Saveur February 2009

Photos by Andre Baranowski.

The new issue of Saveur rocks, and they are not paying me to say this. It's a veritable vegan paradise. Sure, it has bound-and-gagged chicken on the cover, but it is the home cook edition, which has some excellent articles about tools and pantry staples, along with some really great basic have-to-have-it recipes inside that can greatly enhance your cooking efforts. You'll refer back to these again and again, I'm guessing.

First, check out page 35, for a list of the best sugars, and page 39, for a run-down of superior olive oils. Learn more about salt on page 57, and get a lesson on bartender techniques on page 79.

If you don't mind that Guinness may or may not be vegan, check out the Spicy Guinness Mustard recipes on page 47.

Then it gets serious. Check out the fantastic recipe for Harissa on page 50 and you won't ever have to buy the jarred stuff again.

Or shun those big ketchup companies and make your own from the ketchup recipe on page 52.

On page 56, find a recipe for Worcestershire Sauce (just skip the 1 anchovy). If you look closely you can find a recipe for Couve (sauteed Collard Greens) on page 62.

Jazz up your food with Sofrito from the recipe on page 63, which comes from Oswald Rivera, who wrote Puerto Rican Cuisine in America. Then find a great recipe for Hot Sauce on page 64. Douse your tofu in this and never look back.

On page 69, check out Zuppa di Grano Cuturru (Sicilian Greens and Bulgur Soup). Just use veg broth instead of chicken and skip the totally unnecessary garnish of pecorino. Leave out the fish sauce and make Gaeng Pet (Thai Red Curry Paste) or choose a recipe where you don't have to leave out anything and make Spaghetti with Oven-Roasted Tomatoes and Caramelized Fennel from page 75.

I know this issue will keep me in the kitchen for awhile.