Many years ago, when I first started cooking a big Thanksgiving meal, I followed the suggested menu of some magazine or cookbook to the letter, despite existing family traditions or personal preferences. One of the dishes on the list of traditional Thanksgiving fare was creamed onions, which I had never had before. My family had never had them either and didn’t really … [Read more...] about Mustard Creamed Pearl Onions
Cranberry Gingerbread Cake with Butter Sauce
I am very nostalgic about gingerbread, though it is not part of some long-standing family holiday tradition. Other than the occasional hard gingerbread man cookie, I was well into my teens before I ever even knew there was any other form. But soft, cake-like gingerbread seems to hark back to the olden days. It has a Little House on the Prairie or Frances Hodgson Burnett kind of … [Read more...] about Cranberry Gingerbread Cake with Butter Sauce
Luxurious Cranberry Port Compote
The time has come to talk about Thanksgiving. The turkey, the dressing, the sweet potatoes, the pies…but don’t relegate the cranberry sauce to the back of the buffet! A rich, homemade cranberry dish can be a stunner on the spread. With rich port wine, balsamic vinegar and an intriguing blend of herbs and spices, this compote is a showstopper. If you are in charge of the … [Read more...] about Luxurious Cranberry Port Compote
Creamy Cauliflower Parmigiano Gratin
I had the good fortune to spend a month in Italy this summer, a blissful few days of it at the cooking school of Badia a Coltibuono, a medieval abbey turned into a winery and bed and breakfast in the hills of Tuscany. We made pasta by hand and learned the secrets to Italian breads and sauces. On one day, the chef, Benedetta Vitali, told us we would make a cauliflower cheese … [Read more...] about Creamy Cauliflower Parmigiano Gratin
Pumpkin Tres Leches
Moist, sweet and tender Tres Leches cake is a favorite of mine. A classic of the cooking canon of many Hispanic cultures, “three milk” cake is simply a delicate cake soaked in a combination of milks. For years, I used a recipe given to me by a friend from Nicaragua that used a box cake mix and it was always a big hit. I eventually developed a from-scratch recipe, and then … [Read more...] about Pumpkin Tres Leches
