Robin Mather Jenkins

"Quick & Easy Vietnamese" By Nancie McDermott (Chronicle, $19.95) WHAT IT IS: McDermott won us over in 2004 with her "Quick & Easy Thai." Now here she is again with...

Did you know? Variously called yucca, cassava, manioc and tapioca, yuca (YOO-ka) provides starch and vitamin C to the people around the equator who rely on it. It is considered...

Hold on to your wallets. This winter is shaping up to be a perfect storm of bad weather, high prices and the need to pinch pennies. December was much colder...

Did you know? In Africa, South and Central America, where plantains show up on menus for every meal, plantains are sometimes called "potatoes of the air," reports the Kitchen Dictionary...

First impressions: Its sunny decor and the Jamaican music on the sound system give the Moho Grill's orientation away: Welcome to the Caribbean! In Vernon Hills. Set up much like...

Did you know? Pumpkins, according to an Iroquois legend, came to man when the Great Spirit walked across the earth: Corn sprouted where she walked, beans grew at her left...

Chipotles are fiery smoked jalapenos, usually sold in 7-ounce cans with the thick tomato sauce called adobo that picks up their smoky heat. I find them in the Mexican section...

Did you know? Food historian Waverly Root quoted writer A.J. Liebling on the subject of apples, specifically on the topic of the mediocrity of apples. People who don't like food,...

Did you know? Related to cucumbers and squash, melons are a gift from the Middle East. Egyptians are said to have delighted in cantaloupe. Columbus carried melon seeds with him...

How far would we go for a good ear of sweet corn? Farther than the corner grocery. Staffers from the Tribune's Good Eating section compared Mirai, purchased at the grower's...