Oh, happy fall. Like with many folks I’ve spoken to here and there in the past couple weeks–friends and strangers at the post office alike–fall is a favorite time of year. It ushers in cooler nights and breezes, colorful leaves on the trees, and that unmistakeable smell… of fall. I liken this to the scent of apple cider. It’s somewhat earthy but sweet. Of course, fall is when we see the annual harvest of apples, and cider is somewhere not … Read More
You might consider a hearty red meat like lamb a more winter-appropriate food, not on your summer cookout menu. Or you might associate it with restaurants rather than your home-cooking menu, any time of the year. But I think it’s a secret weapon to creating a fun outdoor feast that tastes like it came from a gourmet gastropub.
I’m not usually very vocal when it comes to sports. But I have been enjoying watching the World Cup lately, and soaking in the drama, intrigue, and high-stakes tension therein. It really is a fantastic spectacle–not only of physical agility, but of nationalism, sportsmanship, and other shared, global human values. Recently we saw a star player from Uruguay get banned from the game for four months for biting an opponent, because intentionally biting in football (or soccer to Yanks) is … Read More
photo: Julia Sherman Let’s say you’re going to a cookout, barbecue, potluck, or summer picnic this weekend. Let’s say you could really go for something like a cold chicken salad sandwich, but don’t want to opt for a hastily-made rendition like at the supermarket deli or something you might whip up from frozen chicken cutlets chopped and tossed with mayo. No, let’s say you want something savory and exciting, even if this sounds contradictory to what “chicken salad” generally means … Read More
There’s a dish like this in every culture: chicken curries, coq au vin, chicken paprikas, tagine chicken, red-braised chicken, chicken mole. The list is endless. You braise some chicken with tasty stuff. Scoop it ’til the last drop. Feel better. Sleep better. Be a better person. You know the deal.
There was nothing I was craving more than a luscious red sauce studded with slow-cooked morsels of meat this chilly fall week. This is a diversion from my everyday, quick-cooking routine, which has lately been focused on what fall vegetables are still in season. But, it was cold out, and I had weekend time to spare. A hearty, meaty, proper bolognese sauce was calling like a wintry elf in red stockings. But…
It’s the end of October, and squashes, gourds, and pumpkins are everywhere — on people’s doorsteps, dining tables, and planted like portly pebbles on city park displays. But it doesn’t take witchcraft to turn winter squash into a hearty meal. It doesn’t even take a long time to cook! Here, some butternut squash slices are steamed first, then quickly stir-fried. And for a little scare, in keeping with the season, I’ve given them a Sichuan kung pao lick of spice.
I like nibbling at cold chicken. Especially when there’s bone and skin and a deeply absorbed marinade in the meat. This dish was inspired by stealing bites of leftover chicken from the fridge. A little bit sweet, a little bit nutty, and very savory, here’s a wing to bring to barbecues this holiday weekend that you don’t even have to heat up.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “spare” in several ways: “to refrain from attacking or reprimanding with necessary or salutary severity,” in one; “to relieve of the necessity of doing or undergoing something <spare yourself the trouble>” as another; or “to use or dispense frugally — used chiefly in the negative <don’t spare the syrup>” as yet one more. Yet it’s the second category of the sixth definition for the word that I think “spare ribs” are most akin to, that it’s “to have left over … Read More
I had a spectacular tapas dish a long while back, of chorizo braised with cava, a Spanish sparkling wine. The key ingredient was really garlic — loads of it — which, in combination with the spicy sausage links enveloped the whole room with its pungent aroma. I don’t have cava around today, but I’ve noted that many similar tapas make use of Spanish hard cider (or sidra), another common effervescent alcoholic beverage. So I brought the whole thing home by … Read More