Distractions. They’re everywhere, lurking in wait to devour every minute of our day. Agatha, Virginia, Sylvia, and Vita (my anglophilia is showing) got it right. Or Lillian and Anais on this side of the pond. A shack, an isolated Cornish farm, Big Sur, or a tower, so as to be able to isolate one’s thoughts…
Archives for December 2014
Spices
My Essential Cooking Spices Top row left to right: Coriander, Tellicherry Black Peppercorns, Cinnamon Sticks, Aleppo Dried Red Pepper 2nd Row left to right: Bay leaves, Ground Dried Red Pepper, Black Mustard Seeds, Coleman’s Ground Yellow Mustard Seed 3rd row left to right: White and Black Cardamom, Cumin Seed, Hungarian Half-Sharp Paprika, Whole Nutmegs Bottom…
Sumac
A reaction of horror registers on my student’s faces every time I demonstrate a Lebanese recipe using sumac. “PPPPPoison sumac?!”, they exclaim. I assure them Staghorn Sumac, is not poisonous. Rhus typhina grows wild here in our part of the northeastern United States world (you’ll see it growing along roadsides) and it is similar to…
Black Walnut Cake
We’re on the wild side again, getting squirrely. I don’t know what it is about the cool weather of Autumn, but it makes me want to scurry along the roadsides and woods to gather like a squirrel. Now I can understand their annoying habit of darting back and forth in front of cars this…
Roasting Vegetables
Clockwise from top left: Shallots, red bell pepper, fennel, sweet potato, butterball potato, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, carrots, blue sweet potato, rutabaga. Roasted vegetables are the umami of the plant world. Their depth of flavor is without compare. The browning (maillard effect) is how you develop the umami, caramelizing the natural sugars in the vegetables….
Roasted Radicchio, Mushroom, Potato, and Manchego Cheese Gratin
Lewis, my harshest critic, loved this casserole!!! Can we even call the above a casserole? Resisting any food snobbery, we’ll leave it as named, a meal in a baking dish. Until the taste reveal. The German Butterball potatoes really made this dish. These potatoes were freshly dug at Rosie and Dan’s Swallow Hill Farm. Yukon…
Wild Rose Hips and Amaryllis
With this warm weather (it must be over 50 degrees today), the wild rose hips are still in good condition. Down coats and plastic bags will not survive this foraging. I speak from experience. Gloves are a must, the thicker the better. The amaryllis I planted last month is at it’s prettiest and the…
Red Cabbage and Onion Galette
This is an olde “thyme” Martha Stewart recipe that I’ve been making every winter for eons. It must date from the early to mid-90’s, predating any food blogs. The recipe is long lost but it’s committed to memory, so this is probably quite close to the original. It comes across as a strange combination for…
Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Muffins
Kendra, Tegan, and I used to make these every week for a couple of years, first for our farm market in our little stone barn and later for some friends who had a farm stand down the road. Fresh or frozen blueberries work equally well in this recipe. No need for defrosting. Plan to freeze…
The Bestest Brownies
No cocoa powder here. We’re using half a pound of Callebaut chocolate to make this decadent delight. If you are unable to obtain Callebaut chocolate, Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate from the supermarket will do as a stand-in. There’s no way I’m going to add walnuts or chocolate chips to this sticky, soft indulgence. However, if you…