It seems almost impossible not to make pesto in the summer when bouquets of basil are everywhere, screaming "pulverize me and toss me with fettuccine!" Before you know it we will be back to the tiny, pricey little boxes of the stuff so let's get on it before it's...
Oh guacamole. You are so embedded into American food culture that we have formed strong, chili-like opinions about the best, the most authentic and the most worthy recipes. Because we need more stuff to fight about. According to Milk Street, the version out of...
For anyone familiar with Halvah, adding tahini to brownies is a no-brainer, in fact, what took us so long??? And if Halvah is good enough for Suleiman the Magnificent who are we to question it? For those unfamiliar, it brilliantly transforms what can be a...
Just like pictures of myself, I'm only going to post the most flattering one of my challah. You know, thinner, younger and generally more attractive than it actually is: But I admit that it was a little wonky looking. Turns out braiding thick, heavy, sticky dough...
It's not difficult to understand the crazy popularity of hummus. Easy to make (with ingredients found almost anywhere), vaguely healthy, cheap, and versatile. But like many popular things, it has strayed very far from authenticity. People have added all kinds...
Unlike Molly, and maybe many of you, this was not an "iconic cake of my childhood" mainly because I was a child in the 1960s and cake innovation technology just wasn't there yet. But even without the strong pull of nostalgia, how can you not be drawn to this cake? It's got "fun" right in the title for crying out loud!
Since I am limited in how many recipes I can reproduce on my site (go figure, it's like Molly wants to make money off her hard work and ingenuity or something) I'm going to just give you some guidelines on how to make this stupendous pizza. The dough is from Jim...
Mercy. Not a weeknight meal, to be sure. But if you have a rainy afternoon and a desire to impress the hell out of even yourself with your cooking, make these. Molly says you can use "store bought bao" but you will likely not find them in a regular grocery store....
One reason I love having a blog is that when I make something fabulous I have an outlet for my enthusiasm. Last night I made goulash, a dish I don't think I've ever made before so I have no point of comparison, for what it's worth. But taken solely at face value,...
Does it seem like everyone is trying to do something different, or quirky, or artisanal, or "maker" with mac and cheese? It's on menus from dive bars to foam boutiques, paired with PBRs and boldly-priced malbecs. Like pizza, it's basic enough to accommodate...
Sometimes a certain dish calls out to you, maybe prompted by a picture, a season, a memory, a craving, a passing aroma. In paging through the recipes in this book one thing I really wanted to make was a barbecued beef sandwich that would taste like one from this...
This recipe attempts to solve a couple of eggplant problems: excessive moisture and an unpleasant texture best described as "spongy." Grilling (vs. other cooking methods) itself solves the moisture by letting it all drip away. To avoid sponginess we are slicing...
Apparently a Minneapolis tavern specialty, the Juicy Lucy is a burger with the cheese -- are you sitting down? -- inside. Wow, way to blow our minds, half of the Twin Cities! I'm not sure what the advantage is to a cheese surprise but it's a cheeseburger and I...
I have made so many disappointing grilled, glazed pork tenderloins. They look so good and yet they never seem to work for me. I have the same relationship with J Crew clothes. Typically what happens is the glaze gets completely charred and never penetrates beyond...
If you want to serve something to the vegetarians in your life that will make the meat eaters drool, Pin this right now. It's an absolute star of a meatless entree that is no way an after-thought or an apology. As I was preparing this, and especially when I sat...
Guess what? America's Test Kitchen contacted me and asked me to review their new book. You know what that means? Yep. I won. It's possible that they sent the same email to dozens of bloggers, food journalists, respected practitioners of the culinary arts like...
I wrote about this a year ago when I first made it but after making it again this weekend I felt compelled to tell you about it (and give you the recipe this time). It is truly delicious and, aside from the dough rising, quick. This time I threw some prosciutto on...
One of my favorite things in the world are the Lemon Ricotta pancakes at Sarabeth's Kitchen. Unfortunately the closest Sarabeth's to me is the one on the Upper West Side and it's a 12 hour and 45 minute drive. So I have been meaning to try to recreate them at...
There's nothing bad about broccoli in a creamy cheese sauce with buttery breadcrumbs on top. Nothing. But it could be better. It's hard to put my finger on what's missing. I think I wanted bigger, more hearty pieces of broccoli when what I ended up with was...
This is so good I'm almost able to forgive it for breaking my blender. And it is the absolute perfect food for January. It will warm you and comfort you and fortify you against any arctic blasts you may have to fight this month. And all while making up for...
I'm combining my notes on these two recipes because one is really a variation on the other. One of the most brilliant recipes of all time is Marcella Hazan's Tomato Butter Sauce [no recipe even needed: put a can of whole tomatoes (28 oz.), 4 tablespoons of butter,...
Sometimes the hardest part of all of this is choosing a worthwhile book to review. Why? Well, frankly there's a lot of merde out there. From a cursory Amazon search of 7,663 [actual number not a re-enactment] cookbooks published in the last 90 days the vast...
It occurred to me, as I was eating these mind you, that they are very, very healthy. Corn tortillas that are just sprayed with a little vegetable cooking spray and baked, sauted onions and peppers with garlic, some cole slaw mix tossed with lime, and your...
Insanely good. My daughter said "these taste like sweet potato fries" and she was 100% on the nose. This is one instance where a recipe meant for two was not nearly enough. I could have eaten an entire baking sheet of these. And all it is is carrots and a sliced...
I have made the "super size" version of this so I already knew it would be good. And it was; the sauce tastes authentic (as far as I know) and is sweet without being cloying. Using chicken thighs ensures that you will not dry them out. I can see the predicament...
I made this dish for my dear friend Jennifer who I have known for many many many years. Because she is so wise she decided recently that the two of us -- just the two of us, no kids, no significant others -- needed to commit to a monthly date. And by golly...
I make a lot of pizza. Deep dish, grilled, french bread, "grandma," you name it. But this might be the best yet. The crust, made with bread flour, is a near perfect combination of light with a tiny bit of crunchiness. And although it may sound simple, getting the...
One of my favorite things about cooking is when I am surprised. And given how much I cook, that doesn't happen very often. Disappointingly, I pretty much know what's going to happen when I, for instance, saute a plain old chicken breast, which is to say:...
It's lentils. It's rice. It's fried onions. It's like an onion ring salad but rendered guilt free because...it's got lentils! And they're good for you! No wonder it is ancient and "popular throughout the Arab world" (according to the authors) and that there is...
There was a lot to like about this salad, like the spiced chickpeas. However, if you think Yotam and Sami are going to let you just pop open a can you have come to the wrong grotto. No, this is old school and you are going to soak dried chickpeas overnight...
So, believe it or not, people get very heated on the topic of food, particularly when it comes to tales of origin and authenticity. And poor hummus, such a humble yet deeply satisfying food, makes people just bonkers in Israel. According to Ottolenghi and Tamimi,...
See, this is why I bought this book. I knew it would contain recipes for things I didn't even know I wanted to eat. Eggplant that has been perfectly seasoned and roasted into submission, topped with a nutty, sweet, briny grain. Finished with Greek yogurt....
I am such a sucker for a chicken and rice dish and I know I'm not alone. Why do we love this combination? Many reasons: it's easy (one pot) and comforting, it's substantial, it's adaptable ( riso alla pitocca, chicken biryani, arroz con pollo - and Cook's does a...
A cookbook with great salads has a good shot at winning me over and this is a great salad. I rarely eat dates or use them in anything and now I'm wondering why. Where have you been all my life you sticky little gems? Their pleasant chewiness is a nice...
Let's put all the wild media speculation and crazy theories to rest and let me tell you how I pick cookbooks to review. Typically, I look for something relatively new (published within the last year or so), with enough inherent interest that I think many people...
Let's not mince words: this was repulsive. Not one of the components worked for me and the combination of all three was a culinary train wreck. I'm willing to take 2/3 of the blame since I can never seem to get polenta right and God knows I can't poach an egg for...
The idea of a mini casserole is certainly adorable enough but those of us who don't live in a dollhouse might not have "six 1-1/2 cup baking dishes." I know I don't and, trust me, I've got a lot of stuff. Ramekins, yes. Madeleine pan, check. Things I bought here...
Let's start out with a winner from this book. I probably have more recipes for pizza and pizza dough than any other single type of dish. I've got a skillet pizza dough (that uses beer as the leavener), a recipe for grilled pizza (amazing), quick pizza doughs, slow...
This would be a fairly straightforward pasta dish -- asparagus, baby arugula and olive oil -- before you add the almond butter crisp. And please, take a moment to fully absorb that that concept: Almond. Butter. Crisp. It's nuts and butter and bread crumbs and...
One thing I'm learning very quickly about our friend Miss Stephanie Izard is that she is not about the 30-minute meal. Like most professional chefs, she loves the kitchen and gets paid to be in it all day and kind of assumes we all feel the same way. For me, only...
There is an article in the October 31 edition of The New Yorker about Homer Sean Brock, the latest molecular gastronomy darling, and his two New Orleans restaurants. Like most of the brilliant, insightful, well-written articles in The New Yorker, I did not finish...
I'm not going to lie to you: I made this way back in the spring when I was able to get fresh spring peas at the farmers' market (or as Miss Sarah says they're called in the south, English peas). But I might try them with regular frozen peas sometime because this...
These were both so very good, I honestly don't know which one I liked better. Miss Sara says that pimento cheese is a "Southern classic" and that Southerners are "passionate" about it. You should believe her because I'm beginning to understand that these...
The last time my sister (the soon-to-be-famous writer) was in town we ate at a wonderful place called Tweet and I knew she had out-ordered me when I tasted her arepas. They were heavenly corn pancakes served with salsa, black beans, avocado and sour cream. I may...
This recipe does not need me to sing its praises. It's got cheese, bacon, eggs, mayonnaise and breadcrumbs to do that. Yes, it's as good as it sounds. You will want to be alone with it in a dim room and a big spoon. Even though the...
I have made many recipes like this one. You marinate a pork tenderloin, apply some type of wonderful glaze and grill it, re-applying the glaze as it cooks. And this one didn't fare any better than any of those. The problem being that none of this imparts much...
I know what you're thinking: "Kate, you idiot, why didn't you put some blueberries on top of this along with the strawberries since you made it over the 4th of July weekend?!?!?" That's what I think when I look at this picture. This was an incredibly delicious...
My problem with this salad can probably best be summed up in one shocking statement: I don't actually like peaches. I hate to be the world's biggest party-pooper, and right in the midst of High Peach Season, and I know you will say that I have probably never had a...
How could I not make something with my name literally written all over it. These rolls were such a huge hit at my house. The recipe makes quite a few so we froze some but even those did not last long. I thought they could have benefited from just a...
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