Sausage lentil soup recipe

Want to start an argument? Just bring up pizza: how it’s made, what fits the definition, which style is supreme. All are up for debate. So it came as no surprise that Julia Moskin’s article this week about the state of frozen pizza , and an accompanying taste test of upmarket frozen pies , garnered hundreds of comments from New York Times readers. “Pizza,” as Amy in Connecticut said , “is a big tent.” Some wished we had reviewed their favorite supermarket brands, like DiGiorno , Stouffer’s and Screamin’ Sicilian , while others rallied around local favorites like Lou Malnati’s , Butch’s and Home Run Inn . But many just wanted to share their pizza wizardry, how they gussy up a frozen pie or make a quick one from scratch. Here are some of our readers’ favorite ways to ’za . Frozen Pizza Hacks Get the Pizzeria to Make It for You Buy a Half-Baked Pizza: “Most pizzerias will ‘prebake’ pies for you: assembled and only partly baked, so you can either finish … [Read more...] about Reader Tips for a Better Frozen (or Homemade) Pizza

Chocolate is an easy choice for homemade Valentine’s Day desserts and this trio of recipes has something for everyone. Like relationships, they range in commitment: simple hot fudge sundaes get some help from store-bought ice cream; a dramatic soufflé cake takes about an hour but is big enough to serve a group; aspirational Earl Grey crème brûlée for two requires a little patience for a dish that feels luxurious. Recipe: Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Sundaes The simplest — a hot fudge sundae — is also a nostalgic crowd-pleaser. This silky and decadent hot fudge is flavored with a generous scoop of creamy peanut butter, which adds nuttiness and just enough salt to make this sundae feel a little bit grown up. Hot fudge can impress without much work. It comes together in just a few minutes on the stovetop with ingredients you might keep around all of the time, and it’s so much more delicious than anything you can buy in a jar. When it comes time to build your … [Read more...] about 3 New Chocolate Desserts for Everyone You Love

MINNEAPOLIS THERE’S no escaping Scandinavian heritage in the Twin Cities. At every turn, there’s a billboard for Norwegian language-immersion camp or a “Drool if You’re Finnish” baby bib for sale. But in food terms, it’s long been easier to get an authentic taco al pastor, Thai green curry or a grass-fed beef slider than a good kanel snegl (cinnamon roll). There hasn’t been a successful Scandinavian restaurant here since 2003, when Aquavit, a slick expense-account-fueled import from Midtown Manhattan, closed after a lackluster run. “When I was growing up, if we wanted to have meatballs and lingonberries, we had to go to Ikea,” said Kathryn Anderson, a student at the University of Minnesota. “That’s how bad it was.” There are plenty of good restaurants in the Twin Cities: at least one great Mexican tamale joint (La Loma), several Vietnamese pho specialists and storefronts that cater to the cities’ large Somali and Hmong communities. Several upscale places, like Tilia, Heartland … [Read more...] about A Return to Nordic Roots

On a cold Tuesday afternoon in January, four women made their way down Guernsey Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They had just finished lunch at Acre , a Japanese cafe and shop, where they had been served bento boxes and green tea, and were headed to 50 Norman , a new warehouse space nearby that housed three other Japanese businesses. The women, all Japanese immigrants, had driven in from New Jersey, at the advice of their friend, Chieko Koie, who had already dined at Acre and was interested in visiting the warehouse after seeing it on Instagram. The group’s first stop at 50 Norman was Dashi Okume , which sells dashi, a soup base typically made from ingredients like dried fish, seaweed and mushrooms. The business, which opened in Tokyo in 1871, offers various ready-made dashi powder blends, as well as bins of dried ingredients for customers to make their own. “For Japanese people, dashi is really important for making food,” Ms. Koie said. “It’s like a piece of home here in … [Read more...] about Sake. Dashi. Soba Shops: Japanese Chic Takes Root in Brooklyn

The wine is in plastic cups, the view of flaking paint, vinyl siding, a tin tub of flowers and graffiti 10 feet tall. It is so quiet on the roof, for a moment we wonder if the people working the cash register downstairs have forgotten we’re up here and have gone home. None of us are in a hurry to find out. There are prettier outdoor dining spaces in the city, but few with quite the juxtaposition of serenity and grit as the rooftop at Brooklyn Ball Factory, a Japanese comfort-food joint and coffee shop that opened last fall in East Williamsburg. The single-story building was once a warehouse for beer cans awaiting recycling. Makoto Suzuki, the owner and chef, had the smart idea to take out a skylight and put in a staircase with a glass peak. Climb it at noon and the light stuns; you swell like a hothouse flower. Mr. Suzuki built the roof deck himself, out of plywood, with a high fence that hides the street and doubles as the back of a long bench. His wife, Kanako, has adorned it … [Read more...] about Brooklyn Factory, Japanese Food

SAN FRANCISCO — Gabriela Cámara is having a very good year. Five years after she moved to the United States from her native Mexico, she is at the tipping point of world culinary fame. Her 20-year-old restaurant, Contramar , is both a beloved institution and a power-lunch destination: the Union Square Cafe of Mexico City. Her San Francisco restaurant, Cala , has established her here as both an eloquent translator of modern Mexican food and an advocate for social justice: She provides health insurance and other benefits to all full-time employees, many of whom are recruited through job programs for the formerly incarcerated. A glowing documentary film about the restaurants, “A Tale of Two Kitchens,” executive-produced by the actor Gael García Bernal, premiered two weeks ago on Netflix. She has just published a cookbook, “My Mexico City Kitchen” ( Sqirl , whose casually fabulous cooking mirrors her own. And Council of Cultural Diplomacy , composed of people who bring … [Read more...] about This Mexican Chef Is Having a Very Good Year