Almonds

Baklava

June 17, 2010 by Charles 8 Comments

Baklava stresses me out.

As soon as I open the plastic packaging and roll out the cold sheets of phyllo dough, I feel like I’m in a race against time. I can picture the sand streaming down the hour glass, announcing the moment that the phyllo dough will become parched and unworkable, as if your potter’s wheel could only spin for so long. Time is of the essence, but working quickly is not necessarily the solution. Move too carelessly and too quickly, and the thin sheets will tear and break into equally unworkable pieces.

I’ve tried covering the sheets with cold towels, or keeping half the sheets in the refrigerator, but have not noticed any real difference. If I am going to work with phyllo dough, I am going to have to work quickly and carefully. And that stresses me out. …

Quinoa Meal

April 2, 2010 by Charles 6 Comments

Relationships are like cooking. Just as recipes often require staple ingredients, so too are relationships built on certain foundational elements. But, beyond the basics, the thrill of cooking resides for me in the unexpected combination of ingredients. The way a sprinkling of cayenne pepper intensifies chocolate with its smoky spice.

Charles and I share many ingredients between us: a love of writing and cooking (and a sometimes bossy attitude in the kitchen!), a creative eye, an interest in obscure documentaries, the desire to wander new cities by foot, and the legal profession. And while I cherish our similarities, my life has been enriched by our unique ingredients. Charles was raised Jewish in New Orleans and with several siblings, whereas I grew up in Washington, D.C. as an only child from an Irish Catholic family. Together, we’ve incorporated these traditions, yielding a flavor that is complex, new, and wonderful.

Last March, we tried our hand at hamantaschen in honor of Purim. In December, amidst law school final exams, I enjoyed…

Ajo Blanco – White Gazpacho

September 7, 2009 by Charles 1 Comment

Gazpacho requires a descriptor. As I’ve noted previously, asking for plain, old “gazpacho” just won’t cut it.

There can be tomato gazpacho, watermelon gazpacho, or mango gazpacho, the cold soup characterized by its underlying fruit. But there can also be green gazpacho and white gazpacho, the latter often referred to as ajo blanco. Ajo blanco is made from ground almonds, combined with what makes gazpacho, gazpacho: bread, garlic, and vinegar. Once prepared, ajo blanco is traditionally served with green grapes.

While ajo blanco remains incredibly popular in southern Spain, its tangy flavor may…

Almond Butter

May 24, 2009 by Charles 7 Comments

When I made my Chinese Chicken Salad, I had to find a substitute for the peanut butter – the result of a peanut allergy. The substitution was hardly a problem; Whole Foods carried freshly ground cashew butter and almond butter in its bulk section. After sampling each, I decided to go with the almond butter. The rest of the recipe went according to plan.

After sampling the chicken salad, Caitlin suggested that I should make my own almond butter. I was skeptical. Just a few weeks earlier, I had made Almond-Stuffed Baked Apples, and after several seconds of grinding almonds, no such butter had appeared.

But sure enough, …

Almond-Stuffed Baked Apples

April 26, 2009 by Charles 3 Comments

On January 24, 1984, Apple Computer introduced audiences to its new computer, the Macintosh. The introduction, by way of a landmark 60-second Superbowl commercial, promised users that they would “see why 1984 won’t be like [George Orwell’s] 1984.”

The commercial owed its creation to the director Ridley Scott, who had recently filmed Blade Runner. The Macintosh computer owed its creation to Jef Raskin, one of Apple’s legendary computer makers. As does the computer’s trade name; McIntosh apples, legend has it, were Jef Raskin’s favorite type of apple.

And it’s easy to see why. McIntosh apples …