It’s that time of year again. And that only means one thing: time to start thinking about the holiday baking. In Paris, bakery windows fill up with Bûches de Noël (Yule log cakes) and bourriches (wooden crates) of oysters are piled up at the markets. The chocolate shops are crammed with people, buying multiple boxes as gifts, and people splurge on caviar and Champagne, one of the…
Tough times call for looking at everything in the kitchen as a potential source of food. I’ve been saving the breadcrumbs on my cutting board and scraping them into pots of soup. I parsimoniously scrutinize every egg I use, counting how many I might need for any upcoming baking projects. Fresh lettuce has become a precious commodity as I’m trying to only to go food…
I’ve been thinking about Banana Bread lately, mostly due to an assortment of bananas that are taking up valuable real estate in my freezer. Another issue that’s taken up (valuable) space in my brain has been trying to understand the difference between Banana Bread and Banana Cake. I’ve been trying to come up with an explanation but just can’t think of one. Could just be the shape? But we don’t…
When I was leafing through ¡Cuba! – Recipes and stories from the Cuban Kitchen, I was reminded how much I like black bean soup. In theory, black bean soup is just a dark bowl of beans and doesn’t sound all that exciting. Which is probably why I hadn’t made it in a while. Also black beans aren’t that easy to come by in France. There…
Yotam Ottolenghi seems to be everyone’s favorite cookbook author. After meeting him, he became mine, too. (But if I could stay in your top ten, that’d be appreciated.) His previous books focused on the savory side of Middle Eastern cooking, but Yotam was a pastry chef prior to being a restaurant co-owner (with Sami Tamimi) and cookbook author, and anyone who’s walked into one of…
One thing that surprises people is how much French people, even with a tempting barrage of éclairs, macarons, and pain au chocolat on every street, love gâteau au fromage, or as it’s commonly called: le cheesecake. (Not to be confused with le cheese, which is a cheeseburger.) But it’s a no brainer since French people like cheese and they like cake. So why not combine the…
My recent banana windfall gave me the chance to play around a bit with various banana ice cream combinations. Since bananas are such a natural partner for coconut, I reasoned, “Why use milk or cream when there’s coconut milk?” So I reached for a can of coconut. Continuing with that train of thought, I figured it’d be interesting to use jaggery, raw cane sugar that’s used…
I’m happy to be taking care of two things with this recipe. One is that about a week ago, my neighbor gave me two bunches of bananas. He’s in the photography business and needed a few large bunches for a photoshoot. When it was over, he sent me a text message asking if I could use any bananas. Free fruit? I ran over there to…
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