Purple Plum Torte
There are cakes, and then there’s Marian Burros’ Purple Plum Torte. People have feelings about this cake. Intense feelings. Certainly feelings not felt about, say, Ho-Ho’s. Food is like that sometimes. Consider Fergus Henderson’s Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad. Or Judy Rodgers’ Roast Chicken and Bread Salad. You see…
Skirt Steak with Tequila, Peppers, Onion, and Lime
It is difficult to read a recipe title like “skirt steak with tequila, peppers, onion, and lime” and not think “fajitas.” It’s also not hard to think “this is one loong recipe title.” Let’s get the obvious out of the way, shall we? Skirt steak with tequila and friends is…
Italian Meatloaf II
Italian Meatloaf II, so called because the SEO choked on any other name, comes to us from Sophie Grigson’s A Curious Absence of Chickens. (Italian Meatloaf I appears here) What makes a meatloaf Italian and not, say, Croatian or Welsh? A search of my Italian cookbooks gave no answers. Meatloaf…
Summer Squash Gratin
This morning a friend emailed. So, she said, you haven’t updated the blog for a while. Um, yeah. I know. Believe me when I say it wasn’t for lack of effort. Anyway, here we are. And here is a post. — Okay, so summer squash, which for today’s purposes encompasses…
Fish Poached in Tomato Water
Fish poached in tomato water sounds pretentiously cheffy. Then again, it’s accurate. If I called it “fish poached in tomato juice” you might envision fish cooked in bloody mary mix, or worse. So fish poached in tomato water it is. Tomato water entered my culinary life via canning. Tomatoes are…
Cherry Vodka
I realize we’re nearing the end of cherry season, but this cherry vodka is so easy to make that I want to get it under the wire. The recipe comes from Darra Goldstein’s marvelous Beyond The North Wind: Russia in Recipes and Lore. — This recipe calls for cherry pits…
Alice Medrich’s Almond Cake
Over the holiday weekend a friend kindly gave me a copy of Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert. If you, like me, have never read Alice Medrich’s cookbooks, much less baked from them, please head for your nearest indie bookstore or library and acquaint yourself with Ms. Medrich’s oeuvre. Barring these options,…
Hot weather foods
As I write, much of the Eastern United States is smothering beneath what climate experts call a “heat dome.” Rather than go into technicalities, know that heat dome basically means it’s extremely hot, with little relief in sight. Atop this, wildfires are burning in New Mexico and parts of California….
Cherry Cranberry Muffin Cake
Cherry Cranberry Muffin Cake is just what it sounds like: muffins that have become cake. Credit for the muffin cake concept goes to Dorie Greenspan. Writing in Baking From My Home to Yours, Greenspan describes having readied the ingredients for apple nut muffins only to have her brunch guests show…
Greetings from the East Bay
I am still here. My internet connection is another story. Some of you may recall my complaining loudly about our crummy internet setup. I’ll spare you the details; suffice to say, we finally got fiber and thought our troubles were over. How very silly of us. While it’s true we…
