Good balsamic vinegar – the real deal, made in only two places in Italy and aged for anywhere from 12 to over 25 years – is an investment. Someone recently gave me a bottle of balsamic vinegar – the $20, not the $275 version – and it’s been a joy to cook with it. This week on America’s Table both recipes feature balsamic vinegar, thusly named not because it has balsam in it, but because it is thought to have […]
Sometimes a recipe begins in one place and ends up somewhere else – and more often than not it’s a do-over (and over again). This time, things turned out even better than I dreamed! What began in concept as a galette in a skillet became instead a cherry coffee cake with the crispest top, the scent of which would raise any sleepyhead from their bed on a weekend morning. A cast iron pan of this not-too-sweet-cake left on the counter […]
I thought I knew about fish and chips – crisped on the outside, warm and flaky inside, thick chips littered with salt and a splash of vinegar – but this version is different and delightful. The recipe is from Nelly Salvacion, the best Asian chef I know, and it has a totally different set of flavors; the chickpea batter is tasty and light, and the mint, yogurt, cilantro, and lime dip gives it a completely different culinary context. She quick-fries […]
This is a nice make-ahead breakfast or brunch meal if you have weekend guests getting up at different times of the morning wanting breakfast, and you don’t want to be standing in the kitchen, spatula in hand, waiting for their orders. The virtue of a raised waffle (besides the fact that there’s less work in the morning – you just heat waffle iron and pour) is that they get crisp and stay crisp. You can warm up a raised waffle […]
A barbecued rack of ribs deserves a strong accompaniment, a potato salad worthy of the name – redolent with smoky bacon and the sweet-sour tang of balsamic vinegar. This is a very masculine potato salad, if a potato salad can have a gender; it’s what you serve with a 20-ounce Porterhouse or a full rack of ribs, with an icy beer in a frosted glass on the side. This recipe is deeply flavored by herbs, sautéed green onions, and crisp […]
