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All Things Food

 
While Fresh Cranberries Are in Stores...

Just before Thanksgiving, we got into a conversation in one of my classes about food for the big dinner (albeit smaller for many of us this year). I happened to mention my absolute favorite cider gravy (which can be found at the bottom of this blog post), and one of my students asked me for the recipe. I was so happy when his mother sent me an email with pictures of him making it for their Thanksgiving dinner!

After the break he told me that not only did he love the gravy, but he also made the sandwich I described in my first Berkshire Eagle piece (republished at this link), and told me he really liked the addition of stuffing and cranberry. Which led, not surprisingly to a mention of the cranberry chutney I’ve been making for more years than I can count, the recipe for which I have given to so many friends and family. In fact, one of my colleagues texted me a photo the day before Thanksgiving to show me how she’s still making it, year after year!

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My RecipesElizabeth Baer
My New Gig!

A few weeks ago, I got an email, out of the blue, from the features editor at our local paper, The Berkshire Eagle. She had seen “culinursa” when a mutual friend tagged me on an Istagram post and wondered if I would be interested in writing for the food section of the newspaper. I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough! Starting this coming Wednesday I will be the rotation of regular contributors, and I can also pitch ideas for the longer “centerpiece” columns that also appear in the paper.

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Pan-Sautéed Gnocchi with Beets

Also known as “I love beets, one of many in a series!”

Most people either love beets or hate them. When I met my husband he was definitely in the I-hate-beets camp, but now that I’ve made a convert of him, he was sad that there wasn’t enough for seconds when I made this. I’m still hoping that one day – when we can actually see each other once again – I can tempt my friend, Robin, into trying beets one more time, to see if there is some preparation that she might like!

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Nena’s Pink Applesauce

As a child, I was a picky eater. When I was an infant and starting on solid food, I didn’t seem to like anything. But I did like applesauce. My mom tells me she would use a bit of applesauce to hide whatever else was on the spoon, whence derives the applesauce habit I had as a child.

I’m not kidding when I say I had an applesauce habit. Every evening at dinner, to the left of my plate, sat a small bowl of applesauce and I would dip every forkful of whatever meat was for dinner into the applesauce before eating it. Of course people have heard of pork with applesauce, but this was, truly every single meat. Even fish. Even my grandmother’s veal Parmesan with tomato sauce and mozzarella. (Yes, I realize that sounds like a strange combination, and I haven’t had it in years, but it’s one of those embedded taste memories I can still call to mind with utmost clarity.)

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Joanie’s Italian Plum Pie

Although Joanie and I hardly ever see each other anymore, especially now due to the pandemic, she follows my blog faithfully. Several days ago, she emailed me with a request. A friend had Concord grapes, she told me, and she remembered a delicious Concord grape pie she had several times, a specialty of the Finger Lakes region of New York State. If she got the grapes to me, she wondered, could she pay me to make her that pie?

Joanie went on to explain that she used to cook a lot, but her eyesight has been diminishing and she really cannot cook anymore, but would really love to taste that pie again. I told her I could give it a try. But then it turned out there weren’t enough grapes.

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Peach Sauce for Grilled Duck Breasts

Now that my stepdaughter, Rachel, lives closer to us, we have had the good fortune that she spent almost all of her vacation time with us this summer! She was even here for her birthday this past week, and in the season of the best, ripest, local fruits and vegetables, she wanted plenty of them for her birthday dinner. We served lots of grilled zucchini and eggplant, and sliced fresh tomatoes from the garden, and a Tarte Robert for dessert. And for the main course of grilled duck breasts, I did a bit of kitchen improv and made a sauce with fresh peaches! I think this this would be really good with white wine, but I had none open so I used some cognac. If you try it with white wine, or serve it with something different, such as chicken, I’d love to know how it turns out!

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Tomato, Fig & Blue Cheese Salad

Our house sits upon a hill of solid ledge. If you go down into our basement (not something I recommend), you will see the rock come up out from the earth which then becomes a beautiful focal point out in our yard. The downside, however, is that with the rock just below the surface – and in some places actually exposed in our lawn – we do not have enough soil for a vegetable garden.

Our sole effort at growing some of our own food is one small raised bed, which provides enough soil for the plant to grow. We only grow tomatoes and basil, and at this time of year it means we are eating tomatoes and basil with every single meal. I also freeze and can items for the winter, such as pesto, slow-roasted tomatoes, and tomato jam.

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Corn Tacos

I’m not talking about corn tortillas, but rather tacos that feature fresh, sweet, in-season corn, along with a protein or other vegetables!

I first got this idea when I saw a Washington Post article on easy taco fillings, one of which was for corn and chorizo with soft corn tortillas. Of course I didn’t really follow the recipe. First of all, Hank and I prefer flour tortillas, and I also didn’t have any scallions. But what was really key to this delicious dinner was the spicy and the sweet together, with slices of avocado, a bit of sour cream, and a spritz of fresh lime.

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Fig Marsala Sauce

We all have our weaknesses, those items that when you see them in the store or on a menu, you just cannot resist. One of mine is fresh figs.

Our local specialty store, Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, always carries the most luscious figs when they are in season, and pretty much every time I see them I buy a container, even if I have no idea how I will use them.

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My RecipesElizabeth Baer
Fried Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

For the second summer in a row I’ve been able to score some zucchini blossoms! This year, as I posted earlier, I made one bunch into Nidi di Rondine, at the suggestion of my friend, Romina, who lives in Gubbio, Italy.

Another Italian favorite is fried, stuffed squash blossoms, and now, on my third attempt, I think I’ve really figured it out! The first two endeavors were delicious, but this last one really came together so much better!

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Corn and Avocado Salad

I think I’ve got a new blog category, that I’m going to call “Hardly a Recipe.” When everything is in season, you hardly need anything to bring out the brilliance of fruits and vegetables.

Corn on the cob is one of Hank’s absolute favorite summertime treats. If I didn’t stop him, we would probably be eating it 8 days out of every week! Seriously, though, we do eat corn quite often, and even though it’s usually only the two of us now that our kids are all adults, we always get half a dozen ears.

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A Project with Zucchini Flowers

Romina, one of my dear friends from Gubbio, Italy, posted zucchini flowers on Facebook a while back, long before we were ever going to see any here in the Berkshires! And I told her how jealous I was, not only because they were months away, but also because it is not easy to obtain zucchini flowers here in the States. (Yes, I know I could grow them, but our property is on a hill of ledge, with solid rock just below the surface, so growing is a challenge.)

Romina responded with a link to a recipe for Nidi di Rondine, swallow’s nests, filled with sausage and zucchini flowers. I bookmarked the link waiting until I might be able to acquire some fiori di zucca.

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