Holy smokes these are good. And I'm not just saying that as someone who is powerless in the face of maple syrup. They are objectively, insanely, ridiculously good. How do I know? I taste-tested them on a focus group. Ok, so it was people at work who are so nice that...
Living next door to Ohio, I had heard of Buckeyes before. I had eaten them in their natural habitat and even made them. They are meant to resemble the nuts of the buckeye tree and, trust me, they do. I don't know how old they are but I suspect they pre-date...
As much as I like this cake I have to say, I think it's trying too hard. Isn't combining an Oreo-cookie crust, a flourless chocolate cake, chocolate pudding and whipped cream pandering, just a little? If I had to leave one of those elements out it would be the crust...
If you already know what a sucker I am for chocolate+mint it will come as no surprise that I adore these cookies all out of proportion. They are a little like French sables, ("sable" meaning sand but no, of course they don't taste like sand. Nobody would eat...
My dear friend Susan (of kugel fame) was just telling me that she does not like this trend of salty+sweet. She also doesn't like things like cayenne pepper in her chocolate dessert. Just can't get into this particular culinary movement. What can you do, the...
Have I got a cake for you. This is absolutely one of the most satisfying cakes -- both for eating and for gazing at fondly -- I've ever made. For that reason I forgive it for taking up my entire Sunday afternoon. And making me half-watch "The Real Housewives on...
Recommending this book is a no-brainer and I predict that it will become a classic. It will earn coveted real-estate in many bookshelves and will be a cookbook today's children will remember as one of the ones that was out on the countertop often during their...
I wanted to make this recipe anyway but then on Friday night I was driving through some inexplicably bad traffic (honestly, does no one remember 1982 when were legally granted to ability to turn RIGHT ON RED???) when suddently, I heard Michele Norris' voice on NPR's...
By popular demand (well, three votes to be accurate, but they were enthusiastic) I've chosen Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented as my next review book. What looks good? What doesn't. Double-Chocolate Loaf with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread,...
A true rite of passage: I made my first souffle. And I see the world differently now. Mostly because I measure time in terms of how much of it will elapse between souffles. Souffle needs to fire its PR agency. It has allowed itself to be placed, in popular...
You know a cookbook is good when you have to tell yourself to stop cooking from it and move on to another project. But before I do, let me tell you about the entire meal I made from this book and and the friends I served it to. First, meet Mo and Colin: ...
Don't you just love saying "Marie Helene" with a heavy French accent? It's almost as good as "bouche de noel," or ""mise en place" or "recherche du temps perdue." This is such a simple, satisfying and forgiving dish. You can use any kind of apples you might...
As you may recall, hamburgers are one of the very few things I need to be happy. And I typically don't like "fancy" burgers. I suspect it must be powerfully tempting to mess with the basics, especially if you're a restaurateur and want your burger to get...
Every now and then you find a recipe that speaks to you on an entirely different level. A recipe that you think about long after you've eaten it. A recipe that, should it transmorgify into human form, would give your spouse a serious run for his or her money. Yes, I...
Please sit down because I have something very important to say to you: you must make this dish as soon as humanly possible. Are you at work? Feign illness and leave immediately. Don't like beans? Get over it. Why do I feel so strongly about this recipe? For...
One of the reasons I was intrigued by this book is that Dorie promises to bring us contemporary recipes from France -- what real French people are cooking today. Not surprisingly, Vietnamese food is common and she says that this soup is ubiquitous. This soup is good...
The 80-degree temps seem to be over and I no longer feel foolish making things like hearty soups. I hate being seasonally out of sync so this is quite a relief. Dorie says that this is a beloved soup in France. Traditionally made with a Red Kuri squash which is also...
I admit that the thought of a "mustard tart" did not make me drool. I like mustard but in very small doses. It seems to be a big flavor bully and makes everything you put it in taste like mustard. But I am participating in "French Fridays with Dorie, " in which we...
If you look at the top of this page you will see one of Dorie Greenspan's books, Baking: From My Home to Yours, in the book shelf. I bought that book on the recommendation of people I trusted and it quickly became one of my favorites (try the "World Peace Cookies")....
Buy. This. Book. Why? Because I think it will give you some nifty tricks and deceptively simple morsels to serve to friends or family. Because the recipes are recognizable favorites, stripped, for the most part, of their processed components, and yet still...
This salad was part of the Chicken Potpie menu and complemented it perfectly. What with the apples in the potpie and the cranberries in this salad it had a nice note of Fall running through the whole meal. I absolutely LOVE salad and could eat it for dinner every...
One of the reasons I made this dish is that Pam Anderson's daughter, Maggy, said it was one of her favorites from the book. And I can see why. But can I just ask: when did pearl onions become an endangered species? I went to three stores and could not find them either...
Pam says that the whipped cream traditionally used in mousse dulls the flavor of the chocolate and I have to believe she's right because this mousse tastes like a truffle. The vanilla ice cream on the side is meant to compensate for the cream not being in the mousse...
This was a delicious and easy lasagna although not much quicker than my usual. I've never used cream cheese in a lasagna before and I'm sure it will make purists sniff with disdain but hey, it works. I made the vegetarian version with mushrooms and spinach as well as...
I always forget that I like beets, and you should too (like them that is, not forget about them). They're sooooo delicious and I'm sure they're full of things like antioxidants, or probiotics, or carbon offsets or something beneficial. I'm giving you a highly...
I worried about this cookie at several points during its creation. It was liked a troubled child who manages to pull it all together at some point and ends up a fine, upstanding adult (I can relate). My first issue was that you are supposed to bake the two "cookies"...
Talk about bang for your buck. These are ridiculously simple and so very, very delicious. They require no baking and not only can they be made ahead but they must be made ahead. The recipe calls for assembling the tartlets in foil muffin cups but when I realized I...
Yum yum yum. I made this and had my mom and her boyfriend, Rudy (my photography life-coach) over for dinner and everyone loved this dish. Special thanks to my neighbor, Jennifer, who saved me from having to make a THIRD trip to the store by hooking me up...
Pam Anderson is one of my favorite cookbook authors. She tends to steer you towards home-made and from-scratch but with empathy for the fact that no one is paying you to cook this stuff, so your time is limited. Just thumbing through this book I can tell it's a good...
The base for this recipe is Keller's brioche that will now be transformed into what is, essentially, an excuse to eat stuffing as a regular side dish, which is a brilliant idea. Maddeningly, Keller tells you you will need 12 cups of brioche cubes for this but doesn't...
I forgot for a moment that I am now a food blogger and did not take a picture of the completed brioche so please accept these prep shots in its place. I made brioche a few years ago as part of my attempt to make every cake in The Cake Bible. Although that book has...
Another epic endeavor of a recipe beginning with 5 cups of beef stock. It really is important to make your own beef stock because there is nothing nearly as good as home-made on the market. Chicken stock, on the other hand, you can get very good canned (or boxed)...
Cherry, my absolute favorite kind of pie. And this one is amazing. I know many people are intimidated by pie dough, and rightly so. It's tricky. I've probably had more kitchen tantrums trying to make pie dough than anything else. It's hard to get the proportions...
You're really going to be sorry I told you how to make these. Because they're good. And easy. And mildly addictive. Keller recommends slicing your potatoes with a mandoline, which I don't have, so I used my Cuisinart's 1mm slicing disc and it worked perfectly....
Hamburgers are one of my all-time favorite foods. In fact, if I could just have a really good burger, a frosty Cosmopolitan, a reliable supply of Frango Mints and George Clooney I think I could be happy with those simple things for a very long time. Fortunately I can...
This is the kind of recipe that gives gourmet cooking a bad name and demonstrates my number one pet peeve with any cookbook. Here's why: The main recipe is on page 83. In the list of ingredients is "1/4 cup Piment d'Espelette Aioli (page 333)." When you turn to page...
This is an easy, uncomplicated dish that takes best advantage of wonderful summer corn. I think you could easily adapt it to your tastes by adding bacon, onion, red peppers, crushed red pepper flakes, any herbs you may have in abundance, etc. Creamed Summer Corn From...
Mmmmmmwahhh! I added about 1 tsp of lemon to bump the flavors up a bit. Thank you for posting this…