There was a vegan cheese spread I used a few years ago for a client who stopped eating dairy, with a persistent longing for the texture and taste of a creamy cheese, but with a strong dislike for the soy substitutes available. This cheese was made from oats and had a light caramel color and hickory smoke flavor. It was so delicious I purchased some just for me and indulged.
When I was a kid cook, my parents bought two thin volumes we considered exotic at the time : cookbooks for German and French fare, with unusual ingredients not found in the States. Never a big cooked carrot fan, I nonetheless made Potage Crecy from the French book, a creamy carrot and potato soup, and got hooked. There followed attempts at whole chicken cooked in a pot with wine and tomato, German fish and mussel chowder and braised cucumber with sour cream. The only miss was liver dumplings from the German cookbook; the family dog became the recipient of that recipe.
The most versatile salads have several characteristics. They are easy to assemble and have components that may be made ahead of time so that putting all together is a snap. They may be served as a salad course, or as a side dish. They can stand alone, or serve as the base for grilled meats, seafood or tofu. Here is such a salad, made to please a variety of palates and served recently at a holiday dinner in my home.
Have you noticed the full page of craft cocktails at your favorite restaurants? No longer content to offer the usual manhattans and martinis, bartenders are upping the game with seasonal ingredients and herbs and homemade bitters, tempting with signature drinks to start your dinner with flair.
Brussels sprouts. You either hate them or love them. If you are in the former camp, perhaps you were coerced as a child into eating those mushy green orbs, straight from the freezer bag to the vigorously boiling water. Cooked into submission, they reeked of stale cabbage.
As the nights grow cool and frost becomes inevitable, I try to think of recipes to use my tender herbs before they become dormant. Late autumn and winter cold leave me only rosemary. Not that that’s a bad thing; seasonality makes me appreciate what I have when I have it available.
We’ve had a good run with stone fruits in Virginia this summer. The white and yellow peaches have been outstanding, softly perfumed and ripe for eating straight from the farm stands. All colors and shapes of plums have tempted me with their beauty, but my favorite stone fruit was the squatty yellow donut peach, with its adherent stone and dense, sweet flesh. Continue reading
This time of year may have you wondering what to do with all that zucchini on the counter, some as big as rolling pins. You may have grown it in your garden, or your neighbors may have gifted you with their excess. Have you exhausted all your options? Consider this versatile soup. It can be served chilled, at room temperature or lightly heated.
Last weekend, lemonade stands were manned by kids and their families across central Virginia under the Anthem LemonAid program to benefit local pediatric cancer treatment centers. My buddy and neighbor Sam operated a stand in front of our neighborhood market Little House Green Grocery and netted a tidy pile of funds for VCU Medical Center’s pediatric oncology program. Yay, Sammy!
The ideal scenario for summer outdoor dining and entertaining may be summed up in several steps. Throw something on the grill. Steam some ears of local corn (or grill them, as in grilled corn and sugar snap pea salad). Toss a simple salad. Serve something chilly for dessert – ice cream, gelato or sorbet.