morsels & sauces

Last fall, the husband and I went with his parents to Kitchen on Fire for a Mediterranean Feast cooking class. In addition to me getting my literary weird on (I decided to sign in as Beatrice Rappacini given that we were reading that story in the 9th grade curriculum--don't ask, I have no idea why), we learned how to make lahmacun, Turkey's answer to the pizza question. Or perhaps, pizza is Italy's answer to the lahmacun question. Either way, I love this flatbread with lamb. In fact, I have become a full convert to lamb in general. I never thought I would write that (or that I love rabbit, liver, and fruitcake--just not all together, of course). This past week, the bookclub met to discuss The Black Book , a weird, dreamy, lush book set in Istanbul that made me want to immediately book passage to Asia Minor. Turkish h ü z ü n permeates the pages--the melancholy of living in a lost empire--yet the book is playfully postmodern and strange.  Given the gathering o...

Two years ago , I finished my yoga teacher training with some amazing women. While, of course, my yoga practice shifted in immeasurable ways due to an intense four weeks of 8-hour days of yoga (and yoga lectures and practicum and note taking and reading), I was unprepared for the way my circle of friends would broaden.  I was unprepared for how much more I would laugh. These women whom I have had the privilege to know are funny (as in wickedly funny), gracious, generous, and just plain ambitious. To celebrate the fact that two years have passed since we met, we held a little reunion party in the hills up in Orinda. And there was no way I was showing up empty handed. These ladies can cook (or buy really great turkey meatballs at Whole Foods), so I knew I had to bring my A-game. Who better to guide me with a natural, organic dessert than Heidi Swanson-- 101 Cookbooks blogger, author of three healthy and natural foods cookbooks, and Bay Area resident? While this desser...

This recipe for an amazing sweet corn panna cotta with a blueberry topping comes to you twice.  Let's talk about attempt number one. The real name of this recipe from  Food and Wine   and Tracy Obolsky is Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Blueberry Compote; however, the recipe that followed in the magazine was not for a compote at all .  It seemed more like a fresh blueberry. So I went to David Lebovitz for a rescue, and I made his blueberry compote, complete with a splash of gin.  He swears by that little hint of pine with the blueberries.  I just swear by gin. The compote was sweet with an unexpected but completely mellow earthiness.  I could eat this compote by the spoonful, and when it turned out that I had plenty left over, I almost did.  I did show some restraint and smoothed some of it onto toast the next morning.  The compote was beautiful. However, there was one problem. The compote was much too sweet for a corn panna cotta ...