Schnitzel is Old School but it’s a dish we come back to time and again. Although veal is the classic ingredient, we use pork for these Pork Schnitzel served with Apple Balsamic Red Cabbage. You could try making the dish with boneless chicken breast or even portobello mushroom caps, which should be delicious and vegetarian. But lean pork works well because schnitzel cooks in minutes without toughening the meat. Fine bread crumbs and even heat make a
Wednesday, September 09
New York Chewy Bagels Food Processor Mixing Method
Bagels became my specialty when we were working on Charlie’s book, The Best Bread Ever. When I lived in New York city for a few years, a warm “everything” bagel was a breakfast staple alternating with an Eli’s Raisin Pecan Roll. Naturally I was the one to adopt making this iconic roll. For the book, we received tips from true bagel mavens and the result is this recipe, New York Chewy Bagels Food Processor Mixing
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Wednesday, August 12
Honey Almond Ice Cream
The combination of icy frozen cream and the delicate flavor of almonds, honey and lavender speaks to the summer season. Honey almond ice cream has a mellow sweetness that reminds me of the close relationship between bees and almond growing. Almonds require bees for pollination. In the Mediterranean where almond trees once thrived, the bees might feed on the fragrant nectar of lavender after the almond trees bloom. This recipe is simple. There is no
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Thursday, July 09
Salad Season – Mustard Vinaigrette
All the Jean’s I know make the best salad dressing. Chef Jean Pierre Vuillermet at Union League Café and Chef Jean-Claude Szurdak, Jacques Pepin’s childhood friend, among them. They get the salt just right, a generous amount but not too much. The same thing is true with how much dressing to use. Not too much. Toss well. For me, Salad Season = Mustard Vinaigrette. Here’s my entry into the salad dressing collection. This mustard vinaigrette has
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Monday, June 22
Chinese Almond Cookies
Although they are a Lunar New Year specialty, Chinese American style almond cookies pair well with ice cream and summer berries. So I thought this would be a welcome recipe with the abundance of truly tasty local strawberries right now. And I am looking to catch some luck. Almond cookies were once a staple at Chinese restaurants in the US. But you rarely spot them now that fortune cookies have taken over. Growing up, I
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Friday, May 29
Rye Crown Loaf with Olives and Rosemary
Recently I’ve been testing some bread baking products from Emile Henry. I developed this fragrant Rye Crown Loaf with Olives and Rosemary to bake in their Bread Baking Cloche. It’s the kind of bread that appealing to me right now because the dough has a good percentage of fiber-rich, whole grain rye for flavor. And it is perfumed with fresh rosemary and salty olives. There is little skill required to shape the dough into a
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Tuesday, February 10
Potage Ménagère – French Homestyle Vegetable Soup
Potage à la Ménagère is a simple puréed vegetable soup, not a recipe you’ll find in Escoffier. (I checked.) Rather it’s housewife soup that speaks of French frugality. Eating it transports me to a scene in a 1930’s black and white film by Réné Clair. There, in a country kitchen at a wooden table set with enormous spoons, a family sits quietly eating soup with thick slices of crusty bread. Potage Ménagère – French Homestyle Vegetable
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Thursday, December 11
Start Your Ovens
December means baking for many of us, me in particular. (Start Your Ovens I whisper to myself.) I have systems for managing to produce the food, savory snacks and desserts for at least four or five events around the holidays but this year I am a little late to get started. Then I came upon my own best advice published by Rebecca Ffrench on her web site Sweet Home. (“Congenitally overambitious” I said about myself, not this
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Saturday, December 20
Crispy Chocolate, Fruit and Ginger Rochers
Who doesn’t love the taste experience of eating silken chocolate and a crisp cookie or puffed cereal? Chocolatiers incorporate feuillantine (finely crumbled wafer cookies), puffed cereal, toasted nuts and seeds to add texture to their bonbons. Using quality couverture chocolate, you can make these Crispy Chocolate, Fruit and Ginger Rochers at home. They are a pretty good facsimile of a candy popular with professionals. Rocher means rock in French. These rocher candies look like craggy pieces from
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Wednesday, August 06
Wild Mushroom Risotto
We’re fortunate to find many edible varieties of wild mushrooms where we live, and we use them to make Wild Mushroom Risotto. The dish is something we make to celebrate the rich variety of mushrooms in the Northeast. And every time I make it I say merci to our dear friend Gerry Miller, mycologist, artist and shaman who taught me everything I know about foraging. With his harvests every year, we were able to offer
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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!
