Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

In an ideal world, there would be a separate court system for left-brainers and right-brainers, so that the left-brainers could show up on the appointed date, at the appointed time (or ten minutes early) with all their paperwork in hand, and us right-brainers could show up when we feel like it, having forgotten most of what’s important. In an ideal world, however, everything... Read More

Pickled Watermelon Rinds

I like watching people test for good watermelons, because it makes them look crazy. I know this, because I do it, and people look at me like I’m crazy. I learned the knocking technique from an Israeli woman who claimed to be the ‘queen of vegetables’, who would bustle around the grocery store, knocking on watermelons until she’d delightedly find the right... Read More

Aioli

It was my lovely brother Alex who pointed out that you cannot find good aioli in America. He pointed this out while filling our grocery cart with aioli, which is sold in little tubs for about a Euro apiece. I wondered how he’d ever go through it all, but it turns out that I underestimated the culinary genius of my little brother. Which I should never do. This is the boy who,... Read More

Yucca syrup

I was out wandering in the hills at sunset the other night. The clouds were rolling in from the Pacific below me, blotting out most of the signs of civilisation. And I climbed- up to the area that I call the dragon’s back, though it has another name that is much more boring. I much prefer to pretend that I’m clambering along the spines of some great big slumbering beast... Read More

Lemon marmalade

My first experiment with marmalade started and ended 2 years ago. I was really into fermenting things at the time, and decided that, better than regular old marmalade was FERMENTED MARMALADE. Of course all of this was at the prompting of Jam, who loves marmalade (somewhere, under that handsome face and messy hair is an old tweed-clad English man dying to escape). You see I really... Read More

Prickly Pear Jelly

Prickly pear cactus grows all over the Southwestern US. It’s a big, beautiful plant, and the whole thing is edible, once you remove the thorns. In Mexico it’s as common to eat as eggs, but here it’s a relatively unknown food item, except in Mexican communities. In Mexico it’s called ‘nopales’, and the fruits are called ‘tunas’. I... Read More

Creme Fraiche

Creme fraiche is basically just a cultured cream. It’s slightly tangier than cream. Slightly sweeter. Slightly more complex. And it’s super easy to make. Creme Fraiche 1 pint of heavy cream (pasteurised or boiled and cooled). 3 tb buttermilk. In a clean mason jar, combine the cream and buttermilk. Cover, and leave overnight in a semi-warm place (I leave mine on top... Read More

Chimichurri

There I was, standing at the door of my open fridge, staring at a bunch of ingredients, willing an answer to come. I imagine that this is how Sherlock Holmes feels when staring down some evidence: the jalapenos are in the plastic bag on the middle shelf, and then Jam just brought home those delicious looking steaks. And the parsley and cilantro are going to go to waste if they... Read More

Sweet Chili Sauce

  Let me tell you a little bit about the man I married. Or one specific thing about him: his love for anything spicy. I’m not just talking spicy, because I can handle a chilli pepper or two, I’m talking ‘are you effing insane’ spicy. The kind of spiciness that makes your tongue feel like it’s seized up and is going to stage a strike on you. The... Read More

Balsamic roasted figs

Four years ago, I was living in a little house in south Palm Desert. It was summer, and… have you experienced a desert summer? It’s horrible. The unbearable, relentless heat that doesn’t ease up for months on end. The heat that radiates down from the sun and up from the pavement, that gets in your eyes and in your bones and in your blood, and makes you daydream... Read More