Browned onion and scallion champ

Yes, this is basically mashed potatoes, shot in a golden spring afternoon. But with the addition of a variety of alliums, it becomes champ – a classic Irish potato dish. I did mix it up ever so slightly for our dinner, but not much. I …

Cornmeal-crusted trout with mashed root vegetables and crispy leeks

So I was wandering around New Seasons, as is my wont these days, wondering what to make for dinner. It’s citrus season again, so I grabbed some blood oranges. Even though they’re not particularly sweet, I’m always suckered into buying them for their novelty. It’s …

Moroccan Chickpea and Carrot Stew

…or, Back in the Saddle Again Zephyr is now 8 weeks old, and I’m starting to get the hang of having him around. That said, cooking still takes me a bit of planning (unless I opt for yet another “pasta night” or “takeout night”). This …

Lobster mushroom, sweet corn and watercress risotto

This is the best time of year. The weather is up to its typical late summer bipolar antics, and while I still have sweet Silver Queen corn down here in the Valley (thanks to sunny days), the mountains are cooling off enough in the evenings …

A F&%@#ing Salad

Yes, this is what I have to show for my weeks of absence. It’s all I can muster. I don’t know why I feel like I have some ‘splaining to do every time I take off for awhile, but I guess that’s just how committed …

Grilled eggplant and heirloom tomato panini with chevre and kalamata tapenade

Yay! Summery weekend weather started on Friday, and the lovely log of French goat cheese that’s been languishing in my fridge got its day in the sun. The first good heirloom tomatoes starting showing up in stores, and I was powerless. An eggplant and a …

Halibut with tomato-curry cream (Machhli Tamatar)

It always pleases me when I fiddle around with ingredients and find out that it’s already a Thing. The curried fish with tomatoes and creamy sauce I was thinking about turned out to be the Indian dish machhli tamatar, fancy that. I’ve been craving Indian …

Gratin Dauphinois

Gratin Dauphinois is a basic thing. So basic, in fact, that I can’t imagine any reason why people would eat the boxed shit. The garbage dehydrated crap isn’t even cheaper. Okay, I’ll admit that it is marginally easier to open a box and a couple …

Chicken enchilada soup and kabocha squash taquitos

I pulled some leftover soup from the freezer the other day, to make room for a tub of ice cream, and got around to heating it up for dinner. You can scarcely contain your excitement, right? Well sit tight, pretties, it actually gets interesting. The …

Strozzapreti with curry-kabocha cream and paneer

…or, I ain’t mad at a little fusion once in awhile, did I ever claim to be made of stone? This sounds so wrong. I’d probably have been a little less off-base just putting this on basmati rice, in retrospect, but I wanted the toothiness …