Hi Friends, After dining at Ops in Brooklyn several summers ago, I returned home dreaming about the salad, the sole salad on the menu, an artful arrangement of Little Gems and radicchio drizzled with a roasted red pepper dressing. Ops, I learned, uses a mix of peppers, several vinegars, and herbs in their dressing, and I worried recreating it at home would be a challenge. Much to my surprise, it was not, thanks to the roasted red peppers, which lend so much depth of flavor on their own — both...
13 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Friends, Last week, in this salsa post, I shared a photo of three-ingredient grilled chicken tacos and promised to share "the recipe" soon. I've hesitated to share it sooner because it's hardly a recipe — it's taco seasoning + olive oil — and the last time I shared a recipe calling for taco seasoning, I received a comment from a woman who said, among other things, that my blog was "no longer relevant" to her. Simplified in a factory, she wrote, thanks but no thanks. Pointing to the "high...
20 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Friends, I started making this salsa last July. It's a simplified version of this fresh enchilada sauce recipe, and when the tomatoes are at their peak, it is irresistible, the kind of sauce you want to spoon over everything. And last summer and fall, as a family, we did: we spooned it over tacos, mostly these, but also over a variation made with grilled chicken (the recipe for which I will share soon as it's so fast and delicious ... see photo below). We drizzled it over rice and bean...
27 days ago • 3 min read
Friends, good morning. Last night, I pulled an undated bag of frost-coated currant scones from the freezer. Given their very past-prime appearance, my expectations were low, and I questioned whether I should bother reheating them, but I pushed on this morning, crossed my fingers, and threw them in the oven. Friends, they are so good! I love a scone, and I love this one so very much: punctuated with tiny currants, it's perfectly sweet and lightly lemony. What's more, it doesn't taste at all...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
... build a sourdough starter from scratch! Friends, if you've ever wanted to build a sourdough starter from scratch or if you've tried in the past and failed, it's time to try again! We've had a glorious few days of sunny skies and warm weather here in Upstate New York, and my starter hasn't been happier in months. I'm not feeding it any differently; it's thriving simply because the temperature outside has risen. This got me thinking: if the weather here is finally looking bright (despite...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Friends, hello. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. We are back from Vermont, and I am missing sitting on my cousin's screened-in porch admiring the view. This week I worked on a rosemary-olive sourdough recipe (using this recipe as a base), and while it was a little heavy, it was very tasty. More on this soon: I also put together a little Mother's Day gift guide. A few things I’m excited about include the season’s latest cookbooks as well as this bright blue tortilla press (so...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Friends, hello from Vermont, where green mountains and dogs abound! We arrived at my cousin's house yesterday evening with dinner in tow for 20 people: four baked pastas (assembled but not baked), large-batch Caesar dressing with many bags of Romaine, focaccia, and two almond tortes, which my sister, who does not like to cook or bake, whipped up yesterday morning. We baked the pastas upon arrival, assembled the salad while the pasta baked, and warmed the focaccia while the pasta rested. It...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Friends, good morning. As I type, snow is falling, the third time this week, and while I should not at all be surprised having lived in Upstate New York for a decade now, it's still, well, I don't know: disappointing? What is not disappointing is discovering that my favorite baked steel cut oatmeal can be made eggless (pictured above). As most of you know, I don't avoid eggs, but I often receive questions about replacing them in recipes, historically for allergy reasons but more recently for...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Friends, hello. This hot cross bun recipe has lived on my site for years and as with many of my bread recipes, it has been tweaked numerous times. When I made the buns last year, I remember thinking they were a little too sweet and dense, and while my family still devoured them, I couldn't help but tweak them one last time. In sum: I've reduced the sugar from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup (gram measurements, of course, are included). I've added the zest of one clementine (or orange) and then,...
2 months ago • 1 min read