More than 20 years ago, I lived in an odd little shared house in Oakland, and one of the other renters was a guy named John, from one of the Caribbean islands. Sad to say, I can't recall which island (possibly Barbados?), but I do remember that he moonlighted in a steel drum band, and we would often cook simple dinners together and hang out in his room watching Golden State Warriors games.

He had this unlabeled bottle of hot sauce that friends would smuggle in when they came from home, and it was unlike any other I'd tasted. There was lots of chili heat, but almost an equal hit of mustard, so much so that the sauce was yellow. Probably similar to this bottle of Lottie's. This sauce could be used at the table, but what I loved even more was how he cooked with it.

The first thing to go in the pan with the oil was always minced onions and brown sugar. After the sugar caramelized a bit, in would go the hot sauce. Then the main ingredient, whatever it was, would be fried in this intensely flavored base.

I don't have this type of hot sauce on hand, and you probably don't either, so I decided to see if I could get a similar result by building the sauce directly in the pan. I liked the result a lot; it was hot, sweet, full of spice, and quite close to how I remember the taste of John's cooking. Today I used this technique on napa cabbage, but you could adapt it to just about anything from potatoes to paneer. Okra would be amazing.

I served this cabbage with dhal puri roti (an Indo-Caribbean flatbread filled with yellow splitpea dal), and Jamaican rice & peas.

I'd love to hear from anyone who is familiar with this style of cooking that begins with sugar and hot sauce in the pan. Are there other niceties to this technique? Is it particular to certain islands?

Island Style Sweet and Spicy Cabbage
Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free
Serves 4 as a small side dish
5 minutes active, 15 total

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 medium white onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced (or some part of a habanero or scotch bonnet if you dare)
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 heaping tablespoon prepared Dijon mustard (double check if you need gluten-free)
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• several grinds fresh black pepper
• 1 head napa cabbage, cut across the head in 3" wide ribbons

1. In a wok or large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over a medium high flame. Add the brown sugar and onion, and cook for 1 minute; do not let the sugar burn.
2. Add the garlic, jalapeno, ginger, mustard, vinegar, thyme, salt, and pepper; stir and cook for a couple of minutes until it is thick, dark and fragrant.
3. Add the cabbage. Stir it through the sauce, and cover and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the lid, stir again, and then cook until tender. Taste and adjust seasoning and serve immediately.

Ful medames (pronounced fool mehdahmez) is one of my favorite foods. A big bowl of fava beans with lots of olive oil and garlic, it is eaten throughout the Middle East, mopping up with fresh pita. Filling, inexpensive, and nutritious. So imagine my joy a few years ago when I found out that one of our local Ethiopian restaurants (Cafe Selam, 2715 Cherry St., Seattle) was serving their national version of this dish, which is eaten for breakfast or an early lunch.

I set out to make my own ful because it is such a simple and tasty dish that it makes a great weeknight supper for our family. If you use canned favas (or cook them yourself in advance), you can have it on the table in 20 minutes.

The main differences between Ethiopian and other ful medames is that the beans are fully mashed, a little berbere is added to flavor the mix, and it is served with big rolls of white bread (not pita or injera). The rolls are crusty on the outside and fluffy and warm on the inside. You don't want a real artisan baguette here. Something with a softer texture that lets you soak up the sauce is ideal. This is the only utensil you will have - no forks, spoons or knives are ever used with Ethiopian food.

A lot of the love in this ful comes from the garnish of olive oil, green onions, feta cheese, diced tomato, jalapeno and hard boiled egg slices. You can customize each bite for a new experience.

Berbere is the best known spice mixture from Ethiopia. If you live in Seattle, it is readily available from any of the markets in the Central District, or you can find it on Amazon (Berbere 4.0 oz by Zamouri Spices). It typically contains chilis, ginger, cardamom, cloves, coriander, allspice, fenugreek, rue and ajwain, and is quite hot. In this dish, it provides just a subtle background flavor, but if you make other Ethiopian stews it can play a starring role.

The beans themselves are a type of fava, but they aren't the ones that look like giant lima beans. They are more round, like a chickpea but a lot darker. Any Middle Eastern or Ethiopian store will carry them, usually both canned and dry. Just ask for ful. The canned ones work just fine in this dish, just be sure to drain and rinse well before using.

Ethiopian Ful Medames
Vegetarian / vegan if you omit the feta & egg / gluten free if you choose a different bread
Serves 4
20 minutes if you have pre-cooked beans

• 4-6 big crusty rolls
• 1/4 cup olive oil + more for garnish
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 cup minced white onion
• 1 teaspoon berbere
• 6 cups cooked ful (round fava beans)
• salt
• 6 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 6 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup finely diced tomato
• 1 finely diced jalapeno
• 2 hardboiled eggs, cut into 1/8" slices
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

1. Put the rolls to lightly toast in your oven or toaster oven.
2. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and fry the garlic and onion for 2 minutes. Add the berbere and cook for 1 more minute. Add the ful and 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer.
3. Remove from the heat, mash the ful, adding water if needed to reach the texture of refried beans. Salt to taste. Return to the heat briefly.
4. To serve, divide the mashed beans between four shallow bowls and garnish rather heavily with more olive oil, green onions, feta cheese, tomato and jalapeno. Top with the egg slices and sprinkle them with a little cumin powder. Serve immediately, with the rolls on the side.

I've been working on my grilled pizza technique for a few summers now, and I think I've finally hit on a system that works well. When I make one just right, it tastes very much like those coming out of the ovens at our traditional Neapolitan pizza joints here in Seattle (Tutta Bella, Via Tribunali), with a flavorful, slightly charred crust that is paper thin in the middle and a bit thicker and chewy at the edges.

For most pizza pies, I like to use a light scatter of toppings, but this one I loaded up a little, with a combination of fingerling potatoes, caramelized onions and blue cheese. My wife, Sarina, called for that combo and it was a winner.

Here are my thoughts on technique:

For the crust, it really helps to get your hands on 00 (double-zero) flour. (If you are in Seattle, it is available at Big John's / PFI.) Then follow this perfected dough recipe to the letter, preferably by weight instead of volume. Pay particular attention to the times, rests and speed if you use your stand mixer. This allows time for the dough to hydrate properly.

My grill is a Big Green Egg, which is this insanely cadillac ceramic smoker/grill. I've got to be one of about 7 vegetarians in the world who have one, because its main purpose in life is to slow smoke meat. But it also gets up to crazy high temperatures, which makes it work quite well for pizza. So you'll need to experiment with your own setup.

What I find works best for me is to not use a pizza stone, cooking directly on the grate, and use the flip maneuver: grill the naked dough on one side until starting to char, flip, and immediately apply toppings. Close the top for just a minute, open and remove. That way you don't run the risk of having a cooked bottom of the crust but unpleasant doughy interior around the edges. It also helps to have the toppings preheated, or at least at room temperature. If they are cold, they won't have enough time to get hot.

If you can get to your grill grate with it, a pizza peel is the best tool to work with. If not, because the grate is below the level of the grill edge, a very large spatula with an offset helps. In any case, please be very careful and don't do anything you aren't comfortable with or aren't sure you can do safely. I'm not responsible if you burn yourself!

The dough recipe above will make four crusts (and doubles easily), but the recipe below is for just two 12" pizzas; I'm assuming that you will want to make several varieties.

Grilled Pizza with Fingerling Potatoes, Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onions
Vegetarian
Makes two 12" thin-crust pizzas

• 3 medium onions, sliced moderately thin
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• salt
• 3/4 pound fingerling potatoes
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese of your choice, brought to room temperature
• two balls of pizza dough, about 200 grams each, fully risen and ready to bake
• optional: a drizzle of syrupy aged balsamic vinegar, leaves of fresh thyme

1. Preheat your grill to a very high temperature, but allow the flames to die down. You want very hot embers.
2. At the same time, in your largest skillet, over a medium flame, heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook slowly, tossing occasionally and adjusting the heat so that they don't scorch, until deeply caramelized, at least 30 minutes. Longer is better if you have time, the flavor just grows more complex.
3. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until tender, cool until you can handle them, and slice lengthwise in 1/4" slabs.
4. Have everything prepared and in easy range of your grill, as you will have to work quickly. You'll also need a very large spatula. You can't Grab a ball of dough, and stretch it out into a roughly 12" circle. It doesn't need to be perfectly round. It should be nearly transparent in the middle and maybe 1/4" thick at the edges. It works best to do this in the air, just stretching and allowing gravity to work.
5. Place the dough on the grill grate. It won't stick because the grate is so hot, it will cook immediately. Cook about 1 minute, until slightly charred in spots. Keep peeking with a spatula. Flip the crust and immediately add a nice layer of caramelized onion, half of the blue cheese, several slices of potato, and more caramelized onions. Close the lid for about one minute.
6. Keep checking the bottom of the crust, and when it is done and starting to char in spots, quickly but carefully remove it and serve immediately, garnishing with the balsamic and/or thyme if you so choose.