Danette St. Onge

Paris newsletter/destination guide for Scott's Cheap Flights

This is a lovely salad: bright, refreshing, and with a unique mix of flavors and textures. Juicy, sweet-tart grapefruit is balanced by peppery arugula, creamy avocado, and crisp, aromatic fennel. It's great for cleansing the palate and aiding digestion alongside or after a heavier main course. The grapefruit juice, mixed with some olive oil, becomes the salad dressing.
I first tasted grapefruit and fennel together in a salad at a pizzeria and instantly fell in love with the idea. I kept makin...

Nocino is a complex, nutty, and slightly bitter dark-brown liqueur that is usually served as an after-dinner digestivo. Nocino can also be used to “correct” a shot of espresso (espresso with a shot of liquor is called a "caffè corretto," or "corrected coffee"), poured over gelato, mixed into cocktails, or used in place of vanilla extract in baking, especially when making biscotti.
Made from unripe green walnuts (noci), the beverage is commonly associated with the date of June 24 (the Feast Da...

Residents and regular visitors know that London’s food scene is one of the best. Here's what to eat and drink, as well as where to stay and what to do....

Ninja became popular with its line of mid-priced blenders that were powerful enough to compete with some of the high-end brands. The kitchen appliance brand then introduced personal blenders, designed to make convenient single-serving portions and drinks you can take on the go. The Ninja product line no...

The Naples classic of spaghetti all'aglio, olio, e peperoncino—spaghetti tossed with extra-virgin olive oil in which a bit of garlic and red chili pepper has been sautéed—is one of the simplest, quickest, and yet most satisfying pasta dishes of all. It only takes about 15 minutes to make, including boiling the pasta water, so it's great when you're pressed for time.

The most basic version contains only pasta, olive oil, chili pepper (either dried or fresh), garlic, and salt—things that most p...

Puttanesca, a traditional pasta sauce originating in Southern Italy (the exact origins are unclear, though it's most associated with the area around Naples) and usually served with spaghetti, is a flavorful, slightly spicy tomato sauce with the pungent, pronounced flavors of olives, capers, and anchovy. Even if you are an avowed anchovy-hater, you should give this sauce a try: the anchovies melt away into the sauce and the final result does not taste "fishy," just bold, rich and complex.
As f...

What is 'besciamella'?
Besciamella is the Italian version of béchamel, one of the five fundamental French "mother sauces." Whether it originated in Italy or in France has been debated (and still not determined), but it first appeared sometime during the reign of Louis XIV. Whatever the origin, it is used as the basis for many dishes in Italy, France, and other European countries. It is not often used by itself, though with the addition of some grated cheese and/or other flavorings, it can be ...

This simple pasta recipe was probably invented to make use of ingredients you might already have in your pantry for a quick, effortless weeknight dinner. But the resulting dish is so much more than an easy meal that essentially cleans out the cupboards; the combination of oil-packed tuna, garlic, capers, and lemon works beautifully together, creating a somewhat sophisticated tasting pasta salad.
Short pasta, like fusilli, gemelli, or penne, is tossed in a simple sauce of tuna, capers, garlic,...

This is a classic filled-and-baked pasta dish that is good at any time of year, and which makes great leftovers as well. You can even freeze any leftovers, which will keep for about three months if packaged well in a freezer-safe bag or container. To reheat frozen leftovers: let defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then heat in an oven as described below.
As with all Italian dishes, it's important to use high-quality ingredients for the best results. If at all possible, use larger, darker l...

If you’re a ramen fan, you know that it requires the right size and shape bowl. Bowls designed for serving side dishes, cereal, or appetizer portions of soup or salad are far too small to hold all the noodles, toppings, and broth for a serving of ramen, while mixing bowls or salad bowls are too large.

Who hasn’t experienced the frustration of trying to scrape off shavings of rock-hard, fridge-cold butter and then spread it, only to destroy your toast? Or struggled to grease a baking pan with stiff, crumbly butter?

Wooden spoons are one of the oldest and most basic cooking utensils and a must-have in every kitchen. The benefits of cooking with spoons made from wood—as opposed to metal or plastic—are many: They won’t scratch pots and pans and are safe to use with nonstick surfaces, they won’t melt in boiling soups ...

It used to be that high-speed, high-powered blenders were mainly found in professional kitchens, while blenders marketed for home cooks had certain power and speed limitations. But these days, that line has started to blur and pro-level blenders are now far more available for household use, and no longe...