Green Bean Casserole with Caramelized Onions, Parmesan and Creme Fraiche

Sometimes you’ve just got to eat something ooey, gooey, and rich. That doesn’t mean it can’t be vegetables, layered with all that good stuff and little else. It occurs to me now that whoever drafted that recipe for green bean casserole and sold it to millions via labels on condensed soup cans was probably trying to come up with a “healthier” alternative to most casserole recipes. In this recipe, I’ve probably found the most decadent way of preparing a side … Read More

Spiced Fennel Salad with Creme Fraiche and Meyer Lemon

There are so many things you can do with fennel, that I don’t know where to begin. Slivered and sauteed just like onions creates a caramelized, anise-tasting substitute in a savory beef stew. You can lop off the stalks, which most people sadly don’t use, and chop them up like celery to use instead of that, in soup and stock. The fronds are mild-tasting, but they make a distinct, sweet garnish that makes me wonder why I haven’t steeped them … Read More

Savory Asparagus Pie with Goat Cheese and Creme Fraiche

First of all: Holy heatwave! Bake at your own risk! I was kind of wondering when New York City weather would pull its annual trick of mutating overnight into a festering hotbox of city smog, in turn whipping us into hapless victims of stench. I’m still racking my brain for that clean water-saving alternative to showering twice or thrice daily.