food + cooking

How to Slice Garlic, Prison-Style with Poem

We love this clip from Martin Scorcese’s brilliant film Goodfellas for teaching us a way to do something we’ve done thousands of time — slice garlic — to make a little go a long way. As well as for reminding us of garlic’s bigger meaning….

Giant Parmesan Popovers and Other Recipes for Improvised Holidays

Improvised Life has published A LOT of recipes in its long life, many geared to the holidays. We’re figuring that for many people, this year’s holidays are still going to be improvised and untraditional. Here are a few ideas for whatever form your fete takes. There are lots of ways to celebrate.

We Savor the Last Tomatoes of Summer (Neruda with Recipes)

In late September, as cool weather creeps in, I become aware that the waning moments of summer tomatoes are imminent. I hunger for a last bit of lusciousness that only food in its season can convey. I pick out some “real” tomatoes at the farmer’s market to savor the perfect, simple way I learned from my friend Anthony Giglio, and to preserve for winter enjoyment. And I read Pablo Neruda’s ode.

Julia Child’s Life Lessons with Potato Pancake

Periodically I revisit this short clip of Julia Child flipping a potato pancake, “a daring thing to do” on her ’70s television show where flubs and mess-ups were left as-is. Child ad libs essential wisdom that applies to any daring endeavor, and life itself.

Apple Time Recipes: Crumbles and Freeform Tarts

We’re seeing apples everywhere and FEELING the yearly hunger for warm apple desserts…so we pulled out our most potent recipes…

Lucia LoPresti’s Secret to Perfect Tomato Sauce

I mark the day I started making great tomato sauce when I spent an afternoon in Lucia Lo Presti’s kitchen. The secret she taught me is simple and yields an astonishingly rich, silky sauce. With it came a glimpse of a unique way of life —Sicily in New Jersey— that her wine writer son-in-law Anthony Giglio first introduced me to…

Sandro’s Lemon Pasta Is Fast and Comforting

When I am feeling low, I often make NYC chef Sandro Fioriti’s lovely Pasta al Limone, It take no time or odd ingredients to make and is both comforting and divine.

Ways to Eat Cherries, With a W.S. Merwin Poem

Fruit eaten in its season is even better eaten with a poem. When we stumbled on this W.S. Merwin poem, we realized we were in the last moments of cherry season. It’s a perfect accompaniment to our favorite cherry feasts.

How to Eat an Apricot

Diane Ackerman’s poem “The Consolation of Apricots” gives a sense of just how far an apricot can launch you into reverie. It also gives instructions for how to eat one. I’ve added my own two-cents about how to find great apricots, and what to do if you can’t, along with a recipe for the effect of summer apricots all year long.

Magic Trick: Divine Ice Cream Made In a Plastic Bag

At a dinner party New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield attended last summer, one of the hosts served ice cream that had the mind-blowing effect of a magic trick. Here’s how, with a recipe.

Key Lime or Lemon Hand Pies for Desperate Times

Wondering how could I quickly create the effect of great key lime (or lemon) pie without actually making a whole pie, I devised this delectable stripped-down hand pie, made of a few readily-available ingredients. Fast comfort for desperate times.

Roasted Lemons: 3 Ingredients Yield Mighty Dazzle

As my cooking gets simpler and simpler, I rely on easily-created hits of flavor to dazzle. A favorite of late is roasted lemons, which I often throw into the oven as I’m making the rest of the meal. They liven up ANYTHING. They are totally addictive.

Wines to Drink with Junk Food from Chitos to Pork Rinds (Anthony Giglio)

Wine writer Anthony Giglio was the first to really consider what wines to drink with the junk food so many secretly love. So we compiled a list of “the best of” his solid pairings, and the illuminating thinking behind them.

Alice B. Toklas’ Asparagus in Salt & Pepper Whipped Cream “A Thing of Beauty”

In her famous cookbook, Alice B.Toklas called Madame Loubet’s Asparagus Tips “a gastronomic feast. And a thing of beauty.” They are. Here’s how to make them.

Cracked Coriander is the New Pepper

For years I’ve kept a small tin of toasted cracked coriander seeds in my spice drawer to use as an emergency flavor enhancer. Its slightly lemony-orangy-herbal flavor and pleasing crackle provides the perfect little alt-note on all sorts of unexpected foods.

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