recipe Archives - Page 11 of 30

recipe

‘Family’ shows the way to fad-free vegetarian cooking

Posted on April 21, 2019 by Pat and David

Cookbooks seem to run in phases. A few years ago, we saw a lot of volumes devoted to various ways of cooking meat, especially barbecue. And there are the perennial single-country cuisine books penned by veteran authors. Lately, vegetarian cookbooks by millennial food bloggers seem to dominate. But when we first looked at Hetty McKinnon's new book, Family, we missed the subtitle. We were simply struck by how delicious the recipes sounded. After flipping through, we looked again and realized the full name was Family: New Vegetarian Comfort Food to Nourish Every Day (Prestel Publishing; $35). McKinnon moved her restaurant, Arthur's Kitchen, from Sydney to Brooklyn a few years ago, and just continued making strikingly imaginative food that happens to be vegetarian. Maybe we should...Read More

‘Orange Blossom & Honey’ conjures memories of Marrakesh

Posted on April 1, 2019March 22, 2019 by Pat and David

We never had a bad meal in Marrakesh. Reading John Gregory-Smith's new cookbook, Orange Blossom & Honey: Magical Moroccan Recipes from the Souks to the Sahara (Kyle Books, $29.99) brings back delicious memories of smoky meat from the outdoor grills on Jemaa el Fna and tagines with the tangy flavor of preserved lemon served in pretty little restaurants with tables arrayed around burbling fountains. In a cooking class in the courtyard of a riad in the heart of the souk, we learned to make couscous “as light as air” and a variety of vegetable salads that have become mainstays of our diet. Here's a link to some of those recipes. As Gregory-Smith demonstrates, there's much more to discover about Moroccan cuisine. He traveled from “the...Read More

John Whaite views world through lens of comfort food

Posted on March 28, 2019March 22, 2019 by Pat and David

Comfort food is such a personal thing. For Pat's Irish-American family, it's a serving of champ, the rich dish of mashed potatoes and spring onions with lots of butter and cream. For David, it's cornbread like his Kentucky grandmother used to make with bacon drippings and unbolted meal. In his new book, Comfort: Food to Soothe the Soul (Kyle Books, $29.99), chef and cooking school proprietor John Whaite explores the taste of comfort around the world. He adds his own twist to traditional Mexican chilaquiles by adding eggplant and feta, uses sweet apricots to balance the heat of Scotch Bonnet peppers in West African Jollof rice, and tops a Scandinavian-style pizza with salmon fillets and pickled cucumber. But Whaite was raised in Lancashire in northwest...Read More

Serve hearty soup and rustic bread for St. Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 10, 2019March 11, 2019 by Pat and David

No corned beef and cabbage for us this year. As we were contemplating a lighter meal to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we turned to two new cookbooks by great Irish chefs. We've written before about Darina Allen, the cookbook author and co-founder of the Ballymaloe Cookery School, which is located on an organic farm in County Cork. Her new book, Simply Delicious: The Classic Collection (2019, Kyle Books, $29.99), gathers some of her favorite recipes from her television cooking show and cookbook series of the same name. The 100 recipes illustrate Allen's love of traditional Irish cooking as well as her enthusiasm for cuisines around the world. They represent her straightforward approach to creating good, flavorful food. We have to admit that we were initially...Read More

Christmas lasagna with Brolio Chianti Classico

Posted on December 6, 2018December 2, 2018 by Pat and David

As readers of our last post know, we've been exploring Chianti with dishes for the Christmas season. Our last post highlighted a Brolio Chianti Classico Riserva with roast pork. But we're also fond of Brolio's basic Chianti Classico, which sells for about two-thirds the price of the riserva. The wine is intensely ruby red, with a more open nose than the riserva. Floral notes of iris and violet mix with red fruits and woodsy aromas. With less barrel aging, the wine is more loosely structured and the tannins are very soft. Typical of Brolio wines, though, it shows a slightly flinty minerality that we quite enjoy. With apologies to Italy, we decided that this wine would drink well with a French-influenced version of lasagna. Our...Read More

Chianti Classico for Christmas: Brolio 2015 Riserva

Posted on December 3, 2018December 1, 2018 by Pat and David

Long ago, we used to buy a well-made Chianti Classico from an anonymous cooperative for a price low enough to make Charles Shaw blush. When we wanted to treat ourselves to a better wine, we would step up to a Brolio Chianti. We didn't have a lot of money and we never went wrong trusting the Ricasoli family to make an excellent Chianti at a fair price. Chianti has come a long way since Baron Bettino Ricasoli came up with the original formulation in 1872. That recipe called for a minimum of 70 percent Sangiovese and allowed a couple of white grapes in the blend. The rules have been rewritten extensively and now even allow 100 percent Sangiovese as well as blends with Bordeaux grape...Read More

‘Feasts of Veg’ gives cause to celebrate

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Pat and David

Some things are the same the world over. Sharing good food with friends and family is “one of the most enjoyable things to do in life,” says Nina Olsson, author of Feasts of Veg (© 2018 Kyle Books, photographs © Nina Olsson). That's as true in Olsson's native Sweden as it is in her current of residence in Amsterdam—or in our home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Olsson has drawn on world flavors to assemble a group of recipes for gatherings and celebrations. It's a book full of heart and the spirit of generosity that comes with cooking and sharing food. Someday we will host a bake-your-own pizza party or host a fancy sit-down dinner with Smoky Shiitake with Pea Farrotto and Chai Tea Sauce. But because...Read More

Blind Lion Speakeasy nods to Old West

Posted on November 2, 2018October 28, 2018 by Pat and David

Tony DeMaro stood in front of an unassuming door marked “Employees Only.” I assumed that it's for the bartenders and waitstaff for the bustling Murphy's Pub (510 9th Street, murphyspubandgrill.com). A fixture in downtown Rapid City, South Dakota, the friendly place bristles with big-screen televisions tuned to sports. But DeMaro had a surprise in store. He led me through the door and down a short hallway to the Blind Lion speakeasy. I felt like one of the cool kids let in on a secret. Many of the folks watching football and sipping beer in Murphy's probably don't even know that this throwback to the Prohibition era lies beneath them. “The Blind Lion is as secretive as you can be and still be in business,” DeMaro...Read More

Blogger’s cookbook highlights tastes of Norway

Posted on October 29, 2018November 7, 2018 by Pat and David

We're fascinated by Nevada Berg's cookbook, North Wild Kitchen (Prestel, $35). Originally from the United States, the author lives with her husband and son on a 17th century farm in a Norwegian mountain valley. She is far from the sophisticated food scene of Oslo. Berg also writes a food blog called North Wild Kitchen (northwildkitchen.com). She has embraced her new home and Norwegian foodways with the passion of a convert. With chapters entitled The Forage, The Waters, The Summer Mountain Farm, The Hunt, and The Campfire, Berg opens the door on a food culture attuned to the seasons. Dish after dish suggests how satisfying a life closely linked to the land can be. Now, we have to admit that we will probably never try making...Read More

Abiquiu Inn serves tasty dishes (and serene casitas)

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Pat and David

There aren't a whole lot of reasons to visit Abiquiu, New Mexico, 56 miles northwest of Santa Fe. Most of us come for Georgia O'Keeffe, who lived in this high-country village from 1949 until shortly before her death in 1986. O'Keeffe fans stream here to see her home and studio, visit her isolated studio at Ghost Ranch, and drink in the luminous, surreal landscapes. If they come to do all three, they likely stay overnight at the Abiquiu Inn (21120 U.S. 84, Abiquiu, N.M.; 505-685-4378; abiquiuinn.com). We did—and we were delighted. The rooms are essentially casitas. Several casitas back up on a shared courtyard, but we almost always had it to ourselves—unless you count the hummingbirds sipping nectar from the trumpet vine blossoms or having...Read More