Sep 102012
 
Unraveling the Mystery of a Grandmother's Lost Recipe

Recently, Oldways Preservation Trust asked me to solve a culinary mystery for the new “Lost Recipes Project” on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Oldways Preservation Trust is a food think tank with a mission to preserve culinary traditions and artisanal foods. My task for NPR was to trace the roots of a listener’s elusive family recipe for an unusual type of ravioli. The detective work will draw you into the story of one Italian family, their traditions and food. Listen to the story of how I tracked down the long-lost recipe on the audio segment of “The Salt,” NPR’s food blog […more…]

Jun 292012
 
Cooking with Julia: June is for Sweet Cabbage

“Cooking with Julia” || JUNE 2012 If you think cabbage is winter food, consider this: early summer cabbages are more mellow in flavor than those grown for autumn harvesting, particularly those that are showing up in farmers markets everywhere. One variety I’ve seen quite a bit of  lately and snap up whenever I can is Arrowhead cabbage, a comparatively small and mild early summer cone-shaped brassica. I shot these carts filled with them (or perhaps they are Winningstadt, a German cone-head cabbage?–so similar it’s hard to tell the difference) at a farmers market in South West Germany. Despite the ubiquitous Italian […more…]

May 072012
 
Cooking with Julia:  MAY is for Artichokes

“Cooking with Julia”  ||  MAY 2012 This new feature on my blog called “Cooking with Julia” offers a recipe every month for ingredients in season. I’d might as well begin with artichokes, now in their prime, because I love them, probably more than any other vegetable I can think of. Perish the thought of pickled artichokes, frozen artichoke hearts, or the canned variety. You’ll ruin your recipe if you substitute them when the ingredient list calls for fresh. While artichokes can be tedious to clean–what’s required is snapping off the hard part of the leaves and whittling away the tough […more…]