Speculoos – Cinnamon Cookies
Speculoos is the golden spice cookie that comes wrapped in plastic and sits on the saucer of your espresso cup in nearly every cafe throughout the Hexagon. In the past decade, a single, plastic-wrapped speculoos has replaced the chocolate-dipped almond or malted milk ball that was the typical sweet treat alongside a cafe exprès. So, […]
Rhubarb and Mom
What’s the best thing about spring? I know, everything. But if you focus, bring it down to the details and ignore radishes, then it’s got to be rhubarb. And one rhubarb plant (which over the years becomes two, then three, then…) will supply enough rhubarb for a family of three, plus the neighbors. My rhubarb […]
Chocolate Chip Cookies, With a Difference
My daughter is coming home for spring break so the refrigerator and the cupboard need to be stocked, because wherever she is, a small crowd follows. She loves chocolate chip cookies, because I know already that after the hugs and hellos, her eyes will wander to the cookie tin. These, however, aren’t just any chocolate […]
Apple Honey Tart
I live in Normandy, land of apples and pears, and everything made with them – from Tarte Tatin to Rosemary Apple Tart, to Apple Charlotte, to apples as vegetable, appetizer, seasoning. I’m an expert with apples, and everything I make with them is a point of pride for me. But never have I had such […]
Sweet Praline Almonds
Ever since I tasted these praline almonds, made by my colleague and friend David Lebovitz once when he was visiting, I’ve loved them. They’re a perfect, and perfectly surprising, amuse-bouche, or appetizer. I make them often, we make them in classes, guests eat them like they were candy. Which they sort of are, with […]
Miche’s Two Ingredient French Apricot Jam – ’tis the Season
Evreux, June 3, 2017 – Miche lived to be 101 years old. Right up until she left us she was talking about her amazing two-ingredient apricot jam, among other things, and the tricks she used to make it. She also wanted to point out the bird on the steeple outside her window and remind a visitor […]
Strawberry Shortcake from the Grill
There are two things at play in this recipe for French strawberry shortcake from the grill. One is my brand, new, fancy Weber gas grill that has taken pride of place in my back courtyard. Two is my darling daughter Fiona’s predilection for loving and not eating animals. Sometimes she is flexitarian, but mostly she […]
Grilled Chicken with Spicy Rhubarb
Naturally, the French cook has a way with this fleeting gift of spring. Typically, it is wrapped in buttery pastry, pureed and put under a meringue, atop ice cream, blended with cream, cooked in syrup. Here, I’m inspired by the French fascination with sugar syrup to turn rhubarb into a sweet, zesty sauce for […]
Flourless Chocolate Cake from the Grill
Baking a cake over the coals? Quelle idée. But pizza bakes perfectly over blazing charcoal, so why not biscuits, or rhubarb pie, or even a flourless chocolate cake? As any good French chef would do, I headed straight for the flourless chocolate cake, set it over the coals, closed the cover and held my breath. When I […]
Bitter Orange Marmalade
I love phone calls like the one I received the other day from my neighbor, Nathalie. “Suzanne, I have too many bitter oranges, would you like some?” I didn’t hesitate a minute. This is the season for bitter oranges (Seville oranges – they come from Spain) and each year I turn them into marmalade. […]
