One day recently I had an intense craving for a summer fruit cobbler. An abundance of figs in my fridge proved the inspiration for the base I created for this easy-going dessert. This time of year, fig trees are going bonkers, producing buckets of...

There are two ways of doing things in the kitchen: the restaurant chef’s way and the easy way. When I cooked at the five-star Mary Elaine’s, I was in charge of the artichokes, trimming them by the case. First I cut off all of...

Recipe: Summer Spanish Tapas 3-Ways How to Eat at a Tapas Bar Once merely intended to shield glasses of wine from fruit flies, tapas have expanded into substantial snacks, easily turned into meals. My husband and I toured Barcelona in June, and tapas taverns were our...

Markets are now brimming with crates of juicy watermelon, so it is tempting to grab an entire melon, and in the spirit of summer, throw caution to the wind about what you will actually do with it all. Sure, you can slice it for...

The first “serious” cookbook I ever bought was Sauces by James Peterson, a James Beard Cookbook of the Year. I was enrolled in the culinary basics boot camp in culinary school at the time, and was following the recommendation of the class instructor. Nine years later, I couldn’t...