The tips of deciduous trees are showing the barest tinge of green, and flowering fruit trees are in full bloom. A neighbor’s forsythia has come to life, bulbs are busily doing their thing. Spring has arrived. At farmers’ markets on the West Coast, where I reside, peas and fava beans are showing up, and just…
The great epicure and writer Joseph Wechsberg once wrote that the hallmark of a good schnitzel was the absence of a grease stain on your pants if you sat on it. Why anyone would sit on a schnitzel is a mystery to me, but the principle stands, that the ideal thin fried cutlet must be…
After the quiet winter months, spring heralds the return of longer days and gathering over leisurely meals. The best dishes for those get-togethers are the ones that feel celebratory enough to serve to guests, but are simple enough to ensure you’re not spending all day in the kitchen. These three cheery mains — a salad…
Hang on to your hats, because Hetty Lui McKinnon has done it again. Why do we all go so nuts for Hetty’s recipes? Because she somehow manages to coax maximum character out of minimal ingredients, techniques and prep work. Her creations are always satisfying and never fussy, a true boon for busy people who care…
Granted, I was born and raised in California, but I will always consider the roast chicken from Zuni Café, in San Francisco, to be the platonic ideal of a Fancy Chicken Dinner. So my Zuni senses were tingling when I saw Melissa Clark’s new recipe for herby skillet chicken with greens. It hits all the…
When I called the chef and pitmaster Rodney Scott first thing in the morning for an interview, he asked if he could put me on hold: He was taking coffee to the crew at one of his restaurants, Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ, in Charleston, S.C. Giving back, saying thank you with gestures like this,…
Which came first, the fried chicken or the Champagne? The answer doesn’t matter. What’s important is that they belong in the same sentence, and on the same table. It may seem incongruous to those who equate Champagne with frothy social events or haute cuisine, but wine lovers have long known the uncanny rapport of ethereal…
My parents’ initiation into elevated home cooking came by way of Julia Child’s soufflés and coq au vin, but for me the gateway was phyllo triangles and carrot cake from “The Silver Palate Cookbook.” That milestone book, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, made cooking seem easy, playful and fun, with a lighthearted tone and…
The act of triple-dipping goes back to my early years. Three shallow bowls: one with flour, another with beaten egg, the third with breadcrumbs. It’s as familiar as the 1970s brown Formica kitchen counter and the avocado-green fridge doors, with their faux-wood handles that would inevitably be smudged with sticky flour paste as I reached…
Seven years ago, just as Jorge Cárdenas was about to open Ix Restaurant in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, he returned to his home in Quetzaltenango, in the highlands of Guatemala, to make sure that his recipes tasted like those his Mayan grandmother had taught him to make. He worried about his version of jocón, a…
