This light, elegant gratin is perfect for spring. The oven-baked gratin form acknowledges still-chilly spring evenings; the delicate flavor of leeks and sunchokes evokes visions of the first green shoots of spring. Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are the tubers of a flower that looks like a small sunflower. They are dug in the…
Butter-Braised Radishes
Early spring can be a frustrating time in the kitchen. There’s a warm breeze and the world seems to be exploding with new life, but the produce aisle is full of the same old root and cruciferous vegetables you’ve been eating all winter. What’s a cook to do? Last week, I turned to radishes. A…
Quick Eats: Creamy Banana Oatmeal
Before I started this blog, I did not believe I was obsessed with breakfast. Now I’m starting to wonder. Maybe I should see a therapist. I’ve tended to be on the fence about oatmeal. I liked it okay, but only with an abundance of cream and brown sugar, which made me feel that I was…
Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast
I’m just going to say that again: Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast. I don’t have to tell you how good it is, do I? Hot, eggy bread, fruity jelly, a drizzle of maple syrup – and best of all, the soothing, silky, over-the-top richness of warm peanut butter.And it is hardly any trouble at…
Quick Eats: Fried Spaghetti
This is an idea I’ve come across a couple of times, but this particular time I saw it in Best American Recipes 2005-2006. And this is the time when, a few weeks after seeing the recipe, I got sick and my sweetie made me spaghetti for dinner. And there were leftovers. And what on earth…
Alta Lodge Granola
I do not care for cereal. Cereal is boring. It’s what you eat on grumpy, hurried mornings when you can’t think of or don’t have time for anything else. It’s pale brown and lumpy, and poured out of a pasteboard box. If you don’t eat it fast enough, it gets soggy in its cold milk…
Homemade Ricotta Cheese
I made cheese! I always thought this was a complex process – and still have no doubt that this is true for hard cheeses – but this homemade ricotta was a snap. Better yet, it was delicious! I found it in the “Appetizers” chapter of Best American Recipes 2005 – 2006. They cookbook suggested mixing…
Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes
In Berkeley, California, there is a diner called Bette’s. Bette’s Oceanview Diner, in fact, though it is nowhere near the ocean. Perhaps there is a story there, though it’s not on the “All About Bette’s” page of their website. In any case, Bette’s is beloved, and not just by me. It’s a classic place –…
Elsie’s Gingerbread
This is the first gingerbread I ever made, and still the best I’ve had. It’s rich and spicy and soft and moist, with the unusual touch of a bit of streusel on top (which takes no extra effort, as it’s just a bit of the dry ingredients before the wet are added). Gingerbread is one…
Haluski (Polish Egg Noodles with Cabbage)
So, what do you do when the cupboard is bare? When, for instance, your fresh vegetable drawer is down to one lonely head of cabbage and an onion? I look for a pasta dish. I always have pounds and pounds of pasta in the house, and it is amazing the meals you can turn out…