February 2005 Archive

February 28, 2005

Chez Panisse Gingersnaps

Gin·ger·snap (noun) : 1. a thin brittle cookie, round or rectangular, sweetened with molasses and flavored with ginger (and optionally other spices). Close cousin: the speculoos from Flanders. 2. one of these viral recipes that occasionally spread like magic through our little world of food blogs! And we have Renee to thank for this one. Renee ...

"Chez Panisse Gingersnaps" continues »

February 25, 2005

Le Chou-Rave

Le chou-rave -- in English kohlrabi or cabbage turnip -- is definitely my greatest vegetable discovery for this winter. Although its name would indicate that it is a root vegetable ("rave" means "root", as in betterave [beetroot] or celeri-rave [celeryroot]) it is in fact a surface vegetable and belongs to the cabbage family. It is also exception...

"Le Chou-Rave" continues »

February 23, 2005

Press: The National Post

There is an article about C&Z in the National Post (a national Canadian newspaper) today: Fromage homage... In other news, Paris is all snowed in today! By "snowed in" I mean oh, a good two inches of soft snow, but this is enough to wreak havoc in the city, all skidding cars and glissading pedestrians. It is quickly turning to milk chocolate slu...

"Press: The National Post" continues »

February 22, 2005

2005 Independant Food Festival: Baking Sugar with the Most Personality

Today is the 1st annual edition of the Independant Food Festival and Awards and I am honored to be a member of the jury. The truly original and exciting idea of these awards, brought to us by TasteEverything.org, is that each of the 30 jury members created one award (as focused and specific as s/he wished) and determined who should receive it. Th...

"2005 Independant Food Festival: Baking Sugar with the Most Personality" continues »

February 21, 2005

Muffins Banane Pécan

[Banana Pecan Muffins] Brunch. What a fabulously promising word, evocative of lazy Sunday mornings, meeting with your friends at a sunny terrace, all of you a little sleepy and deliciously carefree, to share the kind of simple and comforting food that makes you feel like a kid again. Runny eggs on toast. Bacon and potatoes. Blueberry pancakes. P...

"Muffins Banane Pécan" continues »

February 17, 2005

Gomasio à la Spiruline

[Spirulina Gomasio] I'm always happy to try new and intriguing food. It's a hit-or-miss kind of habit and I have on occasion bought things that turned out to be nasty (in that ugh-nasty-nasty-bleh-spit-spit kind of way), but it's all in the name of science and research, yes? My organic grocery store in particular seems very much aware of that ...

"Gomasio à la Spiruline" continues »

February 15, 2005

Mary Frances! I've heard so much about you!

I had been told wonderful things about MFK Fisher (1908-1992, full name Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher), but had never had a chance to read the work of the brightest shining light in American food writing. I had been looking for her books in the English-language bookstores I frequent, but they never seemed to have them in stock and since I wasn't su...

"Mary Frances! I've heard so much about you!" continues »

February 14, 2005

Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlets

Joyeuse St-Valentin! Head over to NPR's website for a special Valentine's Day commentary and the Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlet recipe I created for the occasion! NPR (National Public Radio) is a nonprofit producer and distributor of radio shows that serves over 750 independant radio stations in the US. In particular, their shows are broa...

"Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlets" continues »

February 10, 2005

The Music I Cook By

All right, all right! Obviously, resistance is futile: I have been tapped -- twice! -- in the Music in My Kitchen game that's been going around our little world of food blogs. I usually try to keep things more or less focused on the edible around here, but since my kitchen is a "cuisine à l'américaine" that opens onto the living-room where the hi...

"The Music I Cook By" continues »

February 9, 2005

Tomme Affinée au Marc de Raisin

However uncanny the resemblance is, this is not a slice of blueberry streusel cheesecake. This is a Tomme Affinée au Marc de Raisin, sometimes referred to as "Who-the-hell-put-grime-on-my Cheese". Tomme de Savoie is a cow's milk cheese à pâte pressée non cuite (pressed, unheated cheese *), and this one has been aged under a thick blanket of grap...

"Tomme Affinée au Marc de Raisin" continues »

February 7, 2005

Des Crêpes!

Last Wednesday was La Chandeleur, a holiday that welcomes the first signs of spring. It is traditionally celebrated by making crêpes, with a variety of superstitious little tricks to bring happiness and prosperity upon your household. One of those tricks involves holding a coin in your left hand while you flip the crêpe pan with your right hand...

"Des Crêpes!" continues »

February 4, 2005

La Pomme et le Clochard

[Lady Apple and the Tramp] This apple you see here is one of my very favorite varieties. Oh sure, it doesn't look like much from the outside: round with slightly flattened top and bottom, its yellow uneven skin is matte with brownish freckles. Quite far from the glossy prom queens of the apple family -- Gala, Granny Smith or Golden. But slice i...

"La Pomme et le Clochard" continues »

February 2, 2005

Mini Summer Rolls with Thai Dipping Sauce (A Menu For Hope)

When Pim suggested we food bloggers try and raise some funds for the tsunami relief effort, her idea was that we would jointly create a twelve course menu of Southeast Asian inspiration, complete with recipes, drink pairings and translations. It is not my habit to let the big bad thnigs of the world take up too much space on C&Z (I think of it as...

"Mini Summer Rolls with Thai Dipping Sauce (A Menu For Hope)" continues »

February 1, 2005

February Newsletter

The C&Z monthly newsletter went out today, as it does on the first day of every month. If you haven't subscribed yet, you are more than welcome to do so here and be the first in line for the March edition!...

"February Newsletter" continues »