by Peter Moore
Our friend Max is allergic to wheat. He is gluten-free, but not in the sense of the estimated 30% of Americans who are shunning wheat due to currently trendy pseudo-science; rather, Max is gluten-free in the sense that, if he has anything with wheat, there will be an epi-pen and ER visit involved. Continue reading
by Peter Moore
I’m having a good time here at “The Secret Restaurant” and I hope you’re having fun with the recipes. The feedback I’ve gotten has been overwhelmingly supportive and appreciative and I’m grateful—even when my mom adds the line “Not one I would try” to her Facebook share. (That was regarding the goat recipe, by the way.)
by Peter Moore
Our sunny September summer continues in the Bay Area, and there’s nothing like a big salad to enjoy at this time. I’ve always liked a Salade Niçoise and it’s pretty easy to put together—whether or not it’s particularly authentic is another question. A Niçoise is traditionally made with canned tuna, and while I’m not sure if it was a Niçoise they were making when it happened, canned tuna was responsible for the deaths of two women from Michigan who died of botulism in 1963. Continue reading
by Peter Moore
Some years ago, as a friend’s mother was recounting the events of her Mediterranean cruise, she described Greek customs officials coming on the boat in Athens: “They went through everything, they were like the goddamned gazpacho.” It works best in a Texas accent, but in any event, it forever branded this cooling Spanish soup as “the goddamned gazpacho” for me. Continue reading
by Peter Moore
I know I promised the Cassoulet/Cass-Olé recipe this week, but the photo gods did smote me mightily by making my pictures blurry—“pun”ishment comes in many forms—and it will have to wait until next issue.
What I’ve got instead is a take on eggplant parmesan made more as an individual serving rather than a warm mass of layered sautéed eggplant, cheeses, and tomato sauce. And because everything tastes better when you put an egg on it, I topped it with a poached egg. Continue reading
by Peter Moore
Goat is not so much an acquired taste as an abandoned one. People have been eating goat for centuries, just not so much in America. It’s lean and gamey and outside the comfort zone of modern American food. Middle Eastern and Mexican communities have always cooked goat, but it wasn’t that easy to find—certainly not in the supermarket meat counter.
by Peter Moore
I love Colman Andrews’ essay on his weight. “It is my opinion that whoever said ‘Nothing tastes as good as thin feels’ has probably never sat down with three ounces of Iranian osetra, a stack of freshly made blinis (the kind that aren’t made with pancake mix), a small bone spoon, and nobody else in the room.” Continue reading
by Peter Moore
Lox, nova, smoked salmon, gravlax. Preserved salmon goes by many names. And people seem to use these names pretty much interchangeably to describe this delicious treat that works for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Continue reading
by Peter Moore
Admittedly, chocolate and eggplant isn’t a combination that jumps to mind when you are contemplating dinner. I got the idea for it when I was thinking about recipes for our chocolate issue a couple of weeks ago. I was browsing for ideas and came across a recipe for red miso and chocolate brownies. I ended up going with the chocolate and fennel pollen brownies instead, but the more I thought about the combination, the more I thought it might work as a savory dish. I’ve used miso paste on roasted eggplant and chicken before. What about adding some chocolate? Hmm….
by Peter Moore
I may have been the world’s pickiest eater as a child. My parents are saints and they indulged this. I was almost never forced to eat something I didn’t want. And there were a lot of things that I didn’t want to eat. One thing I did love was hamburgers (though they had to be plain—no condiments, pickles, tomatoes, or lettuce) and that’s what I got. As I said, my parents are saints.
by Peter Moore
The inspiration for this recipe came from Small Adventures in Cooking by James Ramsden. Continue reading
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