Red-Cooked Pork With Taro and Sweet Potato

When most Americans think of Chinese food, stir-fried dishes come to mind; however, this is hardly representative of the entire range of culinary expression in China. While stir-frying is a good example of the ingenuity of the Chinese kitchen in dealing with the necessity of conserving fuel, and turning that necessity into culinary genius, stir-fried […]

A Salad of A Different Color

Salads are most usually green. I mean, green salads, with lettuce and other salad greens, are generally green. Hence, the name, “green salad.” But, even though my favorite color is green, and thus it is the dominant color in both my kitchen and my office, I get tired of it. I get bored and want […]

Finding Substitutes for Black Pepper

Under normal circumstances, I would never advocate that a person attempt to find a substitute for the flavor of black pepper–or really, any other spice. They all taste unique, and substitutions do not happen on a one-to-one basis. However, when I discovered recently that I had developed an allergy to black pepper (which I still […]

Why I Eat Locally Produced, Pasture-Raised Meats

Allright, let’s talk turkey here. Actually, let’s talk cow. This is all about why I eat locally produced, pasture-raised beef*, even though it is much more expensive than the CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) or “feedlot” produced, factory farm meats available at every Walmart, Safeway and Kroger’s in the country. My first reason is this: […]

Beans Out of Gas?

Thanks to my potty-humor obsessed husband, some important research has come to my attention. Scientists in Venezuela have discovered a natural method to reduce the gas-producing effect of beans: fermentation. Two compounds in beans have been pinpointed for years as being the culprits for the vegetables’ near-legendary (at least in my family) capacity for creating […]