The onions are at it again. And this time they don’t even require cooking. Complete and utter show offs I tell you. Slice them, throw them in a bowl with a bit of vinegar, a soupçon of salt and sugar and what you have is the heavenly pickled onion. I hate to be without these in my fridge these days. They taste amazing in so many things. Sprinkled on top of avocado toast? Uhhmm, yes please. Or how about in tacos? Or thrown into salads? Fabulous with pulled pork to cut the richness. Or how about this…eaten straight out of…
Category: <span>EATING</span>
Like caramelised onions, roasted tomatoes are another example of taking an already delicious fruit or veggie, adding a bit of heat and a couple of ingredients and catapulting the flavor out into the stratosphere. You can actually roast tomatoes in a variety of ways. You can simply toss with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, perhaps garlic, and roast at 425˚F, give or take 25˚F, for about half an hour. This will intensify the flavour and the tomatoes will be delicious. But my favorite way is to use grape tomatoes and roast them low and slow, which dries them…
Sweet and sticky caramelised onions are a flavor workhorse, lending a mighty punch to anything you add them to. Toss them into salads, frittatas, pastas, quiches, you name it. Caramelised onions are a perfect example of cooking alchemy and just like regular onions which have the grace and freedom to move in all sorts of circles, caramelised onions are also happy to mingle with a variety of ingredients, ratcheting up flavours a notch or two. If you cook up a batch at the weekend you can have them hanging around for anything that might be in need of just a…
Mirepoix is a fancy French word for a rather humble mixture of carrots, celery and onion. Like chicken stock, it’s a great thing to have on hand as it serves as the foundation for a myriad of soups and stews. I often cut up lots in one go and then freeze it in containers. When I’m ready to make soup, I can pull out a container of mirepoix, one of chicken stock and I’m halfway to dinner with very little on-the-day effort. There is one issue with freezing it. When you thaw it out it will give off a lot…
January can feel like a rather cruel month. The glow of the holidays has burned itself out and the warmer weather sits contentedly on the horizon. The distance between the two seems to yawn endlessly, dark and cold. Yet January also holds that promise of a pristine new year, all cleaned up, purged and organized. A time to get back to life’s simple basics after the craziness and overindulgence of Christmas. And in the kitchen it doesn’t get more basic than homemade chicken stock. I am rarely without it in my freezer as it’s perfect for homemade soups at this…
Spring – when the world opens up once more and we can lift our faces to the warmth of sunshine and the pink of cherry blossoms. A time when it just feels right to lighten our eating habits. And what better ingredient to turn to than asparagus, the vegetable harbinger of spring with its bright, fresh earthiness. Combine it with an egg and a few shavings of parmesan and you have a delightfully easy dinner. Add a crusty loaf of bread and glass of crisp white wine and you’ve dressed it up for company. While you can certainly steam the…
There are few desserts I enjoy more than a good fruit crumble. You can keep your cake this and chocolate that ’cause for me there’s nothing better than warm fruit with a sweet, buttery topping. Just about any single or combination of fruit can be used for crumble, but for spring that classic pairing of strawberry and rhubarb fits the bill perfectly. I know that most of the world seems to love oats in crumble topping but that’s a firm no for me. Now, if I was at your home for dinner and you served it that way for dessert,…