Section » Recipes
Broth for dummies
You know what I love about being sick? Nothing! The particularly irritating thing about my current cold is that I can't taste anything. However, I did make some chicken broth. Actually, I've been making chicken broth for a long time, I just didn't realize it. I learned from Chickenman that the best way to cook pastured chicken -- which can be a lot
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Cream of mushroom soup
When you read that title, did you think of a cylindrical, gelatinous mass, perhaps quivering atop some tuna fresh out of the can, frozen corn kernels and peas, maybe some shredded cheddar? Campbell's cream of mushroom soup is the base that launched a thousand casseroles. But guess what's in it? Most
Accidental white wine sauce
About two weeks ago, I used some Cooper Mountain Pinot Gris for a leek recipe, with the plan that the Butter Bitch would use the rest to make risotto the following night.
Pretty good pomegranate sauce
Pomegranates are not native to the Pacific Northwest, but here is a good sauce I made by once upon a time. The recipe comes from memory. The sauce goes well with lamb and that Oregon staple, pinot noir. Warm weather natives, rejoice. Ingredients: 2 pomegranates, or 1 cup of pure pomegranate juice 2
Super soup: Cream o’ carrots ‘n’ leeks
Well, I didn't manage to use up all of the produce in my fridge before I left, but I made a valiant effort, even having leftover kale and a salad together in one meal. I did have to discard some arugula from the Eatwell box that I had let go too long. It's funny how
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Disaster Diary: Fried green tomatoes and mushroom soup
In our semi-anniversary post, we asked what you'd like more of on this blog, and two commenters said cooking posts. Truth is, I'm much better at ranting than cooking. I'm not completely clueless in the kitchen, I'm just wildly inconsistent. Casting
Oly’s Pear Pie
One of the challenges of being half a blogging couple is that we discuss ideas, and then the first person scheduled to write in a week tends to use up those ideas. You wake, thinking idly of the post that is due the following day, only to discover that the other person has written not just about the
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Apple date or how to drink from trees
Last Sunday I made my first-ever batch of homemade apple juice. Earlier in the week, Lady Persimmons, my friend and next-door neighbor, and I decided that Sunday night would be our apple date. I agreed to pick the apples beforehand from the two apple trees in our backyard, and Lady P would provide
The joy of the ‘Joy of Cooking,’ circa 1962
This posted is rated NV: Not for Vegetarians. A friend in the book-publishing industry was dining at our house last week and rhapsodizing about old Joy of Cooking editions, particularly the illustrations from the '60s. Lo and behold, on my shelf was a 1962 edition my father had given me. The book opens
Introducing the CSA Challenge: Cook inside the box
Do you get seasonal veggies delivered from a local farm, also known as a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box? Ever feel overwhelmed with what to do with everything? A friend just hosted our first-ever CSA Challenge, a lively dinner party that solved that problem. Here's how it works. Pick up your
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Lard
Seattle is a pork-happy town. I observed the local fondness for pork not long after moving to the city three years ago. In addition to sandwiches and burgers featuring bacon, which is to be expected, pork plays a prominent role in breakfast. "Of course," some of you say, "ham and eggs for breakfast." Seattleites
The lovely beans (apologies to Alice Sebold)
I bought these fresh cranberry beans last Tuesday from Dirty Girl Farms (my favorite name of all) because I had never seen such pretty beans before. I also didn't know what they were or how to cook them, but that's the beauty of the farmers market — you can just ask. These are a special heirloom variety
Gingery Armenian Cucumber Salad (aka Spicy Snake Melon)
The first time an Armenian cucumber showed up in our CSA box, I had no idea what it was. (It was the one day that we didn't get a newsletter.) This would be less embarrassing if I weren't part Armenian, and proud of it, but I know zip about the
Corn-o-rama
Even if we Americans are "corn chips with legs" (Berkeley biologist Todd Dawson as quoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore's Dilemma), there is still something to be said for fresh corn eaten
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Lettuce Cups
We've gotten a lot of lettuce in our CSA box during this last month, and the produce is not only plentiful but large. One head barely fit into our crisper. Salad can get dull after a while if one does not mix things up, so the Butter Bitch and I were happy to get inspiration by happenstance. We caught
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