Ribollita
Ribollita, Italy’s soup of water, beans, greens, and bread, is one of the country’s many ingenious methods of using up stale bread. The inspiration for today’s post comes from Carol Field’s classic The Italian Baker. — Before going any further, the obvious must be stated: I am not Italian. I…
Black Beans and Rice
Don’t throw out the soaking water with all the minerals and flavor. Instead, throw out the book that tells you to do so. Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer, quoting Diana Kennedy, in Canal House Cooks The more you know about rice and beans, the more the dish inspires you as…
Broccoli Stuffed Baked Potatoes
I know, I know, the nineties called. They want their recipe back. Stay with me. We all remember–at least, those of us old enough to recall such things–the classic cheese/butter/sour cream/bacon versions of the stuffed baked potato. Delicious they are. But the world, to quote Stephen King out of context,…
A Simple Loaf of Bread
Essays about bread baking all begin the same way. How bread is no more than flour, water, yeast, and salt. How bread is an ancient staple. Words are intoned about staff of life. From there, it’s off to feed the poolish. — Now, there is bread baking at home, and…
Asian Style Noodle Soup with Greens
The inspiration for Asian Style Noodle Soup with Greens comes from Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Heaven. While today’s recipe is quite different from Katzen’s, but I believe in credit where it’s due. If you are unfamiliar with Katzen’s books, I encourage you to seek them out. A friend lent me…
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…
