Mushrooms aren't something my family eats often, for two reasons. First of all, our weekly produce boxes never contain them. Secondly, our kids don't like them. But I like them! So to celebrate the first soggy weather we've had in four years of drought, I slow cooked a pound and a half with coriander, black pepper, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary in wine.
Barley, like most food, tastes good with salt. Parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, some pepper and a little bit of onion make it even better. Grain based dishes like this are generally considered salads, but I like to think of them more as healthy starch options when composing meals.
This salad is really delicious even though it has the strangest combinations of ingredients I've ever seen. Green tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers, parsley and basil dressed in vinaigrette are the perfect thing for a hot summer's day.
This salad comes from the days of castles and knights in shining armor - the fourteenth century, or 1390 to be exact. It is surprisingly modern and you can find something similar on the menu of many San Francisco restaurants right now: the ingredients are fresh, simply prepared and able to speak for themselves through a light dressing.
We all love pesto at my house, though it is usually made with basil and pinenuts. This one is made with arugula and parsley instead. Both have parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic and salt. I used the blender tonight, instead of the food processor, and I think the latter is better: the blender makes it too smooth.
My grocery store didn't have any halibut, but it did have sole. It also didn't have any Wondra flour, so I used all purpose. Both substitutions worked out fine: this sauce is delicious, my entire family loved their fish!
This dish is an example of good, honest food. It's a simple preparation that highlights the ingredients' flavors. The earthiness of the lentils goes well with carrots and onions, and a little bit of spice kicks it up a notch.
Deborah Madison's Celery Root Chowder is a favorite of ours, I make it every winter when celery roots are in our CSA box. This time I served it with some fresh bread from the bakery, soft ripened cheese, and pâté, for my husband's birthday. Pâté is one of his favorite things that we almost never eat. We also almost never have Manhattans with dinner.
The photos are beautiful and the concept is great, but so far I'm striking out with this cookbook. First the cruncny farro, now a dinner that elicits "Ew! Crusty? Brown? I won't eat it!" To top it all off, I singed the crust.
It's that time again, January is over and winter is is wrapping up. Outside in my garden exciting things are happening. All of a sudden last year's baby lemons are turning yellow, ripening into 2015's crop. At the same time, next year's fruit is setting: the flowers fall off and leave behind tiny, green swellings which are the beginnings of next winter's lemons.
I love a roasted chicken. My entire family will eat it without complaint, there are always leftovers and a crockpot of stock can be made from the bones. Lately I've been investigating how other people roast their chicken, and in this case Marcus Samuelson's adaptation of his Grandmother's traditional recipe was the perfect thing, to celebrate my own children's Grandmother.
This is my favorite recent trifecta (or triple win): Mexican Green Rice, Lazy Chiles Rellenos, Yellow Indian Woman beans. I only wish my kids loved it as much as I do. They routinely ask for the beans by name and always manage to choke down a bite each of the rice and rellenos, so I'll call it good.