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French, green beans, noodles, sausage, spicy

Haricots verts avec saucisse merguez et couscous a la tunisienne

Made a tasty green bean dish based on the harissa (tunisian chile sauce) I found in the supermarket. I’ll try those ingredient lists Lillian seems so insistent upon. Some garlicSome sausageGreen beansOnionsHarissaCouscous In this particular case I would estimate I used 400 g of green beans, 2 smallish merguez sausages (sorta a maghrebin chorizo; in […]

chicken, greens, Middle Eastern, rice, soup

Syrian Style Melukhiyya (Jew’s Mallow) with Chicken, served with Vermicelli Rice

So, this is the second in my multipart “What my friend Reem taught me to cook” series of Syrian recipes. This entry is “melukhiyya”, known in English as “Jew’s Mallow” for who knows what reason. There are two versions of this recipe apparently – the Egyptian(and Jordanian style) consists of a more soup like consistency […]

French, seafood

Moules montpelliardes

At least one thing is cheap in (this part of) France: Shellfish! At 2E40 a kilo, mussels are a downright bargain. I actually went to the big fish farm at Sete where they are grown about an hour away from Montpellier so I can attest to their freshness. So last Saturday I threw a little […]

Asian, chicken, spicy

Orange Glazed Chicken Drumsticks

Here’s a great and cheap weeknight recipe. You can make it with any cut of bone-in chicken, but I use the extra-cheap chicken drumstick family packs. Preheat the oven to 400 and throw some rice on to cook. 1 large package chicken drumsticks2 -3 oranges, juiced (or 3/4 c. OJ)zest of one orange1/4 c. vinegar, […]

greens, Latin, potatoes, pressure cooker, soup, stew

Caldo Verde

Here’s a hearty, comforting soup made with just a few ingredients, originally from Portugal. Base your potato:broth ratio on on how thick you want the finished product. I recommend getting the sausage at Kramarczuk’s, but really any sausage would do. I can’t find the cable for my camera, so here’s an image I yanked from […]

cheese, grains, greens, sides, vegetarian-friendly

Red Wine Bok Choi

Hello all, Here is a recipe from my friend and co-worker Kristine (there’s a link to her photography on the side-bar). Looks like she measures things the same way we do! This makes a great veggie side-dish or light meal: Try this very simple recipe when you have some bok choi. I’ve made it twice […]

cheese, dairy, DIY, Italian

Making Mozzarella

So, this weekend I finally tackled mozzarella. My friends Kevin and Ranae have a cow and are selling awesome raw milk to folks in the department (on the down low, of course). I didn’t have great luck with making yogurt, since I had no idea what I was doing, so for some reason I decided […]

beef, Eastern European, noodles, potatoes, stew

Hungarian Goulash & Spaetzle

Here’s the perfect dish for a cold night and several subsequent cold days as tasty planned-overs. I use an ‘authentic’ (supposedly) version, rather than the Lutheran church cookbook version that has all kinds of crazy things in it, like macaroni and tomato sauce. In this version the only thickening comes from the potatoes as they […]