I’d never heard of ras al-hanout until I decided to make Moroccan Cubanos (recipe coming Monday, via the Top Chef Cookbook).
Ras al-hanout is a Moroccan/North African/Middle Eastern spice blend.  Per wikipedia, the name means “head of the shop” in Arabic, which refers to it being a mixture of a shop’s best spices.
There is no single recipe, [...]

Posted in Food Profiles, Recipes 1 Comment »

A couple weeks ago, when I decided to make Tuscan white beans, I searched for an accompanying dish.  I was pleased to find a whole Tuscan menu in the May 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine and selected “Balsamic-Marinated Radicchio with Fresh Ricotta.”  At the time, however, I had no idea what radicchio was.
What is radicchio?
Radicchio, [...]

Posted in Food Profiles 2 Comments »

This article explains what beef chuck is and how to cook it.

Posted in Food Profiles 2 Comments »

This article explains what fennel is and how to use it.

Posted in Food Profiles 5 Comments »

I was in the grocery store a couple weeks ago with my girlfriend when a lady asked us if we could help her find Swiss chard.  Unfortunately, I’ve never cooked with it and had no idea what it looked like besides being something leafy and green.  And staring at the supermarket shelves, there are quite [...]

Posted in Food Profiles 1 Comment »