I knew I was going to be a happy cook in Portland the first time I shopped at the Montavilla farmers market near my temporary apartment.

There, taking center stage in one stall, were large crates of plump, perfect rhubarb stalks in all their fuchsia pink glory.

Most people probably wouldn’t consider rhubarb — a vegetable that passes as a fruit — an exotic ingredient, I know. But my search for fresh, vibrant rhubarb usually felt like a treasure hunt when I lived in Northern California. Continue reading Rhubarb makes my day →

Chocolate, cheesecake and cupcakes.  What’s not to like?

Amid all the change in my life right now, it’s comforting to return to old favorites.  I had almost forgotten about these fabulous, moist black bottom cupcakes until I needed something easy to fill out the menu at a children’s birthday party last month.

We were afraid the birthday cake wouldn’t go far enough, so I whipped up a few dozen of these backups–no frosting required.  All the children headed for the red cake with the Captain America shield on top.  The smart adults gravitated toward these little treats with the cheesecake and chocolate chip centers.

At one point, these cupcakes were the staple of every potluck at my old paper.  That’s where I snagged the recipe that was floating around the newsroom.

Baked in silver foil and arranged in a pyramid with flowers, they served as one of my best friend’s wedding cake.  Several of us baked dozens of the cupcakes over a period of weeks and stashed them in the freezer until the big day. They went fast.

Perhaps the nicest thing about these little cakes is you can stir them together without any special equipment.  A bowl, a measuring cup and spoons, and a wooden spoon are all you need. There’s no need to cream butter and, although it’s helpful to sift together the dry ingredients, it’s not absolutely necessary.

Cocoa is the secret to the dark chocolate flavor of the cake batter.  I use Valrhona if I have it on hand, but Hershey’s will do fine.  There’s so much flavor going on, most eaters will miss the subtleties anyway.

Plop a couple of tablespoons of the cake mixture into muffin tins lined with paper cups, top each with a heaping teaspoon of the cream cheese and chocolate chip mixture and push them into the oven.  When they’re done, so are you.  Frosting would be way over the top.

These cupcakes are so moist, they keep well.  There are still a few stashed in the freezer.  I’d better grab one before they all disappear.

When life careens out of control and it’s all I can do to get dinner on the table, I always count on pasta.

There’s nothing like a big plate of carbohydrates and fresh veggies to lift the spirits.  If its quick, easy and packed with bold flavors, I leave the table refreshed and ready to take on the world again.

This recipe for fusilli with arugula and pine nuts has been my salvation in recent weeks.  I’ve needed a lot of help in the dinner department since our house sold in just three days last month.  We were stunned and had only 30 days to pack up, move out and find a new place in Portland. Continue reading Pasta to lift the spirits →

By now, you may have had your fill of simply steamed or roasted asparagus.  I haven’t yet, but I can see that day coming.

Every spring, I gorge on plump asparagus spears from the farmers markets.  I adore the grassy freshness and pure green flavor of just-cut stalks.  Nothing tastes quite so much like spring.

But somewhere along the line, I always begin thinking of the other things I might do with those beautiful spears.  This year, my thoughts turned to shaved asparagus salad. Continue reading Asparagus gets a shave →

With Cinco de Mayo just over the horizon, I can’t think of a better time to celebrate the pleasures of chile paired with chocolate.

I’ve long been drawn to the mysteriously spicy undercurrents that some chiles bring to rich, dark chocolate.  The mild, fruity taste of ancho chile in particular brings out unexpected layers of flavor in even ordinary unsweetened chocolate. Here, it spices up homey brownies inspired by Mexican ingredients. Continue reading Brownies with a chile kick →

With the days getting longer and temperatures rising, grilling season has opened at our house.

Throughout the warm months, we cook at least half our dinners outside.  They’re simple affairs–a piece of fish, or perhaps a pork chop, and a grill basket filled with the season’s best vegetables.  I never tire of the way a little smoky char brings out the natural sweetness of everything from eggplant and zucchini to peppers and potatoes.

This year, we decided to try grilling artichokes, which are plentiful at the farmers markets right now.  I especially like the smaller ‘chokes with their tender stems. Continue reading ‘Chokes on the grill →

 Many cookbooks are primarily kitchen manuals filled with no-nonsense instructions.

Not “Ripe.”  Author Cheryl Sternman Rule and photographer Paulette Phlipot break the cookbook mold.  Their  gorgeous tribute to fresh produce in all its glory is more inspiration than instruction, although filled with creative recipes.

“Ripe” (Running Press, 2012) will send you straight into the kitchen — right after you get home from the farmer’s market.  You may find yourself keeping it out on the coffee table, though, to thumb through in idle moments.  The photographs are downright luscious and the text is whimsical, amusing and informative. Continue reading Ripe for reading and cooking →

Whenever I get together with my friend Lisa, we spend much of our time hanging out in the kitchen, cooking, eating and laughing.

Lisa is an adventurous eater and enthusiastic cook.  She’s the one who introduced me to Ethiopian food and soft shell crabs.  We’ve shared summer pudding in East Berlin, lobster straight out of the steamer at a beach house in Delaware, and southwest paella cooked over a backpacking stove in Yosemite.

Ours is a bi-coastal friendship and we don’t see each other as much now that we no longer work in journalism.  But when I flew back to Maryland to visit her last month, we picked up right where we left off, drinking tea in the remodeled kitchen of her Victorian house and planning our meals for the week.

This pork roast came from a dinner party we threw for a few of Lisa’s close friends.  Continue reading An Italian take on tenderloin →

I’m on a mission to bring back the hot cross bun.  When made well, this lightly sweet, yeasty bun studded with dried fruit is a highlight of the days leading up to Easter.

Good examples of the traditional British buns – which date back at least as far as Queen Elizabeth I and probably to the Saxon era – are becoming harder and harder to find, though.  Supermarket offerings are usually stale, leaden lumps overloaded with dreadful candied fruit.

Several years ago, I began experimenting with baking my own.   I tried a number of approaches, including kneading fruit and spices into frozen bread dough, mixing everything up in the bread machine, and making yeast bread by hand with three risings.  My kitchen is always pretty cool, though, and getting bread to rise is difficult (which is one reason I often start with the bread machine). Continue reading Hot cross buns for everyone →

No form of cooking intimidates beginning cooks quite like baking.  Because the chemistry must be precise for cakes to rise and cookies to achieve the right balance between chewy and crisp, there’s very little room for error.

That doesn’t mean it has to be mysterious or terribly difficult.   All aspiring bakers really need is someone to offer a little gentle guidance in the kitchen.

Pat Sinclair does just that in the newly revised second edition of “Baking Basics and Beyond” (Surrey Books, 2011).  She breaks all the steps in baking down into easy to follow instructions.  Sprinkled among the recipes and descriptions of ingredients and techniques are little tips I wish someone had shared with me long ago.  Who knew you could test whether the sugar has dissolved properly in a meringue by rubbing a little bit of the beaten egg whites between your fingers? Continue reading Drop your scones →