• ricotta cheese recipe
    All Seasons,  Spring

    Homemade Ricotta Cheese

    Ultra creamy, made only with whole milk, heavy cream, vinegar and salt. If you’ve never made Homemade Ricotta Cheese before, you need to stop reading this right now and go to your refrigerator or your local market and grab whole milk, heavy cream, quality white wine vinegar, and a pinch of kosher salt.  Snag some cheesecloth too, you can find that in the baking aisle.  That’s all you’ll need.  Come back when you have everything, I’ll wait right here…. Once you’ve made your own ricotta cheese, you’ll saunter by the imposters in the dairy aisle with a well-deserved swag.  You will never want a supermarket brand again.  Homemade ricotta cheese…

  • Autumn,  Spring

    Savory French Leek Pie

    As featured in Condé Nast Traveler Magazine “How to Build the Ultimate Picnic Basket, According to Chefs Around the World.” (France) Leeks are a staple in my springtime kitchen.  They are one of my favorite seasonal ingredients for their gentle fragrance.  I add them to soups, mashed potatoes, braise them in wine with pasta, and make this Savory French Leek Pie. The French have elevated leeks to an almost noble ranking.  The leek, le poireau, is harvested in France throughout most of the year, and recipes abound and vary by region and family.  I first tasted this particular dish during a brief stay in France and, unlike most savory pies, it doesn’t require…

  • olive oil and orange cake
    Spring,  Winter

    Olive Oil & Orange Cake

    “It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke This simple recipe for Olive Oil and Orange Cake celebrates the turning of the season.  While it still feels a lot like winter most days, the buds on the trees have opened, a few sprigs of flowers have emerged next to mounds of melting snow, and the birds that left in late autumn have returned with their old familiar songs. Let’s bake a cake that is much like the end of March, a little bit sweet, a little bit savory.

  • red wine pasta
    All Seasons,  Winter

    Red Wine Spaghetti (Spaghetti All’Ubriaco)

    I first experienced red wine pasta (yes, this dish is an experience) while in Tuscany. It was on a long drive to escape the rain that we came upon a small osteria, somewhere outside of Chianti.  I’m still not entirely sure that it was open.  However, we were seated and exchanged pleasantries in Italian.  There was no menu.  The old woman who greeted us might have also been the cook, I’m not entirely sure.  She returned with two plates of the most gorgeous colored spaghetti I had ever seen.