For years, iceberg lettuce got a real thrashing from chefs who thought of it as tasteless and nothing but texture. What’s wrong with great texture?
Cut up a head of iceberg for a classic wedge salad, add blue cheese dressing, smoky bacon, and a few cherry tomatoes, and even the worst kitchen snobs will change their minds!
Continue reading “Classic Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing” »
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When it’s blueberry season, all thoughts (at least at my house) turn to pie or cobbler. Except when it’s so hot outside the asphalt is melting and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven.
Enter the New England classic—Blueberry Slump! (or Blueberry Grunt if you’re from some parts)
A slump is made entirely on the stovetop, no need to heat the kitchen with your oven. Into a pot go blueberries, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar, which you heat until the berries are bubbling.
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This post is brought to you in partnership with Frigo® Cheese.
These cheesy spinach and feta breakfast wraps make life easy, whether you are serving them at a big potluck brunch or just for your family during the week.
Frigo’s tangy Feta Cheese and spinach are such a classic and irresistible combo – doubly so when paired with the soft scrambled eggs in this recipe. The wraps are so quick to assemble, though you can also make them up to two days in advance and reheat in the oven or microwave. What’s not to love?!
Continue reading “Make-Ahead Feta and Spinach Breakfast Wraps” »
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I’ve made so many variations of these scones over the years that I can’t even remember which ones were first! The basic dough is extremely adaptable, and I love coming up with different fruit, spice, and glaze combinations depending on the season.
For this early summer version, I just folded fresh blueberries right into the dough, then topped the scones with a puckery-sweet lemon glaze.
Continue reading “Lemon Blueberry Scones” »
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There were two major influences on this recipe: the Nestle Toll House back-of-the-package recipe (which I think we can all agree is pretty much The Standard as far as chocolate chip cookies go) and a recipe from Christina Tosi’s cookbook Milk Bar Life.
It’s thanks to Christina’s recipe that I discovered the wonders of this one special ingredient that makes all the difference.
Continue reading “Chocolate Chip Cookies” »
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While I’ve certainly heard of making pulled pork by slowly cooking pork shoulder in sugary soda, it’s always seemed like a novelty and not something I particularly wanted to eat.
But on a recent jaunt to San Francisco, of all places, I had an unexpected opportunity to try it. You can guess what happened next!
Continue reading “Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork” »
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Flaky, buttery, sky-high biscuits are one of life’s simple joys. When I learned that I would need to be gluten-free for rest of my life, biscuits were one of those simple joys that I was not willing to give up. So, I set to working on gluten-free biscuit recipes!
Over the years, I’ve made some truly awesome gluten-free biscuits, but of all those biscuits, these may be my favorite.
In developing this recipe, I used every trick in the book to make my gluten-free biscuits just as good as the gluten-y ones I remember. All those tricks came with a big payoff!
Since this recipe is made entirely by hand, if your hands tend to run warm, soak them in cold water for a minute, then dry them thoroughly before mixing.
Speaking of mixing, I find the best way is to rub the butter and flour between your fingers making a motion that mimics snapping.
Also, don’t skimp on the resting time when making these biscuits. Gluten-free flours benefit greatly from resting since they can take longer to hydrate than wheat flour. Also, working with very cold, well-chilled dough makes those biscuits even flakier.
This combination of techniques and ingredients produces a biscuit that is flaky, buttery, and slightly tangy. They are a complete pleasure to eat on their own, drizzled with honey, or topped with strawberries and whipped cream, shortcake-style.
If you’d like to use this biscuit for a savory recipe, like biscuits and gravy or a pot pie, just reduce the sugar to 2 teaspoons.
Continue reading “How to Make Fluffy Gluten-Free Biscuits” »
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Flank steak is a lean, somewhat tough but flavorful cut of beef that benefits from the tenderizing effects of a marinade. It is best cooked medium rare and thinly sliced at an angle across the grain of the meat.
Prepared this way, marinated, cooked quickly at high heat, thinly sliced, flank steak practically melts in your mouth. This recipe calls for grilling the steak, but if you don’t have a grill, you can prepare the steak on a large cast iron frying pan as well.
Continue reading “Grilled Marinated Flank Steak” »
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Oh my, strawberry pie! Will someone please make this for me for my birthday?
Any June baby would be honored to feast on this pie on their special day. Personally, I’d take it above cake any day of the week, but especially on my birthday.
Continue reading “Fresh Strawberry Pie” »
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Shrimp lovers! Have you ever tried shrimp with black olives?
It’s one of those master flavor combos which I’m sure chefs have known about for years, but I discovered by accident the other day when I happened to have some cooked shrimp and canned olives in the fridge and I took a bite of each. Wow, so good!
Here’s the recipe that evolved from that serendipitous moment—a quick and easy dinner with shrimp cooked in a fresh tomato, garlic, caper, and olive sauce, tossed with orzo pasta and chopped arugula.
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Elise’s Dad makes an awesome potato salad. The salad is studded with lots of crunchy chopped vegetables, and the simple dressing (just mayo, mustard, and pepper) is perfect. As far as the ingredients go, there isn’t a whole lot to improve upon!
The classic stove-top method works just fine, of course, but I couldn’t wait to convert this classic recipe to be made in the pressure cooker!
Continue reading “Pressure Cooker Potato Salad” »
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While I love all the various flavors and spices found in Mediterranean food, one of the things I find that like most about this cuisine is the way textures, colors, and even temperatures are often combined a single dish.
I’ve made these vegan and gluten-free bowls in this same spirit. They showcase some of my favorite Mediterranean ingredients all in one bowl, like spiced chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and tahini, as well as an awesome mix of hot and cold, crisp and creamy!
Continue reading “Mediterranean Chickpea Bowls with Tahini Sauce” »
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This post is brought to you in partnership with Frigo® Cheese.
You could say that polenta is just a glorified corn meal porridge perfected by the Italians, but oh, what a porridge it is! Add some butter and good Italian cheese, and you are in a whole different universe.
Continue reading “Cheesy Polenta with Grilled Sausages and Summer Vegetables” »
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Think of frittata as an Italian cousin to the French omelet, with a few notable differences.
Instead of folding the omelet around the filling as the French do, Italian frittatas mix the eggs and filling together from the start and then bake them together in one dish. It’s a little like an open-faced omelet that can feed the whole family!
Continue reading “Make-ahead Frittata Squares with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Feta” »
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This recipe is brought to you in partnership with ChefSteps. ChefSteps is having a sale for $30 off both the new edition of the ChefStep’s Joule sous vide immersion circulator and their flagship Joule through Wednesday, May 31, 2017 — go check it out!
It seems like a magic trick: take a cheap, tough cut of beef, like a top round roast or a chuck roast, cook it for twenty-four hours without peeking, and Abracadabra! Now it’s suddenly filet mignon.
But it’s not magic — this is sous vide cooking!
For the past few months, I’ve been playing around with Joule, an immersion circulator from ChefSteps used for sous vide cooking, and I have slowly found myself won over by this new way of cooking. Have you ever heard of sous vide cooking? Or tried it yourself?
Continue reading “Sous Vide French Dip Sandwiches” »
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Sangria is one of those things that you hardly need a recipe for – or even a particularly good red wine!
I do have a few slight twists I like use for my own sangria recipe. I like to add berries, like blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries. While apples and oranges are more traditional, I find berries infuse more flavor and color into the wine.
Continue reading “Mixed Berry Sangria” »
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A couple of years ago, I had a major bumper crop of zucchini. I found a million ways to eat it and cook with it, but this simple meal of shrimp with zucchini noodles and lemon-garlic butter was one I went back to again and again.
Continue reading “Shrimp with Zucchini Noodles and Lemon-Garlic Butter” »
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My dad pulled out a favorite recipe from his collection of decades old Food & Wine magazine to make and share with “the people on the website.”
A “discussion” then ensued between the rental units for at least half an hour along the lines of “What do you mean this is a favorite recipe? You always told me you didn’t like salmon.” “What are you talking about? I used to make this all the time.” “You’ve never made it in this house!…” and so on and so on.
Continue reading “Oven-Roasted Salmon, Asparagus and New Potatoes” »
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My mother often made these brownies on the spur of the moment. She’d see a bunch of kids in the house, and an hour later, she’d offer all of us a treat. “Let’s have a bite of brownie!” she would announce, and proceed to hand out small, warm squares.
I have no doubt that this recipe came from the back of a box at some point, but I only have the small index card she wrote in her beautiful penmanship. It’s a simple formula: chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, all stirred together in one pot.
Continue reading “Fudgy Chocolate Brownies” »
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We have a family motto and it is this: Everything goes better in a tortilla.
Any and every kind of leftover can go inside a warm tortilla, usually with a healthy dose of pickled jalapenos. I can always sniff out a late-night snacker when the aroma of tortillas heating in a hot pan on the stove comes wafting through the house.
Today’s tacos are more purposeful – a deliberate meal instead of a secretive midnight snack!
Continue reading “Spicy Grilled Chicken Tacos” »
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Making dumplings is a big tradition in my family. When I was young, my mother would wake me up early on Sunday mornings to make dumplings with her and my grandmother. We would spend an hour or two filling and shaping dumplings, and then cook them for brunch for the rest of the family.
It was a lot of work, but I always got first dibs on the freshly made dumplings!
Now that I live away from my family, I still try to keep that weekend dumpling-making tradition alive.
Continue reading “Baked Vegetable and Cream Cheese Wontons” »
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This elegant dish is so easy to make, it’s almost criminal. But luckily, I don’t think anyone will get in trouble just for making really special chicken fit for anything from a weeknight meal to a dinner party — even if it does only take a half an hour.
Continue reading “Chicken Breasts with Mustard Cream Sauce” »
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Have you ever tried chia seeds? They’re nutrient dense, fiber rich tiny seeds of the chia plant that expand when you soak them in liquid to something like tapioca, but with really small pearls.
You can add them to smoothies for extra protein and fiber, or let them soak for a while and plump up to make an easy dairy-free pudding.
Continue reading “Chia Pudding with Blueberries and Almonds” »
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Up your burger game and be the hero of your next barbecue with Greek lamb burgers and homemade tzatziki!
I season these lamb burgers with some of Greece’s most-loved flavors – like garlic, dried lemon peel, and oregano – before grilling them up and serving them on toasted buns.
I like to set out a little buffet of Greek-inspired toppings near the grill for everyone to help themselves. Some of my favorites are fresh tomatoes, lettuce, feta, red onion, and of course, that tzatziki.
Continue reading “Greek Lamb Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce” »
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Updated from the archives with new photos, first posted in 2008 when Elise’s mom was 73, she’s now 82. Happy Mother’s Day!
Years ago I was asked to write about what I’ve learned from my mother about cooking. Since at the time I was living with my parents and cooking with my mom almost every day, this wasn’t a difficult exercise. I’m still learning from her, though now occasionally she learns something from me too. 😉
My mother is one of those intuitive cooks in the kitchen. Having raised six kids, she doesn’t follow recipes anymore. If you watch her while she cooks, the timing just appears to happen seamlessly.
Whereas I’m best at making one dish at a time, mom can coordinate a whole meal for 8—a main course protein, one or two veggie sides, a starch, and a salad—without getting remotely flustered.
Continue reading “Cooking Advice From Mom” »
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Years ago, when I asked my friend Arthi for her favorite curry recipe, she gave me this sauce, which she adjusted to make what I call her “supermarket” version. That meant I could grab the ingredients at my local market without a special trip to her Indian grocery.
I love this sauce! It’s rich, but there’s no cream. It’s spicy, but not too hot. When it’s done cooking, you want to eat it with a spoon.
Continue reading “Potato and Broccoli Curry” »
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Spring has finally arrived, and with it the appearance of longed-for exhilarating spring flavors. Like strawberries!
Once you have savored these fresh, ripe berries for breakfast, in a pie, and in a bowl covered with cream, you’ll start looking around for other ways to use them.
Might I suggest this simple, yet beautiful, spring salad?
Continue reading “Watercress Salad with Strawberries and Feta” »
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This recipe is brought to you in partnership with The California Olive Committee.
Looking for ideas for a special dinner? Consider pork tenderloin! It’s terrific for entertaining. The challenge is that because tenderloin is such a lean, tender cut of meat, it can easily be over-cooked and dry.
You can address this in a couple of ways. The most important thing is to not overcook the pork. Pork tenderloin can quickly go from perfect to overdone, so use a meat thermometer, pay attention and pull the meat from the heat when it gets to the right internal temperature.
Another thing you can do to help keep the moisture in the meat is to marinate the tenderloin in a lightly briny solution. Ideally, a sweet and salty marinade will not only infuse the meat with flavor, but will also act as a gentle brine to help the tenderloin retain moisture as it cooks.
Continue reading “Pork Tenderloin with Figs and Olives” »
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One spring at friend’s house on Cape Cod, I found a lot of fresh ginger in the fridge. My friend’s husband had just stopped by the local fish market, so I combined the fish and ginger with a can of tomatoes to make a quick and easy spring stew. We absolutely loved the results.
The fresh ginger won’t knock you over the head with its intensity in this stew. It adds warmth and its distinctive gingery flavor to the pot, but it’s a fairly subtle flavor.
The fish is still the main star – which it should be, considering how expensive seafood is!
Continue reading “Fish Stew with Ginger and Tomatoes” »
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Dear chicken Florentine. I like you. I like your spinach and your cream sauce.
But honestly? I don’t love you. You’re missing a little pizzaz.
So, I would like to introduce you to my friend pesto pasta.
You kinda need that punch from the pesto’s garlic, basil, and Parmesan.
Now we have the makings of love. Go forth and multiply.
Recipe and photos updated, first published 2011
Continue reading “Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta” »
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Whenever I have friends over for dinner, I love making a batch of Vietnamese-style spring rolls to serve as appetizer.
Unlike Chinese-style deep fried spring rolls, these Vietnamese spring rolls are very light and fresh. You wrap thinly sliced vegetables, cooked shrimp, and fresh herbs in a neat rice paper package. They’re the perfect pre-dinner snack!
Continue reading “Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce” »
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If you’re feeling grateful for spring and eager to put fresh spring vegetables on your table, pull out your favorite sheet pan and make this simple supper.
Start with new potatoes, super-sweet onions, sliced lemons, and aromatic sprigs of lemon thyme. Roast them all together on your sheet pan until they’re tender, then add the chicken pieces. Continue roasting, and wait until everything is close to done before scattering the asparagus all around the pan.
It’s a clever way of making an entire meal at once, and you don’t even need a sauce because you’ll have chicken juices in the pan to spoon over the meat. Your trusty sheet pan does it again!
Continue reading “Sheet Pan Chicken with Asparagus and Potatoes” »
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When you’re bored of your standby quick-and-easy dinners and are looking for something new to shake up your pasta routine, try this lemony spaghetti dish.
Creamy ricotta, lemon zest, toasted breadcrumbs and fresh peas will raise the bar on dinner!
Continue reading “Lemony Spaghetti with Peas and Ricotta” »
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This time of year, asparagus begs to be used in all sorts of ways. Shaving the spears with a vegetable peeler produces a lovely green tangle that I like to put on top of a pizza.
Add some roasted potato slices and gouda cheese, and you have a winning combination and a winning start to spring.
Continue reading “Shaved Asparagus and Potato Pizza” »
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These baby meatballs are so cute you’ll fall hard for them. Use your hands to mix them in a bowl with a little Parmesan and some parsley – you’ll feel like an Italian nonna!
Once shaped, the meatballs go into a soup with orzo and lots of baby spinach. It’s an easy, hearty meal that everyone will love.
Meatballs were traditionally made with scraps of meat, often pork or beef, and stale bread. They were a make-do meal for people who had little.
Today, most of us just buy ground meat at the store whenever a craving strikes. But meatballs are still an economical meal, especially when mixed with whatever sandwich bread or leftover dinner rolls need using up.
I like to quickly sauté the meatballs to brown their outsides, but you can skip this step if you’re in a hurry. Then, just cook them in chicken broth along with the orzo and spinach. A dusting of grated Parmesan added at the end brings out the flavor of the cheese in the meatballs and adds to the scrumptious tastes in your bowl.
Continue reading “Turkey Meatball Soup with Spinach and Orzo” »
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This is a fast-as-it-gets weeknight dinner, perfect for those midweek nights when you’re ready to cave and order a pizza instead of cooking.
Put the phone down, open the pantry, and you’ll have these cheesy bruschetta-topped chicken cutlets ready in about fifteen minutes!
Continue reading “Cheesy Bruschetta Chicken Cutlets” »
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The first time I ever ate raw fish was when I was about ten or eleven years old. I was at a Japanese buffet, and my mother told me to eat only the expensive foods so we would get our money’s worth, which meant seafood and sashimi. Of course, I didn’t particularly enjoy raw fish, but being the dutiful daughter, I heeded her advice.
It wasn’t until I started eating poke bowls a few years ago that I warmed up to the idea of dishes with raw fish!
Continue reading “Salmon Avocado Poke Bowl” »
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Drop an egg into a skillet with butter and you get, well, a fried egg. But slip that same egg into a buttered ramekin and let it cook gently in the oven, and you get something entirely different: a soft, spoonable custard that’s so much fun to eat.
Add some ham, a spoonful of tomatoes, and a side of toast, and this makes a perfect breakfast!
Continue reading “Baked Eggs and Ham” »
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There’s no fool like a rhubarb fool, and now is the time for it. The arrival of rhubarb in the market always cheers me. Spring is here!
This British dessert goes way back — we’re talking about a few hundred years — and it was originally made with custard and pureed fruits, most notably gooseberries.
I’ve lightened it up with whipped cream instead of the custard and swapped the gooseberries for seasonal rhubarb. It’s an easy-peasy dessert for a weeknight dinner or a spring party!
Continue reading “Rhubarb Fool” »
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When spring arrives and asparagus are in season, they are hard to resist, right? Those green soldiers salute us as we enter the produce section of the market, challenging us to make good use of them while we can!
Here is a fresh and easy asparagus soup that makes delicious use of our seasonal asparagus. The base is just onions, a little garlic, lots of chopped asparagus, broth (either chicken or veg), and chopped fresh parsley.
Continue reading “Creamy Asparagus Soup” »
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Have you ever made hot cross buns?
They’re an Easter tradition, a soft, slightly sweet, spiced yeast roll speckled with currants and often candied citron.
They’re marked with a cross on top (hence the name), signifying a crucifix, and are typically served on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Sunday.
Hot cross buns are a rather old English tradition, dating back to the Saxons who marked buns with a cross in honor of the goddess Eostre, the goddess of light, whose day of celebration eventually became Easter.
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Whenever I’m in the mood to give oven-roasted asparagus a little pizzazz – for Easter brunch or Mother’s Day, for instance — I wrap thin slices of prosciutto around the asparagus spears. This is such an easy way to make the roasted asparagus look fancy!
I also love how the salty flavors of the prosciutto complement the subtly sweet flavor of roasted asparagus.
Continue reading “Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus” »
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Like many of you, I abandoned the dream of finding one surefire method for making consistently perfect hard boiled eggs some time ago. After trying a few too many “foolproof” tricks with spotty results, I relegated easy-peel eggs to the same category as unicorns and cheap airfare: nice to fantasize about, but if they were truly real, you’d think we’d have heard about it by now.
But that’s the thing about myths — just when you’ve thrown your hands in the air and walked away, something new comes along to rekindle your hope. Like Fox Mulder, we want to believe.
For me, that something new was my pressure cooker and a friend’s improbable suggestion that I try using it to make a batch of eggs. Just like that, the dream was alive again.
Continue reading “Easy-Peel Hard Boiled Eggs in the Pressure Cooker” »
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For a dish that seems so fancy, crepes are surprisingly easy to make at home. After all, they are just thin pancakes – but oh, what pancakes!
The ancient origins of crepes are found in Brittany on the coast of France, where their popularity spread to make them one of today’s most beloved national dishes. Crepes can veer sweet or savory with plenty of filling options for either.
Forget about intimidating chef skills or fancy equipment. Crepes require only patience. Once you get the hang of making them, there is no stopping you.
Continue reading “How To Make French Crêpes” »
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There’s a bakery near my house in Boston that makes a quiche with the most wonderful smooth and creamy filling. Every time I ask the owner for her recipe, she shrugs and says something about having made it this way forever. She has no intention of telling me more.
But I figured it out! If you want an exceptionally creamy filling in quiche, use all heavy cream.
Continue reading “Asparagus Quiche with Fontina Cheese” »
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Welcome spring with this savory soup from Hank. ~Elise
Minestrone is one of my favorite soups, and it is infinitely malleable with the seasons. This version celebrates springtime, when fresh, new vegetables begin to show up at the market.
I know to make this soup whenever I can get asparagus, artichokes and peas all at the same time. These vegetables form the backbone to the soup.
Continue reading “Spring Minestrone Soup” »
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This Flank Steak Stir Fry is perfect for a midweek meal when asparagus are in season. It’s easy enough to make and everyone raves about it!
When it comes to stir-fry, it’s all about the prep. The dish itself cooks up so quickly that you need everything prepped and ready to go before you start adding the elements to the hot pan.
Continue reading “Flank Steak Stir Fry with Asparagus and Red Pepper” »
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This lemon pudding couldn’t be easier. It’s made with just four ingredients: whipping cream, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
All you do is warm everything up, then let the pudding set. It’s like magic.
Elegant, simple, and with a velvety texture that is positively dreamy, this lemon pudding is perfect for Easter dinner, Mother’s Day brunch, and everything in between.
No one needs to know it only took you 15 minutes to make.
Continue reading “Easy Lemon Pudding” »
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When it comes to matzo ball soup, the medium-fluffy matzo balls are the real stars of the show. They float in a clear chicken broth with some carrots and celery, but that’s about it!
Passover dinner would not be the same without a bowl of this light, brothy matzo ball soup.
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This simple veggie side dish is a staple in our house because it’s really quick to throw together and super tasty.
When you roast slender stems of broccolini, they become tender, slightly crispy, and even a touch sweet!
Continue reading “Roasted Broccolini with Creamy Mustard Sauce” »
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