My Madison Bistro

This meal is perfect: a tender cut of beef, a pan sauce made with brandy (my favorite), lots and lots of shallots, and homemade French fries. If you’re familiar with Michael Pollan, you likely know his food philosophy is that you can eat whatever you want, as long as you make it yourself. He points […]

Most people ring in the New Year with a fancy-pants dinner and dessert. I am not most people. Sure, I’ve cooked the fancier dinners in previous years, or baked the fancy dessert, but this year, that all changed. Remember the French onion soup bowls I posted about on Christmas? Well, I had a hankering to […]

Happy New Year! I thought it would be fun to say goodbye to 2010 by taking a look at the most popular posts of the year. Some of you have been readers longer than others, so for those of you who are newer, I hope you enjoy some of the older posts you may not […]

I love Anne Willan’s book The Country Cooking of France because besides traditional recipes, it’s rich in both explanations and history. For instance, Anne says, “Parisians have tried to hijack French onion soup, but Lyonnais cooks can plausibly claim title to this bistro classic.” She goes on to say there are two keys to good […]