I’ve been exploring Indian food for the past couple of months because, for the longest time, it’s been intimidating. For some reason, Indian food just seemed to be an insurmountable task. But I think I’ve hit a breakthrough. There are some basic steps and components to Indian cooking that will help you get to this breakthrough as well. The recipes …

In the last few years there have been more homestead-y culinary activities en vogue than inappropriate Amanda Bynes tweets. You can make your own jugs of kombucha, crimp your own Pop Tarts, keep your own bees and strain watery home cheeses. What’s worth doing, and what is best left to the pros? Or, in the case of kombucha, forgotten as …

@ugliyucca posed to us, in the simplest of terms: What to do with romanesco? Here’s the problem with that @ugliyucca, I cannot find romanesco, a kind of cauliflower-slash-broccoli-ish vegetable, anywhere. Not in the local supermarkets, not in the high end grocers in the Hamptons where my day job is and nowhere else in between. There are some fairly diverse purveyors …

@fredspins asks: Do you want difficult or impossible? The former: olive loaf, the latter: bitter melon. This reminds me of the scene in The Godfather Part Two when Michael admonishes his henchman for thinking it impossible to kill Hyman Roth in the airport. Nothing is impossible, @fredspins. Difficult yes, but not impossible. Thankfully we had someone else on staff willing …

This crunchy, rich curry is a great vegan accompaniment to another Indian mainstay. Karela is a common ingredient in Asian cooking, but due to its lack of availability and bitter taste, not an incredibly popular ingredient in America’s Asian restaurants. “I’ll have the bitter melon, the chicken’s feet and the pig intestine,” is probably not what you’d normally hear ordered …

([^-^]) badjedi @badjedi @SpectrumCulture basil Basil? Really, basil? Such a common herb, so many possibilities. The peppery, parsley-ish with a potent punch herb grows like crazy on my kitchen counter during the summer, and the real challenge is deciding which recipe to share with you. Basil, and its slightly different varieties, is commonly associated here as an Italian cuisine staple. …

Need some Valentine’s Day romantic tips? Here’s all you need to know: don’t go to a restaurant. That’s right, call your date up right now and tell them those reservations are off. There’s no way you’re getting pulled into the Great February Con. February 14th is the worst day of the year to visit a restaurant. Every other zombie couple …

@A_schulz asked @SpectrumCulture Eggplant! I want to like it but have never found a method of preparing it or a recipe that has been good. Help? We want you to like eggplant too, April. As it happens, I’ve been giving eggplant a lot of thought lately. About a year ago, I found out I was allergic to red meat because …

So, it’s New Year’s Day, and chances are you’ve probably been on a food and drink tear since sometime around Thanksgiving. It’s a rough month and a couple of days stretch, starting there and then moving through December’s myriad holiday parties that are filled with a whole lot of bad-for-you eats, and always washed down with too much booze. Now, …

The food writers here at Spectrum Culture grew a little tired of watching their colleagues in music, film and books debating, ranking and compiling their “best of” lists for 2012 while we sat idle. Really, why should they have all of the fun? In response (protest) we decided to present you with something much more ephemeral but no less dear …