These are some very fine treats. The kind of thing that leaves a lasting impression. The kind of thing that becomes seared into your mind the moment your teeth chomp down on that first bite and the sweet, salt, and tang begin to crawl along your taste buds. That is why they are called Devils on Horseback I suppose… they gallop along your tongue, too good to be good. I […]
In preparation for my book… I’ve been testing out quite a lot of recipes. These I like to call “Bananas Foster Cupcakes,” because they celebrate cream and rum and cake in three lavish bites. (There’s cream inside!) I’ve discovered that to get a truly unbiased opinion on a recipe, it is best to set it in the kitchen of an anonymous office where people whisk in to grab a diet Mountain […]
Loretta has been through a thing or two. Even though she doesn’t live with the other chickens, she has stories to tell. After she was beaten up a few times by Buster, she had to start living closer to people, so that we could keep an eye on her and so the Rhode Island reds wouldn’t beat her up on the playground. But as a result, she gets to see […]
This is my French friend Robert. Doesn’t he look like Ernest Hemingway? For many weeks we spent Saturdays together at the french farmers market where he tended to his pot of rice. The rice was his priority, second only to the box of wine he carefully unloaded from the truck along with a portable refrigerator used just to keep the wine cool. In France, it is important to have wine to drink while you sell […]
As you know, I like changing people’s minds. It makes me fuzzy inside. Most people don’t like brussels sprouts. It’s the black sheep of vegetables… “eeew brussels sprouts,” is the default way to use it in a sentence. But they really are lovely little things, if you cook them to the edges of crispiness rather than the edges of mushiness. And they’re so fun to snap off of the tall […]
I am a tad obsessed with apple picking. I have spent many minutes rallying people to go with me on an apple picking adventure. Those that always resist are male… something in their nature doesn’t desire a day of frolicking in an orchard with a basket and a long pole, and eating apples until your stomach hurts. Everything in my nature does. The sweet and tang of a Fall apple is unmatched the rest of the year…
If you haven’t heard already, Lucy had a big day a few weeks ago. And then she had a really big day. She laid this: Look at it compared to a regular egg, it’s a giant! But it gets better… It’s not one giant egg… It’s twins! Two for the price of one. Yum.
Such a noble food. The cranberry beans are tender and ready. So tender you can pop them out of their shells and eat them raw. Or if you’re not feeling so adventurous, you can cook them til they are stewy and delicious. Here’s how: Print“Cranberry Beans, Georgia-Style” Prep Time: 5 minutesCook Time: 45 minutesTotal Time: 50 minutes Yield: 2 servings Four ingredient cooking. My favorite kind.Ingredients1 cup of cranberry beans […]
Changing People’s Minds: A Step by Step Guide: One particularly fine friend recently said he didn’t like eggplant. So I made eggplant for dinner. When someone tells me they don’t like a particular food, I don’t hear them. I go conveniently deaf. Then I’m suddenly possessed by the overwhelming urge to make that particular food. Annoying? Probably… but I like to take the more highbrow view — it is a […]
Today, we make this: One fruit, so many possibilities. Quince granita, quince pâté de fruits, quince soup, poached quince, quince jelly, quince sauce, quince fritters…oh wait… They are one of my favorite fruits. Look how nice and pink they become when you cook them, a soothing glamorous pink. But they start off this color. Green with a hint of yellow. Hard as a rock. And a strange fuzz on them. It’s the pectin […]