Shakshuka is an “all mixed up” dish of eggs poached or baked in a flavorful pepper and tomato broth. It’s a North African lunch staple now served across the continent, in the Middle East and Israel. You see it made with a range of ingredients such as artichoke hearts, feta cheese, harissa, merguez sausage, diced potatoes and all sorts of herbs. I’ve grown to love shakshuka eggs poached with tomatoes and peppers for breakfast, when I eat
Monday, October 03
Winter Cabbage and Blue Cheese Slaw with Bacon and Sherry Vinaigrette
Cabbage tops my list as a go-to vegetable for everything from soup to side dishes like kimchee. When the temperature drops, I turn it into a seasonal slaw and dress it up with the power flavors of blue cheese and toasted walnuts. This recipe for Winter Cabbage and Blue Cheese Slaw with Bacon and Sherry Vinaigrette resembles the type of beet salad served that you see in many restaurants. It’s more tangy and tart than
MORE...
Monday, August 15
Sweet Sour Pickled Purple Baby Onions
Peak tomato season means a grilled Shelburne Farms cheddar sandwich with a few pickles on the side. I made these puckery sweet sour pickled purple baby onions a few months back to serve with pork roast. But now that its peak summer, I realize they go with many summer favorites, including a tomato cheese sandwich. And I use this liquid to make quick refrigerator pickles with the kind of tart sweetness reminiscent of bread and butter
MORE...
Tuesday, August 02
Almond and Buckwheat Flour Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
If I were unable to digest wheat flour, I’d miss chocolate chip cookies as much as chewy bread and good pasta. That’s why I came up with this recipe for Almond and Buckwheat Flour Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are chewy and crunchy with a complex taste from grains and almonds flour. There are in regular rotation at our house. Inspired by Alice Medrich’s Flavor Flours, I had already been experimenting with buckwheat and
MORE...
Friday, July 29
Summer Apricots, Baked with a Sweet Almond Filling
Baking apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums brings out their deep flavors. It is one of my favorite ways to prepare them in season. Split the ripe fruit, sprinkle it with sugar and bake until the juices flow. Summer apricots, baked with a sweet almond filling is a simple yet dressed up way to serve apricots or other stone fruit. Start by Finding a Good Apricot It’s sheer luck to find a decent fresh apricot on
MORE...
Thursday, July 07
Watermelon and Sweet Cherry Salad with Fresh Mint Syrup
I used to overlook watermelon. Smack it open with a machete and eat, the essence of no-fuss summer eating. But its succulence is a pleasant foil for many fruits including tomatoes. (The combination of watermelon with tomatoes, basil and fresh goat cheese or feta is a summer favorite.) When watermelon and sweet Bing cherries are in season, I like to combine them in a refreshing salad. The textural contrast of the two pleases the palate
MORE...
Wednesday, March 23
Asian Coleslaw with Cabbage, Carrots and Toasted Almonds
On NPR this week, Kathy Gunst spoke about transitional recipes to help us segue into spring. These are recipes that use the last of winter produce with a hint of what’s to come when our gardens recover. The same though has crossed my mind. Don’t we automatically look for fresher flavors when the days become longer and brighter? This Asian inspired coleslaw incorporates some of my favorite flavors, fresh ginger and creamy almond butter among
MORE...
Sunday, January 24
Fireplace Wood Grilled Jerk Game Hens
Nothing says summer like grilled chicken. Pair the bird with the flavors of Jamaica and I’ve escaped the winter doldrums. As long as I don’t look outside that is. Here we’re splitting game hens, slathering them in jerk marinade and grilling them in our home fireplace. Of course you can cook them on a gas grill on in the oven for that matter. But if you’re adventuresome, cooking in the fireplace has many rewards. The
MORE...
Wood Grilled Hanger Steak, Green Anchovy Butter, Grilled Radicchio
Robust, flavorful cuts of meat love a wood fire. The smoke coats the meat with a layer of flavor sealing in the meat’s juiciness. Wood grilled hanger steak is a family favorite. The lean meat comes from an interior muscle that sees little action. The cut, called onglet in French, is tender and flavorful, a bistro favorite. We slather it with a pungent green anchovy butter made with kale and scallions. Hanger steak consists of
MORE...
Saturday, January 23
Rose Almond Butter Cake
This Rose Almond Butter Cake has a tight crumb and rich buttery flavor without being too sweet. Rose powder in the batter along with orange flower water and a garnish of freeze-dried raspberries give the cake its subtle floral notes. The batter includes blanched almond flour, one of my secret ingredients, as well as cake flour. When I open my next bakery, this will be my signature cake. Almond flour does not absorb liquid as
MORE...
"Let no man fancy he knows how to dine Till he has learnt how taste and taste combine."
-Horace, Satires, 2.4They're here!
