I no longer attempt to grow spinach in my potager. The first few years it was prolific and I had enough spinach for lots of salads. lots of gratins, and lots of soup for the freezer. Then the ants moved in. With the ants come the aphids (the ants farm aphids) and the aphids destroy the spinach. I disturb the ants as frequently and violently as I can but they … Continue reading →
This is a bit of comfort food that may be better with fresh, garden-ripened tomatoes but store-bought tomatoes will do in a pinch. And, as we really can’t be too choosy about our groceries at the moment, it’s best to be flexible. We’re lucky to have fresh chives so there is a hint of spring. It was a strange winter here. We didn’t have a hard frost but we had … Continue reading →
This is not the traditional ‘Hunter’s Style’ which has tomatoes and is often made with chicken. This is my version, in honor of the hunters I see in the fields by our house. They’re hunting boar and mushrooms. Okay, they’re also hunting deer and rabbits and pigeons and doves and pheasant but one must exercise self-control. Instead of chicken we had eggs. We love eggs but can’t be bothered to … Continue reading →
This was the first dish I made when I started learning about the foods of Morocco. It’s still one of our favorites. I find it interesting that almost every cuisine that uses a bit of spice and lots of tomatoes has a dish that combines the two with eggs: Mexico’s huevos rancheros, Basque eggs piperade,… We love them all – a perfect pairing. Toss in some meatballs and everyone’s happy! … Continue reading →
This isn’t really about the recipe…. It’s just a simple salad. It’s about poaching the eggs. Poaching eggs isn’t at all difficult: heat water to boiling, drop in the eggs and wait. But I normally do it in a skillet because there’s more room. Sometimes the egg hits the bottom of the skillet and it sticks a bit. There’s always egg-y residue in the water and the eggs aren’t always … Continue reading →
Did I say that I had posted the last asparagus recipe for the season? I must have lied I can never pass up the idea of asparagus with a poached egg. There was a time, not too many years ago, when the thought of poaching an egg quite terrified me. I had made them in the past, of course, but always with an ‘egg poacher’, either an electric one or … Continue reading →
Corned Beef and Cabbage will be on a lot of tables this weekend. I love it – when I can get it. I can’t get corned beef here. Actually, when we lived in Ireland there was no corned beef there, either. There were boiled dinners, of course, with potatoes, cabbage and carrots. But the meat used would have been a slab of bacon, a piece of ham or pig cheeks. … Continue reading →
