported me in this way was spotted at a small-town yard sale; I was mainly drawn by the cover photo of a smiling, buxom woman holding a platter of couscous. For five dollars, Paula Wolfert's "Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco" (Harper & Row, 1973) became my ticket to a new world of honeyed sweets and a strangely seductive chicken tagine (stew) with cracked green olives and preserved lemons (these alone required a month to cure!).

I was next led farther east by Cairo-born Claudia Roden's "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1972). I treasured her rich cultural and historic notes as much as the recipes. I owe a debt of gratitude to these remarkable women for spicing up my life with fragrant chicken and lamb tagines. This delicately spicy and sweet chicken recipe combines ingredients from several of my favorites.

Get the Moroccan-Style Chicken with Caramelized Shallots, Apricots and Honey recipe.

Moroccan-Style Chicken Tips

The word "tagine" refers to both the stew itself and the distinctive earthen pot with a conical lid in which traditionally it is cooked. A heavy flameproof casserole or deep-sided skillet works just as well.

Choose a cut-up chicken as suggested or, for a richer taste, the equivalent in chicken legs separated into drumsticks and thighs.

The first onion in the recipe almost dissolves in the sauce. The shallots contribute silkiness and a depth of flavor absent in other onion varieties. In a pinch, substitute peeled pearl onions.

Some cooks garnish the chicken with a handful of blanched almonds briefly sauteed in oil. Others prefer simmering almonds in the stew or omitting them altogether.

Shopping resources:
Ingredients like dried Turkish apricots and saffron threads can be purchased at stores like Kalustyan's. If you don't want to order ingredients online and can't find them at local stores, substitute California dried apricots and bottled saffron (from popular spice manufacturers like McCormick). Additionally, if you'd like to cook this recipe in a traditional tagine, Wolfert includes a link on her site to Tagines.com as a great source for this authentic cookware.

More on KitchenDaily:


]]>feature-global-cookCaroline Bates2010-08-31T15:30:00ZChinese-Style Street Noodles in Peanut Saucehttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/chinese-style-street-noodles-in-peanut-sauce-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/chinese-style-street-noodles-in-peanut-sauce-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/chinese-style-street-noodles-in-peanut-sauce-recipe/#comments
Chinese-Style Street Noodles in Peanut Sauce
Getty ImagesMy first encounter with Chinese noodles in a spicy peanut sauce came in a rather grungy Honolulu food market where I'd gone with an expat French chef and a native Hawaiian. "Don't worry," the chef assured me. "We duck in here several times a week," and they laughed. I watched as a woman at the stand ladled noodles in a bowl and tossed them with a dark, creamy sauce. She pointed to bottles of sesame oil and vinegar and piles of cilantro and cucumber and said, "You put on." I did, took a bite, and marveled how a simple bowl of noodles could taste so insanely delicious.
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]]>chinesefeature-global-cookpastaCaroline Bates2010-06-30T17:02:00ZTuscan-Style Spaghetti with Uncooked Tomato Saucehttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/tuscan-style-spaghetti-with-uncooked-tomato-sauce-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/tuscan-style-spaghetti-with-uncooked-tomato-sauce-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/tuscan-style-spaghetti-with-uncooked-tomato-sauce-recipe/#comments
Tuscan-Style Spaghetti with Uncooked Tomato Sauce
CorbisOnce in a while you happen upon a book so honest and affecting that it changes how you think about food. In The Tuscan Year(Atheneum, 1985), Elizabeth Romer chronicles the month-by-month cycle of life on a Tuscan farm that grows, prepares, and forages for everything it eats. It is sensitive and insightful, and the recipes of Silvana Cerotti, the family's matriarch, reflect the seasonality of true Tuscan cooking.

Several of her dishes have become family favorites. But the one we dream about all year -- spaghetti with an uncooked tomato sauce -- can be made only with the sweet, sun-ripened tomatoes of summer. Any good-sized tomato from a home garden or farmers market will do -- the popular Celebrity or the luscious heirlooms such as Cherokee purple, pink Brandywine, and pink-streaked Yellow Pineapple, which are sunshine on the plate. (What won't do are the pretty but flavorless supermarket tomatoes.) A quality olive oil is also essential to the success of the pasta. Buy the fruitiest and finest you can afford.

Although Signora Cerotti prefers less garlic and basil than I do, in other respects my recipe, like hers, is seasonal, simple, and sublime.

Get the Tuscan-Style Spaghetti with Uncooked Tomato Sauce recipe.

Tips on Making the Spaghetti with Uncooked Tomato Sauce

Start the sauce for the spaghetti in the morning on the day you plan to eat it for supper. The tomatoes need to sit with the basil and garlic for 8 hours.

Don't refrigerate the sauce during the 8 hours; let it stand at room temperature. Chilling tomatoes gives them a mealy texture.

When you core and peel the tomatoes, leave the skins on if they don't slip of easily -- dipping tomatoes in boiling water dulls their flavor, and that super ripe flavor is critical in a raw sauce.

Shopping resources: Italian ingredients, including pasta and olive oil, can be ordered online from ditalia.com and dpaloselects.com.
]]>feature-global-cookCaroline Bates2010-06-30T16:35:00ZBasque Peppers and Tomatoes with Eggshttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/basque-peppers-and-tomatoes-with-eggs-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/basque-peppers-and-tomatoes-with-eggs-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/06/30/basque-peppers-and-tomatoes-with-eggs-recipe/#comments
Basque piperade
CorbisThe sunny stew of peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic -- called "piperade" -- flavors the Basque country of France and Spain, and stirs it up a little, too. Gerald Hirigoyen points out in The Basque Kitchen (HarperCollins, 1999) that every Basque has a slightly different take on this classic. Is it a side dish, as some insist, or a sauce? Some argue that it should always be cooked with eggs. Others would never use eggs at all.

With no family tradition to uphold, I love piperade with boiled potatoes and Feta cheese, as a spicy sauce for pasta, with sliced ham (as many Basques do), and, yes, with eggs in various ways. Eggs scrambled with piperade make an easy supper dish with sure-fire appeal. If company is coming. I'll bake the eggs in a gratin of piperade. There's something about the sight of a raft of yellow egg yolks in a crimson sea of peppers and tomatoes that makes everyone smile.

Get the Basque Peppers with Tomatoes and Egg recipe.

Tips on Making Piperade

Peppers: Older American recipes call for bell peppers, but piperade really needs a pepper with a little bite. My choice is the long and skinny green chile labeled "California," "Anaheim," or "New Mexican." You'll find it in the produce sections of Mexican markets and many supermarkets. I like to pair it with Spanish red piquillo peppers, which are roasted and imported in jars (available at Trader Joe's, specialty food shops, and markethallfoods.com). Market Hall Foods is also a source for the prized Piment D'Espellette, a powdered red pepper with a sweet and delicately spicy flavor.

Tomatoes: Fresh are always better in season, but quality organic canned tomatoes do beautifully the rest of the year.

Shopping resources: In addition to markethallfoods.com, mentioned above, a good source for Spanish (and Basque) ingredients is tienda.com.
]]>feature-global-cooktips-techniques-global-cookCaroline Bates2010-06-30T16:20:00ZThai Beef Saladhttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/05/12/thai-beef-salad-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/05/12/thai-beef-salad-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/05/12/thai-beef-salad-recipe/#comments
Thai Beef Salad
Getty ImagesThe year, 1974. The place, Tepparod Thai, in Los Angeles, thought to be the first Thai restaurant in the country. One spoonful of tom yam kung, a hot-and-sour shrimp soup, and the world of food as I knew it exploded.

Chile power? Oh, yes. But what made the tart broth taste like a fragrant grove of exotic citrus? "Takrai" and "makrut" offered the apologetic staff, at a loss for English equivalents. Later I'd learn that "lemongrass" and "Kaffir lime leaves" are staples in a Thai kitchen, along with galangal (a ginger-related root), and nam pla, a concentrated fish sauce and magical flavor enhancer. But before I understood any of that, this captivating cuisine had me hooked. I love Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese food, but it's Thai cooking I crave.

Yam neua, a favorite of mine, is an appealing beef salad with the contrasting tastes (hot, sour, salty) and textures (crisp and juicy) so typical of Thai salads. It would be one of many dishes in a traditional rice-based meal. I serve it American style as a main dish -- but always with rice, a perfect foil for the pungent flavors.

Get the Thai Beef Salad recipe.

Tips on Making the Thai Beef Salad

I try to think and shop like a Thai cook. Are the salad greens truly fresh and first-rate? If not, maybe I'll go instead for the color and crunch of cucumbers, carrots, and red bell peppers. Fresh mint, cilantro, and sweet basil are essentials, but all are widely available these days. If you have an Asian market in your town, you may also be able find several Thai basils and frequently fresh lime leaves: finely shredded, they add pizzazz to the dressing.

The dressing is the soul of this salad. I like equal amounts of lime juice and fish sauce (you may prefer more of one than another), a touch of sugar, and just enough diced serrano chiles to balance the flavors without wiping them out. Some recipes recommend using Thai "bird" chiles, but be wary. Just one of these tiny bombs packs the heat of three large serranos.

More on KitchenDaily: Gail Simmons on Ways to Use Fish Sauce.

Shopping resources: The site importfood.com sells a wide variety of Thai ingredients, including curry pastes, lemongrass and Kaffir lime leaves, as well as cookware and cookbooks.
]]>feature-global-cooktips-techniques-global-cookCaroline Bates2010-05-12T17:24:00ZTurkish Stuffed Peppershttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/05/12/turkish-stuffed-peppers-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/05/12/turkish-stuffed-peppers-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/05/12/turkish-stuffed-peppers-recipe/#comments
Ingredients for Turkish Stuffed Peppers
Getty ImagesMy mother's stuffed peppers were so bland and boring, it was a surprise to discover that a stuffed pepper could be more than just a pretty package. The awakening came in a Middle Eastern restaurant in Los Angeles when a waiter brought a platter of meze -- an assortment of appetizers that included several intriguing dolmas (stuffed vegetables). To my dismay, he singled out a pepper, saying, "Our chef's specialty. You must try it." I couldn't refuse. I took a small bite of the rice filling, and then another, savoring the subtle interplay of spices and fresh herbs with the contrasting textures and sweet notes of pine nuts and currants. I smiled with pleasure, and the waiter beamed. This, I thought, was how a stuffed pepper should taste.

They may not know much about stuffed peppers in my native New England, but in kitchens around the eastern Mediterranean, stuffed vegetables of every sort are a refined culinary art and an expression of a cook's creativity and skill. In Turkey, as part of a meze, stuffed peppers typically are meatless and called "yalanci" (or fake) dolmas. But a pepper filled with rice and ground meat makes a substantial and completely satisfying supper. There's nothing yalanci about the beef-stuffed peppers below, aromatic with allspice and with fresh parsley, mint, and dill, the herbal trinity that flavors many a traditional Turkish dish. And there's no reason they can't be pretty if you pick red, orange, and yellow peppers.

Get the Turkish Meat-Stuffed Pepper recipe.

Tips on Making Turkish Meat-Stuffed Peppers

Select large peppers that will easily stand upright. You will need a covered, straight-sided pot at least 5 inches deep and 8 to 9 inches inches in diameter to hold 4 stuffed peppers snugly. If your pot is wider, tie the peppers together around their middles with kitchen twine to keep them from toppling.

Handy but not essential: An instant-read thermometer to test the meat filling for doneness.

Shopping resources: Good online sources for Turkish and Middle Eastern ingredients include sahadis.com and kalustyans.com.
]]>feature-global-cookmiddle-eastern-recipesCaroline Bates2010-05-12T17:03:00ZMexican Chicken-Lime Souphttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/04/30/mexican-chicken-lime-soup-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/04/30/mexican-chicken-lime-soup-recipe/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/04/30/mexican-chicken-lime-soup-recipe/#comments
Mexican Ingredients: avocado, pepper, limes, cilantro
top: Getty Images; bottom: Corbis"It's always safe to eat soup," cautioned a finicky friend when I first went to Mexico years ago. I took her advice, but not for the reasons she had in mind. With the first electrifying taste of pozole, a pork and hominy soup, in the Mercado Libertad in Guadalajara, I had a feeling that Mexican soups and I were into a serious love affair.

The passion deepened as I traveled and found irresistible soups everywhere in the country - earthy ones of beans and rice, delicate ones of squash flowers and corn, all seasoned with strange and fragrant herbs and chiles. In a market in Merida, in Yucatan, I declared my love over a bowl of sopa de lima, a tortilla-topped chicken and lime soup, seduced by the sparkle of a local sour lime in the broth. There are as many recipes for chicken-tortilla soups as there are Mexican cooks, but you'll always be safe with this one.

Get the Mexican Chicken-Lime Soup recipe.

Tips on Making the Chicken-Lime Soup

It's Okay to Use Store-Bought Chicken Stock: In a perfect kitchen we'd all have homemade chicken stock in the freezer. I don't, and you probably don't either. Buy the best canned or packaged broth you can find. I like Trader Joe's reduced-sodium organic chicken broth or the similar Imagine brand.

Save Time by Pre-Cooking the Chicken: To save prep time, cook and shred the chicken ahead. It can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for a day. Or buy a deli roast chicken, shredding or dicing as much meat as you need and reserving the rest for another use.

Buy a Bag of Tortilla Chips: It is traditional to fry strips of corn tortillas for the topping. But crushed tortilla chips from a package are easier and, to my taste, better.

Shopping resources: Many Mexican ingredients, including dried chiles, can be purchased online from MexGrocer.com.

More from KitchenDaily: Cinco de Mayo Recipes from Rosa Mexicana
]]>feature-global-cooktips-techniques-global-cookCaroline Bates2010-04-30T13:28:00ZThe First Cake: An Easy Baking Project for Kidshttp://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/03/30/first-cake-baking-for-kids/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/03/30/first-cake-baking-for-kids/http://main.kitchendaily.com/2010/03/30/first-cake-baking-for-kids/#comments
The First Cake: A Baking Project for Kids
Getty ImagesWith a little help (okay, quite a bit of help), I made an applesauce spice cake when I was eight years old, standing on a tall kitchen chair because I was small for my age. My mother hovered near, ready to catch me if I teetered, chirping words of encouragement as I sifted the flour and spices, broke an egg into a cup, and stirred in the ingredients we'd measured and laid out ahead. We had no electric mixer then, so she stepped in to cream the butter and sugar by hand. I gladly let her maneuver the cake in and out of the oven and turn it out on a plate, but the last touch-a dusting of powdered sugar-was mine.

I was so proud of what I'd done that I cried inconsolably when my family gobbled it all up at dinner. "But it was such a delicious cake," my brother-in-law said, trying to cheer me up. "Imagine how sad you'd feel if no one liked it," and he clutched his throat and pretended to gag. I smiled through my tears, but I was still sad. I couldn't bear to see my first cake disappear so quickly.

I've baked dozens of different cakes over the years for family and friends, and everyone swoons over this homey, old-fashioned cake fragrant with cinnamon and mace. My husband always asks for it on his birthday. At six, having mastered muffins and drop cookies, my son decided it was time to tackle the applesauce cake, his favorite, too. I was skeptical. "That's pretty ambitious for your first cake. How about a yellow cake?" He shook his head. "Too boring." I didn't disagree. If cooking isn't any fun, why bother? This project would require more steps and ingredients than muffins, but the recipe was easy, and he'd used an electric mixer before. I'd be there to guide him, pitch in if he grew tired-and clean up at the end.

We began by preparing the pan. There is no task I dislike more. Not my son. To him, measuring and cutting paper to fit the pan was pure fun. After emptying the cupboards of small bowls, cups, spoons, and rubber scrapers, we gathered and measured all the ingredients, sifted the flour with spices, and placed everything on a large tray handy to the electric mixer. Kids aren't always keen on prep work, but organization is half the work of cooking, and it makes mixing the batter-the fun part-much easier. Step by careful step, the cake went together without a hitch despite the dippy sous chef (me) who spilled some of the applesauce and forgot to turn on the oven at the start. But sooner than I expected, the cake was baking and scenting the house with a seductively spicy aroma. When my son carried it triumphantly to the table, there were cheers but no tears. With only three of us, there was plenty of time to admire and savor the cake before it disappeared a few days later.
]]>feature-cooking-with-kidsCaroline Bates2010-03-30T16:36:00Z