I have been really enjoying Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem of late. The book features recipes from the Israeli and Arab cultures of the region, with many vegetarian recipes highlighted. Chickpeas, eggplants, and tahini are, predictably, staples of many of the items found in the book. Many of the recipes are straight-forward and come together relatively quickly. All of them have been delicious.
This Wild Rice and Spiced Chickpea …
I am not a huge meat-eater, and red meat is particularly rare. Though I still do enjoy the occasional burger and roasted chicken. Caitlin is almost exclusively vegetarian. So the hunt is often on for a new twist on vegetarian cooking.
I came across this recipe while flipping through our copy of the Vegetarian Times (that, by the way, is not a sentence we’re likely to hear around town). The potato chips offer a fun and crunchy twist on the standard stuff vegetable recipe.
With our CSA in full swing, these zucchini boats …
When Caitlin comes to Cincinnati, she often takes a flight right after work, which puts her into CVG around 8:40 P.M. That means she’s hungry for dinner. And since I’ve also been waiting until then to have my dinner, it’s imperative that I arrive at the airport with a strategy in hand. I can be very slightly grumpy when I’m hungry.
One of the problems, though, is finding a fun place that is not winding down at that hour. In a city like New York, Chicago, or the like, it’s certainly not a problem. But in a smaller city like Cincinnati, a lot of restaurants are closing shop by 10:00 P.M.
One afternoon, as Caitlin was readying to leave, I spent a few minutes on Yelp, and found my answer. The Senate Restaurant was open until 11:00 P.M. Better yet, it was downtown, a convenient location coming from the airport. And finally, scanning the menu, I knew it had something I would love. After I sent the menu to Caitlin, she also agreed that it looked good. We had a plan.
When we arrived at the Senate,…
Chickpeas are a complicated bunch. The first time Caitlin and I cooked with chickpeas, we opened a can, drained them, and prepared a mixture to make falafel. It was a total disaster. The canned chickpeas disintegrated the minute they hit the frying oil. Fortunately, dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, worked like a charm.
With that lesson in mind, …
Choosing a recipe can sometimes feel like putting together a baseball team. It is the home chef as general manager.
In each field, the objective is the same — to please the folks at home by offering them a winning dish while remaining within the allotted budget. The objective is straightforward. As is the theory behind it: acquire the best ingredients, assemble, and serve warm.
But this process is never as straight forward as it seems. Expensive ingredients, like high-priced free agents, may…