Couscous Soup

ASTUCE: The best meat for couscous soup is lamb neck, which is wonderfully gelatinous, rather like oxtail or beef eye of round. You can use a mix of meats too, however, without adding any pork. Baking soda added to beans as they cook tenderizes them. Finally, you will notice that the carrots and the zucchini […]

Lamb Parmentier

This recipe makes enough for 8 rounds. You will have leftover mashed potatoes, most likely; don’t worry, they keep and reheat perfectly. Equipment: six to eight 3-1/2cm (9-inches) metal rounds, for presentation; parchment paper; baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Or, if you prefer, a medium-sized baking dish.

Lamb with Mashed Potatoes, and the Best of 2018

lamb and mashed potatoes

I flew over mid-December to teach a couple of classes in Portland, which exhibited huge support (Merci, Portland) for the fine points of French cooking.  Fiona flew in from her home in Utrecht, Holland, and Joe followed on her heels from Annapolis, Maryland. Yes, we are spread all over the map, so occasions to be […]

A Behind the Scenes Photo Shoot

Francis Hammon

I’ve participated in many photo shoots, always as writer, there to make sure the food looks the way it is supposed to. For this latest, however, I was not just the writer of the book, the creator of many of the recipes, the boss of the photo list, the procurer of ingredients, but the cook, […]

Konya, Turkey – Rumi’s Delicious City

I arrived in Konya well after midnight, to participate in the Atesbaz-in Culture Cuisine Cultural Days (Atesbaz-in means “the person who plays with fire” ie. the cook) a conference devoted to the cuisine of this special part of Anatolia, and to Rumi, the poet and philosopher who made Konya his home. From the moment I arrived, welcomed […]

California Dreamin’

As I sit and look out the window at the sunny terrace, the sunny pool, the sunny green hills beyond that, for all the world, look like Umbria, I feel a million miles away from home.  I’ve signed books at Chino Farm and Warwicks in La Jolla, and taught an amazing private class in Rancho […]

Did We Have Fun?

Last night I conducted my first cooking class as part of my book tour for In a French Kitchen. The menu was chosen from the book; everyone “put their hands in the dough” and participated in creating a delicious meal.  Herewith, the class which was held in the Shapiro home in Chevy Chase, Maryland.   CHOCOLATE […]

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