There are some kitchen processes I do so automatically that I hardly think about them, until I become suddenly conscious that it is a principle I am using, and not a recipe. For years I’ve used a simple method to transform summer herbs and flowers into teas and seasonings for use all year round.
Read MoreImprovised Kitchen: Summer Fruit with Feta, Olive Oil and Maybe an Herb
The Blueberries, Feta and Mint recipe I love from Mindy Fox’s Salads: Beyond the Bowl is a play on a classic pairing of watermelon with feta. The possibilities for improvising on it are endless when you’re shopping summer markets. Here are some ideas.
Read MoreMy Favorite Sandwich via ‘What’s Your Favorite Sandwich?’
When I was invited to share my favorite sandwich on Your Favorite Sandwich podcast, my personal history of sandwiches flew through my head. Then I landed on a doozy.
Read MoreA Chef’s Artful Reimagining of Military Rations Reveals an Essential Principle of Good Food
When chef Chuck George applied Michelin Star approaches to dreary military rations from around the world, he reminded me of a essential principle of good cooking.
Read MoreHoney from a Weed: Simple Rice or Risotto with Dandelion (or other Greens)
It is weed season. Dandelions make me hunger for a simple dish I first read in Honey From a Weed, a cookbook I’ve continued to enjoy for over thirty years. The elemental Macedonian dish morphs into a splendid risotto.
Read MoreSpring Breakfast: A Perfect Boiled Egg with Toast Soldiers
This Sunday, we’ll celebrate Spring and Easter with a simple, of-the-season breakfast: soft boiled eggs with toast soldiers, and good coffee, inspired by Ellen Silverman’s Girl with Egg. Here’s how to make perfection out of something so simple.
Read MoreHunger-Crazed Cooks Confess 50 Ways to Eat Eggs
When there is nothing in the pantry, there is almost always the egg. Here are 50 ways to cook them from hunger crazed food people and Leite’s Culinaria. Just to spark you imagination.
Read MoreGiant Chewy, Crispy, Eggy Popover-Pancake (Savory or Sweet)
As we were gobbling a giant sweet, lemony dessert popover with pancake overtones, we thought: Wouldn’t this also be great SAVORY instead of sweet? So we added Parmigiano Regginao to the basic egg and flour structure with to make delectable lunch, supper, hors d’oeuvre.
Read MoreEarl Gray Tea (and Other) Butter Cookies
When I want a dessert for a dinner party, I often turn to this recipe for delectable, melt-in-your-mouth cookies fragrant with butter and the caramel flavors of light brown sugar and Earl Gray tea, with its citrusy-floral scent.
Read MoreHow (and Why) to Salt Sensually, like Salt Bae
Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe became a surprising meme when his flamboyant technique of salting meat went viral. Though many are transfixed by his rather, er sensual handling of meat, I love that he put SALTING on the map.
Read MoreHey Vegetarians and Lazy Dogs: Check out this Faux Veal Stock
Years ago, I learned an easy-to-make vegetarian broth from chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten that tastes remarkably like veal stock. The main ingredient: ordinary button or cremini mushrooms in league with a few other ingredients you probably already have on hand.
Read MoreA Simple Formula for Sublime Macaroni-and-Cheese
My latest iteration of mac-and-cheese is a fast, ultra-simple formula that I can tailor as needed without using a recipe, with utterly delicious results. Win-win-win.
Read MoreFried Chicken Italian-Style: Chicken Under a Brick (or Rock)
The Italian technique of panfrying a chicken with a weight on top yields a bird with an utterly crispy skin and succulent flesh in less than half an hour. It works for all manner of poultry.
Read MoreSteel Cut Oats Go Savory (+ a Trick for Having Them Ready in a FLASH)
Steel cut oats make a sublime breakfast when dressed with savory flavorings rather than sweet ones. But they take SO long to cook unless you follow this brilliantly simple trick to having them ready first thing in the morning.
Read MoreSerious Comfort: Cream Biscuits (3 Minutes to Assemble, 12 to Bake)
Cream biscuits are really really easy to make, and SERIOUSLY divine. We figure they are the perfect weekend pleasure and will provide serious comfort during this challenging time.
Read MoreAnti-Anxiety Cookies: Chocolate Planets + Wonders
For 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 MoreThe Simple Pantry: Spaghetti with Spicy Garlic Oil and Anchovies
It takes five simple ingredients and about 10 minutes to transform spaghetti into an elemental, poor-man’s pasta that tastes like Italy. (Put your anchovy prejudice aside.)
Read MoreDivine Roasted Sesame Oil + Down n Dirty Ginger Scallion Sauce
I’d been disillusioned by sesame oils for some time, finding most that I tried with a harsh, over-toasted flavor. La Tourganelle’s delicious Roasted Sesame Oil was a joy to discover, and has inspired all sorts of culinary improvisations.
Read MoreItalian Pot Roast (Fast, Freezable, Perfect for Dinner Parties)
The Italian pot roast I had many years at a dinner party has haunted me ever since, lurking in my memory as pure deliciousness. It is perfect for entertaining: it can be made ahead only has to be reheated to be wonderful. It you call it by its Italian name, it tastes even better.
Read MoreFood Gift: DIY Chocolate Shards or Slabs with Surprising Flavors
Shards of chocolate embedded with surprising flavors and crunchy elements make terrific gifts for much less cost than pricey “artisan-made’ chocolates. Here’s how to make them.
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