Recipes & cooking Ideas, Tips & Guides

These may remind you of my popular vegetarian baked heirloom beans, but lentils cook much more quickly, and I don’t use molasses or the same spices in these as I do in the beans. That said, you could alternate either flavor with either “pulse,” and simply vary the cooking time.barbecue lentils, minus the grillingredients:1¾ cups lentils, rinsed (I use the basic greenish kind; black “caviar” ones are fine, too) Water to cover the lentils to twice their depth (about 4 cups) 1 medium onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tablespoon oliv

A summer earlier, I’d learned how to make vegetable soup from my friend Irene, a longtime food writer. (My adaptation of her recipe.) The ingredients include garlic, onions, carrots, celery, kale or chard or collards, broccoli or cauliflower, summer squash, shell beans (such as chickpeas or cannellini), green beans, tomatoes, tomatoes, parsley and basil. As I gained my confidence with the basic recipe, I also made some batches with shelling peas or even snap peas, instead of a portion of the green beans—lending a slightly sweeter flavor. And some batches even included a little of each.I don’t grow the celery, nor the chickpeas (nor water, olive oil, salt and pepper, of course), but everything else is under way once the garden gets going.What was most interesting: While, say, any yellow onion or type of garlic will do, certain varieties of vegetables proved particularly well adapted to soup-making, and I want to recommend them:‘Juliet’ tomatoes (above) are smallish but flavorful, not-too-thick skinned, and heavy producers; my choice for sauce and soup. I never

FORGET DIAMONDS. A freezer is a girl’s best friend.

Good Heart Farmstead began in 2013, located 9 miles north of Montpelier in Zone 4, with a goal of becoming a “full-diet CSA,” but quickly evolved otherwise.“We raised sheep, turkeys, pigs, laying hens and broilers, and grew a long list of vegetable crops,” Kate recalls of Year 1. “AND we had a baby. It was crazy.”Add to that the fact that in year one Edge and Kate were cutting their mesclun by hand, meaning it took so long to harvest that they couldn’t

Matching the specific variety of edible to its intended use just makes sense, especially if putting up some of the harvest is in your plans. It has always been in Carol’s.“I was born into a family that grew its own food,” says Carol. “My Swedish grandmother planted a garden every summer that was counted on to feed the whole family–my grandparents, their five children, spouses, and grandchildren.”And that meant food year-round, much of it canned over a woodstove in a New Hampshire house that had no running water or electricity. From a young age, she helped carry water from the well 200 yards uphill in a pair of buckets on a wooden yoke over her shoulders at food-preserving time, to get the water baths going.A “rock-reinforced hole in the ground” was their root cellar

The latest book also feels very personal, and no wonder: It’s called “In My Kitchen,” and includes her “new and favorite vegetarian recipes.”Deborah Madison learned these “few” things along the way in her life adventure that so far includes stints cooking at Chez Panisse and then at the restaurant called Greens, one of the first in the Bay Area to feature a farm-inspired cuisine. She has authored 14 cookbooks, including “The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” and “Vegetable Literacy,” earning four James Beard Awards and many other honors in the process.De

The charmingly fat little book, humbly bound in cloth, was just released by its American publisher this fall, about a year after it was issued in the U.K. (Enter at the bottom of the page to win a copy.)Don’t let its smaller trim size fool you: There are 600 ideas inside.Forget arranging the recipes and variations in predictable chapters like “Entrees” or “Chicken,” though. “Eat” organizes the way we cook and eat, such as “In a Bowl” or “In the Hand,” or “In the Frying Pan” or my favorite section: “Under a Crust.”Yes, Slater admits, making

On her popular website Food in Jars dot com and in her downtown Philadelphia apartment kitchen, Marisa always has something cooking. Marisa is a fulltime food writer and canning teacher, and author of two previous books—“Food in Jars,” and “Preserving by the Pint.” We talked recently about taking a different approach to Grandma’s classic recipes, and also some that Grandma never dreamed up, such as the strawberry jam with a chocolate twist that’s included in this story (recipe below).Read along as you listen to the April 4, 2016 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Plus: Enter to win her new book in the comments box at the very bottom of the page.my naturally sweet canning q&a with marisa mcclellanQ. To be clear…the

In canning and freezing season, it’s having just the right funnel to fill the jars, the one that really fits. Year round, it’s having reusable bee’s-wax wraps that allow me to sharply reduce my use of plastic wrap (have you tried them yet?). Or a glass teapot so I can see how the brew is shaping up.In my tiny kitchen, I don’t have room for many gadgets, so the ones I have really have to work, like the immersion blender that has all but retired my actual counter-hogging blender, or the super-durable electric kettle that signals the

“Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed” (Amazon affiliate link) is also an education in another way: about the culinary and cultural history of the African diaspora, and about food politics.Terry became a vegan in high school, and admits at first he proselytized to “convert” people to using less animal products–or at least to trying fresh and local ingredients. More often than not, his soap-box campaigns failed.“It was such a good lesson for me about the way you don’t get people interested,” says Terry. “Rather than harangue,” he says, he just started bringing home ingredients from the local farm market to share with his relati

In this increasingly bountiful produce season, whether from the CSA, farmers’ market, or backyard, I’ve been turning to inspiration to my friend Alexandra Stafford’s website, Alexandra’s Kitchen, and to her Instagram feed, too. In a Q&A on my public-radio show and podcast, Ali’s shared how to store vegetables to make them last longest (hint: cut green off those roots at once, for instance) to recipes for pasta carbonara that uses a ton of them, or grilled-veggie tacos (photo, top of page), plus various sauces, quick pickles and pestos, too.Plus: Enter to win a copy of Ali’s cookbook “Bread Toast Crumbs” by using the comment form at the very bottom of the page. Read along as you listen to the June 25, 2018 edition of the podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or

Apparently I am not alone in my curiosity. I took a class with Elizabeth Barbone of glutenfreebaking dot com, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, who said that at many of her workshops, everyone is happy to just talk flours because it is so perplexing when you’re on a restricted diet.She also said that as in my case, many of her students have no food allergies themselves, but attend class in behalf of someone else. In the room were grandparents wanting to bake for their grandkids, an older sister with her younger sister who had severe food allergies, plus parents, and friends. (She’s giving another class near me, in Hillsdale, NY, in May; details on that.)Elizabeth, author of the new book “World’s Ea

Here, to accompany our interview, is a recipe from the book, for Gluten-Free Sprouted Corn Bread With Teff (and a chance to win the book at the end of the page).gluten-free sprouted corn bread with teff from ‘bread revolution’(makes 8 servings)Teff is probably one of the most ancient grains. This tiny grain, about the size of a poppy seed, is a nutritional powerhouse, high in iron, calcium, and protein but containing no gluten. Teff is most closely associated with Ethiopia and Eritrea, where it’s the main flour used to make injera, the flat, sourdough-type b

REACHING INTO THE NET BAG of onions in my barn this morning, I got a little wakeup call—from a few onions that were themselves waking up. Uh-oh. A quick check of the garlic revealed a couple of restless heads as well. An extra-warm winter has meant an extra-warm storage space, so it’s time to intervene before all is lost. I’m peeling and freezing whole garlic cloves and chopped onions today to get me the rest of the way into the next harvest. It’s simple:

Last time we spoke, Deborah’s high-desert garden had been suffering without rain. “It’s the same this year, sadly: severe drought,” she said. “I do have some things up, though. My sorrel plant is up, and lovage, tarragon, salad burnet and chives—the little green things that you’re so grateful for.”The latest edition, updating 1997’s bestselling, award-winning “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone,” has more than 150 new recipes, among an impressive 1,600 in a massive volume. Expect to take many delicious detours—even when the subject is something as seemingly simple as barley (five variations are offered) or mashed potatoes. Whip them up plain (Deborah includes a p

Chef Tiffany Derry is a contributor to the “Waste Not” cookbook, and a former star and fan favorite of “Top Chef,” among other culinary accomplishments. We talked about becoming “thoughtful, intentional cooks”–about getting the most out of every vegetable and herb (no, not just the tender little leaves but even the stems); why cooking a whole fish is the most economical way to go; about how even pulp left behind from juicing finds a role in everything from veggie burgers to the thickening of sauces. There is no time like the holiday season to think about avoiding food waste.I also learned about the 200ish chefs who have gone through the Beard Boot Camp to become advocates on sustainability and social issues.Plus: Enter to win the “Waste Not” cookbook in the comments box at the very bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the Nov. 19, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscr

Lacto-fermented pickles, hot sauce, kimchi, preserved lemons all command a high price at the fanciest markets, as well as at farmstands.And of course lacto-fermentation is what turns milk into yogurt, and what turns the familiar, lowly cabbage into sauerkraut (which we’ll learn a bit more about in a moment).I got a lacto-fermentation 101 from Seattle-based

In 2008, when I was shifting my life from city-dwelling corporate executive to rural dweller, I met Alana Chernila. We aren’t close in age—she’s was at that time a mother to two young girls—but I recognized in her right away some common essential elements.The natural world was the anchor we were both intentionally gravitating back to—and we each were obsessed with having a well-stocked freezer and pantry (or else!). We were also both brewing books. Alana’s “The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can

Mission accomplished, I can say after sampling the result—especially a four-ingredient cookie of almond flour, maple syrup, baking powder and vanilla extract that took about 3 minutes to prep (recipe below, plus a recipe for homemade baking powder, since commercial brands generally contain grain, I learned).I don’t have to follow a restricted diet, but the widening shelf of ingredients at the local food coop like almond and coconut flours (not to mention all the other-than-wheat grain flours, and ones from beans and such) has caught my attention. Out of curiosity, I went to a book signing and baking demonstration by Elizabeth at Hillsdale Home Chef, a nearby

Those of you who are regular listeners know I have a similar fascination with other forms of fermentation and culturing–making homemade yogurt, or lacto-fermented concoctions from fruits and garden vegetables, for instance.Along those lines today we’re going to learn about sourdough, and specifically about how to grow your own homemade sourdough starter from a few humble ingredients.No, no mail-order packets of the stuff are used by Sarah Owens, author of“Sourdough: Rustic Recipes for Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More.” Originally a professional cer

(Reprinted with permission from “Clean Soups,” copyright by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson, 2016. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Photographs copyright © 2016 Eva Kolenko.)Categoriesguest chefs radio podcasts recipes & cooking soups.

Since then, it’s all about: Stock up or be left pumpkin-less! (Haven’t I heard this before? It’s nearly the same story as this one from the “Los Angeles Times” in 2009, even quoting the same Libby’s spokesman.)How about this D.I.Y. remedy: Go buy a couple of ‘Butternut’ squash at the farmers’ market (or the supermarket, even) and make filling, putting extra batches of cooked, pureed “pumpkin” in the freezer while you’re at it to satisfy subsequent craving–or for  use in soup or bread or gnocchi.A Hubbard type (warts and all) will

Steve has a passionate interest in New World foods, the bean being the centerpiece of his collection, and is founder of Rancho Gordo specialty food company, based in Napa, California. He’s also the author of three books, including “Supper at Rancho Gordo,” where beans play a starring role.In Steve’s hunt to extend the bean palette far beyond the pedestrian kidney, navy, black, he has uncovered and showcased many astonishing heirloom beans. He’s credited with elevating the lowly bean’s culinary status beyond just “health food”—and with fostering preservation of distinctive

The book, appropriately called “Bread Toast Crumbs,” by Alexandra Stafford, got me thinking about not just bread for, say, a sandwich, but about bread as an ingredient in the simple, delicious recipes I can concoct with my upcoming garden produce. Examples: a thick, roasted tomato and bread soup, or orecchietti pasta with brown butter, Brussels sprouts leaves and homemade bread crumbs, or a salad that becomes a meal when it’s a version of panzanella–reviving even stale bread in the best, delicious Tuscan fashion.Alexandra Stafford is the creator of the popular food website Alexandra’s Kitchen at alexandracooks dot com. Though “Bread Toast Crumbs: Recipes for No-Knead Loaves and Meals to Savor Every Slice” is Ali’s debut cookbook, it has earned raves from

ELLEN OGDEN and I talked salads on my public-radio show and podcast. The highlights of our conversation:salad-lover’s garden tips from ellen ogdenDirect sow your salad greens, says Ellen. It’s easier than sowing indoors and transplanting, and “they pop up fast, and are fast to produce—in just a few weeks.” Re-sow small amounts right through into August in the North.  “That’s really the key. I start my greens every two weeks–small, short rows of maybe 5 feet long.” Succession sowings can continue slightly longer if salads are grown under cover—and of course in warmer zones, the timing shifts with the later frost dates. Be opportunistic. “Stick the rows everywhere,” says Ellen, including between other plants.

What makes this a special opportunity: Carol Gracie looks beyond the surface beauty of trilliums and trout lilies, baneberry and blue cohosh—into their life histories, their lore, and even their cultural uses. (If you can’t attend, bulleted links to two interviews I’ve done with Carol are at the bottom of this page.)With Carol’s expert guidance, you will observe the native flora along the Iron Works Trail, an easy, nearly level path that parallels beautiful Bash Bish Brook. Carol shares a special understanding of who pollinates what, and what role these plants play in their environment in our Northeastern forests.The group will meet in the parking area of the Historic Copake Iron Works (33 Valley

Sarah, the former rosarian at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, is about to embark on a nationwide fall and winter series of dinner events called By Hand, partnering with craft producers such as artists and food and spirit makers and farmers from each area she visits. Last time we spoke, she taught us to make sourdough starter, so let’s see what’s cooking today.Read along as you listen to the September 10, 2107 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Also: at the bottom of the page, find her recipes for Herb Jam and for quick pickles, and be sure to comment to enter to win a copy of Sarah’s newest book, “Toast & Jam.”q&a with sarah owensQ. It sounds like you have an exciting fall and winter ahead.A. I’m so ex

Again, use any pumpkin pie filling version you like—lighter and airier, such as a chiffon style with beaten egg whites folded into the mix and probably some gelatin, too, or more dense and humble (and lazy, admittedly) the way I make it, without much fuss. Rustic—that’s the word. Rustic, and less sweet, rich and sinful. Good for you, even. Really.If you don’t have a favorite pie-filling recipe, try these guidelines but remember: Every variety of winter squash (a.k.a. pumpkin) is different in texture, moisture and sweetness, so you may have to adjust the flavorings accordingly. Most recipes call for unsweetened canned pumpkin, which is more consistent; I don’t use it, but instead have fun seeing what each garden beauty will turn into.

Rebecca, who champions the power of food as medicine and nourishment, is author of the new cookbook “Clean Soups: Simple Nourishing Recipes for Health and Vitality,” and of several earlier books, including the award-winning “The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen.”We spoke about making broth—the basis of many soups, but also a healthful sipping tea in its own right—and more, on the November 7, 2016 edition of my public-radio show and podcast. Read along as you listen in, using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on i

I know; this recipe doesn’t involve garden-fresh produce the way I do it (though I do make dill pickles from my own cucumbers–and I’m including a vegetable-using variation, too). But I wanted you to know that I go a little crazy diet-wise sometimes—all in the name of the garden, of course. As Reubens go, though, these are pretty tame.The George Foreman grill I received years ago, when I was a guest of my former boss on “The Martha Stewart Show,” figures into the recipe. But you could use a heavyweight (get it?) seasoned cast-iron pan, with another heavy one or a brick as a weight to press the sandwiches down while cooking. The entrepreneurial ex-heavyweight champion had been a guest on the television show, too, and everyone in the audience got gifted a grill.I don’t have many kitchen gadgets, or much c

Ali’s first cookbook, “Bread Toast Crumbs,” was published this year. Besides also creating her own recipe filled website, Alexandra’s Kitchen (at Alexandra Cooks dot com), she’s a weekly columnist on weeknight dinners for Food 52 dot com, where part of the way she serves up such a diversity of fresh ideas is to constantly survey the culinary world in books and online.Read along as you listen to the Nov. 20, 2017 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Plus: Comment in the box at the very bottom of the page to win your choice of the cookbooks mentioned, then head over to Ali’s website where there is a second chance to enter the giveaway. We’ll each give away a cookbook. Enjoy!c

“The Great Dixter Cookbook,” just out, is by Aaron Bertelsen, the vegetable gardener and cook at–you guessed it–Great Dixter, on the border of Kent and Sussex in England.Aaron was on book tour in the United States lately, and made time just in the nick before boarding the plane home to talk about the Dixter vegetable garden, and what all he concocted from its long harvest season to serve up the 70ish recipes in “The Great Dixter Cookbook.”Read along as you listen to t

The house was full of squash, in fact, that year–from my desk, where they sit, expectant, beside my laptop (below) to the entire mudroom (bottom of page), where horse-collar-shaped oddities like ‘Tromboncino’ join the smaller ‘Butternut’ types.I made up this recipe at freezer-emptying time in early summer, when I found two containers of roasted, mashed winter squash in my deep-freeze, and needed the room for incoming garden-fresh goodies. It is based on a soup with a coconut undertone and I

(In the slideshow above, toggle between slides by clicking a thumbnail image, or hover over the right edge of the big photos to reveal navigational arrows.)the recipes, and dry-bean how-toALL THE RECIPES are easy, and delicious as a side dish or even as a whole meal-in-a-bowl, served over brown rice with something green tucked alongside.Bonus: My midwinter freezer check revealed a few bags of whole paste tomatoes that will go into the mix—meaning more room for the incoming bean concoctions, and for the soups I see I need to replenish, too. The recipes:Heirloom b

Regular listeners and readers will recognize my friend Alexandra Stafford of Alexandra Cooks dot com, author of the “Bread Toast Crumbs” cookbook, and a mad collector of cookbooks and therefore possessor of recipe ideas galore–including that mushroom soup up top (photo also by Alexandra).Besides recipes, we talked brining beans; about changing up the texture of a soup to suit your preference, and about that “extra” ingredient that can make all the difference: dill with mushroom, orange rind with black beans, and other such flavor surprises. Plus: We’re each giving away a copy of our favorite

Lucinda Scala Quinn has written five cookbooks with inspirations as diverse as Jamaican to rustic Italian, but whatever the culinary tradition she’s writing and cooking in, her approach is always smart can-do meals—ideas developed to feed and please her family of five, including her three mad, hungry sons.Read along as you listen to the Oct. 22, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Plus: Enter to win one of Lucinda’s cookbooks, your choice, at the very bottom of the page.cooking with pumpkin, with lucinda scala quinnQ. Welcome, Lucinda. Hello, old friend.