April 1st. The “I think I can, I think I can…” continues. I think I can make it to the end of this relentless Catskill’s winter. Right now, even as I type this, one day after we were admiring deep purple crocuses at my mother’s for Easter, there are wide swirls of snow flurries mocking… Continue reading Preserved Meyer Lemons
Category: Winter
Lentil Soup: my last lunch.
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.
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.
Blood Orange and Clementine Galette
Soon after I finished culinary school a wise and wonderful chef and cookbook author asked me, as I was first meeting her, what kind of food do you cook? I was a little stumped. I was just out of a year of cooking little other than classical french cuisine. And a year of cooking predetermined recipes… Continue reading Blood Orange and Clementine Galette
Espresso Chocolate Cookies
The Christmas season in my paternal grandparents’ house, when I was growing up, was always marked by tins of the exact same assortment of homemade cookies, painstakingly baked in legions by Grandma Baumer. There were wreath spritz cookies, apricot or mincemeat oatmeal bars, buttery vienna crescents, and then, the espresso chocolate balls. The latter were… Continue reading Espresso Chocolate Cookies
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
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
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