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Tomato Jam
The perfectly balanced sandwich is a comfort food that relies heavily on the right condiment. With picnic and grilling season right around the corner, put this tomato jam into heavy rotation. It’s mostly savory with just the right amount of sweetness to make you swap out the ketchup on your next burger, and it’s equally satisfying on sandwiches of all kinds. Since honey has a more complex sweetness than sugar, I use a combination of both to create a jammy consistency with plenty of robust tomato flavor. Layered with soft cheese and peppery arugula, the jam is part of a satisfying trio that makes my list of go-to toppings. After…
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Lemon Tart
Cheerily yellow and refreshingly tart, this classic treat will make you feel as if you’re enjoying a slice of tarte au citron from a bakery in France. I prefer my lemon filling on the puckery side and add extra sweetness on top with a full layer of powdered sugar. Each slice can be customized to the preferences of family and friends, making this sunny dessert ideal for holidays and entertaining. Ingredients Pastry 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar ¼ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter 1 egg yolk ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons ice water Lemon Curd Filling ¾ cup fresh lemon juice Zest from…
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5 Favorite Specialty Kitchen Tools
With specialty tools available for almost any cooking need, it can be tempting to pick up new gadgets. Many of these wind up being used once and then relegated to the back of the drawer. Avocado slicer, anyone? When the urge to make a purchase strikes, or you’re seeking a gift for the cook in your life, consider one of these five tools. Though their purposes are specialized, they help you to accomplish kitchen tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming, messy, or downright difficult enough to interfere with the enjoyment of cooking. Cherry Pitter Farmers’ market season is right around the corner, and with it comes hauls of fresh sweet…
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Classic Baked Doughnuts
Behind bakery case glass, rows of doughnuts sorted by flavor and color inspire everything from pop art to our senses. Chocolate glazes, pink sprinkles, and fluffy shreds of coconut look like every childhood breakfast fantasy while tags announcing berry, lemon, and maybe even maple bacon options speak to our appetite. Then there is the row of golden, cake doughnuts responsible for the scent inside the shop and sitting beneath many of the toppings and glazes. That’s the doughnut that inspired this recipe. Fresh doughnuts on a weekend morning have a distinct advantage over pancakes. They can be enjoyed the next day and the next. This recipe makes a dozen of…
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Sun-Dried Tomato and Scallion Cornbread
When I was young, my father would fill up the kitchen with pots and frying pans as he made batches of a cornmeal recipe he had committed to memory, a fried polenta-like dish known as cornmeal mush. If you’ve been to any of my Food Traditions workshops, you may have heard me reference this as well as the butcher shop foods on my mother’s side. Recipes are lost for many reasons – the passing of a loved one, damage to a handwritten cookbook, or the simple fact of never having been written. I love working with individuals and groups to rediscover and recreate their traditions and encourage you to book…
