Roasted Cauliflower Couscous with Dates, Almonds, and Cherries
When vegetables are starting to turn in the fridge, you have two choices: dump them in the trash and cover them with other garbage so no one else knows of your crime. Or, two, roast them and turn them into dinner.
Nectarine Upside-Down Gingerbread
I’ve had a copy of David Lebovitz’s Ready for Dessert on my cookbook shelf for well over a decade, probably longer, and you can tell it’s much-loved because of all the flour, cocoa powder, and melted butter streaked across its pages. The fresh ginger cake is so iconic that I’m convinced one of the hottest restaurants in NY uses David’s recipe for its own.
Classic Shrimp and Grits
On a recent trip to Jackson, Mississippi, I had grits for breakfast at Elvie’s (served with coffee-rubbed pork and red-eye gravy) and fell in love. They were fluffy, they were hearty, they were the perfect base for a saucy topping.
Seared Butternut Squash with Crispy Curried Chickpeas
Some married people cheat when their husbands go out for the evening; I eat chickpeas.
Craig doesn’t like chickpeas. He’ll eat them if they’re ground into a hummus, but presented in its original form, he’d almost rather eat anything else. I, on the other hand, adore them for their versatility: you can stew them, you can roast them, or — as in the case here — you can fry them in oil, add lots of aromatics and spices, and serve them over butternut squash.
Fig Leaf Cordial
A few Sundays ago, I spied fig leaves at the farmer’s market for five dollars. I’m not the type of person who usually buys ingredients that I have no idea what to do with, but on this particular occasion, I figured: why not?
Bucatini with Swiss Chard, Raisins, and Parmesan
Sometimes sharing a recipe is like playing a game of telephone. Take, for example, this recipe for Bucatini with Swiss Chard, Raisins, and Parmesan. It’s based on a recipe that I saw on Nigella Lawson’s website; but it turns out that she got the recipe from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons. I’m sure Nigella changed the recipe after it got whispered into her ear, and now I’ll do the same.
Sweet and Sour Tofu with Corn and Tomatoes
I’m old enough to remember when “tofu” used to be a dirty word; like in an eighties movie where the bad guy in a bandana says about the hero, “He probably eats tofu.”
Smoky Eggplant Dip
The best recipes are both simple and effective. The least amount of steps for the most amount of impact? That’s my idea of a good recipe.
This recipe is inspired by a recipe from Paul Kahan’s cookbook, Cooking for Good Times. Paul Kahan is the chef at The Publican in Chicago and I know his name well because when I was writing my cookbook Secrets of the Best Chefs, I did everything in my power to get him to cook with me. I remember calling his restaurant every day for a week only to be told that Chef Kahan was super busy and wouldn’t be able to do it. I was disappointed because his food always looked so good.
Stone Fruit Party Pie
September is the perfect month to learn how to bake a pie. If you’ve never made one before, you’re still straddling two seasons: summer fruit tastes best in September and then, as the weather cools, you’ll transition into making apple pies, pumpkin pies, pecan pies, etc. So if your first few crusts are disasters, you’ll get the hang of it by October and then, by Thanksgiving, you’ll be knocking it out of the park.
Roasted Halibut with Burst Cherry Tomatoes and Salsa Verde
When I’m cooking for a group, fish is probably the last thing I’ll usually make. Unlike chili or a stew or a sheet pan pizza, fish is fussy: overcook it, and you’ve ruined it. Plus fish is expensive: if you’re cooking for six people and you buy six salmon filets, you’re out at least fifty bucks. And if you want to sear those filets to get crispy skin (and who doesn’t like crispy skin?) you’re going to stink up your whole apartment.
