clove

fish biryani

November 8, 2011

This is our recipe for the biryani cook-off that the delightful Heavenly was so good to sponsor. Though after making this marvelous, complex dish; I’m starting to think that she might have been misnamed, as it appears that a tiny bit of a devilish streak lies hidden among all that domestic goodness and glamour. Have [...]

Read the full article →

pumpkin coconut compote

February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today it’s all about sweets for your sweet. My home State, Minas Gerais in Brazil, is famed for its jams and compotes. They make many sweets from lots of different fruits, including: guava, pineapple, passion fruit, bitter orange, jabuticaba, quice and pumpkin, to name just a few. As a kid, I fondly [...]

Read the full article →

Chinese 5 spice powder

February 8, 2011

I can’t think of a many dishes I like that come flavored with star anise, licorice or fennel seeds. I’m not a huge fan. My nose and palate simply cannot process these intense smells and tastes. Pernod flavored mussels? a Sambuca Romana digestif? Pastis? Licorice candy shaped like little black Scotty dogs? I’ll pass, thank [...]

Read the full article →

PPO: pumpkin pie obsession, better known as healthier-than-it-should-be pumpkin pie

November 29, 2010

I do not know what has come over me, but I have this overwhelming urge to eat and fully enjoy pumpkin pie. It might be because it is the season for pumpkins and pumpkins are just everywhere. Also the food advertisements that come in bright colors in the mail every other day make holiday meals [...]

Read the full article →

doce de abóbora em pedaços

April 2, 2010

Doce de abóbora em pedaços or “sweet pumpkin in pieces” is a common roadside snack that you might see while travelling in São Paulo state on the way to Minas Gerais in Brazil. There’s another version that uses green papaya instead of pumpkin. The secret ingredient is this chemical called cal virgem. We bought some [...]

Read the full article →

dreaming of doce de batata roxa

March 5, 2010

I love roadside snacks almost anywhere. In the American Southwest I chomp on Cornuts. In Virginia or at the movies, nothing is better than cherry Twizzlers. When I took a three week tour of China about fifteen years ago, the other members of our little tour group started calling me “snack man” because I would [...]

Read the full article →

manjar de côco com ameixas AKA coconut & prune pudding

December 11, 2009

A friend’s mother, Linda Dunn, an accomplished painter living and working on the Central Coast of California, emailed me the other day asking for a dessert recipe for a potluck Brazilian-themed party she was going to attend. I immediately thought of manjar, a simple and easy to make dessert I used to eat when a [...]

Read the full article →

my spicy chana recipe

August 28, 2009

Chana is the Indian name for chick pea or garbanzo bean. My recipe is inspired by a wonderful chick pea dish called Kaabli Chana that I order from Rotee Express, an Indian restaurant that I go to for lunch every now and then. This restaurant is conveniently located around the corner from my office on [...]

Read the full article →

a homemade Indian banquet

April 28, 2009

Have you ever wondered about cooking Indian food at home? Well it’s not as hard as you think, though it does take a little planning. At this Indian dinner, I served six traditional dishes from southern India. That probably sounds like a lot and it did take a few hours to prepare everything. Fortunately, many [...]

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Read the full article →