Culinary School Lesson 2

It was another evening of running towards school with a 30 pound bag of uniforms, knives and other tools. I sweated through my locker room routine, making sure I had on my pants, chef coat, apron, neckerchief, chef hat, and hall pass. Culinary school feels so masculine; the uniform erases almost all evidence that you’re a female, and then you spend hours working with knives, fire and steel under the supervision of male chefs, but I digress...

Culinary School Lesson 1

After 5 years of playing with the idea, and months upon months of getting up the courage to sign the loan papers, I finally enrolled in culinary school. Here on Brooklyn Salt, I’ll document my experience; all the laughter, tears, sweat, blood and bernaise...

Lemon Pucker Tart

Francois Payard's lemon raspberry tart is so very tart. It also has a mound of marshmallow-like lime meringue on top and is dotted with fresh raspberries. I never knew I loved tarts until I tried Francois's. I was gifted one for my birthday and haven't been able to get tarts off my mind since then. Last week, while flipping through Ruth Reichl's book, My Kitchen Year, I saw her recipe for Tart Lemon Tart and immediately started a shopping list to make my very own lemon tart.
 

Kale, Apple and Beet Salad with Pistachio Brittle

Sometimes it takes a candied nut to help kale go down. Since creating this salad, I find it disappointing to have a kale salad with out some kind of candied nut. Don’t be turned off by the length of this recipe. You can make the dressing and pistachio brittle a day ahead. I’d even suggest making a couple of batches of pistachios so you can throw them into any salad. You can substitute the dressing below for a simple vinaigrette of your own, or use your favorite creamy dressing that has some acidity to it.
 

Procrastinator's Gift Guide

The holidays are here. I know you forgot about them because it's 60 degrees outside. If you haven't found the right gift for the last few people on your list, here's a great gifty roundup....