The dish came about as so many do. I was searching for inspiration in the fridge and found only cold, leftover cooked pasta and a head of green cabbage. Cabbage and noodles can seem ho-hum, but more than one civilization has applied culinary alchemy to them and made greatness happen. I won’t claim this dish…
Winter
How To Make Quince Paste
Quince is an interesting fruit. It’s hard and dry and astringent when raw, but floral and delicate if cooked. If you put your nose into a bag full of ripe quince, the perfume of the fruit shows its promise. Quince paste (often called by it’s Spanish name, dulce de membrillo) is a popular spread in…
Meyer Lemon Curd, A Love Affair
My mom used to make me a special cake on my birthday. It was a four-layer white cake, each layer filled with lemon pie filling. The cake was frosted with Seven Minute Frosting – which is basically like marshmallow fluff – and coated with sweetened shredded coconut. I loved this cake. It went down like…
How To Make and Use Caramelized Onions (The Pro Method)
Let’s be clear. There is a difference between meltingly soft, slow-caramelized onions and grilled onions. If you think a caramelized onion is basically a hunk of raw onion with some char on the edges like you might find in a nasty Panda Express mall stirfry, then you are in for a very pleasant surprise. True,…
Recipe Videos From The Northwest Flower and Garden Show
As you guys might recall, in February I spoke at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. The show launched their new DIY Stage this year, and I was both thrilled and terrified to be the first person in the 25-year history of the show to do a cooking demo. Newly-launched gardening website Garden TV showed…
Lamb Blade Chops with Apricot Halves and Salt Preserved Lemon
This is a simple one-skillet dish disguised as a fancy-pants chef-type meal. The deception works because we’re using slightly more exotic pantry ingredients like salt-preserved lemons and apricot halves in syrup. The salted lemons, apricots and warm spices meld together into a Moroccan-influenced sweet and sour sauce that rocks with the lamb blade chops. If you don’t…
Fast Marinated Chickpea and Parsley Salad
At the Northwest Flower and Garden Show recipe demo I did yesterday I inadvertently shafted my vegetarian friends by focusing on some pretty carnivorous recipes. So, I made a video showing how home canned chickpeas can be transformed into this super fast vegetarian entree salad in just a few minutes. Watch It! Make It! Marinated Chickpea Salad Ingredients…
Stir-fry of Pickled Green Beans with Ground Pork
This Chinese inspired skillet stir-fry gets its distinctive flavor from the sour pickled green beans. These are beans that have been traditionally brine pickled through lacto-fermentation, rather than quick pickled with vinegar. Any fairly sturdy sour pickled vegetable will work very well in a dish like this. I adore lacto-fermented turnips with beef and chili…
Three Sisters in Seattle Chili
The thing about this chili is, you pretty much just open up a bunch of jars and simmer. So on a difficulty scale of 1 to 10, 1 being “Boil Water” and 10 being “The Food They Invent at Moto” this chili is maybe a 2, and that’s only if you need to rummage around for a…
Sunchoke Soup with Hazelnuts
This recipe is from the Eating Local in the Depth of Winter recipe demo and presentation I gave at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Thank you so much to everyone who came out to learn just how delicious it can be to eat from your garden, even in the “low time.” To view all…
Skillet Cauliflower with Curry
This recipe is from the Eating Local in the Depth of Winter recipe demo and presentation I gave at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Thank you so much to everyone who came out to learn just how delicious it can be to eat from your garden, even in the “low time.” To view all…
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Maple-Bourbon Vinaigrette
This recipe is from the Eating Local in the Depth of Winter recipe demo and presentation I gave at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Thank you so much to everyone who came out to learn just how delicious it can be to eat from your garden, even in the “low time.” To view all…