Our daughter, The World’s Pickiest Eater™, consumes almost nothing I make. She will, however, devour Yorkshire pudding. I like it with mustard-crusted roast beef, mashed potatoes, mushy peas and onion gravy. Fresh horseradish, too. But she’ll ask for it with just about anything. And so Yorkshire pudding has become pretty much a staple in our house. The […]
Think long and hard before you make French fries this way. Once you start, there’s no looking back. Trust me. I was dubious when I saw Nigella Lawson starting potatoes in cold oil (she added whole garlic cloves and herbs near the end and called them Tuscan fries). I could only imagine soggy chips soaked […]
“I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.” – George H. W. Bush All the more for us then. Because combining sweet, caramelized broccoli […]
Half a week of temporary bachelorhood has restored Meats to its rightful place before Roots and Leaves. For three whole days fruits and vegetables were relegated to their proper roles – hidden in sauces and condiments – while steaks, chops and roasts have had the run of the kitchen. For three whole days the bananas […]
Well, it’s finally happened: we are eating homemade granola bars. Next, we’ll be “harvesting” neighbourhood squirrels for stew or buying an electric car. But, before the tie-dyed crowd starts weaving daisies into my hair, I want to assure everyone that it was my wife who made these. Not me. However, I do have to admit […]
When people I only see at Christmas parties lie to me and tell me I’ve lost weight, I usually laugh and say “Don’t worry, I’ll find it again.” Oddly enough, no one said it this season. Looking at this list of just some of places where I ate while travelling in 2011, I’m starting to […]
We’re having a little dinner party tonight for some old friends who are moving away and a few others who either want to wish them well or, were simply attracted by the promise of free food. Either way, this is one of the dishes they’re getting (along with Italian onion soup and a roasted pork […]
This is another recipe from my new favourite cookbook, Cucina Povera, although it’s so simple you hardly need a recipe at all. All you need are caramelized red onions, beef stock, some day-old bread and cheese. This soup, carabaccia, in Italian (just about everything sounds better in Italian), may be the precursor to the more-famous […]
Sometimes the timing works out just right. Like this week, when I suddenly and unexpectedly found myself with lots of time on my hands just as a shipment of 11 new cookbooks arrived from Amazon. Among the 11 was this little gem, Cucina Povera. An absorbing mix of short essays, photographs and 60 plus recipes […]
This sauce is so simple and so fresh tasting, even when you use canned tomatoes as I do this time of year. Use the best canned tomatoes available, preferably San Marzano. I don’t worry about making the sauce too smooth. Tomato sauce Adapted from Cucina Povera, by Pamela Sheldon Alberts Makes 6 cups 3 tablepsoons […]
Meats, Roots and Leaves 