Before we left on our recent trip to Alaska, I compiled a collection of recipes that I thought might work for car camping.  They had to be simple — based on ingredients we could find at most any grocery store —and require a minimum of pots and pans.  One skillet would be ideal.

At the same time, I wanted fresh flavors and appealing textures.  Canned goods and pantry items soon lose their charm when you’re traveling for six weeks.

Our favorite quick and easy meal turned out to be an updated version of Joe’s Special, the venerable San Francisco dish made with spinach, eggs, onions and ground meat.  Think of it as a deconstructed fritatta.  It takes a bit of chopping but it comes together fairly quickly and tastes terrific.

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Almost anything goes with chocolate, it seems.

Last weekend at the San Francisco Chocolate Salon, I tasted delightful chocolates combined with Guinness, jackfruit, bacon and genmai tea — in separate confections, thank goodness. Even the Van Gogh vodka infused with dusky Dutch chocolate, which I sampled with some trepidation, was lovely.

It shouldn’t be surprising then that dark chocolate and peppery extra virgin olive oil make such a stunning marriage in the almost flourless cake from Fran Gage‘s just-released book, “The New American Olive Oil” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009). The single-layer cake is at once dense, moist and amazingly light, with the silky smooth texture of velvet. Just enough of the oil’s pungent bite hovers in the background to highlight the chocolate’s subtly fruity character. I may never go back to butter. (more…)

Chances are you’ve never heard of colcannon, much less ranked it high on your list of favorite Irish foods. It certainly wasn’t part of my repertoire until recently, when I began looking for new ways to cook the kale that floods local farmers markets during the winter months.

For the record, colcannon is a traditional Irish peasant dish dating back at least to the 18th century. It sounds a little odd: A concoction of mashed potatoes and cooked cabbage or kale with a little onion thrown in, and perhaps some bacon if you’re flush.

On the plate, however, it’s a revelation. The greens bring pleasing texture and a new layer of flavor to often stodgy mashed potatoes, while onions contribute sweet and savory notes. The bacon — well, what’s not to like about bacon? It’s the spark of salt and fat that brings the dish to life. (more…)

Some people drool over Neiman-Marcus catalogs filled with designer clothes and $600 shoes. My guilty pleasure is cookware catalogs abrim with pricey pots and clever gadgets.

I always make time to thumb through the Williams-Sonoma catalog even though I rarely can afford anything on its glossy pages. That’s how I ran across Thomas Keller’s slow-cooker cassoulet, photographed temptingly in All-Clad’s shiny, deluxe slow cooker ($279.95, gasp, plus tax and shipping), last week.

Keller, of course, is All-Clad’s celebrity chef spokesman. He’s paid to tout their products, which always are top of the line with prices to match. On the other hand, he’s the man who turned The French Laundry into arguably the best restaurant in the country. His palate is pitch perfect.

If Keller was willing to put his name on a slow cooker cassoulet recipe, I felt compelled to try it.

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