Stracciatella

Photo by Judith Hausman Spring soup? Well, yes, it has finally started to warm up in New York’s Hudson Valley, but a light, healthful soup, made quickly with a garden’s first offerings, can still tempt me. After a perfect Mothers Day morning of getting this year’s petunias in place and finally moving the overwintered geraniums […]

Green Peppercorn Sauce

Photo by Judith Hausman This is a classic, French-style pan sauce, usually made from the fat and browned bits left from searing meat. However, this version doesn’t depend on having just cooked meat, so it’s great for bringing leftover beef, pork, chicken or even salmon to the next level. For my own meal, it sauced […]

Rice Noodles with Pork

Photo by Judith Hausman Quick and versatile, this Asian-inflected noodle dish is perfect to make use of the first small amounts of new greens and young scallions. I bridged the seasons with the very last of the cabbage from last fall’s harvest and the very first of the spring’s turnip raab. Baby bok choy, totsoi, […]

Lemon Pizza on the Grill

Photo by Judith Hausman Our first barbecue of the season was a joint effort. My hosts offered beautiful burgers, and I made the pizza. While the fire was getting hot enough for the burgers, we maneuvered the stretched and lightly-oiled dough onto the grill first (it took 3 of us to do so!), quickly covered […]

Turkish Leeks

Photo by Judith Hausman Here’s a fresh dish for spring. A recent trip to Turkey gave me a jumpstart on spring cooking because of the milder weather there (the peach and apricot trees were already in bloom) and because of the wonderful vegetable-centric cuisine of that country. It goes without saying that cucumbers, tomatoes and […]