ASHA MAHARAJ COOKBOOK

The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show

Just when you thought the last thing the world needed was another book on weeknight cooking, along comes an entirely fresh take on the subject. As they do on their weekly show, host Lynne Rossetto Kasper and producer Sally Swift approach their topic with attitude and originality, making The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper one of the most engaging cookbooks of this or any other year.

As loyal listeners know, Lynne and Sally share an unrelenting curiosity about everything to do with food. Their show, The Splendid Table, looks at the role food plays in our lives—inspiring us, making us laugh, nourishing us, and opening us up to the world around us. Now they have compiled all the most trenchant tips, never-fail recipes, and everyday culinary know-how from the program in How to Eat Supper, a kitchen companion unlike any other.

This is no mere cookbook. Like the show, this book goes far beyond the recipe, introducing the people and stories that are shaping America’s changing sense of food. We don’t eat, shop, or cook as we used to. Our relationship with food has intensified, become more controversial, richer, more pleasurable, and sometimes more puzzling. How to Eat Supper gives voice to rarely heard perspectives on food—from the quirky to the political, from the grassroots to the scholarly, from the highbrow to the humble—and shows the essential role breaking bread together plays in our world.

How to Eat Supper takes you through a plethora of inviting recipes simple enough to ensure success even if you’ve never cooked before. And if you are experienced in the kitchen, you’ll find challenging new concepts and dishes to spark your imagination.

Dear Diary,

I still can’t believe I spend the last minutes of my days writing in this notebook. I’ve not always done it. My life was full enough without taking the time to write. There’s always so much to do. But she keeps one. One night, I asked her what she was doing. She told me I ought to start one, that future generations would appreciate knowing about life from my view.

And so here is what happened today….

She said to smile. She did everything possible to get me to smile. She swayed her body to the music coming from inside the house; made clicking noises imitating the different birds that live in the fruit trees, and called my name in her endearing accent when she spoke Tagalog.

Yet, that was all I could give. We were always told never to smile in front of the camera., that the flash would steal our soul. She must not have heard that same caution in America. America is more modern, not like us with all of our superstitions, even though we are God-fearing Catholic people. I hoped she wasn't too disappointed.

How did it happen that I have an American for a daughter-in-law? One so young, so beautiful, so kind. Jesus was blessed. Thank you, God for sending her to him. Not that my only son is ugly. After all he is a doctor and he is charming. Still, forty-one before he was married. I had almost given up hope that he would marry, and give me grandchildren.

So young, only twenty-seven. She could be his daughter.

So beautiful -- skin so white, hair almost yellow, and blue eyes. The only American here in Pililla! There are lots of them in Manila, but not here. I worry about her going out in the hot sun. Good thing she always listens and takes the umbrella with her when she goes out walking.

So kind as to agree to live here in Pililla with us. She had to leave her grandmother, mother, and younger sister. I know she’s lonely sometimes; God knows I would be if I were in her shoes.

Today was their fifth wedding anniversary. Aro, Remy, and I had not been present at their wedding in Ohio. I just kept praying that they would someday be able to come visit us here, so we could all meet her. God is so good because they came, and not just for a visit. They’ve come to live here with us. Many have met her since they arrived months ago, but a party in their honor was special. Everyone in town was invited.

We started cooking yesterday already. There were about a dozen students from the Academy who helped. Their teacher was clever. She had encouraged the girls to sign up to help. She had asked them where else could they get to experience such a gala affair. A pig and several chickens were killed. We bought several pounds of shrimp and different kinds of fish: tilapia, catfish, milkfish, not to mention the variety of vegetables: green beans, okra, eggplant, radish, carrots, spinach. The meal was served at the Academy where there was plenty of room.

The photo was taken early in the morning, before we went to church. For this occasion everyone wore new outfits. My new Maria Clara dress was made of dark blue cotton, cooler in the summer heat. The neckerchief was made of jusi, pineapple fabric-- we Pilipinos are famous for--with a scalloped design. I wore the necklace and earrings that nanay gave me for my wedding. I had worn them on many occasions. The watch was new, brought back from America. Someday these will go to my granddaughters.

We always have flowers here. When I stood by the bodega, rice storage, my pink bougainvilleas were behind me, a lovely contrast to my dress. The dark green palm plants can be seen as well.

So, I’m looking at my lovely daughter-in-law, also wearing a Maria Clara. Hers is a light blue that matches her laughing eyes. The brown camera box in her hands, hides her face, but I know her adventurous spirit. She has brought light to our lives. Her name fits her: Lucy.

Until tomorrow.

this was my favorite dish at Tien Fu, a restaurant i used to go to a few times a week when i used to work in Greenway Plaza in Houston. when management changed at the restaurant, so did the recipe, but i've always wanted to recreate it at home. i think i've come close. i know what to do next time (which is use one whole onion instead of half, add green bell peppers, and add more mushrooms).

in no way am i an expert in making up a recipe. i wing it when i make stuff. it's all according to your taste, how hot you want it, etc. so what i usually do is just tell you what's in it...

2 red bell peppers - cut up in big chunks
2 green bell peppers - to be added next time (the grocery store just didn't have any that were appetizing)
2 small cans of sliced mushrooms (optional) - this wasn't in the original recipe but i love mushrooms in anything
1 whole onion - there's only 1/2 an onion here, but it needs a whole onion.
1 pound of shelled, de-veined shrimp w/ the tail
4 teaspoons of black bean garlic sauce
generous helping of honey - to taste
red pepper flakes - to taste (put more if you like it hot)
1 packet of Splenda (optional) - i actually added this last because i thought it came out too salty

since shrimp cooks really fast, i put it in last after sauteing everything else...

saute the onion in a little bit of olive oil and season with salt (to taste)... then put in the black bean garlic paste... sprinkle 2 pinches of red pepper flakes and saute some more. then put in the mushrooms and bell peppers and saute some more. add the honey. taste the sauce and see if it's hot enough or sweet enough or salty enough or garlicky enough for you. then add the shrimp. mix the shrimp until they're coated with the sauce. put the lid on it until the shrimp turns pink. should take 5 minutes or more but keep an eye on it. you don't want to overcook the shrimp or else they'll be tough & chewy. put over rice and enjoy!

btw, you can substitute the shrimp with your protein of choice: tofu, chicken, beef, pork, lamb, etc... just play with your food & you'll find something you like.

The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook BBQ Chicken Pizza, Mixed Grill Vegetarian Pizza, Tandoori Chicken Pizza, Thai Chicken Pizza. These are just a few of the delicious pizzas, baked fresh in wood-burning ovens, that have helped to make California Pizza Kitchen into one of America's hottest and most successful restaurant chains. Founders Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield "put the world on a pizza" and the results are fantastic. Now, for the first time, here are the recipes that have made CPK restaurants so popular, with step-by-step directions to make pizza cooking easy and fun, even for beginners. In addition to the pizzas and calzones, Rick and Larry include recipes for creative pastas, salads, soups and appetizers, not to mention the tempting dessert pizzas. Whether CPK is already your favorite place to dine with family and friends or you're a creative cook with a taste for bold, fun, international flavors, The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook is the cookbook for you.

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