Author Archive

When I was a kid, I would perch on a kitchen chair to help mom cook. On weekend mornings especially, my sisters and I could be found flipping pancakes, scrambling eggs, or ducking out of the way as mom pulled hot popovers from the oven. I don’t remember a lot of direct instruction–more learning by doing. Mom made cooking an end in itself, and baking was an activity to look forward to on snow days or lazy Sundays. Eventually, the desire to experiment in the kitchen became second nature.

Later, in high school, we would help mom plan out meals for the week. With long shopping lists for recipes from The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen and Sunday Suppers at Lucques, we headed to the uptown Fairway, then to Whole Foods when the first local branch opened in Englewood. All week, we helped cook.

Our latest cooking project is canning. For the last two years, mom and I have had a date in September to can tomatoes, and this summer we’re aiming to preserve a little fruit, too. She also taught me to love simple things: grilled cheese, chef’s salads, black bean soup. Above is mom pictured making a summertime panzanella one day in the kitchen.

I know I’m a lucky gal to have grown up with a mom like mine, and it made me curious: what did your mom teach you about food, eating, and the kitchen? And, if mom didn’t show you how to cook, was there a mother-like figure who did?

P.S. Mom’s Hot Raisin Bread and Mom’s Chocolate Cake.

As a homemade hummus lover, I’m not often swayed by other dip offerings, especially unhealthful ones (apart from on the Super Bowl).

Fortunately, over the years I’ve amassed an archive of tasty dips based around nuts, herbs, non-chickpea beans, and even bread, and I thought it would be fun to share them with you. I like to have a dip out when friends come over, and most dips make incredible potluck contributions too. And, don’t forget that any dip can double as a spread. I love having leftover muhammara and black bean in particular, since they can really bring a cheese or egg or turkey sandwiches to the next level.

**9 Chipworthy Dips**

1. Cheesy White Bean Dip. Inspired by a restaurant standout I ate in Philadelphia, this hot dip combines creamy white beans with gooey cheese for an enigmatic dip best served with smoked paprika-dusted toasts.

2. Guacamole. Obvious, maybe, but every self-confident cook should be able to whip up some guac for friends in a pinch. Our recipe’s just a starting point – add your special touch, whether it’s dried cumin, fresh corn, or pomegranate seeds.

3. Muhammara. A rich, spicy-sweet Middle Eastern dip that piques the tastebuds and leaves you craving more. Serve with pita chips or toasted fresh pitas, or spread on a sandwich for an unusual twist on grilled cheese.

4. Romesco Sauce. Bread thickens and enriches this dip made with red peppers and almonds. For a change, dip roasted fingerling potatoes into the sauce instead of pita or chips.

The other Tuesday night I did the thing where I invited friends over before thinking about what I would serve them for dinner. Four and a half years after moving to Brooklyn when everyone I knew lived in Manhattan, and a year after I wrote about these Brie and Red Pepper Crostini as bites I could serve to people stopping by unannounced–except for that never happened–we live in the midst of friends close enough to come over for an impromptu Tuesday night dinner. Lucky!

Only I didn’t have much to serve these friends, and I invited them for about a half hour too early to get deep into cooking anything. As I sprinted home on my bike, I mentally scanned the contents of my fridge and pantry imagining what I could whip up, and fixating on certain ingredients – extra asparagus from these, pre-grated cheese from a taco party, a lot of basil from a filming project we’d been working on over the weekend, and a container of the salad dressing I can’t get enough of. By the time I lugged my bike into the basement, I had a plan.

The centerpiece of dinner, the quesadillas, might not hide very well the fact that they were invented by necessity. The ingredients do appear a little hodgepodge. But as soon as you take a bite you’ll see why I’ve made these repeatedly in the weeks since Tuesday night’s dinner. The creamy chipotle spread brings a kick and a luscious richness. As the cheese melts, it glues the quesadilla together and enrobes the asparagus stalks, which are a nod to the season and balance out a the otherwise indulgent mix of ingredients.

Join me in a collective moan, please. My three-year-old MacBook died this morning as I went to turn it on to finish this post. I’ve got worse problems than photo editing, currently, such as retrieving an insane amount of data, but today we’re going to make do with just one photo in a post. The rest of the pretty pictures are on a hard drive that just keeled over and died. (Don’t worry, I have back-ups, so I’m not totally panicked, just temporarily adrift.)

But I wanted to get this post to you before you read it and think, “What? …

Do you ever go to a falafel joint and not order a falafel? Me neither. It’s too hard, like going to Shake Shack and skipping the ShackBurger. As a happy medium, at the falafel place I’ll occasionally add an extra ingredient to my sandwich: fried eggplant.

I love eggplant, always. When fried, the slices adds a lusciousness to the sandwich, as if the smooth tahini sauce and rich falafel weren’t enough.

Were you to scroll your eyes down the menu at a falafel joint and squint at the listings below the main event, you might notice an option called “Sabich Sandwich.” An Israeli alternative to the falafel, the sandwich is made of egg, eggplant, and tahini sauce.

It has has a murky origin but a bright future in my life: it’s easy to make at home if you bake rather than fry the eggplant, healthful without being austere, and satisfying because it’s still plenty rich. Here’s my version, which fits into my brown bag lunch routine beautifully.

(I make the eggplant and hard-boiled eggs in advance, then whip together the herby tahini sauce and assemble the sandwich when I want to eat or pack lunch.)

On a whim and a tip from Tim of New York Pizza Project, we just signed up for a half share of a nearby CSA. In a little more than a month, we’ll be making biweekly trips to pick up organic vegetables trucked to Brooklyn from upstate New York. Suddenly, instead of choosing to cook with chard or kale, we’re going to be dreaming up ways to get through what I assume will be an unimaginable surplus of greens.

My family belonged to a CSA for a little while when I was in high school. I remember carrying such an abundance of apples home one fall day that they escaped from the bag and rolled down the driveway in a dozen different directions, making me curse those apples instead of cherish them. So while I love fresh produce (and sometimes feel like I don’t get enough of it) and adore making improvisational meals from whatever food happens to be around, I have to say, I’m terrified for the cornucopia of produce that’s going to be overflowing on our kitchen counters soon.

So, tell me, have you ever belonged to a CSA? Do you have tips for getting through the growing season without overdosing or getting frustrated with the yield? I can’t wait to hear, and of course I’ll be sharing the recipes that result from our half-share harvest.

P.S. How to appreciate the spring fruits and veggies that are already (or almost) here.

Tonight, after a packed day, I’m heading to our monthly girls’ potluck, still known as Mag Club in spite of not having adhered to the original meaning (we’ll all present an article from a magazine! and a dish the article inspired! yeah, right!) for years. These days, instead of dating and parties, we talk of engagements, weddings, and apartment decoration. In spite of these topics, we manage to have fun getting together.

Back to that packed day. One of the challenges of living and working in New York City is the extended time we spend away from our apartments. To leave at 7am and return when the clock strikes 10pm, after work, dinner, and the gym is exhausting in its own right, never mind the work and plans that take a toll on people like me who enjoy fresh air, homemade lunches, and 8 hours of sleep. Being out all day often means carrying a lot of bags, too, wedging ourselves plus our gym clothes, lunch bags, and scarves into an already slim column of air on the 4 train.

Even when it means an extra bag, I like to bring a homemade dish to Mag Club. (We don’t dock membership if you buy sushi, sesame noodles, or pizza, but have you met me? I’m the queen of homemade.) Since everyone has become pretty health-conscious, my last few carb-y contributions (Swiss Chard Lasagna, and a huge container of fried rice) weren’t ideal for the occasion. I decided to eliminate the carbs and load up on vegetables in tonight’s roasted vegetable salad with chickpeas and goat cheese inspired by the sweet-and-tangy flavor combination of eggplant caponata. I hope you – and the girls tonight – like it!

And here’s how to be a potluck party all-star.