Alice Medrich

Chocolate Hamantaschen

2012-03-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

What? Purim already? I know people who don't like Hamantaschen because they don't like poppy seeds especially, or prune filling, or anything else reminiscent of the Jewish cookies of childhood. Well, I do like (love, even) poppy seeds and prunes and the like, but I am sensitive to the needs of others. So I offer you this very good recipe for Hamantaschen filled with CHOCOLATE. I think

What I Love About Genoise

2012-02-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

I make genoise twice a year whether I like it or not. I make it when I teach at Tante Marie’s Cooking School www.tantemarie.com because Mary Risley (Tante Marie) believes that all aspiring professional culinary students should be able to make genoise. Despite its old school reputation, I do like genoise. And I agree with Mary, though I’m not sure working pastry chefs in this country

Carrot Improv

2012-01-30T23:14:00.000-08:00

After enjoying Mourad’s Lahlou’s carrot soup with its fresh carrot juice and vanilla (see my last post, Where Ideas Come From), I decided to try a little riff. Instead of his touch of curry, I used a very small amount of fresh ginger, nutmeg, and citrus zest. I cooked the carrots in water, puréed them and reheated the puree briefly with fresh carrot and orange juices and a couple drops of

Where Ideas Come From

2012-01-27T14:12:00.000-08:00

I love cooking from other chefs’ recipes. I follow a recipe closely the first time because I want to taste what the chef was thinking and tasting. I’m also curious about the recipe writing (this is an occupational hazard). If there is something unusual about the technique or use of ingredients, I want to learn from it rather than assuming that my usual way of doing something will be better

Crabby When Wrong

2012-01-20T15:25:00.000-08:00

“I may be wrong but” is one of the ways I preface a statement when I really think I'm right but trying not to be too obnoxious. Which is probably fairly obnoxious… For years I’ve cooked Dungeness crabs in plain boiling water, no spices (horrors) and no salt. The crabs are always stunningly delicious and sweet. Divine really. But meanwhile my fishmonger, Paul Johnson (owner of

Sinfully Easy

2012-01-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs a sinfully easy dessert list. What would be on yours? I was invited to a dinner party set for the day after I would return from a trip. When I offered to bring dessert my hosts were okay with that. When I said it would be something super quick and easy, they were okay with that too. I made Bittersweet Chocolate Soufflés and EVERYONE was extremely okay with that! The

Poached Eggs Hold The Vinegar

2012-01-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

I do love poached eggs. I eat one almost every day for weeks on end before I decide to take a break, and after a while I start up all over again. I eat them plain on whole grain or levain toast year round with or without asparagus in spring, tomatoes and basil in summer, and wild mushrooms in fall. I also love vinegar. My vinaigrette errs on the tangy side but I’m okay with that. Though I love

Squeezing Hanukkah Potatoes

2011-12-15T15:17:00.000-08:00

After Hanukkah for each of the last 15 to 20 years I’ve make a mental note to send my brilliant potato squeezing tip to Cooks Illustrated Magazine in time for the following year’s Latke Issue. And every year I let it slide until it is (again) too late. So at last, here’s the scoop: Your potato ricer—that former darling of cooking magazines that now languishes in the back of your cupboard—is

Rules and Ratios

2011-08-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

I had tea yesterday with a very young friend who wants to bake. He asked if I would teach him one of my best basic ratios! This got me thinking. I love the idea that cooking and baking has rules and ratios that define the perfect this or that (butter cake, crème anglaise, sponge cake, whatever). But many of the best and most interesting desserts defy the rules. The indescribably decadent

The Best Old Things

2011-04-05T01:35:00.000-07:00

I have mixers and processors, ice cream machines, an infrared thermometer, digital scale and my share of electric or electronic gadgets in my kitchen. But some of my best, most often used tools are old and simple. Good looking too. And filled with memories. A few date from l972, acquired at La Samaritaine in, or a street market or corner quincaillerie (hardware store). If I need a cup or

Cocoa Curiosity

2011-03-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

About 10 years ago, the late Robert Steinberg (who, with John Scharffenberger, founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker) called to ask if I wanted to come over that evening and taste the first samples of what would later become Scharffen Berger natural cocoa powder. I did. I suggested that Alfred Peet join us. Neither John nor Robert knew Alfred and I relished the idea of

Duck Duck Duck Eggs

2011-03-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Josh brought a dozen fresh eggs from his ducks. How could I be this old and never have tasted duck eggs? Never mind. I scrambled one immediately so he could share my first taste. I thought, “rich, not as egg-y (by which I guess I meant chicken egg-y) tasting as chicken eggs, hmmm”. Some people think they taste cheesy according to Josh. I didn’t and still don’t taste cheese, but

Dulce Dulce

2011-03-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of readers reported an unpleasantly graininess when they tried my dulce de leche from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies. I had good results when I tested for the book, so I was curious about the feedback. I made the recipe several times in the last few days, paying close attention to what might be going on. Before I get into the details, let me admit that the

Sending Back the Fish

2011-03-09T00:46:00.000-08:00

I have a reputation in my family for sending back fish. I am not a hard to please diner. (Is that my daughter rolling her eyes?) It’s not my fault if I am served bad fish, or that someone at my table gets bad fish. I don’t think I am supposed to just sit there and let a loved one get sick. It happens disproportionately often when I am with my daughter. Once (with her) I sent back a platter

Berkeley Breakfast For Two In 15 Minutes

2011-03-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I love to be reminded that the best meals I’ve ever cooked are the simple fast ones I’ve prepared for people I love: a daughter, a lover, or a cherished friend. They often involve a little serendipity. Last week my dear friend E set out for Berkeley from the North Coast to continue the celebration of her 75th. As usual, she stopped at the Booneville hotel to break

Good News and Bad News: Carrot Re-Torte Part Two

2011-02-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

I was so smitten with my Carrot Almond Torte (Carrot Re-Torte) that I decided to try yet another variation. In testing it, I found a typo: the baking temperature for Carrot Almond Torte should be 325 degrees instead of 350. Mea culpa. Good news is that the bad news is not all that bad. I've already corrected the original post, but wanted to call out to the first group of enthusiastic readers

Carrot Re-Torte

2011-02-22T22:46:00.000-08:00

Nora Ephron remembers nothing. I remember nothing in my refrigerator. Why do I have so many carrots? At the market, in the carrot aisle, I say (to myself), “you should eat more carrots” or “it's cold outside, why not braise something (with carrots)” or “how about making those Spicy Carrot Macaroons…” (Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies, page 164). Then, having NOT

Book Touring Blogger's Guilt w/ Apple Crisp

2010-12-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

Authors love to complain about book tours…even though they get tons of attention, stay in beautiful hotels, have stolen moments for breakfast or dinner with people they really like but rarely get to see, meet new interesting people who also (by the way) take care of them and drive them and make sure everything goes well for them at every event, etc. And I’m no exception (about the complaining

The Safe Drivers' Guide to Cupcake Calculation

2010-11-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

I had a last minute email from the folks at Scharffen Berger Chocolate asking for an alternate version of the chocolate cupcake recipe that I created for the Scharffen Berger Tutti Foodie 2010 Chocolate Adventure Contest website (www.chocolateadventurecontest.com). The alternate version would call for unsweetened chocolate instead of cocoa powder, and it was needed almost immediately (don’t ask

National Homemade Cookie Day

2010-09-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, it’s already NHCD and my new book, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies is still about 3 weeks away. Who plans these things? To celebrate the perfection of my timing, here’s an enticing preview of the book to come, complete with recipe. It’s the least I can do. Look for killer brownies (including the ones with the ice bath technique), incredible new

Lost Blog: What No One Told Me

2010-09-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

I “lost” my blog in cyber space for a few days. It had something to do with trying to make the address shorter and the whole thing easier to find. Poof it was gone. I was predictably freaked out…so much psychic energy went into setting it up and writing those posts. But more importantly and surprisingly, I found myself actually missing it. It was the stray you wish you hadn’t adopted, but

Weight(y) Matters

2010-09-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Maybe it would take an iPhone app to get American home bakers to toss their measuring cups and start using a scale. If you want to skip my lecture on measuring (and why you should get a scale), just scroll down to see some iPhone apps (feel free to send your own photos). Meanwhile, ye faithful, read on… They used to say American home cooks were intimidated by scales. Or was it that

Another* Nectarine Story

2010-08-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

Fruit is memory food for me. A bite of this, a whiff of that can take me instantly to my Southern California roots (picking succulent plums from our rooftop with my best friend Linda, parking in the orange groves with my boyfriend). Often the memory is France, vivid, random, sweet… I recently joined old friends for brunch just up the street, in the middle of the week. So luxurious. It

The old author as new blogger

2010-08-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

My 8th book, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Cookies, will be out this fall. I'm excited to be finished with it. Now it's been "suggested" (didn't I put that delicately?) that the best way to celebrate the completion of a new book is to blog about it. What a surprise to learn that starting a blog is more intimidating than writing a book. It’s immediate. Where is the editor to