Bought these tartlet molds in Bloomingdales in the '80. Originally intended to make clever little savories for hors d'oeuvres. Never happened. Got inspired by House Beautiful's Blue issue (March '10). Wanted to make something blue. Love zabaglione, don't come across it often enough. Would it make a good pastry cream base? Turns out … [Read more...]
CALIFORNIA DUCK BURRITOS
Anyone who's ever complained of the mess of roasting a duck has obviously never cooked a goose. Get yourself a goose and you're talking bucket loads of spattering hot fat. You'll want to save some to fry potatoes the next day, but you still have to dispose of quarts of the stuff. That said, this method of cooking duck burritos 1.) … [Read more...]
DUMPLINGS ETIENNE
To establish your dumpling cred, it's good to follow a few guidelines. Even after you've got a number of killer recipes under your belt (like these Dumplings Etienne), resist the temptation to prepare them all at once. Focus on just one or two. If you crank out an array worthy of a dim sum palace, … [Read more...]
SPANISH MEATBALLS IN ALMOND SAUCE
Funny how food trends creep up on us until they all at once over take the popular consciousness in a mad rage, then subsequently settle back down when the next big thing comes along. So it was for tapas. Tapas tapas tapas. They had their time in the spotlight a while ago. But they did leave their mark, with the whole … [Read more...]
FIRECRACKER DUMPLINGS
Who doesn't like a dumpling? And the fun of going to dim sum in Chinatown, selecting the most intriguing (and least threatening) offerings as they pass by? The best part is when you take a chance and try something new, like this recipe for firecracker dumplings, and it's really, really good. I've heard dizzying stories from friends … [Read more...]
TURKEY WHITE – TURKEY BROWN
Pity the poor turkey. For one bright shiny November day it is fussed over, cosseted, the main topic of conversation and culinary concern -- the glistening, mahogany skinned behemoth lording over the Thanksgiving feast like Gulliver and the Lilliputians. Then for the other 364 days of the year it's pretty much relegated to the "I'm … [Read more...]
MADELEINES AUX TRUFFES
I was in Paris about seven years back and spent a really terrific day with Paule Caillat and her Promenades Gourmandes cooking class and walking tour where I first learned of Madeleines Aux Truffes (there's a really cool video of her class at http://www.babelgum.com/3016113/paris-promenades-gourmandes.html -- but do note Paule is completely fluent in English). We met … [Read more...]
OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER AND CLAMS CASINO
With "Rockefeller" and "Casino" in the names of these two classics, I was going to go with a cutesy title for this post like Millionaires on the Half Shell, but that was a bit too twee, even for me. And these time honored classics really don't need any further gussying up. Oysters Rockefeller or Clams Casino served on their own are … [Read more...]
MRS. MERINO’S FRUITCAKE
The long-running tradition of fruitcake-bashing seems to have abated somewhat of late. Probably because the joke was beyond tired, it exhausted itself to death. Throughout these dark years of ridicule, fruitcakes carried on, making their annual appearance and enjoying the appreciation of loyalists. And yet, like so many other … [Read more...]
OYSTERS WITH OYSTER SAUCE AND BLACK BEANS
Histories of olde New York tell how our waterways were originally paved with oyster reefs, from Sandy Hook all the way up to Ossining. So common, they were considered poor people's food (as were lobsters out on the east end of Long Island back in the day...). In our time honored fashion, this abundant resource was pretty … [Read more...]