morsels & sauces

Mustard greens are trying to ride the coattails of their kissing cousin, kale. As you know, kale has skyrocketed into popularity with kale chips, smoothies, even kale cakes . Bon Appetit declared this kale salad with lime dressing  their best recipe of all of 2012, and in 2013 the first National Kale Day was declared (head's up: start steaming your kale for October 1, 2015 ). It appears there is nothing this brassica cannot do. However, mustard greens want to sit at the cool kids table, too. With a distinct and pungent horseradish bite, mustard greens may not be for everyone. However, with their cholesterol-lowering abilities and their  purported cancer protection, mustard greens demand a second (and definitely a third) taste. While mustard greens are available year round, they are at their peak from January to April. Their brilliant green hue (although you can find some of the red or purple variety) adds a splash of color, which is a welcome addition in this Chez ...

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine recommended this book,  The Everlasting Meal . It has since become one of my favorite works of food writing*, and I am not alone; in fact, The New Yorker  loved it as much as I do and conducted a lovely interview with Tamar Adler once her book was presented in paperback. The book combines poetic meditations with long form recipes (those that become intertwined with the stories she tells) with a sprinkling of some separated "how to" recipes. *If you're looking for a great gift for the foodie in your life, I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Recently, in the CSA box we were presented with a giant bunch of turnips, a bundle of chard, and one of arugula. We also had a bag of dried cannellini beans. Using Chez Panisse (where Adler once cooked) and Adler 's book, I turned to the process of making wilted greens and cannellini beans, a simple supper that extended into a week of lunches and eventually into a Friday night s...

Adapted from Cookbook #51:  Chez Panisse Vegetables (1996) Recipe: Grilled Cèpes This cookbook is another Alice Waters must have.  It will come in especially handy next year, I imagine, as I prepare to shift this website over to my new project.  New project, you wonder.  In an effort to expand my culinary horizons, each week in 2011, I will cook whatever arrives in our CSA box.  I have loved cooking page 210 from every cookbook I own.  I admit it, I like the surprise each week, but I don’t want to just go to page 211 in 2011.  In part because many of the recipes I cooked on page 210 extend onto page 211.  Instead, come January, I am going to cook whatever shows up on my doorstep in our weekly CSA box.  Even if it's eight pounds of Napa Cabbage.  That has happened.  More about this project at the end of this year.  I am not quite done with the Page 210 project, and I don't want to get too far ahe...