In the spring of 2020 the world shut down confronted with an immense public health crisis. It meant I couldn't eat out, be fed by friends, or even go to the store more than once a week. I started a weekly newsletter to document my experience over the span of that unusual period in our history.
I've decided to continue that on a slightly different basis while slowly transitioning my paper notebooks into a digital format. Each month, I'll do a write up in the What's Cooking section, the latest just below. In the Recipes section, I'll slowly add and refine the formulas for what I cook and bake.
It’s been another whirlwind month with less time cooking than usual. On the plus side, the weather finally began its turn to spring, which has been nice.
Though this has meant an end to citrus season, and with it the end of the good blood oranges.
Newest Recipes
Honey & Co Butter Cookies
I won’t take any credit for the original recipe here, but I really liked this modular approach to cookie making. It comes from the wonderful Honey & Co in London....
Hedge Maze
I dug this up for a party that demanded something green. It comes via Stoa, a bar in San Francisco.
When I do cocktails for a group, I like doing them in a batch....
Chestnut Cream Cake
This is a paradoxical cake. It’s pretty easy to make from a technical perspective, but the key ingredient — the ingredient that makes the cake — is very difficult to find here in the United States....
Levain Pizza Dough
I started noodling with pizza made with a levain after trying Oobatz, a pizza place in Paris. They use a levain-based dough, and it adds a nice tang. I feed my levain with a relatively less refined flour (versus white all-purpose flour), which also adds a bit of extra flavor....
Entrecôte-style Steak Sauce
While I wouldn’t visit France just to eat there, it’s a lot of fun to go to a branch of L’Entrecôte. If you go, there are effectively no choices. You get a green salad, fries, and steak with sauce....
