Recipes

Cooking (and dining) from Japan

We have lived here for a total of 11 years and this month, I wrote about all my culinary experiences in “My Japanese Table,’’ beginning with a breakfast of grilled fish, rice, pickles, and miso soup from our very first home stay in a rural area on the southern island, Kyushu.

A taste test of whole wheat bread loaves

We sat down with seven brands of 100 percent whole wheat bread, ranging from the artisanal looking Nashoba Brook, squared-off dense Iggy’s, to airy Wonder Bread. It was hard to think of these as the same species, yet they are all entirely whole wheat.

A Thanksgiving feast from our readers

Our readers sent their favorite dishes to The Recipe Box Project and we put together a Thanksgiving menu. Not a green vegetable in the lot.

Japanese American Matcha Mochi Cupcakes

TOKYO – Many foods brought to America by new immigrants evolve into dishes that combine ingredients from both cultures. California rolls are a good example.

Put a little life in a child’s lunchbox

I have been bonkers for obento for more than 25 years. On one of our year-long stays in Japan my son Brad, went to fa local elementary school. Like any mom, I prepared lunch for him–American style. I soon learned that wasn’t going to cut the mustard — or wasabi as it were. So I …

Something old, something new

Recipe collections hold treasures — in the food itself and between the lines. Isn’t it time to organize all those cards?

From Barbara Rotger, Melrose, Ma

Hand written recipes from beloved relatives are our treasures. This recipe for Asparagus roll ups came from Barbara Rotger, a woman I interviewed for the article Something old, something new. It is from her grandmother, Marion Griswold Doane, who lived in Essex, Conn., and entertained a lot. “Grandma’s recipe box is full of appetizers and dips. My grandfather, Charlie, had a large vegetable garden and small farm stand. He would have grown the asparagus that Grandma used in this recipe,’’ says Rotger. Combined with cream cheese and blue cheese, the toasted bread asparagus roll-ups make elegant finger food.

Chopped Liver

Makes 2 cups or enough to serve 6 Chopped liver is served during the Passover holiday with matzo. The basic ingredients are chicken livers (or a mixture of chicken and beef liver), onions, and hard-cooked eggs. At one time, the onions were cooked in schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), and mixed with boiled, broiled, or sauteed …

A side dish served with matzo and memories

‘I had hoped to be greeted by the taste of schmaltz,’’ announces one in the group, using the Yiddish word for rendered chicken fat. Her octogenarian husband arrives with his mother’s well-worn wooden bowl and single-blade chopper. When he was a boy, he says, “Every Sunday my job was to chop the liver. My father …

Baked Winter Fruit

This baked winter fruit dish falls somewhere between a crisp and a compote. It uses some dried fruits, which are usually simmered in liquid. But whatever fresh fruits you have on hand can go into the dish, even those starting to show brown spots.

The Wooden Bowls

Love at First Bite? Not Exactly.

Whole-wheat spaghetti may be better for you, but will it go over well at home? Maybe with sauce. By Debra Samuels Globe Correspondent / February 9, 2011
Whole-wheat bread entered the mainstream long ago. Now brown rice has displaced white in many bowls, and whole-wheat pasta has become nightly fare in many households — even in Italy.