That’s what you’ll be imploring when you try “A Spicy Bowl of Peas.”
This simple dish is from “Quick-Fix Indian” (Andrews McMeel) by Bay Area cookbook author, Ruta Kahate.
It’s just a brothy bowl of peas, steeped in mustard seeds, turmeric and cayenne for a kicky hit of exoticism and heat.
I remember the times of peeking into the refrigerator at home to find a big jellyroll pan laid out from one end to the other with marinating chicken.
And feeling the excitement of the dinner to come that night.
I remember how those plump drumsticks were arranged in two neat rows down the length of the pan.
I remember their terracotta color.
And the aroma of savoriness and something a little mysterious in the mix.
I remember waiting for my Mom to roast them in a hot oven until their color deepened and their skin crisped.
I’d pick up a drumstick with my fingers, the reddish sauce staining them deliciously as I took a big bite of joy.
As a kid, I never really knew what made this chicken so distinctive. All I knew was that it was something that came from a screw-top jar from Chinatown. And that my Mom referred to this dish as “fu-yee chicken.”
Thanks to my friend and most talented cookbook writer, Andrea Nguyen, I now know exactly what goes into the marinade that gives it such color and taste.
It’s tofu. Yes, cubes of soybean curd, but ones that have been allowed to age and ferment in a brine of red yeast rice or red wine, rice wine and water. It turns the tofu red and creamy with a flavor that’s salty, a little sweet, really savory, sort of musky and a tad funky.
Not that funky is a bad thing. After all, it’s what makes anchovies and runny cheeses so wonderful.
Like them, red fermented tofu may be a taste sensation that has to grow on you. It might seem strong and strange the first time, but the more you eat of it, the more you want.
When trying out a recipe for the first time, it’s always a good sign when your husband exclaims after just one bite, “Mmm, you should make this again.”
Such was the case when I tried the “Sauteed Fillet of Halibut with Fennel and White Anchovies” recipe from the new “Cooking Without Borders” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) cookbook, of which I received a review copy.
It’s the first cookbook by the very talented New York Chef Anita Lo of Annisa restaurant in Manhattan. You probably recognize her from her appearances on “Top Chef Masters” and “Iron Chef America.”
I loved this dish as much as my husband did. To me, it’s the perfect spring-summer fish dish — healthful and light tasting, and full of vibrant citrus flavors and crunchy textures.
Tied with ribbons, double-taped or adorned with a wad of stamps, care packages come in all shapes, sizes and forms.
But inside, they really all contain the exact same precious thing — the warm, comforting reminder of: “I’m thinking of you.”
My late Mom always conveyed that message with a rather unusual care package — a dish of Chinese-style chicken and rice.
A simple recipe that she made up years ago, the dish is a supremely savory, one-bowl meal of Jasmine rice cooked with Chinese black mushrooms and chunks of dark meat chicken marinated in soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil. The rice takes on the flavors of the marinade, mushrooms and chicken until they all become fused as one.
It’s a dish my Mom would make regularly for our weeknight family dinners, stir-frying the chicken in a big wok before folding in the rice that had cooked separately in a rice cooker. As a kid, that was my task after school — to wash and measure out the water for the rice, before pushing the button on the rice cooker so the fluffy grains would be ready and waiting for my Mom when she arrived home from work to finish making the dish.
Roasting often conjures up images of low, slow cooking in the oven for hours on end.
But this particular recipe for roasting is quick, quick, quick.
“Quick-Roasted Scallops with Sriracha and Lime” is for times when you want dinner on the table fast, fast, fast. It’s from “All About Roasting” (W.W. Norton & Company) by award-winning cookbook author Molly Stevens.
The book, of which I received a review copy, is full of recipes sure to keep your oven busy. Large scallops get baked, then quickly broiled with a simple topping of mayo, lime juice, sugar and Sriracha. They remind me of the baked or broiled mayo-topped scallops at Japanese restaurants.