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 [...]
Visions of Sugar Plums: An Old-world Recipe
December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sugar plums, round and humble, evoke a sense of otherworldly fancy – of mystic lore, ancient yuletide celebrations, of poetry. From Clement C. Moore’s much-cherished ‘Twas the Night before Christmas to sugar plum fairies of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, these beloved confections have woven themselves in and out of the culinary traditions of Christmas and Yule. [...]
A Recipe: Fermented Hot Chili Sauce
November 4, 2010 By 6 Comments
Fermented hot chili sauce – explosive with heat and teeming with food enzymes, beneficial bacteria, vitamin C and carotene. Traditionally, all hot chili sauces were prepared through fermentation – and many of the world’s most renowned and well-loved sauces are still prepared through this time-honored technique of combining hot chilies with salt and allowing it [...]
A Recipe: Toasted Pumpkin Seeds with Chili and Lime
October 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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 [...]
A Traditional Siberian Dumpling: Pelmeni A Traditional Siberian Dumpling: Pelmeni
September 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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 [...]
Tomato & Cucumber Salad
August 12, 2010 By 14 Comments
Tomato and cucumber salad, sparkling with the bright flavors of parsley, fresh lemon juice and a subdued and earthy olive oil, finds its way to our supper table several times a week during the height of the tomato season from early August through mid-September. Our family loves the simple combination of some of summer’s best [...]
Recipe: Homemade Orange Creamsicles
July 18, 2010 By 48 Comments
Creamsicles. Don’t you love them? I mean, really now, how can you not adore them in all their icy, creamy glory. And when you taste homemade creamsicle, you’ll never miss the prepackaged, boxed versions. The other day, my son and I were resting on the soft grass in our front lawn, gazing at the clouds [...]
A Recipe: Homemade Horseradish
July 6, 2010 By 15 Comments
Homemade horseradish found its way to our table this week, and it’s hot – painfully hot, pleasurably hot, perfectly hot. When fresh horseradish root appears at market, which is rarely, I fight my way to it – elbowing into the stand before the other Weston A Price Foundation and fermentation enthusiasts in my community can [...]
A Recipe: Sesame-Honey Candy
May 4, 2010 By 42 Comments
Sesame honey candy, or pasteli, is a traditional Greek confection which combines the simplest of ingredients to create a wholesome, natural treat featuring three simple ingredients: sesame seeds, honey and unrefined sea salt. Often served for Easter, though a charming treat any time of the year, sesame honey candy are dense with sesame flavor and [...]
Labneh or Yogurt Cheese
October 1, 2009 By 33 Comments
Labneh – a yogurt cheese of middle eastern origin – is remarkably versatile and very easy to make at home. Alternately known as lebni, labni or laban, labneh is found all across the middle east where it’s popularly rolled into small balls, served with unrefined extra virgin olive oil and used as a condiment. [...]
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