This is a basic dish from the Dominican cuisine, consisting of boiled and pureed plantains, served with fried onions, garlic and salami. You can serve it with any other combination of toppings, as long as you make sure it's something salty and flavorful.
Overall it's a pretty heavy-tasting dish, but truly delicious from the sweet and salty combination. And it will definitely hit an interesting note for the Western palate, which is used to associate the banana flavor only with desserts.
Recipe source: here.
Last year: Carrot, raisin and olive oil cake bars with eggnog and almond icing.
Two years ago: Minty crème brûlée.
Three years ago: Baby making and no cooking :).
As much as everyone is familiar with brownies and loved them, they should also be familiar with their non-cocoa counterpart, the blondies. They are basically chewy cake squares, a bit sweeter than the brownies but made in a similar fashion, and dubbed "blonde" for the obvious reason of coloring. They can contain various nuts or chips in the batter, but for starters I decided to share with you the classic version of blondies before we move on to variations. :)
Recipe source: Saveur.
Last year: King Bao Ji Ding (Kung Pao Chicken) (Chinese).
Two years ago: Spaghetti nests with dill cream and caviar.
Three years ago: Baby making and no cooking :).
This is the type of meal you can make when you have absolutely no time for cooking (or eating for that matter) and suddenly hunger strikes and you have to throw something together really fast. It tastes hearty and warming enough to put you back on your feet so you can go back to writing for that project :). Ready in no time and full of delicious flavors, reasonably light and quite healthy (if made with wholewheat pasta). Not to mention that preparing pasta "al forno" (in the oven) the good old Italian gives a very special taste to almost any dish. At least to me, it's one of my favorite ways of making pasta. Probably because it's so easy, too :)
Last year: Avocado and green leaf salad (vegan).
Two years ago: Mushroom and broccoli filled omelet.
Three years ago: Baby making and no cooking :).
This is a historically-famous pound cake that takes its name from the address of the establishment where it was created.
According to Saveur, "Toni Evins, Maida Heatter's late daughter, who lived on East 62nd Street in Manhattan, created this tart, sweet cake. It became a favorite of the chic set after Craig Claiborne printed the recipe in the New York Times. "I hear that Bill Blass and Nancy Reagan asked for it," Heatter notes."
It tastes very buttery-lemony, not overly sweet and has a lovely puffy consistency. The tart sugar glaze practically screams lemon. It's nice for enjoying next to tea or coffee in the morning and lasts for almost a week of breakfasts (for two people at least).
Last year: Ciorbă de gulii (Romanian kohlrabi soup) (vegan).
Two years ago: Smoked salmon carpaccio with sun-dried tomatoes (raw) (Swedish "Najad Lax").
Three years ago: Baby making and no cooking. :)
This is a very easy and convenient to make comfort food for when you're too busy or lazy to actually cook or even shop for ingredients. It's all made with pantry basics, and what's even best is that the recipe is an ideal canvas for multiple extra ideas of improvisation (I will detail a short list of such variations below).
To me, this is one of the recipes that proves comfort lazy food doesn't necessarily need to be junk food. Enjoy. :)
Last year: Pink raspberry lemonade (raw vegan).
Two years ago: Pain aux herbes de Provence (French) (vegan).
Three years ago: Baby making and no cooking :) .
The classic combination of coffee and milk in the Spanish style. Their proportion of milk to coffee is way more generous than the one practiced by most other cuisines and the steaming little cups of café con leche are a well-established presence next to almost every meal and dessert in Spain. It has become so much a part of the everyday Spanish culture that it's hard to imagine a day there without a glorious cup of this. Enjoy. :)
Last year: Peach and vanilla cream pie.
Two years ago: Lemon and artichoke spaghetti (vegan).
Three years ago: Baby making and no cooking :).
