Savory Cheddar Cheese Muffins
Ah, November. The container ships are in backed up in the harbor, and with them, some of the holiday craziness normally upon us by now. Am I a grinch to be grateful? Not that I hate the holidays. I don’t. But the enforced cheer is wearying, especially when it starts…
Baps (Scottish Breakfast Rolls)
A bap, if you are wondering, is a Scottish breakfast roll. The recipe below comes from Elizabeth David’s English Bread And Yeast Cookery, published in 1977. David, never one to mince words, rails against the state of English bread. If your copy has American notes by culinary historian Karen Hess,…
Rye Rolls
Pity the humble roll. Out of favor in a wheat-fearing world, the roll joins its fellow carbs in food purgatory, where its crimes are multiple: carbs, calories, and gluten. The roll’s larger brethren, better known as sliced bread or buns, continue to find some favor as sandwich wrappers. But even…
Bagels
[Editor’s note, 11/24/21: This post was written before Boichik Bagels came to town. It is now possible to procure a decent bagel in Northern California. Corned beef? Not so much. But we no longer need to make bagels at home.] I know what you’re thinking. Bagels? At home? What for?…
Fast Flatbread
I can’t tell you how often I’ve searched my cookbooks for the ideal flatbread recipe. By ideal, I mean a recipe you can mix, roll, bake, and eat in under an hour. Further, this recipe must use pantry ingredients and have a low yield. Why a low yield? We are…
Sour Cream Muffins with Lemon and Candied Ginger
FYI: Cuisinart is recalling millions of faulty blades for their food processors. If your machine has a riveted blade, please check the link below, as it can break into your food while processing. I don’t need to tell you how dangerous this is. Cuisinart will replace your blade. Please check here. …
Kitchen note: sort-of selfies. recipe testing. Radish sprouts.
The IK is a many-imperfectioned blog. We will never offer fancy desserts, elegant photos of the artfully-arranged dishtowel variety, or get our act together in time to offer holiday-themed recipes. We’re just not that kind of site. Nor are we mad keen on posting photographs of ourselves. We realize how…
Hazelnut Cakes
I write the day after the first 2016 Presidential Debate. And I am at a loss. Once upon a time, in the dark mists of the 1970’s, the Republican Party was sane. You could hold friendly discussions with its members. These discussions could even cover politics. Ideological disagreements did not…
Black Bread
So lovely to be back. Thank you for your support, and for being here. For the moment, I am happily puttering in the kitchen. — Apart from potable drinking water, the Detroit of my childhood featured marvelous Jewish bakeries where fresh challah, pumperknickel, and rye breads were a given.These bakeries were staffed…
Yogurt Flatbread
Back in November, before seeing Nigella Lawson at San Francisco’s Omnivore Books, I ate dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant. The server asked if I wanted rice with my meal. Yes, I did. Astonished, he repeated the question. Yes, I repeated, I’d like rice with my meal. The entree arrived…