It is a great pleasure to identify edible plants, trees and flowers to include in my culinary endeavors. Most recently I rang my neighbor’s doorbell to ask if he wouldn’t mind if I picked a few bowls of berries from his Juneberry tree (a.k.a., saskatoon, shadbush, sugar plum, service berry, et al) in return for… Read More Backyard Foraging | Juneberry Muffins
I think this stuff is fantastic. Only available from mid-May to mid-June, this fish tastes nothing like a farm-raised salmon. This is a fish that’s done some work swimming. Tonight, Hades seasoned it with salt and pepper and a few drops of olive oil. He grilled it outside on an oak plank covered with fennel… Read More Friday Night Grill | Copper River Salmon
While I was in Germany and France last month, just about everywhere I went, sandwich boards proclaimed in German or French “Lust auf Spargel?” “Fin de l’Asperge!” And it seemed every bistro and restaurant had specials celebrating the edible spring perennial. And truly, it is best savored when it is fresh and local. I enjoyed… Read More Spargel Pasta | Asparagus in Cream Sauce
This started with my current obsession, which is oddly and plainly, roasting potatoes. From which rose a lovely collection of small plates that we passed and shared over a couple of glasses of wine. Well, Cherub didn’t have any wine. It was all easily pulled together a Monday night on a long weekend, Memorial Day… Read More Holiday Weekend | Greek Mezedes
Mother’s Day afternoon was spent just how I wanted it: out at a gorgeous farm, with good food, family and friends. Pleasantview Farm is twenty miles outside of Columbus, but feels a world away. The farm is quiet with vast expanses of meadow and sky. A working organic dairy farm, it is home to a… Read More Mother’s Day at Pleasantview Farm | Asparagus with Shallots
It’s early Spring, and there is an abundance of all sorts of young herbs, lettuces, and edible flowers. They are tender, beautiful and delicious. This is clearly the beginning of salad season. Just pick, tear, and drizzle with the best possible olive oil. Tonight I used dill, mint, picked thyme, parsley, baby lettuces and, as… Read More Backyard Foraging | Violet Salad with Goat Cheese in Phyllo
It’s been so rainy today that everything in sight is a variation of green: the yet-to-be-mowed grass. The budding trees. The trembling stalks supporting the heavy heads of daffodils. My dinner of orecchiette bathed in butter, chartreuse leeks, backyard mint and verdant parsley. Tiny pasta ears cradle pale green edamame, the whole bowl crowned with… Read More Meatless Monday | Orecchiette with Leek and Pea Shoots
Persephone's Kitchen 