August 31, 2010
Raw Buckwheat Granola
Two years ago, I met a young British woman named Poppy -- that alone made my day -- who introduced herself as a raw chocolatier.
I had a taste of her heart-shaped raw chocolates, assembled from raw Arriba cacao and a bunch of raw superfoods, and liked them so much I devoted one of my ELLE à table columns to them.
And when we met one day for her to demonstrate her chocolate-making prowess, she gave me a bag of her raw buckwheat granola, which ...
"Raw Buckwheat Granola" continues »
August 24, 2010
Pain au levain
Last spring, we had a few friends over for dinner who were visiting from the US. One of them works for the excellent magazine The Art of Eating, and kindly thought to bring us the latest issue*.
It would have been a lovely hostess gift under any circumstances, but as I sat down to read it the next day, I was jump-on-the-couch ecstatic to discover that it contained no fewer than fourteen pages (fourteen! pages!) on the subject of pain au levain...
August 17, 2010
Apricot Blueberry Cobbler
I'd been living in California for a few months and thoroughly enjoying the dotcom vibe of my workplace when the big news was announced: we were going to have a company barbecue.
This, to me, was what working in the Silicon Valley at the turn of the century was all about: a lot of fun ideas to make employees happy (water guns! foosball table! free pizza on Fridays!) and therefore more inclined to put in the hours and brainjuice that would help ...
"Apricot Blueberry Cobbler" continues »
August 10, 2010
Gomadofu (Sesame "Tofu")
Because summers in Japan are hot and humid, Japanese cooks know a thing or two about the refreshing dishes such sultry days call for.
Gomadofu falls into that category: a concoction of sesame paste cooked with a thickening agent until set, it resembles tofu in color and texture, hence the name (goma = sesame), and is served chilled.
I first came across it when Maxence and I traveled to Japan last spring, and stayed overnight at a temple in Ko...
"Gomadofu (Sesame "Tofu")" continues »
August 6, 2010
[Edible Idiom] Ne pas manger de ce pain-là
This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Browse the list of idioms featured so far.
This week's expression is, "Ne pas manger de ce pain-là."
Translated as, "not eating that kind of bread," it means refusing to act in a way that goes against your values, steering clear of a situation or behavior that you think is beneath you.
Example: "Il faudrait que je fasse des ronds de jambe à la directrice pour obten...
"[Edible Idiom] Ne pas manger de ce pain-là" continues »
August 3, 2010
Olive Oil and Seed Crackers
If you've been on the fence about getting a pasta roller -- either an attachment for your stand mixer or a hand-cranked one for your biceps -- I may be able to offer the justification you were hoping for: a pasta roller proves handy for homemade crackers, too.
You see, to make good crackers, you need to roll the dough out thinly, for optimal snap, and evenly, so that they'll bake in a uniform fashion, without doughy or burnt spots.
And as I l...
"Olive Oil and Seed Crackers" continues »
August 1, 2010
August 2010 Desktop Calendar
At the beginning of every month, I am 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 calendar for August is a picture of slow-roasted tomatoes (tomates confites in French), a fine way of preserving a glut of fresh tomatoes, if such is your delicious plight.
It's simple, really: you just bake halved tomatoes for a few hours in a low oven, and t...
"August 2010 Desktop Calendar" continues »