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.
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Farmers' markets - food for health and flavor - 11 May 2008
Spring is here and farmers' markets are about to blossom on the streets of the capital. We need to support local farmers. They're doing a tough job to bring us food that's healthy and full of flavor. If we want to see that kind of respect from regular supermarkets when they decide what to stock, they need to notice the sales they're missing when we shop for local produce. Then they might be more encouraged to shop locally, too... read more...
Asparagus - just so much grass... - 9 May 2008
Asparagus, like tomatoes, are a vegetable that really should be eaten only in season and from a pick-your-own supplier. But outside France and England, there aren't too many of them. Still, when spring, it's proper season comes, make the most of it. For starters (forgive the pun), try Todd Gray's recipe for asparagus soup. read more...
French food web sites - 29 Apr 2008
Lobster bisque - 21 Apr 2008
Jamie Leeds' recipe for Lobster bisque is worth breaking the bank for. A celebration deserves a fine dish. You can easily feed eight and if you follow with a good salad and well-chosen cheese, it's all you'll need for a feast. read more...
Roasted Cod with Sauteed and Braised Sunchokes - 13 Feb 2008
Christophe Marque, chef of Cafe du Parc's recipe doesn't have to be limited to the winter season when sunchokes are in the markets. Substitute young potatoes for these gnarled roots and the recipe extends through the year. read more...
Christophe Marque - Chef of Cafe du Parc - 13 Feb 2008
If the cost of the Euro is preventing you from traveling to France this summer, get your food fix at Café du Parc. Christophe Marque, whose crispy belly of pork was my favorite winter dish, is focusing on the cuisine of Provence from June 21 to the end of July. Traditional dishes include Salade niçoise, Pissaladière - a tart of caramelized onion, anchovy and olives, and roast lamb chops marinated in herbes de Provence.
When he came from Paris just over a year ago to head the Cafe du Parc, the first thing he had to do, between the lunch and dinner service, was learn English. Now he's fluent and concentrating on bringing France to Washington. read more...
Gorgonzola Soufflé - 15 Dec 2007
Drew Trautmann, Chef of Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar's recipe - just what you need when you've had too much festive fare. read more...
Yannick Cam - Owner-Chef of Le Paradou - 12 Dec 2007
After 43 years in restaurants, Yannick Cam, owner and chef of Washington’s award-winning Le Paradou, hasn’t seen anyone come out of culinary school ready to function in the business. read more...
Nora Pouillon - Owner-chef of Restaurant Nora - 8 Dec 2007
Chef Nora Pouillon has been a force in the sustainable-sourcing, organic and slow food movements. At Restaurant Nora, she keeps pushing for change. read more...
Mushrooms - fresh - 27 Nov 2007
If you are traveling to or through Pennsylvania, include Chester County in your tour. Kennett Square is the self-styled 'Mushroom Capital of the World'. read more...
Pears - eating & cooking - 27 Nov 2007
Pears aren't limited to the Conference and the Bosc. read more...
Lemons - 27 Nov 2007
When buying a lemon for its juice, choose those whose skin feels thin - the ones that respond to a slight squeeze in the palm of your hand. read more...
Christmas - dreaming of a different one - 25 Nov 2007
"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...
Chocolate suppliers - 24 Nov 2007
If you're making a chocolate recipe, you cannot cook with Hersheys. read more...
Swiss Chard & Tomato - 24 Nov 2007
Bernard Marchive, ex-chef of Pesce, serves this recipe for Swiss Chard and Tomato with his Cod with Coconut Milk. But it goes just as well with a lamb or pork chop, or a roast. read more...
Vietnamese coffee - 23 Nov 2007
Vietnamese iced coffee is more a dessert than a drink. What's the coffee they use? read more...
Olive oil - 23 Nov 2007
Olive oil is expensive enough that it should be chosen with care and properly looked after. read more...
Crème Anglaise in 6 minutes - 20 Nov 2007
Crème Anglaise is such a seductive, soothing vanilla sauce, 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...
Yogurt - the good stuff - 20 Nov 2007
I'm in despair over American yogurt. It seems that any old fat-free white dairy solution can be called yogurt. Do its eaters know what they're missing? read more...
Sausages, plain and fancy - 20 Nov 2007
The humble sausage can now be bought in all international variations, filled with flavors representing every part of the globe. read more...
Blue Duck Tavern Apple Pie - 19 Nov 2007
You can't have enough apple pie recipes. Here's a very different one with phenomenal, though challenging, pastry from Laurent Merdy, pastry chef of The Blue Duck Tavern. read more...
Laurent Merdy - Pastry chef of The Blue Duck Tavern - 19 Nov 2007
Blue Duck Tavern pastry chef Laurent Merdy comes from a restaurant family in northern France. He’s long had an affinity for pastries, but when it comes to other things, “I’m very picky on food,” he says. read more...
Duck & goose - 18 Nov 2007
Duck and goose, full of dark flavor, make a sumptuous change from chicken and turkey and their carcasses provide a rich soup stock. read more...
Herbs to grow - 18 Nov 2007
When it comes to herbs, you can grow many of them yourself. Or buy them from someone who does. read more...
Brioches - 18 Nov 2007
Make a breakfast change from croissants, try a brioche with good sweet butter and a fruity jam. read more...
Stocks & jus - 18 Nov 2007
Good chefs know that the basis of a rounded sauce, jus or soup is a rich stock or glâce. read more...
Free range chickens - 18 Nov 2007
Looking for a real chicken? Free range chickens, which have a more developed flavor than battery-farmed because they've scratched about in the earth as they are supposed to, are becoming increasingly available in supermarkets. read more...
Coffee - home-brewed - 18 Nov 2007
Coffee starts the day and rounds up a great dinner. So it better be good. We should choose it as carefully as we choose our wine. read more...
Vegetables to grow - unusual ones - 18 Nov 2007
If you have even the smallest plot, think about growing vegetables. There are some interesting possibilities around. read more...
Croissants - 18 Nov 2007
The French probably have the most seductive notion of breakfast - a good cup of coffee and a croissant. read more...
Frogs' legs - 18 Nov 2007
A kind of comic French joke among the faint hearted, frogs' legs do taste a bit like chicken and certainly look like chicken wings. read more...
Offal - the funky bits - 18 Nov 2007
Country cooks across Europe and Asia respect and use every part of the animal. With meat costs soaring, it's time to learn to love offal. Great dishes have come from elements that can fill more delicate constitutions with horror. read more...
Fish - fresh or not so fresh? - 17 Nov 2007
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. read more...
Tomatoes - much ado about nothing - 17 Nov 2007
If there's one vegetable that should be eaten in season and gathered from the garden or fields, it's the tomato. Here's a cooking tip to get maximum flavor from those red balls masquerading as tomatoes in our supermarkets. read more...
Butter - a good fat if it's good butter - 16 Nov 2007
Good butter is sometimes worth paying more money for. read more...
Pan Dulce - 16 Nov 2007
Katsuya Fukushima, chef of Minibar and Café Atlántico, takes classic French toast and by changing the bread to brioche, putting Chihuahua cheese from Latino markets between the slices and adding cinnamon to the egg custard, gives it a Latin American twist. read more...
Bread flour unscrambled - 15 Nov 2007
Which flour bakes the best bread? First, know that a grain of wheat has three parts: the endosperm which is the central source of the starch, accounting for 85 percent of the grain. Next to it lies the germ, accounting for only 2 percent. But it's the most positive element. It's the 'seed' that grows new wheat plants and it contains most of the whole grain's protein, vitamins and oil. Plus, pretty much all the flavor lies in the germ. Both of these are covered by the protective outer layer of bran. read more...
Baguettes the French like - 15 Nov 2007
A bad baguette is almost as bad as that Kleenex bread. But there are some good ones around. read more...
Garlic - the stinking rose - 14 Nov 2007
Elizabeth David swore that swallowing an unpeeled clove of garlic whole before eating any garlicky food would prevent garlic smell on the breath. read more...
Roasted Peking Duck, Kohlrabi, Apples, and Chard - 10 Nov 2007
This makes an elegant fall and winter dish from Brendan Cox, chef of Circle Bistro. While the duck is roasting in the oven, you have plenty of time to tackle the vegetables and the rich sauce. read more...
Fricassée Catalane - 10 Nov 2007
Looking for a dish for friends that's a little different? Here's one you can put together at the very last minute if you've prepared the ingredients ahead of time. It comes from French chef Bernard Grenier, owner-chef of Bistro D'Oc. read more...
Bernard Grenier - Owner-chef of Bistro D'oc - 10 Nov 2007
Bernard Grenier opened Bistro D’Oc after leaving La Miche in Bethesda. read more...
Eggs better for you and the hen - 10 Nov 2007
Think hard about buying Cage-Free Hen eggs instead of regular eggs. There's not a massive amount of price difference. But there is a massive difference for the hens. read more...
Hot Chocolate Cake - 10 Nov 2007
Morton’s executive chef Bob Kiebler cooks by the book, This recipe from the Morton’s Steak Bible is the chain's No.1 dessert. “If you like molten chocolate cakes, you’ll be thrilled at how easy they are to make,” it says. “To get the right consistency, though, you must bake small, individual cakes; for these, you will need 6-ounce soufflé dishes or ramekins.” read more...
Vanilla - extract & sugar, home-made - 9 Nov 2007
It's astonishing how many desserts that may be starring a strong flavor like chocolate or coffee call for a touch of vanilla to round out the taste. Good vanilla extract and vanilla sugar are both so expensive, it's tempting to leave it out of a recipe that it isn't starring in. But you can reduce its cost by making your own. read more...
Chocolate Truffles - 9 Nov 2007
It's always a treat to be given a home-made food gift from a good cook. Trent Conry - chef of Ardeo - has three sumptuous chocolate recipes for food presents any time of year but especially the holiday season, that even a modest cook can tackle fearlessly. read more...
David Ashwell - Chef of Brasserie Beck - 9 Nov 2007
David Ashwell, chef at Robert Wiedmaier's new Brasserie Beck, has left private dining rooms to return to restaurants. read more...
Cod with Coconut Milk - 9 Nov 2007
When Bernard Marchive was chef of Pesce, he cooked this very simple recipe for cod or other firm white fish. Given he's French, its Asian twist comes as a surprise. read more...
Fabrice Bendano - Pastry chef of 1789 - 8 Nov 2007
1789 pastry chef Fabrice Bendano began his career at age 16 in a Cannes restaurant. read more...
Phet Schwader - Chef of BLT Steak - 8 Nov 2007
Soulayphet "Phet" Schwader was raised in Kansas on food from his mother’s native Laos. But now he's executive chef at BLT Steak, lauded French chef Laurent Tourondel’s contemporary take on the classic American steakhouse. read more...
Peter Brett - Pastry chef of Circle Bistro - 8 Nov 2007
When Peter Brett, a graduate of Boston University’s graphic design program, discovered his passion for baking might actually earn him a salary, he went back to school and learned to become a professional pastry chef. read more...
Cheeses unpasteurized - forbidden gems & others - 6 Nov 2007
The FDA prohibits the import and sale of raw milk cheeses under 60 days old, to the chagrin of Europeans. Trying to protect us from the very real ravages of E.coli and other bacteria means we're unable to taste some real gems from other countries.
Are the French and Italians falling like flies from their consumption of young unpasteurized milk cheeses? Click the link to my article for The National Interest and find out where the dangers really lie. read more...
Chocolate - dark secrets - 4 Nov 2007
Think of chocolate and you think of Belgium, Switzerland, France. Or your thigh. But chocolate originated with the Aztecs and Mayans, to whom it was the nearest thing to a standard currency. read more...
Olives - 3 Nov 2007
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...
Leek and Potato Soup - 2 Nov 2007
Made with simple ingredients, Potage Bonne Femme is one of the great classics of French country cooking. Chilled and enriched with further cream, it turns into Vichyssoise. This hot soup is the version of David Ashwell, chef of Brasserie Beck. read more...
Mushrooms - mycological mysteries - 2 Nov 2007
More and more unusual mushrooms are reaching Washington's supermarkets and farmers' markets. But what are they? And what to do with them? read more...
Foie gras and confits - 2 Nov 2007
Foie gras - food for the rich out of torture? Confits - food for the poor? read more...
Cakes - to order or make beautiful - 2 Nov 2007
Baking cake for a party, cupcakes for school or work? Or need someone else to do it for you? Here's all you need to keep you in cake. read more...
Yeast - 2 Nov 2007
Fresh yeast makes a better home-baked loaf than dried. But where to find it? read more...
Barton Seaver - Owner-chef of Hook - 9 Oct 2007
Chef Barton Seaver has opened his own place, Hook, to serve seafood bought directly from fishermen. No fishermen? No food. read more...
Halibut with Fanny Bay Oysters, Sauternes and Blood Orange Reduction - 8 Oct 2007
The secret of this recipe from Yannick Cam, owner-chef of Le Paradou, is in balancing the tartness of the citrus fruits against the unctuousness of the Sauternes and the butter in the sauce, then serving it with fish of prime freshness. read more...
Salty tale - salt explained - 5 Oct 2007
In the 1920s, table salt manufacturers in the U.S. began to add iodine to their product to prevent thyroid deficiency problems in the mid-West. These days, purist (or pretentious?) foodies like their salts unrefined and in a myriad of mineral colors. read more...
Graham Bartlett is executive chef of Zengo, where you can find almost everything from ceviche to sushi. He caught the “food bug” while traveling with his parents in Mexico. But Paris, not the States nor Latin America was where he went to learn the culinary arts.
Ribollita - wondersoup or wodge?
Chew on This: Whose food healthier? Nature's or the food biz?
My favorite markets: Arrowine
Graham Bartlett - Chef of Zengo
South African groceries
Chew on This: Peking Duck heart disease cure?
Chew on this: Sickening tomatoes
Alison Swope - Chef of Restaurant K by Alison Swope
The dish - Goings on in the capital
Herbs for cooking
Pam Ginsberg - knife skills at the bone
Artfully Chocolate/Kingsbury Confections*
Trent Conry - Chef of Ardeo
How to make fluffs & foams
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