My first memories of fruit butters are driven out of Carbondale, Illinois, which seemed worlds away from the Chicago suburbs, both in station-wagon miles and in accent. Maybe Aunt Harriet’s slower cadences and shifts and drawls reinforced her patience for hours and hours of bubbling the moisture out of the orchard’s apples and peaches. All…
Tag: csa
Father knows best: Grilled cheese & grapes
“My father was an amazing man. The older I got, the smarter he got.” – Mark Twain For a couple years when Mike and I were little kids, my mom went to night and summer school, wedging in courses to wrap up her master’s (in between teaching and, you know, momming). Once a week or…
Haiku Carrot Soup
Simple. Really. I mean, 5-7-5 simple. Infused with ginger and thyme, this is a subtly spicy-sweet soup that’s downright velvety—even without dairy—and perfect for a fall lunch or light supper. Start to finish, it’ll take you about 40 minutes, and most of that’s idle time while the carrots are roasting and the stock is simmering. Though…
KOB salad
No, not Cobb Salad. K•O•B Salad. As in, Kale•Orange•Beet. Inspired by the Roasted Beet Salad at Barbuzzo, where chef Marcie Turney loads chiffonade of raw kale with beets, ruby red grapefruit segments, pistachio pesto, and chèvre, a couple years ago I started playing around with kale, beets, citrus, nuts, and cheese. I’ve swapped around oranges,…
Churn, Baby, Churn: Real Peach Ice Cream
Which came first, the chicken or the egg-rich ice cream? When your tiny, Fibber McGee’s freezer is full of put-up fruits and veggies—and three picked-over chickens—the chicken has to come first. Meaning, it has to come out first. With those bulky birdframes reduced to two jars of very concentrated stock, there was finally room for…
Plum-Topped Olive Oil Cake
Saw it in the Times this morning; 90 minutes later, it was cooling on the counter. Happy birthday, Brian and Megan.
Groundcherry-Phyllo Bundles
Swaddled in their own rustic gift paper, groundcherries are actually relatives of tomatillos—not the tree-grown stone fruit they’re named for—and they share some of the citrusy, tropical tang we associate with that green, husked staple of Mexican cuisine. When the CSA shares arrived yesterday, I couldn’t resist tasting a couple straight from the box. Sure…
Swap-Box Hero: Gimme a Beet
When I was a kid, beets were sweet and syrupy and neon magenta. Gramma C called them “Harvard Beets.” They probably came out of a can. I never knew there was any other kind. And I loved them. I’m told that’s unusual – that beets are a taste acquired in adulthood, and that most young…
Khaleesi Beans
Dragon’s tongues? Just when I was suffering green-bean fatigue (big bags, three weeks in a row), these variegated beauties showed up in my sharebox yesterday. Purple dapples on a yellow base, they taste more like wax beans than classic haricots verts—and when you cook them, the purple fades away (mostly), revealing bleached, pearlescent pods. Holy…
Pesto alla Trapanese
Thanks, Zeppoli. Until dinner there one night last week, I’d forgotten how much I like Trapanese, the Sicilian pesto that subs almonds for the pine nuts in its ubiquitous, basil-laden Genovese cousin. Such a brilliant, simple, fresh dish. I’ve seen lots of variations – in proportions, in peppers (some use vinegar-cured pepperoncini, some use the…
Boxing Day 