august 1, 2014
Some fruits are tasty when frozen, canned or dried. Not so the perfect peach, which has a rather short season and benefits from the least invasive treatments to showcase its allure.
Basil Peach Cornmeal Shortcakes
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Cucumber Mint Cocktail
july 18, 2014
In the South, summertime heat can get the best of your intentions to cook dinner. Toss a salad, cut a few ripe tomatoes from the garden, fire up the outdoor grill (anything to avoid heating up the kitchen) and call that dinner. Better yet, serve something you grilled the day before and avoid fire altogether.
Summer Berry Yogurt Trifle
…and a visit to Old Church Creamery
june 27, 2014
Old Church Creamery, a thriving dairy farm one half hour north of Richmond in Manquin, Virginia, sprouted, then roared to life, in 2008. Through trial and error, and hard work from owners Catherine and Keith Long, the operation is a premier supplier of naturally produced cow’s milk and dairy products for the Richmond area and beyond.
Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp with Spring Vegetables
june 13, 2014
Long before I received any formal culinary training, I purchased some fish sauce at a market near my apartment in “Little Hanoi”, in what is now cosmopolitan Clarendon, Northern Virginia. I am embarrassed to admit that after taking one whiff, it was returned to the shop where a kindly proprietor urged me to reconsider, telling me “fish sauce smells bad, but tastes good”.
Lemon Dressed Spring Salad
may 30, 2014
We’ve come a long way from salad defined by iceberg lettuce, waxy rounds of cucumber, flabby wedges of pale unripe tomato and bottled thousand island dressing languishing in a faux-wood bowl. These days salad offerings are some of the most intriguing items on restaurant menus, chock full of seasonal vegetables and fruits, local greens and house made vinaigrettes crafted to enhance, not overpower.
Sausage Baguettes with Caramelized Onion and Lemon Tahini Sauce
…and a visit to Harmony Hill Farm
may 9, 2014
The day began with breakfast tostadas and ended with Italian sausage baguettes with caramelized onion and lemon tahini sauce, tomato orange soup and a simple, colorful salad of red cabbage, asparagus and carrot. The afternoon was spent touring Harmony Hill Farm in nearby Glen Allen, Virginia, the source of my breakfast eggs and dinner sausage.
Rhubarb Apple Compote
april 25, 2014
One of the first edible harbingers of spring is rhubarb. And what a show! This perennial, a vegetable given the royal fruit treatment, rocks a shrub-like explosion of frilly lime green leaves and shiny stalks in various shades of red and green.
Stuffed Swiss Chard with Chocolate Balsamic Tomato Sauce
april 11, 2014
All winter long I made stuffed cabbage with sauerkraut tomato sauce. For other people. The aroma drove me to distraction but somehow I never got around to making it for myself and loved ones. The vibrant hues of spring here in Richmond – periwinkle blue sky, butter yellow of daffodils, lime green of tender leaves on twiggy shrubs – inspired me to remaster the dish with rainbow Swiss chard, handily found at my local market Little House Green Grocery, which also had organic ground beef from Polyface Farms. The arrival of the chard marks a new collaboration with the owners and Amy’s Organic Garden in New Kent County, making it super convenient to travel the few blocks for dinner fixings on the fly.
Heirloom Bean Soup with Parmesan and Thyme
march 21, 2014
Comfort has always been a pot of beans simmering on the stove. It’s a favorite childhood memory – my mom’s white beans cooked simply, with or without meat for seasoning. Gloriously overcooked so that beans and broth melded into a creamy slurry of bean goodness, and accompanied by a biscuit fresh from the oven.
Herbed Creamy Potatoes
march 7, 2014
Like most Americans, I am a mutt. But having a mother with both parents named Oneal gives me some serious Irish game each St. Patrick’s Day. Not that I ever need an excuse to enjoy potatoes in any form (exception made for tater tots and their dubious character), but the notion of honoring my heritage with green potatoes would likely make my ancestors proud.