It’s funny how just seeing my grandma’s handwriting conjures up old memories of being a little girl and making these delicious old-fashioned oatmeal cookies with her. She had a real sweet tooth, and we are still amazed she lived so long given her penchant for cookies, lemon meringue pie, and jelly-filled donuts. My grandmother taught me how to measure, how to mix, and taught me a love of cooking, all through these homemade oatmeal cookies....
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On sweltering summer days when the heat index is at 103 degrees, I want the quick-cooking, flakiness of fish covered in a cool, salty-sweet salsa. The Best Fish Recipe for Summer This recipe is all about plating the beauty of summer. Pink fish set against the brilliant greens, oranges, and soft whites of cucumber, mangoes, and jalapeno pepper. The entire dish is layered with flavor, but each speaks well to the other – neither fish, nor fruit, nor spice dominates the dish....
To serve, you want to slather them with some sort of vinaigrette—olive oil to keep them from tasting too dry, and an acid like lime juice or lemon juice to balance the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. We played around a bit with this recipe, after thinking we had “discovered” the wonderful combination of lime, cilantro, and sweet potatoes, only to find out many others have made a similar discovery....
Once the outdoor cooking season kicks off, it only makes sense to combine avocados and tomatoes with the smoky sweet flavors of charred sweet corn and bacon. You’ve been forewarned, this guacamole will be on heavy rotation. Mix up a pitcher, or two, of margaritas, shake out a bag of tortilla chips to serve alongside this guacamole, and your party is bound to be a hit. How to Pick the Perfect Avocado It may seem impossible, but you can pick perfect avocados for your guacamole every time you go to the grocery store....
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Mom makes her fried potatoes sliced, using raw potatoes, and usually serves them as a side when we have fish for dinner. Dad makes his home fries for breakfast using leftover boiled potatoes from the night before. Both are great. The raw potatoes tend to brown up better. The cooked potatoes can get a little mushy if you stir them too much. You can easily dress them up with bell peppers, ham, or bacon....
Oh, the ooey-gooey goodness of homemade mac and cheese. This macaroni and cheese with ham and peas is one of our favorite weeknight meals.This is THE perfect way to use up leftover ham. It is quick, easy, and versatile. You have SO many options here. Keep it plain or make it fancy. Either way, this will be your new go-to homemade mac and cheese base recipe! Ingredients for Basic Homemade Macaroni and Cheese As mentioned above, if you aren’t big on ham or peas, this is still the perfect “base” recipe....
The key to cooking a delicious batch of from-scratch beans on the stovetop depends on two things: the age of your beans and knowing when to salt them. The rest is up to you. Which Dried Beans to Cook I use this simple stovetop method for small, medium, or large beans such as the following: Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)Navy beansBlack-eyed peasBlack beansPinto beansGreat Northern beansCannellini beans. Note: This method will not work for lentils or split peas, which are not really beans per se but still in the legume family....
We’re entering the busy holiday season: can you feel it? And with that comes weeknights when we want to get a healthy meal on the table for our family, but honestly just don’t have the energy or bandwidth. Never fear! This Italian Gnocchi Skillet with Chicken and Pesto is a filling and protein-rich meal that literally comes together in mere minutes. Because sometimes when the Zoom calls end and the days feel increasingly shorter, assembling a meal versus cooking it from scratch is a welcome change....
I also love how the salty flavors of the prosciutto complement the subtly sweet flavor of roasted asparagus. For this dish, look for asparagus spears that are pretty thick (about 16 to 18 spears per pound). Thin asparagus spears are more difficult to wrap with the prosciutto and tend to dry out too easily in the oven. To prepare the asparagus, snap off the rough, woody ends at the bottom of the spears....
If you have, then you know that the process can be tricky at best. What you want are light, fluffy dumpling pillows. What we often get is dense, chewy dough balls. Gnocchi with ricotta cheese is much more forgiving than the potato version. The dough holds together better, and the result is likely to be more pillow-like than chewy. I was taught this approach by a wonderful local Italian chef, Biba Caggiano, who showed me that the trick to a light gnocchi was in how you rolled them out....
Shopping for Portobello Mushrooms Portobello mushrooms are actually mature cultivated cremini mushrooms that grow four to six inches in size. They have dark brown gills and thick stems, and they contain less moisture than their younger counterparts, which results in a more concentrated mushroom flavor. When shopping for portobellos, look for large, loose mushrooms with stems (not packaged) that are about five inches in diameter. Inspect each one. The gills (the feathery, dark underside of the cap) should be dry....
Like the proverbial groundhog, who failing to see his shadow, retreats into the comfort of his burrow, in the chilly, foggy dampness of what is Sacramento winter, I stick my head out the door, only to make a quick retreat back into the house, wanting nothing more than to make a big pot of this hearty soup. Made with dried “split” peas, and cooked up with flavorful, smoky ham hocks, split pea soup is warm, satisfying, and great for leftovers....
Strawberry Shortcake Anyone else thinking of the cute, red-headed cartoon character right now? The cartoon character and this Strawberry Shortcake recipe have a lot in common. They are both sweet and adorable, and they both bring joy! Whatever you are serving up for dinner this summer, I promise that Strawberry Shortcake is the perfect dessert to go with it. The biscuit layers are flaky, and sweet, the strawberries taste tart and juicy, and the whipped cream tops it off to perfection....
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Buy Fresh, Local Peaches! I love you, California, but your peaches don’t like to travel, particularly across country. Years of disappointment, spurred by my impatience to grab the first peaches I see in the supermarket, have finally taught me this lesson. Since I live in Massachusetts, I have to wait until the second half of July for decent local peaches to arrive. (I will often hedge my bets and fall for New Jersey peaches with pretty good luck!...
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Great chilled or at room temperature. Perfect for picnics or potlucks! Serve it over chopped lettuce, in a sandwich, in lettuce wraps, or our favorite, tossed with Japanese buckwheat soba noodles. My advice? Make a double batch. This one disappears quickly. Serve with lettuce, or mixed in with cold, cooked soba noodles. Asian Tuna Salad with Dried Cranberries, from Andrea Meyers Asian Tuna Salad Sandwich, from Bake Your Day Seared Ahi Tuna with Asian Avocado Salsa, from Foodie Crush...
