One of the beauties of living near the water is the abundance of fresh fish. I love it every way possible: on the grill, in a stew, smoked or dried. I especially like gravlax–cold cured salmon–for its delicate taste and incredible ease of home preparation. You can find many versions of this recipe online, with varying proportions, but the main idea stays the same: fresh fish, salt, sugar and some time.  Here is my version: Anna’s Gravlax You will need: Very fresh salmon filet (as fresh as you can get), skin on (or a previously commercially frozen salmon filet; the deep-freezing at commercial …

Eating healthy can be a challenge when there is no time to spare, and while bringing lunch always seems like a nice idea, more often than not I end up walking to the nearest food stop to grab something under the pretense of “needing to get some air." However, with just a little planning and smart shopping choices you can have delicious lunches ready in just a few minutes. Today’s magical ingredients? Pita pockets and minute rice. Cooking rice doesn’t take that much time or effort, but often it’s those 15 or 20 extra minutes that stand between me and making my own lunch. Minute® Rice Brown & …

Cuteness serves many important purposes in life, all of which I firmly believe in. Keeping cats on the Internet, anime on Netflix and getting kids to eat something they otherwise wouldn’t are just some of those important missions. Here’s a great way to use the cute factor to get kids to eat eggs (or just have more fun munching on them). Eggs pack a nutritional punch of protein, carotenoids, iron and various vitamins. (Check out this article from WebMD if you’re worried about the cholesterol.) Low-calorie and versatile, they are hard to beat for a meal or a quick snack. I always keep some hard…

Goat meat only sounds exotic. It’s one of the most consumed meats in the world, it has a mild, familiar taste—and you can buy it fresh at Stop & Shop. After a fascinating trip to East Somerville to find guava juice and spices for an iguana eggs dish (stay tuned!), goat meat was easily the least unusual ingredient I came home with. Goat meat tastes similar to lamb, but a little milder. It usually comes cut into chunks with bones in. You can buy it almost anywhere these days, from specialty butchers to chain supermarkets. Even though the bones are bit annoying to pick through, they give the …

Even though I live virtually across the street from a great Vietnamese restaurant (Pho n’ Rice), making my own pho has always been a little dream of mine. I am a big fan of soups for a million reasons: they are comforting, they can be filling without being too rich, and you can make one delicious broth to use in a few different recipes. There are a few key parts to a really (ph)antastic pho: rich broth, spices and a fresh kick of greens. Then come the meat (beef, chicken and seafood are all common, though beef is most traditional) and the noodles (vermicelli is typical). Motivated by terrible…

Little India moved into a larger space next to Market Basket last month, and I'm thrilled to have finally discovered the new location. The spacious store offers a fantastic variety of bargain-priced spices, prepared Indian desserts and entrees, and a great selection of breads, along with a new beer-and-wine liquor section.   They also sell "holy water from the river Gong" under the Divine Supplies section, should you ever need that. And the wine prices are great: Red Goliath Cabernet for $5.99? Sign me up! Not sure what to do with Indian spices? Try this simple, but tasty hot drink recipe–…

I woke up a couple of days ago to find out that the temperature outside was “16 degrees Farenheit, feels like 2 degrees Farenheit.” Despite my Siberian upbringing, I don't like the cold, especially combined with piercing wind and crazy humidity as we often have in the Boston area. However, there is good news for when the temperature drops: it's the season for Gluehwein, or mulled wine. Gluehwein (which in German means glowing wine because it makes your cheeks flush red) is almost like a hot version of sangria, combining red wine with fruit and spices. I like to add a dash of Grand Marnier to …

Hanukkah - the Festival of Lights - falls in the darkest and often coldest time of year for those of us residing in this part of the world.  And there is nothing quite like a steaming delicious bowl of Matzo ball soup to warm you from the piercing wind and snow.   Matzo balls are almost like a Jewish version of noodles - a flavor-neutral carbohydrate often paired with soups as well as other dishes.  They are formed out of a mix of matzo meal with some eggs, vegetable oil and a variety of spices. A quick google search will reveal that most people that bother to post their matzo ball recipes …

From gallery openings to speed dating, there is no way to escape one thing: wine and cheese. If you're lucky, there is cheap-but-decent red from Trader Joe's with some Cabot cheese. More often, there is unrecognizable crimson liquid next to the sweating yellowish cubes of a sub-dairy substance.  Now, what I'm about to suggest will in no way relieve you from special event appetizer hell (oh, hello, holiday season). However, it may suggest some new ways to enjoy familiar snacks. It's simple. It's cheese and beer. They are, much like wine and cheese, delicious products of fermentation and - when…

It is said that when humans started cooking food, and therefore, extracting more energy out of the resources they had available, they turned "a major evolutionary corner". However, there was another major step that we don't hear enough about, and that was when we started to deep fry. With batter or without, vegetables or meat, dunking your food into sizzling-hot oil is a sure way to make something delicious. As with any fool-proof technique, many attempts have been made to push the boundaries of deep frying. Commonly found at state fairs, deep fried Oreos, Snickers bars and even deep fried …

I've been fighting this cold for weeks.  Judging by the sound of my Somerville commute, and by the crowds in the Kleenex isles, I am not alone. It is draining and irritating. Being sick always makes me crave comfort food: soups, stews, chili.  What I want most right now is some delicious, vibrant-colored borscht. It always fascinates me how the letter T ended up in this word, because in Russian (and Ukrainian, for that matter) there is no T, it's just "borsch". What fascinates me even more is that a lot of people in the United States associate borscht with a bottled concoction that you buy in…

I am a big fan of offal. Offal is essentially what is left over after butchering an animal. These innards play a prominent role in many South American and European cuisines—tripe, tongue and liver are no strangers in Mexico, Poland or France. Not so here. In most typical American supermarkets, offal selection is usually pretty slim: some chicken livers and gizzards, and maybe oxtail (if you're lucky). But Somerville is a different story. Thanks to our very diverse neighborhoods, the food choices are amazingly broad. Offal selection is also quite impressive. My favorite destinations to date …

When a friend brought me za'atar from Israel a couple of years ago, I had only heard of it on cooking shows.  Now, I buy it in Winter Hill. Za'atar (also spelled "zaatar", "zahatar" and "zahater") is a Mediterranean blend of spices that includes thyme, marjoram, savory, basil and oregano mixed with sumac, lemon zest and sesame seeds. Three of those spices make the mix especially piquant. Savory gives the blend a nice earthy depth, while lemon zest and sumac (a spice made from the ground fruits of the sumac plant that tastes like lemon) give it a bit of an acidic kick.  You can make za'atar …

Something unusual popped up in my farm share delivery this week: pea shoots, all dainty and curly. Both the Union Square and Davis Square Farmers Markets often have them in the fall, as do Community Supported Agriculture farm shares (CSAs), much like mine. Pea shoots are often overlooked and usually very cheap to buy. If you are a gardener and you grow peas, do not let these delicate stems go to waste. Also called peapod stems or tendrils, pea shoots taste very much like, well, peas—a cross between snap and sugar peas, but with a bit of mustardy bite, similar to arugula. I love combining …

Proscuitto ends found at a Teele Square deli—rather than slices—deliver big taste on a small budget.... There is simply nothing wrong with prosciutto. Everything about this Italian dry-cured ham is perfect: the salty taste, the silky texture, just the right amount of fat, and most of all, a wide variety of uses. You can add prosciutto to anything—from melons and figs to pasta, pizza and even eggs (it makes a great bacon substitute!). I can eat it for dessert and die happy. But prosciutto can run anywhere from $5 to over $20/lb in supermarkets and specialty stores—depending on the brand and …

I grew up in Russia.  Usually when I get cravings for Old World favorites, like borscht or pierogies, I cook them. However, there is one problem. You can't make caviar. When I first moved to Somerville, I was delighted to find Russian stores just over the border in Allston and Brookline. Every once in a while, I would trek there and load up on salted fish and caviar, chatting with the sales people to make sure I haven't forgotten the language. But then I stumbled upon something amazing—right here in Union Square. Sure, you can't make caviar. But you can buy it in almost any Asian market. …

Since Seabra market opened on Somerville Ave. last year, I've had my eye on something in the meat department. There, among the chorizo and cured meats, you can find the "Feijoada combo," a ready-to-go package of all the specialty meats needed for this hearty Brazilian/Portuguese stew. It's a good time to tackle feijoada. With the temperatures lowering to a pleasant chill, this delicious jumble of beans, sausage and pork is just right for the season. A comfort food in both Brazil and Portugal, feijoada is a casual dish, something a family throws together for a simple, satisfying meal. Several …