Paper Palate

Do you love to entertain but don’t have the time or knowledge to roast a chicken? Are you tired of serving the same boring chateaubriand time after time to your dinner guests?
If you answered yes to either of those questions, you may just be ready to start a tasting club. That’s just what […]

It is nearing the end of the cucumber season, which runs from May to August, so now is the time to enjoy them! Sunset offers several interesting recipe options for the vegetable that is more than something just waiting to be pickled.
You could mix it up with Tomato-Cucumber Gazpacho, which is perfect for […]

Test Recipe: Ayam Tempra (Spicy-sour Stir-fried Chicken) from Terry Tan and Christopher Tan’s Shiok!. Serves 2-3.
Ingredients list: 4 large chicken thighs or breasts, deboned; 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste; 1 tablespoon palm sugar, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon water; 2 tablespoons ketjap manis, or dark soy sauce; 2 tablespoons oil; 1 onion, halved and sliced […]

Let’s talk tomatoes.
I plucked my first ripe tomato of the season from the vine yesterday…it was a perfectly round cherry tomato. I haven’t eaten it yet…I am having too much fun just looking at it.
So that’s the thought behind this week’s Hump Day Horizons: home grown and more importantly, the possibilities that go […]

You might remember that scene from Pulp Fiction where Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Jules, and John Travolta’s character, Vincent Vega, get into a discussion about the differences between fast food joints in America and abroad. I personally will never forget the velvety smooth roll of “Le Big Mac” off of Travolta’s tongue. In case you […]

The legendary steakhouse, Morton’s, recently published Morton’s Steak Bible. The cookbook features over 100 of the steakhouse’s recipes for its signature dishes such as porterhouse, New York strip and T-bone steaks. It also includes recipes for sides, desserts and drinks.
Sample recipes include the Key Lime Mortini, Smoked Salmon Pinwheels, Salad Niçoise […]

I’ve seen a lot of strange old books. I used to own a used bookstore. The books I sold were in English, though my shop was in Latin America. To put together my stock, I collected boxes upon boxes of cast-off material from literary types in the States and shipped everything to […]

This sounds like it should be in a Ripley’s Believe it or Not. ABC reports that a man was trapped, yes trapped, in chocolate up to his waist. Donovan Garcia, a 21-year old employee of a chocolate ingredient supply company, was trapped in bubbling vat of chocolate for over two hours. He “was pushing the […]

In the current issue of Midwest Living, “Chefs to the Rescue” features several celebrated chefs from restaurants around the midwest, providing expert advice to readers in need of assistance in handling various domestic culinary dilemmas.
Cooking meals for guests seems to be a common problem facing many home cooks with limited time budgets. Chef Celina […]

Shiok!: Exciting Tropical Asian Flavors by Terry Tan and Christopher Tan, published by Periplus, Singapore, in 2003. Paperback, $24.95.
As befits its geographic location, Singapore is a culinary crossroads between China and Southeast Asia. Soy sauce and fish sauce, stir-fries and curries sit cheek by jowl in this country’s cooking. The ultimate fusion […]