Over the years, I’ve learned a huge amount from wine connoisseur and cook Josh Eisen, including essential lessons about the many things you can do with “ends” of bottles of wine left after a meal. These pears are one of my favorites.
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Fragrant Olive Oil Cake with Fresh Thyme
The idea of an olive oil cake always sounded better than any I ever tasted in restaurants. But that IDEA was so enticing, I decided to try my hand at creating one. The result was a lovely easy-to-make cake without an overtly olive oil flavor; rather, the oil makes for a delicate texture and underpins the…
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Strawberry Rhubarb Milkshake, an Unexpected Dinner Party Dessert
This image from Livet Hemma looks exactly like a Strawberry-Rhubarb Milkshake I devised years ago when I was monkeying around with rhubarb and strawberries, which are full-tilt right now. It got me hankering for one, and reminded me what an unexpected and delightful dessert they make for dinner parties. So I thought I’d share how to make it…
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Weekend Treat: Apple (or Pear) Crumble with Rosemary
The other day a friend called to say he’d made the apple crumble from A New Way to Cook. He was thrilled that it was so easy, yet offered many of the satisfactions of a pie (which he was afraid to make) with much less work. I’d forgotten how easy and delicious crumbles are, nothing more…
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DIY Gifts: Dried Fruit in Fragrant Syrup (Boozy or Not)
Every year, I make big batches of Prunes in Armagnac, Cherries in Red Wine Syrup and Apricot in Cardamom Syrup to give as gifts, packed into pretty jars, with handwritten tags listing their possibilities. I also rely on them for my own entertaining, to serve as fab instant desserts. They are all made by the same basic approach. Here it is, with some recipes to illustrate.
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recipe: roasted pears for sweet or savory improvisations
Throughout fall and winter, one of my favorite improvisational “base” preparations is Roasted Pears. These are pears that are roasted with a bit of sugar, lemon juice, butter and a split vanilla bean or even herbs, until they become tender and caramelized, with a concentrated pear flavor. Roasted Pears are one of those miraculous recipes…
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