You could say I’m on a bit of a soba kick lately. I’ve been slurping up a great bowl of buckwheat noodle soup for breakfast, lunch or dinner almost every day these past few chilly weeks. Let’s talk about the soba in a bit; a really good bowl of any noodle soup, in my opinion, is in the soup. It’s generally thought that a good broth takes hours or even days to make right. But I’ve figured out a quick … Read More
Meat and potatoes people, here’s a new reason to celebrate (or deviate?): sunchokes. They’re sweet and nutty-tasting, great roasted with rosemary, and they made for a delicious variation on a favorite side dish that needs little more excitement in my opinion — German potato salad. So this dish is really an excuse to combine two of my recent food obsessions, in one platter. It’ll make a good addition to the Thanksgiving table, too.
Last Halloween, Dave introduced me to a dish that involves baking stuff inside a hollowed-out pumpkin. He explained that he’d taken it from a Ruth Reichl recipe in Gourmet. This past Halloween, I hosted, and I copied Dave’s (or Ruth’s) dish to a T. (Only mine was in a white heirloom “ghost” pumpkin, and I served a side of beet-and-tomato “blood” soup.) It’s sort of like French onion soup, inside a pumpkin: you stuff stale bread cubes and pour chicken … Read More
I’ve been to Wisconsin a few times, whether traveling for work (involving food) or pleasure. So I’ve gotten a good taste of the dairy state, and even toured the caves of a cheesemaker once. So when I was asked to recreate a recipe from Wisconsin Cheese and Chef Michael Symon’s cooking series, Favorite Foods, I thought it’d be a good way to cook with one of my findings. But also, to maybe overcome a lifelong aversion I’ve had for Blue … Read More
Rather than watering it down with milk and cream, or confusing its flavor with a tomato-laden broth, this soup is all about broccoli, from its florets to its stems to its leaves. You’ll get a big burst of the broccoli with each spoonful of the stuff, and that’s a somewhat new way to experience a vegetable that’s been around (and has been disdained, in many cases) for all our lives. It starts out with roasting the pieces to concentrate their … Read More
I recently wrote a post on Brooklyn Based about Where To Get Your Gobble Gobble, a round-up of sustainably-minded turkey farms and purveyors in the region that are now offering their best for the big, birdy holiday. But as I was walking through the Greenmarket today, I thought, these vegetables are pretty fascinating, too — and I’m never short of finding a new one with each stroll. So, since we all know the most exciting part of the Thanksgiving meal … Read More
Another weekend in New York, another cook-off to attend! However, this one’s for a brand-spanking new cause. Held at Jimmy’s No. 43 this Saturday, from 1-4pm, pots of chowder will be steaming up the back room in a seafood-filled fest to raise better awareness of what’s in that soup. This cook-off will be a benefit for the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) and its continuing efforts to bring seafood into the sustainable food discussion. A $10 donation will get you … Read More
Question: Why do we eat coleslaw in the summer, usually? Okay, it’s crisp, sweet and cooling, and I even thought it was called “cold slaw” as a kid. But it’s made primarily of… winter cabbage. And we’ll be seeing lots of heads of those for the rest of the year.