kitchen adventures
These traditional refrigerator pickles – Do Chua – are a typical condiment that accompanies many classic Vietnamese dishes. You might be most familiar with them on banh mi sandwiches, but you’ll also find them beside rise plates, noodle bowls, and salads. They’re easy to make, and you need not make
I know that spring has arrived when the sorrel in my garden bursts forth with a profusion of lance-shaped green leaves. Sorrel is a perennial, and the leaves have an intense lemony tang. People use it raw in salads, but it also makes a fabulous quick classic sorrel sauce. While
You may already know that garlic scapes are the long stalks and flower bud of the hardneck garlic plant. These are removed in spring, which encourages the plant to make bigger and plumper garlic bulbs underground. I promised to make a post about using garlic scapes. To me, they’re one
This white bean and garlic scape dip is a summer delight, combining a smooth texture with an irresistible garlic punch. It’s perfect with crispy vegetables, or as a dip with chips and pita bread. On hot summer evenings, I don’t feel much like cooking. Tonight I pulled out garlic scapes
What’s a quick chasseur sauce? The name translates to Hunters’ Sauce, and it goes with just about anything a hunter would bring home: game birds, rabbits, venison, and boar. It also works very well with our more ordinary food: beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and lamb. This is a sauce that makes
Now that cool weather has arrived, it’s time to work on apples. Local orchards have bushels of fruit begging for my attention. I put up applesauce every year: it stores well, can be used in lots of ways, and is surprisingly easy. I like to use a variety of sweet and
Today I made the simplest rhubarb compote. Winter has been hanging on forever. It seems like it’s January 115th, rather than more than halfway through April. Some of the plants know that springtime is almost here – there are buds, some flowers are pushing up their stalks – but we
When the weather turns chilly, I turn to hot chocolate. I hate powdered mixes, though: they never completely dissolve, and just don’t taste right to me. Many recipes for homemade chocolate syrup call for coffee. I purely hate the taste of coffee. For me, even a hint will completely ruin
Why make caramelized onions in a slow cooker when it takes so long? Well, have you ever caramelized onions on the stovetop? First you melt butter in a big heavy pan, then you add a bunch of onions, and stand there, stirring and cooking, for an hour or more. Stand
Traditional basil pesto is made by hand with a mortar and pestle, and is thick and silky smooth. My everyday pesto is a much easier rustic version that is unashamedly chunkier. It’s still fabulous! Summer isn’t summer for my family without basil pesto. It goes on pasta, chicken, cheese sandwiches,
The calendar is no help this year; as a gardener and cook, I need to look outside to what’s actually happening. And my herb patch is showing signs of life. The first bits of green in my garden are hardy perennials: sage, mint, and sorrel. Just when we’re getting tired of
This is one of the best ways to use cucumber in my opinion. Slice cucumbers thinly, then put into a sauce with yogurt, garlic, and dill. Some people prefer to use chopped mint – it depends on what you have on hand. Good with gyros, lamb meatballs, salads, as a
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.