Tara O'Brady
Contributor
Tara O'Bradyis a freelance food writer and author of the award-winning cookbook七个勺子:我最喜欢的食谱y Day(Ten Speed Press), named after her former site of the same name. She is a contributor to Canada's national newspaperThe Globe and Mailand host of their cruise program. She has written forSaveur,Kinfolkmagazine,Jamie Oliver,and others, with additional work withThe Wall Street Journal,The Guardian, and various television projects.
How to Make Homestyle Dosas: A Primer
Homestyle dosas are smaller, spongier, and bouncier than their restaurant counterparts. There’s no one way to make them, but whichever route you choose, it pays to know these basic tenets.
Homestyle Dosas with Tomato Chutney
As with any fermented food, timing will depend on the ambient temperature (the hotter it is, the faster it will go). Indoor temperatures were about 68°F—72°F when we developed this recipe and that’s what our time range reflects, so use it just as a guideline. If possible, 82°F is ideal. Most important though will be checking for signs that indicate the batter is ready (bubbly, airy, and sour).
The Color of My Skin Is Sometimes Confused With the Scope of My Talent
When writers of color are asked to write about the food of their heritage, the answer often isn’t a simple yes or no.
Swirl Spice Cake
The layer of streusel in this marbled loaf cake gets a complex punch of flavor from a coffee spice blend that includes dried orange peel, cardamom, and fennel seeds.
Savory-to-Sweet Coffee Spice Mix
Use this coffee spice mix as a dry rub on chicken, steak, pork chops, or carrots for dinner, or fold into chocolate chip cookies, coffee cake, ice cream, and more for dessert—it plays happily on both sides of the field.
Sesame Pork Burgers with Sweet and Spicy Slaw
These pork burgers—inspired by Southeast Asian dumplings—are an ideal weeknight meal. The sweet and spicy mayo acts as both a dressing for the slaw and a sauce for the burger.
This Easter Quiche Fits Everybody’s Taste (Except Your Friend Who Doesn’t Eat Eggs)
When you serve a plain and delicious quiche with a handful of toppings, your guests get to do Easter brunch exactly as they like.
Braised Leeks, Peas, and Lettuce
When you warm lettuce in butter and wine it gets velvety and rich—a perfect foil to the pop of sweet peas. Serve this spooned over quiche for brunch.
Deep Dish Quiche with Garnishes
Made with crème fraîche and chives, this quiche is good enough to be eaten plain. But a buffet of garnishes—smoked salmon, avocado, braised leeks—make this Easter brunch truly memorable.
Pistachio-Rose Shortbread Squares
A coating of crushed, freeze-dried raspberries and pink sanding sugar adds color, sparkle, and crunch to these festive cookies.
Molasses Sandwich Cookies With Coffee Cream
Adding ground coffee to both the cookie dough and the filling turns these cookies into something deeply more interesting than your average holiday spice treats.
White Chocolate Fruitcake Bars
These cookie bars are studded with the best parts of traditional fruitcake (orange zest and dried fruit) and spiced up with lots of fresh ginger.
The Easiest Indian Dish You're Not Making
The only secret ingredient you need is patience.
Naan
The key to cooking this yeast-risen, yogurt-enriched Indian flat bread at home is a hot cast iron skillet.
Everyday Yellow Dal
Think of dal as similar in use to gravy—in other words, not a side dish or its own course. It is eaten on rice or with flatbreads, or with dry curries, and vegetables; it is meant as part of a meal.
Chicken and Couscous with a Punchy Relish
这是一个主要的晚餐,只有需求a salad of assertive greens as accompaniment. The chicken gets a head start in the oven, but then finishes up by sharing its pan with the couscous. This way, the pasta laps up flavor from the meat, while getting crispy on top, and in turn, the steam coming up from the couscous keeps the chicken incredibly juicy. An intense slurry of anchovies, garlic, and lemon makes up most of the piquant dressing, with bursts of contrasting sweetness from the raisins. You'll want a large baking pan that's not much deeper than 2 inches. Pyrex and ceramic have the potential to crack when the liquids are added during roasting, so it's best to avoid them this time. The baking dish I use is enameled metal and is 15 inches long, 11 1/2 inches wide, and with a depth of 1.5 inches, but a 13-inch paella pan would be fine. Keep in mind that if the pan is too deep, the sides of the chicken won't brown; if too small, there won't be a lovely crust on the couscous; if too large, the liquid will evaporate before everything is cooked. It's the Goldilocks of baked suppers, but when it's right, it's perfect.