Many people have little affection for cooked vegetables, possibly because they are often overcooked. This causes them to lose their inherent crisp texture and natural color and allows vitamins, minerals, and good taste substances to seep out into the cooking water. It is little wonder that many children are unenthusiastic about eating vegetables that have been prepared in such a way as to eliminate their interesting qualities. Some of the crisp texture of vegetables can be preserved by grilling or roasting them. As vegetables have a low protein content, no Maillard reactions take place, but the surfaces do caramelize.
My trip to Marrakech was intense and overwhelming. The sights, smells, and sounds were sensory overload. Crimson reds, burnt oranges, and cerulean blues filled our days. We wandered the bustling market, ate from stalls at the Jemaa el-Fnaa, and got lost many, many times; it was an exploration and test of wills like none other. This recipe brings back memories of the flavors we experienced and the time spent in this mysterious place.
This version of perfect cold weather food incorporates ground annatto seeds to perfume the soup with a musky aroma and splash the potatoes with a sunny disposition.
The rich tomato flavor in this recipe is thanks to two sweet and tangy ingredients: tomato paste and tamarind paste.
Everyone in the South seems to love cheese straws - the thin, crisp pastry sticks with the tang of cayenne and sharp cheddar - and they are always served at cocktail parties and church socials alike. They are almost mandatory at weddings: I remember receptions where the only fare was a silver compote of cheese straws, another of mints, and the wedding cake. Usually cheese-straw dough is piped from a cookie press and snipped into short lengths. Miss Lewis uses the simple technique of rolling out the dough and slicing off the “straws.” Cheese straws improve as the flavors mellow, so make them a day before serving, if possible. A tin of cheese straws makes an excellent hostess gift.
These cookies taste like a mug of rich hot chocolate. The deep mocha-flavor is followed by a kick of cayenne pepper. Don't let the heat put you off; it only enhances the flavor.
Mary Sonnier's eccentric hot chocolate is an evocation worthy of New Orleans's legendary voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau. But the potion has more to do with the restaurant Gabrielle's Contemporary Creole Cuisine, characterized by enchanting complexity, bold tastes, and unusual combinations, than with the casting of spells or keeping the bayou's spirits at bay.
It is a lucky yard that hosts a pecan tree. There are several things better than a pecan pie, but not many. There are several things better than roasted, salted, and buttered pecans, but not by much. In my youth, I would irritate my mother by pronouncing this as pee-can, which she considered redneck, and she would correct me with puh-cahn, which she thought more genteel.
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