Author Archives: brosbottom

Espresso-Scented Coffee Cake

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As soon as the leaves start to turn and the glorious fall season gets underway here in New England, our friends, family, and, yes, even just acquaintances, start calling or emailing to ask if they can come for an overnight to savor the gorgeous foliage. These visits usually include breakfast so I am always searching for new creations for the first meal of the day. This year, I’m in luck since I’ve just completed Sunday Brunch, which is due out in Spring 2012. Although there is a cornucopia of recipes in this collection, an espresso-scented coffee cake is one of my favorites. Continue reading →

Braised Pork Chops with Fennel and White Beans

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Rosemary-rubbed pork chops cooked with fennel in an aromatic mixture of broth, wine, and garlic, and enriched with an addition of cannellini beans make an irresistible main course for cool, crisp autumn evenings. Serve this robust entree with mashed potatoes or buttered noodles. Add a baby romaine salad and a basket of warm crusty peasant bread to round out the menu. Continue reading →

Fishs Eddy, New York, NY

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Fishs Eddy 889 Broadway at 19th Street, New York, New York 10003, 877-347-4733

I rarely go downtown in Manhattan without making a stop at Fishs Eddy. This funky store near Gramercy Park sells dishes, flatware, mugs, platters, glasses, and a host of other items, all displayed from floor to ceiling in a relatively small space. This unique emporium, started 25 years ago and named after a small town in New York State, offers an array of tempting merchandise at affordable prices. Some wares are seconds or discontinued, others are custom, but all are distinctive, fun, and playful.

I love their cake stands, their colorful dishes, their polka dot glasses, and their serving platters. Even my husband, a “non-shopper,” finds things of interest. Stemless wine glasses were his latest purchase. As an amateur prop stylist (that’s the person who selects the dishes and other props for food shots), I almost always leave Fishs Eddy with a treasure or two for future photos.

Sunday Roasts by Betty Rosbottom

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Sunday Roasts is a collection of more than 75 recipes, including old-fashioned pot roasts, turkeys, racks of lamb, oven-roasted salmon, and much more. There is also a chapter on side dishes and another on seasoned butters, chutneys, and relishes. An incredible kitchen team spent months roasting with me until the recipes were fine-tuned, carefully written, and ready to go out to testers. Then, a group of volunteers Continue reading →

Twice Ginger Gingerbread Muffins

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Typically, gingerbread is baked in a pan and then cut into squares, but in the following version the batter is ladled into standard-size muffins tins. When using tins, the baking time is cut almost in half, a big advantage for busy cooks. These muffins rise above the rims of the molds, but do not spread out as much as traditional ones. They are especially moist and tender because of a generous addition of butter, and have a deep brown hue from plenty of dark brown sugar and molasses. There’s also a double dose of ginger in these little cakes; ground ginger (along with other fragrant spices) is added to the batter, and halfway through the baking, chopped crystallized ginger is sprinkled atop each muffin.

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Four-Hour Roasted Pork Shoulder for Pulled Pork Sandwiches

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I grew up in the American South where pulled pork barbecue sandwiches were at the top of the food pyramid. My parents thought nothing of driving well over an hour to indulge in the best pulled pork in the region. The pork featured here could easily rival those of my youth. A boneless shoulder is rubbed with a handful of seasonings, then roasted slow and low until it is so tender it can be “pulled” apart with table forks. When ready to serve, you mound the pork atop soft hamburger buns, then slather on the simple homemade barbecue sauce.

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Le Figuier de Saint-Esprit 14, Antibes, France

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Le Figuier de Saint-Esprit 14, rue Saint-Esprit, or 7 promenade Amiral de Grasse (two entrances), Antibes 06600, France, 33-4-93-34-50-12

An extraordinary dessert at Le Figuier

While my family was in Provence this summer, Kathie Alex, our friend and a fellow cooking teacher, suggested that we book lunch at Le Figuier de Saint-Esprit, a fairly new restaurant in the picturesque coastal town of Antibes. The chef, Christian Morisset, she explained, was exceptionally talented, and was a genius at using the freshest ingredients in the market. We called for a reservation on the spot. The “figuier” refers to a large fig tree that stands tall in the center of the restaurant’s enclosed terrace, while “Saint-Esprit” Continue reading →

Corn, Leek, and Chorizo Gratin

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Here’s a great side dish to use some of that ubiquitous corn which as the lyrics go is “as high as an elephant’s eye” at this time of year. Diced chorizo, the slightly spicy Spanish sausage, fresh corn kernels, and chopped leeks are sautéed, then combined with eggs, half and half, and sour cream. Grated Gruyère and fresh chopped parsley provide more flavor. When baked, the gratin boasts a golden crust that covers a creamy custard mosaically studded with bits of sausage, corn, and leeks. This dish would make a fine garnish to barbecued chicken, grilled steaks, or sautéed pork chops.

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Easy Ratatouille with Roasted Fish

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Is there a more quintessential summer dish than ratatouille? This Provencal mélange is prepared with a medley of the season’s most colorful and omnipresent produce. Last week I easily found everything needed for this dish at my local farmers’ market. Dark shiny eggplants, zucchini and bell peppers picked just that morning, tomatoes that were deep crimson inside and out, and bunches of fragrant basil all found their way into my straw basket. Continue reading →

Jacques Genin, Paris, France

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Jacques Genin 133, rue de Turenne, Paris 3, 01-45-77-29-01

Parisians love chocolate, a passion that is reflected by the hundreds of chocolate shops the city boasts. In the neighborhood where my husband and I stay, you can barely walk a couple of blocks without finding a store displaying “les chocolats.” As a bona fide chocoholic, I’ve done my share of sampling in some superb chocolate houses, but recently my friend, Joan, who lives in France’s capital most of the year, introduced me to Jacques Genin, a fairly new chocolate shop in the Marais. Continue reading →