Category Archives: Cheese

Endive Salad With Indian Flair

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An endive and romaine salad gets jazzed up with seared paneer and a punchy tamarind chutney dressing.
An endive and romaine salad gets jazzed up with seared paneer and a punchy tamarind chutney dressing.

Like so many ethnic households, my family’s included a pantry where fermented black beans, three types of soy sauce, and tubs of tofu had equal billing as ketchup, mustard, and frozen hash browns.

Same for Khushbu Shah, whose family arrived in the first wave of Indian immigration to the United States.

The former restaurant editor at Food & Wine magazine, the Los Angeles-based Shah grew up in a home where Bisquick, peanut butter, and Taco Bell burritos were as beloved as curry leaves, coconut milk, and moong dal.

It’s that blending of heritages that informs her new cookbook, “Amrikan” (W.W. Norton), of which I received a review copy. Just what is “Amrikan”? As Shah explains in the book: Both a noun and an adjective, it is the word that Indians use to describe all things American. Or in short: “It’s America — with a desi accent.”

As such, the 125 recipes showcase the clever, surprising, and inspired ways that Indian American families have adapted what they found in American grocery stores or added a Southeast Asian spin to American comfort food classics.

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Effortless Baked Cauliflower with Black Olives and Cheese

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A winning side dish that couldn't be easier to make.
A winning side dish that couldn’t be easier to make.

Given that it’s June, is it too early to start thinking about festive winter holidays?

Perhaps.

But “Baked Cauliflower with Black Olives and Cheese” is a dish you’ll want to enjoy now, as well as tuck away for safe-keeping for those November and December gatherings that will be here before you know it, given how time flies these days like a Shohei Ohtani fastball.

That’s because this side dish is a crowd-pleaser, easy to make, and much of it can be prepped ahead of time.

This fabulous recipe is from “The Food of Sicily” (Artisan Books, 2023), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Palermo-native Farbrizia Lanza, who grew up in a wine-making family, who owns the 200-year-old Tasca d’Almerita in Sicily. In 2006, she took over the operations of her mother’s Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School in Sicily.

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Cheese, Please — And Make It Pimento-Style

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Birdie's Smoked Gouda & Red Pepper Pimento Cheese spread makes a ham sandwich something special.
Birdie’s Smoked Gouda & Red Pepper Pimento Cheese spread makes a ham sandwich something special.

I love all things cheese, but I confess that pimento cheese was not something I grew up with.

You might not have, either, unless you hail from the South, where it’s a staple.

Thanks to Robin Allen and her husband Glenn, aka Bubba, you can enjoy delectable pimento cheese in classic and creative flavor combinations with their Birdie’s Pimento Cheese company in Virginia that ships nationwide.

After 25 years of owning their own printing business, Robin got the notion to start selling her homemade pimento cheese at a local farmers market — at the age of 50. That first day, she sold out of all 30 tubs, sparking the couple to sell the printing business and go into pimento cheese-making full-time.

Now, you’ll find it sold at a range of specialty food stores, including the Epicurean Trader in San Francisco and Deuces Market in Napa.

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The Lamb Dish You Crave On A Cold Night

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Lamb shoulder braised with tomatoes and garnished with bodacious burrata.
Lamb shoulder braised with tomatoes and garnished with bodacious burrata.

How can one possibly make low and slow-braised, fall-apart tender lamb any better?

Try topping it with a big ol’ ball of burrata, that’s how.

You’ve probably enjoyed many a meaty stew or ragu dolloped with creamy ricotta. But when you swap that out for voluptuous burrata whose luscious creamy center spills out to add dreamy, milky sweetness to anything it touches, you’ve just about attained nirvana.

“Braised Lamb with Burrata and Herb Oil” is that dish.

It’s from “Okanagan Eats” (Figure 1), of which I received a review copy. A collection of recipes from British Columbia’s Wine Country, it was written by Dawn Postnikoff, co-founder of Edible Vancouver Island; and Joanne Sasvari, a food writer and Canadian Wine Scholar.

Learn about this fertile region, which comprises three valleys, two river valleys, and the Okanagan Valley.

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Move Over, Grilled Cheese; Make Room for Chili Cheese Toast

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Cheese, chili, scallions, and garlic meet bread for impeccable results.
Cheese, chili, scallions, and garlic meet bread for impeccable results.

This might very well be the best thing to happen to sliced bread.

Think of “Chili Cheese Toast” as the marriage between pungent garlic bread and gooey grilled cheese with the familial addition of lively fresh chili peppers.

Now, that’s what I call harmonious company.

You will, too, in this recipe from “Indian Flavor Every Day” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by New York’s Maya Kaimal, an award-winning cookbook author and founder of Maya Kaimal Foods, a line of premium Indian foods sold nationwide.

The book’s 80 recipes are especially enticing for anyone who loves the bold flavors of Indian cuisine but has felt too intimidated to cook them at home.

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