I recently discovered an early recipe for Baked Cheese Babka, a Ukrainian Easter dessert, in an out-of-print 19th century cookbook published in western Ukraine. What intrigued me most was the fact that this Baked Cheese Babka is flourless. After researching other baked cheese babka recipes, I realized the uniqueness of this recipe. Other baked cheese babkas …
A recent article in the New York Times’ Thanksgiving Food section suggesting alternative pecan recipes to the traditional pie reminded me of this Chocolate Pecan Mille Crêpes Torte I made for Mama’s 94th birthday. Mama’s birthday on November 18 was for many years my annual kickoff for holiday baking. Each year it was a warm-up …
This Italian Plum Ginger Frangipane Tart was prompted by an eye-catching farmers’ market display of stone fruits last week. The abundant harvest of beautifully ripe peaches, nectarines and plums jolted my realization that these fruits would be available in their prime for only a few weeks, and I needed to move fast if I wanted …
Several weeks ago the fruit stands at the local farmer’s market were filled with strawberries, both locally cultivated and wild. Seeing these bright red berries, large and small, reminded me of a strawberry pie I had years ago in Baltimore’s legendary restaurant, Haussner’s , which closed in 1999. The strawberry pie was its signature dessert. …
Tiny multi-lingual Switzerland is a country of culinary contrasts. In her Cooking in Switzerland, Marianne Kaltenbach writes, “Switzerland’s cuisine is as varied as its landscape.” Ingredients vary from canton to canton depending on whether in a mountainous area, the shores of a lake, or a fertile valley. In cantons where cows and sheep graze on alpine …
I usually vary the topic of my posts from month to month, but this month I need to focus again on a dessert. It is December after all and “visions of sugarplums” are dancing in my head. So despite the number of cookies still around the house, my daughter Sophia and I made a special …
A Chocolate Indulgence: Steamed Chocolate Pudding Read More »
When I first visited my mother-in-law Solveig Johnson’s house at 4821 N. 14th street in Tacoma WA, I knew I was at the home of serious cook. Her large sunny yellow eat-in kitchen that overlooked a vegetable garden was fully equipped with plenty of counters, ample storage space and a big pantry. The kitchen also …
I’m often surprised by what triggers autobiographical memories that spontaneously link today with yesterday: A wall painted burgundy in Lviv, Ukraine, reminds me of an old-fashioned recital dress my grandmother made for me when I was 11; the gait of a stooped-shouldered, white-haired Chinese woman in Beijing dressed in grey pants and a green sweater …
A few nights after the Little India on a Plate tour, we embarked on another Frying Pan Adventure, www.fryingpanadventures.com. Arva Ahmed, Farida Ahmed’s sister, took us on the five-hour Middle Eastern Pilgrimage Food Trail through the streets and alleys of the Al Riqqa section of old Dubai to savor assorted Arabic dishes brought to Dubai …
As Thanksgiving approaches each year, my daughter asks “how can we retain the traditional elements of the holiday meal but introduce some innovation?” Over the years, my experiments with various turkey dry rubbing, brining and cooking methods and stuffing and dressing preparations and different potato and vegetable combinations were generally successful. I was less successful, …