Category Archives: cooking

Fatto a Mano — Pasta by Hand

Posted on May 9, 2014 by diary of a tomato

I did a presentation on the whimsical pasta of the city of Matera for my Italian class, and prepared several different shapes to bring in and show, per mostrare e raccontare. The pasta was formed by hand with a basic dough made from semolina flour and water. Clockwise, from top left: Minnicchi, made … Continue reading →

Posted in cooking | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Spekkoek — Thousand Layer Spice Cake

Posted on April 25, 2014 by diary of a tomato

My mother used to make something we would call 10-Egg Cake, a name based on the number of eggs baked into it. Spekkoek, or Thousand Layer Spice Cake, is a similarly egg-laden concoction. Though the name is more poetic than actual, it’s composed of multiple … Continue reading →

Posted in cooking | Tagged , , , | 28 Comments

Roasted Mushroom Soup with Potatoes and Leeks

Posted on April 11, 2014 by diary of a tomato

The thing we like best about soup is how well it takes to improvising, and a recent visit to the farmers’ market had us imagining a rustic mushroom soup, almost chowder-like, with chunks of potatoes and curly leeks rounding things out. The appearance of a new … Continue reading →

Posted in cooking | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Daily Bread: Cider Molasses Quick Bread

Posted on April 4, 2014 by diary of a tomato

Essentially a quick version of brown bread, this hearty loaf is a beautiful expression of local ingredients, and has become one of our favorite ways to use the grainy whole wheat flour and nutty cornmeal being produced around us. We’ve gotten in the habit of … Continue reading →

Posted in cooking | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Slurry Noodles

Posted on April 3, 2014 by diary of a tomato

Following our first attempts at making noodles, we came across this video of a street vendor in China preparing sweet potato starch noodles while at the same time demonstrating some lesser understood laws governing non-Newtonian fluids. If you’ve ever mixed cornstarch with water into a slurry … Continue reading →

Posted in cooking, interlude | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Winter Squash Carbonara with Bacon and Sage

Posted on March 28, 2014 by diary of a tomato

After it appeared in Bon Appetit last February, this recipe for Winter Squash Carbonara was quick to gain popularity, and deservedly so. It reminded us of when its sister publication Gourmet ran a column of tempting weeknight recipes that were known for their ease … Continue reading →

Posted in cooking | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Daily Bread: Hot Bagels

Posted on March 26, 2014 by diary of a tomato

“Gimme a dozen, my life’s blood — without bagels, what is a day?” If you’re a frequent visitor here, you’re already familiar with our infatuation with baking bagels at home. Filmed in Brooklyn during the 70’s, Hot Bagels shows the age-old process of … Continue reading →

Posted in cooking, interlude | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments