morsels & sauces

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine recommended this book,  The Everlasting Meal . It has since become one of my favorite works of food writing*, and I am not alone; in fact, The New Yorker  loved it as much as I do and conducted a lovely interview with Tamar Adler once her book was presented in paperback. The book combines poetic meditations with long form recipes (those that become intertwined with the stories she tells) with a sprinkling of some separated "how to" recipes. *If you're looking for a great gift for the foodie in your life, I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Recently, in the CSA box we were presented with a giant bunch of turnips, a bundle of chard, and one of arugula. We also had a bag of dried cannellini beans. Using Chez Panisse (where Adler once cooked) and Adler 's book, I turned to the process of making wilted greens and cannellini beans, a simple supper that extended into a week of lunches and eventually into a Friday night s

It's the season of the squash; as such, I have been trying to stay atop the weekly arrival of a squash in the CSA box.  Admittedly, I am behind.  I won't tell you how behind, but let's just say there is only so much squash that two people can eat in a week.  I have wrapped it in pastry , roasted it with dates and thyme , and now folded it into soup.  I have two bags of cut squash in my freezer.  And I fear that there will be more squash in this week's CSA box.  It is a founded fear. This recipe hails from a lovely cookbook-- Ancient Grains for Modern Meals --and to qualify this soup for the cookbook, Maria Speck simply adds oatmeal to this soup, which thickens the soup nicely.  Thus inspired, I have recently taken to adding oatmeal (raw, believe it or not, but cooked would be equally yummy) to my morning smoothie.  It adds only a modicum of thickening, but more importantly it adds all the good stuff we know oatmeal can do. Oatmeal is a whole

Do you need something satisfying to take to lunch this week?  Well then, set aside some time now at the end of the weekend to compose a little batch of this Creole Mushroom and Pepper Stew.  The last of the season summer vegetables are singing their swan song until next year; autumnal veggies are crowding out the tomatoes and bell peppers both in the CSA box and at the farmers markets.  Some parts of the US are experiencing the bracing chill of autumn (while California remains drought and heat-ridden).  In other words, it's officially fall. While this recipe does require quite a bit of preliminary chopping, it comes together easily and quickly. Admittedly, there wasn't much that made this particular dish "Creole" other than a little heat from the cayenne and the hint of thyme (and it uses only two of the "Holy Trinity"--bell pepper, onions, and celery).  Perhaps the addition of paprika and celery would kick this into Louisiana territ

It's October baseball, people, which means that, as a Giants fan, I have bitten my nails to the quick and I have cursed the Cardinals--an easy thing to do because I have always professed that I am a Cubs fan first and a Giants fan second.  Lucky for me, the possibility of the Cubs and the Giants battling it out any time in the near or even distant future in the National League Championship Series seems pretty slim. For Game One of the NLCS, the husband and I sat down to an evening of delight with these chorizo and goat cheese quesadillas with a homemade tomatillo salsa (to be clear, for Game Two, we sat down to a plate of disappointment.  There may have been food then, but I don't remember).  On the first of what I hope to be four nights of the Giants winning, the tartness of the tomatillos plays well with the savoriness of the chorizo and the tanginess of the goat cheese.  Chorizo, that little pork sausage originating on the Iberian Peninsula, can come both

This post, while food-related, is not a recipe-related one.  Instead it is a celebration of pure, local, organic, anti-GMO, sustainable food.  In other words, it is a birthday dream come true. On the occasion of one's birthday around our household, one gets to choose one's way to fete--as mentioned previously   ad naseum , we went to Greens for dinner; but the husband had another trick up his proverbial sleeve: I also got a trip to Sonoma County, where we attended  The National Heirloom Exposition  last month. So many vegetables! So many fruits! With over a thousand varietals on display, one could not possibly have a gander at so much food, so we picked our way through the exhibition hall, oohing and ahhing over the many pretty and pretty weird edibles.  Ray L. Duey, watermelon carver extraordinaire and master chef, carved up some melons to our delight.  I won a packet of seeds in a "name that food" competition (correctly identifying chayote and tamarind, mi