Charred Eggplant Dip By Andrew Zimmern This smoky charred eggplant dip is one of my favorite dishes in a classic meze spread, a collection of small plates, salads and appetizers common throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean. Charring the eggplant until entirely blackened and soft is crucial to developing the flavor of the dish. If you don’t have… Read More →
Charred Eggplant Dip By Andrew Zimmern This smoky charred eggplant dip is one of my favorite dishes in a classic meze spread, a collection of small plates, salads and appetizers common throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean. Charring the eggplant until entirely blackened and soft is crucial to developing the flavor of the dish. If… Read More →
Ma Po Eggplant By Andrew Zimmern This is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, made easy for the home cook. It’s a spicy, savory pork sauté served over roasted eggplant. I adore eggplant and make this dish all the time as part of a multicourse Asian spread or just by itself alongside a bowl of steamed… Read More →
Grilled Rack of Lamb with Eggplant Salad & Bacon Fat Tortillas By Andrew Zimmern Grilling a rack of lamb may seem daunting, but it couldn’t be easier. Before you grill the lamb, make sure to cut as much surface fat as you can to avoid sooty flare ups. In this recipe, I season the lamb… Read More →
Berenjenas Fritas By Katie Button Traditionally, this Andalusian dish is served with cane syrup, but I think honey has a more complex flavor. Throughout Spain, there’s a range of honey as varied as the landscape. Any type accents the salty crisp shell of these eggplant rounds. My personal touch here is the rosemary leaves, which… Read More →
Silky Ma Po Eggplant By Andrew Zimmern This is one of my favorite dishes, made easy for the home cook. If you like a bolder, funkier flavor just add a little more toban djan (chile bean sauce). This superb all-in-one meal is a great way to use a small amount of meat to accent a… Read More →
Versatile Summer Vegetable Eggplant can be roasted, grilled, sautéed, pickled, steamed, baked, broiled and fried. Some of the small Thai varietals can even be sliced, seasoned and eaten raw. They come in more colors and shapes than they have names, from the popular dark purple oversized American cultivars of European ancestry to the teeny pale… Read More →
An Ivan Ramen Specialty By Ivan Orkin This eggplant mazemen, like many other dishes at Ivan Ramen, employs a decidedly Latin cooking technique and component: The sofrito.
Greek Isle Grill Two years ago, I spent a week on the Greek island of Kalymnos. This island is the real deal, you’ll find tiny taverns with octopus coming straight off the coal fire, hillside goat herders selling cheeses and yogurt, sponge divers still working the outer islands. One night before a shoot, several well-lubricated… Read More →
Yu xiang qie zi By Fuchsia Dunlop This dish, almost more than any other, expresses for me the gorgeous layering of flavors that is the signature of Sichuanese cooking. Pickled chillies, either on their own or with fermented fava beans in the famous Sichuan chilli bean sauce, give the dish its warmth and luster; garlic,… Read More →
A Classic Mediterranean Appetizer This festive Sephardic eggplant salad is almost more of a chunky dip than what we would traditionally call a salad.
Recipes for Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah is a time for reflection and repentance, but it probably doesn’t surprise you that my favorite part is the food. It’s a great excuse to sit around the dinner table with family and friends, and say a toast to the year ahead. To honor tradition, I like to cook dishes… Read More →
Caponata with Grilled Crostini By Andrew Zimmern A traditional Sicilian vegetable dish, caponata is made with sweet and sour caramelized eggplant, onions, peppers, olives, capers and tomatoes. It has many uses in the kitchen—it’s a great vegetarian appetizer served with grilled bread, you can toss it with pasta, serve it hot as a side dish… Read More →
The Best Recipes for a Memorial Day Barbecue From lobster rolls and baby back ribs to homemade baked beans and an easy mixed berry crumble, here are a few delicious ways to help you welcome summer this weekend. Lobster Rolls, Two Ways Here are two easy recipes for everyone’s favorite summer sandwich, the lobster… Read More →
Ma’s Muthia This recipe is from our Grandmother’s Best Recipe Contest winner Surtida S. Her grandmother combined her Indian roots with Tanzanian flavors to create this incredible dish of millet flour dumplings braised in a tomato-and coconut-infused sauce chock-full of vegetables and aromatic spices. The smell and flavor of this recipe is intoxicating. “One of… Read More →
The Easiest Way to Dice a Mango Mangos are one of the most popular fruits in the world. When picking out mangos at the grocery store, don’t be fooled by the color—red does not mean ripe. Judge the fruit on its firmness, it should be soft without bruises. Mangos have a flat, almond shaped seed… Read More →
In my video series, AZ Cooks, I’m sharing cooking techniques and recipes inspired by my childhood, travels and experiences in the professional kitchen, all in the pursuit of culinary literacy. Thanks for tuning in, your support and feedback have made this venture a success! From classics like key lime pie and meatloaf to wok-tossed crickets and… Read More →
Ginger Scallion Noodles By Andrew Zimmern If you love to cook, you should learn how to recreate the tent poles of culinary wisdom from cultures around the world, starting with these addictive ginger scallion noodles. This recipe has the hallmarks of classic Shanghai-style scallion noodles mixed with Japanese-style charred scallion noodles with tsukemono pickles. It… Read More →
St. Paul’s Hmongtown Marketplace A pillar of the Twin Cities’ Hmong community—which is the largest in the country—the sprawling Hmongtown Marketplace in St. Paul is the next best thing to hopping a flight to Southeast Asia. This market and those making the food represent centuries of Hmong traditions. In warmer months, you’ll find people selling plants,… Read More →
Celebrate Chinese New Year With These Recipes Chinese cooking has complex, technique-driven elements, which makes it a bit daunting for the average home cook. But, practice makes perfect. Get a great cookbook, and cook a new dish twice a week. Next, make sure you have the right equipment (a good wok, a bamboo steamer) and the… Read More →
9 Healthy(ish) Recipes for Winter Here are a few hearty, yet healthy meals to get you excited about that post-holiday detox. Roast Chicken with Ratatouille Family meal night across America just got easier, and so did entertaining on a budget. Ratatouille paired with roast chicken pieces is a classic combination that even your kids will… Read More →
Festive Finger Foods Start the party off right this holiday season with one of these delicious appetizers, from simple and elegant seafood dishes like spicy mussels fra diavolo to throwback recipes from my childhood—salmon aspic is making a comeback, you heard it here first. Whether you’re headed to an office potluck or inviting friends over for a festive… Read More →
My Best Hanukkah Recipes The Festival of Lights refers to a lamp in the temple that had only enough oil to last the Maccabees one night, but instead lasted for eight. The holiday celebrates the miracle of the oil, so fried foods are the perfect Hanukkah metaphor. If you’re sick of latkes and donuts, think outside of the… Read More →
Mapo Tofu By Kei Lum and Diora Fong Chan Recipe from China: The Cookbook by Kei Lum and Diora Fong Chan.
Back-To-School Recipes It’s September, the kids are in school and it’s time to get back into the routine of family dinners. If you’re looking for inspiration this fall, here are a few mainstays at the Zimmern household. I’ll admit, these are not all 30 minute recipes and some may take planning ahead. But, they’re all fairly easy and… Read More →
My Favorite Japanese Recipes The foods of Japanese izakayas are among the most beloved in the world. There’s not a chef in the country who doesn’t try his or her hand at ramen, soba, egg custards, robata-style fish, sashimi, yakitori, goya and so on. Surprisingly, though, very few home cooks do. Making Japanese food at home requires having a few… Read More →
Classic Sicilian Caponata By Andrew Zimmern Caponata is a wonderful Sicilian snack made with sweet and sour roasted eggplant, onions and tomatoes. If you have a lot of eggplants to use up, I suggest making a big batch of caponata and canning or freezing the leftovers. You’ll thank me mid-winter when you open up a jar… Read More →
Austin City Bites By Bob & Sue A weekend in the country’s fastest growing city (which embraces its reputation for being weird, as well as the Live Music Capital of the World) included memorable dinners at a prominent food critic’s three favorite restaurants: Qui Credit: Nicolai McCrary Philippine native Paul Qui delivers an eclectic combination of… Read More →
Wok Cooking Essentials Wok cooking is intimidating, but it’s the most versatile and handy tool in your kitchen. It can braise, fry, sauté, and even make a handy smoker (I use one of my woks fitted with a small inset grate to tea smoke duck and squab all the time). Because of its unique shape,… Read More →
Gift Ideas for the Cook in Your Life From fun stocking stuffers and edible indulgences (Roe Caviar, I’m looking at you), to inspiring cookbooks and splurge-worthy kitchen gadgets (who doesn’t want a high-powered blow torch for the perfect golden sear?), here is my gift giving guide for 2015. • • • EAT & DRINK READ … Read More →
