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
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Monday, October 05
Barley Pilaf, Mushrooms and Aged Gouda
Marketers use the term “ancient grains” to describe grains and seeds that are untouched by plant breeding. Grains such as faro and spelt or such seeds as quinoa and teff for example. Preparing a webinar for culinary educators on how to introduce such unfamiliar grains into their kitchen classrooms, I came up with this recipe for Barley Pilaf, Mushrooms and Aged Gouda that can be used to prepare many healthful whole grains. The average American diet lacks fiber and nutritious carbohydrates. This
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Ginger Whole Meal Biscuits
Neither a cookie nor a cracker, these Ginger Whole Meal Biscuits are the kind of not-too-sweet cracker that goes well with cheese or a cup of tea. The type of flour you choose impacts the flavor of the biscuits. I always use stone ground whole wheat for its nutty taste and either buckwheat or rye equally as the accent flour. Powdered ginger enhances the biscuits’ mild sweetness. With the ginger, I think they are perfect accompaniment
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Pumpkin French Toast
Big Food feels our love for pumpkin pie; Trader Joe’s is stocking more than 35 products with those flavors this season. Here’s the real thing in the form of French toast. The soaking custard for the pumpkin French toast, made with canned pumpkin, is rather thick. Give the bread enough time to absorb the mixture. I prefer to pan fry French toast but it can be baked instead. Either way, serve it with maple syrup and
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Mouclade, Mussels Cooked with Cream and Curry
This is one of the first recipes from our original Restaurant du Village repertoire that we most enjoy where there’s a nip in the air. Mouclade, Mussels Cooked with Cream and Curry means briny mussels, sweet curried cream and a few pieces of crusty bread. It makes the perfect meat or first course with a few friends. Don’t be tempted to try light cream or milk instead of heavy cream. The mixture will curdle. Instead
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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!
