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Ruby Pasta
Rich, ruby-toned pasta works with the strengths of the red beet, which likes to stain everything it touches. If you’ve ever cooked with beets and lamented the marks they left on your wood cutting board, fingers, and possibly apron, this is your opportunity to let their ruby red juices work to your advantage. In fact, all elements of this recipe work with the essential qualities of the subtly sweet, earthy beet. To play up those sweet qualities and brighten them, I opted to add crushed fennel seed and marjoram, a delicate aromatic herb that is best introduced toward the end of cooking. Citrus also works well to brighten up the…
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Red Pepper Marinated Chicken Kebabs
As it spread along ancient trade routes, the Middle Eastern tradition of skewering and grilling cubes of meat sparked incarnations from Indonesian satay to Japanese yakitori. Rich with local seasoning, the various styles conveyed their own sense of place down to the bamboo rods or long pieces of flat metal rotated above the flame. For the modern cook, they offer distinct advantages. Small pieces of meat cook quickly, allowing dinner to be on the table in a snap. In the heart of winter, or anytime a grill is not available, the high heat of an oven does the trick beautifully. This recipe highlights the savory and smoky end of the…
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Mexican Chorizo
“Your glance scattered seeds. It planted a tree. I talk because you shake its leaves.” Excerpt from “Letter of Testimony” by Octavio Paz Mexican food and culture are irresistible to me – the warmth, the spices, the influence of the ancient. You may have even read some of my recipes for dishes such as mole roasted sweet potatoes and street corn with chile butter. With Día de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday, coming up just after Halloween, here is a main dish to add to your celebration. Unlike its Spanish counterpart, Mexican chorizo is made from fresh pork. Where you may have noticed the hard, dried…
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Crispy Herbed Baby Potatoes
The golden crust on a roasted potato is the signal that dinner is ready. Chicken can rest for a moment, but when the potatoes are done, it’s time to eat. Crispy on the outside with a piping hot, soft interior, a potato wedge is an ideal mid-week comfort food. While it may seem like a rather humble marriage, the union of heat, fat, and starch elevates a random Wednesday, or a stressful week, like few foods can. It seems simple enough to cut up some potatoes, toss them with a little oil, and pop them in the oven, but this often doesn’t result in the crispy roasted potatoes we want.…
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Orechiette with Pesto and Crumbled Sausage
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James In the heat of a summer afternoon, I was struck by the almost embarrassing amount of basil accumulating in my kitchen garden. As one of the more prolific herbs, basil growing tends to go like this: Prune it carefully, and it will thrive. Allow it to form a basil jungle, and it still seems to thrive. If you grow basil, there will be more than enough for batches of this delicious pesto. Alternately, you can find quality sweet basil at the market. Pick the most aromatic bunch since pesto…
