Don’t be Foiled

By Katie Barreira

I remember a drawer in my nana’s kitchen that was dedicated entirely to neatly folded squares of used tinfoil. Although we find ourselves in the midst of a recession, I won’t push this sort of Depression era scrapping. Instead, here are three great ways to use aluminum foil that will save you loads of time and frustration.

Don’t be…
Foiled by Parchment Paper
Cooking en papillote refers to food that is baked in a neat envelope of parchment paper, which puffs full of steam for gentle cooking and a dramatic presentation when the paper is slit open at the table and the eater is enveloped by the aromatic steam.

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Squashapalooza

By Katie Barreira

It’s late summer and the squash just keeps on coming. Well, bring it on!

Of the thin-skinned beauties, speckled green zucchini are my favorite. Raw or cooked, savory or sweet, the versatile zucchini makes it easy and delicious to get your veg on. Try all three of these recipes and get a taste of the range that zucchini has to offer.

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Quick Pickled Okra

By Katie Barreira

Pickles are all the rage and I couldn’t be happier. The tangy, juicy crunch of a pickle makes a perfect companion to some of our most iconic meals, but pickles aren’t just for cheeseburgers or pastrami sandwiches and cucumbers aren’t the only things you can pickle.

Making a rousing comeback are small stores like The Pickle Guys, in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, which preserves the traditional Eastern European style of pickling, along with barrels of half sours, green tomatoes and garlic cloves.

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Playing With Preserved Lemons

By Katie Barreira

Say preserving in August and the culinary mind jumps to mason jars and piles of late-summer produce. But canning isn’t the only way to preserve, and summer isn’t the only time to do it. This past winter, when citrus was about it for fresh fruit, I decided to preserve some lemons. A staple in Moroccan cooking, preserved lemons are salt cured with spices like black pepper and cinnamon. The result is a soft, entirely edible (though, like a fresh lemon, you wouldn’t want to eat it on it’s own) lemon that adds a rich, pickled lemon flavor to drinks, dinner and even dessert.

Preserved lemons can be found in gourmet food shops; seek them out and add a whole new dimension to your cooking; I did!

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Tomatoes in the Raw

By Katie Barreira

August is the right time for a ripe tomato. As a latecomer to the joys of this fresh fruit (ketchup was as close as I came to a tomato in my youth), I do my best to make up for the lost years during tomato season.

Whether it’s grape tomatoes halved in guacamole, beefsteak slices layered with fresh mozzarella or whole sun-warmed heirlooms eaten straight off the vine, I can always find room for fresh tomatoes.

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