I have made many pizzas over the years in many different styles, but there is always more to learn so I bought an on-demand pizza class from King Arthur Flour. The first pizza made in this course is a pizza which only takes a couple of hours end-to-end, so it is doable on a weeknight. Read More …
Nanaimo Bars are a no-bake dessert which is a Canadian classic, named after the city of Nanaimo in BC. It is a three layer bar – a base of crushed cookies, nuts and coconut, a middle layer of a vanilla buttercream, and a top layer of chocolate ganache. Each layer is simple, and the total Read More …
Biltong is the South African version of jerky. Two differences from American jerky are that it is usually flavored with coriander and vinegar, both of which help preserve the biltong. I spotted a simple version of biltong in a South African cookbook, Charcuterie by Paul Thomas. Adapting his recipe to my situation, I used as Read More …
The Russian Tea Room is an iconic restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Carol and I have eaten there at least once during one of the times I was working in Manhattan in the 1970s and 1980s. It published a cookbook in 1981 and at some point in the early 1980s I copied Read More …
I bought a bag of whole wheat pastry flour from Bob’s Red Mill and was looking around for ways to use it. I spotted on their website a molasses spice cookie recipe which is adapted in this posting. I liked the cookies and did not notice any obvious taste difference from whole wheat vs. white Read More …
In past years, I have made tuna and dumplings on our Boundary Water canoe trips. One problem we had with camping stoves and thin camping pots is that it was difficult to cook the dumplings at the top of the pot without burning the cream sauce and vegetables lower in the pot. Carol had the Read More …
I spotted several recipes in which people were riffing on Claudia Rosen’s recipe for fish baked in a tahini-lemon sauce, so I decided to try the original recipe, which is in her classic The New Book of Middle Eastern Food (which replaced my worn-out copy of her original 1972 book). We enjoyed it with home-made Read More …
I have eaten a few times at Stella’s, a very popular Greek restaurant in Richmond. A dish I particularly liked was their Mushroom Saganaki. I looked around the internet for a Mushroom Saganaki recipe and didn’t really find anything. Then I spotted José Andrés’ cookbook Zaytinya and it had one. This is how I made Read More …
This Greek-style tomato sauce is spiced with cinnamon, bay leaf, and oregano, and is adapted from Zaytina by José André, and is used in many dishes at his restaurant. (I have used it in Mushroom Saganaki .) ¾ cup olive oil, divided ½ medium yellow onion, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 cinnamon stick Read More …
Carol wanted a Black Forest Cake for her birthday, and I baked her one based on the recipe in The Perfect Cake by America’s Test Kitchen. It was a very good cake, but also a bit soft. I sprayed the pans with cooking spray and did not use baking parchment, and 2 of the 3 Read More …