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 gu...

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 pro...

Cleveland is home to a great many awesome things.  Lake Erie. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Great Lakes Brewery's Christmas Ale.  A bunch of fabulous restaurants (Greenhouse Tavern, anything by Michael Symon). The Flats. (Eh, maybe not so much that last one...it's not 1995.).  It's also the hometown of Michael Ruhlman, writer, chef, and general food-lover. Maybe you've heard of Ruhlman because you watch No Reservations with chef/global traveler Anthony Bourdain...they're friends, and Bourdain frequently mentions Ruhlman on his show. Maybe you've seen him as a judge on Iron Chef, or maybe you've actually read a couple of his books. Ruhlman started out writing non-fiction books on a variety of topics ( all-boys high schools , wooden boat building ) but began spending more of his time focusing on food after he did a stint at the Culinary Institute of America, then wrote about it in The Making of a Chef . Fourteen years and several more food-related books...

"I have long believed that it is only right and appropriate that before one sleeps with someone, one should be able--if called upon to do so--to make them a proper omelet in the morning." ...Thus begins Anthony Bourdain's list of Things Everyone Should Know How to Make. I'm just about wrapping up his latest book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook , and you know, I think he's dead on with this one. Chances are, you know Anthony Bourdain. You've most likely watched No Reservations on the Travel Channel, and you possibly also read his first memoir, Kitchen Confidential . Maybe you even saw his lecture when he came through on tour last year. You may or may not agree with a lot of what Bourdain says...he's crass, strongly opinionated, and did manage to annoy at least few Columbus foodies during his recent stop in Columbus for a short No Reservations piece. I, frankly, love the man. I enjoy his self-deprecating humo...

Reading is probably the 3rd most popular activity at the Ham Sandwich household, just behind eating and drinking (or drinking and eating, depending how court went that day). For the last several years, this reading has been comprised of two major genres: 1) cooking magazines and 2) non-fiction books. The cooking mags are obviously self-explanatory-- cometimes there's nothing better than thumbing through the latest issue of Gastronomica*/Bon Appetit/Saveur/Cook's Illustrated/King Arthur Flour Catalogue (ok, that last one doesn't really count as "reading"), planning menus, fantasizing about my dream kitchen and its appliances, and of course, trying out new recipes. Doing this with a glass of wine in hand, on the porch, makes the whole experience even better. The second category, non-fiction books, stems from my nerdtastic fear of becoming "dumb." Seriously. After spending 10 years in a classroom getting new information poured daily into my head, I panicked...