How to Cook Calypso Beans

I could have titled this post simply: “How to Cook Beans” because, with a few exceptions, there isn’t much difference from one dried bean to the next in terms of cooking.
You soak (or not — hence the exceptions), simmer, and voila! Cooked beans.
What else is simmered along with the beans is up to you…and [...]

Roasted Curried Cauliflower…

You remember I’m not a big fan of cauliflower, right?  Well, I need to amend that because now have another recipe that makes me think it’s not so bad after all.
Yesterday, I wrote about Maharajah curry powder, one of four global spice blends worth trying.
Today, I’m sharing a recipe for roasted cauliflower using that highly [...]

Four Global Spice Blends To Try

There are literally thousands of spice blends on the market. Here are four that you may not have in your pantry, but should — and why.
Berbere is an Ethiopian mix of paprika, chipotle, fenugreek, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and garlic, used to flavor aromatic stews called wats. Like curry spice mixes, every family in [...]

Power of the Pantry…

I’ve always been a fan of V-8 Juice, especially the spicy hot flavor. Maybe it’s because I like spicy flavors, or because I have a penchant for Bloody Marys.
The only thing I didn’t particularly like was the amount of sodium (a whopping 710 mg per 8-ounce serving, or 30% of the USDA recommended daily allowance). [...]

Peppercorn Love…

Seriously, how many kinds of pepper does one cook need?
Black, sure. White? OK.
But when you start veering off into what kind of black pepper (Malabar, Lampong, Tellicherry, etc.) it gets kind of nuts.
But that’s not all I have in my pantry.
There’s Szechuan (from China), Aleppo (from Turkey), and pink peppercorns (which aren’t peppercorns at all, [...]

Cardamom Pods…

“Do you have any cardamom? Not ground but the whole pods,” my friend asks as we’re walking our dogs. I run through a mental picture of my spice cabinet, and land on the little bottle of green cardamom I bought a while back at Penzeys Spice Company.
“Yes, I do,” I say, “but they’re green, not [...]