Many people assume that summertime brings the most fruits and veggies to the table, but early fall is actually the prime time for both home gardeners and farmers: in September, corn is the sweetest, tomatoes are bursting at the stems, herbs are going gangbusters. And then there are the furiously growing zucchinis and pumpkins and all [...]
Summertime = pesto. No two ways about it. Summertime also = tomatoes, but as much as I adore a fresh-from-the-garden tomato, the lure of the basil plant is even stronger. Hence my annual recipe for pesto. This year, though, I decided to combine my favorite fresh herb with my favorite fish: wild salmon. (Salmon season [...]
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It’s not just the grass and tulips that are in full bloom: the chives are growing like gangbusters, too. Seeing all of those tall-but-still-tender chives put me in a pesto kind of mood. (Green + herb = pesto in my mind.) It’s still a bit too chilly for basil, though, so I opted to use [...]
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You say pa-tay-to, I say pa-tah-to…or I say yuca. Or maybe ñame or taro or edo or any of the many other tuber vegetables there are out there. (Although I would assume that Peruvians — who were the world’s original potato growers — would also say patata since they enjoy over 3,000 varieties of them.) [...]
It’s official: summertime just ain’t summertime unless I have a pesto posting. Or two or three, seeing as I can’t think of a yummier dish to make with my favorite herb! (Although non-classic herbs like cilantro and dill also make great pesto; try pairing the former with almonds and the latter with walnuts.) At this [...]
You can put whatever you want on top of a pizza and still have a “pizza.” Pies can have an infinity of fillings and still be “pies.” The name is all about the structural concept of the dish, not the details. Category dishes like pizzas and pies are fun to play with — although you [...]
Continue reading about Relocating Cilantro to an Italian Classic
Not only does parsley contain impressive amounts of vitamin A, it also has the power to ease garlic-induced halitosis and brighten the flavor of almost any food. It’s traditionally used as one of the herbs in the French bouquet garni or as a garnish–a sprinkling of its vivid green leaves could make even gruel look [...]
Technically, pine “nuts” aren’t nuts at all–they’re seeds from pine trees. You might also see them called piñones (in Latin markets) or pignolis (in grocery stores specializing in Italian cuisine). Pinenuts are an essential ingredient in an Italian dish that Americans know and love: pesto. Whether it’s tossed with pasta or rubbed into chicken, the [...]
As the summer shades into fall, herb-garden growers are faced with a dilemma: what to do with the last of our basil? If you’re anything like me, you’ve watered and de-budded and cherished your basil all summer long so that you could eke every last leaf out of it. (For first-time growers, know that pinching [...]
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