If there were to be a contest for the most sorely neglected culinary herb, lovage would certainly rank among the top five candidates. I first encountered this member of the parsley family two decades ago, not so much because I’d heard tales of its tastiness, but because I was curious to learn how a plant [...]
Well, it’s almost solstice, and the annual garlic harvest has once again come to a head. (I know, I know – I couldn’t resist.) But seriously: the individual cloves I planted last November have overwintered, sprouted, and have now formed 2′ tall plants, ready to flower. These blossoms, twisty floral spikes called “necks” in the [...]
If you’re at my house for brunch, chances are scrambled eggs will be on the menu. Most of my guests accept a spoonful or two, anticipating a pleasant accompaniment to sausages, waffles, or blue berry pancakes. Then they take a bite. The conversation usually goes like this: “Wow! These eggs are fantastic. What’s in them?! [...]
So a number of you emailed me about my recent chili recipe post, wanting details on the stock I used. Fair enough, because frankly few of the dishes I make regularly – from spaghetti to meatloaf to chicken soup tastes like much without the addition of a good home-made stock. My own version of chicken [...]
A number of years back, I was asked to bring something for one of our end-season crew parties, so I decided to make a chili recipe that I had inherited from my mother, though with a few twists. For years, mom made us what she called “thin chili”, which received this moniker because the dish [...]
Oh boy, here’s a fabulous recipe. Amusingly, it comes from a French cookbook called “Recettes Fraicheur” that my friend Christina brought back from France this summer. (The title translates, loosely, “Light & Fresh Recipes”.) We both dusted off our French (or more precisely, Christina removed a few motes, and I inches of accumulation) and together [...]
Last week we had a hard frost, and before those hoary fingers had a chance to damage the last of the harvest, I brought in everything I could. As you can see, this season – so lacking in most things – produced a bumper crop of sweet peppers, from a very prolific green-to-red variety I [...]
This year, I decided to grow only pickling cucumbers. No, that’s not precisely true. I tried, twice, sowing seeds of a special Armenian variety I got from Johnny’s Select Seeds, and twice it failed. (The cold wet season we’ve had probably has something to do with it, but the pickling cucumbers did just fine…) In [...]
Now this may surprise many of my friends who well know my general dislike of potatoes (not even French fries) but I must admit even I, non-spuds man that I am, love new potatoes fresh from the garden. The first ones are in this morning, and I plan to use them this evening in a [...]
My daily perambulation around the garden this morning confirmed that the first raspberries are in. Not that any made it into the house – I’m far too greedy for that. But soon, there will be plenty for freezing and processing. And speaking of processing, if you don’t have a little Victorio food mill, seen here [...]