Cookthink

Last weekend, my dad was in town for a visit. About an hour after his plane touched down, and on the recommendation of several friends, we went fishing for redfish, trout and whatever else would bite with guide and longtime Charlestonian Peter Brown...

Now that fall's here, I'm settling into my new home on a small barrier island near Charleston, SC. And after a long summer hiatus, my cookbook writing and testing has begun in earnest -- an exploration of the relationship between Southern (U.S.), and Southeast Asian food and cooking...

This space has been quiet for the past couple of months, and we've neglected to explain why. The short answer is that we've had a really busy summer. My book about the pluot was published last week by Bloomsbury and is now available at bookstores everywhere...

Today is the 10th anniversary of Attila Ambrus's escape from prison. A folk hero around the world, Ambrus is a former professional hockey goalie (maybe the worst ever to play the game) who was finally arrested in 1999 after robbing more than two dozen Hungarian banks (often with great panache)...

I just got back from a good long trip to the panhandle of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico coast, where we've been vacationing since I was little. I've always appreciated the amazing seafood down there, but there's one thing in particular I look forward to each trip -- the shrimp...

Raw vegetable salads lend simplicity, convenience, elegance and a good dose of vegetables to a meal all at the same time...

I'm almost always hungry first thing in the morning. But today, after a good long run yesterday, I was ravenous. What to eat? Before I even got out of bed, a dish I had heard about recently, quinoa pancakes, popped into my mind...

You want to add some flavor to a cut of meat. Why use a spice paste over a marinade? First of all, you need time to marinate, time you may not have unless you've planned things in advance...

Yesterday afternoon I was looking forward to grilling two beautiful Niman Ranch pork tenderloins for a dinner party. But when it was time to fire up the grill, the sky cracked open and it started to pour...

Reading Francis Mallmann's new book Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way (written with Peter Kaminsky), I'm reminded that for all the things that cooking is about, at heart it's about fire -- cooking's "mother tongue" as Mallmann calls it...

what you should know Are they right, those boosters, when they say that mustard is the world's oldest condiment? Maybe they are. Its storied history as a spice, a medicine and a metaphor has made mustard important to people from Nanur to Napa...

what you should know A fixture in both curry and chili powder blends (as well as in Indian masalas), cumin's smoky warmth has made it a key ingredient in spice mixtures and pastes across the globe....

what you should know Are we less inclined to warm up to foods we're not sure how to pronounce? That's the only reason we can think of to explain why quinoa ("KEEN-wah") has yet to take off in the U.S...

Domenica Marchetti is a food writer, recipe developer and cooking teacher who specializes in seasonal Italian home cooking and the author of The Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy. Visit her website at www.domenicacooks.com. You can find more of her recipes here...