A few weeks ago, Smitten Kitchen (by far my favorite food blog – go check it out!) posted a recipe that sounded so good I could hardly stand it: Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble. My mouth watered just thinking about it, even more so looking at Deb Perelman’s beautiful pictures. I had to have it right…
Cincinatti Chili
A few weeks ago, my sweetie went to Cincinatti for work. Without me. Which means he got to eat Cincinatti chili. Without me. Obviously, something had to be done. I’ve only been to Cincinatti once, on a road trip. I don’t remember where we were going. But I remember stopping at Skyline Chili. I recall…
Brown and Wild Rice Casserole with Cottage Cheese
Daylight Savings Time is here. Or is it over? I can never remember. The thing is, though, it hardly matters – a little manipulation of the clock can’t hide the fact that the day is short. The sun will set just after 5:00 in Albuquerque today, and we’re losing light at the rate of about…
Papa Del’s Thick-Crust Pizza
If you have spent time in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (my hometown), your mouth is watering already. Papa Del’s is C-U’s grand culinary treasure – that delicious taste of home that almost all displaced townies dream of, and even shell out large amounts of money to have shipped to them on dry ice. Del’s is known for…
Indian Sour Chickpeas (Channa)
I’m starting to run out of foods I don’t like. Radishes? I like those now, especially when they’re young and fresh. Turnips? I love them – there’s nothing I’m happier to see in the CSA box. Winter squash… well, I’m softening there. And chickpeas. I used to really dislike chickpeas, except ground into unrecognizability in…
Quick Italian Wedding Soup with Sausage
I’ve been making this recipe for a long time. It’s a go-to staple for days, especially chilly ones, when I don’t have a lot of time and do have some hearty cooking greens in the crisper. I never called it Italian Wedding Soup, though. It didn’t really have a name; I’d just call it soup…
Light, Moist, Golden Cornbread
This cornbread came as a total surprise. Last Friday was deliciously cold and rainy. (Though folks in town for the Balloon Fiesta probably did not find it so delicious. Ask anyone in Albuquerque – the rainiest week of the year is invariably Balloon Fiesta week!) The weather had me craving that old favorite, chili and…
Almond-Crusted Fig and Raspberry Tart
I don’t really consider myself a baker. Dessert is not my forte; I feel more comfortable cooking savory food. The divide between “baker” and “cook” is a commonly understood one, so much so that Top Chef: Just Desserts contestant Rebecca confessed on a recent episode, “I can’t cook.” It sounded funny, but the judges knew…
French Breakfast Radish Sandwich with Butter and Salt
For most of my life, I did not like radishes. I found them too harsh, almost acrid. I don’t know if my change of heart comes from grown-up taste buds or from access to better radishes, but I do know that it’s this simple recipe that changed my mind. A couple of years ago, I…
Fig Plate
Sometimes it’s all about simplicity. Sometimes, the best cooking isn’t cooking at all. There are times when the best hing you can do is step back and let the food speak for itself. It’s fig season. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, the Co-op – all have baskets of beautiful figs begging to come home with me….