A Basque cheesecake is traditionally served crustless and with no berry adornments, but I promise you’re going to fall in love with this rebellious version. I layer it with a cookie crust; I really like the spice in the Speculoos (Biscoff-ish) cookie and bright berries, which just make the mahogany top and lusciously smooth texture sing. You’ll notice the ingredients— like the cream cheese— are cold rather than at room temperature, so it won’t overbake in the hot oven as the top browns.
What’s not to love? A sweet and salty pretzel base, fresh strawberries barely held together with their own juices, and a whipped coconut cream topping. This is something I remember eating during the peak of hot Nebraska summers. I always tried to scrape more than my fair share of the salty pretzels on the bottom.
This recipe comes to us from chef Hugh Acheson and his book Pick a Pickle. You can also try his recipe for Pickled Blueberries. Acheson discusses more things to consider when pickling fruits and vegetables with Francis Lam during the listener question segment of our episode "How Restaurants Are Dealing." He also suggests two great pickling and food preservation resources, the Ball Jar website and University of Georgia's National Center for Home Food Preservation.
This recipe comes to us from chef Hugh Acheson and his book Pick a Pickle. You can also try his recipe for Pickled Cherries. Acheson discusses more things to consider when pickling fruits and vegetables with Francis Lam during the listener question segment of our episode "How Restaurants Are Dealing." He also suggests two great pickling and food preservation resources, the Ball Jar website and University of Georgia's National Center for Home Food Preservation.
This is my absolute favorite way to eat pineapple. Beautifully caramelized on the outside and even juicer and sweeter on the inside after roasting.
I know it looks a bit strange to see the cabbage so charred and black, but trust me – it’s absolutely delicious. It’s one of those things I discovered and wished I’d found sooner! To get an even charring of the cabbage, press the wedges firmly into the pan so that the surface makes complete contact with the heat.
This dish brings together some rather unexpected flavors into a sweet, salty and fruity dish perfect for breakfast, brunch or large-batch family coooking. Pati Jinich shared it along with many wonderful cooking ideas when she joined us to answer questions from our listeners. Listen to full episode here.
The inspiration for this recipe came from watching Tom Colicchio, the chef at Grammercy Tavern, glaze root vegetables with chestnut honey and thyme. I thought the flavors would work beautifully with pears. I love the earthy, piney, autumnal nuances of chestnut honey and thyme, and I find that these two ingredients add an unusual complexity to the gentleness of the pears. This is a very easy recipe that can be pulled together in just a few minutes, whenever you have some pears that are ripening faster than you can keep up with. Once you transform your surplus fruits, you’ll have an intense dessert that keeps well and is easy to reheat.
In 2013, after we finished our second peach season, we took off on a five-month trip around the world, including six weeks in India. We zigzagged across the country, starting in Kolkata and ending in New Delhi, with a visit to Nepal along the way. One evening, on a rooftop in the northern city of Varanasi, we ate a peanut salad that we still think about to this day. Creating one for this cookbook felt special—a nod to that extraordinary trip and something that we really wanted to get right. We think we did. The Thai chile and basil, which can be found at your local Asian market; the fish sauce, which contributes complex salty flavors to the dish; the fresh fruits tumbled together with the crunch of peanuts—this is the magic you long for in a summery side dish.
There should be a word to describe the way the soft texture of this cake matches the flavour of the vanilla, strawberries and almonds in it. But that word doesn’t exist, so the only way to know how incredibly good this cake tastes is to go into the kitchen and make it. If you come up with a word for it, drop us a line. For the best results, pull all the cake ingredients out of the fridge about an hour before you start. It will make your baked cakes fluffier and tastier.