A delicious broccoli

November 20, 2012

Broccoli Fantasia

In the book Vegetables from an Italian Garden, this recipe is listed in English as Delicious Broccoli, and that is an apt description. Broccoli, dressed up with a splash of cream, dots of butter, and more than a glug of white wine. It’s the perfect decadent vegetable side for a Thanksgiving dinner or a steakhouse-style dinner. (more…)

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Carrots with Taleggio Cheese

November 14, 2012

Carrots with Taleggio Cheese

How do I describe these carrots? Savory. Cheesy. Souffle-like speckled with bits of orange. My months-long obsession with this picture didn’t set me up only to let me down. This recipe is one that exceeded my expectations and brought a hush over the Thanksgiving dinner table as everyone dug in.

Let’s back up a moment. What is taleggio cheese? It’s an Italian cheese made from cow’s milk that is soft. While its rind looks and smells a bit funky, the inside yields a mild-yet-still-full flavor. The fat content, at 48%, tells you how happy this is going to make your taste buds. Those Northern Italians know what they’re doing.

The recipe is quite simple, though the fact that you will need to chop a lot of carrots and cook them two ways adds on a bit of time. If you’re making these for Thanksgiving (they also make a great steak-dinner side), I would suggest prepping the night before by at least slicing the carrots and grating the cheese. (more…)

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Wild Rice with Shaved Brussels Sprouts

November 6, 2012

Wild Rice with Shaved Brussels Sprouts

Many moons ago, I made a wild rice stuffing for my turkey that was delicious. However, this post is not about that. It’s about the leftover box of wild rice I’ve had sitting in my cupboard for those many moons (7 years!). While rice going bad isn’t something that I had ever really thought of, I was kind of surprised when I opened it and no weird odors or growths appeared. Then I moved onward with my plans to make a delectable rice laced with crisp green veggie slivers.

California wild rice is black, with a somewhat nutty, somewhat earthy flavor, and a texture that is the epitome of “toothsome”. And it’s fuss-free. “Add water to pot with rice. Boil. Drain.” are pretty much the instructions on the box. As a girl who often burned pots of rice dry, I can get on board with these directions. (more…)

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Savoring Apple Season

October 26, 2012

Tarte Tatin

Quite a few years ago, when my husband and I were on our honeymoon in France, I first heard of tarte tatin. And that’s all – I heard about it. Every time I tried to order it, I was told it had “expired”. The first time I was told this, I was very confused, but by the end of the trip I realized “expired” meant 86’d, or they’d run out.

Disappointment faded away, and I had long forgotten about the tarte tatin, until I had a bunch of gravenstein apples in my kitchen, just begging to be turned into a dessert. In trying to decide what to make, I stumbled upon the idea of a tarte tatin, as they seem to be having a bit of a renaissance here at the moment. The dessert couldn’t be simpler… except for flipping the darn thing. (more…)

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Fall Cocktails: An Appletini 1 year in the making

October 24, 2012

Appletini

Actually, a couple of years in the making. Two years ago, while peeling a bunch of apples for this meal, I decided I certainly couldn’t waste all of the peel. I happened to have a full bottle of Stoli vodka, so I decided to drop the peels into an empty bottle, cover them with vodka, and let it sit for a couple of months.

A couple of months came and went (more…)

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