morsels & sauces

  If this were high school, I am not sure Bryan Petroff and Douglas Quint of Big Gay Ice Cream  fame would have asked me to sign their yearbooks. I would have admired from afar their insouciance, their use of Bea Arthur and a unicorn licking a rainbow ice cream cone as mascots, and their snarky humor, and then perhaps they would have rolled their eyes that I would have even used the word insouciance . And certainly Petroff and Quint's debut cookbook is going to force you to muster up those awkward teenage years known as high school, for their collection of recipes is designed as a yearbook complete with an introductory letter from Monsignor Anthony Bourdain (Headmaster), somewhat naughty signatures in the front pages of the book, chapters separated out into each class year (freshman through senior complete with class photos in front of a laser-light backdrop), and fake advertisements at the back, including those for eyebrow shaping (by Debi, ask about the...

(I do need to iron this tablecloth, but let's pretend not to notice, okay?) Given my recent pea soup with cilantro recipe from Diana Henry , you may notice a recent and certain penchant for the soup of this spring climbing plant. You may also be asking how much pea soup can a woman eat. Turns out that the answer is a lot . You see, I know that I have a thing for pea soup. Not only have I posted the aforementioned Diana Henry recipe, but I have an old favorite split pea and ham soup from Best Soups in the World . However, I was not always a pea soup fan--indeed, no. Growing up, I knew that pea soup was my mother's favorite soup (and my brother's was New England clam chowder--I am not sure I had a favorite soup). However, for my mother, it didn't matter--homemade, canned, restaurant-ordered, split with a ham hock, fresh with cream--pea soup in all its forms was her favorite. I, on the other hand, found it heavy, almost dusty tasting. Yet, as we age, so ...

We have been trying to eat a little healthier, despite some of the most recent (and some upcoming) posts on this blog which would suggest I am living a life of lavender booze , hot toddies , and corn muffins . With that in mind, it was delightful then to make this simple recipe for grilled shrimp. Mark Bittman , the engaging food writer for The New York Times , penned the lovely cookbook from which this recipe comes back in 2005 and the husband gifted this to me in 2010 for Christmas (the same year I gave him a different Mark Bittman cookbook as well). However, it turns out I have posted from the book here only once , despite the fact that I do turn to this cookbook often for generally quick and generally healthy world cuisine. Indeed, Bittman's mantra is that food (its cooking, its systems) has the power to affect our personal as well as global health, and we would be best served to be thoughtful, healthy, and sustainable both on the farm and in the home. ...

It appears that our outdoor table is not on level ground. A toast! A toast, my friends!  As I mentioned last post , I am in the mood to toast all the glory that is summer. And there is no better way than to do so than with a funny little drink which requires a special trip to the liquor store. Either for his birthday or Christmas, I cannot remember which, I bought this curious book, The Drunken Botanist , for the husband, in part because one rainy day last fall, the husband found a window seat in our favorite coast-side bookstore ( Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino ) and was leafing through it for a good 30 minutes. I filed that information quick, and I knew he would need to be the proud owner of this book in the future. And it's right up his scientist's heart's alley. Channeling your inner geek, you can explore the plants that are often turned into alcohol. From agave to wheat or monkey puzzle trees to nutmeg, this book gives an exhaustive look at how people ...

Part of the fun of summer is the pulling the grill into the middle of the patio and firing it up to make dinner. And, people, we're in full on summer now (even if the calendar says that's not official for another eight days), and I am finally feeling better after almost two and a half weeks of this cold.  So, I say, welcome summer, welcome.  To inaugurate the first official night of summer vacation, the husband and I grilled chicken, watched a Giants game, and then I shuffled off to bed to watch another two episodes of Orange is the New Black (I am trying to pace myself here with Season Three).  The chicken is a simple grilled one with a compound butter with tarragon. Reminiscent of a  healthier   Béarnaise sauce (which is butter with egg yolks, vinegar and herbs--usually tarragon and chervil), the butter makes a nice contrast to smoky chicken.   The chicken itself goes through two stages of cooking--20 minutes on the grill and 20 minutes i...