Food Features

Grilling season is finally upon us. Unfortunately, so is frequent sticker stock as prices continue to rise at the grocery and gas station. For those looking to celebrate the season on a budget I present three cookout menus just in time for Memorial Day. All are as delicious as they are wholesome while making good […]

It is commonly accepted that our tongues have taste receptors that allow us to perceive five primary taste modalities: salt, sweet, bitter, sour and umami. To this list, some food scientists have added a sixth taste known as kokumi. The first four tastes are pretty straightforward – the last two less so. The word umami […]

My family has a decades-old tradition of baking a three-dimensional lamb-shaped cake for Easter. It started when I was a kid and has become a tradition that I’ve enjoyed with my own children. We’d hold our breath each time we unmolded the three-dimensional cake, praying that he’d come out of the pan in one piece, […]

Tequila and I have had a somewhat complicated history. In fact, there was a time when even the very thought of having any made me ill. Since then, however, I’ve discovered that there’s a lot more to tequila than margaritas, lemons and salt. And that there are many, many kinds of tequila out there beyond […]

Primavera is the Italian word for spring – or, literally, first green. Pasta primavera is made with sautéed spring vegetables in a rich sauce of butter, cream and cheese. But pasta primavera isn’t Italian. It was conceived in Nova Scotia in the early 1970s by vacationing New Yorkers. Italian cuisine has its own dishes that […]

Whether it’s for a large gathering of friends or just as a treat for yourself, these fresh takes on classic daytime cocktails will make the most of out of brunching at home. Experiment with favorite flavors and colors to come up with a signature cocktail all your own. A Bloody Mary – spiced tomato juice […]

Fat Tuesday marks the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before beginning the Lenten ritual of self-sacrifice and fasting. In South Louisiana, Catholics go to Mass on Ash Wednesday, give up meat on Fridays and make small sacrifices until Easter to signify their piety and atone for the excesses of Mardi Gras revelry. The […]

Signs of spring are everywhere. In addition to spring flowers and chocolate, large displays of matzo have appeared in grocery stores just in time for the Passover holiday, which begins April 15 at sundown. Passover commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from slavery and lasts for eight days in the diaspora. The Seder meal is a culinary […]

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of this cookbook like a grandparent anticipating the arrival of a grandchild. Two years ago we loaded up our belongings into our bus and headed out of Oklahoma City. We were supposed to be relocating to Michigan to start new jobs at Milkweed Inn, but the pandemic had shut […]

Soufflé is one of those miraculous dishes that transforms seemingly humble ingredients into a marvelous main course or decadent dessert. Julia Child writes about them extensively in The Art of French Cooking, with several pages dedicated to detailing every nuance of the process. She wrote that, “Many people consider the dessert soufflé to be the […]

I love browsing through seed catalogs. They arrive just in time to nudge me out of my winter doldrums. By now I’ve grown bored with my off-season romaine salads and I’m longing for farmers market salads made with local spinach or leaf lettuce, spring onions, green garlic and tiny radishes. But springtime starts, and then […]

Shepherd’s pie is classic stick-to-your ribs pub fare. Its origins can be traced back to the pastry-topped Scottish meat pies, with the Irish supposedly swapping creamy mashed potatoes for the dough. One important, if slightly nerdy clarification, is that it’s not really a shepherd’s pie unless it is made with lamb. When made with beef […]