How to pick a perfect peach

August 17, 2011

Over the weekend I taught a cooking class at Ramekins featuring stone fruits. The students asked me how to pick good fruit, including peaches, and so in the interest of eating a lot of good peaches while they’re still in season, I thought I’d share my answer with you.

Homemade ice cream, part three: Experiments with cherry ice cream with chocolate chips

August 9, 2011

It all started when I saw an online recipe for cherry ice cream with chocolate chips, one of my most favorite flavors. The recipe involved steeping milk with fresh cherries, then pureeing the mixture, then adding cream. This made the ice cream “base” which then got cooled and processed in an ice cream maker, with chocolate chips stirred in at the end.
Right away, I was suspicious.

Homemade ice cream, part two: Fruit ice cream

August 2, 2011

Today we’re going to talk about fruit ice cream. As I said in that last post, fruit ice cream is one step more complicated than basic ice cream – but only that.

Summer project: Homemade ice cream

July 28, 2011

Have I ever told you that ice cream is my favorite food? That I eat it almost every day? That I only hesitatingly admit to, more than once, eating a whole pint in one evening? That, as much as I like all desserts, at the end of a nice meal at a nice restaurant, no matter what’s on the dessert menu, I almost always order ice cream?

It’s sweet, it’s cold, it’s creamy, it’s refreshing. What more could you want?

For Father’s Day, take a tip from Dad and grill

June 16, 2011

My dad is a master of the grill.

When I say that you might picture a funny-pages version of dad-as-griller, an only-on-weekends, back yard cook who humorously and consistently builds an unnecessarily huge fire, grills only the simplest of steaks, chops, and burgers, and serves them all just this side of incinerated. My dad, that is not.

Video: The recipes in 100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes

June 9, 2011

This is the third and final video (for now, at least) celebrating the release of “100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes to Enjoy with Wines You Love,” this time focusing on the recipes.

Lavender-Scented Dreams

April 27, 2011

A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to spend the day with Michaela Baltasar, Senior PR Manager of Jackson Family Wines. It was one of the goodies that came with winning a fellowship to the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers and included a tasting with Ted Edwards, director of winemaking at Freemark Abbey Winery; a garden tour and food and wine pairing lunch, care of chef Matthew Lowe and executive chef Justin Wangler, at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center; and a tasting with winemaker Marcia Monahan-Torres at Matanzas Creek Winery. I know – life is rough.

Video: Introducing 100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes!

April 19, 2011

Today – yes, this very day – my second cookbook, “100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes to Enjoy with Wines You Love,” is officially released! To celebrate, and to give you a sneak peak, I’m sharing a video I made to support it.

How to make soup out of pretty much any vegetable, quickly and easily

February 19, 2011

One of the dishes I made for a recent winemakers dinner was from my book – a silky, sexy Mushroom Sherry Soup. As I demonstrated cooking it for the group, I explained that they could use the same basic method to make soup out of pretty much any vegetable. They were so delighted to learn how quick and easy it is to make homemade soup that I thought I’d share it with you, in the hopes of delighting you, too.

How to make perfect pasta in 9 easy steps

January 20, 2011

I know, I know. Cooking pasta is, literally, as simple as boiling water.

But the truth is that a lot of people have a lot of questions and a lot of misconceptions about it. So, in the interest of perfect pasta, let’s take it one step at a time.