making life delicious blog
Rice is a common side at our house since we eat lots of Asian and Mexican food, and our pantry is stocked with several different types. For Asian dishes we cook with brown jasmine or brown basmati rice or a couple different kinds of short grain rice, depending on the dish. This traditional Indian basmati [...]
The week before I went to the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) in New Orleans, I had some serious cravings for Cajun and Creole food. I had gumbo, jambalaya, and pralines on the brain and needed to take care of that situation. Since the kitchen counters were overrun with ripe tomatoes and more were hanging [...]
Zucchini season will soon come to an end, but there’s still time to enjoy this icon of the summer garden. We’ve made salads, pasta, bread, gratins, and all sorts of things with zucchini, even though it was a sad zucchini year for us after losing all our zucchini plants to garden pests. Risotto is comfort [...]
When I saw this month’s Daring Cooks challenge announcement, my pulse quickened and I envisioned a moist, colorful, flavorful Spanish rice. The sofregit seemed perfect for the season, with fresh tomatoes, peppers, and garlic, and this was a perfect opportunity to test out the paella pan (paellera) Michael gave me for Christmas. That I still [...]
I don’t have any Creole or Cajun relatives (that I know of), so for authentic recipes I turn to some of my favorite cookbooks. Emeril calls this particular recipe his “Clean Out the Ice Box and Freezer” Jambalaya, my kind of food, particularly now because after the holidays and fall harvest we have a freezer [...]
Risotto is creamy, beautiful comfort food, and I can’t think of a better meal to make it for than Thanksgiving. Because it’s not a fix it and walk away kind of dish, I do not make it for weekday meals. The constant stirring and adding liquid demands careful attention, and the usual chaos surrounding our [...]
Paella is the pinnacle of rice dishes, though the grand seafood version we often see in the United States would be unrecognizable to the Spanish peasants who invented it. The dish originated in Valencia and traditionally was made with rabbit and land snails, though sometimes chicken and/or duck was used instead. Seafood came later as [...]
I have a long list of favorite comfort foods, and arroz con pollo is definitely in the top ten, right up there with homemade biscuits, Ajiaco Bogotáno, mashed potatoes, baked macaroni and cheese, warm fresh bread, my grandmother’s fried chicken, and…I could go on for a while! Arroz con pollo is basically a variation on [...]
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