Cool surprise in today’s CSA.  Okra!  Something I almost never cook, and something that when I’ve had it, is cooked into slime. The key to cooking okra is to not cook it too much.  Saute it in a tablespoon of canola oil in a hot pan, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes if you want some

I posted this photo last September and was going to repost the actual post, shouting the joys of baked buttered corn, but deleted it by mistake! So I’ll have to write it again.  I thought of this post and this dish because, having endured the sadness of finding a squash in my

A nice cross-section of CSA’s from around the country, thanks everyone.  Would be interesting to see fall CSA from southern states.  Hold your cursor over the photo for the name and location of the sender.  I was unable to add the name of the farm or the CSA or link to each one, but if

I’m finishing up answering copy-edit queries on the new book, my beliefs on the core techniques of cooking due out next fall from Chronicle, and also going over some last minute testing with the good folks at cookskorner.com. One of the recipes being tested is a Moroccan-style braised lamb shank using lemon confit and the blend

Earlier in the season, I taped a grilling demo for a new Cleveland company called Sideways, specializing in digital publishing, including the eponymous magazine for the iPad (next issue is out Monday, youtube promo here). It accompanied my story on grilling. The idea that the iPad can include multiple pix (even a flip-pad presentation of

Week 12 of our CSA. No surprise with the tomatoes and corn, and no disappointment either.  Though five ears corn doesn’t even cover breakfast for me. Beans were great, peaches wouldn’t want to wait longer (and one of those peaches harbors a scary stinging bug that scared the hell out of me when I bit

Why DON’T’ we trace a cake pan and cut out the circle with scissors?  Because its easier faster and more accruate to fold and cut with a knife! I line a cake pan with a circle so that it comes out clean. I put a parchment circle with a hole in the middle over braising things like

Dinner, last minute vegetarian delight in this heat: a good toasted baguette, butter, and fat tomatoes that ripened whilst we discovered bahn mi in little Saigon in LA, hiked up the river to Copake Falls in upstate New York, leapt off of 40 foot ledges at an old quarry outside West Stockbridge, swam in the

How fast this summer is receding in my rear view mirror is reflected in the ciliantro that, for all my travel and busyiness, I have let go to seed. Yet there are glories even in being remiss–the fresh coriander seeds that lends so many savory preparations a huge jolt of flavor and crunch.  Fresh coriander

Picked up our CSA this weekend, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, lettuce, and SURPRISE! More Zucchini! Actually, I’m starting to like the zucchini challenge.  Too hot for what I want to do for it—mix it with cheese and gratin it.  I’ll wait till cooler fall to go that route. I’ve had a nostalgic urge to