My first reaction was, What the hell is that? The sign at the farmers’ market said romanesque, a hybrid of a broccoli and a cauliflower. It was so pretty and it made me so curious, I picked up one for myself for $3. It reminded me of a small piece of coral. Before cooking it,…

Adapted from Mary’s Fish Camp Ingredients: 1 bulb fennel, sliced thinly 1 bunch red beets, rinsed, pat dry shaved aged goat cheese lemon juice salt, pepper, olive oil 1. Preheat oven 350º. Wrap beets in aluminum foil and roast in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Set aside. When cool enough to handle, peel…

I keep seeing this weird bulb in Chinatown but no one could tell me what it was. I asked the vendor and all I got was a OneDOLLAH! So I asked my dependable Chinese friend, Shao, and she said her mother calls it choi tao but she wasn’t sure what Americans call them. A visit…

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine Ingredients: a handful of haricots verts, trimmed 4 golden beets, trimmed with1/2-inch of stems intact, cleaned off dirt fresh chives, cut in shorter pieces 2 small envelopes of gelatin 2 medium carrots, cut in small pieces 3 stalks of scallions, finely chopped 2 shallots, finely chopped 1 sprig of rosemary 2…

Adapted from Chef Suvir Saran Ingredients: 1 pound young okra, halved lengthwise and julienned 1 red onion, thinly sliced 1 tomato, cored, seeds removed, sliced into thin strips a handful cilantro, coarsely chopped 2 tsps garam masala lemon juice salt oil for frying 1. In a deep skillet, heat some oil and working in batches,…

Lisa’s dad said that this Italian version of ratatouille has two names, depending on whether you live in the south of Italy or the north. Whether you grew up calling it cianbotta or cianfotta, it means “tasteful and colorful.” It’s a rural dish that farm folks learned to make after experiencing the hardships caused by…

Adapted from Everyday Food Ingredients: 6 slices of bacon 2 pints Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, halved 1 apple, cored, cut into 1/4-inch slices and halved crosswise 2 tbsps red wine vinegar salt and pepper 1. Preheat oven to 425º. Arrange bacon in a single layer on a large baking pan. Bake until browned, about 10…

Adapted from Mare Restaurant, Boston Ingredients: a dozen zucchini squash blossoms, stamen removed, gently washed in cold water and dried with paper towel 1/2 cup goat cheese 1/2 cup cream cheese 1 tsp chopped fresh basil 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 tbsps fine yellow cornmeal 1 cup milk 1 large egg oil, salt and pepper…

Adapted from The New York Times Ingredients: 1/4 cup peanut oil 1 medium potato, peeled and diced 1 medium eggplant, diced 1 red pepper, cored, stemmed and julienned 1 cup frozen peas 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed 1 onion, quartered 12 cloves garlic, peeled 2 tomatoes, cut into eighths 1/4 cup red curry paste, or…

This is one of my favorite summer salads adapted from Dan Barber’s Blue Hill Restaurant in New York City. In the summer, you can go to the market and all kinds of tomatoes are available. Watermelon also come cheap. This salad is already refreshing, but to add mint and basil in it just makes it…