AWEsome Cookery

  The Weavers were back! June is a full and demanding month for me but I get to end it by providing meals for a lovely group of basket weavers from around the world at the Willow Gathering.  This session I peeked in on traditional basket styles from the Catalan region of Spain, and I’ll post the photos from two other sessions later…         The fresh willow is soaked in water so it bends easily, then kept wrapped in plastic

  In honor of the first day of summer here is a refreshing green tea with a light sparkle.  Give yourself the gift of an afternoon to sit in the shade, sip this delicate treat, listen to the birds, and enjoy the day.   (and no, those are not jasmine flowers in the photo…)     For centuries jasmine tea has been made by infusing tea leaves with jasmine flower petals letting the tea leaves absorb the sweet flower scent.  The tea leaves

  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

  Superpowers? I sometimes wish my superpowers were more exciting.  List-making is not terribly sexy or awe-inspiring.  I visualize what needs to happen then scribble (with .09 lead pencil and paper) the amounts then compile all the amounts into another list, then figure out the day and order in which things need to happen. It might take numerous drafts to achieve something understandable and useable.  I may even teeter into OCD moments of how a proper list should look and I

  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

  Sanskrit scriptures describe the universe as being birthed from an egg. The term Brahmanda is from two words: Brahm (ब्रह्म) = ‘cosmos’ or ‘expanding’, and ‘anda‘ (अण्ड) = ‘egg’.  The Brahmanda Purana, an ancient Indian text, explains this fascinating concept in great detail.  Good reading while you wait for the weather to warm as we muck through this season of mudliness.    Eggs and Spring.   Along with symbolizing life and new birth, in earlier times eggs were one of the few things available

  Spring veggies are not far off and these miniature bites of goodness will go well with all of them.  Spinach, garlic scapes, asparagus, kale, green onions, peas, watercress, fiddlehead ferns, morel mushrooms—-mix any or all of these delicacies with ricotta gnocchi (and butter!) and you’ll have a seasonal celebration on your table. Gnocchi is traditionally made with cooked potatoes, which are also delicious and a great way to use up your leftover mash, but this version gives more protein

  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

  First, a stunning photo by Coleen Sullins.   She joined us for a trip to ABR then afterwards sent along this Birch beauty for the post.  It almost appears that she was laying down for the shot…I didn’t ask if perhaps she fell while skiing and noticed the great view :-) It’s good to take moments and notice the beauty whenever you can!  And sometimes lying in the snow provides a good opportunity.  Believe me, I have spent a fair amount

  More wax!! For any of you partial to vintage ski paraphernalia here is Something Old and Something New in side-by-side Reds: years ago Swedish wax company Lind-Ex changed their name to SkiGo and here they are together. We bought the new SkiGo Red this year because of impending warm conditions, and Scott found a red Lind-Ex kick wax from the early 1980’s in his wax box. I love the SkiGo ski bag in the background of the SkiGo waxes, and next

  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

  Fuzzy diversions! Friends just picked up their chicks for the year and there are few things in this world more adorable than fuzzy babies.  Their nervous peeps filled the room when they first arrived, eventually softening into murmurs as they calmed and settled into to their new surroundings.  They would make a good jigsaw puzzle.   Check out Orange Free Sounds to hear chicks peeping!     Edible diversions. Baked ricotta is an easy dish that feels much more special than the energy it takes to make.

  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