This pâté is neither easy nor inexpensive, but when you are looking for a tour de force, it is a gorgeous thing. If you feel the urge to simplify, omit the topping, but frankly, the pâté won’t be quite as impressive without it, and you also won’t have the exquisite contrast of the parsley and… Read More
Tomato, Zucchini and Leek Galette
Over the weekend, I made this gorgeous and simple dish. Layered on a bed of soft cheese, summer produce—ripe tomatoes, zucchini and leeks are seasoned with salt and pepper and deliver a taste like summer. As fall does not officially begin until September 22nd, I thought I’d share this dish which lets the true mettle… Read More
Chocolat
Chocolate symbolizes, as does no other food, luxury, comfort, sensuality, gratification, and love. —Karl Petzke It’s time to celebrate! September 13th is International Chocolate Day. One of the world’s most beloved foods, chocolate has been enjoyed in many different forms for thousands of years. I once read, if we could take a bite of love, it… Read More
Tiella
Popular in southern Italy, a Tiella is a beautifully layered vegetable dish that often contains tomatoes, potatoes, and zucchini. Its name refers to a deep earthenware baking dish as well as anything cooked in that dish. A Tiella, however, can also be cooked in other baking dishes. Every region in Italy has their own favorite version of Tiella—variations for ingredients… Read More
Ratatouille Spirals
I love cooking, but what’s even more fun is cooking together with a friend who loves to cook just as much as I do. Last week a friend of mine who is an excellent cook, baker and hostess suggested we prepare a dish together. She shared a lovely recipe for ratatouille spirals and within seconds… Read More
La Cucina Profumata
It was a cuisine made of labor and patience and the love of aromatic herbs. It was a cuisine of lean folk who lived on lean land—sea cliffs and terraces hewn by hand from solid stone—and lean olive trees. — Vittorio G. Rossi, nostalgic of his native Ligurian cuisine Before traveling to Liguria, I was… Read More