Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

How to Jazz Up Homemade (or Not!) Yogurt

For a long time in the U.S., yogurt was treated as a diet food. Something we ate because we should, not necessarily because we wanted to. Tangy, astringent, and sometimes soupy, a bowl of plain yogurt is not, for many of us, particularly crave-worthy. In recipes, it was often relegated […]

Sauces, Dressings, and Condiments

Manchamantel Mole

Makes 2 cups Manchamantel translates to English as “tablecloth stainer.” This sauce has a sweet, tart, and spicy flavor. The tomatoes really round out the flavor and add richness to the sauce. This would be great with any grilled meat or vegetable. Ingredients 1 dried ancho chile 1/2 dried guajillo […]

Chef's Blog

There Is No Wrong Way to Enjoy a Peach

“I am thinking, of course, of the peach before I ate it.” Peach, D.H. Lawrence (1923). Romanticizing fruit is a task best left to the poets, who have better language for conveying what is inherently perfect about a ripe summer peach. That leaves the rest of us with the more […]

Chef's Blog

Tips for the Perfect Fruit Pie Without a Recipe

In a moment of introspection, it has occurred to us that “pie season” is sort of a disingenuous concept. We are currently in the thick of summer pie season, but also, we are on the tail end of late spring pie season. And before we know it, it will be […]