Like most everyone with a pulse, I love crispy, high-fat food. I also like a good honest hot oil burn on my forearm, so deep frying should be right up my alley. But because of the hot aerosolized fat that goes everywhere, the 7 or 8 bowls it usually takes and the cup or more…
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Honey, Nut and Raisin Granola: A Litmus Test For Beekeeping
Homebrew Husband and I are dancing around the idea of maybe, someday, possibly keeping honeybees. We are being very sensible about this. We are not rushing in. We are getting a bee education before we plunge into apiarying. I’m currently taking a fantastic Apprentice Beekeeping class through the local branch of Washington State University’s Extension program, and when I’m done, he’ll take…
Mussels with Bacon, Thyme and Onion in Porter Sauce
If you like mussels, you love them. If you don’t…well, just come back tomorrow when I’ll be talking about something different. No hard feelings, really. There now, all the mussel-haters have gone and left just us, right? Great, more bivalves for us! This recipe a great way to steam clams or mussels that has a bit more…
Kohlrabi Slaw and Baseline Slaw Dressing
And I quote: “Kohlrabi (German turnip) is a low, stout cultivar of the cabbage that will grow almost anywhere.” Now that’s my kind of vegetable. You can keep your hothouse flowering melons and peppers – “will grow almost anywhere” is exactly what I’m looking for in a vegetable, especially if that tenacity is combined with…
Pasta with Rainbow Chard and Stilton Cream Sauce
Here’s the concept: pasta + greens + very light cream sauce = deceptively elegant, super easy dinner in a hurry with stuff you have lying around. The exact pasta, greens and cheese can be mixed to suit whatever you have on hand. This version is Orecchiette with Rainbow Chard, Tomatoes and Stilton. Chard (like its…
Plum Perfect Galette
You know how people say “easy as pie,” when something couldn’t be simpler? Well, sorry pie, there is something simpler, and tastier: the galette. Oh, sure, you might argue that a galette is just a French pie, and in a way you’d be right. But this flat, simple, rustic (galettes are always described as rustic, which I find…
Big Batch Almond Zucchini Bread (Or, How To Use Up A Lot Zucchini After It Has Started To Irritate You)
Zucchini is like that friend who calls you just a bit too often. When the relationship first starts up, you’re so excited! New, cute little zuke, nice little chit chat…and for a while you’re thinking: wow, this is so great! This relationship is so rewarding. And then, after eight weeks of being stalked incessantly by an unending…
Salad Days, Summer Style
Salad Days are here….again. But this time, spring’s tender lettuce isn’t taking center stage. Because it’s moderately warm here in the Maritime Northwest (and, I gather, roughly as hot the 6th circle of Hell elsewhere in the U.S.) I want to cook and eat cold food, and entree salads fits the bill perfectly. Here’s a…
Roasted Beet Salad: Three Variations
Not everyone loves beets. Good, more for me. I love roasted beets tossed with a simple vinaigrette. The technique is dead simple and lends itself to multiple variations. I pick my beets at around golf ball size. I’d like to say that’s because they are sweetest when they are small, but truthfully I’d love big,…
Oh, What A Glorious Morning, Muffin!
There’s a local cafe that serves chocolate chip cookies that should be illegal and morning glory muffins that really do make my morning glorious. Since I have an ethical and financial problem paying $6.50 for a muffin and cup of coffee, and since it behooves my expanding ass to stay away from the chocolate chip…
Just What The Internet Doesn't Knead (Updated)
There’s about a 95% chance that you’ve heard of the famous No Knead Bread recipe, put out by the New York Times and re-posted by…well…everyone. For the 5% of you that have yet to become master No Knead Bakers, I offer up my personal lionization of the technique. It’s simple, it’s fool-proof, it’s delicious, it…
The Simplest Salad In The World
Salad days are here. My lettuce is responding to our cool drizzly weather by growing big and verdant and tender. Say what you will about a crappy, sunless spring; the lettuce loves it. Thanks to an over-eager over-seeding of lettuce back in February, I have a bed of lettuce to eat, and it all looks like this:…