Welcome November! The weather here around Boston is starting to cool down, dusk arrives noticeably sooner and so it’s time for cozy, spice breads. This one is jam-packed with marinated dates, almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and lots of orange, making it wonderfully fragrant and perfectly seasonal. Enjoy! Recipe (adapted from Ina Garten) Date Nut SpiceContinue reading “Date & Almond Spice Bread”
Category Archives: Spices
Sweet Potato, Pear & Bacon Soup
I love when a soup like this comes together! I found myself with a handful of sweet potatoes and a few juicy Bartlett pears, both which needed action before being past their prime. When I discovered a recipe for a sweet potato, pear & bacon soup, I happily plucked some bacon from my freezer andContinue reading “Sweet Potato, Pear & Bacon Soup”
Pain d’Epices – Honey & Spice Cake
This ‘cake’ is a marvel of baking chemistry. Pain d’Epices (which translates to ‘spice bread’) has a roughly 450 year old rich history in France, resulting in countless variations. Dorie Greenspan’s latest book ‘Baking Chez Moi’ has a version that suddenly moved me to action. Think of a teacake or loaf cake, and historically, oneContinue reading “Pain d’Epices – Honey & Spice Cake”
Marinated Mushrooms with walnut and tahini yogurt
Here is a perfect summer mushroom plate. It is light & healthy and travels very well for lunch al fresco. It starts with a tangy marinade of olive oil, white wine vinegar, maple syrup and lemons whisked and poured over a mix of button mushrooms and beech (or shimeji) mushrooms. I love the use ofContinue reading “Marinated Mushrooms with walnut and tahini yogurt”
Fava Bean Burgers
Fava beans are my favorite beans, hands down. They have a short spring season and take a few minutes of extra work to make ready, but there is nothing better than their nutty, sweet, earthy flavor. I’ve always enjoyed them simply handled: quickly boiled for a minute or two, skinned, with a touch of butterContinue reading “Fava Bean Burgers”
Ginger root & Ginger cake
Ginger root is a wily superhero. Knobby ends with smooth tan skin, it appears quite unassuming until you slice away a corner and are overcome with its impressive fragrance, sweet and strong and medicinal. Nearly every cuisine uses it in some form: fresh, powdered, pickled, candied, juiced or steeped. I often buy the root toContinue reading “Ginger root & Ginger cake”
Jambalaya!
Something about Mardi Gras – or the fact that I received an enormous ham steak in my meat CSA – and I had jambalaya on my brain this week. A little New Orleans trinity of onions, celery and green peppers sauteeing on the stove, and I was on my way to making a big batch.Continue reading “Jambalaya!”
Roasted Butternut squash & Red Onion with Tahini
As we are perhaps nearing the final cold days of winter, it was actually quite exciting to stumble upon a recipe that could still make squash feel new & fresh. Leave it to Mr Ottolenghi again. So simple and yet so interesting: roasting the squash and onions until they are browned actually brings the sweetnessContinue reading “Roasted Butternut squash & Red Onion with Tahini”
Barley, celery & cranberry salad
A really nice winter pick-me-up kind of dish here: the barley offers a heartiness, the crunchy celery folded in adds a bite, dill & parsley keep it interesting, and little surprises like allspice and sherry vinegar keep it very bright and playful. The original recipe, from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty, called for pomegranate seeds, but IContinue reading “Barley, celery & cranberry salad”
Milk Stout Gingerbread
I happily bake gingerbread or ginger cakes all year long, but adding a heady stout to the mix feels like a December kind of thing to do. So after reading a reference to an Irish blog post about an Irish stout gingerbread, I swapped in American made Left Hand Brewery Milk Stout and the resultsContinue reading “Milk Stout Gingerbread”
Collier's Market 