May 14, 2014
I am still under the influence of tapas. We have just returned from Spain were we enjoyed tapas, pinchos and montaditos in all forms for the last few months. Truth be told, most of the tapas we found in Spain focused on Iberian ham of one kind or another and seafood of every variety. Being of vegetarian persuasions I sometimes found it difficult to find a vegetarian item on the pages and pages of tapas... View Article
May 13, 2014
I open the small metal jars containing cumin and cinnamon and the sweet and pungent scents waft towards me, their perfume filling the air around the kitchen. This is definitely Ottolenghi-land. I have been cooking my way through a few of my cookbooks and Ottolenghi’s collection sits at the top of the pile. This one, titled simply Ottolenghi, the cookbook, was much anticipated and did not disappoint. It is full of vegetable centered recipes and... View Article
May 4, 2014
People seem to be afraid of artichokes. They worry about how to eat them, how to trim them, how to cook them. Really, they are not any more difficult to handle and cook than anything else. Yes, it’s more work than, say, peeling a carrot, but it’s completely doable and so worth it. Needless to say I love artichokes and cook them in season (spring) whenever I can. I even wrote a post about artichokes... View Article
May 3, 2014
There is an art to travelling as a vegetarian. You would think that with the abundance of gorgeous produce in the markets, especially around the Mediterranean, it would be easy to find vegetarian dishes on restaurants menus but somehow it is not. Now, I am interested in food and culture and certainly will try other things even if they are not vegetarian, especially the local and traditional. I am certainly not going to travel without experiencing... View Article
April 30, 2014
This week I seem to be making foods that I don’t usually prepare. It’s nice to get out of the routine and make something new. Take this recipe. I use a lot of asparagus in the spring but tend to cook it simply, either steam, cook it in a skillet, roast in the oven or cook on a grill. As all recipes seem to happen, I took the asparagus out of the fridge to grill... View Article
April 21, 2014
This is adapted from a recipe I posted a couple of year ago in the spring when fresh peas were out. Fresh peas are not out yet here in the 49 parallel but I think this recipe is perfectly good with frozen peas and this time I added lima beans to the mix (also frozen). It is so simple and delicious that I wanted to remind you of the dish. Peas by themselves are wonderful... View Article
March 30, 2014
One of the foods on my “culinary must do” list while in Spain was eggplant fritters with honey. It is seemingly an unusual dish, I have never had it before and never really thought of serving a savoury eggplant with honey but it did sound good. I imagined it crispy on the outside, soft inside, a little savoury with a sweet honey drizzle, surely it would be delish. According to Claudia Roden (the Julia Child... View Article
March 20, 2014
While I was travelling in Spain recently I was contacted by an olive oil expert and fellow blogger Judy Ridgway about writing a guest post for her blog. Judy is an international olive oil expert and for the past twenty years has worked with olive and olive oil producers in all of the European producing countries as well as emerging “new world” producers in California, Australia, South Africa and South America. Judy published a paper... View Article
March 17, 2014
It has taken me a long time to make the adjustment from cooking for five to cooking for two. I had to completely change my thinking and uncharacteristically begin to “think small” in the kitchen. Lasagna is one of those dishes that needed an adjustment. The large pans of lasagna no longer made sense for just the two of us. I am not a big fan of freezing things. Once it’s in the freezer it... View Article
March 13, 2014
So it’s spring and I am cooking with asparagus again. I am posting this together with the white asparagus recipe in another post in celebration of a new season and a new crop of veggies. This is what’s nice about cooking a vegetable-centred cuisine, there is always something new and exciting. Asparagus is one of my favourite vegetables, green or white. I consider it a delicacy when used in season and as soon as the... View Article
March 13, 2014
As I write these words asparagus spears in France, Holland, Spain, California and elsewhere are beginning to push out from below the soil reaching for the first rays of sun to fuel the photosynthesis process and turn them green. This is true for green asparagus but not so for white. White asparagus, the same species as the green, remains white because it is grown in the dark under a mound of soil (and sometimes black plastic... View Article
January 22, 2014
What can be more French than leeks in vinaigrette? We went on a wine bar tour with Paris by Mouth and tasted wines along with a few hors d’oeuvres in a couple of wine bars. The first stop was at Septime La Cave in the 11th arrendissement. It’s a small wine shop/bar opened by chef Bertrand Grebaut across the street from his restaurant Septime. You can stop by the wine bar and have a glass... View Article
