One year and three days ago, at 3:30 in the afternoon on 11/11/11, I was eating lentil soup. I am able to tell you exactly that, as it was the meal I finished just as my water broke for the birth of my son. Truthfully, it was lentil soup followed by a scoop of my… Continue reading Lentil Soup: my last lunch.
Category: Fall
Pumpkin Seed Brittle
If you are going to rot your teeth out with sweets on this Halloween, why not do it with a sweet, savory, nutty, homemade confection, that also makes use of the often discarded remnants of jack-o-lantern carving?? There are many recipes for pumpkin seed brittle out there, but most use the raw, hulled seeds (or… Continue reading Pumpkin Seed Brittle
Pumpkins: More than a pretty face.
Dame Paula Deen, amid mass fan hysteria (hysteria!), posing next to a pumpkin of her likeness (and Cat Cora’s) at the Food Network festival at Chelsea Market a few years back. We were completely unsuspecting shoppers, caught, literally, in the swell. (Not unlike that terrified-looking couple coming out of the fish market behind her.) I… Continue reading Pumpkins: More than a pretty face.
Leek Bacon and Gruyere Tart
This frenchy-french-french tart has the lusciousness of fall written all over it. Spectacular for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, it is also glorious with a crisp green salad. And it freezes really well. So with it almost taking as much work to make one as to make two, do just that and stock yourself with… Continue reading Leek Bacon and Gruyere Tart
Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Romesco Sauce
Dreaming of our trip to Barcelona, that was this month a year ago, I tried combining two of my favorites: spanish romesco sauce with just-picked spaghetti squash from our garden. Nutty, tangy, rich and warm, with a wonderful crunch from the squash, I literally had to make myself put the mixing spoon in the dishwasher… Continue reading Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Romesco Sauce
Market Watch: Spaghetti Squash
Spaghetti squash at the Jean-Talon market in Montreal. A complete delight and mystery, spaghetti squash was my favorite vegetable growing up. Though not terribly popular or widely available in the late 70s, somehow my grandmother was able to procure one at least once a fall. Into the oven as a hard, nubby, squash, then magically… Continue reading Market Watch: Spaghetti Squash
One more bit of cherry tomato inspiration with which to send you off into the weekend…
I just discovered the Telepan TV channel on youtube. Bill Telepan is one of my most favorite NYC chefs, who I had the great, great pleasure of cooking with for many months that the start of his inspirational and important Wellness in the Schools school lunch campaign. He has started to put together videos, sharing… Continue reading One more bit of cherry tomato inspiration with which to send you off into the weekend…
Technique Tuesday: Roasted Vegetables and Fruit
By this point in the summer I definitely get into a rut and prepare fruit and vegetables from the gardens and market in almost the same ways daily. Not that that is a bad thing, as with produce this amazing, at the height of their season, there is often very little that can improve… Continue reading Technique Tuesday: Roasted Vegetables and Fruit
Anandama Bread: 33 % whole wheat, 100 % comfort.
I’m covered in flour and the entire house smells like warm bread. A good day by all standards. With slender baguette pans, gurgling jars of sourdough starter, and an array of silky flours, my father was a talented bread baker. One of his specialties, the one I hold dearest, was Anadama Bread. As a kid,… Continue reading Anandama Bread: 33 % whole wheat, 100 % comfort.
Turnip Soup
This remarkably simple, and remarkably comforting recipe has always been a part of our holiday meals. When she first started making it, my grandmother used to enjoy quizzing unsuspecting guests as to what the star ingredient was in the soup. It is so mellow, and balanced, and not cluttered with leek or potato, that it… Continue reading Turnip Soup
Spiced Cranberry, Ginger, and Pear Sauce
I was recently asked to be a guest blogger for the wonderful heart-healthy food blog What Would Cathy Eat? Cathy asked for a cranberry sauce for thanksgiving, that was less sweet than usual. Here is the post and recipe below, in case you hadn’t caught it on her site. –Catie For years, as a child… Continue reading Spiced Cranberry, Ginger, and Pear Sauce
Wild Rice Stuffing with Cranberry, Apricot, and Scallion
My friend, and great cook, Cathy Elton asked me to contribute to a thanksgiving recipe series on her heart-healthy blog “What Would Cathy Eat?“. One recipe she requested was a “stuffing made without meat or butter”. Not an intuitive leap for this French Culinary Institute-trained, duck-fat-loving chef. I started musing on wild rice. Deeply flavored,… Continue reading Wild Rice Stuffing with Cranberry, Apricot, and Scallion
Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup
The start of the holiday season in my home growing up was always marked by the arrival of a substantial pile of dogeared food magazines next to both sides of my parents’ bed, as they hunted for recipe inspiration in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. That tradition has definitely lived on with me (and… Continue reading Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup
Indian Spiced Winter Squash with Goat Cheese and Pomegranate
My dear friend from graduate school, January LaVoy, just opened her luminous performance in Arthur Kopit’s Wings, off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theater this past weekend. When I had the chance to see the show, I thought, “Anyone can bring flowers…I’ll lug down a just-picked squash from our garden.” I mean, who wouldn’t want to… Continue reading Indian Spiced Winter Squash with Goat Cheese and Pomegranate
Use those apples
Though apples are excellent long-keepers, and will be around for months at the markets, they never taste better to me than right now–sun still warm in the sky, “transition” jacket getting pulled out of the closet, leaves crunching beneath my feet, and halloween fast approaching. Grab a few extra apples at the farmers’ market this… Continue reading Use those apples
Roasted Cherry Tomato Vinaigrette
Our 52 heirloom tomato plants are in their final days, but have heroically yielded hundreds of pounds of beautiful fruit this year. A very triumphant relief, following the yield of six (yes, just six) tomatoes we got from the same number of plants last summer in the throws of the huge tomato blight. We are… Continue reading Roasted Cherry Tomato Vinaigrette
Utterly Chard-ming
First, yes, it is a terrible pun. But in all honesty, I had a dream about writing this post, and that is the title I watched myself type in the dream. So who am I to interfere with subconscious inspiration/intervention? Moving on… Our garden is still loaded with beautiful food. But as is the case… Continue reading Utterly Chard-ming
Right Here, Right Now
This, all too brief, time of year when the garden is offering up treasures I would drive multiple time zones for in February, I find myself stumped in the kitchen. Surprising, since I have before me the best raw materials I will see all year. But that’s just the point. I want to step aside,… Continue reading Right Here, Right Now
Polenta with Goat Cheese, Shallots, and Greens recipe
On a trip to the farmers market it doesn’t serve you to bring a list or to have rigid expectations. The most effective shopping there is always done by just discovering what is the very best of this week’s offerings. As mentioned before, that can sometime be rough in the less produce-friendly times of year.… Continue reading Polenta with Goat Cheese, Shallots, and Greens recipe
Baked Apple Galette
I have some Mutzu apples from a recent trip to the farmers’ market. These apples are softball-huge and bright lime green, and immediately caught my attention as I was perusing the Migliorelli Farm stand. They are such gorgeous specimens it seemed blasphemous to peel them and cut them up into chunks—or toss them with a… Continue reading Baked Apple Galette
Sweet Potato Pecan Teacakes
Yesterday I received in the mail some adorable vintage aluminum baking molds that I purchased a little while back from the great upcycle shop AntiNu on Etsy.com. I had sweet potatoes from the market, and got to work. A handful of years ago the Center for Science in the Public Interest did a study comparing… Continue reading Sweet Potato Pecan Teacakes
Winter Chicken “Noodle” Soup, with Dill Parmesan Crisps
After the 3+ feet of snow we had this past week, I find it impossible to believe that I am watching even more flurries outside today. The blizzard this week caused the farmers, whose work ethic is only outdone by their good sense, to not come to NYC for the greenmarket this Friday. Union Square,… Continue reading Winter Chicken “Noodle” Soup, with Dill Parmesan Crisps
Blood Orange Braised Chicken, with Sesame Kale & King Oyster Mushrooms
So the very first meal of the blog, and of this year’s project: to cook from the farmers market, or my garden, and post recipes every week. As mentioned previously, this week’s trip to the Union Square farmers market included finding some gorgeous king oyster mushrooms and kale. The first time I saw king oyster… Continue reading Blood Orange Braised Chicken, with Sesame Kale & King Oyster Mushrooms