Lime Cilantro Sweet Potatoes
I first came across this combination of sweet potatoes with lime juice and cilantro in Alice Water’s book Chez Panisse Vegetables. In it she roasts the sweet potato whole then slices it in half and sprinkles over the lime vinaigrette and cilantro. Up to that point I had never liked sweet potatoes much. Most recipes seemed to make an already sweet vegetable even sweeter, but this was the exact opposite. The natural sweetness of sweet potato was enhanced... Read More
Beet Gazpacho
My only experience of beets growing up was pickled beets in a jar which tasted like textured vinegar to my childish palate. In France when I was sent to do the intimidating task of the weekly family marketing at the Marché I found beets sold in vacu-sealed pouches fully cooked and ready to be tossed in a vinaigrette for a quick and lovely salad. I loved their unique sweet earthiness. They are particularly good served with goat cheese and walnuts.... Read More
Dingle Pies
Barner Books is a treasure of a second hand book store in New Paltz with a large selection of cook books. Many of them seem to have been written by Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet and the editors at Better Homes & Garden. Hidden among them is an occasional winner and so it was that I found one day a first edition of Myrtle Allen’s Cooking at Ballymaloe House, published in 1990. Full of recipes like Hot Buttered Oysters, Ballymaloe Brown Bread... Read More
Rhubarb Chutney
Rhubarb Chutney is a spring time staple here at the restaurant. Because Rhubarb is in season weeks before strawberries I look for other uses for this fantastically assertive and beautiful vegetable. Rhubarb Collins is a pretty pink gin drink we make yearly around Mother’s Day and Rhubarb Chutney accompanies the Cheese Board and our Roast Chicken. Unlike some chutney that needs to cook for hours to meld the vinegar and sugar and fruit flavours,... Read More
Madeleines
I lived in Paris for two years in the 1980’s, a “jeune fille au-pair”, completely smitten by every Pattisserie I encountered. Oddly I don’t ever remember eating a Madeleine in Paris. Back then my obsession was Macarons au Chocolat. Not the dainty ones that are now fashionable, but big hefty chewy versions. Madeleines I discovered at Marquet patisserie on 12th street in Manhattan. Just off Fifth Avenue, it had a wonderful European feel. After... Read More
