Mahi mahi from a fishing friend (traded for a jar of fresh salsa), minimally seasoned and seared in butter with a cold center. Zucchini and onions sauteed with basil; squash blossoms stuffed with cheddar and tomatillos and fried in buttermilk batter. Homegrown: squash blossoms, tomatillos, eggs, onions, basil. Traded: fish for salsa. Staples: oil, flour. […]
Tomato bisque, no-knead challah, steamed green beans, roasted mushrooms. And peach cobbler for dessert! Homegrown: tomatoes, basil, beans, garlic. Staples: flour, onions, carrots,. Storebought: cream, mushrooms, capers. Fresh tomato-basil bisque (makes about 1 1/2 gallons; can easily be halved). If you’ve ever had the tomato bisque from La Madeleine, this tastes like that. Delicious! And […]
Roast chicken is something that’s seasonal year-round; all that’s needed to make it a fully seasonal meal is to add an appropriate side dish! How’s about a summery caprese salad and some whole wheat bread? Homegrown: chicken, jam, tomatoes, basil. Staples: flour, spices, olive oil. Storebought: milk, butter. I made the mozzarella with storebought milk, […]
A friend introduced me to Wickle’s Pickles a couple months ago and I was immediately hooked. They’re bread and butter pickles, so sweet but so spicy! And the garlic in them makes them sort of like a dangerous potato chip that leaves you panting but reaching for more. I ate half a jar (ahem, maybe […]
I’d like to start doing something a bit new around here. If you’ve read the blog for any length of time, you know how important it is to me to reduce our food’s carbon footprint and simultaneously our dependence on commercial grocery stores. That mission starts with sourcing food locally of course. (Not for me, […]
We had a couple get-togethers in a row this past weekend, and I used up almost all my backlog of cucumbers! Cucumber water, cucumber kefir, and cucumber-basil-feta salad. This was probably the best cucumber salad I’ve made yet this summer. So crisp, tart, and refreshing and above all, simple! I’d like to share it with […]
Our mint and oregano have been starting to flower this week; it was high time we harvested them. Sofía and I went out with a pair of scissors this morning and filled up an entire grocery bag – almost a pound of fresh herbs! Last year I hung the herbs to dry, but this year […]
There’s nothing quite like sitting down to a meal that came entirely from your own garden. Tortilla española and garlic-sauteed beet greens. Simple fare though it might be, everything was picked at the peak of freshness and flavor. The main ingredients – potatoes, eggs, greens – were actually harvested just this morning while Sofía slept. […]