with Greg Patent, Award Winning Cookbook Author
Years ago, when I was young, Carl and Shirley Sontheimer, then owners of Cuisinarts, Inc., hired me to travel all over the country to teach people how to use the food processor. One of the many recipes I created was, “Yogurt and Jalapeño Corn Bread.”…
Teaching at Rancho La Puerta is always full of surprises. The guests who sign up for my classes are a diverse group of extremely accomplished people from all walks of life. But in the kitchen, we’re all equals, because in the time we have together there is one aim: to cook a menu of seven recipes in two hours and to sit and enjoy the meal together. Cooking is all about the pleasures of the table and the sense of community it fosters.
At my first class, Dana Shaltry, a pediatric orthodontist, volunteered to make the dessert, a rustic French pear galette. I had demonstrated how to make the ground almond bases and pastry with a food processor, and Dana took it from there. He rolled the dough into a rough circle, cut the pears into thin slices, and arranged the fruit beautifully over the ground almonds.
Peach season is at its peak where I live, so make sure to bake this scrumptious torte now. About thirty years ago I made a recipe for Plum Torte, a New York Times classic that became that paper’s most popular recipe ever. I’ve baked it…
I recently came across a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for no-knead brioche. How could that be, I wondered? Brioche, a classic French dough, gets its especially light and airy texture by vigorously beating and kneading softened butter into an eggy yeast dough. Since I’m…
A few years ago I was asked to judge a local apple cooking contest. The recipes were incredibly diverse and ranged from apple leather to apple pizza. But there was one recipe that stood out from all the rest: apple muffins. These were the lightest apple muffins I had ever tasted and they boasted a deep apple flavor along with a generous amount of diced sweet/tart apple.
This just may be the best cornbread recipe ever. It was given to me many years ago by my late friend, Viola Campbell, who got it from Georgia Hughes, an old Texas friend of hers. It is deliciously moist and is slightly spicy from fresh…
A couple of months ago my wife asked me what I’d like for my birthday dinner. I thought for a moment and said that it had been years since we’ve enjoyed real Maine lobster. Rather than spend a lot of money dining out why not…
This braided loaf, golden and tender from eggs and oil, is steeped in tradition and symbolism. To set it apart from the ordinary weekday loaf of whole wheat bread, it is made with white flour, sugar or honey for sweetness, and oil and eggs to…
Just why this heavenly, light-textured and spiced sweet cake baked in a sheet pan has this name was clarified by food historian, William Woys Weaver. He says it was called “Spanish” because its concept was derived from a cake made in Latin America. And “buns”…
Once upon a time I came across a prize-winning recipe from the 8th Pillsbury Bake-Off called Starlight Sugar Crisps. The yeasted dough, rich with butter and sour cream, is rolled in vanilla sugar and makes an irresistible pastry. I decided to try turning the dough…