This is what fast food should look like. Full of flavour (the feta) and nutrients (the rapini) and made in a single pot in under 10 minutes (calculated from the time the water boils). The salty feta melts into the pasta and is the perfect creamy complement to slightly bitter rapini. I am going to […]
According to family tradition, this is the second weekend of cottage season for us. According to our 14-year-old daughter, traditions “evolve” and we shouldn’t expect to drag her to the lake every Saturday when she could be at the mall with “normal” people. Just about everyone we know who has a summer place warned us […]
This is the Cinderella of salads. Take one plain (if you’re generous) or ugly (if you’re honest) root vegetable, basement-dwelling sibling to an elegant sister, strip off the gnarly beige attire and dress it up in French fashion. And, voila, something magical happens. Okay, maybe not magical, but tasty. Celery root, the least attractive member […]
When a friend innocently asked me for my chili recipe I froze, then I panicked. Then I lied. “It’s a secret.” That was simply boneheaded and I apologize. There is no secret to this chili, just a mystery. A mystery because I have been making it for so long that I hardly think about what […]
Dried beans are great to have on hand and are just about as easy as canned. If you plan ahead. If you have some time, cover dried kidney beans with at least three times their volume of water leave on counter overnight. Drain. If you’re in a hurry, put dried beans in a deep pot […]
You know you’re a bad parent when your teenagers beg you to stop ordering pizza and cook something. It was one of those weeks; I was sick (and tired) and the will to eat, nevermind cook, was gone. But, by Friday I realized my kids had consumed enough sodium and bad mozzarella to warrant an […]
The Brits call it the weekend, North Americans call it a weekend (with a weaker end) and the French call it le weekend, although their language mavens try to get them to say fin de la semaine. Call it what you like, the last one was glorious and I can hardly wait till Friday to […]
No buttermilk? No problem. Here’s a quick substitute that works like a charm (and you don’t have leftover buttermilk going to waste in the fridge). Simply add one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice (I use white wine vinegar, but plain old white vinegar will do) to one cup of milk. Let it stand five […]
The annual plan to have rabbit for Easter dinner fell victim once again to the family veto. They don’t know what they’re missing; I love the firm, white meat, which, done properly, is a great change from other white meats like chicken or pork. This year, however, I at least got the word bunny on […]
“No, no, no” the waitress said forcibly removing the fork from L’s tightening grip. “We don’t do it like that.” We are sitting at Sip Sip, the dune-top lunch spot on Harbour Island in the Bahamas, and, up till now, everything has been perfect. The view from the terrace is right off a postcard, the […]
Meats, Roots and Leaves 