The most memorable mashed potatoes manage to be both fluffy and buttery at once. Too much butter and they’re heavy; not enough and they’ll seem wimpy. Here’s where choosing the right spud for the job really matters. The texture of a potato after cooking depends on its structure and moisture content. Some varieties, such as Idaho bakers, have low moisture and cook up to be light and airy. Beaten with butter and cream, they make a fluffy mash. High-moisture potatoes, such as red potatoes or new potatoes, can turn “gluey” when beaten. But because they have such a distinctly earthy, nutty flavor, I like to add just one or two to the pot.
You will need to marinate the vegetables overnight before covering them with the hot vinegar the next day, and then the vinegar will need to cool. The chowchow can be served then, but it’s even better chilled. It sounds funny to serve beans on beans, but a big tablespoonful of this on top of a bowl of soup beans served with cornbread is a pure delight.
Ingredients
Ingredients
Crisp shards of flatbread give crunch to this dish, which lies somewhere between a Greek salad and Levantine fattoush. Typically, it is served in Tajikistan on a large communal wooden platter, along with a hot, flaky, Tajik flatbread called non for everyone to scoop up the salty cheese and fresh vegetables. [Ed. note: This version is made with pita, but any flatbread -- naan, focaccia, non -- will do.]
Ingredients
Collards are quickly becoming the new “it” green and for good reason. Easy to find and packed with nutrients, they are unusually satisfying and hearty. Here, I give them a fast stir fry and then finish them in a red coconut curry. The sweet gentleness of the coconut plays beautifully off the richness of the dark green. I top the greens with crispy rings of fried shallots.
Ingredients
I love this method of cooking zucchini. It is the one I return to time and again.
I love the way their vibrant red color fades away during cooking too, until the radishes are the palest, most beautiful pink.