Meatless miracles from the Middle East

Vegetarian food often scares many carnivores away.  While some of us steak-eaters enjoy a nice block of tofu or tempe from time to time, these same veggie proteins give the impression of tastelessness to so many.  And their fears are well founded.  So many restaurants treat vegetarian food with the same blandness that they expect when they eat it.  But just because plain tofu and raw veggies may not appeal to our taste buds doesn't mean that there isn't a spice that can't, well, spice things up! That's where falafel comes in.  This Middle Eastern veggie patty of sorts is not nearly as healthy as tofu, but with with cumin and coriander as its spice base, it's definitely more flavorful!  Serve it in a wrap with baba...

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Posted in: chickpeas,cucumber,falafel,vegetables,vegetarian,yogurt

We'll make you a dessert you can't refuse

The French may corner the market on gourmet meals and desserts, but it goes without saying that the Italians aren't far behind.  From pasta puttanesca to pizza primavera, Italian food is a staple in the American kitchen.  However, when it comes to dessert--apart from everybody's favorite meal-ender, tiramisu--Italians have a slew of delicious and practically unknown sweets to top off your dinner. To the non-Italian, many of the traditional desserts sound strange and unappealing.  Spumoni (an Italian flag-inspired ice cream dessert), for instance, often is avoided because of the strange inclusion of pistachio ice cream alongside cherry and vanilla ice cream.  And when people hear the secret about tiramisu, they tend to...

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Posted in: cheese,cherry,chocolate,dessert,lemon,Pastry,pistachio

Bite-size bound

True Asian dining often yields dishes that offer natural portion control.  In Japanese cuisine, this is recognized by most people as sushi--a medley of flavors served up in bite-sized pieces.  However, in Chinese-American cuisine, many people fall into the trap of Lo Mein or Teriyaki Chicken, so often served slathered with sauce with a large side of fried rice.  Only recently has Dim Sum--the Tapas of the East--become popular in the West, but if you're not one to cook up five different mini meals for yourself just to keep your portions down, then moving away from the fried egg-noodles might be a difficult transition. However, if you are familiar with any Asian cuisine, you know about the glory of pot stickers.  These small,...

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Posted in: beef,cheese,crab,dumpling,Pastry,Puff

Light eats with 'little meats'

Everybody loves a taco.  They're simple, they're light and you can fill them with pretty much anything:  Chicken, steak, fish--they're all doable and all delicious!  But in the shadow of pollo asado and carne asada (or even barbacoa, if you can risk it!), there are some "little meats" that make some pretty tasty tacos.  And while some people don't eat pork, for those of us who do, carnitas are a delightful alternative to the norm! Pork often gets a bum rap because of other famously fatty pig products, such as bacon or baby back ribs, but the inner soft, stringy texture and outer crispiness of the carnitas are due to the fat melting away.  Carnitas are by no means the leanest of the meats, but if they're made right,...

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Posted in: beans,pork,salad,taco

Desserts in a demitasse

Cupcakes, for lack of a better digital-age analogy, are trending—but they aren’t your grandma’s cupcakes!  Long gone are the days of being satisfied by bakery cupcakes covered with neon frosting, heaps of sprinkles and plastic picks of Scooby Doo.  No, the love of these single-serving treats is of a “Cupcake Wars” quality.  It’s all about gourmet cakes and frostings—even unique combinations of the two.  Welcome to the Golden Age of cupcakes! And in an decade when the personalization of homes, cars, smart-phones and internet profiles is commonplace, it's only natural that we apply this "what suits me?" attitude to our food.  Cupcakes are some of the most customizable foods, and, presuming you like cake, delicious mini...

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Posted in: cupcake,dessert

Finding a bit of Southern seafood comfort

When you're looking for a delicious grab-bag of flavor, shellfish is where it's at.  However, while many people will jump at the opportunity to drink a shrimp cocktail, certain crustaceans and bivalves can either be too tough to crack or too slimy to stomach for even the most adventurous of seafood lovers.  Crab legs are (literally) a pain and often the battle with the sea-spider's armor hardly seems worth the amount of booty within.  Oysters are stubborn shuckers, and even if you order them on the half-shell, their flavor and booger-esque texture are usually a taste the person doing the slurping must acquire. But if you're anything like us here at The Giddy Gourmands (who are natives to the fish-filled state of Southern California),...

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Posted in: cornbread,crab,gumbo,oyster,shrimp

Grillin' and gobblin' everything up

Every summer, it's the same old thing: burgers, burgers, burgers up to your buns.  But so many of those flat, beef patties tend to be so dry and tasteless that we cover them with as many condiments as we can manage in order to come out victorious at the dinner table.  Is that diminished hockey puck the best we can do?  Have Americans, the champions of this summertime delight, really forgotten how to make a delicious burger? And while beef may be "what's for dinner" most of the time, what ever happened to turkey burgers?  These delicious white-meat, condiment-carrying alternatives haven't been in style for years it seems.  Where are they now?  Merely on the menu for those people trying to watch their figures?  Are...

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Posted in: Burger,cabbage,condiments,salad,Turkey