Make this Dal

And it's pretty.

So, I bought pretty much all the lentils, and needed something to do with them. Then I found this recipe for Dal - a lentil soup that is a staple in Indian (and related/neighboring) cuisine. It's quickly become a favorite of mine. It has delicious, complex flavors, can easily prepared in under an hour, and is great on its own, over rice, or served with other. I've prepared it pretty much as written; except with chicken stock instead of vegetable - and opting for sesame oil. Give it a try.

Fat Tuesday - Part 1: Crawfish Pie

Don't act like you're not impressed.

I miss a lot of things about living in New Orleans. Most of them relate to eating and cooking. I don't, however, miss Mardi Gras. Except for pickup truck crawfish boils driving up on the more residential corners of the Quarter at 3AM, the spectacle never quite balanced out the city's metaphorical roomates' out-of-town friends camping out drunk and underfoot on its figurative couch for 2 weeks. However, up in the white wastes of the Great Lakes, it's a great excuse to put on some Rebirth, break out the cast iron, and make a big mess in the Kitchen. Where else to start, but with one of my two favorite things: Pie!