March 2010 archives

You might have passed chervil by when shopping, thinking it was a wimpy version of parsley. The wispy, thin leaves don’t look very tempting. And you might be tempted to overlook it, unaware of its powerful aroma that it lends to certain dishes. But if you’ve never had it, add a handful of chopped chervil to a salad. You’ll wonder why you don’t pick up a bunch more often.

Which was a position I was in last week, when for some reason, I saw nice bunches at the producteur stand my market for just one euro each, and decided to ask for them to add one to my basket at the last moment, before I paid. When I got home and unpacked everything, I was a bit stunned to see how huge the bunch actually was.

(I think I get special treatment, though, because I bring them cookies.)

Continue Reading Eggless Chervil Mayonnaise…

I’ve had all three cookbooks from Moro in London stacked up in my apartment for about a year, and haven’t made anything from them. They’re very personal cookbooks, the recipes and photos invoking a time and place, with the food arcing between Moorish cooking and the foods of North Africa, along with the Middle East, nodding toward sustainability. I keep picking them up, leafing through them and looking at the lush, yet unfussy photos of food, but never tried any of the recipes.

Their most recent book, Moro East, was the result of their growing their own food in their “allotment”; a place on the outskirts of London where 81 people tended their own gardens and foraged for foods. The book begins with the sad warning that by the time readers pick up the book, the bulldozers will have plowed the century-old gardens under to make way for the upcoming Olympics, in order to create a pathway between two stadiums.

Continue Reading Moro’s Noodle Pudding…

One uses clarified butter (sometimes called ‘drawn’ butter) in places where you’ll be frying something either for an extended period or over high heat. And for those times when you want the flavor of butter, rather than oil, you’ll want to use clarified butter, which, unlike oil, can stand being cooked longer and to a higher temperature. Clarifying butter removes the milk solids and moisture, which makes this possible.

Many Indian cooks use ghee, which is similar, except it’s usually been cooked longer to decrease the moisture and deepen the flavor, and sometimes is seasoned with tumeric, fenugreek, or another spice.

Continue Reading How to Make Clarified Butter…

A few things to know if you go to Berlin. Don’t cross the street unless the crosswalk light is green (you’ll likely get a scolding), hardly anywhere takes credit cards (cash works everywhere—and people are happy to give change), the coffee is great (so drink as much as you can, since you’ll need it), and the city changes quickly, from being gray and bleak at one moment, changing into a sunny and inviting place just after you turn a corner.

Another thing to know is to remain on the constant lookout for laugencroissants, which I’ll get to a little later.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Berlin before I got there. I’d heard it was hip, perhaps a little wild, kinetic, and quite vibrant. I was only there for a few days, but I managed to ping from one side of the city to another, exploring the various districts and neighborhoods, and unlike a lot of other big cities, I found everyone to be relatively cool and not stressed out and frantic. Berliners seem to be trying to fit into their new skin, often appearing in different guises.

Continue Reading Berlin…

Prunes are serious business in France and unlike Americans, it doesn’t take any name-changing to get the French to eat them. Prune fans, like me, are partial to those from Agen, in Gascony, which are mi-cuit; partially-dried. Their flavor is as beguiling and complex as a square of the finest chocolate.

Interestingly, the prunes cultivated in California are grafted from the same prunes grown in the southwest of France.

Continue Reading Poached Prunes and Kumquats…

One thing I’ve learned in France, is that if someone who’s an expert tells you to eat something—you should eat it. (Except squid, of course.) When I lead tours, right before I place their hand on the bible, I make guests promise that if I tell them they have to try something, they will. It’s not that I’m on commission, it’s just I’ve sifted through a lot of stuff and it’s not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance.

When my girlfriends Peggy Smith and Sue Conley, who make the wonderful cheeses of Cowgirl Creamery, were in town recently for the Salon du Fromage, they were surprised to be honored with a medaille along with an induction into the French Guilde des Fromagers.

I’d met Peggy way back around 1983, when I started working at Chez Panisse. She was a chef and I was a bit scared of her, standing over a large lamb carcass wielding a large, and very sharp knife, getting the beast ready to roast on the spit.

Continue Reading Bleu de Termignon…

My recent banana windfall gave me the chance to play around a bit with various banana ice cream combinations. Although I loved the taste of this one, frankly, I wasn’t sure I should post the recipe.

Since bananas are such a natural partner for coconut, I reasoned, “Why use milk or cream when there’s coconut milk? So I reached for a can of it. Continuing with that train I thought, I had a bag of jaggery, raw cane sugar that’s used in Indian cuisine.

I’d bought the husky, ultra-dark sugar up near the gare du Nord, in the Indian and Sri Lankan neighborhood, for no other reason than I was attracted to its rich color and the aggressive scent that wafted through the bag when I pressed it against my nose. When I moved to Paris, I remember people telling me to avoid that neighborhood, that it wasn’t safe. But it’s become one of my favorite quartiers, mostly because of the lively ethnic communities that have settled there. (As well as being the home to the Paris chapter of the Hell’s Angels.)

Continue Reading Banana-Brown Sugar Ice Cream…

I’m always surprised when people say that they don’t have time to cook. I mean, aside from reproducing, physiologically, we don’t really exist on this earth for any other reason. (Unless someone knows something that they’re not telling me.) Feeding ourselves is really our most basic human need.

Now if someone said, “I don’t have time to clean up afterward”, then I can totally relate. I spend at least 40% of my life standing in front of a sink, washing dishes. When people ask if they can come and help me test recipes, I always say, “Bring rubber gloves!” And that’s the last I hear from them.

This is one of my very favorite, go-to dinners. It’s incredibly easy and there’s hardly any dishes to wash; just toss chicken pieces in olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and shallots in a baking dish. Season with salt and pepper, and pop it in the oven.

Continue Reading Roast Chicken with Caramelized Shallots…