Linda Bassett

2 Posts

06 May

FOOD 101: Grilled cheese: The comfort food we all need right now

Linda BassettColumns, Food, Linda Bassett, Opinion

Was there ever a childhood comfort food to compare to a grilled cheese sandwich? Mom made it in a skillet or a grill press. At the diner or luncheonette, a cook slapped it on a well-greased grill top. Mom’s homemade sandwich was simple: two slices of American cheese — preferably orange — tucked between two slices of spongy grocery store bread. Gobs of butter heated and swirled in the skillet served to warm and melt the cheese and brown the bread. When cut, warm gooey…

13 Apr

FOOD 101: Shakshuka — Poached eggs with global flair

Linda BassettColumns, Food, Opinion

Back in the day, college students cooked up ghastly dinners of fast-boiling rice, beans and canned mixed vegetables that I suspect were scraps from the assembly line. We dumped grated Parmesan cheese from a green cardboard jar over it. “Survival food,” we called it. Linda Bassett / COURTESY PHOTO Today, students are more intentional, globally sophisticated. Recently, a grad student introduced me to the meal that sustained her and classmates: North African shakshuka, a skillet of eggs poached in tomatoes with peppers and onions, warmly…