kitchen adventures
Recipes get passed around, and change as they go. Chocolate pear butter is a case in point: it is my own version of a splendid recipe from Marisa McClellan’s second book, Preserving by the Pint, which is itself inspired by a British book, Notes from the Jam Cupboard, by Mary Tregellas. I keep up
In the fall, as soon as I have made applesauce, I start thinking about making apple butter: thick, silky, and fragrant with spices. It’s an old-fashioned preserve, and the old-fashioned way to make it involves a big kettle and hours of stirring. I prefer a modern method, which still take time,
Aside from a few peppers, we’re seeing all cool-weather crops. There are only three more weeks of CSA distributions, plus for those who planned ahead, a storage share that will contain hardy vegetables. I’ll store those in a cool place for weeks. Today’s box contains baby beets and their greens, Swiss
If you get your apples at the grocery store, you’re losing out. Supermarkets carry only a few of the hundreds of great apples, and their taste comes second to their keeping and shipping qualities. Apples can be big or small; red, yellow, or green. Their flesh can be mealy, crisp
Canning tomato sauce: it’s my end of summer ritual. I’ll do anything to prolong tomato season! Fortunately, I have a lot of friends who agree with me, and we get together each year for a Big Tomato Crush work party – a ton of fun, and satisfyingly productive. It’s not a difficult
There’s a definite shift in my CSA box this week. We’re leaving summer behind! Goodbye, summer tomatoes. Hello, squash, fennel, and cool weather crops. Today’s box contains Butternut squash, fennel, radishes, Italian flat-leafed parsley, dried black beans, red and green spicy peppers, mixed greens, Swiss chard, and a few small tomatoes. I
Make a small-batch ginger pear butter: this smooth pear preserve with a tang of ginger is excellent with toast or scones, would be perfect with gingerbread, and delightful with shards of chocolate in an autumn crostata. The only word that properly describes it is a ‘butter’ – it has the mouthfeel of apple butter, but the
Sweet potatoes and spaghetti squash appear in my basket this week, along with jalapeño peppers, green beans, mint, mustard greens, cherry tomatoes, kohlrabi, and Swiss chard. My basket tells me to get ready for fall eating patterns, and to use up fresh ripe tomatoes while we have them – because
When you want to bake fast, use self-rising flour. This is flour that’s already mixed with baking powder and salt, and I like to keep it on hand. These quick tea cakes with jam show you how fast baking can be: it took 57 minutes from the time I turned on the oven and began
Thank goodness, a Tuesday without rain! Sunny weather makes the garden pickup much more pleasant. My box was waiting at the farm today, with kale, sweet potato greens, chives, mixed salad greens, new potatoes, garlic, slicing tomatoes, green beans, and green banana peppers. The weather is chilly this week, so I am planning
Being an inquisitive person, and adventurous in the kitchen, I wanted to settle the issue for myself: do I prefer frying chicken, or roasting chicken? Is my “House Chicken” roasted or fried? Here’s a comparison (note: these are standard recipes; you probably have several in your collection. I’m just going to talk about
Today’s City Commons box includes wonderful summer produce: red ripe slicing tomatoes, a quart of yellow cherry tomatoes, chard, hot peppers, and basil. I’m seeing cool weather crops again, as well: kohlrabi, beets, kale, and peppery arugula. Altogether, it’s a lovely box. I’m planning to freeze kale for fall and winter soups.
I’m Maurita Plouff, and I write about cooking and preserving the local harvest in Southeast Michigan. Any recipe you find here is something I have cooked myself, and enjoyed, and think you might like too. I invite you to try the recipes, and leave comments.