I made this salad on 4th of July – it’s from Plenty, the cookbook from London’s trendiest deli, Ottolenghi. Grilled zucchini, basil leaves, toasted hazelnuts, shaves of Parmesan, olive oil. It was really good freshly made, but I took the leftovers for lunch and the basil tasted like soap – I just closed up the […]
I didn’t finish cleaning up till 11:22. Rach put together a group so we had like 20 people. It was an easy menu, everything made in advance – roasted the chicken in the a.m. when it was cool. I only had to turn the stove on to grill the polenta. Which, by the way I […]
On Saturday morning I laid out all the pies on the counter at the neighbor’s house where I’d been baking for their group shot. Dave & Jen are house- and puppy-sitting, so I got to bake on the Viking range at the neighbor’s. Around 4:00 we crammed everything into the car and headed for the […]
I think it must be rhubarb custard tart. The first time I tried to make one, I left out the sugar in the filling, and it didn’t brown. Tonight I remembered the sugar, but the case leaked, and since I had the flan ring on parchment on a dark colored pan – one I normally use […]
Last night I made a free-form rhubarb & strawberry tart, using this method, that I wrote down all the way back in 1999. Except I make the crust with a little added vegetable shortening now to make it a little flakier, about 2 tbs. along with the 2 sticks of butter and 3 cups of […]
It’s still “unseasonably warm” here is WI – it was 81° today, ad it’s still in the high 60s at almost 10 p.m. In the morning, Rach and I walked, and because I thought my first advising appointment was by Skype, I figured I’d just do it at home. But when I got on and […]
I’m making the vegetable pie on the cover of the January Bon Apetit, with modifications, chiefly I’m leaving out the eggplant & fennel because those aren’t vegetables I generally have on hand in January. I’ve got roasted tomatoes & red bell pepper from the freezer. I’ve got sweet potato from the indoor farmers market today. […]
Last night I served another Dinners on Wisconsin Dinner – 7 students, and really a nice bunch. Foodies and knowledgeable about food, but not pretentious about it at all. A few of them go to the slow food student dinners, and mentioned guest chef-ing – I’d love to do that. I think they’re getting Tory […]
2011 REAP Pie Palooza – I’ll have to wait to find out the totals – last year we served about 450 – and this year we added a 4th seating, so I’m sure there were a few more. I’m the expediter, or pie queen, or maybe empress – my job is to manage the kitchen […]