Ham Sandwich Indicted!

Dal bhat tarkari .  It's essentially the national dish of Nepal, and if you're a nerdy food dork, you might refer to it as DBT. (NB: I am a nerdy food dork.)  If you ever journey to Nepal, you'll eat a lot of DBT...possibly for breakfast, and most likely for dinner.  It's comprised of three parts: dal , a lentil soup that can be curried and seasoned in a variety of ways, bhat , or rice, and tarkari , an assorted mix of seasonal vegetables.  It's usually accompanied by a side of pickled vegetables, or chutney (called achar ). DBT really is a staple, and for good reason...it's healthy, filling, and delicious.  Ginger, garlic, garam masala, fenugreek, cumin, chili peppers, coriander, cinnamon, and a safoetida all make appearances in dal and tarkari, with varying degrees of spicyness based on the number and variety of chili peppers used . Sidebar : asafoetida (which I sadly did not have on hand this time around) is a spice derived from the dried latex gum exu

Skillet-Baked Eggs w/Spinach, from Bon Appetit  (This is their pic, not mine...my camera is on the fritz.) For Christmas this year, my food-obsessed brother-in-law (and partner-in-crime) gave me a copy of Jean-Georges Vongerichten's latest book,  Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes . It's a collection of what are, in all reality, pretty simple recipes that highlight fresh ingredients and can be accomplished with a minimum of time and effort.  The photos are beautifully shot, and the recipes, while occasionally so basic they're obvious (I'm not sure heirloom tomato crostini warrants an actual recipe..), for the most part give creative little twists on elementary concepts.  You definitely can't fault Mr. Vongerichten for his overall concept, though--the presentation of simple, satisfying meals for his friends and family that require few fancy ingredients and no complicated techniques. Take, for example, the dish that apparently prompted my