After a season of baking and gorging on gooey cookies and cakes, the last thing I want to think about is more rich sweets. Yet parties still happen, dinners continue to take place and I have desserts to make. For a light yet pleasing meal-ender I opt for the small,
The exciting thing about buying a white eggplant is that it looks like an egg. Then once that ephemeral novelty evaporates you’re still looking at an eggplant that needs to be cooked. So, what to do with it? [aside] Unfortunately, because it tastes like an eggplant, what you’ll end up doing with
In pursuit of a healthy cuisine, chefs are adding vegan dishes to their menus. Eliminating all animal products? That raises flavor concerns for some diners. Comfort food, says Swiss chef Olivier Rais, helps make that transition. [aside] At Rive Gauche, Rais focuses on grilled meats and seafood, the mainstay of the restaurant
Julia Child and I became good friends late in her life, when I moved to Boston and met her in person for the first time. Of course, I had known about her for a very long time — she was the first television food personality I ever saw. One summer,
The holidays wouldn’t feel complete without towering cookie platters and magnificent pastries, but crimson-hued poached pears boast all of the beauty and drama of the season without all those pesky calories. I have a sweet tooth that goes into overdrive during the holidays, distracted by every decadent goodie tempting me at
I recently broke a favorite Pyrex covered-glass casserole I’ve had for years, and I was surprised by how upset I was over the mishap. Things break, and every cook has dropped and smashed dishes and glasses or ruined frypans and other kitchen tools from time to time, so I was
The week separating Christmas from New Year’s can be a strange dead zone in culinary terms. We may be eating leftovers from Christmas dinner, but by the 27th we’re sick of those. New Year’s Eve tends to be more about partying and drinking than comfort food. What do we eat during
Christmas tea blends are a nice way to add some holiday spirit to your daily routine. Christmas tea blends and the similar masala chai tea often include black tea, clove, cinnamon and orange peel, with some variations adding vanilla, fruit, nuts, pine needles, cinnamon candies or cacoa nibs (part of