Hot oatmeal date squares! Yummy! This recipe will make 25 squares. Each square will be topped with sticky chewy dates and bottomed with flaky warm oatmeal. Ingredients 1cup chopped dates ½ cup water ½ cup brown sugar 6 tablespoons butter 1 cup oatmeal ½ cup sugar 2 egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 ½ […] More
Autumn into early winter is a great time to find fresh savory salad greens. Arugula is still in the market now and mustard, mizuna, and cress are easily found from late autumn to early spring. Cultivated mushrooms, such as the portobello, are easy to find year round, but their peak natural season is fall and […] More
The portobello mushroom is a large brown mushroom. It’s immature self–a small brown mushroom–is called a crimini mushroom and sometimes baby bella. In France, the portobello is called champignon de Paris. Champignon is the French word for fungus. In the wild the common brown mushroom can have a cap that grows 2 to 4 inches […] More
The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady’s fans. The oyster mushroom has been cultivated in Asia for centuries. Today it is very popular in Japanese and Chinese […] More
Calabaza en Jarabe is pumpkin in syrup. This is a tasty old-fashioned Mexican dessert that you can serve for Halloween or any time in late summer or autumn. Piloncillo is the traditional cone shape of unrefined sugar commonly used in Mexican cooking. Piloncillo (which means little pylon) is made when sugar cane is crushed, the […] More
Vegetables mixed with a batter and dropped into hot fat or vegetables dipped in batter and fried. Fritters or tempura? Yes! The term fritter is used for both of these preparations. And tempura is not far behind. Here are quick directions for an almost vegetable fritter you can whip up using the leftover vegetables in […] More
Hummus is the Arabic word for “chickpea”. The chickpea is also known as the garbanzo bean; “garbanzo” is the Spanish name derived from the Greek. Hummus is also the name given to the Middle Eastern sauce or paste that includes cooked and mashed chickpeas mixed with sesame or olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and […] More
Piquant is a flavor that can be spicy, tart, or pungent. In this recipe that combines wax beans with chopped pimiento, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard, I think we are on the border between spicy and pungent. The wax bean is a pale yellow variety of green bean. Sometimes called yellow snap bean, the […] More
Here is a simple recipe for les haricots verts à l’ail or green beans with garlic. Serve this simple side dish with pasta, chicken, steak, or salmon. This recipe comes from La Cuisine du Comté de Nice by Jacques Médecin. Médecin was the mayor of Nice and also a chef in that city for many […] More
What could be more satisfying than a late summer soup made from the vegetables out of your own garden or the one’s you hand selected at the farm market. Print Basil and Tomato Soup Author Steve Albert Yield 6-8 servings Here’s a basil and tomato soup which you can serve hot or cold. I like […] More
Here is a very tasty sunflower brittle recipe that Julia, a San Francisco garden designer, recently cooked up using a recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking. This brittle is light and sunflower nutty and a perfect snack for an afternoon in the garden. Julia advises that you might want to have ready a pair […] More
Melon en Surprise was Auguste Escoffier’s title for a five line description of a tasty combination of melons and other fresh fruits in his 1903 masterpiece Le Guide Culinaire. Of course, Escoffier was working from the notes and techniques of Antoine Carême, an earlier codifier of French Haute cuisine. But as you will see here, […] More
Stephen Albert