Full Gastronomic Tilt

Dinner plans, via text message:
“Have leeks & potatoes. Thinking something rustic/French. Ideas?”
“Gratin! With thyme and carm. onions.”
“Perfect. Gruyère?”
“I’ll get it. Bringing wine, too.”‘
Gratin: n. French origin, from grater (to scratch), typically refers to any dish with a lightly browned top crust of crumbs, butter and/or cheese. A base of potatoes is traditional. (see also: delicious)
Many [...]

One night, it came up that I had never attempted homemade sushi.
“Really?” asked my friend. “It’s so easy. I’ll teach you. The trickiest part is making the rolls, but that comes with practice.”
I was skeptical about the easy part. Many Japanese dishes have a short ingredient list but a long list of steps, as the [...]

This began as me wanting to make the mother of all pizzas - roasted red peppers, swiss chard and smoked goat cheese. I got as far as making the pizza dough before my plans shifted, as they too often do. The dough went into the freezer and I promptly forgot about it.
During this past [...]

I love this late-summer/early-fall dish. Tarragon can be so dramatic and ill-placed, but it works great in this tomato sauce, plus eggplant and chèvre pair incredibly well together. I like this dish to feel a little more rustic, so I don’t peel the eggplant, preferring the chewy contrast the skin gives the dish. I also [...]

The zucchini had been sitting on my counter for over a week. This was a big zucchini, deserving of a dish that could do it justice. Sadly, I was just about sick of zucchini. So eager when they first arrived earlier this summer, I made zucchini everything: pasta primavera, zucchini gratin, zucchini/potato pancakes, squash stir [...]

June is drawing to a close, and in its wake is an exhausted and frazzled, yet strangely happy me. A month of change, of newness, June has presented many opportunities and challenges and left me feeling like I can leap tall buildings and solve a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded. Though I haven’t had the time to [...]

Alternate title — I discovered Picasa!
What a neat way for me to show you all some of the highlights from my West Coast vacation.
(This was so much fun to make, I may be forever ruined.)
WARNING: This collection of images caused a friend to reflexively gnaw on an antique desk.

Clockwise in a spiral from top left:

Sweet [...]

[Pretty chowder pictures to come later tonight. It has been a busy week!]
More often than not, I Twitter my dinner plans. A bit of participatory food geekery, if you will. I get instant feedback: “What ingredients?” “Which recipe?” “What else ya makin’?” and people reply with their own dinner plans. Seems silly, but [...]

This guest post is courtesy of the fantastic and talented Rachel Edidin.  Many thanks, Rachel! ~L
Food allergies make cooking a challenge–all the more so if you’re dealing with more than one.  It’s not too hard to find information on cooking without nuts, or eggs, or wheat, or dairy, but for anyone who’s allergic to [...]

I was originally diverted into a certain stall at the city market yesterday because of some kale. The kale was a jewel, standing out from the veggie crowd, a deep shade of green with purple stems. (Dark green veggies, like kale, chard and spinach, are an amazing source of folate and antioxidants. I [...]