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White Bean, Artichoke, and Tomato Gratin
Any recipe devoted to artichoke hearts involves the terribly boring and even slightly dangerous job of bending back and pulling off those prickly leaves. After wrestling with some artichokes during the first test of this recipe, Andrea Hagan, the backup recipe tester on this book, said, “Why don’t we just…
Here are the recipes from my appearance on the Today Show.
Hope you caught my March 24th appearance on the Today Show where I made Cuban Style Braised Pork Shoulder in a slow cooker and then turned the cooked meat into 4 more main dishes from four different parts of the world to serve later on in the week — a…
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Gingered Biscuit Topping
Strawberries and rhubarb are a delicious way to welcome spring. Technically a vegetable, rhubarb is so darn tart that it’s usually paired with a sweeter buddy, like the strawberry, in an effort to temper its tang. Try to find field-grown rhubarb. Darker in color, it has a much shorter season…
Buttermilk: Can you freeze buttermilk?
Gloria recently e-mailed the Kitchen Shrink to ask if she could freeze leftover buttermilk, thaw and use some, and refreeze the remainder. While buttermilk producers suggest that you not freeze buttermilk for best flavor and texture, when wasting it is the only other option, I suggest that you go ahead…
Sautéed Shoulder Lamb Chops with Skordalia Sauce
Shoulder lamb chops are a wonderful bargain. They’re a lot cheaper than rib or loin chops, and they cook up at least two different ways: You can grill or sauté them quickly to rare or medium (they get tough if you cook them any longer) or braise them slowly in…
Hope you caught me on Rachael Ray; here's more about the show.
On Wednesday, February 19th, I was on the Rachael Ray show talking about new versions (clay pot, wonder bag, and smoker) of ancient cooking pots and helping to solve cooking issues for three of Rachael’s viewers, Jennifer, Sara (spelled the right way!) and Kiyo, pictured from left with me and Rachael. Here’s…
Hope you caught me on Rachael Ray; here’s more about the show.
On Wednesday, February 19th, I was on the Rachael Ray show talking about new versions (clay pot, wonder bag, and smoker) of ancient cooking pots and helping to solve cooking issues for three of Rachael’s viewers, Jennifer, Sara (spelled the right way!) and Kiyo, pictured from left with me and Rachael. Here’s…
Baked Alaskan
Everybody knows Baked Alaska, but Baked Alaskan? What can I say—this is a shout-out to Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys, who saluted Sara’s Secrets in the liner notes to To the 5 Boroughs, the Beasties 2004 album. In the middle of a song called “Rhyme the Rhyme Well,” Ad-Rock goes…
Chinese Fried Eggplant with Pine Nuts
This recipe was featured in a travel story on Taipei written by Fred Ferretti and published by Gourmet in January 1993. Served at a hotel called the Imperial Palace, this dish was tested and fine-tuned by Fred’s wife, Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, one of my favorite cookbook authors and Chinese cooking…
Wedding Cakes: Tips for making a wedding cake from a favorite recipe.
I recently got an e-mail from Joan saying, “Our family loves your gingerbread recipe. In fact, my daughter is getting married and I will be making your recipe as their cake. There will be 150 people. Any tips for making this quantity?” When I make this recipe for a crowd,…