Write to her at lbladholm@miamiherald.com.
I saw double at Tarragon Middle Eastern Market when the shop owners, identical twins from Lebanon, smiled in unison, making this an especially welcoming place to grab a falafel or stock up on fig jam, olive oil and fresh pita. Hussein and Hassan Mehaydli have created a little souk crammed with spices, flower waters, dried fruit, nuts, bulgur and dried beans at this unassuming shop in a strip mall off South Dixie Highway.
DIP FETA CHEESE DIP Use a good feta for this and serve with warm or toasted pita bread as an appetizer. ½ pound feta cheese
MAIN DISH CHICKPEAS AND BULGUR Called Bulgur bi-Dfeeneh, this makes a main dish, combining chickpeas, cracked wheat and meat. Serve with whisked plain yogurt and a crisp romaine salad tossed in vinaigrette with sliced tomatoes and quartered hard-cooked eggs and sprinkled with toasted chopped walnuts. Dried chickpeas and bulgur are available in most supermarkets as well as Middle Eastern and Indian markets.
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As the South Florida skyline grows, it's nice to know a pocket of one-story cottages from another era exists at Cauley Square, just off Dixie Highway in far south Miami-Dade. The ''village'' is a cluster of about 25 structures, many housing galleries and small shops, set on 10 acres with tropical gardens, gurgling fountains and little plazas.
APPETIZER MELTED BRIE, PEAR AND HAM TOASTS Serve as hors d'oeuvres or as a light lunch with soup. ¼ pound baked ham, minced
DESSERT CRANBERRY-WALNUT CRUMB CAKE This moist cake is great with a cup of hot tea. Pecans can be used in place of walnuts. Note that half a stick of butter should be left at room temperature to soften and the other half refrigerated until needed.
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COMBO CUT Issac Shoki practices what he preaches. He uses no canned, frozen or processed foods at his Miami Juice Restaurant and Healthy Food Emporium, and more than two-thirds of the food is organic. Every dish is made to order, and nothing is nuked in a microwave.
MAIN DISH QUINOA PILAF Available in natural food stores and some supermarkets, quinoa is a complete protein. That means it contains all eight essential amino acids -- a rarity in the plant world. Serve this pilaf with steamed vegetables and a tossed salad.
SALAD PISTACHIO SALAD Rich in healthful monounsaturated fats and fiber, pistachios add crunch and flavor to this delicious salad. ¼ pound watercress
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Life has come full circle for Raja Kandaswamy. The owner of Raja's Indian in downtown Miami came to South Florida 17 years ago as a cook on a cruise ship. Today he feeds South Asian cruise-line workers craving food from home at his flagship restaurant and the brand-new Chithra's International & Indian Cuisine.
SIDE DISH NORTH INDIAN CAULIFLOWER Called talli gobhi (``fried cauliflower''), this North Indian specialty is good with flatbread or rice and lamb curry. You can substitute yellow mustard seeds for the black seeds, which are available in Indian markets.
recipe MAIN DISH HOT LAMB CURRY Laal maas, as this dish is called in Rajasthan in Northwest India, is lamb cooked in garlic, coriander and enough red chile to make your hair stand on end. This recipe is much milder, using cayenne powder in place of the usual 15 whole red chiles. Serve with flatbread or rice and a vegetable side dish and cooling yogurt and cucumber raita (salad).
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My Argentine friend Edgar discovered San Telmo while scouting for a place near his fiancée's home for their wedding reception. There are plenty of Argentine restaurants in Sunny Isles Beach, but when I went with Edgar to check out this cozy spot, we were both won over.
SIDE DISH POTATO SIDE SALAD This South American salad is lighter than the mayo-bound Russian type. It goes well with grilled meat or chicken.
MAIN DISH ARGENTINE CHICKEN IN ORANGE SAUCE Serve with rice, mashed potatoes or potato salad. 1 (3- to 3 ½-pound) chicken, quartered
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It's one of those wonderfully incongruous Miami stories: Ethiopian siblings come to town and open a cafe with a California feel. It makes more sense when you know that Abebe and Hirut Tedla emigrated with their family from Addis Ababa to San Francisco when they were teenagers.
SALAD CALIFORNIA TOMATO SALAD WITH CHICKPEA DRESSING Serve with crusty bread and grilled vegetables, seafood or meat. Be sure to use vine-ripe tomatoes for the best flavor. Canned chickpeas are fine.
MAIN DISH CALIFORNIA BURGERS Serve with oven-baked fries or potato salad and a dill pickle. The burgers can be grilled. 1 Hass avocado, halved and pitted
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Blue-ribbon rabbits and roosters, scream-inducing rides and bright red candy apples galore. The Miami-Dade County Fair is in full tilt. For many folks it is the fair food that brings them. Enter the sprawling grounds and the smells of sugary sweetness, popcorn and smoked turkey legs waft on the air. Fairgoers stroll the midway in search of deep-fried funnel cakes, corn dogs and elephant ears (this year cooked with no trans fats) and other standard indulgences.
MAIN DISH CORN DOGS Although corn dogs are probably best eaten at a fair, they are doable at home. Serve hot on a wooden skewer with ketchup or slide off the stick and serve with ketchup, mustard and pickle relish in a hotdog bun.
DESSERT FUNNEL CAKES You will need enough oil to fill a skillet 2 inches and a funnel to drip the batter into the hot oil. Serve hot as a snack or dessert dusted with powdered sugar.
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It's a surprise to discover excellent Nicaraguan-style churrasco in an out-of-the-way spot in Doral. Enter the gated community of Costa del Sol and snake down the main boulevard to reach the golf course clubhouse, set on a small lake where Muscovy ducks often waddle onto the patio, looking for a handout.
SOUP NICARAGUAN CHAYOTE SOUP Pale green, pear-shaped chayote is widely available in supermarkets. 2 large chayotes, seeded, peeled and sliced
APPETIZER SHRIMP MARINATED IN LIME JUICE Serve this cooked variation on ceviche with crackers, popcorn or crusty bread. 2 pounds medium (31-35 count) shrimp, shelled and cleaned
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From the street, Taste of Bombay looks like another dingy hole-in-the wall in traffic-snarled downtown, but step inside and you'll find some of the best Indian food in Miami.
SIDE DISH VEGETABLES IN FRAGRANT COCONUT MILK Curry leaves, available in Indian markets, are also used in the stir-fried shrimp recipe you'll find at MiamiHerald.com/Food.
MAIN DISH STIR-FRIED SHRIMP WITH COCONUT This fast, tasty grated coconut stir-fry is known as thoren. Curry leaves are available in Indian markets.
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Everyone is a wee bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day, and Coral Gables' venerable JohnMartin's Irish Pub & Restaurant has a weekend's worth of ways for you to celebrate the feast day of the Emerald Isle's patron saint.
SIDE DISH BRAISED CABBAGE If the thought of cabbage reminds you of the days when most vegetables in Ireland were boiled to death, try this slightly wilted, nearly caramelized version that includes tangy horseradish, garlic and shallots. It's perfect with pork or corned beef.
APPETIZER SMOKED SALMON PATE Ptés and spreads are easy to make and elegant to serve with crackers and biscuits, slices of soda bread, crostini or toast. Packed in crocks, ramekins or molds of varying sizes, most can be made up to a day or more in advance, and the recipes can easily be doubled or tripled depending on the number of servings.
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Hollywood Grill's tasty Caucasus cuisine and balmy oceanfront setting are rare South Florida finds. Husband-wife owners Hovich Gregoryan, who is Armenian, and Zina Petlyar, who is Georgian, came here three years ago from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Gregoryan, known as ''Mother Goose'' for his nurturing manner, has been cooking since he was 16. He mans a wood-fired grill in the open kitchen, while Petlyar attends to customers.
SIDE DISH SPINACH YOGURT SALAD Serve with meat or seafood kebabs and rice pilaf. To drain yogurt, place in cheese cloth and tie to a sink faucet. Let the liquid drip out over 2 to 3 hours.
MAIN DISH ARMENIAN SHISH KEBAB Serve with lavash or pita bread with radishes, fresh herbs and feta cheese or with rice and steamed or grilled vegetables. The kebabs can be grilled if you prefer.
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L'Arte Bianco Bakery is a family-run place in a Kendall strip mall with Peruvian specialties plus traditional French confections. The name means ''the art of white'' in Italian, referring to flour, the main ingredient in the baked goods made on the premises daily.
DESSERT PUMPKIN PUDDING Pumpkin desserts like this one are popular in Peru and across South America. If you don't want to cook your own pumpkin, substitute a 16-ounce can of solid-pack puree (not pumpkin pie filling).
SOUP SPICY MUSSEL SOUP In Peru, this soup is usually served in small cups or shot glasses with a cold beer. For a crunchy addition, chopped peanuts can be mixed in the soup. Add a crusty bread roll and butter alongside.
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A homey little spot on North Kendall Drive where a half-dozen tables vie for space with burlap sacks of Blue Mountain cofee beans is one of the best places this side of Kingston for an authentic Jamaican meal.
MAIN DISH RED STRIPE CHICKEN Jamaica's Red Stripe beer has a distinctive blend of sweet and bitter flavors. Serve this mellow dish with steamed rice, a tossed salad and, of course, beer.
MAIN DISH GOAT CURRY Immigrants from India brought this curry dish to Jamaica. Serve with steamed rice or flatbread (roti) and a side of greens. Fresh or frozen goat meat is available at Caribbean markets and halal butcher shops.
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Nhora de la Pava is an artist who has chosen sugar as her medium and cake as her form. Each is a labor of love, made in her Kendall studio, Sweet Touch, where she also teaches classes in cake design and decoration.
