Risotto with Fennel and Fennel Frond Pesto

Risotto with Fennel and Fennel Frond Pesto Olive oil and/or butter 1-2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced lengthwise Squeeze of lemon juice Trimmings of fennel stalks – fronds separated from stalks 4-5 cups of chicken or vegetable stock Fennel fronds Olive oil Salt Clove of garlic (optional) Pine nuts ½ medium onion, diced Olive [...]

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The Season’s First Dill Pickles

With the heat wave this last week, my dill flowered and I saw pickling cucumbers at the farmers’ market, so I decided to make the first of the season’s cucumber pickles. I didn’t can them because I am conducting an experiment. When my grandmother canned dill pickles, she added powdered alum, which supposedly keeps them [...]

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Cherries and Berries and a Couple of Sorbets

I’m posting this now because this past weekend – Fathers’ Day – is when the cherries are usually ready for picking at our local orchard. This year, everything is about three weeks ahead of schedule, and instead of following the strawberries, cherries were ripe at the same time. The orchard grows over a dozen different [...]

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Young Summer: Rhubarb and Strawberry Spritzers

Pam Corbin’s wonderful book called Preserves, part of the River Cottage handbook series (just published in an American version called The River Cottage Preserves Handbook), contains a recipe for ‘beena, made from various fruits throughout the season. It’s basically a fruit syrup to which you can add brandy to make a cordial… or in my [...]

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Pickled Broccoli Stems

The stems of broccoli are as great as the florets but because of their different consistencies, some people don’t see how to use them together unless the head is cut lengthwise into slim slices so that the tops and bottoms cook at the same rate. I often cook the tops and stems separately and then [...]

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Curried Broccoli Soup

This soup is similar to the curried asparagus soup that I posted a while ago but includes potato to create a creamy texture without using dairy.  Although I sometimes make a soup like this with chicken broth, I respected the vegetarians among us and made it with water. I didn’t think ahead enough to make [...]

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Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam with Cardamom

When I was reading about cooking with currants in Edible Portland, I spotted a recipe for strawberry-rhubarb jam with cardamom, submitted by Janie Hibler. While I didn’t follow the recipe, I took the suggestion about adding cardamom to this classic fruit combination and it was great. I was lucky to have scooped up both rhubarb [...]

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Currant-Strawberry Jam

I have had a love-hate relationship with strawberry jam from the beginning of my canning career. Strawberry jam ranks up there with tomato sauce as the most-canned produce item in the history of my pantry. While tomatoes have never let me down, I’ve been all over the block with strawberries. But now I have a [...]

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Peas and Fennel

I was excited to get fennel from our CSA early in the season. In past years, the farmers have grown it late and it’s been a little tough. Unlike what you see at the grocery store, which is trimmed (for good reason), this fennel is about 30 inches high, with tons of fronds and a [...]

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Peas-in-Pods Potato Salad

The amiable heirloom golden sweet snow peas from India that I planted in my pot garden have finally peaked and are now fully harvested. With a quick hot spell that saw arugula start to bolt and peas forming in the snow pea pods, I was worried that these little gems would toughen, especially since the [...]

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