Extra Special Brownies from a Greek Island for Valentine


If you’re curious about the origin of these brownies –the part about “from a Greek Island”– let me explain. I first tasted these extra creamy dark chocolate brownies last year during a week long stay on the Greek island of Syros. Fortunately for us since there were no food markets or groceries nearby, the seaside house we rented along with a group of friends came with a chef who turned out to be quite Continue reading

Vermont Mushroom Tarts for Cold Winter Days

Last fall my husband and I spent a weekend in Vermont at the home of friends, who like us, love exploring new places for eating out. On our second night, they suggested that we try a new restaurant called The Left Bank at the Weston Hotel in the small southern Vermont town of Weston. Once there I marveled at the menu with its array of creative dishes prepared with seasonal, local ingredients. Among the temptations were fresh Maine oysters with two dipping sauces, a shellfish bouillabaisse served with toasts spread with rouille (Provencal mayo), and herb-brined roasted chicken with a Boursin celery root Continue reading

Warming Cauliflower Soup with Benefits

During the holiday season my husband and I ate with abandon. Homemade cookies and cakes arrived at our door and in the mail from friends who are talented bakers. We indulged in all manner of cheeses–Mont d’Or from France and Jasper Hill’s Harbison from Vermont were our favorites. We also assembled bountiful charcuterie boards on more than one occasion. On Christmas Day with our extended family, everyone forgot their diets and savored a beef roast with port wine, bacon, and shallot sauce served with sides that included a potato and crème fraîche gratin and sugar snaps tossed in brown butter. Now that the season of feasting is past, I am looking for recipes that are more healthy, simpler to prepare, and inexpensive. Cauliflower soup with toasted hazelnuts and Gruyère just happens to meet all these Continue reading

A Fabulous Make -Ahead Dish to Anchor a Holiday Brunch

For many holiday cooks (myself included) one of the biggest challenges of entertaining during this festive season is figuring out what to serve overnight company for breakfast or brunch. A dish that calls for easy-to-find ingredients, can be assembled in advance, and also delivers a bit of dazzle would be perfect.This recipe for baked French toast topped with purchased eggnog plus a glorious mélange of fresh and dried fruits is such an all-in-one morning entrée.

For the toasts, you simply cut thick slices from a country or peasant loaf of bread, arrange them in a Continue reading

Two Last-Minute Thanksgiving Recipes for Cranberries

Although most Thanksgiving cooks will use fresh cranberries for the quintessential sauce or chutney this coming Thursday, these tart crimson berries can be used imaginatively in other courses of the day’s feast.  Start your festivities by assembling sparkling Cranberry Champagne Kirs or include Cranberry Poached Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream as a sweet finale. Neither recipe is complicated and both would enhance your holiday buffet.

Champagne combined with cranberry juice cocktail concentrate (available in the freezer section of some groceries or online) and garnished with glazed cranberries, makes a colorful and festive apéritif to begin Thanksgiving dinner. The cranberries can be glazed ahead so only a quick assembly is necessary after popping the cork.

For dessert, pears are poached in a mixture of sugar, red wine, lemon juice and zest along with a spicy accent of cinnamon. Then for a glaze (yes, another glaze!), fresh cranberries are cooked quickly in some of the poaching liquid until the mixture is syrupy and a rich red wine color. Then this sauce is spooned over the poached fruit. Both the pears and the glaze can be made two days ahead.

From my table to yours, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Re-imagining a Favorite Pie!

Often in my cooking classes, students ask if they can make a substitution in a recipe. I always welcome these queries and try to offer alternatives. I asked myself that same question last month when I discovered a baked brownie fudge pie crust at the back of my freezer. Wrapped tightly in plastic, then in foil, the crust in its pyrex pie plate needed only to be defrosted and filled.

In its original incarnation, this brownie crust was filled with whipped cream that was combined with Continue reading

A Parisian Restaurant Inspires a Delicious Pasta Dish!

In Paris right after the Olympics ended this past August, my husband and I were thrilled that one of our favorite Left Bank restaurants was open. Many Parisian eateries had closed right after the Olympic games for the annual French summer holidays. Semilla, on  rue de Seine, is a perennial favorite of ours, so once again we savored the delicious original dishes this casual restaurant offers. My spouse loved his long red Niçoise pepper stuffed with caponata served with a risotto. I savored a dish of house made pasta called “sorpresenie” (a specialty of Emilia Romagna that is shaped like tortellini, but without a Continue reading

Fresh Figs Star in a Delectable Fall Dessert

During the summer and early fall when figs are in season, I often pick up a basket and use them as a garnish for cheese or charcuterie boards. This year, however, I used my cache to craft a sweet confection. I was inspired by two memorable fig desserts I’ve sampled recently. In London last month, at Elystan Street Restaurant in Chelsea, I ordered figs poached in port garnished with a scoop of homemade ice cream and warm lemon beignets. Then, a few weeks later, at Café Carmellini in New York City, I savored a fig and honey tart topped with homemade yogurt sorbet.

For my own creation, I poached figs in port along with sugar and seasonings of cinnamon, Continue reading

A Great Heirloom Tomato Salad for Labor Day Menus

Heirloom tomatoes are having an especially good season this year, not only here in New England where I live, but also in France where my husband and I traveled recently. Chefs everywhere seem to be giving them starring roles on their menus. At a restaurant on the south shore of Massachusetts, I savored a first course of multi-hued heirlooms cut into wedges, then drizzled with a basil and garlic sauce. Garnishes included some fresh ricotta and warm focaccia. Farther away in Paris at Verjus, a well known place in the city’s first arrondissement, one of my favorite dishes on their tasting menu was a plate of sliced heirloom tomatoes and roasted garlic cloves tossed in cider vinaigrette. Both these Continue reading