Please put yogurt and potatoes (with an ‘e’) in a bowl and mix together. Mix together the spices and add to yogurt. Serve.

1/2 lb crusty white bread, crusts removed
4 oz raw peeled almonds*
2 cloves garlic
7 cups water
1 cup olive oil
Red wine vinegar, to taste

Possible garnishes: Seedless grapes, apple slices, melon, shrimp, or sliced roasted almonds.

Soak the bread in water. In a powerful blender or food processor, grind the almonds with the garlic and a little salt, as fine as you can (the finer they are ground, the creamier the result will be). Then add the soaked bread and blend until you get a white homogeneous paste. Still blending, slowly add the oil in a thread, as you would in a mayonnaise. Then combine the vinegar and water and very slowly add them in a thin stream while blending.

Serve very cold with the garnish of your choice.

*I’ve never tried to peel an almond. But evidently, you can dip them in boiling water for a few seconds, and then the dark skins will pop off.

You can serve this over rice to soak up the broth, or just eat it with a spoon.

1. Toast the chiles and soak them in 4 C of warm water with the sun-dried tomatoes.
2. Drain, reserving 1 C water (if it’s not bitter — if it is, discard and use plain water in the following step).
3. Put the chiles and the tomatoes in a blender or food processor and puree with the remaining ingredients, including the reserved water.

You can also pressure cook this for about 5 minutes, then allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes.

2 C flour
1/2 C cornstarch
2 t baking powder
1 t finely minced orange or lemon zest (optional, not necessarily authentic)
5 eggs
1-3/4 C sugar
1 C coconut milk
1/4 C powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F, grease a Bundt or tube pan,  and dust it with flour.

Sift together flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Stir in the optional zest.

Separate the eggs. In an large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry.

In a medium bowl, stir together the egg yolks and the sugar. Gradually add the yolks and sugar to the egg whites, whisking until incorporated. Stir in about a third of the dry ingredients, then a third of the coconut milk (stir it very well first), and repeat until everything is combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a wooden skewer comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack to finish cooling.

Dust with a couple of spoonfuls of powdered sugar. This will melt and make the cake shiny. If you want a white dusted look, wait until the cake is cool and then dust it a second time with powdered sugar.

1-1/2 lbs ground beef
2 t minced parsley
1-1/2 t salt
1 can tomato paste
1 lb lasagne noodles
1 lb cottage cheese
1/4 C parmesan cheese
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t pepper
2-1/2 C water
1 egg
1 lb American cheese, grated

Saute beef, onion, parsley, and garlic. Add salt, pepper, tomato paste, and water. Simmer 30 min.

Cook lasagne in 4 qts of boilin salted water for 15 minutes or until tender. Stir gently and drain. Mix egg and cottage Cheese. Alternate layers of sauce, cottage cheese, noodles, and American cheese in baking dish. Top with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
6 to 8 servings.

This is intended as a finger-food appetizer, but you could also cut the squares larger and serve them as a side dish, or put a square under a nice serving of chicken or fish stew.

4 C water
1 t salt
1 C coarse yellow cornmeal
2 C fresh basil, chopped
1 oz sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated

Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan and add the salt. Add the cornmeal slowly (to avoid lumping) and stir it constantly. When it comes to a boil (watch out that you don’t get burned by the “blorps”!), turn the heat down and cook until very thick, about 30 minutes. That’s a long time to stand around stirring, so put on some good music or find a friend to hang out with you.

Stir in the basil and tomatoes. Grease a 10×15 jelly roll pan and pour the polenta into it, spreading evenly. Chill until firm. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes, until they are lightly browned. Cool to room temperature and then cut into 1-1/2 inch squares.

Makes about 5 dozen appetizers.

1/2 C slice onion
1/2 C diced green pepper
3 T butter
1 C slivered, cooked ham
1 ripe tomato peeled and diced, or 1 can diced Italian or fire-roasted tomatoes, drained (don’t use plain canned tomatoes)
8 eggs
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
2 T butter

Saute onion and pepper in 3 T butter until soft. Remove from pan. Saute ham in remaining fat until nicely browned. Combine with onion, pepper, and tomato and keep warm.

Beat eggs, salt, and pepper. Melt 2 T butter in 10-inch skillet. Pour in eggs, spread and stir with flat of fork until eggs begin to set. Spread warm ham mixture over soft top layer of eggs and cook 1 minute longer.

Cut in wedges to serve. Serves 4 to 6.

1/2 C self-rising flour
1-1/4 C flour
1/4 t baking powder
1 egg white, beaten until stiff
Vegetable oil
4 bananas
Combine the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Stir in enough water to form a runny paste. Fold in the egg white.
Heat 3 inches of oil in a wok or large skillet. Peel the bananas and cut in half. Dunk in batter and deep-fry until golden and puffy.

Quantities on this recipe, which was taken from Vietnamese Cooking, by Paulette Do Van, are a bit approximate. There’s no indication just how much beef stock per serving; I’d guess 1-1/2 C per person.

Pho is usually eaten with two hands — chopsticks in one hand, plastic or ceramic soup spoon in the other. It’s a messy, slurpy meal that’s hard to eat fast. Do you eat the noodles and then slurp up the soup? Not me — I slurp my broth first, then eat the solid stuff at the bottom. Either way, it’s yummy.

8 oz broad rice noodles
1 onion, sliced into rings
Juice from 1 lemon
Small handful cilantro sprigs
4 lettuce leaves, shredded
Small handful fresh mint or Thai basil sprigs
Handful of fresh bean sprouts
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 small lemon or lime, cut into quarters
Beef stock
4 oz raw rump steak, sliced paper thin or shredded
6 T fish sauce
Soak the noodles for 30 minutes in warm water, until soft. Drain and keep warm. Soak onion in lemon rings for 20 minutes.
Arrange cilantro, mint, lettuce, sprouts, and lemon or lime on a plate and place on the table. Heat stock to the boiling point.

Each person places noodles and vegetables in their bowl, with the beef on top in a single layer. Pouring the boiling stock over the meat cooks it and releases the scents and flavors of the herbs. Add fish sauce and a squeeze of lemon to taste.

Saute some Indian spices with 1 T ground rice.
Add grated beets.
Simmer in coconut milk until beets are soft and milk/rice is thick.

Now that I’ve tried it, here’s how to make it:

In the blender, put 1 T rice, two cardamom pods, about a teaspoon of fennel seeds, and a teaspoon of coriander seeds. Grind this until it’s all powdered. Combine with a half teaspoon of ginger, cumin, and cinnamon, and a quarter teaspoon of cloves.

In a large, heavy skillet, heat a tablespoon of butter. Saute the rice and spices in this for a couple of minutes, until fragrant. Add three medium beets, peeled and grated, and one14-oz can of coconut milk (save a couple tablespoons of the coconut milk to drizzle over the top as a garnish). Stir well and simmer until the beets are tender and the coconut milk is thickened — I think it took 10 or 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and cayenne.

My thanks to the Hummus Blog for the detailed recipe and illustrations on charring the eggplant.

1 medium eggplant
1/3 C tahini
2 T lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Pita bread, crackers, or vegetables to scoop it up

In order to develop the real, complex flavor, you have to char the eggplant. There are several ways to do this:

On a gas stove burner
On an outdoor grill
With a propane torch

I used the gas stove burner. I put some foil around the burner to keep the mess to a minimum, fired up the burner, and then placed the whole, uncut eggplant directly on top of it. Using a pair of tongs and a spatula, I turned the eggplant every few minutes for about 10 minutes. The whole thing became black. Meanwhile, it was getting soft and cooked inside. When it was totally black and soft, I removed it to a bowl for about 20 minutes.

I came back, drained off the liquid, and using a combination of peeling and scooping, removed the insides to a cutting board. I chopped this with a knife, dumped it into a bowl, and stirred in the remaining ingredients. After that, I had to stop myself from eating it with a spoon.

Charring the eggplant over an open flame gives it a rich, complex smoky flavor. It is superior to just roasting it, and chopping the eggplant instead of putting it through a blender also gives a more sophisticed, artisanal result.

Bring water, lemon juice, 1/2 t butter, and bay leaf to a boil in a large pan. Pour in the rice, stirring well. Keep the water boiling and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, until the rice is tender.

Drain the rice and allow to sit for a couple of minutes. Stir in the remaining butter, salt, and pepper. Toss gently and serve on a large platter, garnished with lemon or lime wedges.

I’ve just run across a version on FatFree Vegan Cooking made in the pressure cooker — it only takes 90 minutes, as opposed to the version below, which takes 2 hours.

1 C black rice
3 C water
1/2 t salt
1/2 C sugar
1 14-oz can coconut milk, shaken well

Bring rice, water, and 1/4 t salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Simmer on low, covered with a tight lid, for about 45 minutes. Stir in the sugar, another 1/4 t salt, and 1-1/2 C of the coconut milk and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for about a half hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature, stirring it occasionally. Serve in bowls with additional coconut milk drizzled over each serving. Serves 4.

Wash the bok choy and dry, removing excess water from the leaves. Cut the long pieces in half so they will fit in your skillet.

In a large skillet, preferably cast-iron, heat oil on high. Lay the stem pieces side-by-side in the skillet, then add the pieces that have both stem and greens so that the white stems are touching the skillet. Turn occasionally with tongs. The goal is to lightly brown the stems, allowing the greens to cook on top a little more slowly. This takes about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients except the sesame seeds in a small bowl.

Remove the cooked bok choy from the hot skillet. Stir the glaze into the skillet. Allow to boil for about a minute — it will thicken. Return the bok choy to the skillet and toss with the glaze. Serve immediately, topped with black sesame seeds.

1 lb black eye peas
1 t salt
3 cloves garlic
2 bird peppers (small extremely hot peppers)

Soak beans overnight and in the morning, slip off their skins. Then grind with the garlic until almost a paste. Add salt and bird peppers. Beat until it’s the consistency of a cake batter. Drop from a teaspoon into deep hot fat.

Stir together the yogurt, curry powder, cardamom, paprika, and cilantro. Place the chicken in a rectangular baking dish. Cover with the yogurt mixture and marinate in the refrigerator for a 2-4 hours, turning at least 3 times.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.