All Things Food
My step-son, Ben, called the other day and asked for the chicken stir-fry with fermented black beans that we often make. With everyone cooking at home almost all the time, our kids have been cooking more. They’ve always been capable in the kitchen, but given the situation these days, each one of them has asked us for favorite recipes.
Read MoreFor as long as I have lived outside of New York City (which is where I grew up), whenever anyone in my family is heading up for a visit, they ask if I would like them to bring anything from the City for us. We usually ask for some New York bagels and sliced smoked salmon.
One time when my parents were coming up for a visit, among numerous items on a long list, Hank wanted me to ask them to bring some rugelach. When they arrived, I started unpacking the food, and there was a large plastic bag full of greens. My mother thought I had said arugula! She told me she was quite perplexed, thinking I probably could get arugula here – which I can – but figured I must have had my reasons.
Read MoreI’ve been working my way through seasonal treats I froze last summer, and one of the things I found tucked in the back of our freezer in the garage was another bag of frozen corn. Every time Hank get corn during the summer, whether from Kinderhook Creek Farm in Stephentown, New York or Noble’s in Pittsfield, Massachusetts or any number of other local farms, we always get half a dozen ears even though we know we won’t eat it all. I cut whatever is left off of the cobs, measure the amount, and freeze it in labeled zipper bags.
Over the course of the winter, I might cook a bag of corn as a side dish or make corn chowder, and sometimes I make this incredibly easy soup.
Read MoreIs it possible the weather is turning? Will all those showers in April really bring May flowers? The first weekend in May looks to be glorious weather-wise here in the Berkshires, and perhaps we can see that glimmer of summer in the future.
So we decided to take the plunge and use the last container of pesto that was in the freezer from the many batches we made last summer.
Read MoreAmong the items we like to keep in the freezer is a butterflied leg of lamb. Occasionally we will marinate and grill it, but more often we will cut it into 1-inch chunks and make lamb stew. Of course you can buy lamb stew meat instead to make this easier.
We have served this for so many dinner parties, and once I even made it with short ribs when one of our guests said she didn’t like lamb and it was just as good. Whenever I make it, I am always just a little but surprised that it doesn’t have very many ingredients but has so much flavor!
Read MoreIt seems like so long ago that we would jump in the car and drive to Albany to do errands we couldn’t do in the Berkshires, such as going to the Apple Store or picking up chemicals for the hot tub. And whenever we were over there, we would stop in at the Asian Supermarket on Central Avenue. We love this store, and we always find fantastic ingredients and products so we can try our hand at Asian recipes at home. We look forward to the day when we once again will think nothing of heading to Albany for errands and activities.
One time this past fall, among other items, we bought both wonton wrappers to provide a shortcut for making dumplings, and for an even shorter cut, we bought two bags of frozen dumplings. However, when we tried a few dumplings from one of these bags, they were pretty meh, and we were so disappointed.
Read MoreI know so many people have been making sourdough starter these days, unable to buy yeast. I’ve been keeping a sourdough starter in my fridge for several years now, making bread every week or so.
However, I am not making real sourdough bread, like my friend, Rafi, of Hilltown Hot Pies. Most of the time I’m doing what I would call a cheater’s version that doesn’t require nearly as much time and coordination. While it may not have as strong a sour tang, my rosemary version has become our go-to bread of choice.
Read MoreThose who have been following along know that I’ve been foraging for ramps this year, with much thanks to a friend who told me where I could find them. We loved the flavor they gave to a plate of carbonara, and the grilled ramps in hollandaise made for a great date night dinner at home!
With this most recent bunch, I made two different items, one from the bulbs & stems, and another from the leaves.
Read MoreI’m not sure if it is yet clear to readers of this blog that I love beets! When I first met my husband, he told me he just would never like beets, but I have been able to get him to enjoy them, especially in a few dishes such as my beet risotto and this beet pasta.
I have to say I take it as a challenge when someone says they don’t like a particular ingredient under any circumstances, in any way, shape, or form. There are several things that my step-daughter, Rachel, has said she doesn’t usually like, but has newfound appreciation for the ingredient in one of my recipes.
Read MoreI went out to forage for ramps again, then wondered what to do with then. As I was falling asleep the other night, I began to dream up recipes, and somehow stumbled upon the idea of using ramps to flavor a sauce to serve with dinner.
It is a serious problem for me, keeping me from falling asleep at night, when I start to think through which perishables we have in the house, which will go bad sooner and which later, and trying to plan accordingly.
Read MoreWe had a near disaster the other day. We have a tall pantry cabinet in our kitchen with fairly deep pull-out shelves. With my hand on one of the shelves, pushing it back in, I heard a crack, and as the plastic bracket holding the side rail broke, I managed to prevent the shelf from crashing to the floor, along with all of its content.
Thankfully I averted what would have been a mess of broken bottles of oil and vinegar, jars of mustards and jams, and various containers of breadcrumbs all over the floor.
Read MoreA long time ago, around the end of college and the beginning of graduate school, I spent three summers working on an archaeology dig in Soissons, France, a small city in Picardie, a little over an hour northeast of Paris, about halfway to the Belgian border. We were excavating the Abbey of St. Jean des Vignes, an Augustinian monastery which had stood on a hill in the town. Over the years most of the stone from the Abbey had been taken or sold, but today the majestic west façade with its two Gothic towers still stands, as do the refectory and two sides of the cloister.
Read MoreBack when we first began staying at home, I decided we ought to buy some produce that would last a long time, and so I brought home a whole butternut squash. We’ve still been able to get out to the stores, albeit rather infrequently, and get perishable vegetables, so the butternut squash has been sitting there on the counter for weeks. I also found that I had a few tablespoons at the bottom of a jar of tahini and a single preserved lemon remaining in an open jar in the fridge. It was time to use things up!
Read MoreWe here in the Berkshires could feel confused that it’s spring. We still have mornings in the 20s and snow furries flying. But a friend told me where I could find ramps, also known as wild leeks, bright green and ready for foraging. Ramps don’t like the heat, and it will soon be past their season, so headed out to gather a dinner’s worth of this spring delicacy.
I decided it was time for a pasta in our dinner rotation, and with plenty of fresh eggs from the farmer we know, I thought the ramps would add nice flavor to a plate of carbonara.
Read MoreNot too long after we began staying at home, my step-daughter, Rachel, convinced me that she and I should both try Misfits Market and see what we get. Misfits Market is an online organic produce vendor where you choose what size box you want and how often you want to receive said box. You don’t get to choose what you get, but rather it’s like you own episode of Chopped whenever you get a box and have to figure out what to do with things in your box.
Read MoreI am getting so excited we move closer and closer to the publication date of The Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook on May 19! And when it comes out, we will soon be seeing rhubarb in the stores, and so I wanted to offer an idea for the savory rhubarb compote recipe in the book.
Head on over to Berkshires and Beyond for today’s post – a guest post I wrote that includes not only the recipe from the book for the rhubarb compote, but also a recipe for my favorite, easy brine for pork chops!
Read MoreMy good friend, Rafi, of Hilltown Hot Pies, spends his days working with sourdough, and his nights dreaming about it. Although I think he’s a master pizzaiolo, with sourdough – which is what he likes to use for his crusts – Rafi says, one is always learning.
Last summer, with a portable propane-fired pizza oven, Rafi ran a pizza pop-up at the Dream Away Lodge in Becket, MA. We spent many warm evenings at the picnic tables out back, under the stars, filling ourselves with way too much pizza because we couldn’t choose from Rafi’s creative toppings, fresh from local farms and producers in the area.
Read MoreIt’s April 18. And it’s snowing.
I know this is not outside the realm of possibility for the Berkshires. I clearly remember an April 18 snowstorm years ago when my kids were young, there was no school, and a friend who still had to go to work dropped her kids off with me. But this year the lingering winter feels different, more oppressive. Tomorrow promises to be warmer, but today called for soup.
Read MoreAbout a gazillion years ago, I spent the fall semester of my senior year in Rome. I studied at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies, at Via Algardi 19, on the Gianicolo, Bus 75 from the center of the city. Known as the Centro, this phenomenal program allows students to spend a semester studying the ancient city both in the classroom and in the field, so to speak. In addition to seeing what seemed like every single ruin in the city proper (although it probably wasn’t), we had field trips to sites outside the city, including a two-week excursion to Sicily and southern Italy.
Read MoreI think many of us have bought frozen vegetables of kinds and in amounts that we normally wouldn’t, just to make sure we will always have some vegetables in the house, and, with that thought in mind, the other day I shared my grandmother’s recipe for frozen peas. Today, I’ve got some ideas about how to dress up frozen corn.
The real seasonal treat, of course, is fresh-picked corn on the cob, steamed or boiled. But in the middle of winter frozen corn can give you a little taste of summer, and yet I found plain frozen corn a bit lacking. Thinking about how corn has a wonderful natural sweetness and works well with butter, I improvised and discovered how much better it is when you sauté the kernels in butter, rather than just putting butter on top of steamed corn.
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