Blossoms that might in one way seem broken or damaged can transform into something of startling beauty…
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Blossoms that might in one way seem broken or damaged can transform into something of startling beauty…
Read MoreMemorial Day weekend is the real start of summer in our minds. And our minds are full of ideas for simple pleasures and ramblings, whether home or away.
Read MoreMy Classic Liver Pate, deeply enriched with butter, cream and cognac, makes a divine and satisfying appetizer or hors d’oeuvre. For those that don’t want such richness, I came up with a lightened version achieve with the same luxurious effect.
Read MoreFor the many people I know who feel that they are living in a sea of relentless anxiety, I offer two of my best chocolate cookie recipes: thin, chewy disks of intense chocolate AND fist-size hunks of chewy/moist chocolate cake loaded with chocolate chips, nuts and whatever else you can think of.
Read MoreYears ago, Maria Robledo sent us these photographs of charming graffiti she spotted painted on plywood. They perfectly convey the magic of the season, and its hope…
Read MoreA tasting spoon is an essential kitchen tool, allowing you to add flavor experiments directly to the “taste” to see if you like them. Over the years I’ve collected —and given — quite a few tasting spoons. They make great, unexpected gifts. Here’s a roundup:
Read MoreOver 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.
Read MoreToday at the market we saw a sign that said Cherry season ending soon, and we thought Yeah, better make hay and bought a couple of pounds to eat iced, our favorite way. A bowl of cold ripe cherries on ice are a one-ingredient, sublime dessert that also couldn’t be more elegant and satisfying But there are others equally as lovely…
Read MoreYears ago, I created a crumble recipe that works for just about any fruit. With its crunchy topping of almonds and brown sugar over warm fruit, it’s a fine stand-in for a tart. In summer, I return year after year to the essential strawberry-rhubarb recipe I first published in A New Way to Cook, swapping in fresh pitted cherries…
Read MoreYears ago I learned to make the classic lacy cheese crisps of Friuli Italy called frico, one of those miraculous creations that LOOK really difficult to make, but aren’t. They are the perfect hors d’oeuvre with cocktails, and inspire improvisations; their delectable uses are legion.
Read MoreWe’ll be heading to the wild ramp supper in West Virginia this weekend to celebrate one of the first wild foods of spring. On the way, we’re stopping to see a friend who may not be able to go to the supper. We’re packing a frozen block of ramp butter in our bag to leave with him in case. It’s one of the best ways we know to make the most of a small amount of ramps,
Read MoreOne of my most pleasurable challenges in the kitchen has been to cook like a farmer in a city apartment, curing hams, aging cheese, making butter, and best of all, smoking food. Hungering for the flavor of wood smoke but having no fireplace, years ago I devised a way of smoking in an iron skillet. The spectacular results belie its ease: it requires no special equipment and can be easily improvised.
Read MoreMary Oliver’s Morning Poem starts our week with the recognition that it can be challenging to embrace even the simplest aspects of life that we ALL deserve. If we look around, we find that the goods were delivered despite our best efforts at self-sabotage. Brene Brown described it:
Read MoreMy favorite hors d’oeuvre is also a brilliant material for improvising; oven-roasted pepper slices are so easy, delicious and versatile I call them Magic Peppers. I learned the basic approach in Italy: brushing pepper slices with olive oil and roasting them at a high heat, with whatever flavorings I feel like, from slivers of garlic—and—anchovy…
Read MoreAfter the first few persimmons of the winter, I realized I had discovered a new material for unexpected still-lives: not only the deep orange fruit itself, lined up to ripen on my counter, but the flower-like stems became a wonder I found myself throwing into a bowl: ad hoc collection that looked like an exotic…
Read MoreLike many cooks, I’d used saffron for years without knowing that it is the dried stigmas from a certain crocus or why it is the most costly spice in the world. After I went to Spain and witnessed the saffron harvest for myself, the backstory made dishes like this Crispy Saffron Noodle Cake all the more wonderful.
Read MoreI love the pleasures of warm, just-out-of-the-oven breads but I don’t have much time to spend baking. My have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too strategy is to make a savory quick bread leavened without yeast and needing no rising time; I mix the batter in minutes and bake it immediately. Then I eat it warm, slathered with good butter. One of the…
Read MoreThis is my favorite basic mashed potato recipe: wonderful as is, or as a base for the many embellishments and improvisations listed below, including the astonishing Sage Oil and Crispy Garlic. You can modulate their richness and texture according to whim or the ingredients you have on hand, making them perfect for the Thanksgiving Feast.
Read MoreA farmer friend of mind asked my advice on preserving the luscious tomatoes that are abundance in the last, dazzling burst of summer produce. “Do you can tomatoes?” he asked. “No”, I replied, “I roast them.” Slow-roasting tomatoes in a low oven, evaporates their juices, and renders them dense, creamy and melting, with a concentrated tomato flavor that is at once tart, sweet and savory. They last for a couple of weeks in the fridge and they freeze beautifully. They can be improvised with endlessly…
Read MoreI’ve written a great deal about the ability of a simple fried egg to transform just about any food, especially warmed leftovers — oven-roasted peppers or sweet onions, mashed or hashed potatoes, ratatouille, polenta, warmed over risotto, fried bread, asparagus, spinach, potato chips, to name a few — and raw greens, from dandelion to spinach, into a meal.…
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