Besides mosquitos and morning glories, about the only thing thriving in my garden this hot, sticky summer is my fig tree. The cherries got 95% wiped out by ill-timed, early-June torrential rain and whipping winds; July’s grapes were all lost to the birds; and this month’s near-daily drenchings have left most of the tomatoes that…
Compound Interest
In my book, butter is always good. But some butter is better than others. And Summerbutter—a compound butter made with pureed tomatoes and a dash of salt—is nearly perfect. Echoing Marcella Hazan’s iconic tomato sauce (while rivaling the simplicity of cacio e pepe), Summerbutter lives to lend a decadent, velvet wrap to hot noodles (or even zoodles)….
Goosecherry Jam
This post, started one year ago today, was supposed to be a victory lap. The cherry-and-gooseberry jam I’d made after last year’s epic harvest had been my favorite jar in years, and I was looking forward to creating—and documenting—a second batch. Alas, in 2018 Mother Nature had other ideas. An extended verycoldsnap in March had delayed…
Roasted Rhubarb Vinaigrette
Last week, I had a few stalks of rhubarb leftover after a crumble-for-two. Before they got lost and rubbery beneath the early-CSA kale, arugula, and spinach in the crisper, I transformed them into a bright and tangy topping for all that early-CSA kale, arugula, and spinach in the crisper. Those sturdy, deep, dark greens demand…
#crumblebrag
Behold, the humble crumble. Not much to look at. Kinda slumpy, really. But this rhubarb-rye dessert’s beauty—warming and comforting and rich and heady with the cool spring’s first harvest—can’t adequately be captured by the camera. For that, you need your nose. And a spoon. Rhubarb-Rye Crumble Sized for two generous portions (with maybe a little…
Party Nuts
I’ve been making some version of these herbed “bar snack” nuts for about fifteen years now, and it’s only in the last few that I’ve noticed a quirk—a quirk not in the recipe, but rather a quirk in me. It seems I pick out all the almonds first. What’s up with that? I love almonds….
The Gottahave
Every family has that gotta-have-it dish, the one somebody’s been making for so long that no one remembers who first brought it or where the recipe came from. One year, it’s accidentally left off the Thanksgiving checklist—or some smartypants decides to try a version she saw in Gourmet or the Times or Jamie Oliver or…
Puff-Pastry Tomato Tarts
The Great British Baking Show. Love it. Every season, it seems like Paul and Mary have the bakers make puff pastry at least three or four times. I’m mesmerized anew each time. I’ve tried it myself from scratch exactly once. Made the lean dough (yes, by hand and pastry scraper). Chilled it. Pounded the butter…
Suffers’ Succotash
“Come on, let me cook for you, baby.” Cheeky video aside, The Suffers’ Make Some Room is one of my favorite love songs ever, all about giving and sharing and doing for the folks we care most about. It was even in the running for the First Dance at our wedding last March. But truly,…
Small-Batch Fig Jam
That seems redundant, doesn’t it? Because if you find figs at the farmstand, they’re often upwards of $12-a-quart—or even a buck apiece for big ones. And if you grow them yourself, you likely eat as many as you can straight off the tree (or, say, with a little honey and yogurt . . . or…
Boxing Day 