Capers are the preserved unopened flower buds of a prickly shrub native to the Mediterranean. The shrubs thrive on rocky cliffs of arid regions, including southern France and Sicily, where they are farmed as a cash crop. Salted capers are hand-harvested then cured and aged in sea salt. This process preserves the intense floral tones, herbal flavor, and firm texture of the buds. Brined capers are soaked in saltwater, then packed in brine or a mixture of brine and vinegar, which dulls the flavor. The salted capers tend to be a little more expensive, but are hand-harvested and worth every penny. While working for Epicurious television, I was able to travel to Italy to do a story on salted capers. Standing on the rocky hillside of an island, looking out over the sun-drenched Mediterranean, watching the peasant women harvesting the capers by hand while chattering in their local dialect, was pure poetry. When I returned to the States, I was reviewing the rough cut, which is a very basic edit of footage, a visual rough draft. A colleague who spoke Italian interrupted, “Wait a minute, play that back.” Turned out the pleasant chatter was not as idyllic as the scenery. One of the women was talking about her son-in-law, whom she called a worthless bastard and car thief. We decided to replace their conversation with a little music.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Serve a thick slice for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.
This pasta has some really big energy about it. It’s so extra, it’s the type of thing you should be eating in your bikini while drinking a magnum of rosé, not in Hebden Bridge (or wherever you live), but on a beach on Mykonos.
Caramelized onions, melty Gruyère, and a deeply savory broth deliver the kind of comfort that doesn’t need improving.
Reliable cabbage is cooked in the punchy sauce and then combined with store-bought baked tofu and roasted cashews for a salad that can also be eaten with rice.
This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.
This is the type of soup that, at first glance, might seem a little…unexciting. But you’re underestimating the power of mushrooms, which do the heavy lifting.
A dash of cocoa powder adds depth and richness to the broth of this easy turkey chili.