After two months of having fresh, sliced tomatoes for lunch and dinner (and, sometimes, breakfast) we are turning to other options. Like baking them. You could, of course, fill them with crisp bacon or tuna or ham or any number of things. I decided simple is best, and just added some herbes de Provence, a few breadcrumbs to soak up the juices and Parmesan… because we love Parmesan. Click here … Continue reading →
One of my favorite things about fall is that it’s finally cool enough in the evenings to turn the oven on. I can make gratins…. and all sorts of other things that it’s too hot to do in the summer heat. Plus, as the garden season starts to taper off I am more willing to combine vegetables and use them in less, shall we say, pure ways. The first tomatoes … Continue reading →
I actually looked up the difference between sauté and fry for this recipe. It’s such a complicated concept I decided I should at least be accurate in my terminology. Fry is small pieces of food cooked in oil in a skillet over relatively high heat. One should be able to flip the food about in the skillet to turn it. Sauté is large pieces of food cooked in oil in … Continue reading →
One knows summer is in full swing when the kitchen counter is covered in summer squash. I have been harvesting them for 2 weeks now, and already have about 10 quarts of soup in the freezer for winter lunches. I let them get about 10″ (25cm) long for using in soup – only because it saves effort on my part. I do the same for making sweet breads, Chocolate, Lemon, … Continue reading →
One last asparagus recipe for those of you lucky enough to still be eating asparagus. Adapted from the book ‘!,000 Chinese Recipes’, this is wonderful as a vegetable, on a bit of lettuce as a first course salad, or as part of a Chinese meal. Plus it’s best if made ahead and served at room temperature so it’s great for summer picnics and lazy meals. The asparagus is ‘roll-cut’: cut … Continue reading →
Normally this would have been made with spinach and onions from my vegetable garden. Not this year. This will be the first year since moving to France in 2004 that I have not had lettuce, spinach and chard in my garden in June to pick and eat. Usually by the middle of June we’re starting to get tired of eating so many salads and so much spinach and I’m running … Continue reading →
When I was a child vegetables were as follows: Sweet corn: fresh in summer / canned in winter. Green beans: fresh in summer / canned in winter (always French cut) Peas: fresh in summer / canned in winter Carrots: always fresh. Rutabagas: always fresh. Navy beans aka Pork & Beans: always canned Asparagus: always canned Cabbage: always fresh And that covers the vegetables of my formative years. I didn’t discover … Continue reading →
