I had been meaning to make Irish soda bread in honor of St. Patrick this week when an offhand note in the recipe sent me off in a new direction.

In the introduction to his Irish soda bread recipe in “Home Baking” (Artisan, 2003), food writer and world traveler Jeffrey Alford mentions making scones at the impromptu boarding house he once ran in Ireland. The buns sounded like much more fun than the traditional loaf. There’s nothing I like better than scones for breakfast and these were packed with whole grains.

They come together quickly and cook much faster than loaves, too. While you’re still waiting for a loaf to come out of the oven, you could be munching on a hot scone slathered in melting butter. Add a little jam and life is very good, indeed. (more…)

Meet my new favorite cookie.

I know, I’m a fickle cookie lover, easily distracted by the latest flavor sensation.  I’ve rarely met a homemade cookie I didn’t like.

But this combination of toffee and chocolate chips has my number.  It’s chewy and nutty at the center with crisp edges and the buttery flavor of toffee playing off  bittersweet chocolate chips. One just leads to another and another and….. (more…)

Once upon a time, bran muffins were considered health food.  That was before food processors got their hands on them and muffins became overblown monuments to excess — loaded with fat and sugar, wrapped in cellophane and sold in every convenience store and coffee shop.  Now a single bran muffin from a commercial oven easily can top 400 calories.

The problem, of course is that the earlier bran muffins were hard to swallow. All that fiber-rich bran has the texture and flavor of sawdust and needs to be lightened up before it’s palatable to most eaters.  Sugar and fat are the simplest solutions.  But not the only ones.

These updated muffins are the best of both eras, moist and tasty but not too sweet or rich.  The secret is in yogurt and honey, which improve the texture and boost flavor. (more…)

A perfectly ripe pear is a joy unto itself, requiring little more than a bit of cheese and a handful of nuts to make a memorable dessert.

Sadly, I haven’t encountered many perfect pears.

The pears of my experience tend to be hard as rocks at the market, only to bruise and scar in the bag on the trip home, then turn to mush almost overnight on the kitchen counter.  Sometime in between, I know there is a point when they’re just right, the flesh still slightly firm, the sweet juices flowing freely.  But I miss it more often than not.

Still, I can’t resist the promise of pears.  Every fall, I find myself buying gorgeous pears at the peak of the season in the hope I can catch a few at the elusive moment of perfection.  It’s a good thing I have this cake as Plan B for the fruit that doesn’t measure up. It’s especially good with Bosc pears. (more…)

The trouble with writing about seasonal cooking at this time of year is you never know what the weather gods are going to deliver from day to day.

When I started working on this post, temperatures were chilly and the skies overcast.  Nothing seemed more appropriate than this hearty variation on risotto made with mushrooms and an ancient form of wheat Italians know as farro.  By the time I got up this morning, though, temperatures already were in the 60s and the sun was rising in a clear sky.

Still, the forecast is for rain and cold weather again in a couple of days.  Unless you have a well-stocked pantry, it may take that long to round up the essential ingredients for this dish. Not every market carries farro alongside the rice and pasta, although it has become more widely available in recent years.

Nutty in flavor and nicely chewy, farro is one of my favorite whole grains. It makes a tasty change from brown rice and bulgur and cooks about as quickly as white rice.   Semi-perlato farro, with lightly polished grains, still retains some of its nutritious bran and it’s a lot less daunting than wheat berries. (more…)