My aunt, cousin, and I took an overnight trip to the coast last weekend that started with a day of wandering around beautiful Monterey and ended with a Mother’s Day 5K run through the artichoke fields of Castroville.  It was quite an adventure.

One of the many highlights of the trip was lunch at the adorable Red House Cafe in Pacific Grove where we sampled a variety of sandwiches and salads.  Our favorite was a lightly dressed orzo salad with fresh herbs – it was simple and delicious and I’ve been thinking about orzo ever since.  When I saw a bag of organic whole wheat orzo at Whole Foods yesterday I decided it was time to make an orzo salad of my own. Continue reading →

Last summer I made my first batch of homemade jam – peach jam, to be exact.  While not difficult, the process was a bit labor-intensive:  I sterilized jars, peeled and chopped fruit, boiled down the fruit and sugar, and even processed the filled jars in a water bath.  It was well worth the effort and I was quite proud of myself for successfully preserving that small bit of the summer’s bounty.  And with that first batch of jam under my belt, I had been making plans to can all kinds of jam this summer. Continue reading →

While many types of green salsa feature cooked or roasted tomatillos, this one is a simple mixture of fresh ingredients that can be thrown together in a matter of minutes.  But it’s not just the ease of preparation that makes this salsa great – I absolutely love the texture and refreshing flavor of the fresh tomatillos. Continue reading →

When I first read about Phoo-D’s Edamame Soup with Wasabi Cream, I knew I had to make it.  For one thing, I’ve had a bag of shelled edamame hanging out in my freezer for quite a while, but what really caught my attention was the combination of flavors she incorporated into her soup. You just can’t go wrong with garlic, ginger, and toasted sesame oil – not to mention the horseradish cream on top.  Perfect.

I had planned on following the recipe.  Really, that was my intention.  It wasn’t until I noticed that my bag of frozen edamame was of insufficient size that I knew I would have to improvise.  My first change was to use frozen peas to shore up my meager soybean supply.  Once I started thinking about peas, I remembered the fresh dill and mint in my refrigerator that, though still clinging to life, really needed to be used up sooner than later.  When I started thinking about dill and mint, of course I wanted to incorporate some lemon.  All of a sudden, the soup had changed quite a bit! Continue reading →

Who says comforting food has to be unhealthy?  This hearty stew is both nutritious and satisfying, and the bright, warm Moroccan flavors will be a welcome surprise to taste buds exhausted by holiday overindulgence.

It’s time for another virtual lunch date with my pals on twitter, and today we’re eating hearty stews.  As I mulled over some stew ideas, my first thought was to create something with beef and butternut squash.  I knew I had a squash on the counter and some tri-tip in fridge and the combination sounded like a great one for stew.  But when my coffee-addled brain realized that I had already cut the tri-tip into steaks and thrown them in some marinade, I decided I’d better rethink my plan.  It was then I realized that I didn’t have a butternut squash sitting on the counter either.

Yes, I think I am going crazy.

Since I liked the idea of a stew featuring butternut squash, I picked one up at the store yesterday.  I decided against buying more beef, figuring it would be more fun (and inexpensive) to create a stew using ingredients I had on hand.  After surveying the contents of my pantry, I grabbed a can of chickpeas, some canned tomatoes and a half-empty bag of Israeli couscous I found stuffed way in the back.  My hearty stew was coming together nicely. Continue reading →

I know that not many people make popcorn the old-fashioned way anymore, even Kettle Corn can be made in the microwave these days.  But please, please give this stove top kettle corn a try.  It’s easy, and it seriously blows the microwave stuff out of the water.  Trust me.  Make this popcorn.

I made a discovery a couple years ago that I really have been meaning to tell you about.  Honestly, I can’t believe I didn’t write about this before now.  But here it is:  instead of popping your corn in oil, use clarified butter or ghee.  While regular butter would burn if you tried to use it for popping corn, ghee has a much higher smoke point and works perfectly as long as you pop the corn over medium heat and watch it closely.

I love making Indian food, so I almost always have a container of ghee stashed in the pantry.  But for those of you who are new to using it, ghee is easy to find at ethnic markets or on the shelves of well-stocked supermarkets.  It’s also easy to make at home. If made properly, ghee can be stored at room temperature just like cooking oils.  But if storing at room temperature, be sure to keep moisture out of the container and never dip into it with a wet spoon, as moisture will cause the ghee to spoil.

The ghee in this recipe adds a richness to the sweet and salty kettle corn that just can’t be replicated using oil.  You can substitute oil for the ghee in this recipe and still end up with some tasty kettle corn, but I hope you’ll give my version a try at least once.

Kettle Corn

1/4 cup ghee*
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup sugar
fine grain sea salt

Heat ghee over medium heat until melted.  Add three popcorn kernels, cover with a lid and wait and listen until all three kernels have popped.  Add the rest of the popcorn kernels, shake to distribute then sprinkle sugar evenly over the kernels.  Cover with lid and listen for popping.  As soon as the kernels start to pop, shake pot gently back and forth over the burner, lifting it up and shaking from time to time, until the popping slows to every 2 to 3 seconds.  As soon as the popping slows, remove pan from heat and immediately dump kernels into a large bowl.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and toss with a wooden spoon.  Taste, and add more salt if desired.  Serve immediately.

*you may substitute vegetable oil for ghee, if desired.

Yield: approximately 4 servings

While we normally eat spaghetti squash tossed with nothing more than a a bit of olive oil and a handful of fresh-grated parmigiano reggiano, I decided to splurge this time around and used the versatile squash to create a rich and creamy gratin.

This gratin was inspired by a recipe I found at Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen.  I’m sure her sour cream version is wonderful, and that’s what I had originally planned to make, but when I realized that I had some heavy cream that needed to be used, I opted for that instead.  I also added some shallots along with the garlic, and decreased the amount of herbs (mainly because I was completely out of fresh herbs).  The resulting dish was absolutely delicious! Continue reading →

I’m beginning to think there’s nothing quite as satisfying as making a tray of slow-roasted tomatoes.  Now, I know I’ve said this about a lot of things.  Bread, for example.  And it’s true that there’s nothing quite as satisfying as making a loaf of bread with your own two hands.  But man, these tomatoes are something.  And they are simple.  So simple, that the extraordinary flavor almost doesn’t make sense.  The flavor is sweet, but intense.  Sultry, even.  You’ll see.  You’ll be smitten, too. Continue reading →