Decades before Farm-to-Table was a nationwide THING, Madison’s L’Etoile (est. 1976), was championing small, local growers, constructing seasonal menus, and pushing vegetable-centric cooking beyond lentil cakes and baba ghanoush. A summer-squash compendium on the kitchn last week reminded me of a meal I’d had at L’Etoile close to 30 years ago—a meal that kicked off with a warm loaf of crusty bread and…
Tag: vegetarian
Forage Potage
(faw-razh paw-tahzh) A thick soup, stew, or porridge in which found or scavenged items are boiled together until they form a thick mush. Yes, this one was a real hodge-podge. Ramps, the spring-heralding, wild allium that gave Chicago its name, picked up at the season’s first Headhouse Farmers’ Market Sunday. Stinging nettles—another truly foraged plant—that came…
A Stew So Nice I Made It Twice . . .
. . . just so I could eat it once. A recent all-night (and all-the-next-day) bout with a hidden crustacean left me, um, shell-shocked. I’ve been so careful these past few years. But with too many plates—and probably too many glasses—on the six-top that night, I didn’t ask our server all the questions I should have. I…
Sunny & Crisp Triple-Root Salad
Fresh and bright in a way that makes you ask the Polar Vortex how many days until pitchers and catchers report, here’s a crisp and crunchy three-root salad that’s somewhere between a slaw and a remoulade. Triple-Root Salad Really, any roots will do. I loved this combination of celery root, beets, and carrots from last week’s sharebox,…
Swap-Box Hero: SpanaKohlpita
Judging by end-of-day swap-box contents, kohlrabi—especially the giant Kossaks we see in the colder months—is in the running for our site’s least-loved (most-feared?) CSA item. Even in high July, after zucchini fatigue has set in, we rarely see a uniform swap box at closing time. But last Tuesday, after all the first-week Winter Season shares had…
Kale and Hearty
It’s easy to take potatoes for granted. But fresh, local spuds are a marvel, with a nutty flavor and creamy texture that can’t be matched out of the mesh sacks shipped halfway across the country. In fact, next to eggs (okay, and maybe sweet, late-season carrots), they’re my favorite CSA staple, and when my stash is…
Scary-Good Hot Sauce
Bubble, bubble, a little toil, not much trouble. In mid-September, I chunked up a whole mess of hot, super-hot, and mild peppers, stuffed them into a couple jars, added salt water, and let them burble away on my kitchen counter. Fermentation, kickstarted by the the ambient yeasts and mild fall temps in my kitchen, worked its black…
Awesome Sauce
Road trip! Fall road trip! Last Sunday’s drive up to Bucks County was a week or two before peak leaf-peeping—but was smack on for peak apple-picking (thank you, Solebury Orchards). I think Sheila and I have each had an apple a day since then, plus I made a pie Monday morning before work. But still, with…
Grilled Nectarine and Burrata Salad
Peaches and cream? Absotively. Nectarines and burrata? Why not? Grilled Nectarine and Burrata Salad No set “recipe” here, since there’s not even a vinaigrette involved. Scale everything to your own needs and tastes. If you can’t find super-creamy, super-fresh burrata* (mine was from Di Bruno Brothers), fresh mozz, fresh ricotta, or even goat cheese will…
Grill … Whoosh … Baba Ghanoush
Somehow, after last Tuesday’s sharebox, I wound up with three different kinds of eggplant. A few of the tender, wee ones found their way into a mixed sauté of zucchini, tomato, and onion. But come Monday, a day ahead of this week’s CSA delivery, the others, though still in great shape, were taking up valuable fridge real…
Boxing Day 