Tag Archives: Mint

Pink Deviled Eggs (laban & mint), for Mrs. Smith

Pink deviled eggs, Maureen Abood

Whenever there are cars in the driveway across the way here on Main Street, more than one car, I start to get worried. Mrs. Smith hasn’t been feeling well, not so surprising at her age, and she keeps quiet over … Continue reading

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A Valentine’s Day Dinner Menu

Braised short ribs, Maureen Abood

I like to go out on Valentine’s Day for dinner about as much as I like to stay out all night on New Year’s Eve. You’ve got double the number of tables in the house, and “Prix Fixe,” overpriced, molten-chocolate-blah … Continue reading

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Technique: How to cook potatoes perfectly for salad

Russets cooked POST

Perhaps the most vexing thing about making potato salad is cooking the potatoes properly. They are a little like pasta in this regard, but potatoes don’t have the same breaking point leeway that pasta has. Take them 30 seconds beyond … Continue reading

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Ingredient: Potatoes

Potatoes in a basket POST

One of the great pleasures (and there were many) of a morning at Chicago’s Green City Market was the remarkable display of potatoes at Nichol’s Farms. The colors! The shapes and sizes! My favorites were some little purple potatoes that … Continue reading

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Grilled Lamb Lollipops with Fresh Mint Sauce; Chine on…

Grilled chops platter POST

For me to present to you a perfectly procured, grilled, and sauced rack of lamb strikes me as a decent feat, given the lamb drama I have experienced over the years. Lamb failed me most humbly when my sister and … Continue reading

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Lebanese Tomato Salad. Let juice run down your chin.

Tomato salad POST

When I was in graduate school at Michigan State studying literature, one of my professors was the poet Diane Wakoski. She was widely known to be an exacting teacher of poetry writing, holding students to a standard they had not … Continue reading

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Tabbouleh makes me shake-shake my bootie

tabbouleh2SM

The backyard garden where I grew up on Wagon Wheel Lane presented me with one of my first love-hate relationships. I loved running out to the garden as my mother cooked dinner to bring in an abundance of vegetables. Loved … Continue reading

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Why three times? How to prep parsley for tabbouleh.

Parsley blue SM

My brother has a good friend he met in medical school who came from a big, wonderful East coast Italian family. The Italian father ruled the roost not unlike my own: with a firmness that is known in our family … Continue reading

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Technique: How to dry mint

Dried mint plate close up sm

Dried mint, or na’na, is an important flavor component in Lebanese cooking. It’s often combined with fresh mint to intensify the mint flavor—in a good way, not in a menthol way. Drying mint is a great opportunity to preserve an … Continue reading

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Ingredient: Mint, or Na’na

Nana up close POST

Na’na (pronounced NAH-nuh), or spearmint, is an herb used in lots of savory ways in Lebanese cooking—we’ll be using it later this week in an absolutely delicious Lebanese salad. You can find mint at the farmer’s market now and in … Continue reading

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