Holiday Gift Ideas 2009
Some of you, I’m sure, are so together that you get all of your holiday shopping done by the end of July (I have at least one superhuman friend this organized). I suspect that there are a few more of you who, like me, put shopping off until after Thanksgiving. This post is for you, because, well, the got-it-all-done-in-July people don’t really need any ideas at this point, do they? All of the following recommendations I own; they are products that I love, use regularly, and think would make an awesome gift for a fellow cook. Continue reading “Holiday Gift Ideas 2009″
Gingerbread Man Cookies
From the recipe archive. ~Elise No cookie says Christmas more than a gingerbread man cookie. It’s been thirty years since I last made gingerbread men, and it took all weekend to get this recipe right. After starting with a truly terrible recipe from a 1974 edition of the Joy of cooking (1/4 cup of butter for 3 1/2 cups of flour? – had to throw the whole batch out), I settled on this recipe, which makes some rather tasty cookies. After running around to several stores looking for the perfect gingerbread man cookie cutter, and getting nowhere, I created my own stencils (see links below). To use them, print them out and fold them in half lengthwise to make it easy to cut along the lines (don’t worry if the lines don’t perfectly match up, I drew them freehand.) Place the stencil over the rolled-out dough and use a small sharp knife to cut along the inside of the stencil. Continue reading “Gingerbread Man Cookies”
Spring Fava Bean Fennel Salad
Fava beans are a gardener’s dream. The come up early in Spring, they’re easy to grow, and their roots fix nitrogen in the soil, helping to prepare the soil for vegetables planted later in the season. They are delicious, though you do have to work for it. Unless very young, the beans need to be shucked twice, first before cooking to remove the bean from the pod, and then after cooking to remove the tough outer membrane from the bean. Garrett was over the other day to help pick and shuck and we made this lovely spring salad with fava beans from my garden. Fennel and Parmesan are one of those weird but wonderful flavor combinations that work great alongside fava beans and mint . We still have plenty of favas growing in our garden. Do you have a favorite way of preparing them? (Hold the Hannibal Lector quote, thank you.) If so, please let us know about it in the comments. Continue reading “Spring Fava Bean Fennel Salad”
Roasted Parsnips
One of my favorite recipes on this site, perfect for the season, from the archives. First posted 2005. ~Elise Recently I had the pleasure of attending a fabulous class, taught by and in the home of local cooking maestra Evie Lieb. In the class we covered many dishes, but my favorite was the Roasted Parsnips with Horseradish-Herb Butter. I love these parsnips! Note to those who run from horseradish – try it anyway. I can’t distinguish the horseradish from the flavors of the parsnips and butter, and neither could my parents until I told them what was in it. The flavors of the ingredients are a perfect complement to each other. Do you have a favorite parsnip recipe? Please let us know about it in the comments. ~Elise Continue reading “Roasted Parsnips”
Menu for Hope 2009
Every year for the last five years food bloggers from around the world have rallied their efforts to raise money for a worthy cause in the Menu for Hope raffle fundraising campaign. To date we have raised over $250,000 to benefit the UN World Food Programme. This year the proceeds will again benefit the WFP, this time earmarked for Purchase for Progress, a program that helps smallholder and low-income farmers supply food to WFP s global operations, improving farming practices and putting more cash into their pockets. For Menu for Hope, food bloggers offer a variety of mostly food-related items for the online raffle. Every US$10 you donate earns you one ticket to bid on an item of your choice. At the end of the campaign, the winning tickets are drawn and results are announced on Chez Pim on Monday, January 18, 2010. A full list of bid items is listed at Chez Pim and the U.S. West Coast regional prizes are listed at Gluten-free Girl. For this year’s Menu for Hope, Foodzie has put together a fantastic gift box of artisan food products. (Thank you Foodzie!) If you aren’t familiar with Foodzie, it is an online marketplace where you can discover and buy specialty food items directly from small, passionate food producers and growers. Sort of like Etsy, but for food. Earlier this year I got to spend some time with Emily Olson, one of the founders of Foodzie, and was struck by her passion for supporting small businesses and artisanal food providers, and making what they make available to all. Continue reading “Menu for Hope 2009″
How to Roast a Goose
Have you ever dreamt of cooking a Christmas goose, but were a bit intimidated by the prospect? When I wanted to learn how to roast a goose, without smoking up the kitchen, or overcooking the goose, I turned to the waterfowl master himself, guest author Hank Shaw of the James Beard nominated food blog Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook. Hank spent the day with my family, cooking, feasting and instructing. Enjoy! ~Elise A great many people are deathly afraid of geese and I am not talking about those nasty birds that chased us around at the park when we were children. Romance surrounds the roasting of geese, especially on Christmas, yet nearly everyone has a horror story about dry, livery meat surrounded by flabby skin and an ocean of liquid fat. Can an overcooked goose become livery? You bet. Are they fatty? Oh yes. But remember that a goose is not a turkey, just as a duck is not a chicken. You don t cook them the same way. And both ducks and geese are red meat birds meaning the breasts of both need to be served medium-rare. That s pink, or 140-150 F for those of you with thermometers. Continue reading “How to Roast a Goose”
Baby Bok Choy with Yellow Bell Peppers
There are certain routines in our family for which I am unendingly grateful. One is that at the dinner table there is always a green vegetable of some sort. I may not have loved some veggies as a child, but as an adult, I crave them. If not for the fact that the other members of my family love their greens too, I could easily eat an entire serving bowl of pretty much any of the veggies that regularly grace our table. This baby bok choy dish by my mother, case in point. I think I ate most of the bowl, and then begged her to make it again the next day so I could get some good photos. (Baby bok choy, baby bok choy, try saying that 3 times fast!) Wonderfully simple, with bok choy, peppers, and green onions fresh from the farmers market, this stir-fry doesn’t even need added salt, there is enough naturally in the bok choy itself. Continue reading “Baby Bok Choy with Yellow Bell Peppers”
Saut ed Chestnuts, Onions, and Bacon
Please welcome guest author, the inimitable David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria. Looking for a good side for Christmas dinner? David shares one of his favorite recipes from his fabulous new cookbook, The New Portuguese Table ~Elise I know within two bites if a holiday side dish is truly spectacular. Because I ll have a nearly uncontrollable urge to elbow the turkey or ham off the table, pull the bowl to me, dunk my face in, and not come up for air until I m finished. Growing up, the object of my lust was my grandmother s recheio com chouri o a kicky bread stuffing studded with piquant chunks of my aunt s homemade sausage; it was one of the few Portuguese dishes I would eat. Fending off cousins on both sides of my twisted family tree (there were so many of us we could ve started our own touring Christmas chorale) wasn t easy. But I did it, and I have the pictures of me as a corpulent fourth-grader with a self-satisfied grin to prove it. Continue reading “Saut ed Chestnuts, Onions, and Bacon”
How to Roast a Goose
Have you ever dreamt of cooking a Christmas goose, but were a bit intimidated by the prospect? When I wanted to learn how to roast a goose, without smoking up the kitchen, or overcooking the goose, I turned to the waterfowl master himself, guest author Hank Shaw of the James Beard nominated food blog Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook. Hank spent the day with my family, cooking, feasting and instructing. Enjoy! ~Elise A great many people are deathly afraid of geese and I am not talking about those nasty birds that chased us around at the park when we were children. Romance surrounds the roasting of geese, especially on Christmas, yet nearly everyone has a horror story about dry, livery meat surrounded by flabby skin and an ocean of liquid fat. Can an overcooked goose become livery? You bet. Are they fatty? Oh yes. But remember that a goose is not a turkey, just as a duck is not a chicken. You don t cook them the same way. And both ducks and geese are red meat birds meaning the breasts of both need to be served medium-rare. That s pink, or 140-150 F for those of you with thermometers. Continue reading “How to Roast a Goose”
Crispy Turkey Bacon
Okay, so this isn’t really bacon, but it tastes like bacon and you can crumble it over twice-baked potatoes or sprinkle it over bean soup. This comes from a tip from a reader, who heard about it from Jacques Pepin. Just take leftover skin from your Thanksgiving turkey, place it fat-side down on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake until crispy. Oo la la, this is good! Continue reading “Crispy Turkey Bacon”
