Certified organic produce
This week our farmstand is well stocked with beautiful produce! We have heirloom tomatoes, 5 varieties of summer squash, 3 varieties of cucumbers, onions, green beans, cabbage, leeks, kale, basil, potatoes, and eggplant. Thursday we returned from the Snohomish Farmers Market with some unsold produce (basil, tomatoes, eggplant) and a beautiful loaf of Sea-Salt Focaccia…
The choricero pepper is the essential ingredient of Basque (Spanish) chorizo, and of the red mother sauce of Basque cooking, salsa viscaina. The sauce can be made from fresh peppers, or dried peppers rehydrated in hot water. Use it as a sauce for grilled fish, or baked potatoes. Ingredients 2 onions (preferably red) thinly sliced…
Springtime = sorrel soup time. Here is a terrific and easy recipe for sorrel soup. Ingredients 2 sticks butter 2 large yellow onions, sliced thinly 4 garlic cloves 10 cups packed sorrel leaves, stems removed 4 cups chicken stock 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 2 tsp freshly grated…
Rejoice. Italian plums are in season. In mixer, cream 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter and 3/4 cup sugar. Add 2 eggs, 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and beat until smooth. Spoon into 9 inch springform pan. Halve and pit 12 plums, and press halves skin side up, into batter. Bake 50 minutes…
We spent late June in Spain. We visited Bilbao, Salamanca, and Madrid. In each city we ate Salmorejo. Each recipe was subtly different, but all were amazing. Comparisons to gazpacho are unavoidable, but Salmorejo is, hands down, the best cold soup on earth. It is simplicity itself as the only ingredients are tomatoes, bread, olive…
Fig Baklava Tart We have a bumper crop of fresh white figs. They shine in this recipe. 1/2 cup water 1/3 cup honey 1 strip lemon peel 1 Cinnamon stick 6 fresh figs (quartered lengthwise (about 5 ounces)) 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts 2 tablespoons light brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground…
Basil in the garden is coming on beautifully. I pinched off some tips that were threatening to form flower buds and the leaves from these, pictured here, made beautiful pesto. Basil Pesto 200 grams basil leaves 70 grams walnuts (or pine nuts if you are wealthy) 70 grams Parmesan cheese 30 grams garlic 1 cup…
Our custom for summer weekends is to finish the day sipping a cocktail on the bank of our pond. Yesterday we enjoyed a version of the classic Jockey Club Cocktail, which replaced the usual Amaretto with a homemade version, created by steeping vodka with cherry pits for two weeks. I recall this fondly as I sit, bleary-eyed over…
This year we had a bumper crop of pie cherries. I saved the pits and covered them with vodka. Two weeks later, the vodka infusion was decanted and filtered. The result is amazing. The liquor has a strong Amaretto-like almond flavor with a touch of tartness and complex underlying cherry notes.
Our custom for summer weekends is to finish the day sipping a cocktail on the bank of our pond. Yesterday we enjoyed a version of the classic Jockey Club Cocktail, which replaced the usual Amaretto with a homemade version, created by steeping vodka with cherry pits for two weeks. I recall this fondly as…