“Put that knife down!” “Aren’t you ready to eat?” “Yes, but the meat needs to rest!” “It’s cooked, shouldn’t we eat it while it’s hot?” “The meat will stay hot for a long time, but if you cut it now, you will lose the juices all over the cutting board. The meat needs to rest and […]

Ah, at last a source for instant espresso powder! This secret ingredient is crucial to punch up the flavor of chocolate desserts. Ever since the Italians invented dark roast espresso, coffee lovers have preferred the rich taste. Now, Kitchen Conservatory sells the instant espresso powder, which quickly dissolves in hot water and is perfect for making tiramisu, brownies, […]

We’ve spent all week cooking: 25 hours of cooking class down, the last day — five hours — still to go on Friday. What a ride! For the classtakers, the highlights were the foods they thought they didn’t like (because they had eaten bad versions) — but now can’t wait to make at home: creamy polenta with […]

On her birthday, I served her favorite dessert, blueberry pie. A month later, friends were still clamoring for a chocolate birthday cake. Is it really a birthday if you can’t have your cake and eat it too? So we celebrated again. I first made this cake for a party I catered 15 years ago. One of the guests liked […]

The end of summer usually means the end of fresh garlic, but we do have a few heads left from our bumper crop. We will sell it until it’s all gone — probably for another two weeks. Please drop by and pick up some garlic before the harvest is all gone. (Next year’s garlic crop arrives on July 1.) Our locally-grown garlic is hard-neck red […]

“The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star,” wrote Brillat-Savarin in 1824. Sheila Lukins, who passed away this weekend from brain cancer, discovered many new dishes and did so much for human happiness for countless home cooks. Her first cookbook, “The Silver Palate Cookbook,” contains […]

The last of the Michigan blueberries inspired me to rediscover a favorite breakfast treat. Cherry-Berry Coffee Cake 2 1/2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans Mix together the flour, salt, cinnamon, sugar, and oil. Remove 3/4 cup of the mixture […]

Planked fish is a very old style of cooking food (Lewis and Clark ate fish cooked on planks by Indians on their 1804 tour), but is still a fashionable cooking method. Aromatic cedar wood is wonderful for imparting a wonderful flavor to food. Tonight we ate cedar-planked salmon (caught by me in Lake Michigan!) topped […]

Ketchup is a simple sauce made of fruit, sugar, vinegar, and spices. But the fruit does not have to be tomatoes. Pick cherries to make a delicious ketchup! My favorite ketchup is made with cherries, specifically the tart Montmorency cherries. This year (unlike the last two years) is a fabulous year for cherries. Here is […]

“I want to make corn pudding.” “Really? Do you have a good recipe?” “Yes, it’s Julia Child’s corn pudding.” “That doesn’t make sense. Julia Child cooked French food and corn pudding is not French.” He searches through “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Not there. “When did you last make corn pudding?” “Probably 25 years […]