This is a simple side dish that turns even bulk, supermarket carrots into something special. The combination of the sweet roasted carrots and the salty feta works really well together, and the parsley and lemon keep everything fresh and bright tasting. This dish couldn’t be simpler – toss carrots in olive oil and season with…
Cooking
The Bee Smoker Cocktail
What happens when the light and lovely classic cocktail The Bee’s Knees goes to the dark side? You get this – The Bee Smoker. The Bee Smoker is a cocktail for big, peaty Islay Scotch lovers who want something a little more playful than a finger of Highland Park 25, or who are trying to…
Easy Cabbage and Pasta with Creamy Mustard Sauce
The dish came about as so many do. I was searching for inspiration in the fridge and found only cold, leftover cooked pasta and a head of green cabbage. Cabbage and noodles can seem ho-hum, but more than one civilization has applied culinary alchemy to them and made greatness happen. I won’t claim this dish…
The Fennel Bailey Cocktail
Gerald and Sara Murphy were rich ex-pat Americas living la Vie de Bohème in 1920s Paris. They threw fabulous parties for their artist and writer friends – F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter and other luminaries – who lined up to enjoy the expertly mixed (and fully hosted) drinks developed by Gerald. The…
Beet Greens with Lemon, Bacon and White Cheddar
With beets, you get two great vegetables for the price of one. The greens are very similar to chard (beets and chard are closely related) but with thinner stems and a smoother, smaller leaf. This easy preparation is a variation of my standard, go-to method for skillet cooking greens. Here, beet greens get paired with…
The Boeing Cocktail
It’s Friday! Time for the possibly-soon-to-be-regular feature Cocktail of the Week! Tonight, a house variation of a very old school cocktail called The Aviation. The combination of gin and cherry brandy or maraschino liquor (no relation to those God-awful bleached-and-died cherry things) is better than it sounds. Our house variation is a bit sweeter, but…
How To Trim A Whole Beef Tenderloin For The Holidays
Thinking of splashing out some cash on Christmas dinner? Beef tenderloin (the cut that gives you filet mignon steaks) is a classic “wow, nice meal” choice for the omnivores. There’s no getting around it: this is a spendy cut of meat – the grass-finished tenderloins I’m hacking up here cost me $15.95 a pound. But…
Of Dead Heroes and Roast Chickens
Judy Rodgers died Monday. Unless you are a chef, or a follower of the food world, or live in San Francisco, this probably means nothing to you. Why should it? People die every day. If we mourned for every person we’ve never known we would be paralyzed. But Chef Rodger’s passing means something to me….
Easy Skillet Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Oh, poor maligned Mr. Brussels Sprout. Seems like he gets pulled out every year as a Thanksgiving side and then is forgotten the rest of the year. Can’t you just imagine him in a group therapy session for one-day-only vegetables? Brussels would take the floor: “Hey guys. Yeah, well, it’s gotten a little bit better…
Drunken Pie Crust: The Secret To Great Pie
Other dishes are quintessential on the Thanksgiving table, sure: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes. I consider Brussels sprouts essential, and some kind of cranberry preserve that has never seen a can must grace the table, too. But pie – oh boy, that’s where the buck stops, isn’t it? Pumpkin pie is a classic, but apple and…
Romaine Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Tangy Blue Cheese Dressing
This salad came about, as so many things in my kitchen do, because I was looking to use up some leftovers. For dinner a night or two before I made this salad I had roasted several sweet potatoes in their skins and served them simple and plain, with butter and salt passed at the table….
Beyond PB&J: Easy Sauces To Use Your Preserves
Pantry full of jam? Yeah…me too. And while I like a good jam thumbprint shortbread cookie as much as the next person, there’s only so much sweet I can take, you know? (Okay, that’s is a lie, but at least 19 times out of 20 I do not actually scoop homemade jam into my mouth…