Kitchen Epiphanies

Chicken Salad with Spinach, Fennel, Buckwheat and Purple Cabbage Mousse

Leave a Comment / Chicken, Salads, Savory Dishes, Spreads, Dips & Dressings / By Slava

Simple ingredients assembled innovatively can make a delectable meal. This composed Chicken Salad with Spinach, Fennel, Buckwheat and Purple Cabbage Mousse is my adaptation of a salad I enjoyed at lunch several weeks ago in Kyiv, Ukraine. The menu simply said Chicken, oven baked with sweet cabbage, violet mousse and grains. When the dish arrived, …

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Roasted Beet and Feta Tart

Leave a Comment / Greece, Savory Dishes, Starter, Tarts and Pies, Uncategorized, Vegetables / By Slava

The inspiration for this Roasted Beet and Feta Tart comes from a Norwegian recipe web site* that I occasionally check for ideas. I was attracted to the accompanying photo of a deep red and yellow tart, and the fact that it included beets, a beloved vegetable, and feta, a flavorsome cheese. I have cooked with …

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Pulled Pork Vindaloo with Indian Coleslaw on Naan

Leave a Comment / Breads, Entrees, India, Meats, Pork, Salads, Vegetables / By Slava

This Pulled Pork Vindaloo with Indian Coleslaw on Naan combines the pulled pork preparation of America’s South with the flavors of Goa, an Indian state located along the west coast on the shore of the Arabian Sea. Recently I hankered for pulled pork, a dish I hadn’t prepared in a long time. As I fantasized …

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Turkish pide — Variations on a Theme

Leave a Comment / Breads, Cheese, Meats, Turkey, Vegetables / By Slava

My inspiration for blog topics often comes from unusual origins. The idea for preparing this Turkish flatbread —pide (pronounced “pea-day” in Turkish) — was born in an airport business lounge. Over the years, I’ve traveled to Istanbul dozens of times and enjoyed pide throughout Turkey in various forms, but I never considered baking pide until …

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Italian Oxtail Stew – Coda alla vaccinara

Leave a Comment / Beef, Entrees, Italy, Savory Dishes / By Slava

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 …

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Starlight Sugar Crisps

Leave a Comment / Cookies, Bars & Brownies, Desserts, Scandinavia, Uncategorized / By Slava

I always looked forward to my mother-in-law Solie Johnson’s visits to Chicago, usually in early February for our daughter Sophia’s birthday. Solie would arrive with a suitcase laden with Weldon’s favorite cookies and lefse, a Norwegian potato flatbread. Her presence was a blessing. It meant that for the time of her visit, Weldon and I …

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Savory Rye Crackers – Plain and Smørrebrød

Leave a Comment / Breads, Cheese, Dining & Travel, Meats, Savory Dishes, Scandinavia, Seafood, Starter / By Slava

With the holiday season fast approaching, I am determined to ease the stress of entertaining family and friends. As I was preparing for my annual holiday cookie baking, it occurred to me that I should experiment with savory rye crackers, which can be baked ahead like cookies and which can be a base for hors-d’oeuvres …

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Cranberry Cream Tart

Leave a Comment / Cakes, Custards, Desserts, Fruit Desserts, Jams, Jellies & Preserves, Tarts and Pies / By Slava

I created this Cranberry Cream Tart to highlight cranberries, an underutilized fruit which plays a secondary role to savory dishes and rarely in desserts. Since learning about the importance of wild cranberries to the diet of Native Americans in my third-grade lesson on the first Thanksgiving and their use by Pilgrims as a ubiquitous condiment, …

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Grape Focaccia – Savory and Sweet Versatility

Leave a Comment / Breads, Savory Dishes / By Slava

This grape focaccia was inspired by crates of deep purple, vibrant green and ruby red grapes which caught my eye at the farmers’ market in September, a welcome sign of approaching autumn after a blistering summer. In the early morning light, the glistening grapes еstablished a gorgeous image highlighting nature’s abundance. It was impossible to …

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Malaysian Chicken Curry Kapitan with Roti Jala

Leave a Comment / Chicken, Dining & Travel, Malaysia, Savory Dishes / By Slava

This Chicken Curry Kapitan is a product of centuries of migration to, and colonization of, the Malay Peninsula by Indians, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British and is an inspired adaptation by Malay cooks. I first encountered this curry near Phuket, Thailand on the Malay Peninsula close to the border with Malaysia, a region where a …

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