When I started messing around with biscotti recipes, I was struck by how straightfoward and sturdy they were, compared with other cookies. As some kind of unintentional test, perhaps, I served them alongside classic chocolate chip cookies, like the ones in the foreground of the picture above. But whereas in good old fashioned drop cookies, the soft chips disappear into the soft dough, here the melty chips make for an unusual contrast with the crisp of the espresso background. Good dipped in coffee, hot chocolate, and even tea.

From my…

DISH: Green Potato Leek Soup
TYPE: Quintessential Cooking for One
MAIN INGREDIENT: Greens, Potatoes, Leeks

“Soup!” Rocco kept saying into the mic: “Just make soup.”

This call to soup took place early last week on stage in a large room at the main branch of the New York Public Library. Phoebe and I were in the audience, watching a panel of food people at the library’s special event. Amanda Hesser was moderating, and Julie Powell, Marion Nestle, and the above-quoted Rocco DiSpirito chatted about what it meant to cook at home.
Since we were at

…

Carrot-Cabbage Pancake with Herbed Sour Cream
Makes 1 serving

I seem to always have part of a head of cabbage and a few carrots lying around these days. They’re perfect for pantry cooking since they can keep in the fridge for weeks at a time, but aren’t really something I would readily toss into an omelet or frittata when cooking for one. But by mixing pre-cooked cabbage and carrots and uncooked egg together and then pan-frying it like a pancake, you get an egg-based dish that’s crispier than a frittata, and less egg-y than an omelet. Though not quite…

I whine about the hassles of living in New York a lot. I hate the crowded 4 train, how everything costs a fortune, and finding cabs downtown on weekend nights. What I fail to mention, when I’m whining, are New York’s redeeming qualities, like the resources I sometimes forget about. I don’t think there are that many other cities (or least there weren’t about a decade ago), where you could find amateur and even kid-oriented cooking classes at a professional institution. In New York, you can.

When I was a teenager, I’d occasionally take a day-long class at…

EVENT: Matt’s Birthday Bash
VENUE: Phoebe’s Apartment, Flatiron
PARTY SIZE: 20
TYPE: Festive Weekend Fete
MENU: Al Forno Five Cheese Pasta; Penne Gratin with Sausage, Fennel, and Mushrooms; Romaine Salad with Green Goddess Dressing; Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing (Caitlyn)

Unlike some of my friends, Caitlyn’s boyfriend Matt is the last person you would ever think to make a fuss over his birthday. But regardless of whether he willingly submits to the planning frenzy that inevitably ensues in the days…

Baked Orzo Ratatouille
Makes 6 servings

Last night Cara came over for a casual hang-sesh to talk life, love, and all things Big Girls, Small Kitchens. As she drafted a thank you email to our new friends at SHINE, I whipped up this simple orzo dish. I bought the eggplant, squash, and zucchini—a total of $3.08 from the overpriced gourmet foods shop around the corner –on my way home, tossed together the rest from my pantry and fridge, and in less than 30 minutes (pardon me, Rachel Ray), this impromptu…

guess who gave me this well-rounded lunchbox? a: my mom

DISH: Spring Tonic Salad, Nearly Sugarless Carrot Cake
MAIN INGREDIENT: Bulgur Wheat, Spring Vegetables
TYPE: Lunch-able
BUY: Gourmet Getaway Lunch Tote

When I came down with my umpteenth cold of the season, I figured I had to get serious about the nutrition content of what I put in my body. Though the subway I ride and the insulated row of cubicles I work in each day definitely do their part to infuse my weakening immune system with New York City’s germs, sometimes I wonder if my junk…

DISH: Seared Salmon with Green Sauce
TYPE: Simple, Fresh Ingredients
MAIN INGREDIENT: Salmon, Fresh Herbs, Olive Oil

Even the Quarter-Life Cook must admit that some things will never taste quite as good from her kitchen as they do from the outside world. Though I don’t support the establishment, my French Fries will never compare to the treatment of the double deep fryers at McDonald’s; after intensive shucking lessons, I somehow still think I would prefer an oyster from the Pearl Oyster Bar over my own; even if I had the famous secret recipe and my own brick oven,…

EVENT: Mag Club May, Cinco de Mayo
VENUE: Leora’s Apartment, Chelsea
PARTY SIZE: 8
TYPE: Potluck
MENU: Cilantro Slaw (Phoebe); Chipotle-Pineapple Glazed Tofu, Grilled Pineapple, Guacamole, Bean Dip (Leora); Shrimp Tostadas (Sarah); Butternut Squash Nacho Casserole (Kate); Green Rice, Chocolate-Bottomed Blondies, Mexican Chocolate Cookies (Cara); Sangria (Jordana); Various Whole Foods concoctions and Mexican Cheer (Julie and Alana)Tuesday, the 5th of May, didn’t really feel like a holiday, or like a day in springtime at all: the skies were dark,

…

Stewed Greens with White Beans
Serves 6

I keep coming back to this dish as a favorite standby. Though I’ll forget all about it for a while, the moment I happen to have the ingredients on hand I’ll put it together, and the first taste of garlicky goodness will make me want to eat it for a week straight (which, with the amount I made, is what I’ll be doing). If you cut the greens pretty small, this makes a great topping for a bruschetta. And, if you’re not a bean person, feel free to leave them out. The plain stewed greens are good on their own

EVENT: Saturday Brunch
VENUE: Cara’s Apartment, Park Slope
SIZE: 3
MENU: Hash-Brown One-Eyes with Homemade Ketchup and Pesto Sour Cream; Roasted Baby Carrots; Wake-Up Cocoa Quickbread

Ah, that moment of recognition when you discover that someone else eats the same favorite food combination as you. It’s instantly bond forming and can solve all kinds of mysteries. For example: in 1998′s The Parent Trap, how would the American Lindsay Lohan have known that the British Lindsay Lohan was her identical twin separated at birth if…

EVENT: High School Reunion, Jessy’s 24th Birthday

VENUE: Jennie’s Parents’ Apartment, Upper West Side
PARTY SIZE: 10
TYPE: Potluck
MENU: Jessy’s Babaganoush; Smokey Spinach Quesadillas (P); Jennie’s Fish Tacos with all the Fixings; Mocha Cake (C); Sarah’s Blondies

This potluck party was a long time ago—Jessy’s going on 25 by now—but it feels fitting to have this post so fixated on the past. High school, too, was a long time ago, but far be it from us not to think about it pretty much every day.

Having grown…

EVENT: It’s Saturday, let’s gather round the skillet.
VENUE: Alix’s Apartment, Soho
PARTY SIZE: 10
TYPE: Festive Weekend Dinner
MENU: Paella; Andalucian Chickpea and Spinach Stew

The summer after senior year of college, knowing I was soon to sell my soul to the big bad world of global cosmetics, I tried to rid my system of any remnants of the travel bug before my international consciousness was limited to the confines of my Midtown cubical. At the end of my two-month stint in four different…