Author: chefalice

Larb, regarded as the national dish of Laos, is a finely chopped meat salad served warm or room temperature with fresh herbs and raw vegetables. To make my life easier, I skip the mincing part and use my slow cooker to cook the meat until it is tender. Then I shred the meat, toss it in its delicious cooking liquid, and serve it in lettuce cups with fresh herbs. Easy!

Sweet, fresh-tasting pea shoots, juicy shrimp, and sharp yogurt make a wonderful combination. Pea shoots are a rich source of Vitamins A and C and folic acid.

This light and airy bread is superior; in fact, it’s so light that it’s been called “Wonder Bread” by many of my clients. It has basically zero carbs and is 100 percent nut-free. The trick to making this bread is to not underwhip the whites: when you think the whites are stiff enough, continue whipping. I like to fry slices of this bread in a generous amount bacon fat to enhance the flavor and fat ratio, but this extra step is completely optional.

Instead of using breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs, I use an egg as a binder for the meatloaf in this recipe, along with grated Parmesan cheese and finely chopped mushrooms. (Don’t worry, you won’t taste the mushrooms, but they make the meatloaf very moist!) Mushrooms and aged cheeses have something called umami, a pleasant savory taste produced by glutamate and ribonucleotides, which are chemicals that occur naturally in many foods. Umami is subtle and not generally identifiable, but it blends well with other tastes to intensify and enhance flavors. Umami plays an important role in making food taste delicious.

Lemon curd is a thick, velvety cream with a fabulously tart yet sweet citrus flavour. You can use it in the Lemon Curd Tarts, like we do, as a spread for our scrumptious Lemon Blackberry Scones, or alongside an organic blueberry sauce with cornmeal waffles.