From Scratch

Whole Foods Market has halted sales of Roma and large, round field-grown tomatoes without attached vines or stems at all of its more than 270 stores after an outbreak of salmonella linked to raw tomatoes. In addition, stores are no longer using tomatoes in sandwiches and salads.
The voluntary recall follows a warning from the Texas Health Department […]

Recipes are not assembly manuals. Recipes are guides and suggestions for a process that is infinitely nuanced. Recipes are sheet music.
The quote is from Michael Ruhlman’s The Elements of Cooking and The New York Times calls them “Three of the most important sentences anyone reading about cookbooks may see this or any year.”
The Times’ special […]

So the other day I was in the produce department at the supermarket and was about to buy a few bananas at 79¢ per pound when I noticed a couple brown paper bags marked 99¢. Inside were eight or nine bananas and only a few were beginning to develop spots. I took one, a middle-aged […]

We have a long holiday weekend coming up in the US for Memorial Day and it’s the unofficial start of grilling season with millions of cookouts planned. But they’re going to cost more this year. My country, like many others, is enduring higher food prices and the government says it’s going to get worse.
Last year food […]

It’s not enough that millions of American freezers are stocked with tubs of that chemical cocktail called Cool Whip. Now, Kraft is about to introduce a less taxing variety at next week’s Food Marketing Institute show in Las Vegas.
As Emily Bryson York wrote in Ad Age, Kraft is only responding to its consumers:
Consumers didn’t want […]

I’ve been writing a couple pieces about supermarkets and the tricks of the their trade, which I’ve written about often over the years. But this is different, a concept Jacques Pépin calls cuisine d’oppportunité. He employs it and so do I, enjoying significant savings and little waste.
Only two things are required: the willingness to try something new with […]

These wonderful, jazzed-up turkey burgers are on my grill every summer and in my grill pan every winter. Often, turkey or chicken burgers end up bland and dry, even when not overcooked, but these don’t. Sometimes ground poultry doesn’t hold together the way ground beef does, but these do without the overhandling that leads to […]

My cyberfriend roadsofstone is back from a recent ski vacation in the French Alps, where he found fabulous spring conditions and, of course, fabulous food. He’s written about it in such glorious detail, complete with photos, that I suspect he’s a foodie at heart.
The tartiflette sounds and looks amazing; that’s his photo (please click to enlarge) I […]

Ming Tsai, the renowned chef-owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachussetts, was the guest judge on Top Chef 4 last night. As is Bravo’s custom, it offered him a blog spot and instead of writing a post, it’s a Q & A in bloggy form and is well worth reading. His views about food and […]

Photo removed because an ill-bred, cheap boor chose to hotlink and use my bandwidth. Internet no-no #1. Cheap isn’t even an issue! This pig is with blogspot, which is free, and so is his bandwidth and storage space.
You couldn’t pay me to eat a hot dog but if I ate them, there’s no way I’d pay […]

I love quiche and it has bothered me no end to see it tarnished, trashed and turned into a receptacle for using up all the leftovers in the fridge. It went from being the fashionable belle of the ball to the tired old town tart who still wears Uggs.
Quiche Lorraine is a classic, dating back […]

Snickerdoodles are a beloved American cookie. Unless, of course, they’re really English or German or Dutch in origin. Are they from New England or Pennsylvania Dutch country? The answers depend upon which source you consult.
What’s not in dispute is how delicious they are or how easy to make. They are, at heart, a buttery sugar […]

I can’t help but love a recipe that’s quick and versatile, although in this case the versatility was accidental.
The original was in Self magazine and it’s a delicious, simple version of chicken breasts simmered in an herby, lemony sauce. I had leftover sauce which I used the next day on pasta and, hey presto, I had a […]

It was last November that the AMA and the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the Food and Drug Administration to consider limiting our sodium intake by requiring food companies to use less salt. The FDA is now formally considering the proposal, although it could be at least one year before a decision […]

I hate last-minute cooking for a big meal, holiday or otherwise. That’s why I prepare make-ahead gravy at Thanksgiving. But not every meal includes turkey and often, everyday meals need gravy that I am still not willing to scramble around to make at the final moment.
If you’re the same way, set aside your thoughts about […]