Miyabi 9 in Des Moines
512 E. Grand Avenue This is the best sushi I’ve had in Iowa–and easily compares with sushi in any major metropolitan area in this country. It’s a small restaurant, and…
Los Laureles in Des Moines
1518 East Grand Avenue This is probably my favorite Mexican restaurant in the state of Iowa. I first started going there in the early 90s, when it was more like…
Gremolata
A friend of mine gave me a jar of preserved lemons and Sicilian capers in salt recently, and I’ve been experimenting a lot with this wonderful ingredient. The amounts for…
Бакладжанная икра (Eggplant Caviar)
Eggplant Caviar This is a great dish that I first learned from The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher. It’s best with the freshest eggplant possible. Some recipes call for salting and…
New Oriental Food Store
This is one of my favorite Asian food stores in Iowa. It’s smaller than many, but it has been in business a long time, and I’m a regular. They have…
In praise of braising
One of my approaches to cooking is to find a good, easy, and reliable technique, and to play with it using different ingredients. Braising is a good example. It’s pretty…
Goląbki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)
This is a Polish dish that I learned in the mid 1980s. It’s a hearty and filling dish, and can be made with meat, or with vegetables. It can be…
Шопска салата (Shopska Salata)
This recipe hails from Bulgaria, where I spent two summers, 1988 and 1989 at the University of Sofia. Salata refers to salad, of course; the shopska in “Shopska salata” refers…
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