Many years ago, I stood on a terraced hillside in the ancient Sicilian town of Ragusa Ibla, looking at the spectacular view. All along the rock walls were trays of tomatoes and tomato paste, spread out to dry in the hot sun. Although sun-dried tomatoes appear to be trendy in America, they are part of a strong Italian tradition of keeping tomatoes in the repertoire of the cuisine when fresh, ripe tomatoes are out of season.
Ingredients
From Chef Mark Reinfeld's menu for A Holiday Vegan Feast.
Excerpted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (10th anniversary edition, Broadway Books, 2007). Copyright 2007 by Deborah Madison.
Talk about a centerpiece dish, with the first slice this dome of dark glossy greens turns into pure Technicolor. You've got yellow and red peppers with tomatoes, corn in the form of hominy and black beans. In the taste department you've got shots of fresh lime and a new spice blend straight from the Caribbean.
© 2004 Lynne Rossetto Kasper
A good roast chicken is one of my favorite things to cook and eat. Every cook should know how to roast a chicken properly. The stuffing in this recipe contains a fantastic Middle Eastern spice blend called za'atar, which is a combination of sesame seeds and dried herbs such as basil, thyme and oregano.
Crisp, bronzed and fragrant, this turkey takes a mere ten minutes to the pound cutting the usual roasting time down by a third to a half. Steam from the white wine in the pan makes the skin especially good, and roasting on a rack of vegetables and apple gives you especially fine pan juices for gravy.