Being a member of a CSA is a little like being invited to a stranger’s house for dinner and then being told that you have to cook it with whatever they have on hand. Since you never know for sure what you’re going to get it’s hard to know what you’re going to make. That can be both a curse (Goody! Kale and 50 pounds of tomatoes again…) or a blessing – as it was in this case. Continue reading
It may come as no surprise to anyone, but we really dig on Asparagus around here. Even the baby loves it (no kidding). For that matter, even the cat loves it…go figure.
Since it’s been so hot here lately we’ve avoided cooking anything in the kitchen (because we’re not…hmmm, what’s the word? Oh, stupid) and have instead been either eating salad or grilling stuff. This time we had a bunch of Asparagus in fridge so we decided that it needed to go on the grill, too. Continue reading
As with most of the food ideas we have, this soup started out as something completely different. Originally, it was a recipe from Emeril for Garlic-roasted Asparagus that we were asked to make for Easter. That recipe was deceptively simple: toss the Asparagus with some crushed/minced Garlic, Olive Oil, and Salt & Pepper and roast it until golden brown – about 10 minutes or so. It was very similar in execution to our Rosemary Roasted Asparagus only Emeril finished it with a squeeze of fresh Lemon Juice.
We loved the freshness that the Lemon added to the Asparagus, and since we’d been wanting to make some Asparagus soup for quite a while we decided to borrow heavily from the Easter recipe ala Emeril.
This may be one of the richest (and best) ways to serve Artichokes ever: steamed, cored, and stuffed with a heavenly blend of Bleu Cheese, Cream, and Thyme. Top it all with a crunchy/savory layer of Parmesan, Breadcrumbs, and even more Thyme, then roast it…whew!
Essentially it’s an Artichoke with a creamy little fondue pot inside. Diners peel the leaves off of the outside and dip them into the crunchy, gooey Bleu Cheese goodness on the inside. Continue reading
Giada recently had a deliciously different and simple salad on her show that needed only sliced fresh Mushrooms, shaved Parmesan, and a very simple Lemon Juice & Olive Oil dressing. It was so elegant and fresh tasting that we loved it right away, and leaving the Mushrooms raw gave it a lighter than air texture.
Of course it’s us, so we immediately began to think of ways that we could tweak it by adding a little of this or that. Julie right away struck upon the idea of adding Orecchiette pasta, White Beans, and some sweet little Green Peas to build it up a bit and our new favorite summer Pasta Salad was born.