Category: Blog

Friday Shout-Out: Nutella

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This week’s Friday Shout-Out is all about Nutella! I remember my first taste of Nutella. When I was 16 I visited France with a friend and stayed with her grandmother in Paris. We spent our days wandering the streets and sitting in cafes, trying very hard to look chic and Parisian. We ate a lot of crepes, many with Nutella. I was immediately hooked on the sultry, creamy, sweet hazelnut spread. But although I always have a jar handy I don’t put it to enough good use. Luckily this week I noticed a bunch of enticing Nutella recipes that are just the kick in the butt inspiration I needed. Continue reading “Friday Shout-Out: Nutella” →

Sole with Tomatoes and Basil

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You’re not going to believe how easy this recipe is. It takes moments to prepare and just 10 to 15 minutes to cook. And it tastes like pure summertime. Sole is one of the fish varieties readily available here (yes, sadly in the frozen section) so I have been cooking a lot with it (remember the Sole Meuniere?). While I usually pan fry it, I got the yen to bake it. Beth had shared some of her beautiful purple basil with me and I was inspired. Continue reading “Sole with Tomatoes and Basil” →

Secret Recipe Club Cilantro-Lime Chicken

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It’s that time of the month again! No, not that time. Secret Recipe Club time! Hosted by Amanda over at Amanda’s Cookin’ it’s a great way for bloggers to meet, share, and make each others’ recipes. Every month each participant is assigned another blog and we can make any recipe from that blog. Then, all at once, we reveal our posts! Yup, it’s as fun as it sounds. Who doesn’t like being in a secret club? In June I made some excellent Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from Connor’s Cooking and in July I made Darn Near Domestic‘s awesome Smoky Salsa. I took a hiatus in August and am excited to be back because this month I was introduced to another fabulous blog – Once a Month Mom. Continue reading “Secret Recipe Club Cilantro-Lime Chicken” →

Where to Shop for Food in Be’er Sheva

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You may have heard about the tent protests going on around Israel right now. It’s being called the largest social protest in the country’s history. It all began in July when a woman named Daphne Leef pitched a tent on Tel Aviv’s upscale Rothschild Avenue in response to the lack of affordable housing. As with any successful movement these days, she started a Facebook page and people quickly joined her. Soon thousands of tents lined the street and it spread to other cities in the country. Continue reading “Where to Shop for Food in Be’er Sheva” →

Friday Shout-Out: Zucchini

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It’s Friday, which means another round of shout-outs for a week of great recipes! If you recall for last week‘s inaugural Shout-Out I focused on peaches as a glut of end-of-season stone fruit translated into a vast array of appetizing peach recipes. This week is all about Zucchini (that’s courgettes for the rest of the world). It got in my head last week when I started seeing great recipes like Mission: Food’s Farfalle with Zucchini Sauce, Chef in Disguise’s Zucchini Dip, Kitchen Lab’s Courgette and Pesto Gratin, and Wine Country Cook’s Zucchini Bruschetta. Continue reading “Friday Shout-Out: Zucchini” →

Chocolate-Cherry Babka

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When my editor at the Jew and the Carrot (the food blog of the Jewish Daily Forward) asked me if I’d be interested in writing an article about babka, there was only one answer – YES. Babka, for those who have been sadly deprived, is a yeasty bread that is rolled around a filling (typically cinnamon or chocolate), stuffed in a loaf pan, and baked. It’s decadent and yet as appropriate for breakfast as for dessert. Yet somehow it seemed beyond my reach to make it at home. And in New York, when you have Zabar’s why bother? I was thrilled to learn it’s incredibly easy to prepare. Even better, most recipes make two to three loaves, which you can freeze and enjoy later. Continue reading “Chocolate-Cherry Babka” →

Food Photography: A Natural Approach

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I’ve already mentioned what a great summer I had. I’m not trying to rub it in or anything, but I think it may have been the best ever. One of the things that made it so incredible was a four-day food photography class I took at the International Center for Photography (ICP) in New York. Although I got a lot of on-the-job-training in my last position (prior to going rogue, aka freelance) I hadn’t taken a photography class since high school. Needless to say, I was excited to get some professional instruction. Continue reading “Food Photography: A Natural Approach” →

Round Zucchini Stuffed with Couscous

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For some reason, round zucchini didn’t make it into my diet much back home. You don’t see them often in New York, or maybe I just wasn’t looking. As soon as I spotted them in Israel, though, I knew exactly what to do with them. Round zucchini, if you haven’t had them, are the ideal vehicles for stuffing of almost any kind. They’re easily hollowed out with a spoon, and – bonus – they look pretty. They make for neat little packages that are fun and elegant to serve to company or, well, any night of the week. I kept the courgettes (sorry – that’s me slipping into British English there) vegetarian and stuffed them with couscous, but anything you can dream up will work – ground meat, other vegetables, any number of grains – go nuts. Continue reading “Round Zucchini Stuffed with Couscous” →

Friday Shout-Out: Peaches, and the (Unofficial) End of Summer

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Although fall doesn’t officially start in the Northern hemisphere until September 23 this year, this weekend – Labor Day weekend – marks the de facto end of summer. It used to mean nervous anticipation, back to school outfits (how many hours did we all spend picking out that first day ensemble?!), clean notebooks and sharpened pencils. Continue reading “Friday Shout-Out: Peaches, and the (Unofficial) End of Summer” →

Gougères

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I first made gougères years ago and was enchanted by their (seemingly) effortless elegance, their lightness, and their grace. They are cheese puffs as only the French can do cheese puffs, both dainty and dignified. I suppose that is to be expected when their base is a delightful pâte à choux (think cream puffs and profiteroles) spiked with generous amounts of cheese. I decided to revisit them recently (ok, I confess, I made these months ago now) when I spotted Dorie Greenspan’s recipe in her simply stunning cookbook Around My French Table. Of course, while cookbooks are great pastry school would be a good option for those who want to improve their skills. Continue reading “Gougères” →