Food, Travel, and Cooking!
I have always loved fruit crisps, so simple but delicious, using glorious seasonal fruits. It’s quick and easy to put together a fruit crisp when this mix is ready and waiting in the freezer or in the fridge. You can mix different fruits together, perhaps using strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries and in the winter, apples, […]
When it comes to cooking, peeling tomatoes is a very useful bit of information to know. I’ve used this method for years but have since discovered that when I’m in a hurry I can use my very sharp Victorinox knife especially useful for making a gorgeous, juicy in-season tomato salad, salsa or uncooked tomato pasta […]
Having your own fresh and dried breadcrumbs on hand is a very good thing! And it’s very economical too! Fresh Breadcrumbs Either White or whole wheat bread, crusts trimmed. Normally I freeze all my leftover bread for making crumbs so end up with a mixture of white and whole wheat. Tear the bread into 1” […]
This is a spice mix I always keep on hand…it’s wonderfully aromatic! Makes approx. ¼ cup 1 Tbsp. Szechewan peppercorns (see note below) 8 star anise(see note below) 6 whole cloves 1 – 1 ½” piece cinnamon stick, crushed coarse 1 Tbsp. fennel seeds Equipment: electric spice or coffee grinder (used solely for grinding spices) […]
There is a very good reason why charred/roasted peppers are so popular; they are utterly delicious and can be used in so many ways! Roast peppers over gas flame if you have a gas stove (use long tongs to hold and turn peppers until the skins are blackened; place in a glass bowl; cover with […]
Making Hollandaise using the blender method seems a lot easier than whisking away in a pot on top of the stove. A good thing in my opinion! 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, cubed 2 large egg yolks 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, plus more Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper Method: Fill a blender […]
Why bother doing this on top of the stove if you have a microwave was what I asked myself? This method is so much easier and quite frankly, it would be almost impossible to scorch it! 4 Tbsp butter 3 Tbsp flour Bay Leaf, piece of onion, 2 whole cloves (opt.) or pinch of nutmeg […]
Spring means a few things, including the arrival of fantastic, locally grown asparagus! Wash the asparagus. Snap off the bottoms of the asparagus where they seem to want to break. This will be an inch or more from the bottom. Discard the trimmings as they are fibrous. Good for the compost though. Or, you can […]
To Clean Domestic Leeks: Trim root end, remove outside layer of leek, trim leek keeping only the white and light green parts.. Save the dark green parts for making stock. They can be frozen. Cut down the length of the stem and holding each half under cold running water, rinse thoroughly, making sure you open up […]
Knowing how to blanch vegetables is a very good thing for us cooks and is so useful in so many recipes. Fill a large pot with cold water; bring to a boil. Add 1 – 2 Tbsp. salt. Place the cut, trimmed veggies into the boiling water for 2 – 5 minutes, depending on the […]