If you can’t stand the heat, no problem: non-fiery Grilled Cumin Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa

Cumin, paprika and a mango and tomato salsa give grilled salmon plenty of flavor with no spicy heat. Recipes below.

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]O[/su_dropcap]kay, here’s something just about every cook occasionally faces. Guests’ food restrictions. One of our friends who joined us for Memorial Day dinner can’t eat spicy food; the other simply doesn’t. Now, I know as menu limitations go, this is pretty minimal. But I was in the mood to be cooking, serving and tasting the kinds of big flavors often accompanied by a spicy kick.

We happily cook and eat plenty of non-spicy meals here. We embrace subtle dishes—watercress vichyssoise, coq au Riesling, green tea shortbread cookies… But we’re equally big fans of powerful tastes that pack heat. So when thinking about what to make for our heat-averse guests, I challenged myself to bring the flavor without the fire. Turns out it was easy. Continue reading “If you can’t stand the heat, no problem: non-fiery Grilled Cumin Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa” →

Earth and smoke: Grilled Pork Tenderloin stuffed with Mushrooms and Pear

A butterflied pork tenderloin is stuffed with sautéed mushrooms, pear, shallots and sage, then grilled both indirectly and directly. Recipe below.

We’re experiencing the season’s first real bout of don’t-heat-up-the-kitchen weather here in Chicago. So this weekend, I fired up the grill. For my inaugural grilled meat meal of the year, I turned to a recipe inspired by one of our favorite vegetarians. You may remember the recent vegetarian pasta dish based on a side served by our friend Laura. Well, even though she doesn’t eat meat, she knows how to cook it.

Two elemental flavors come together beautifully in this recipe. With two cups of chopped mushrooms, the filling delivers a delicious, earthy taste. And a combination of indirect and direct grilling adds plenty of smokiness to the pork tenderloin. Continue reading “Earth and smoke: Grilled Pork Tenderloin stuffed with Mushrooms and Pear” →

An argument for immigration: Bengali-inspired Sautéed Cauliflower with Chili Sauce

Inspired by Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian Dry, a popular Indo-Chinese appetizer we sampled at a Bengali restaurant, this lighter version skips the breading and deep frying, but not the flavor. Recipe below.

So this is the third consecutive post that starts by talking about a recent road trip. Last weekend found us in the Motor City. We saw some stellar art—at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, at the Detroit Institute of Arts and on the city streets. Detroit is home to a talented, lively graffiti art scene.

We also ate some amazing food—some of it definitively American, but most of it brought to the city by immigrants. We’re always happy to eat at Señor Lopez, on the edge of Mexican Town. The food is delicious, authentic, plentiful and cheap, and the service is unfailingly friendly. But what really captured our culinary hearts this visit was a pair of Bengali meals. Continue reading “An argument for immigration: Bengali-inspired Sautéed Cauliflower with Chili Sauce” →

Simple, savory and versatile: Korean Kimchi Pancake with Chicken

Savory, crunchy and often spicy, pickled kimchi is the Korean national dish. It’s also the delicious heart of this weeknight-quick pancake. Recipe below.

Kimchi is a living thing—beautiful, colorful, naturally fermented cabbage, rich with garlic, red pepper, fiber and vitamins. When I opened the jar of kimchi to make this pancake, it began bubbling around the edges of the liquid in a very satisfying way.

We first thought of making this pancake a few weeks ago, when we were passing through Rochester, New York and had dinner at Young’s Korean Restaurant. And if you ever happen to be in that part of the world, get your GPS to take you there (and you’ll need it). Young’s is cozy and welcoming, but it is located kind of beyond a dreadful strip mall hell, in the confusing middle of an office park, in what looks like a warehouse on: Mushroom Boulevard. It is just wonderful. Everything we had that night was delicious, the banchan were crunchy and fresh and the humblest dish of all was this simple pancake. It was so unassuming, and yet so flavorful, that I just had to give it a try. Continue reading “Simple, savory and versatile: Korean Kimchi Pancake with Chicken” →