Thai Spicy Pork (or Chicken) Dipping Sauce for Vegetables (Nam Prik Ong)   I learned about Nam Prik Ong, a classic northern Thai appetizer, from my sister in law, Nai, who is from Chiang Mai, where it is a specialty. This is a milder and simpler Bangkok version of the original dish, which in the north has the heavy flavor of toasted shrimp...

 Easy Berry Topping or Sauce   For an easy dessert, like store-bought ice cream or angel food cake, a raspberry, or strawberry or mixed berry sauce is a great topping. Using store-bought frozen, or fresh, berries, making the sauce takes just a few minutes, plus a few more minutes to cool.   The typical packages of frozen berries are...

 Lentil Dip in Ancient Style   Lentils, one of my favorite foods, go way back. I mean waaaay back. Lentils were among the first crops at the dawn of agriculture the Fertile Crescent some 6,000 years ago. Like other ancient field crops – barley, peas, emmer wheat – lentils emerged from wild predecessors, whose seeds were hard to gather....

 Hot Blond Lentil Chili     “Hot BlondChili,” which I developed and won top prize with at a Super Bowl chili competition in Atlanta years ago is now a popular take-home dish sold from the freezer at our restaurant. (The recipe can be found elsewhere in this blog.) It is also a favorite among several of my grandchildren. But, since...

 Chicken Shish KebabsSkewered kebabs evolved over many centuries from their origins among the nomadic Turkik peoples in Asia Minor. Shish kebabs once were simply chunks of lamb roasted near fire after seasoning and skewering onto a sharpened stick or iron rod or, more romantically, a Turkish warrior’s saber. They grew widely in sophistication...

 “Street Vendor Style” Corn Salsa – Salsa de Elote     The Mexican word “Elote” (aay-LO-tay) means fresh corn.  “Mais” (my-EECE), the general word  for corn elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world is limited in Mexico to corn as crop or the dry grain. “Mais” came from the indigenous language of the Taino people in the Caribbean...

 Horseradish Sauce for Sandwiches, Burgers, Roast Beef, Corned Beef and Beef Pie     Horseradish sauce, or in British slang, “Horsey” sauce, is a frequent condiment for roast beef, corned beef, and meat-containing sandwiches in the British Isles. It was, and possibly still is, a typical sauce for roast beef sandwiches at the Arby’s chain...