On Raglan Road On Raglan Road, in DECEMBER…I sat on the soft, blue upholstered seats of the Ballsbridge bus from central Dublin. I picked it up across the street from the Trinity College wall facing, Westmoreland Street? The one that connected the main way of …
Empire Comforts What I love about Turkish comfort food is that it is usually deceptively simple with its ingredients and method. Yet, Turkish food history is a complex one. Coming from Central Asia, and running at times concurrently with the Western Roman Empire, Turkish food …
Rush Hour As I slam my car door shut, I look down the hilly street towards the waters off Bay Ridge, which I can only just see if I arch my head over from the balcony. Just as when I lived in Red Hook, the …
A History (or lack of) I have a confession to make. My mother never made a Burek in her life. I never ate Burek growing up, even though our family prepped, cooked, baked, and consumed all manner of Croatian feasts. In 1982, after our summer …
This Pear Frangipane Tart is a French classic for autumn pears: a buttery pate sucree tart crust filled with Frangipane filling and Bosc pears soaked in brandy. Frangipane, a Red Hook History In the summer of 2007, I moved into Red Hook, Brooklyn from nearby …
This French technique following Tarte Tatin will make you renounce American apple pie as quickly as you can say “oui oui.” A buttery Pate Sable shortcrust is gently folded over a picturesque structure of curvy apple halves that have been simmering in amber caramel. After …
This Burger Au Poivre takes the sumptuous and creamy brandy peppercorn sauce found in a traditional Steak Au Poivre and marries it with the juicy texture of a cast iron cooked sirloin burger. The sauce comes together in less than 30 minutes using freshly ground …
Quiche or Tart The more I cook, and bake, and look for variations and histories of dishes, sweets, and meals, I keep coming back to certain themes, or more like certain presentations. I am in the midst of creating a line of bureks, which I …
This Croatian Stuffed Peppers recipe is an authentic, family-style approach to bell peppers stuffed with ground meat, onion, garlic, and rice mix, topped with a light tomato sauce. Stuffed Peppers & Kingdoms I have been eating Stuffed Peppers, Croatian-American style, since childhood. My mother was …
A classic Turkish egg breakfast of onions, hot peppers, tomatoes, a dash of paprika and sumac spice, feta, and a little mozzarella for some extra creaminess. Eggs are dropped in, then swirled around in a figure 8 shape, making for a Turkish breakfast mosaic like …