Rick’s mother, Kath Wise, regularly served tomatoes lightly sauteed and blanketed in a lush, sour cream sauce, as a hot dish. So did Kath’s sister, Rick’s beloved Aunt Joy. There was a titter of family dispute over who made up the dish, Kath or Joy, both claiming to be the first. No matter the true answer, they … Continue reading Hot Tomatoes!
At one time I thought of an omelet and a glass of wine as a solitary repast, perfect for enjoying a quiet, and elegant, meal alone. It’s a notion introduced by the brilliant and lusty food writer Elizabeth David who, in spite of being quite petite, held forth with great gusto in numerous engaging cookbooks, among … Continue reading An Omelet and a Glass of Wine
Pears are so convertible. Top up or top down, they breeze through town lending a bit of culinary exotica to the dark days of winter. Cooked, they provide a welcome blast of fruity, subtly spicy perfume for many a dessert, think pear tarts, pears poached in syrup of one sort or another, etc., etc., etc. And then there are cooked pears, not sweetened, that lend an aura of mystery to the savory side of the menu. One such is this, adapted from my latest cookbook Bold: A Cookbook
of Big Flavors (Workman, Dec. 2013, co-authored with Susanna Hoffman). While we designed the dish to accompany roast duck, it easily segues to almost any warming meat, poultry, or game dish. Continue reading “A Savory Pear Side for Autumn and Winter”
According to internationally acclaimed food writer, Elizabeth David, this salad was originally a specialty of the fancy Hotel Couronne in Rouen, in the north of France. From there, it sashayed around to other resort kitchens, each offering its own rendition of basically, potato salad. One extravagant variation included some truffle to be chopped in with … Continue reading Charcuterie-Style Potato Salad
In the long and varied history of preserving, the sweet/tart/spicy delectation of the American groaning board called bread and butter pickles is an inspired offering. It probably derives from the British tradition of tea sandwiches, an ever-popular version being slices of cucumber between slices of buttered bread, maybe with a sprig of watercress. It is … Continue reading Bread and Butter Pickles
This Fall (2013) I made it a mission to embrace kale, love it, even. There are reasons for that determination: First, it’s good for you; kale is healthy to the max. I don’t know of another plant food with such an impressive nutrition profile: all the vitamin K you never even heard of, much less knew … Continue reading Hopping on the Kale Bandwagon with Kale Chips
Fava beans are one of my very favorite vegetables, or rather, vegetations. Like grapes and fennel, favas are a “nose-to-tail” plant, and they have two(!) seasons. Sow them in early spring for a late spring-to-summer crop and again in late summer for a fall harvest. You can pick their tender leaves to use in a salad. Then, … Continue reading Fresh Fava Beans with Leeks and Lacy Parmesan Cheese Crisps
The first verse is about Avocado Lime Cream. It’s early March and, odd as it may seem, both avocados and limes are in season. So are shellfish. Here’s a sneak preview of a way they’re put together in my next cookbook, Bold (co-authored with Susanna Hoffman, Workman, November, 2013). We developed the recipe as avocados and … Continue reading The Loveliness of Limes, in Three Verses with Recipes
The gobi dish pictured in this recipe is another culinary pentimento (see my 7/23/12 post on food remembrances). Let me explain: Gobi is the Hindi word for cauliflower. I learned that from my friend Rajive Aurora, who was originally from New Delhi. Our families used to share in pot luck buffet tables for various and sundry … Continue reading Gobi: An Indian Way with Cauliflower
Stuffed summer vegetables, a staple of pan-Mediterranean cuisines, are an integral part of my food life, and one version or another appears in almost all of my cookbooks. The ones I grew up on, made by my mother to my Armenian father’s specifications, had the stuffing as lamb and rice. Bell peppers and zucchinis were featured … Continue reading Romancing Summer IV: Stuffed Peppers with Zucchini Yogurt Salad
The Wise Kitchen 