Monkey-faced cookies: old-fashioned molasses drop cookies with ginger and cinnamon, decorated with three raisins for eyes and a mouth. Makes 36 cookies in 30 minutes. A classic kids baking project.
A homemade Balti curry paste made from ground spices, vinegar, and oil, fried until thick and bubbling. Bottle it hot and keep it on hand as the flavor base for all your Balti curries and stir-fries.
Filipino calamari stew with squid simmered in garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, and pepper: tender in 10 minutes, served immediately while still hot and tangy.
Crispy deep-fried spring rolls packed with curry-marinated ground chicken, cellophane noodles, napa cabbage, and fresh vegetables. Served with a fiery homemade chili-cilantro dipping sauce that brings serious heat.
Sichuan-style shredded pork with garlic sauce, tree ear mushrooms, celery, and water chestnuts. Deep-fried pork meets a spicy, tangy, sweet sauce in this bold Chinese classic.
Traditional German braune bohnen: green beans tossed in a dark brown roux gravy with clove-studded onion and bay leaf. A savory-sweet side dish that turns simple beans into something extraordinary.
Salsa Bandera is a fresh Mexican salsa with chopped tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, cilantro, and a vinegar-lemon dressing. No cooking required, just chop, mix, and serve with chips.
Fiery Goan-style vindaloo with pork and beef simmered in freshly toasted ground spices, ginger, garlic and a sharp hit of vinegar. Slow-braised until the meat falls apart and the oil rises.
Add some flavor to your pork tenderloin with this succulent recipe that uses currant jelly and a variety of spices.
Beef round steak cubes marinated overnight in a homemade teriyaki sauce with brown sugar, ketchup and ginger, then skewered with pineapple, mushrooms, peppers and cherry tomatoes. Grilled and served over rice.
Quick refrigerator pickles with cucumber slices, garlic, vinegar, and red pepper flakes. A no-canning cold-brine recipe ready in an hour. Spicy, garlicky, and addictively crunchy.
Traditional Canadian sweet pickled beaver brined overnight, simmered with pickling spices, then roasted under a sticky glaze of brown sugar, dry mustard, cinnamon, white wine, and pineapple juice. Wild game cooking at its finest.
Petjel terong is an Indonesian deep-fried eggplant in a creamy peanut coconut milk sauce with sambal badjak. Crispy slices soaked in a spicy, savory, slightly tangy dressing.
Hearty German sour cream soup with bacon, cabbage, barley, rice, and vegetables in a tangy bechamel-enriched broth with caraway and vinegar. A cold-weather classic.
Jerry's Barbecue Sauce: a slow-simmered BBQ sauce with white wine, honey, dried mint, and three cups of onion. Cajun-style with a surprising herbal note. Makes a generous batch.
Carry-out campers' coleslaw is a no-mayo vinegar slaw built in an ice bucket, sweetened with frozen apple juice concentrate and dressed with mustard, vinegar, and oil. Travels great, no spoiling.