September in Connecticut means peak stone fruit season. Bushels of peaches call out to me. First to eat in hand or maybe sliced in a salad with fresh ricotta or slices of Parma ham. Then finally I cook them. No peach jam for me. I prefer to retain the fresh peach flavor, which is what happens in this ginger peach crumble. The topping works for any combination of juicy fruits. The rolled oats give the
Apple Almond Galette
This apple galette is my go-to, all-time favorite dessert to make for company. Super crisp crust with lots of flaky layers. Fruit that develops an intense flavor. Leftovers taste as good for breakfast, if you don’t refrigerate the tart. (The crust gets soggy and there is no reheating technique I’ve discovered that revives it.) Jump to Recipe This wonderful crisp galette owes its success to many tricks I’ve learned over the years. First the dough,
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Saturday, August 28
Glossary of Italian American Bakery Specialties
Pignoli, amaretti, sfogliatelle. Oh My! Are you as mad for Italian cookies and pastries as I am? If so, you might enjoy this Glossary of Italian American Bakery Specialties that I put together for armchair or genuine travel. Growing up in New England, where a sizeable percent of the population claims Italian heritage, I was exposed to Italian sweets from a young age. My appetite for nutty things comes from eating Jordan almonds, biscotti and
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Monday, August 30
Old World Italian Bakeries of New York
You’ve nibbled a pignoli and perhaps tasted a zeppole at an Italian street fair. And I know you’ve ordered cannoli at least once. (I have.) But have you really experienced the array of sweets that fill a typical Italian bakery in a city where many have been in business for more than 100 years? What keeps generation after generation of customers coming back? To help you find out, I created a map of some of
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Monday, August 09
Agro Dolce Green Olive and Eggplant Caponata
I can’t make caponata, the Sicilian eggplant condiment, like Enza Causa-Santagata does. But I can try. This Agro Dolce Green Olive and Eggplant Caponata is my homage to Enza’s succulent version. It’s something to serve as a primo or first course or as a condiment with grilled fish or poultry. It makes a perfect topping for bruschetta, grilled bread, too. Enza comes from Sicily but has lived here forever; she keeps our local post office
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Tuesday, July 13
Whole Egg Mayonnaise
Although this is a Hellman’s household, homemade mayonnaise is something we cannot live without. We serve a pungent garlic mayonnaise, aioli, on roasted baby new potatoes. And rouille, it’s saffron-tinted and cayenne-spiked cousin on top of fish soup. This recipe for whole egg mayonnaise is a simple and light version. It uses a whole egg instead of the more traditional egg yolk and lots of mustard and lemon juice. We save jam jars and use
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Oeufs durs Mayonnaise
When I was 14 on my first trip to France, I ate oeufs durs mayonnaise, two hard-boiled egg ovals coated with fresh mayonnaise. Oeufs mayo for short was a revelation, slightly tangy mayonnaise and hard cooked eggs, like a deconstructed egg salad. I find any excuse to make it including at breakfast or at lunch with roasted beets vinaigrette and other garnishes. Jump to Recipe On my maiden trip to France, I looked for oeufs
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Watermelon Burrata Caprese
When a watermelon arrives in our kitchen, we get busy. Make room in the fridge. Dispatch the orb into manageable sections. Think of ways to use it. Cubes for snacking, fat slices for dessert and hot-weather salads. This Watermelon Burrata Caprese is a riff on the ubiquitous mozzarella, tomato and basil salad. Fresh basil brings out the delicate flavor of ripe sweet watermelon. Luscious burrata cheese balances the sweetness and peppery roasted almonds make the
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Tuesday, June 29
Watermelon Gazpacho
If you are like me, a watermelon lasts for days and days. The arrival of a watermelon requires cutting diagrams and refrigerator blueprints. I dice some for breakfast and snacking. Then I consider all the ways to sneak them into a week’s worth of menus. This Watermelon Gazpacho takes advantage of the fruit’s natural juiciness and sweetness to balance rich tomato juice. It’s fast and fresh, exactly the way I like to cook in summer.
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Red Wine-and-Blueberry-Granita
Soon the tables at the Chester Sunday Market will sag under the weight of fresh blueberries, peaches, apples, and other fruit. This bounty usually coincides with the kind of intense heat and humidity that makes me stop cooking. The heat arrived early. So, I made my first batch of granita of the season, a Red Wine-and-Blueberry-Granita. Anyone with a freezer can make granita. You don’t need an ice cream machine. Instead, you combine crushed fruits
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"Let no man fancy he knows how to dine Till he has learnt how taste and taste combine."
-Horace, Satires, 2.4They're here!
