Category

Recipes

  • (Almost) Instant Refreshment: Watermelon Sorbetto from The Perfect Scoop

    (Almost) Instant Refreshment: Watermelon Sorbetto from The Perfect Scoop

    First things first: as David Lebovitz gets lauded for his masterful new ice cream cookbook The Perfect Scoop, it’s important to note that but for the recipe on page 73, this book would be considered an abomination. That recipe–for Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt–lends the book an authority and sophistication that it would otherwise lack. And…

  • I invented a salad.

    I invented a salad.

    The inspiration came from my stomach: after making a BLT for dinner (an awesome BLT, inspired by Nancy Silverton’s sandwich book, with avocado instead of tomato and tarragon in the mayonnaise) i was still hungry. I opened my fridge and saw fresh cut pineapple I’d bought earlier in the day. So I removed that, I…

  • Don’t Be A Creep, Make A Crêpe

    Don’t Be A Creep, Make A Crêpe

    Two very strange things happened the night before I left for San Francisco: (1) I decided to make crepes; and (2) After making crepes–with lemon juice and sugar (a standard treatment, as far as I could discern)–I sat down with Craig, who was watching “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” and, I kid you…

  • Big Trouble, Little China: A Post in Which I Cook Kung Pao Chicken & Dry-Fried Sichuan String Beans

    Big Trouble, Little China: A Post in Which I Cook Kung Pao Chicken & Dry-Fried Sichuan String Beans

    Last year I bought a Chinese cookbook–The Breath of a Wok by Grace Young and Alan Richardson–and for a full year I ignored it, swept it under the rug, hoped it would disappear. On one hand I really wanted to attempt Chinese cooking, but then a million take-out menus, Canal street stops on the subway…

  • Cavatappi with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Cannellini Beans

    Cavatappi with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Cannellini Beans

    Here’s how you know if the new recipe you’ve tried is successful: a few days go by, maybe a week, and suddenly you find yourself craving the thing you cooked the week before. This happens far less often than you think. For example, the other night I made Kung Pao Chicken from scratch and while…

  • A Pork Shoulder To Cry On (With Blue Potatoes)

    A Pork Shoulder To Cry On (With Blue Potatoes)

    In case you were boohoo-ing over my fish feast debacle from the other day, fear not. I have redeemed myself, ladies and gentlemen. All because of a trip to the farmer’s market with Diana. On Saturday it was nice out so I said, “Let’s go to the farmer’s market.” We hopped on an N train…

  • Shrimp with Garlic & Parsley

    Here’s a quick easy dinner: Just get a pound of shrimp and cook them in olive oil (about 1/2 a cup) with minced garlic (a few cloves), thyme and red pepper flakes. Saute for just a few minutes–until the shrimp are pink (err on the side of undercooking)–sprinkle with salt and parsley. Serve with bread…

  • What To Eat While I’m Away (Bucatini All’Amatriciana)

    What To Eat While I’m Away (Bucatini All’Amatriciana)

    Pity us, if you must, but Craig and I are leaving these record-low New York temperatures for the tortuously warm tropical climes of Boca Raton, Florida where we’re headed tomorrow to visit my family. Yes we’ll be suffering in our bathing suits and shorts as we sip pina coladas by the pool, but we’ll know,…

  • Cookie Secrets

    This is the best batch of chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made and I attribute its success to two things: an ice-cream scoop and Diana’s cookie sheets. And maybe a 400 degree oven. We did The Martha Stewart recipe again (still the best recipe I know) and we were nervous because even though the first…

  • Life Getting Bland? Make An Indonesian Spice Cake

    Life Getting Bland? Make An Indonesian Spice Cake

    James Oseland (new editor-in-chief of Saveur) has a spicy new cookbook called “Cradle of Flavor” that’s full of vibrant, exotic recipes from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. When it first arrived, I could’ve made Gado-Gado (a Javanese “potpourri” of raw and cooked vegetables) or The Soto King’s Chicken Soup (Soto Ayam Lamongan) but instead I made…