When we think of Bordeaux wine most of us immediately think of its famed red wines. Maybe it is time to take a more serious look at what the Bordelais are doing with dry white wines, because dry white Bordeaux is making a strong comeback.
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Prunes need to revamp their image. Most people associate them with the elderly and the infirm, making them possibly the least sexy fruit ever, when in reality they are soft, sweet, deeply flavored — and dare we say sexy? Not only that, prunes are adaptable; they are as good served with duck as they are stewed with sweet port wine and spooned over cake. Prune lover or merely prune-curious? Check out the 10 recipes below! More

Have you ever encountered the sparkling green or red gooseberry? Commonly found in many parts of the Eastern United States and England, I myself (based on the West coast) had never tried the sweet/sour little fruits. When I bought a can of them 6 months ago, I aimed to throw them into a summer pie or jam. Instead, my forgetfulness inspired this Fall recipe for a clafouti.

Have you heard of this divine, rustic breakfast-meets-dessert treat? If so, have you used coconut milk and gooseberries as the major components of the recipe? More

Lauren Shockey recently finished the culinary equivalent of an Iron Man triathlon: She cooked her way around the world, beginning in New York City and progressing through three more restaurant kitchens in Paris, Hanoi, and Tel Aviv. And then she wrote a book about her adventure. What did this culinary marathon of restaurant toil (and writing!) teach her about home cooking? That's the subject of our interview with her today.

Read on for Lauren's favorite things to eat from the cities where she worked, the most useful things she learned about home cooking from restaurants, and the one restaurant task she hopes she never does ever again. More

Last week I raved about the recipe for gougères in Dorie Greenspan's award-winning cookbook, Around My French Table. The only thing missing from this excellent book is a comprehensive, well-written glossary like those found in Dorie's other cookbooks. Happily, she just debuted a full glossary of French home cooking on her website, and even if you don't own the book, it is worth checking out. More

A friend's celebratory Champagne party inspired me to make gougères, though I had never made them before, and I was a little intimidated by pâte à choux. But armed with a recipe from Dorie Greenspan, I had a feeling they would work out. And boy, did they. More

Just because the 4th of July weekend is over doesn't mean our look at quick and easy celebratory cocktails has to end. After all, Bastille Day's just around the corner, storming in next Thursday, July 14th. Here's a light and lovely 3-ingredient cocktail to toast the occasion: the Liberté featuring the summery, citrusy apéritif, Lillet Blanc. More

A good friend of mine had a baby, her second, on Mother's Day. I don't know about you, but I like to cook for people when they have babies. Is this a dying tradition? When I had my daughter, I assumed people would be bringing lots of food, but it wasn't exactly a parade of casseroles. We ended up eating a lot of take-out. It shouldn't be that way.

My friend lived in Paris for years and since I know that Boeuf Bourguignon is one of her favorite dishes, I decided that this was the meal I should carry around the corner to her apartment. It's hearty, reminiscent of the good life in Paris, and gets better day after day. In other words, the perfect birthday dish for a hungry Francophile new mom.

So I turned to my grease-splattered Essential New York Times Cookbook, and discovered that it had not one but two Boeuf Bourguignon recipes. Score. More

I have been meaning to try a yogurt cake for a long time. Clotilde at Chocolate & Zucchini says that gâteau au yaourt is a simple classic, a cake that is often the first thing that French children learn to bake. It doesn't need a mixer or more than one bowl — or more than 10 minutes, for that matter. And its tangy, fluffy texture is just a perfect pair for summer berries. More

The advent of spring sends me straight for this tea time snack. Radish toasts are easy to throw together for one person or assemble en masse for the most fancy of weekend gatherings. Radishes, nice butter, quality flake salt, snips of fresh parsley and a just-baked ficelle, life doesn't get much better. Have you tried this wonderful pairing of delicate flavors and textures? More