Lisa on January 7th, 2013

When it comes to cookies, why settle for a tiny chip when you can have a big chunk instead? Besides, when you make chocolate chunk cookies, you can make them as dark-chocolate-y as you want. I used 85% dark for this batch; if I had had some 90% dark on hand, I would have used that instead. [...]

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Lisa on August 17th, 2012

Whole-grain baked goods are, by nature, drier than baked goods made with refined flour. Sometimes this is a good thing — biscotti and crackers are supposed to be crunchy and dry, meant to be dunked into coffee or spread with savory soft cheese — but usually you want baked goods to be moist and perhaps [...]

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Lisa on May 15th, 2012

Sometimes a little advance effort has a big pay-off. That’s most certainly the case with breakfast — the last thing most of us want to do first thing in the morning is spend a lot of time preparing/scrounging for something to eat. Specifically, something that will taste good, be healthy, and be satisfying enough to [...]

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Lisa on March 19th, 2012

Pastured eggs are my favorite ingredient for several reasons: they’re an integral part of sweet and savory dishes, they’re ideal to enjoy any time of day, and they provide essential structure for everything from baked goods to velvety sauces. You just can’t beat an egg when it comes to artistry AND functionality! The fact that [...]

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Lisa on February 22nd, 2012

Nothing screams “SOUP!” like an oxtail or two. Of course, you can still whip up an impressive pot of stew without oxtails, but browning the tails solo and then simmering them into your soup is a fantastically inexpensive way to impart a rich, meaty flavor to your base broth. Individual oxtails are a little smaller [...]

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Lisa on November 11th, 2011

Although sweet pies typically feature fruit enclosed by crust on both the top and bottom, savory pies are made with veggies and/or meat and often sport only a top deck. Shepherd’s Pie, for example, is made with beef and veggies on the bottom and a “crust” of mashed potato on top. An English version of [...]

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Lisa on November 9th, 2011

Now that summer has given way to leaf-strewn fall, the idea of going outside to grill something for dinner has gotten a lot less appealing. So much for mesquite-laced, smoky veggies and meats. (And fruits, too. Ever tried grilled pineapple? Sublime!) Seems like that signature mesquite flavor is only available during the summer months. …Or [...]

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Lisa on November 2nd, 2011

Imagine chocolate crinkle cookies. Now think about Russian teacakes — you know, those cute little balls covered with powdered sugar that are the mainstay of holiday cookie swaps. Then let your mind flit over to oatmeal-raisin cookies. What do you get when you put them all together? Chocolate, Cherry & Oat Balls. Or, if you [...]

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Lisa on October 3rd, 2011

I used to think the term “curry” meant a specific blend of spices used in a particular way. That turned out to be semi-true. “Curry,” an Indian chef told me a few years back, “simply means ‘sauce.’ A curry can be what you make it.” The way we think of “curry,” then, is kind of [...]

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Lisa on August 26th, 2011

Mesquite: it’s for more than just burning. And providing shade if you’re in the Arizona desert. Turns out that the pods the tree bears are edible (just as the wood is burnable), so if you let the pods dry out and grind them up, you have flour. A fragrant, fine flour that will make you [...]

Continue reading about Cookies Do Too Grow On Trees!