If you have a food processor, you can make some darn fine cheese straws — or homemade Cheez-Its, or I suppose you could shape them like the little goldfish crackers if you were a little obsessive — in less than half an hour. And what with it being cold out and cheese straws being so [...]
Most people are terribly busy at this time of year. I am something of an exception to this, having decided some years ago that I was done with trying to travel between Hallowe’en and the New Year unless there were an unavoidable emergency. This has been a remarkably successful policy in terms of keeping my [...]
Sea salt caramels aside, Americans have been slow to warm to the idea of combining savory and sweet. There are occasional exceptions, like fruit-based salsas, or honey-mustard combinations, and of course sweet molasses-y barbecue sauces. But whenever I talk about things like, say, the classic French noisettes de porc aux prunes, which is an out-of-this-world [...]
Tagged apples, cauliflower, soupDoes this count as regifting? Or just as being resourceful? It came to me this morning while I was rolling out dough for Nancy Silverton’s awesomesauce graham cracker recipe (make them with whole wheat pastry flour!) that I had a sizeable two year old bottle of homemade limoncello in the cupboard and that at the [...]
This is not one of those Pretty Foods. Onion marmalade is dark and thick and when you try to photograph it — or at least when I try to photograph it, which might be a different matter — it looks kind of like motor oil with lumps in. So I have chosen not to subject [...]
It’s not quite fall yet, but it’s getting closer. Rosh Hashanah is imminent, Eid is just days away. It seemed like time for a babka. Babka is not quite cake and not quite bread. I make my babka with my standard challah dough. For each loaf I start a teaspoon and a half of dry [...]
Tagged desserts, yeast doughsOnce you’ve got your supply of shelled, washed, cooked beans, what next? There are so many options it’s honestly hard to know where to begin, but here are two of my favorites. For beans that will lend themselves readily to Tex-Mex, Cajun, and many Southeastern US style meals, stew your cooked beans with a large [...]
Tagged beans, Garden, garlic, sage, salsa, tomatoesLeftover salad is an unlovely thing. What was sprightly and crisp, distinct and resilient becomes soft and tired, limp and worn. If you have dressed the salad, especially, you can expect to find it the next morning in a swamp of its own juices, sodden and dispiriting. The temptation is to just compost the lot [...]
Tagged leftovers, salads, soupFor lots of people, hot and sour soup is something that comes from Chinese restaurants, as if it were a magical commodity that could only be generated in those specific and exotic precincts. (Perhaps from a special faucet, in the back.) Fortunately for you — especially if you live somewhere that is not rich in [...]
‘Cause dayyum, it’s hot out there. 1. Flavored Waters — I see them for sale in the shops and I think “I may really be incapable of understanding how far people will go to avoid doing something that is nearly effortless to begin with.” Because $1.49 for 20 ounces of water with a little mint [...]
Tagged too hot to cook