Summer Squash Gratin
This morning a friend emailed. So, she said, you haven’t updated the blog for a while. Um, yeah. I know. Believe me when I say it wasn’t for lack of effort. Anyway, here we are. And here is a post. — Okay, so summer squash, which for today’s purposes encompasses…
Hot weather foods
As I write, much of the Eastern United States is smothering beneath what climate experts call a “heat dome.” Rather than go into technicalities, know that heat dome basically means it’s extremely hot, with little relief in sight. Atop this, wildfires are burning in New Mexico and parts of California….
Spinach and Potato Tian
Elizabeth David, writing in Is There A Nutmeg In The House, describes a tian as “an open earthenware casserole or gratin dish called in the Provencal language a tian….” David goes on to say there is no fixed recipe for a tian beyond using “a certain proportion of freshly cooked…
Red Pepper Salad with Parsley and Feta Cheese
Apologies for not posting. Acute tendinitis has limited my ability to work on the computer. — I love feta cheese, but I forget about it. I’ll buy some, wonder why I don’t use it more in my cooking, then forget it for another six months. Here, then, is my latest…
Macaroni and Cheese with Baby Greens
Macaroni and Cheese–or Macaroni Cheese, if you’re a Brit–is a dish of infinite variety. A popular local restaurant menu offers Macaroni and Cheese with Enchilada Sauce, Mac n’Cheese “pizza style,” and, in perhaps the ultimate fusion dish, mac n’ cheese with Korean Short Ribs. Then there’s Nigella’s rightfully famed Mac…
Warm Farro Salad
Today’s post, as the world burns, is about warm farro salad. Farro, otherwise known as emmer wheat, has yet to experience the ruinous fame that has struck tahini, quinoa, and miso. Instead of picturing ruinous fame, I give you this funnel on my kitchen windowsill. By “ruinous fame,” think foodie…
Canned Tomatoes
This is a long post. I know some people dislike reading long posts, but this one discusses how to safely can tomatoes. If you will never can a tomato in your lifetime, feel free to look at the photographs. If you want to can tomatoes but find my blow-by-blow…
Pesto
Pesto may have become more popular than is good for it. Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking A few years ago my husband offered to plant some kitchen herbs for me. “What would you like?” he asked. “Basil?” I responded tentatively. Three years later, the basil plants are merrily…
Nearly Summer Salad
Why nearly summer? Well, I don’t know about where you are, but where I am, it’s still cool. We even had rain a few days ago. More importantly, as salads go, it’s still too early for luxuries like heirloom tomatoes or baby cucumbers. Instead, nearly summer salad relies on some…
Minestrone
For the non-Italian, deciding to prepare Minestrone can feel a little intimidating. Minestrone itself–a substantial vegetable soup–isn’t difficult to make. The problem is deciding which minestrone to make. Elizabeth David, writing in Italian Cooking, gives five recipes for minestrone. In The Essentials of Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan offers a recipe…