I was listening to an interview the other day with Melissa Clark [food writer for the New York Times] and she was asked what she likes to bring on a picnic. Clark proceeded to recount childhood vacations with her family in the south of France. Clark’s mother would prepare pan bagnat [a sandwich comprised … Continue Reading
I’m in Maryland (okay, technically Washington, D.C. at the moment), the home of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab. It’s summer, and in Maryland that means it’s crab season, wahoo!! Love blue crabs — soft shell, hard shell, crab cakes, crab soup…love it all. While I grew up in Maryland, have spent the past ten years … Continue Reading
There’s a time for slow-braised dishes (stews that take hours to develop flavor) and a time for quick and easy meals. There’s room for both in your cooking repertoire. Today’s world is focused on quick and easy meals. Nothing wrong with quick and easy, provided that flavor is not compromised in the name of convenience. … Continue Reading
Most days I have a hard time concentrating. Find myself daydreaming about travel, yearning to pack my bags, head straight to the international terminal, and hop on a flight — destination: some place far away. Last summer I found myself in Sicily -– what an adventure. Reminiscing, I walked over to my (ever expanding) bookcase … Continue Reading
This dish can best be described as Spain on a plate, from the spicy chorizo (pronounced chore-e-tho, as I learned on a recent trip to Spain), to the hot smoked paprika (love this stuff), to one of my favorite little cephalopods — squid. It requires minimum effort, but the result is maximum in flavor. Just … Continue Reading
