Honest Cooking and Travel

What if a bellini was a popsicle? Fresh raspberries blended with honey, poured into moulds as the first layer and frozen for thirty minutes. Then ripe mangoes blended with more honey and a cup of prosecco, poured on top as the second layer. Sticks inserted, frozen for four hours or overnight. Two layers, two fruits, prosecco in every bite. These don’t last long here.

T...

I first saw eggplant stacks at a restaurant in Positano where they came to the table drizzled with something dark and sweet. Balsamic glaze. The eggplant was grilled, the mozzarella was melted, and there was a basil leaf tucked between each layer. This recipe does the same: half-inch eggplant rounds grilled until marked and tender, then stacked with tomato basil marinara, fre...

I made this pasta salad the first warm Saturday of the year when I wanted something that used the grill and could be eaten cold at the table an hour later. Four cups of cherry tomatoes grilled until charred and blistered, about five to seven minutes, tossed with a pound of cooked pasta, fresh basil, grated Parmesan, and balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper.

The grilled to...

I learned this from a line cook at a restaurant in Santa Fe who told me the secret was scraping the cobs. After cutting the kernels off five or six ears of corn, you take the back of your knife and scrape up and down the bare cobs over the skillet. The corn milk that comes out thickens the dish and gives it a creaminess you cannot get from kernels alone.

The kernels co...

I made these scones on a Sunday morning using the last of the blackberries from a bush in my backyard and a bottle of blackberry maple syrup I had bought at a farmers’ market and never opened. The syrup replaces most of the liquid in the scone dough: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cold butter, blackberry maple syrup, milk, and vanilla. Fresh blackberries folded in at the ...