Lamb consumption in the United States is on a decades long decline, with the average American consuming just a single pound per year. Now my family members probably average a pound of lamb per month, and I imagine that many of my Middle Eastern and Indian neighbors do the same. When Americans do eat lamb……
Ingredient: garlic powder
Macaroni with Yogurt Sauce (California, 1990s, adapted)
I’ve been cooking long enough that I can figure out what a recipe’s going to taste like just from reading the ingredient list. There’s not a lot new under the sun, and the community cookbooks that I frequently cook from aren’t exactly known for their innovative cuisine. There’s an awful lot of repetition, even within……
Chicken Pistachio Pasta Salad (California, 2006, adapted)
Chicken Pistachio Pasta Salad is a hearty entrée salad perfect for a warm summer evening. This recipe comes to me by way of a community cookbook from the Mother Teresa Maternity Home in Placerville, CA, which serves as both a women’s shelter and a temporary home for pregnant women. Unlike most community cookbooks, this one……
Clever Pizzaiola Meatball Subs (adapted from Cooking with Regis & Kathie Lee, 1993)
Clever Pizzaiola Meatball Subs are a quick and easy kid-friendly meal, adapted from the 1993 cookbook Cooking with Regis & Kathie Lee. The “clever” in the title refers not to the ingenuity of the recipe – this one is actually pretty straightforward – but to the recipe’s original authors: the Clever Cleaver Brothers. I have……
Noisettes de Porc aux Pruneax (Oregon, 1974, adapted)
Noisettes de Porc aux Pruneax is an elegant, uncomplicated dish from the Portland (Oregon) Junior League’s 1974 cookbook, No Regrets. English speakers can easily deduce “Pork” and “Prunes” from the title. The word Noisettes literally means hazelnuts, but in this context Noisettes de Porc translates roughly as “pork medallions”. The recipe seems to have roots in……
Caffeine-Free Espresso-Cardamom Rub (adapted from Grill Every Day, 2007)
Sometime in the late 2000s the coffee-rubbed steak was a minor trend in our local restaurants, not at the steak and chop houses so much as the upscale restaurants that feel obligated to have a steak on the menu. The most common pairing was coffee and chili, usually rubbed on an inexpensive butcher’s cut like……
Carne de Puerco con Chile Verde (adapted from Elena’s Secrets of Mexican Cooking, 1958)
Carne de Puerco con Chile Verde is a rich pork stew from mid-century celebrity chef Elena Zelayeta. Mrs. Zelayeta was an amazing woman: successful entrepreneur, television personality, and prolific cookbook author despite being entirely blind. After losing her sight as a young mother, Mrs. Zelayeta retaught herself how to cook from the ground up. A……
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……
Ranch Oyster Crackers with Sumac (Wisconsin, 1980s, adapted)
Cool Ranch Doritos were introduced to an unsuspecting American public in 1986 and have been a best seller ever since (in spite of those awful Jay Leno commercials). Thirty-odd years later there you can find ranch-flavored anything. There’s a local company that sells ranch-flavored crickets, so I really do mean everything. But in the……
Weeknight Sous Vide Ribeye
Weeknight Sous Vide Ribeye is more public service announcement than recipe. It’s a message from one amateur chef to another to illustrate just how consarned easy it is to make a perfect steak on a weeknight using the sous vide method. It takes a little bit of special equipment but very little skill. As I……