The Wednesday Chef

Month: February 2008

  • Nigel Slater’s Peas with Olive Oil and Mint

    Okay, brace yourselves. This one's going to be short and sweet and to the point. Because we all have something else we should be doing – making these peas. You could be wondering why, and I'll tell you. They're likely the only way I will ever cook frozen peas again. Woah. That's a bold statement,…

  • Irene Wong’s Panthay Noodles

    I find it unendingly ironic that, even though we live in the most diverse borough of New York City where 44% of our neighbors are foreign-born, our choice of good ethnic food for takeout is severely limited. We love Forest Hills, we really do. We love our apartment and our view, our neighborhood grocery stores,…

  • James Peterson’s Mushrooms à la Grecque

    Languorous cooking times, afternoons spent in the kitchen, and a honorary membership to the Slow Food movement may be all well and good, but give me quick, something-out-of-nothing meals that come together in less time than it takes to make a plate of pasta and I'll be seduced, every time. Who hasn't stood in front…

  • Sherry Yard’s Fig Bars

    I normally am not a fussy-cookie kind of girl. I like them plain and simple, dropped from the edge of a spoon. A bit of vanilla extract here, or a few good chunks of chocolate there, a sparkle from buckwheat flour or a nubby bit of ginger, and that's all. The crunchier the better, since…

  • Marco Canora’s Beef Bolognese

    I suppose it's true that every Italian has their version of ragu, a long-simmered meat sauce to be tossed with fresh pasta or layered in lasagna. And all of them (us) think their version is the best, the only one worth spending five hours in the kitchen for, the sauce to end all sauces. (Not…

  • Calling All Creatives

    Through some stroke of incredible good fortune (or plain dumb luck), I seem to have been blessed with a super-fancy account upgrade (free of charge!) over at Typepad. God only knows what possessed them (something about me being dedicated and -er- influential, my heavens), but before they come to their senses and take all the…

  • Anya von Bremzen’s Potato Soup with Fried Almonds

    I've just checked weather.com and according to the map over there, not a single part of the continental United States has any sun right now. (Darn Hawaii.) So let's all take a collective breath and remember, February is the shortest month of the year for a reason. It is nasty out there today – New…

  • Gabrielle Hamilton’s Chickpea Salad with Four-Minute Eggs

    I don't know if it's the cold weather or the darkness or the fact that I'm feeling lazier than usual, but we have been subsisting almost entirely on pantry staples for over a week now. Normally, I go to the grocery store almost every day, just to pick up a fresh bundle of greens or…