Reviving Traditional Foods
Preserved lemons enhance the cooking of North Africa with their pronounced saltiness and a sourness that is oddly mellowed, rather than enhanced, through fermentation. Even with no other ingredients but salt and lemon, preserved lemons take on other unique and complex flavor profiles that can become even mint-like over time and after proper fermentation. While [...]
To drink beet kvass is to taste the blood of the earth - sweet and salty with a mineral-rich undertone that speaks of the soil itself. Beet kvass is an acquired taste, much like other fermented foods whose characteristic sourness can offend tame palates. In spite of – or perhaps because of – its briny [...]
Pumpkin custard, faintly sweet and deeply nourishing, finds its way to our Thanksgiving table each year. One of my favorite desserts, pumpkin custard is suitable for those who adhere to gluten- or grain-free diets, serving as a perfect and elegant substitute for classic pumpkin pie. I love the gentle sweetness, the rich and creamy texture [...]
Onion bisque, a decidedly humble food, bridges the seasons of winter and spring in a beautiful marriage of overwintered onions and shallots with the new leeks of early spring. While many traditional bisques rely on thickening from cream or a floury roux, this simple onion bisque relies instead on a smooth body of pureed leeks [...]
It’s cold where I live. Very cold. Very very cold. But beautiful, too. And here, where snow graces our mountain town nine and sometimes ten months of the year, you learn to make a lot of soups and stews – warming dishes that nourish the body, satisfy the tastebuds and sustain your will through the [...]
Bûche de Noël, an homage to the yule log in velvety rich chocolate form, is a welcome if not essential holiday treat in many homes. A thick and luscious layer of dense chocolate sponge cake is wrapped around a layer of mouse or chantilly cream, dusted with cocoa powder and often finished with chocolate ganache [...]
Toasting pumpkin seeds, that hallmark of Halloween, are a ritual in our home just as it is in many American homes. We head to the pumpkin patch, a pitiful display of twenty or thirty pumpkins organized with military precision into uniform rows, but it’s all for charity – a way to spend a little extra [...]
Pelmeni, traditional dumplings that hold a near-sacred place in the hearts of the Siberian people inhabiting the Ural mountains, have made their way to convenience stores and the freezer sections of grocery stores all across Russia and Eastern Europe. But the modern convenience food and even homemade versions of pelmeni bare little resemblance to the [...]
Lovage Soup for Spring
Moroccan Preserved Lemons
campfire roast chicken with flowering onion and dill
Our Daily Bread: No-knead Sourdough
A Story of Recovery (and a Recipe for Grain-free Carrot Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting)
A Recipe for Beet Kvass: A Deeply Cleansing Tonic
What People Are Saying