Food, Photography and Bons Mots
I’m loving this dish. Couscous has long been a staple food in North Africa’s Maghreb but it has become popular around the world in recent years. I remember discovering it on a long-ago trip to startlingly-beautiful and exasperatingly-strident Morocco. Most of us here in the…
Do Asian vegetables confuse you? Don’t know your bok choy from your choy sum? Neither do I, but when David Tanis, one of my favorite food writers, published this recipe for Glazed Shiitakes With Bok Choy in his New York Times column City Kitchen, I soon found…
How do you feel about butternut squash? No, really. For those of you who might shy away from the squash, consider the following: It is a fruit; who doesn’t love fruit? It is a healthy food; who doesn’t want to eat healthy? It is inexpensive;…
Truth be told, I love baked beans. There are few meals that I enjoy more than a big bowl of baked beans and a generous side of coleslaw. To my taste, the crunch of the coleslaw perfectly complements the sweet/savory flavor of the baked…
Best wishes from those of us here at Blue Cayenne (that would be me and Juliet) for a happy Thanksgiving. And, if the going gets tough around the table tomorrow, you might do well to remember the sage advice of Oscar Wilde: “After a…
I’ll confess right off. Eggplant and I have a rocky relationship. It’s not because eggplant isn’t Robert-Redford handsome. Just look at that smooth skin and that sensuous coloring. It’s also not because I don’t try. I do. I just have trouble finding stellar recipes that…
It is the Christmas season here in Huntington Beach. I know that because my local Costco has Christmas trees for sale. Seems a tad early to me, but there is some research that holds that people who decorate early for the holidays lead happier…
Pythagoras was so convinced that beans had souls that their consumption was forbidden among his followers. Don’t get me wrong. I love beans, but I’m not so sure about the soul part. Tiny little bean hearts, maybe. Truth be told, however you fix ’em, I…
Today’s plat du jour on my table is ratatouille, a classic French vegetable stew that is a specialty of cooks in Provence and Nice. Apparently, a lot of other Mediterranean countries claim some version of this dish, too, so you may have encountered ratatouille under…
Raise your hands if you don’t like baked beans. Nobody? I thought so. This baked bean recipe has it all. It shines with the best beans you can buy but it is also great with plain Jane canned beans. (I used Rancho Gordo…
