When I am feeling low, I sometimes go to Sandro’s in NYC to eat Spaghetti al Limone. It is a quietly comforting experience: spaghetti perfectly cooked al dente slicked with a suave, subtly lemon, perfectly-balanced sauce. I’ve seen and tried many versions of this classic pasta —many predominantly Parmigiano laced with lemon—but have settled on this approximation of…
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Once every June “the day with stars on it” arrives, as M.F.K. Fisher once wrote: It is the day I have “the first mess of peas”. With advice about shelling them happily, a reading from the sublime M.F.K., and an alternative for lazy dogs who just want to EAT their peas… unshelled.
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Of all the artisanal bitters we’ve sampled over the years, Brooklyn-based Cecil and Merl’s totally blew us away. They managed to distill clear vibrant flavors of fruits, vegetables and herbs with a subtle bitter afterfinish that goes well in all manner of cocktail, culinary and wellness applications. Given their sublime flavors and endless uses, they are a perfect house gift.
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Years 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…
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There is probably no hors d’oeuvres more universally loved than focaccia: really good chewy pizza dough baked with flavorings that excite the appetite.
Focaccia is easy to make, the possible flavorings infinite. My all-time favorite is this Rosemary, Lemon and Pepper Focaccia I learned from Kevin Taylor when he was chef of Zenith American Grill in Denver years ago.
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Years 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.
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Since Memorial Day Weekend officially kicks off summer, here’s a round-up of some of our best ideas for your own summer ramblings, even if those ramblings are just in your head.
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Our CSA Essex Farm delivered a big load of rhubarb this week, keeping us rooted firmly in the season. Our plan is to make up a big batch of basic cooked rhubarb (recipe below) that we can transform at a moment’s notice. The image of Rhubarb Whoopie Pies we found at Butter, Sugar, Flowers gives the basic approach:…
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When a dessert chef renowned for her decadent chocolate pie didn’t show up one day in a restaurant I worked years ago, a prep cook whipped up a quickie dessert: the old-fashioned icebox cake that his mother used to make. It proved a giant hit. Since then, I’ve done a number of riffs on that endlessly improvisable approach.
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We’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,
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One 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.
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At Mario Batali’s restaurant Babbo, I had a simple, astonishing dish: a whole roasted fish served with Lemon Oregano Jam. The jam was a marvel, at once sweet, bitter and herbal in perfect balance, an inspired match for the fish. I decoded Mario’s brilliant recipe, extracting an essential formula into which I plugged different citrus fruit and flavorings, to take it from savory to dazzling sweet and back.
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Years ago, I developed a brown sugar-scented play on the classic American 2-egg /1 bowl cake known as Lightning Cake (because it only takes 15 minutes to throw together). Buttery, tender, and fragrant, its deliciousness and fine texture belies its ease. On a pretty plate and dusted with powdered sugar, it looks like the lovely…
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Two thoughtful contributors sent us info about making natural dyes to color your eggs for Easter or spring celebrations. It spurred us to hone a simplified method for naturally coloring glorious eggs, just in time for the Sunday hunt or gathering…
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My 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…
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Many years ago, I learned a brilliant, virtually effortless method for roasting duck from Mindy Heiferling, an inspired cook. Five hours of roasting in a low oven renders out the fat and makes the flesh tender enough to eat with a spoon, the skin crackling and crisp. Recently, I revisited the recipe and found myself…
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This is one of my favorite ways of cooking shrimp: I peel and clean the biggest shrimp I can find, dust them with curry powder and pan-fry them. The curry powder coating curiously makes them as satisfying as deep-fried shrimp. They need little embellishment: fresh lime and cilantro will do, though a quickly-made Yogurt Sauce with…
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When I couldn’t sleep last night, I turned to a book I’ve been enjoying immensely over the past few months. Aglaia Kremezi’s Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts is a cookbook full of stories and pictures, by a cook whose recipes I trust and value. It’s rich with the feeling of place, with recipes written in a way that invites creative…
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Like 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.
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Wine writer Anthony Giglio’s Sicilian mother-in-law calls my rustic casserole of baked pasta layered with Wild Mushroom Ragu and ricotta salata “the Big Macaroni”. It IS…the delectable sum of 3 parts: pasta + ragu + cheese. You can make the ragu days ahead and use it for a million quick delicious dishes. And you can assemble the Big Macaroni the day before and bake when ready to feed your guests. They will die for its crispy chewy top and molten interior.
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