AWEsome Cookery

  Cute tiny grains.  Bright orange carrots.  Summer days.  Good.   Quinoa is a relatively forgiving grain to cook.  I loosely measure 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa, but if you rinse it well and pour a random large amount of water into the pot you can drain off whatever liquid is left when it is cooked to your liking, or you can add more water during the cooking process if needed.  Beautifully un-fussy and un-intimidating—but ONE EXCEPTION is that you

  Nuts! Always a handy item for snacks or an appetizer table.  The many crevices of walnuts and pecans hold the herbs and sugar nicely so very little of the good stuff falls away.  I tried these without the cayenne and they seemed a bit weak—the red pepper gives not only a background of warmth, but it’s amazing how it both builds the base flavor and brings a little brightness.  You can be creative with other herbs and spices as well.

  A quick jaunt to Colorado on Amtrak helped me remember that trains are an awesome way to travel.  Everyone is relaxed, friendly, unparanoid, and relatively diverse.  The leg room in coach is luxurious and the small stations have free long term parking.  Perhaps it’s time you consider an Amtrak adventure?     A sun rising over Nebraska was enjoyed by a few of us in the observation lounge.  There wasn’t much talking in that pre-dawn reverie but the appreciation was palpable as we waited for the downstairs

  I referred to this pickling recipe in the Carrot Flowers post a few years ago and the Quick-Pickled Vegetable Salad last year, but I thought these beauties deserve their own page.  These are one of my favorite stand-byes for antipasto trays—they’re surprisingly bright and zesty, and the cheery orange is great next to the often dull brown hues of olives, mushrooms and meat.   This recipe is also from one of my favorite cookbooks ever, Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  I made

  I used to make a similar tofu at the deli, crusted with ground pumpkin seeds, cornmeal and 5-spice.  I simplified it in this version but it still has that hint of exotic with the Big Five to add to your sandwich or stir fry. In the past I would often treat tofu like fish, it has a similar wetness and needs to be handled delicately.  At the Loring Café with we used to make Chef Lenny Russo’s 5-spice grilled trout served

  Every culture has their flatbread—tortillas, crepes, roti, pita, gözleme, mana’eesh, msemmen, naan—the list of edible wraps from around the world goes on and on.  This garbanzo flatbread, a.k.a. farinata, socca, torta di ceci or cecina, is common in Italy, France and northern Africa where garbanzos abound.  They’re gluten free, full of protein, and provide a great vehicle to get your favorite toppings into your mouth.     It takes a while for the garbanzo flour to be absorbed into the water so begin early in the

Also known as ‘Seven Flavor Chile” because there are usually seven ingredients (shichi = seven), shichimi is a Japanese dried-spice mixture that can be cooked into dishes or added at the end for a complex punch of flavor.  Though regions and families have their own ingredient combinations and proportions, most shichimi contains chiles, citrus peel, sesame seeds, and nori.  Other ingredients may include Szechuan peppercorn, black or white poppyseeds, hemp seeds, paprika, salt, ginger and garlic.   I recently picked up a bag of pre-mixed shichimi and was reminded how

  Black Bean paste is a Chinese condiment used in many a dish (hoisin sauce, stir fries, Asian BBQ, noodles), and a secret ingredient of those from Team Umami.  It’s bold and tangy and can bump the flavor factor of your sauces manyfold. It can be really difficult to tell if Chinese condiments are gluten free, especially if there is the possibility of soy sauce (containing wheat) and it certainly doesn’t help if the ingredient list seems vague or incomplete.  I’ve been searching for GF

  The Montreal River…not frozen.   There aren’t many places that can survive a week of temperatures hovering around 40 degrees (F) with multiple days of pouring rain and still have trails with skiable snow.  ABR in Ironwood, Michigan is such a place with their dedication to grooming and building a solid base.  The Upper Peninsula enjoys (most of them do enjoy it) an average of 167 inches (nearly 14 feet!) of snow per year, so fortunately they had some volume to

  Completely inspired by Magnus Nilsson of Fäviken in Sweden, these crisps are simple with a most intriguing look.  In his cookbook Fäviken, Magnus explains that he started with thicker versions using more types of seeds, then evolved the crisp towards thinner version using only flax.  His cookbook photo shows the delicate see-through results.  Since I was making these as a traveling snack I brought it back to a thicker version so they would be more sturdy and road-worthy.   “Road-worthy”??  Yes!  We are once again pointing our

  Fritter me this. You can make a flavorful mash of nearly anything then fry it up and call it a fritter.  British fritters are often coated in a batter before frying, but U.S. fritters mainly consist of main ingredient with some kind of binder (like egg, flour or cornmeal) then are deep fried or pan fried.  Fritters are hugely popular in Southeast Asia, combinations like squash, chickpea and green onion; or yam and banana; or squid dipped in batter; or a mixture of shredded

  Since I’m on a cozy-roll these few weeks, here are a few more images of warm, glowing contributions to the feeling of hygge.  This is my lampshade made of agates, I’ve shown it before but as we’re now fully in midst of the chill and long, dark nights it seemed like a good image to bring back.  The question is….do I love warm glowing candles and fuzzy clothing because it’s winter, or do I love winter because I get to wear

photo by David Cavagnaro Squash, potatoes, onions, coconut milk, herbs, chili and curry paste…that’s what I had so we’ll see where this goes.  It could be good.  This dish was an experiment on a chilly afternoon and though it probably dips into the ‘vague recipe’ territory, I think you can handle it.   A Gratin generally consists of root or firm vegetables with cream baked in a a shallow dish with a browned topping of breadcrumbs and/or cheese, or perhaps lately it’s morphing into just ‘something baked in a

  An extraordinary project has been happening in our little town this year. Our resident English stone-guru Ted Wilson is building a dry-stone arch bridge with the help of Sean Smyth from Missoula, MT who travels around the country working on complex stone projects like this.  Dry-stone is an ancient building method that uses no mortar.  Dry-stone bridges have been built for centuries—the stones need a trapezoidal shape and a tight fit, then the arch holds its shape by only the pressure of the stones against each other.  Sound formidable

  This is a full-flavored simple soup for a fall day, and especially great for the dreary chill that arrives in this part of the northern hemisphere as we shift into late October.  And it’s orange.  That should cheer up nearly anyone.     I roasted and froze corn in August and was happy to use it up in this soup.  Fresh corn would work well too—it might not have the roasty flavor but it would make a smoother puree than the

  Green and creamy-frothy on the tables of our favorite little Mexican restaurants, we have spent many a delicious moment speculating about the ingredients of this green condiment.  Emulsified oil, figured that out.  Some kind of chile, yep.  And beyond that we weren’t sure if there was lime, vinegar, mayonnaise or avocado…but just kept on eating regardless of the speculations. This is different than a tomatillo salsa verde which is also incredibly yummy but not as creamy.  Sometimes this sauce

  We recently spent a number of days at the Solarium Hostel in Ft. Collins, Colorado.  A tropical indoor commons, large shared kitchen, yoga in the basement, a stream and bike path in their back yard…this was a great place to hang out and meet people from around the world while making your breakfast before touring the breweries, eating at the pay-what-you-can FoCo Cafe, or heading to the mountains.  They even have adorable bikes you can rent for touring this

  A colorful and tasty salad for your dinner, yes, but first I need to show you a large grey cat.               I’m thinking of making a t-shirt or a poster of these paws, they’re perfect.   Scott and I were devoted dog lovers and this big dork of a cat showed us there could be another way, transformed our hearts.  Scott’s collies rescued a starving wisp of a kitten fourteen years ago and

  Tulsi, India’s Queen of Herbs, revered for centuries as a sacred plant and used both medicinally and in worship, is thriving right here in my garden.  Native to India it is traditionally grown in pots in every Indian home and I am just beginning to understand the devotion.  Tulsi is not known as the ‘elixir of life’ for naught.   Western medicine is finally studying this amazing herb for its health-promoting properties.  It contains eugenol (also in cloves), a compound

  These little veggies were served at the Seed Savers Conference dinner and have now been in my refrigerator for over two weeks….and they still look and taste fantastic!  Once again I set myself up for the situation where I didn’t know exactly what I would be making (I kept the menu rather vague listing a ‘Carrot Vegetable Salad with Toasted Cumin”) but I knew it would involve lots of local vegetables and a light vinegar dressing, so I started