Okay, before you get too excited and jealous, I really didn’t meet Yotam. But I thought I did. For about 30 seconds. My husband and I were visiting my London-living daughter last month, and because her time there is coming to an end, I knew we had to go to an Ottolenghi restaurant. So I
Category: posts
Over the years I’ve been asked quite frequently about the difference between polenta and grits. But they are the same thing – essentially, cornmeal. Polenta is the Italian name for the dish, and grits are well known in the states as a Southern staple. They are both a savory porridge of sorts, made with ground
Recipes
When I write recipes, I am sometimes specific. After all, for some ingredients, especially when it comes to baking, specific is the only way to go. If I list “8 ounces of cream” or “2 tablespoons of butter,” these ingredients definitely need to be measured for proper baked goods. I’m much less specific with a
I wrote recently about using apples picked from my apple tree, in order to share the apples with the sneaky raccoons so they don’t steal them all. Now, it’s not that I don’t like being resourceful, it’s just that unfortunately these apples aren’t the greatest tasting apples. They’re somewhat dry and bland, and for that
I grew up with what’s typically referred to here in the states as “German” potato salad. Instead of mayonnaise as the binder with the cooked potatoes, I was only familiar with an oil and vinegar dressing instead. I’m a huge fan of mayonnaise, and “traditional” potato salads, but I still prefer my potato salads with
The other day while I was on hold with American Airlines, I spent the hours perusing recipes at Epicurious.com. I love the site, and its recipe search engine is very smart. You can search for a specific ingredient, for only dessert recipes, holiday dishes, and so forth. I was just searching randomly, to pass the
Because I grew lemongrass in my garden this year, I’ve been focusing on using it as much as possible in Thai as well as non-Thai dishes. This lemongrass seems mild to me, but it has a lemony flavor, and I’m determined to use it all up. Last night I dreamed about using lemongrass to make
I thought I’d made just about every kind of butter, the fruit kind, until I came across a peach butter on Susan’s blog, called The View from Great Island. I was utterly stupefied! Why had I never thought to make peach butter? I can only think that once it’s fall, I begin using apples, pears,
I have never thought of leeks as an accessory ingredient because of this recipe. These leeks, topped with a warm spicy vinaigrette, could be a first course, a side dish, or a salad. But however you eat these leeks, you will always have respect for this fabulous Allium, if you didn’t already. They’re not just
Last month when we were in London, we stayed at a lovely hotel called The Orange. There are only four rooms, and they are above the public house and restaurant of the same name, located on Pimlico road. It’s a very old building, but being one of the many Thomas Cubitt businesses, it has a