morsels & sauces

Nope.  It's not possible to have a simpler--or more satisfying--summer dinner.  This week in the CSA box, we were gifted both cabbage and potatoes. In my Midwestern upbringing, this might mean a heavy meal of German Brats and Sauerkraut or smack of Irish (or New England) Boiled Dinner .  Don't get me wrong. I love both. But they both feel a little heavy for a July dinner, don't you think? Deborah Madison, described by Lucky Peach as the "Queen of Greens,"  is America's answer to what to do with the CSA box question.   She is also one of my heroes .  She argues that Summer Braised Cabbage (combined with potatoes and dill and a smattering of fresh feta) will keep dinner on the lighter side, lift the spirits, and keep it all a bit simple in the process. Don't we all need that? Plus, we got to use some of the feta made by the husband-cum-fromager. Seriously, he's getting pretty good at this cheesemaking thing. And thank...

We spent the weekend away up the California coast, where the days (and nights) are cool and foggy, if you're lucky. (Sunny and bright, if you're not.)  As you know, I love the cold density of the fog and the way it nudges you towards sitting next to a fire and reading that book you've been avoiding for no other reason than sheer laziness. I will admit it: I read three books this weekend. Three. On Monday morning, I woke up late and I made this beautiful bowl of oatmeal. However, this was no oatmeal. It was fancy oatmeal, from  Tess Ward's  The Naked Cookbook . First you soak the raisins in Earl Grey tea, not only infusing them with flavor but also ensuring a caffeine pick-me-up for the morning (I guess you could go with decaf if that's your fancy). Then you toast the oatmeal with a little orange zest. Let's admit it here and now: the toasting is what makes this oatmeal nutty and sweet perfection. While it all may seem a li...

I am a big fan of Diana Henry (and have written about her here  and here ). She is cheeky yet thoughtful, sophisticated yet simple. This cookbook ( A Change of Appetite ),  one I turn to time and again to up my salad game, is her gander at healthy eating .   Her take is simple:  More veggies, less meat. Heavy on freshness, light on processed foods.  And Henry takes us on a whirlwind tour of healthy food from across the world. From Scandinavia to Cambodia, North Africa to Peru, this cookbook opens up a world of possibilities for the healthy palate.  I have been thinking about my diet more these days.  One of the most important people in my whole life is in the midst of a health crisis, and we have been talking a lot about food that is good for you. There's a lot of misinformation out there. A lot of advice that contradicts itself. I just want something that is simple and easy to follow. Enter Diana Henry. She ju...

The husband has been learning how to make cheese. I am learning how to gain weight.  Last week it was chevre, as featured here.  Then it was feta.  Now it's Valencay . I approve of his new hobby. Our refrigerator is filled with jugs of goat milk, our counter is covered in cheeses in the beginnings of their aging process, our shelves are becoming stacked with cheese molds, and the cooler rotates cheeses in and out, depending on their needed temperature. And I am filling out my pants even further. Enter salad for dinner. His chevre is a beauty--creamy and slightly sweet--perfect for pairing with cherries.  And cherries are everywhere right now. So I have been soaking them in alcohol to make my own maraschino cherries , pitting them to make jam, and eating them in the backyard (spitting the pits into the grass in hopes that maybe one will sprout). Add spinach, arugula, basil, and almonds, and people this salad is b...

I have posted about potato salad in the past.  I get it, I really do, this current moment you're having. Why, oh why, is she posting about potato salad?  Does potato salad deserve not one but two posts?   I am here to confirm that as we're now firmly ensconced in summer and summer barbecues and trips to the beach and picnics and backporch swing sitting, potato salad needs to be posted at least once a month. The first potato salad  was your basic potato salad, tweaked and gussied up to be satisfying for all palates--young, old, picky, and adventurous--for it strikes the right note of Americana backyard.  That one is a standard salad that promises to be a hit with just about everyone. But this more recent potato salad is more for your gourmand. For those who want something predictable (potato salad) with a surprising twist (roasted veggies) that strikes just the right balance. The simple change of roasting your potatoes before putt...

It is a miracle, my friends, that I am still standing. Finishing out a school year is hard work. But standing I am. In an abrupt transition, let's just say I am big fan of Basque Country, if only because of Ernest Hemingway. When I was in college, I took a literary criticism course with a reading list of precisely one book:   The Sun Also Rises , which for years I knew of as Fiesta , the title under which this book is published in Europe. We read and wrote about this book under a feminist lens, a Marxist viewpoint, a Formalist approach, a Structuralist lens, and a Psychoanalytic approach. People, I know this book really well. And in this book, Jake and his buddy Bill do some fishing in a little town, Burguete in the Navarre region of Spain, on the Irati River. But on their way, they ride in a crowded bus filled with Basque people. Jake, Bill, and these strangers pass around and share their wine, and Jake learns the proper way to drink wine from a wineskin. The...

We are in May: the month of exhaustion for teachers and students alike. And in the midst of said exhaustion, a simple, beautiful, and flavorful salad seems just the ticket. Because I don't have energy for much else. Seriously. Do not expect a lot from an educator in May. I snapped up this bright and peppy cookbook a few months ago at my local used bookstore. Marked down to a mere fraction of the cost of a new cookbook (and without a spot, scratch, or dallop of sauce on it!), this book basically begged to be mine. What, with it's beautiful photographs, Middle Eastern recipes, and association with Ottolenghi, how could I deny it? Honey & Co. is the brain- and love-child of Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, acclaimed chefs who opened a small restaurant in London in 2012 after having done their time with the famed Yotam Ottolenghi  (among others in their storied culinary upbringing). Srulovich writes that they wanted their restaurant to be "a noisy, cr...