A back to basics guide for broth-based soup When it comes to cooking, people get tied up in the details of following recipes that they forget that soup is a simple meal that people have made for centuries out of the little bits of food that they had on hand. Making a soup should be easy,…
Category: Winter
Is There Better Broccoli?
In 1990 the first President Bush famously put down broccoli. “I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.” — George H.W. Bush But maybe…
The Winter and Spring “No Fresh Tomatoes” Challenge
This picture is from last summer’s harvest. Pink, mealy tomatoes are not good, stop eating them. Eaters have been confused by the availability of fresh produce throughout the year. Tomatoes are such a clear example of a vegetable that is available year-round but doesn’t taste the same year-round. You can get slices every day of…
Cooking Tamales by Myself
Is it okay that I wish I had a Mexican grandmother? During the holidays, it hits me that I miss having a big family and lots of family gatherings. I think what I miss most is a relationship with the past and future. This relationship might give me a connection to people that have come…
The Best Gadget in the Kitchen
As both a professional chef and home cook for over 20 years, my absolute favorite kitchen gadget for cooking more whole food is the box grater. It makes quick work of almost any chopping task, and is especially helpful if you don’t yet have great knife skills. I have had a grater forever, but when…
Accepting My Desires to be Resourceful
Carrot Soup: Finding a good home for some slightly wild parsley root I enjoy the nature behind the practical application of growing vegetables for food. The fact that humans have been on this planet feeding themselves for thousands of years without the internet, is pretty amazing. Well maybe it is not that amazing, but as our…
Fresh Air, Cabbage and Salt
It can’t get any simpler than that. And, that is my message, don’t let fermentation scare you, it has been around for thousands of years and people were doing it way before the internet, refrigeration and before anyone knew anything about sterilization. The basics of fermentation are that you have lactobacillus, a bacteria, naturally in…
Brussels Sprouts
I’m going to have to work on more exciting titles. I never cared much about Brussels sprouts, until I worked at a vegetable farm. For most of my life, no one cared much about them either. My recollection is an overcooked round ball of sulfur smelling leaves, that usually came out of the freezer. But…
Preserved Lemons?
Preserved lemons was a hard concept for me to grasp, but I am turning around. Unless you are pretty familiar with Middle Eastern or North African cuisine, you might never have heard of these before. And, in fact, even after culinary school and several years in the restaurant industry, I had never used them myself….
Winter Planting Update and Broccoli Leaf Recipe
This week I planted one small area with peas, lettuce, spinach and green onions. The days are getting long enough and our weather here is warm enough to get started. I planted peas along the fence, and the rest in the middle in unorganized rows. We got a lot of rain over the weekend, so…