Kitchen Epiphanies

KITCHEN epiphanies

Exploring diverse foodways...

Beef

Braised Beef with Prunes and Winter Vegetables

This Braised Beef with Prunes and Winter Vegetables comes from Odesa, Ukraine’s most cosmopolitan city (or Odessa, the Russian transliteration). The dish originated in Odesa’s Jewish community many centuries ago and became part of the city’s multiethnic culinary tradition. For millennia, Ukraine, a country geographically located on the crossroads between Europe and Asia along the …

Braised Beef with Prunes and Winter Vegetables Read More »

Cajun Tourtière – Recreating a Lost Recipe

I embarked on recreating the Cajun Tourtière after learning that this traditional dish vanished many decades ago. When our daughter Sophia settled in New Orleans, I became interested in learning about Christmas traditions brought to French-ruled Louisiana by Acadian emigres after their expulsion by the British from Nova Scotia in the 18th century.  Those French-speaking …

Cajun Tourtière – Recreating a Lost Recipe Read More »

Sou Fassum –Sublime Stuffed Cabbage, French Style

Sou Fassum is a sublime stuffed cabbage, a creation of French peasant cuisine.  I found it while researching alternative methods of stuffing cabbage.  I knew I had to try it as soon as I saw it. Stuffed cabbage rolls, a classic comfort food, were a beloved dinner of my immigrant childhood.  We had them at …

Sou Fassum –Sublime Stuffed Cabbage, French Style Read More »

Italian Oxtail Stew – Coda alla vaccinara

Curiosity often drives what I cook and this Italian Oxtail Stew post arose from my preoccupation with learning how to prepare unusual meats. Watching Andrew Zimmern eat off-cuts and internal organs, or “variety meats” as they are euphemistically called in America, for years touting them as delicious has repeatedly piqued my curiosity and presents me …

Italian Oxtail Stew – Coda alla vaccinara Read More »

Scroll to Top