TomatoTart! Tomato Pie! Tomato Cobbler! (all gluten-free or not)

I used to make tomato pie from More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin, which (along with Home Cooking) is one of my favourite books.  Tomato Pie the epitome of summer comfort food…tomatoes baked with cheese, herbs and a bit of home-made mayonaisse in the most delicious biscuit crust.  I tweaked the recipe over the years to…

Cold Cucumber Soup with Dill and Sesame

When  I was little and I would go to stay with my biological father for the weekend, he would always give a long English cucumber.  I was responsible for not loosing my cucumber or getting it too dirty to eat and also for feeding myself when I got hungry.  It was a pretty ingenious idea…

Green Fritters with Herb Sauce

Hey, there may be a pause before our next post.  My sister and I are traveling to Estonia for a month to do folklore research and generally reconnect with our roots.  It might take us a minute or two to recover from travel and suss out exactly what is actually included in the “kitchenette” of…

Bhel-Poori, without the Poori (gluten-free)

Years ago, a good friend of mine went travelling for many months in India.   I had not travelled there yet myself, and when this friend returned he thoughtfully brought me the perfect gift…a story about food.  He spun a tale about being served this odd and exciting crunchy, tangy, spicy, fresh salad like thing…

Spicy Beet Salad with Horseradish

I used to go to the Anyway Cafe in the East Village.  I liked to order shots of honey ginger infused vodka, wild mushroom pelmeni and their amazing beet salad.  We are all familiar with the standard restaurant beet salad…roasted beets, goat cheese, some sort of toasted nut or another.  I often make variations on…

Tofu Salad with Mint and Toasted Rice Powder

Many of the Thai dishes that I have learned to cook are part of my attempt to recreate restaurant dishes that I like.  This recipe is different. It is from a very creative and inspiring cookbook called True Thai, The Modern Art of Thai Cooking by Victor Sodsook. I do not think that I have ever…

Chili Cream and Swiss Chard Soup

So we steep chilies in cream at work to make delicious spicy cream. And there was a batch recently that got left to steep for a bit too long. My co-worker Jen was going to throw it out but I said, WAIT! That is delicious spicy cream! It is fatty and spicy and those are…

Green Vegetables in Yellow Bean Garlic Sauce

You may not realize that you have eaten yellow-bean garlic sauce, but if you have ordered long beans or water spinach at a Thai or Vietnamese restaurant in an attempt to counteract the quantity of coconut milk curry and fried spring roles that will be consuming…chances are you have had this sauce.  It’s a very…