What’s Cooking?
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Black Cake
Several years ago, re-reading Laurie Colwin's "Home Cooking," I was taken with her description of black cake. It's a Caribbean dessert, traditionally used at times of festivities, a higher form of fruitcake steeped in rum and other ethanol-type liquids. So I tried it. The idea was good, but her relatively vague recipe, which she
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Lettuce Wraps With Chicken
Uh-huh. You bought all that stuff for an exotic Asian dish, which was okay, but what on earth are you going to do with the rest of the bottle of oyster sauce, the dried mushrooms and the rice wine? Do I have a solution for you? Indeed I do. I found this recipe in Saveur
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Peaches in Red Wine
It seems sort of shocking to think that this part of the country has a lot in common with Provence, in the south of France. But actually, if you’re looking at what to do with all the great stuff from the farmers markets, check the cookbooks that focus on Provencal cooking to find your answers.
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Steak (or Other) Salad
A new summer entree has popped up at our house. It’s from an old recipe, dating back probably to the Reagan administration, from a magazine I can no longer identify, it did me well in my single years as a late-night supper when friends gathered to decompress after a long evening at the hospital. Now
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Chocolate Embarrassing Cake
At this time of the year, it always seems like parties come up, and the search begins for something to bring. Sometimes you want to show off, and other times, it’s too much trouble or takes too much time. Yes, there certainly are nice things you can buy locally, but when you really want to
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Hummus For A Party
Apparently I am not quite the last person in the world to acquire a slow cooker, or Crock-Pot, as most of us habitually refer to them. And I probably don’t use it as often as I might. But I hauled it out the other day when I wanted to make hummus. I had plenty of
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Mediterranean Mussel Soup
I am an absolute sucker for fish soup of almost any sort. In Norway, it’s ubiquitous on menus year-round, each version different, depending on how bestemor, or Grandma, made it, but each delicious. Traveling up and down the North Sea coast, I’ve sampled many, all good. Over the years, variations on the bouillabaisse theme gradually
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Oreo Cheesecake
New Year’s Eve is upon us – somehow, it always seems to get lost in the Christmas hullabaloo, and we get rather short notice for what always calls for something a little special and all its own. Here’s a large, rich cheesecake that despite its, uh, unsophisticated theme, always has people reaching for more. It
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Election Cake
Next Tuesday, we’re both working the polls, serving as election judges. We began doing this four years ago, and while it’s exhausting, we both love it. It’s exciting seeing people of all types and sizes and ages coming out to perform what we think is a near-religious act, participating in their country’s essential action. Because
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What To Do With A Chuck Roast
The days dwindle down, and so do the budgets. Not only is the weather cooler and the dark coming earlier, but all of us also seem more interested in saving our pennies. Cooking at home, of course, is one of the best ways to do that, but there are lots of folks who are just