Desayuno

While I can hardly claim to have invented the idea of putting onion in a pastry, I tend to think of this recipe as my own creation. It is one of the first things I ever made that did not at least start with someone else’s instructions. It is also, after all these years, still one of my very favorite things, both to cook and to eat. And with store bought sheets of puff pastry, I can have it ready to eat in less than an hour. Read more

One of the first things I learned in Dakar is that if you want lunch, you need to woo Suzanne. She calls the office first thing in the morning and asks who will want to eat; four hours later she comes in, carrying a tower of fragrant tupperwares. After one week here, I have found that the longer you chat with Suzanne, the more generous your portions are. For dessert, if you’ve been very nice to her you can have Jus de Bissap, a sweet tea made with hibiscus flowers and served ice-cold. Read more

I love to make crepes. There is something about the process of it, the flipping, the folding, or maybe the friends lining up with plates. I made up this combination on New Year’s eve, having decided at eight PM that we needed to have something that tasted good. We can’t be in Paris every New Year’s eve, but we can eat like it! Even with frozen berries, it turned out very well. (Despite that, I have included a variation here for fresh strawberries. Because if you have them, you should use them.) In any case, here it is: The last thing I cooked in 2006. Read more