This is a recipe from Bread that uses a pre-ferment for those of us too lazy to get our own sourdough starter going (and keep it going; they’re like pets once you have one.) I made one freeform loaf, and threw the other half in a pan so I could put the first one on the stone with the peel and then plunk the other down next to it. They crusted up pretty well, though…
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A cold, rainy day and sick wife and son called for straight-up comfort food. I made this with almost no fancy flourishes- just plain and simple. Ground beef, pasta, tomato sauce, local fromage blanc- all organic- and mozzarella on top. The goat cheese added a nice touch, so next time I might use ground lamb in place of beef, and throw in some olives. But this time it was all about easy and quick. And…
Milo has a cold, so garden goodness in the form of carrot, onion, celery, and parsley went into a pot with chicken thighs to make broth. The carrot, subsequently cubed, and the chicken meat combined with the strained broth, wild rice, and orzo to make a simple, archetypal dinner that he slurped up with abandon and yet was refined enough for us to enjoy on a less sniffly level.
Noah and Deanna stopped over on their way back to Brooklyn which gave me the perfect excuse to try the pizza dough recipe from Local Bread. Not only is it the new book from our local bakery founder, but the recipe comes from the very place in Campo dei Fiori in Rome where I used to go for bread and pizza rossa almost every day (though truth be told, often I wouldn’t get that far…
I owe the inspiration for this to cookiecrumb, who referred me to Becks & Posh based on the “Bolted Lettuce” post from the other day. The happy presence of duck broth in our freezer (they leave those giblets in there for a reason) made it even better, and let me clear out a large part of the lettuce bed for the fall crop. All the various bolted varieties went in: butterhead, red and green oakleaf,…
I pulled some organic chicken legs out of the freezer and made a sort of stew around them using only things from the garden: green beans, chard, tomatoes, kale, zucchini, carrot, celery, shallot, basil, oregano, parsley, and scallion all got added at different times so they could cook the right amount of time before serving. Finished with a dollop of tomato sauce from Milo’s pasta (normally he eats with us but today he needed something…
Tonight we went to Cris & Sirkka’s place, since he’s back from tour for a minute and their garden needed some grazing to get it under control (although we hardly made a dent; it’s at least as big as ours and has been going crazy in his absence.) Sirkka made ravioli with zucchini and feta filling, Chris smoked salmon on the grill, and they made chard and mash as well. I made a salad of…
Now normally this is the bane of the gardener, since it means it’s too hot to grow sweet, tender salad greens until summer is almost over. But the slight bitterness and firmer texture of bolted lettuces allow other treatments to offer themselves, (though I likes me some bitter in my salad too.) Mash makes good use of midsummer lettuce trees, and so does wilting or even braising; try it and be delighted. Plus you can…
We were in Vermont with family for the weekend, and it was perfect weather and good eating. We brought all the greens from the garden, and supplemented them with local bread, cheese, and sausages. I also lugged along the smoked duck carcass to make a broth on the second night, with soba and sliced filet of beef. The first course was salmon as sushi with brown rice and sashimi with the now-familiar sauce of hot…
Chris is on the road, so Sirkka and Nissa came over to hang out on a rainy, even chilly afternoon. A trip to the store yielded a bag of Cape Cod mussels, and some spinach fettucine. The garden gave carrot, fennel, celery, shallot, and green onion plus basil, parsley, thyme, and oregano. A few slices of guanciale got the pan going, and all the rest of the veggies sweated until soft. Then wine, mussels, and…