January 26, 2010
Sourdough Crumpets
I have been wanting to make my own crumpets for about eight years. I can tell you this because that's when I remember placing, in my bulging clipping file, a mauve scrap of paper on which I'd copied a crumpet recipe from one of the ladies' magazines my grandmother used to subscribe to.
But the recipe involved yeast, and back then I hadn't yet conquered my fear of it, so the recipe hibernated in the "miscellaneous" section for years, until it e...
"Sourdough Crumpets" continues »
January 24, 2010
6th Annual Menu for Hope: Raffle Winners!
The winners of the Menu for Hope fundraiser/raffle have been announced. Thank you all for your generous participation!
Alice Boussicaut, Tamsin Ballard, Katarina Tierer and Leah Bevington, please get in touch with me to collect your prizes!...
"6th Annual Menu for Hope: Raffle Winners!" continues »
January 19, 2010
Homemade Galette des Rois
If you've ever been in France during the month of January, surely you've noticed the blossoming of galettes des rois in the window of every bakery and pastry shop. A puff pastry pie garnished with a buttery almond filling, it is the traditional confection with which the Epiphany is celebrated*; I have written in more detail about this tradition in this post and later in this one, so I invite you to go and read them first. I'll wait right here.
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January 12, 2010
Perfect Roasted Potatoes
I believe in striving to master simple dishes. I don't aspire to be a person of whom one says, "what an ambitious cook!" or "she should really open her own restaurant!" First and foremost, I want to be someone who can be trusted to prepare a good, well-rounded, home-cooked meal. A meal that has personality, yes, but one that doesn't try too hard, and relies chiefly on good taste and good technique.
This is why I've always been frustrated by my...
"Perfect Roasted Potatoes" continues »
January 5, 2010
Best of 2009
In the wee hours of a fresh new year, it is a lovely feeling to sit down and reminisce about the one that just ended, trying to squeeze out its essence and single out a few of its most memorable moments.
Among them, and in no particular order, I would list the release of a French classic I helped edit, a Best Culinary Travel Guide award for my Paris book, a trip to San Francisco and our first-ever apartment swap, my thirtieth birthday, and a few...
January 1, 2010
January 2010 Desktop Calendar
Happy New Year! I hope 2010 brings you the rosy cheeks of good health, the heart flutters of happiness, and the warm glow of many kitchen successes.
The desktop calendars are back! At the beginning of every month, I will be offering C&Z readers a new wallpaper to apply on the desktop of your computer, with a food-related picture and a calendar of the current month.
Our desktop calendar for January is a picture of chaussons aux pommes -- or ap...
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