When I first learned to make chocolate truffles thirty years ago I didn’t know I was learning the recipe originally conceived, or at least credited to, Fernand Point (1897-1955), one of the greatest French chefs. He trained or mentored such giants as Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel, and Jean and Pierre Troisgros, which should give you [...]

Categories: chocolate, dessert, entertaining, gluten-free, mother recipe, vegetarian
Tagged: chocolate, dessert, entertaining, gluten-free, mother recipe, vegetarian

When it comes to comfort food it’s hard to top meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. But I did my best. Turned out rather well, and it only took two weeks to make!
What? Two weeks? Well, yes. I had to cure the bacon. While the bacon was curing I had to make the ketchup. And [...]

Categories: entrée, mother recipe, mushroom, supper
Tagged: entrée, mother recipe, mushroom, supper

Sitting under all that cheese is a simple marinara sauce. By itself it’s an excellent sauce for pasta, polenta, and that Italian-American standby Chicken Parmigiana (or it’s vegetarian/vegan version, Eggplant Parmigiana). It makes a great pizza sauce. I even used some as part of a seafood stew whipped up in just a few minutes. As [...]

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

There’s a first time for everything, and this time was my first making focaccia. I’ve made various other breads, but never once had I made a flatbread of any sort. Somehow I’m not surprised that it’s easy. The process takes about 5½ hours, so have something else to do if you want to make this [...]

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

No Thanksgiving feast is complete without at least one dessert, so I made individual Butternut Squash Cheesecakes. I used my mother recipes for the crust and filling.
Crust Mother Recipe
2 cups fine crumbs
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Mix the crumbs and melted butter in a bowl. Using a prepared pan, pat the mixture into place. [...]

Categories: baking, dessert, mother recipe
Tagged: baking, dessert, mother recipe

I was watching Top Chef: Las Vegas and saw one of the contestants struggling with sauce velouté. Really? You can’t make a blonde roux and mix it with white stock? So, for future contestants, here’s what you need to know, and I’ll even teach you how to make it into a soup.
First, make a white [...]

Categories: Soup, mother recipe, sauce, stock, technique
Tagged: mother recipe, sauce, Soup, stock, technique

I was out at Bob’s Red Mill yesterday to visit their store and do a bit of browsing for more flours. Somehow I managed to leave without the spelt and kamut flours that intrigued me, but I did get some interesting flours. I’m not gluten intolerant like some people, but I like producing excellent foods [...]

Categories: baking, bread, gluten-free, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, gluten-free, mother recipe, technique

Now that I have nearly 2 liters of cherry liqueur sitting around, I have to come up with excuses to use it. Yes, it makes a great Cherry Coke, but I can only drink so many of those. As it happens, I’m teaching a series of classes based on classic French cooking, so instead of [...]

Categories: dessert, entertaining, mother recipe
Tagged: dessert, entertaining, fruit, mother recipe

Mayonnaise is deliciously simple to make and tastes nothing like the stuff you buy in a jar. All you need to make it is a bowl, a whisk, a squeeze bottle, and a few ingredients. It’s really handy to have a soft silicone pad that will keep the bowl from moving while you whisk. Alternatively, [...]

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

If you’ve never made egg pasta, it really isn’t as hard as you might think. It may not be as easy as Mario Batali makes it look on Iron Chef America, but it’s easy nonetheless.

Categories: eggs, entrée, mother recipe, pasta, technique
Tagged: entrée, main course, mother recipe, pasta, supper, technique