Yes, this was a terrible incident, caused by Irene. She was a bitch in the worst sense of the word. It’s hard to talk about it: lost sleep, lost stuff, but in the long run, it was our fault for not being prepared. Oh yes, we were prepared, but not for everything, including not for [...]
Archive for August, 2011
Hurricane 101: Keep it Simple
Posted in Onions, Peppers on August 31, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Waste Not Want Not – Getting the Most from your Food: Minestrone with Cheese Rinds, and a Vegetable Broth Bonus
Posted in Soup, Waste Not Want Not, tagged Making vegetable broth on August 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Minestrone made with the freshest organic vegetables from our CSA and local farms epitomizes the late summer harvest. It also produces a pile of trimmings that I turn into delicious vegetable stock, some used in the soup and more stashed in the freezer for another day. While we have a village of cylindrical compost piles [...]
Fresh Shelling Beans, a Seasonal Treat
Posted in Beans and legumes, tagged Cooking shelling beans on August 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
You know that summer is coming to an end when shelling beans start ripening in the garden and appearing in the farm markets. These are beans that are often encountered as dried but that are at a certain peak to be eaten fresh. In my own garden, I have a miniscule amount of pink lima [...]
Plum Sorbet with Ginger and Cardamom
Posted in Sorbet, Stone fruit, tagged Plum Ginger Sorbet on August 30, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I was listening to A Splendid Table on NPR while driving between farm and farmers market a couple of Saturdays ago and heard Mario Batali expounding on gelato made from really, really ripe fruit. This was for me, so I thought, given the really, really ripe plums on my table that were going to be [...]
Okra and Pork Stew
Posted in Okra, Stews on August 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Okra at our CSA is in overdrive. We are harvesting one, two, and now even four quarts per week. While I’ve already pickled some, the rest has been cooked six ways to Sunday, as I posted last year: steamed, stewed, frittered and fried, not to mention gumbo. Mark Bittmann of the New York Times recently [...]
Full of Beans: Three Energizing Seasonal Salads
Posted in Beans and legumes, Herbs, Salad, tagged Green bean summer salad on August 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Here are three of the many ways we’ve been enjoying beans over the last couple of weeks since they arrived in full force: tossed deliciously with dill pesto, combined simply with raw tomatoes and basil, and served lavishly with feta cheese, toasted walnuts, olive oil and mint. No recipes required, though I explain dill pesto [...]
Queen Anne’s Lace Jelly
Posted in Flowers, Foraging, Preserving, tagged Cooking with flowers, Queen Anne's Lace Jelly on August 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Foraging the breezy fields for that lacy white flower known as Queen Anne’s Lace, also known as wild carrot, yielded a few jars of pale pink, aromatic and delicious jelly. Pretty and magical. As with the violets and dandelions that I turned into royal fare in the spring, the best time to pick the flowers [...]
Paper Chef 60: Lamb Kofte on Flatbread with Grilled Apricots and Goat Cheese
Posted in Paper Chef, Stone fruits on August 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I like playing with words as much as I like playing with food. So it struck a chord when Paper Chef suggested that a fourth ingredient for this month’s challenge — joining lamb, goat cheese and flour — would be an “A” word that evokes August. I immediately started a list: amaranth, angelica and arugula [...]
Blueberry Jam with Lemon Basil
Posted in Berries, Preserving, tagged Blueberry basil jam on August 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The seasons for local summer fruit where I live are so fleeting that one could miss them within a couple of days. Cherries and apricots are often gone within a week’s time. Because local blueberries are so prevalent, it’s easy to become complacent, thinking they’ll be there to pick – or buy at the farmers [...]
Eggplant and Chickpea Stew with Pomegranate Molasses
Posted in Appetizers, Beans and legumes, Eggplant, Tomato, tagged Cooking with pomegranate molasses on August 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
August brings not only tomatoes but also a bumper crop of eggplant, not to mention a hankering for tangy food that offsets the heat of the so-called “dog days” of summer. This characterization of our weather is not a pejorative statement about one of our favorite animals, but rather a reflection of the ascendance of [...]
