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I would love to tell you about the decadent and exotic trips I have planned this year. But my only travel plans are as follows–a trip to Seattle this weekend for the food blogger conference and two 3-day wedding weekends, one in Portland, Oregon and the other outside of Denver. Not exactly Paris, London, Barcelona, if you know what I mean. If last year was the year of the “staycation” I’m pretty sure this year will be the year of armchair travel for many people.

When it comes to salivating over future destinations, I’ve got a great book to recommend, Frommer’s 500 Places for Food & Wine Lovers. This is a compilation, with highlights from various guides chosen by none other than Holly Hughes, a name you may recognize as editor from the annual Best Food Writing series.

Now the cover of the book features an “Outstanding in the Field” dinner. Not exactly the most accessible type of travel experience since dinners generally sell out months in advance and start at about $150 per head, but getting past the cover, what I like about the book is that destinations run the gamut from once-in-a-lifetime experiences like Crystal Food & Wine Festivals aboard luxury cruise ships to deep dish pizza in Chicago. In other words, something for everybody. The book covers shops, restaurants, cooking schools, festivals, tours, markets, wineries, you name it.

You could take this book on a road trip, but I suspect it will be the perfect book for your next trip to the sofa. Snuggle up and read about where to get Burgoo stew in Kentucky, a famous food emporium in Milan, or the malt whisky trail in Scotland. It’s the virtual vacation that won’t cost you a dime, once you’ve paid for the book, of course.

I’m giving away two copies of the Frommer’s 500 Places for Food & Wine Lovers. Simply leave a comment with your suggestion of a favorite place for a food or wine lover, the more detail the better! While the book is primarily focused on the US there are recommendations from all over the world so don’t limit your suggestions to just domestic ones. One entry per person. You must be a US resident or have a US mailing address to win. Winners will be chosen at random and while you must fill out your email address in the comment submission form, it will not be visible to anyone other than me. Good luck!

Here’s another Indian curry from Jamie’s Ministry of Food! I didn’t like this one as much as the /2009/04/jamies-lamb-korma.html”>korma, but then again, I never order tikka masala in restaurants either. As last time, it’s a lot easier than it might look from just seeing the ingredients. There’s nothing to it – I promise, everyone can cook this!

Jamie’s Chicken Tikka Masala
Serves 4

600 g chicken, in bite-sized pieces
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 red chili, finely chopped
small bunch of fresh coriander, separated into stalks and leaves (and stalks chopped)
cooking oil
a pat of butter
400 g (1 tin)crushed tomatoes
400 ml (1 tin) coconut milk
3 tbsp flaked almonds
1 batch tikka masala paste, below
salt, pepper

Tikka Masala paste:
2 garlic cloves
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 fresh red chili
2 färska röda chilis
1 tbsp coconut flakes (unsweetened)
2 tbsp almonds, chopped
small bunch of fresh coriander
1 tsp whole cumin
1 tsp whole coriander seeds

Start by toasting the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan, until golden and fragrant. Grind them in a pestle and mortar. Peel the garlic and ginger, and mix all ingredients in a food processor until you have a smooth paste.

For the curry: Heat a little bit of oil in a deep pan or pot, and fry the onion, ginger and coriander stalks on medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir well so it doesn’t burn.

Add the spice paste and the chicken. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Add coconut milk and tomatoes, and about 3-400 ml of water. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and lower the heat. Cook for about 20 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve with rice and the fresh coriander leaves. A dollop of yogurt is good with this, and so is a squeeze of lemon and some additional flaked almonds.

Recipe in Swedish:
Tikka Masala

It’s Mother’s Day and I can’t think of a more fitting tribute than Bittersweet:Lessons from My Mother’s Kitchen. Lots of “memoirs with food” are about discovery and love and various happy episodes in life, but Bittersweet is not that kind of memoir. A seasoned war correspondent and Pulitzer prize-winning author, Matt McAllester begins his tale with the death of his mother, a woman who struggled for years with mental illness and alcoholism. He is someone who knows how to write about pain, but this is another kind of pain altogether. It is personal.

Just as food is a way to explore pleasure, it is also a way to explore grief and healing. McAllester tries to find the mother he has lost and that the world lost to madness, through her recipes and his recollection of meals she prepared for him in happier times. His writing is masterful and deeply confessional. The recipes, and the sense of discovery and understanding that come from this journey are bittersweet indeed, but beautiful, at times funny, and always very moving.

Although Bittersweet is not a happy-go-lucky kind of story, it is absolutely compelling. Tastes of British, Italian and French cooking, and the wisdom and influence of Elizabeth David are woven into the story of his mother and his road back from grief. There are recipes for scones from Scotland, an improvised cassoulet and an almost mythical strawberry ice cream. Even without the recipes, Bittersweet would be haunting and lovely. The book made me care deeply about the author and the sad story of someone brilliant who slipped through the cracks and most of all, it reminded me that food is sometimes the thing that gets us through the most difficult times as well as the happiest ones.

Here’s an extremely yummy side salad that I found at Kalyn’s Kitchen a while ago! I’ve made it twice in as many weeks, both times to accompany a piece of grilled salmon. She specifies red onion – I tried it with yellow as well, and actually preferred that one a little bit more, but feel free to use your favorite. And you can most definitely add fresh coriander if you’re so inclined – it makes it even more guacamole-like, which is never a bad thing if you ask me.

Edamame comes frozen, and for this, it’s really nice to have the shelled variety. If you can only find unshelled, you’ll need to up the amount, instead.

Avocado Edamame Salad
Serves at least two

2 ripe avocados
100 g cherry tomatoes
1 small onion (yellow or red are fine)
200 ml (0.8 cups) edamame beans, shelled
1 lime, juiced
1/2 – 1 tbsp olive oil (if you have a good one with lemon – use that!)
salt, pepper, cumin

Dice the avocados and quarter the tomatoes. Finely dice the onions. Place the frozen edamame in a pot, cover with water and bring to boil. Drain and rinse with cold water. Mix with everything else – including lime juice and olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and a good pinch of cumin.

Recipe in Swedish:
Avocadosallad med edamame