Chicken with Fresh Pears is an enjoyable summertime stir-fry perfect for weeknights. If you’re looking for traditional Chinese cuisine look elsewhere. This dish, along with many others in Sunset Wok Cook Book (1989), falls squarely in the old school Americanized stir-fry tradition. Stir-frying is an ingenious technique that works well with almost any set……
Ingredient: cornstarch
Sour Cherry Pie (adapted from The Black Family Reunion Cookbook, 1991)
The Black Family Reunion Cookbook (1991) is one of the books in my collection that I’ve read cover to cover but have never done much cooking from. It’s not that the recipes aren’t intriguing or delicious, it’s that the stories that accompany them are compelling and essential reading. The titular “Black Family Reunion” is an……
Baked Orange Coconut Chicken (adapted from Hawaii Kai Cookbook, 1970)
Baked Orange Coconut Chicken is an apt illustration of Hawaii Kai’s alternate universe Polynesian cuisine. It’s also one of the more accessible recipes, something that can be pulled together on a weeknight or dressed up for fancy company with a little bit of garnish. I’m not an authority on authentic Hawaiian cuisine, but I’m guessing……
Sunshine Carrots (Tennessee, 1978, adapted)
Sunshine carrots is a simple, tasty glazed carrot recipe. I was originally drawn to this recipe by the cheery name – who doesn’t love sunshine? – but it also serves a practical purpose for the members of our family who don’t like cooked carrots. Sunshine Carrots hides their funkiness with a sweet ginger orange glaze.
Cardamom Spiced Carrot Pudding (adapted from the Colonial Willamsburg Tavern Cookbook)
The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook‘s best recipes are for vegetables and desserts – and the Cardamom-Spiced Carrot Pudding is a little bit of both. It’s intended as a side dish, but the fragrant cardamom and a little bit of added sugar brings out the sweetness in the carrots and inches it closer to dessert territory…….
Chicken and Asparagus in Portuguese Sauce (adapted from A Taste of the Far East by Madhur Jaffrey)
Our favorite meal, far and away, from A Taste of the Far East is the Chicken and Asparagus in Portuguese Sauce. Now I’m no geography expert but Portugal isn’t exactly the “Far East”, and I’m frankly not sure where Portugal enters the picture. The recipe is adapted from a dish served at from a Hong Kong……