Cheery vendor at Wangfujing Night Market, one of Beijing’s eye-catching nighttime snack midways. (Photo by by Flickr user kmomo.)
With Olympics-bound tourists making plans to visit Beijing, it’s an appropriate time to celebrate one of the most outstanding sights in the city: the night markets.
I’ve never had the pleasure myself, but so many tourists have documented [...]
So let’s pretend for a second that I’m not a huge Lord of the Rings nerd. The kind who’s still peeved that that the movie script had Frodo in Osgiliath practically brandishing the One Ring at a Nazgul like a magnesium flare in a coal mine. (”Yoo-hoo, Witch King of Aaaaaang-mar! [...]
You know what makes a great stirrer? Cinnamon sticks, of course.
After they’ve been out in the cold, scaring the cat, putting snow in each others’ hats and torturing each other in the teeth-grindingly annoying way that only siblings can, my children enjoy a sweet cup of hot chocolate.
Or, when it’s not so cold and they [...]
Luci’s dulce de leche cookies were only part of the dessert phase of our fiesta.
I’ve hogged the spotlight, blathering on about tacos for so long (despite not even mentioning the stewed chicken with browned garlic) that it’s almost enough to put me off tacos.
Almost.
But first I should take a minute to share the fact that [...]
Crusted over the charcoal but still juicy, chopped carne asada waits to meet the tortilla of its dreams.
I thought the recipes the Internet yielded for al pastor marinades were all over the place - until I started studying up on carne asada.
It’s grilled beef, but that’s where the agreement ends. There are people - many [...]
It might look like a lot of work, but when you’re surrounded by a kitchen full of hungry friends, it’ll be worth it.
After a fair bit of research, the al pastor recipe I ended up using combined a Los Angeles Times recipe with Rick Bayless’ adobo, “red chile marinade,” from Authentic Mexican. Both use ancho [...]
The taco el pastor trompo in its natural habitat.
Tacos al pastor, essentially crispy chile pork, are one of the most popular tacos in Mexico City. The funny thing is, they’re Lebanese.
Turns out a sizeable contingent of Lebanese immigrants arrived in Mexico City in the 19th Century. They couldn’t source the spices for their beloved [...]
Slices of pork marinated in chiles, spices and ever some pineapple juice, crisping around the edges until it’s shaved off onto a tortilla: Meet al pastor.
This is what happens when you live in Buffalo, N.Y. and have been plagued by recurring, intrusive thoughts of tacos al pastor:
You get busy.
Surely, you murmur to yourself [...]
The Kool-Aid pickle, from The New York Times, posted by ljc
This just in from the Just-Because-You-Can-Doesn’t-Mean-You-Should Dept.:
The Kool-Aid pickle. Straight out of the Misssissippi Delta, where it’s sometimes known as the “koolickle.” Pour out half the brine from a jar of pickles and replace with your favorite flavor of sugared chemical dye. Let seep for [...]
By this point, most of the cooks are pretty well marinated too
You can have your glazed ham, your tom turkey with stuffing and gravy. Not bad Easter dinners, if they’re done right.
You want to really break out the unbelieveable taste for a special occasion, I don’t know what tops a lamb done Macedonian style. I [...]
