starters & snacks

patê de sardinha AKA sardine paté

February 6, 2012

I simply love the site sardine society. It is fully dedicated to the noble, cheap and widely available canned sardine, and all-things canned-sardine related. What a great way to honor these humble, delicious and prolific fish. Sardines have a wonderful flavor, are inexpensive and are a rich source of protein. Yet they always seem to [...]

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Lynda’s deviled eggs

January 30, 2012

I was determined to find a cheap deviled egg platter at a thrift shop in the Mission District of San Francisco this past weekend to present my mother-in-law’s deviled eggs. We went to three or four stores and couldn’t find any (though we made out with vintage shirts.) I was disappointed because I don’t see [...]

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roasted eggplant with tahini and pomegranate party dip

December 23, 2011

Sometimes I like being told what to do—not too often mind you, so don’t get the wrong idea! But once in a while when I’m lacking the proper kitchen inspiration, it is nice to get helpful instruction. That happened the other day with this eggplant recipe. We were having a group of friends over and [...]

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umma paste

October 21, 2011

I fell in love with this Korean cookbook, The Kimchi Chronicles by Marja Vongerichten, while perusing a book shop at The Japan Center in SF recently. I adore kimchi and the book has a whole variety of recipes for them, and for banchans, those tapas style Korean side dishes. I can’t wait to try them [...]

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sunny-side up quail eggs and cannellini bean spread on rustic toast

October 17, 2011

Pão-com-ovo, or egg sandwich, was one of my favorites when I was growing up: so simple and delicious. I think it had to do with the eggs coming from happy hens, freely roaming around my mother’s backyard, feeding not only on grains, but all the other stuff chickens like to eat. What do you think? [...]

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tostones with shrimp, poblano pepper and heirloom tomato salsa

October 13, 2011

Hegui and I first tried tostones in Miami Beach. This was at least ten years ago! Too long. We’ve a friend in Florida who was dating this lovely Cuban man at the time. Aside from being marvelously good-natured and pleasant company, Luis also happened to be an incredible chef. He cooked for us our entire [...]

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red and white onion bajiis

August 30, 2011

Bajjis, bhajis or pakoras are Indian vegetable fritters I adore. They sort of remind me of the type of vegetable/rice fritters my mother used to occasionally make when I was a kid. She called them bolinhos de arroz, or rice balls. It was a creative way of using leftover rice. There was never waste at [...]

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savory pumpkin bread with garden herbs and labneh

July 12, 2011

Labneh is sort of a Lebanese version of sour cream or perhaps a very creamy cream cheese. Joumana uses it to great effect on her food blog. Look here, here and here for some excellent ideas. Hegui was so inspired that he bought a large container of labneh, mostly to snack on, it seems. I [...]

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whole wheat calzones with parsley mint pesto, provolone and mozzarella

June 20, 2011

I used to make this recipe from Mollie Katzen’s Enchanted Broccoli Forest all the time about twenty years ago. The book was new then, and I was new in the kitchen. It seemed terribly ambitious and impressive. I was always so pleased with myself! It’s funny how I feel now, preparing this after such a [...]

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salt codfish croquettes AKA croquete de bacalhau

April 29, 2011

This dish comes from a very specialized cookbook I bought last time I was in Brazil: 1000 recipes for salt cod. I know, amazing! I was excited when I bought the book and remain so. I don’t cook many of those recipes as they are a bit naughty and decadent, full of rich sauces with [...]

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