Cooking class in Tuscany

Homemade Strawberry Conserve

Most strawberry jam recipes add pectin. This one does not, and that is the whole point. Strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice, cooked for two hours until thick. No shortcuts, no thickeners, no guessing. The long cook concentrates the fruit flavor until a spoonful tastes more …

Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp scampi is one of those Italian-American classics that has been around so long, people forget how good it actually is. Seared shrimp tossed in a sauce of butter, garlic, white wine, and lemon over a tangle of linguine. It takes about 20 minutes, uses …

Chicken Fried Rice

Chicken fried rice is what leftover rice was made for, and making it well at home is simpler than most people think. The secret that every Chinese restaurant already knows is that day-old rice, cold from the fridge, is the only rice worth using here. …

Grilled Cheese with Pea Shoots

Pea shoots in a grilled cheese. Not lettuce, not spinach, not arugula. Pea shoots. They are tender and sweet and taste like spring, and they wilt just enough inside a hot sandwich to stay green without going limp. Bread, cheddar cheese, a handful of pea …