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
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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Basic Sugar Syrup
Basic Sugar Syrup is used in so many recipes I think it merits a spot of its own. Use it to sweeten iced coffee or tea or in cocktails. Flavored with a little Cointreau or cognac, it moistens cake layers before filling. And it is an essential ingredient in frozen icy treats such as granita, pictured here, or sorbet. Ingredient Note – Sugar Sugar is what’s known as a “technical food.” This means that it
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Thursday, May 13
Green Almond Relish
During the brief season when green almonds are available, I look for as many ways to use them as I can. Most often they are eaten fresh as a snack in countries where almond trees grow. But I’ve rediscovered old ways of serving them (cooked in stews) and new ways to eat them raw. This Green Almond Relish adds a sour crunchy note to cooked vegetable salads such as the beet salad pictured here. Use
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Wednesday, May 12
Asparagus, Whipped Feta, Poached Egg with Green Almonds and Almond Crumble
Green almond season has me thinking of ways to use this symbolic food, the first fresh green thing to appear in many orchards. This Asparagus, Whipped Feta, Poached Egg with Green Almonds and Almond Crumble is exactly what we like to eat right now. Asparagus are plentiful. David Brown’s chickens are back to laying their fabulous eggs. And crisp sour green almonds add a nice fresh crunch. In early spring, in regions where almond trees
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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!
