Miscellaneous Cooking

This savory stuffing is too good to save for Passover which is when I usually serve it!  It is also perfect for the kosher table at Thansgiving. Use it in chicken or turkey or pat it in a casserole as a side dish. It freezes well baked or unbaked and is good enough to serve all year. As with my special Passover Potato Kugel, this can also be made as a kugel in a very well-greased Bundt pan or fluted baking dish for a prettier presentation, allowing you to cut it by the slice. 

Hummus is what you’re used to but this North African spin on the chick pea, Middle Eastern approach to a bean spread, is dynamite. It uses fava beans (canned are fine). Touches of dried chili pepper, cumin, plenty of paprika an a touch of lemon makes this a deep brownish-red, spicier hummus. It’s a nice change from the tahini (sesame seed paste) laden ones. Use this on crackers, flatbreads, or alongside grilled chicken or fish. Or eat it plain, by the spoonful – it is smooth as silk, spicy, a little hot and just outstanding.  

No vinegar! That's the key to real, deli style, kosher dills. Use fresh, crisp pickles for best results. Water, coarse kosher salt or pickling salt, garlic, pickling spices and dill combine with cucumbers to produce a brine. The brine is formed when the salt draws acid from the pickles and combines with the other ingredients. 3-5 days gives you half sours, 12-20 days gives full sours. Refrigeration stops the fermentation process. You can taste them while they are fermenting and adjust spices. There is really no way to hurry them up. Double recipes as required. Just fill each jar you have until you run out of ingredients.
And leave the vinegar in the pantry...

In Quebec, we have some of the finest buckwheat flour in the world. But buckwheat is easy to find almost anywhere and makes for the most flavorful and nutritious pancakes around. Batter up! If you have any malt powder on hand, add 1-2 teaspoon for another level in taste.

Is there a better dish in the world? Well, maybe chicken and biscuits or Chicken Kiev or Buffalo Girl Chicken or Coq au Vin. Granted there are many amazing chicken dishes but this one is beyond sumptuous. Like Pasta Puttenesca, there are a few ways to make this famed Indian chicken dish. It differs depending on the chef and restaurant and certainly at home, it is another dish altogether. I have created my version as flavorful as possible with some shortcuts. Serve it with homemade (or make a pit stop at the local Indian restaurant) nan, and a huge crock of freshly made basmati rice.  This dish starts with tandoori chicken, best marinated a day ahead, grilled and then tossed into the famed Butter Chicken Sauce. But if you are in a hurry (or simply impatient) you can do this in one day. Just do a quick marinade, grill or bake the chicken in the oven and add into the Butter Chicken Sauce and simmer until you are ready to serve it.

Here is my original feature, circa 1987 or so, from the Detroit Free Press, on Capers. Attached are a ton of amazing caper-based recipes. It was also the occasion on which I called Julia Child for help. I still remember the voice, the charm, and the generousity. I am not a huge fan of capers but I am ever and always, a fan of Julia's.