recipe

Sauce for Thought: Sweet Flower of Dreams

Published by Alice + Monday, March 26, 2012 Permalink 0

A little prehistoric flower has been grown, re-created really, from 32,000 year-old seeds found in the ancient den of an artic ground squirrel. The photo of the little white flower in the New York Times [i] brought a rush of excitement and a feeling of kinship with the scientists who sought to cover those seeds with earth and add water, to cup their hands and breathe warm air over the planting, revealing the sprouts last seen by the tiny ground squirrel so long ago. I have the same feeling when reading an antique recipe that might bring back the flavors of the ancestors. Can we breathe life in to an antique delicacy and resurrect a better flavor? Why did people add rose geraniums to their jelly, infuse herring pie[ii] with grains de paradis[iii], or even stir and stir to create cornstarch pudding for that matter? Perhaps they knew a marvelous flavor-way or texture that has been lost to us, overtaken by food fads and conveniences of the present day?

Simple Sustenance: The Rustic Comfort of Eggplant and Pea Stew

Published by Renu-Chhabra + Thursday, March 22, 2012 Permalink 0

Garam masala

“You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.” — Julia Child

This past weekend, we got much needed rain. It was a welcome relief to the parched hills and landscape around us. All day long dark clouds played hide and seek, and brought spurts of heavy showers, at times accompanied by loud winds. I sat at my kitchen window observing nature’s enormous beauty. Washed in the rain, it had come alive.

cilantro

The Macaron: A Dessert of Legendary Proportions

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Permalink 0

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by Meeta Khurana Wolff

The macaron is a desert of legendary proportions, which easily transcends the cookie genre. Technically, it is simply a pastry, in which two shells made from ground almonds, egg whites, icing sugar and sugar encase a delicate filling flavored with a symphony of different flavors. In reality, its finesse goes far beyond that of cookies.

History of Macarons

It is believed that macarons made their way to the French court from Italy with the chefs of Catherine di Medici who married King Henry II of France in 1533. This dessert of all desserts really came into its own in 1792 when two nuns seeking asylum in Nancy during the French Revolution baked and sold macarons to support themselves and became known as the macaron sisters! At that time, the macaron was just plain pastry no flavor and no filling.

It was not until the 1900s that Ladurée‘s Pierre Desfontaines revolutionized the macaron by taking two pastry shells and filling them with ganache. Today, besides Ladurée, there is, of course, Pierre Hermé, both whom have elevated the macaron to new heights and made them celebrated.

Continue Reading…

Simple Sustenance: Healthy and Easy Bell Pepper, Garbanzo Bean, and Bulgur Salad

Published by Esha-Chhabra + Monday, March 12, 2012 Permalink 0

by Renu Chhabra

“Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.” — Marcel Boulestin

Healthy and easy might not sound very complicated, but I’m not talking about a cup of yogurt or a bowl of fruit. I am thinking of something hearty and flavorful with a farm-fresh bite. When the vegetable drawer in the fridge is begging for a visit to the produce market, it can become challenging to bring farm-fresh bite to the plate. This was the dilemma I was facing last night.

When I opened my fridge, I found just a couple bell peppers and a bunch of parsley were keeping each other company in the vegetable drawer. While I was wondering how to make the most of what was available, I found two slender carrots and a lemon hidden in a corner of the drawer. I was hoping to come up with something that would satisfy my appetite. A look in the pantry to find some bulgur and a can of garbanzo beans completed the recipe — a well balanced meal of vegetables, whole grains, and protein. It seemed like another victory over a culinary battle!

How to Make Perfect Brownies like your Grandma’s

Published by Jonell Galloway + Thursday, February 16, 2012 Permalink 0

How to Make Perfect Brownies like your Grandma’s

We love this beautifully illustrated recipe for making the perfect brownies. This is a keeper!

The explanations are better than a video because they let you go on with your work and refer back to the photos when you need to.

Click here to go to the recipe.

Spontaneous Cuisine: John Dory, Italian Green Wild Asparagus and Blood Orange Sauce

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Italian Blood Oranges are in Season and Reasonably Priced Now!

One of my favorite ways of creating tasty but healthy dishes is using fruit and vegetables as sauce. There are millions of ways to do this, depending mainly on the season.

Oranges are abundant at the moment, so I’ve been using a lot of orange juice to liven up dishes. It adds a burst of flavor, yet requires no cream or butter, thus making it low in calories and high in fiber.

The season is short for wild Italian asparagus, so take advantage of it in April and May.

Continue Reading…

Sealed With a Quiche: Brief History of Quiche in America with Recipe Ideas

Published by Alice + Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Permalink 0

Including a food trend prediction for 2012…

by Alice DeLuca

When first married, I received lots of advice on how to stay married, which is of course so much more complicated than “getting” married. For example, Sally told me that both a happy marriage and a career had been possible for her because she created and froze 4 quiches at a time. I immediately pictured 4 quiches in the deep-freeze, carefully labeled for rotation of the stock so as to avoid freezer-burn and waste. The quiches would keep.

Cheesemaking: To know how cheese is made is different from knowing how to make cheese!

Published by Diana Zahuranec + Monday, February 6, 2012 Permalink 0

by Diana Zahuranic

“Let’s make cheese!” To my friends and me, the idea sounded satisfyingly artisanal. Cheesemaking is simple enough in practice so that anyone with some background can try their hand at it. The theory is more complicated, but because my friends and I had that part down pat, actually putting it to use would be an afternoon well-spent.

Cheesemakers in Chaource

Or so we thought. Yes, the craft of cheesemaking is simple compared to the amazing, diverse world of cheese that it produces (or rather, that Europe produces, with no laws prohibiting unpasteurized cheese aged less than 60 days – which is 100s to 1000s of varieties). But the first thing the nine of us did in my friend’s tiny Italian kitchen was say, “Doesn’t anybody know how to make cheese?”

Simple Sustenance: Lemon Thyme-Flavored Spaghetti Squash with Green Olives

Published by Esha-Chhabra + Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Permalink 0

by Renu Chhabra

“I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation.” Madame Benoît

Flavor Combination Discoveries

Around this time of the year, our love for squash grows. I’m part of that “our.” I love their oddball shapes, different textures, and sweet flesh. I always find myself admiring them in grocery stores, as if they were art objects, each one unique in its color and shape. And since coming to the States, I have discovered more “oddballs” than ever to fall in love with. What can I say? They intrigue me. In fact, I’ve been writing about them consistently on my new blog, Simple Sustenance for Us, with great enthusiasm.

Portuguese Delights: Arbutus or “Tree Strawberry” Cream

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, December 16, 2011 Permalink 0

by Gerês

I love to go to Gerês in autumn: The warm colors of the leaves. The tranquility of the surroundings and the breathtaking landscape always take me to another dimension, hard to define in only words. I lose myself in those glorious woods; I lose track of time too.

I take my time walking, enjoying nature’s generosity and gathering mushrooms and arbutus, also known as “tree strawberries”. And this year I was happy to discover that the arbutus trees were covered with vibrant yellow, red, and orange berries, most of them ready to be picked and eaten. They have a delicious sweet/tart taste and a singular texture. Soft but with very small pips, that give them a tiny bit of crunch, and perfect when dipped and baked in a smooth cream. They remind me of my care-free childhood in the hills of Gerês, when only the present existed and every moment had a magical aura.

When I returned home, I still had all these tastes and scents floating in my mind and I wanted to make them into some delicious concrete delight instead of just a memory. Once more, I found myself pottering in the kitchen, cooking a smooth fruity cream made out of memories.