October 30, 2006
Rôti de Porc au Chou Rouge Epicé, Pommes et Pruneaux
[Pork Roast with Spiced Red Cabbage, Apples, and Prunes]
I don't normally buy meat at the farmers' market: I have a good neighborhood butcher that I like -- his name is Mario, what's not to like? -- and my usual crop of fruits, vegetables, cheese, and flowers is usually so bulky in my rainbow-colored basket (a birthday gift from my neighbors) that it leaves room for little else, especially if I want to make it home with my shoulder still in it...
"Rôti de Porc au Chou Rouge Epicé, Pommes et Pruneaux" continues »
October 26, 2006
La Bague de Kenza
Walking through the Oberkampf neighborhood this past Friday on my way from one appointment to the next, I glanced at my watch and gleefully realized I had just enough time to drop by La Bague de Kenza, a luxurious Algerian pastry shop on rue Saint-Maur.
There was a line snaking outside onto the sidewalk -- it was still Ramadan then and many of the customers were buying sweets for the nightly fast-breaking feast -- but this gave me time to be e...
"La Bague de Kenza" continues »
October 23, 2006
Compote de Pomme et Potimarron à la Vanille de Mayotte
[Apple and Hokkaido Squash Compote with Mayotte Vanilla]
I recently read that online shopping -- or just online window-shopping -- was a widespread form of procrastination. I cannot remember where I read this, but that's probably because reading random stuff on the Internet is another way in which I squander vast amounts of my time.
In any case, the online shopping observation certainly struck a chord, and an indisputable proof of my guilt ar...
"Compote de Pomme et Potimarron à la Vanille de Mayotte" continues »
October 18, 2006
Edible Podcasts
However much I love the Paris métro -- it might surprise you to learn that actually like its smell, a special mix of metal, dust, and rubber -- walking remains my favorite means of transportation around the city. It gives me the opportunity to stretch my legs, traverse favorite or unfamiliar neighborhoods, indulge in a little people-watching, and get slightly lost from time to time, which often leads to interesting discoveries.
I usually like ...
October 16, 2006
Fondant Chocolat Noix de Coco
[Coconut Chocolate Cake]
I have known Marie-Laure for nineteen years. This represents more than two thirds of our lives, and our friendship has accompanied us through primary school, junior high, high school, university, a year in Brazil for her, two years in California for me, and a variety of jobs, relationships, and haircuts, without us ever growing apart.
She lived a few doors down from me (or perhaps I lived a few doors down from her, t...
"Fondant Chocolat Noix de Coco" continues »
October 11, 2006
C&Z Birthday Party Reminder + My Mother's Sewing Blog
Post-Party Update: Many thanks to all of you who came! I had a splendid time and it was a pleasure to meet you or see you again. As always, we were a joyful, diverse bunch: old friends and new; next-door neighbors and visitors from the other side of the world; professional chefs, enthusiastic cooks, people who would rather just eat what someone else has made, and two little boys still too young to even walk into the kitchen on their own two fee...
"C&Z Birthday Party Reminder + My Mother's Sewing Blog" continues »
October 9, 2006
Spiced Chocolate Peanut Butter
Considering my love of good-for-you nut butters and my passion for the unabashedly trashy peanut butter cup, it was only a matter of time before I attempted to coalesce the two and make a peanut butter cup spread of some sort.
I thought I would simply use unsweetened cocoa powder to flavor an otherwise classic homemade peanut butter, but when I opened the tin in which I keep my cocoa powder, a hollow clonk is all that greeted me. "Who used the...
"Spiced Chocolate Peanut Butter" continues »
October 3, 2006
Muriel's Chicken
Cookbook writing guidelines tell you that naming a recipe after someone is not a good idea: it doesn't tell the reader much about the ingredients or the process, the reader doesn't know this person, and frankly, the reader doesn't really care. This is all true of course, but I have a certain fondness for those recipes that sound like they were found in some old handwritten recipe book -- la Carpe farcie façon Hortense, le Boudin du Père Thibaul...
"Muriel's Chicken" continues »