With August coming to a close, I realized recently that I had yet to make a batch of sangría at all this spring or summer, which is very out of character for me and something I had to rectify immediately. Our building was having a get-together–the first that we’ve had in probably two years now–and…
Category: aperitivo
Frozen pea soup from José Andrés’ Vegetables Unleashed.
As I write this, spring is coming to a close but you would be forgiven for thinking it’s already summer by how hot it is in various parts of the country. Hot weather always makes me want to eat raw fish or fish that’s been cooked in acid and sip on cold soups. While gazpachos…
Salmon-avocado ceviche, inspired by Rafael Palomino’s Viva la Vida.
Most weeks, usually on Wednesdays, I download the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast and take a walk across the harbor to Whole Foods in order to pick up fish in order to make either a ceviche, a tiradito, or some similar dish where the fish would likely only be cooked in some acid….
Basque-style montaditos of crème fraîche, sun-dried tomato puree, and anchovies.
Sun-dried tomatoes deserve to make a comeback: there, I said it. I know that they went from a trendy restaurant ingredient in the 80s to being completely overdone in the 90s and 00s, but it’s 2021, we’re emerging from a pandemic, and I think enough time has passed that we can give them another go….
Air fryer Catalonian-style chicken wings with allioli.
Even though it’s been nearly seven years(!) since we last were in Caldes d’Estrac and eating at El Taller, I still think about their signature roasted meats served with a ramekin of allioli made completely from scratch. (By that I mean they made the emulsion only using some garlic, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil…
Roasted shrimp cocktail with roasted tomato cocktail sauce inspired by Ina Garten and Tom Colicchio.
When it became absolutely clear that we were not going to be going anywhere for Thanksgiving back in November, I wasted no time in planning a good meal for us that would be a combination of our favorite foods: roasted duck legs, green bean casserole (for Michael), roasted mushroom soup (for me), tortellini, a Basque-style…
Txangurro (deviled crab gratin), or the Basque take on Baltimore crab dip via The Basque Book.
If you’re not from the Mid-Atlantic region, then the idea of crab dip is probably one you are familiar with in a meaningful way. My mom makes it as a cold dip, mixing canned crab, diced onion, and cream cheese into a ball and then smothering it in cocktail sauce, but here in Baltimore it’s…
Sipping on a Bicyclette while looking forward to 2021 and planning my cooking projects.
I thought we should start this book with something to lead you into your indulgence, a cleansing glass to get the juices going. It’s known in Italy as a bicyclette, as old men drink it and then wobble home on their bikes. Interesting, Harry’s Bar in Venice refuses to serve this concoction, rather as if…
José Andrés’s avocado gazpacho from Vegetables Unleashed with a pickle-based pico de gallo from Grillo’s Pickles
(Note: this is not sponsored–I’m just utterly charmed by this product!) Between the end of summer and Amazon Photo sending me memories from our trips to Barcelona and San Sebastian on a regular basis last week, this is always a bit of a melancholy time of year for me. Given the last six months of…
A tale of two tomato salads: cherry tomato and red plum salad with Meyer lemon and almond vinaigrette, and Catalan Food’s peach and tomato salad with goat cheese.
July felt interminable to me, and I think that’s because we haven’t done anything aside from eating out a handful of Friday evenings, taking the water taxi to check out the new Whole Foods location, and traveling to PA for our nephews’ birthdays. I still have four books left in my cookbook project, and I’ve…
