Chris Nordquist
I’ve made this dish more times than I can count, and it’s become a family favorite. In fact, I think this dish, a Tunisian-style lamb stew and bananas are in a three-way tie for our 17-month old daughter Julia’s favorite food. (For now at least, her culinary adventures seem only to be limited by her […]
When the cold weather comes around, I always like the idea of butternut squash soup, but I don’t really like most of the soups themselves. Generally they’re too sweet and heavy for my taste. I’ve kept at it, though, and I’ve come up with a recipe that I really love. If you’re fond of squash […]
I’m always on the lookout for secret ingredients, little culinary gems that can quickly turn simple dishes into something special and new. Preserved lemon, discussed in my post here, is one of my favorites, and this is another. Vadouvan is an Indian spice blend with a French accent. It’s roots are in Pondicherry, a former […]
In spite of the fact that neither of us are morning people, or maybe because of it, my 16-month old daughter Julia and I both like a hot breakfast, and one of our father-daughter rituals is making it together. I hold her in one arm and set out all of our tools and ingredients with […]
It’s cold in New York this week. Really cold. Cocoa weather. Ironically, I learned to make good cocoa in sunny California. During my first year in law school at Berkeley, I rented rooms from a wonderfully eccentric Dutch artist. One rare chilly day when I was hunkered down studying for my exams, she taught me […]
I think the cleaners have shrunk my trousers over the last month or so. I don’t want to spring for alterations, or new trousers, so I’m trying to reduce their contents a bit by lightening up my meals and getting a little more exercise. This dessert fits right into my program. It’s creamy and silky-smooth, and […]
It looks like something the Grinch looted from Whoville, but it’s actually a Norwegian Kransekake (literally “ring cake”), traditionally served at Christmas, New Year’s and on other special occasions. I always bake several around Christmas to give as gifts and to serve to Holiday guests, and they always make a big impression. More a tower […]
I love Holiday desserts –gingerbread, pumpkin pie, persimmon pudding, multitudinous cookies, chocolate everything– but, as the season goes on, one becomes increasingly aware that they’re mostly, well, brown. And eating them on top of meals of roasted meat and fowl, rich sauces, root vegetables and full-bodies wines tends to lull my already heavy-lidded palate toward […]
One evening a few months ago we arrived in Southampton very late. There was no fresh food in the house, all of our take-out sources were closed, and we were hungry, verging on cranky. Rather than brave the late-night supermarket, I decided to see what I could do with what we had on hand. After […]
I’m probably revealing too much when I say that I get excited about breadcrumbs, but I am what I am. I’m not talking about the sawdust that you buy in cardboard tubes in the supermarket. It serves its purposes, like soaking up liquid and adding bland bulk to dishes like meatballs, but it’s not very […]
