This Sunday is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and we can’t think of anything more celebratory of the first day of summer than strawberry shortcake. So here’s our improvisation on a traditional shortcake recipe, made with a sublime, foolproof cream biscuits. Our friend Sarah brought them by one day after the classic butter-based biscuits she’d…
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When I was a young cook, Roger Vergé, who died last week at age of 85, was one of a handful of chefs who changed the way I thought about food, pioneering the innovative style that became known as “nouvelle cuisine”. He taught me his simple, delicious sauce for grilled or roasted fish that I have relied on over the many years since.
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Spring is parsnip season, the spicy-sweet root vegetable that looks like a plump pale yellow carrot. My favorite way to cook them is to cut them into sticks, slick them with olive oil or melted butter and roasted them to make Parsnip Fries. I learned the dead-simple technique from Anne Disrude, one of the best cooks…
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Chilewich, maker of now-iconic, minimalist woven polypropylene floor mats we’ve admired, recently introduced their Dahlia Coasters. Their website shows icy drinks resting on the coaster (one with an ice bucket in the background), calls them “coasters” and claims “these functional designs will enhance and elevate your dining experience“. But at the end of the enticing copy is…
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At Maria Robledo‘s house the other evening, a huge glass bowl of floating blossoms and petals replaced the usual flowers on the dining table: a charming and surprising “pond” made from three simple elements: a bowl + water + blossoms or flower petals.
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Thirty years ago, ramps, the delectable leeks that grow wild throughout the Appalachian and Catskill mountains, were virtually unknown except to locals of those areas. Since them, chefs across the country have fallen in love with them, spreading the word of their delicousness, and their availability in markets. Ramps’ season is short, just a few…
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In Yummy Moon, artist Yona Lee uses 450 partially eaten Nilla Wafers to depict the different phases of the Moon. She turned one of the most ordinary of commercial cookies into…something rather beautiful and cosmic.
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This winter, I found myself cooking up slow-cooked stews of various kinds including Boeuf Bourguignon (a classic French stew) and freezing them, so I could have a stock-pile of instantly-heatable dinners for myself when things got busy AND use to throw last-minute dinner parties. When spring finally arrived, I found myself no longer hungry for the…
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The pristine, white sculptural water pitcher featured at A Cup of Jo is so pretty, it briefly made us consider abandoning our tried-and-true DIY ones, below. It holds about 2 1/2 quarts, has a footprint of 10 x 7 x 4 1/2 inches and is available at Amazon for under $30, a bargain. We love our homemade…
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We’ve long relied on our friend Anthony Giglio for advice on wine-and-food pairings. Here are a handful of Anthony’s “Pasqua Picks” to pour with any roast on Easter, chosen with help from his friends at Super Buy Rite Wines & Liquor in his hometown of Jersey City, New Jersey.
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Inspired by Anthony Giglio’s instagrams using my herb-salt on pork, here’s the basic herb salt method and a recipe for Herb Salt Lamb, whether racks or leg (or cookies for that matter), along with a dazzling presentation…Enough in advance of the coming holidays to get shop and enjoy a stress-free celebration.
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While I was putting together the recent post about mortars and pestles, I came across Maria Robledo’s beautiful image of one of my favorite mortar-made sauces. I learned the deceptively simple recipe from chef Grey Kunz years ago and it has been enduringly great: an example of the magic of a few well-chosen ingredients artfully combined by…
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To illustrate just how useful it is to have a mortar and pestle —and to accompany our essential post about this great, ancient tool — here are some favorite mortar-made preparations: simple, a-la-minute flavored oils for dipping bread, drizzling on grilled fish, or jazzing up soups and stews. I set the mortar on the table for guests to…
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We’ve documented our friend Maria Robledo’s inspired vase-less flower arrangements before. Usually, she would lay gorgeous flowers from her garden right in the center of the table. Recently, in the East Coast dead-of-winter, Maria worked her magic with vin ordinaire flowers she bought at the deli down the street. Our pictures don’t do her lovely table justice,…
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In the past week, I received two three affirmations that cookbooks I wrote years ago —The Improvisational Cook and A New Way to Cook —are still resonating strongly. Both encourage improvisation, while giving the thinking and logic behind recipes and techniques, understanding that is the essential jumping off point for improvising. Curiously, TWO emails raved about…
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I love recipes I can make from whatever I have on hand, like this Rustic Root Vegetable Soup. It is made from refrigerator staples: long-keeping root vegetables – leeks, potatoes, celery root and parsnips – that retain their flavor and texture for weeks. Check out Maria Robledo’s still-life photographs to see just how beautiful and curiously-inspiring they…
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If we wanted to knock off an easy and utterly charming holiday food gift tonight, we’d make the beautiful homemade marshmallows we saw featured on Kitchen Repertoire, our friends Francis Boswell and Dana Gallagher’s lovely food site. For kids or adults, there is nothing like homemade marshmallows,
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Over the years, I’ve devised a number of hors d’oeuvres that I can throw together at the drop of a hat. All are made with readily-available ingredients and take little time to assemble. Some involve my hanging out at the stove of my open kitchen, pan-frying or assembling the little bites. I find that my…
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Check out Public Radio’s The Splendid Table interview with Sally about her favorite gift ideas for cooks and eaters. Most are inexpensive but give a big bang for the buck. To find more about the gifts on Improvised Life, click here for a roundup. You can also hear her favorite holiday tabletop decorations (some of which made great…
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For all of you scrambling (as we are) to wrap our heads around Thanksgiving, here’s our tried-and-true food traditions that lend themselves to tailoring and improvising.
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