If I lived by a culinary clock, pea shoots would herald the arrival of spring and corn would signal that summer had finally come. We love corn on the cob but also in a Succotash, where the combination of corn with other vegetables can add flavor as well as variety. For an Asian twist, I add edamame (soybeans).
It doesn’t happen frequently, but every now and then I just can’t bear to eat another meal of chicken, beef, pork or seafood. On those occasions when Mom’s in charge of the meal and asks what we want for dinner, I’ll say Kang Chup Chay, or our family’s version of a hearty Asian-style vegetable stew.
There are a few foods I first experienced in grade school cafeterias that I’ll admit to still loving. One of them is tuna casserole, another is green bean casserole. The third is creamed corn, although I’m sure the creamed corn served to us in school came out of a can. My version is simple and tasty, and you can enjoy it either hot or cold. If you want to serve it as a refreshing cold soup, make it the day before and refrigerate it. You’ll be amazed at how simple and delicious this is.
While perusing artichoke recipes recently on epicurious.com, I came across one called Grilled Baby Artichokes with Olive Oil and Lemon. As per my usual habit, I checked out the overall rating and also the users’ reviews. Lo and behold, deep into the reviews, a generous reader left the following share. Subsequent readers began reviewing this reader’s offering. We are making this today.
The appearance of the season’s freshest vegetables is always met with joy. Artichokes, asparagus, garden-fresh lettuce, cucumbers, okra and, of course, vine-ripened tomatoes, to name a few. None of these make me happier than the first sight of fresh, sweet English shelling peas.
A wise old Buddhist monk told me a few years ago when I was pondering some drastic possibilities for changes in my life that you can either live your whole life surrounded by people, places, things and experiences that are familiar to you, or you can embrace the unknown and grow from those experiences. I was thinking of that as I was roaming the farmers market this weekend and came face to face with a vegetable I’d never eaten before — kohlrabi.
Native Americans ate this wild green, which has a taste reminiscent of a cross between spinach and French sorrel — slightly green, crisp, but also with a touch of lemon.
Early settlers of the Pacific Northwest also ate it. Folklore has it that California Gold Rush miners ate it, and thus it got its nickname. It’s also known as winter purslane, spring beauty or Indian lettuce.
Sometimes when you hear of a food ingredient you haven’t cooked with or eaten before, it lodges itself in your mind and takes hold. The seed germinates and turns to fascination, and then before you know it, it grows into an infatuation. Before long, it turns into an obsession.
I remember the first time I [...]
I used to hate Brussels sprouts. I think it was my elementary school cafeteria that ruined them for me.
That was until I was introduced to Brussels sprouts that had been sautéed in olive oil and Brussels sprouts that had been oven-roasted. I was converted from an avowed Brussels sprouts hater to a Brussels sprouts lover.
I had always fantasized about having a vegetable garden, but it wasn’t until we purchased our first home in Fort Worth, Texas that I got to develop my green thumbs.
I managed to shoe-horn a small vegetable garden into a sunny spot not shaded by the giant pecan tree in our backyard. In that small plot, in [...]
One of the great things about making stuffed peppers is the ability to recycle leftovers and/or unused items in your refrigerator or pantry and present them at the table with a fresh new look. The possibilities for stuffing are almost limitless, from vegan and vegetarian all the way to serious carnivore. How about kid-friendly mac and cheese or teach your kids to make their own thick sloppy joe mixture as a stuffing? They will enjoy playing with these colorful and edible packages.
I have been pondering writing an article on “cooking with intention” for The Taste of Oregon for some time now. For those of us who enjoy cooking passionately, is it always entered into and experienced with a feeling of joy and excitement? Where is our mind? Nothing can spoil a pleasurable experience more than chatter between our ears, nagging us: “You didn’t start early enough, you don’t have all the ingredients, you’re out of your league, no one will like this, pickled pork is so passé,” etc., etc., etc. Fortunately, I learned some methods for silencing that chatter. After a brief “negotiation” with my mind’s voice I hear it whimpering, “OK, you win, I’ll shut up.”
I was perusing epicurious.com for ideas and inspiration for a new appetizer or an amuse-bouche if you want to be hoity-toity and au courant. I came across Tomato “Sushi”. I’m a patsy for such things that aren’t exactly what they seem to be but rather are culinary amusements, or twists like “Filet Mignon of Tuna.” (You can read more about that in an upcoming post.) It’s also creations like these that Thomas Keller of French Laundry fame does so well and so often.
