France
A flaky croisssant to go with monsieur's chicory-flavored café au lait? And for lunch, madame, you are proposed a Salade Gésiers (okay, so that's a 'confit' of gizzards but it's très delicious) followed by a free-range-egg omelette of fines herbes you grew in your window box and a glass of Pomerol from your new favorite wine store. Monsieur et Madame can be as French as La Marseillaise.
You may prefer to view articles alphabetically.
Olives - 2 Mar 2010
All olives begin life green. After that, it gets complicated. With so many varieties available, here's a breakdown of the most common to help you avoid the pits... read more...
Simon Njiki-Nya - chef of Bistro Lepic - 16 Feb 2010
Bistro Lepic is the kind of neighborhood restaurant Parisians are used to on every street corner. The waiter recognizes you if you come more than once. The food is honest and well-priced. And you're not pushed to gobble and go. While many Washingtonians rush to the new crop of French brasseries downtown, Bistro Lepic has been a quiet magnet on Wisconsin Avenue for the past 15 years, drawing those who know that there's more to a French menu than steak frites and mussels done six ways. read more...
Christmas - dreaming of a different one & where to buy the ingredients - 9 Dec 2009
"Christmas comes but once a year and when it comes it brings..." Uncle George (who'll take over the single malt whiskey if no-one stops him), Aunt Mavis (who's just decided to turn vegetarian), and all their dreadful children. It's enough to drive you crackers.
Give Christmas a new sparkle and celebrate someone else's - with Britain's Christmas crackers, Italy's Omino di Neve, Switzerland's Zimststerne, Jamaica's West Indian Black Cake and more... read more...
Walnut oil - 11 Nov 2009
Take a tip from the cooks of France's Perigord region: invest in a bottle of walnut oil. A small one - it doesn't keep long, and store it in the dark. But you'll be glad you did. A vinaigrette made with it will lift a salad into another stratosphere. read more...
Mushrooms - fall favorites - 21 Oct 2009
As fall arrives in Russia, Poland, Germany, Italy and France, the woods rustle with mushroom hunters. Within days of a rainfall, the undergrowth will be popping with delicious free food. Take care, though, that you know what you're picking. I read a Russian news agency report when I was a Moscow correspondent that a particular mushroom was now officially edible, so long as you boiled it once, tossed away the water, boiled it again in a fresh supply, jettisoned that, then fried it in butter. Which by my reckoning made at least three very sick testers before they found the safe formula. read more...
Bernard Grenier - Owner-chef of Bistro D'oc - 21 Oct 2009
Bernard Grenier opened Bistro D’Oc after leaving La Miche in Bethesda. Eating there is an extension of any summer holiday in France and a comfort when the cold weather sets in. read more...
Fish - fresh or not so fresh? - 14 Oct 2009
Once upon a time, fishmongers would cut fish to order from whole fish, so the customer could be sure, by the clarity of its eyes, the firmness of flesh and the color of its gills, of the freshness of the fish. Not any longer. Now that it's generally sold ready-filletted, you've only your nose to rely on. Use it. read more...
Barbara Kafka's Crème Anglaise in 6 minutes - 9 Sep 2009
Crème Anglaise is such a seductive, soothing vanilla sauce wonderful with fall fruit tarts and cobblers, it's tempting to ignore the dessert it coats and just eat this perfect custard. Cookbook writer and regular New York Times food pages contributor Barbara Kafka has a brilliant short cut to perfect Crème Anglaise that you don't need to stand over fearfully to prevent it from curdling. It's one of two good reasons to invest in a microwave. (The other is heating milk to froth for coffee...) read more...
Lemons - some sharp advice - 9 Sep 2009
Across the Mediterranean and Middle East at the end of summer, lemons scent the warm fall air. So if you've got lemons, what do you do: make lemonade. (You knew that...)
Whether they come from Israel or California, buy them at their best in the early fall and freeze them for winter use in vinaigrettes, tagines, roasted chickens, lemonade and more. read more...
Desserts: Blue Duck Tavern Apple Pie - 3 Sep 2009
You can't have enough apple pie recipes. Here's a very different one with phenomenal, though very challenging, pastry from Laurent Merdy, pastry chef of The Blue Duck Tavern. It was selected by USA Today as one of the Top 25 Best Dishes of 2006. read more...
Verjus - make your own - 2 Sep 2009
I get emailed surprisingly often about where to find Verjus, an acid French liquid used in deglazing pans that makes a great sauce to go with chicken and game. I've seen it in Wegmans, Dean & DeLuca as well as the Georgetown Whole Foods. But not regularly. Since all the word means is 'green juice', you can make a passable substitute with other ingredients than early picked green grapes. read more...
Saint Michel Bakery - one of my favorites - 8 Jul 2009
I've been mourning the deterioration in quality of Bonaparte Bakery's baguettes. They've lost that balance between crustiness and crumbiness and Wagshal's, where I go to buy them, no longer stocks their ficelles which I preferred to the baguettes. I don't know if that means that Bonaparte's doesn't bake them any more. But at any rate, I don't mind too much. I've discovered a proper French bakery - Saint Michel Bakery, owned by a proper French baker, Bertrand Houlier. read more...
Desssert: Pain du Mom with Crème Anglaise - 1 Jul 2009
"My mom came up with this recipe," says John MacPherson, owner-chef of the Foster Harris House (so, Francophones, don't get picky about the grammar), "and has served it for some 20 years. Of course the serving size at my mom's is five times as big as we serve at the Foster Harris House, but a little goes a long way with this decadent breakfast dessert." read more...
Nosh notes - Central - 29 Apr 2009
Japanese chefs in Washington, like Kaz Okoshi of Kaz Sushi Bistro and Hisao Abe of Kotobuki will tell you that when they first arrived in the capital in the 1980s there were no decent places to eat sushi. Now sushi outlets proliferate almost as widely as do Starbucks outlets. How did we ever manage without them?
These days you might begin to ask the same of brasseries. read more...
Mains: Braised Pork Shank with baby bok choy, Sweet Potatoes and Ginger-Chili Sauce - 22 Apr 2009
Chris Watson, chef de cuisine of Brabo, makes this popular dish one of the most succulent and comforting in town. read more...
The Butcher's Block by Robert Weidmaier - one of my favorite markets - 13 Apr 2009
Robert Weidmaier's favorite pantry supplies are all on sale at his newly opened Butcher's Block in Alexandria. Even better, Weidmaier, owner and chef of Marcel's, Brasserie Beck and now Brabo and The Tasting Room next door to Butcher's Block, A Market, has filled his meat counter with a splendid selection, from an exceptional pork belly to veal cheeks and the more familiar cuts of beef. read more...
Extras: Make your own mustard - 18 Feb 2009
If you've bought a bratwurst or other sausage from The German Gourmet, my favorite market this week, try making this grain mustard to go with it. I don't know about you, but I had sacks of kalonji black mustard seed festering in my store cupboard. Now I don't - I have jars of home-made mustard instead. read more...
Starters: Foie Gras Creme Caramel - 11 Feb 2009
This is one of those glamorous recipes you pay a fortune for in high end restaurants that, according to Christophe and Michelle Poteaux, owners and chefs of Bastille, who make it, turns out not to be too difficult to do. (And no objections to the foie gras, if you please, until you address how battery chickens that are eaten far more frequently are raised.) read more...
Desserts: Apple Tarte Tatin - 28 Jan 2009
This French classic gets a contemporary make-over from Michelle Poteaux, co-owner and co-chef at Bastille. Easy to do - though perhaps not quite as beautifully as professional pastry chef Michelle has done - it's a star at any party year round. read more...
Fish: Seared Scallops with Nicoise Salad & Gribiche - 17 Dec 2008
Joe Palma of WestEnd Bistro's elegant take on a Salade Nicoise works as well for sweetbreads as it does for the scallops he calls for in this recipe. A shame we haven't developed an appetite yet for a scallop's coral - that beautiful roe you see in the photo that's prized by French cooks... read more...
In March 2007, Mike Isabella started at Zaytinya. Just a few months later, the hip downtown mezzethes restaurant won a RAMMY award.
Cerkez Salad
My favorite markets - Shiraz Grocery
Make your own tahini
Olives
Mike Isabella - Chef of Zaytinya
Chew On This: Omega-3s. Are they really that magical?
Chew on This: No link between red meat and cancer?
Plaza Market
Veal Cheeks
Sam Dunn of Saltwater's winning, de-chilling, chili
Simon Njiki-Nya - chef of Bistro Lepic
Chilies - the hot stuff
Chicken Shish Taouk
Teff - a gluten-free grain
Browse for
Delicious Recipes
DC Chefs
Cuisine Regions