If there is one arcane art in baking, it’s understanding and using the Baker’s Percentage. Once you’ve grasped the fundamentals, the whole world of baking seems simpler.

Categories: baking, bread, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, mother recipe, technique

Having a good basic quick bread recipe in your repertoire makes life easy when you want to use up some bananas or zucchini, or find yourself hosting a brunch, or just want something tasty while you watch the snowstorm blowing outside your window. Michael Ruhlman’s Basic Quick Bread/Muffin Ratio from his book Ratio: The Simple Codes [...]

Categories: baking, bread, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, mother recipe

I love making scones. When you know that while working as a pastry chef I made scones by the gross on Sundays, and made as many as 150 dozen on Mothers’ Day, you might be surprised that I still love making them. But I do, because then I get to eat them. Here’s a good, [...]

Categories: baking, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, mother recipe, technique

I really enjoy good food, but I don’t necessarily want to spend all day every day slaving over a hot stove. Having a Ragù di Peperoni e Pomodori sitting in the refrigerator means I can have the flavor of hours of cooking in just a few minutes.

Categories: dairy-free, gluten-free, mother recipe, pantry, sauce, vegan, vegetarian
Tagged: dairy-free, gluten-free, mother recipe, pantry, sauce, vegan, vegetarian

The holiday season is in full swing, there’s snow on the ground here in East Tennessee, the wind is howling like a banshee, and it’s below freezing. It must be time for cookies!

Categories: baking, cookie, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, cookie, mother recipe, technique

It was one of those cold mornings that begged for some really good pork sausage. Fortunately, I’d just returned from a quick trip to Portland to get a vehicle left behind. When I say fortunate, I mean it. No sooner had I booked the flight to Portland than I received an email from Portland Meat [...]

Categories: charcuterie, mother recipe
Tagged: charcuterie, mother recipe

It’s June already. Time to start putting up the harvest, beginning with herbal jellies. You’ll need some basic equipment to make jellies that you’ll be able to use for other preservation projects. If you don’t already have a large stockpot that is more than 12″ in diameter, you’ll need a water-bath canner; if you do, [...]

Categories: condiments, mother recipe, preserving
Tagged: condiments, mother recipe, preserving

A mustard recipe was requested, I’m teaching a class on making Burgers this weekend, and I just happen to have some Guinness and two kinds of mustard seeds sitting around. Let’s make some mustard. It’ll only take two or three days. Mustard ½ cup yellow mustard seeds ¼ cup brown mustard seeds (optional) ¾ cup [...]

Categories: condiments, mother recipe
Tagged: condiments, mother recipe

I wanted a nice Spring afternoon snack today, and when I spotted some lovely blueberries, I knew that a simple blueberry scone with lemon curd would go really well with a cup of coffee and a healthy dose of lazing about. Fortunately, I had lemon curd already made, so I could start on the lazing [...]

Categories: baking, dessert, eggs, mother recipe, preserving, vegetarian
Tagged: baking, dessert, eggs, fruit, mother recipe, preserving, technique, vegetarian

Spanikopita, sometimes called spinach pie, is a classic, easy dish. It can be made with fresh spinach or frozen, with feta or your preferred cheese, with or without eggs, and with butter or olive oil. It can be served warm, cold, or room temperature. It’s not at all fussy to make, and lasts a week in the [...]

Categories: baking, entertaining, entrée, lunch, mother recipe, side dish, supper, vegetarian
Tagged: baking, entertaining, entrée, lunch, main course, mother recipe, side dish, supper, vegetarian