Clockwise from top left: Shallots, red bell pepper, fennel, sweet potato, butterball potato, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, carrots, blue sweet potato, rutabaga. Roasted vegetables are the umami of the plant world. Their depth of flavor is without compare. The browning (maillard effect) is how you develop the umami, caramelizing the natural sugars in the vegetables….
Roasted Radicchio, Mushroom, Potato, and Manchego Cheese Gratin
Lewis, my harshest critic, loved this casserole!!! Can we even call the above a casserole? Resisting any food snobbery, we’ll leave it as named, a meal in a baking dish. Until the taste reveal. The German Butterball potatoes really made this dish. These potatoes were freshly dug at Rosie and Dan’s Swallow Hill Farm. Yukon…
Wild Rose Hips and Amaryllis
With this warm weather (it must be over 50 degrees today), the wild rose hips are still in good condition. Down coats and plastic bags will not survive this foraging. I speak from experience. Gloves are a must, the thicker the better. The amaryllis I planted last month is at it’s prettiest and the…
Red Cabbage and Onion Galette
This is an olde “thyme” Martha Stewart recipe that I’ve been making every winter for eons. It must date from the early to mid-90’s, predating any food blogs. The recipe is long lost but it’s committed to memory, so this is probably quite close to the original. It comes across as a strange combination for…
Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Muffins
Kendra, Tegan, and I used to make these every week for a couple of years, first for our farm market in our little stone barn and later for some friends who had a farm stand down the road. Fresh or frozen blueberries work equally well in this recipe. No need for defrosting. Plan to freeze…
The Bestest Brownies
No cocoa powder here. We’re using half a pound of Callebaut chocolate to make this decadent delight. If you are unable to obtain Callebaut chocolate, Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate from the supermarket will do as a stand-in. There’s no way I’m going to add walnuts or chocolate chips to this sticky, soft indulgence. However, if you…
Pear, Almond, Ginger Syrup Caramel Cake
A simple cake I made to utilize the ginger sugar syrup leftover from the crystallized ginger post. Last month the pears were dropping in dozens daily from the tree in the front yard. The rush was on. Between the dozen or so deer that come through here nightly and me, the challenge was on to…
Paperwhites
Love these beauties. Paperwhites may be planted in either soil or stones. Place the bulbs about 1″ apart and cover two-thirds of the bulb with stones or completely with soil. Water and place them in a light, cool place until the foliage stands 3″ to 4″ high. Then, place them in a sunny location at…
Shishito Pepper Scrambled Eggs and Cheese
Yes, I must have been living under a rock, for I had never heard of shishito peppers until this past September! These little green or red peppers are the darling of the culinary world this year. So where was I? Stephanie, my farmer friend and shishito supplier, eats them every night. That’s love. So I…
Red Lentil and Tomato Soup with Ras el Hanout, Harissa, and Preserved Lemons
All at once my neighbor Mark showed up with 30,000+ lbs. of gravel for the driveway and outdoor kitchen area, the sun came out, and I was craving some red lentil soup. This Moroccan inspired soup comes together in just over 30 minutes. Remember the recipes I posted for Preserved Lemons, Harissa, and Ras el…