Inspirations from Detroit and Mexico: Beet Elote Salad

Based on two words from a restaurant menu and Mexican street food, Beet Elote Salad replaces corn with diced beets. Recipe below.

THE OTHER NIGHT I WAS POKING AROUND ON VARIOUS DETROIT WEBSITES and I thought to check out the website of Selden Standard. Several years ago, when we were spending most of our time in Detroit, Selden Standard became a place where I would go when I had a free evening and an appetite for a well-made, kind of rustic, kind of wonderful Midwestern-American dinner. Continue reading “Inspirations from Detroit and Mexico: Beet Elote Salad” →

Because sometimes you just need cake: Blueberry Lemon Rosemary Bundt Cake

Fresh fruit, lemon juice and rosemary flavor this homey, comforting bundt cake. Recipe below.

EVERYBODY, EVERYBODY LOVES CAKE. When you want to celebrate, when you need to celebrate, when you’re feeling festive or dejected or delighted, the answer is cake. When you need excitement and soothing: cake. When your spirits need lifting: cake. Continue reading “Because sometimes you just need cake: Blueberry Lemon Rosemary Bundt Cake” →

A traditional favorite still impresses: Chicken Paprikash

Genuine Hungarian paprika—and lots of it—drives this popular old world chicken dish. Recipe below.

WHEN I WAS A KID, THERE WAS A HUNGARIAN RESTAURANT IN DETROIT that was one of my favorites. I am not sure of the name (Hungarian Village?); I am not sure where it was (near the river?). I very dimly remember my family driving there, in the dark, riding in the back seat and peering out the window as we rattled across train tracks and past solemn, squat warehouses, their loading docks illuminated by a single low light, and past obscure low factories and empty lots, and after this confusing ride in the dark, finally arriving and bustling into the inviting restaurant. Continue reading “A traditional favorite still impresses: Chicken Paprikash” →

A much needed taste of home: Detroit-style Pizza

A Detroit favorite, this pan-baked pizza is versatile, easy to make and delicious. Recipe below.

I MISS DETROIT SO MUCH. Since the pandemic started, we have not been anywhere that is not here. We have not been outside the city limits. No one except one of our kids has been in our house, and we have not been in anyone’s house, or in a restaurant, or a store, or a bar, or a hotel, or the office. Our offices are entirely remote (some people at my workplace think we will not reopen for five years). Our usual frequent road trips and train trips and lazy weekends spent wandering around Wisconsin or Michigan and quick drop-ins to see the kids—that has not happened. We miss the kids so much. We miss our familiar places so much. We miss Detroit so much. Continue reading “A much needed taste of home: Detroit-style Pizza” →

An easy pasta dish you’ll make again and again: Lemony Linguine Carbonara

Lemon brightens up this summery take on rich, creamy carbonara sauce. Recipe below.

TURNS OUT WE DON’T HAVE ALL THE IDEAS. I know! I’m as surprised as you are! In our quest to find new recipe ideas—and keep our inbox as stuffed as possible—we subscribe to Mark Bittman’s weekly emails. The other day, he talked about “What Some Really Fascinating People Like to Eat.” Continue reading “An easy pasta dish you’ll make again and again: Lemony Linguine Carbonara” →

Smoke, heat and indelible memories: Absent Friends Mezcal Cocktail

Mezcal supplies the smoke and Ancho Reyes liqueur the fire in this summery, spicy, cucumber-y cocktail. Recipe below.

ON THE FIRST NIGHT WE WERE IN MEXICO CITY, we set out from our room for a drink and a light dinner. It was nighttime, and the first time we’d visited the CDMX. The weather was perfect—a little cool, with a light breeze, and we were feeling that steady, quiet pleasure that we only get when we are exploring a place new to us. Continue reading “Smoke, heat and indelible memories: Absent Friends Mezcal Cocktail” →

Aptly named, make-it-again delicious: Weeknight Spicy Tofu Stir Fry

Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp adds crunchy, garlicky spiciness to celery, bell peppers, garlic, ginger and extra firm tofu in this quick vegan stir fry. Recipe below.

IN RECENT DAYS, WE’VE SEEN A NUMBER OF ARTICLES in which food writers and chefs stuck at home and even regular folks talk about the extras they need to have in their kitchen—not the basic pantry items like beans or tinned fish or unbleached flour, but basics-plus—the things that bring a dish to life, that are the foundations of their palates and styles. Preserved lemons, black garlic, 5-year cheddar, harissa paste, Plugra butter, fish sauce, Tabasco, gochujang. Continue reading “Aptly named, make-it-again delicious: Weeknight Spicy Tofu Stir Fry” →

Based on, based on, based on: Tuna White Bean Casserole

This twist on the classic comfort food tuna casserole swaps cannellini beans for pasta. The recipe, with many options and substitutions, below.

THIS IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE CONNECTEDNESS OF ALL THINGS. It’s based on a recipe in The New York Times by Melissa Clark, who in turn based her take on a recipe by London-based food writer Diana Henry, which in turn is a take on a French recipe, Breton tuna white bean gratin, which leads to that foundation stone of American home cooking, the tuna casserole. Continue reading “Based on, based on, based on: Tuna White Bean Casserole” →

Yes, that ridiculously easy, amazingly delicious bread: No-knead Bread

Five or six ingredients, including water, and no kneading, no fuss, produce a bread you’ll be happy to eat and proud to serve. Recipe—and a lively buttermilk variation—below.

HELLO. PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF PROCRASTINATION HERE, reporting from the land of quarantine. Finally, what? 14? years after Mark Bittman published the no-knead bread recipe in The New York Times, the single most popular recipe that paper has ever run, we’ve gotten around to making it. Continue reading “Yes, that ridiculously easy, amazingly delicious bread: No-knead Bread” →

Deliciously simple (simply delicious?) English Muffins

Turns out English Muffins are as easy to make as they are great to eat. You don’t even bake them—you cook them on your stovetop. Recipe below.

WHEN I UNDERSTOOD HOW EASY IT IS is to make English muffins, I regretted all the years in which I have never made them. The basic elements are few—flour, yeast, salt, buttermilk or yogurt. They have one hour-long rise and then a short ten-minute rest once they are shaped. You don’t even bake them—you cook them on the stovetop. And then you have these delicious things. Continue reading “Deliciously simple (simply delicious?) English Muffins” →