THE LADY OF SHALLOTS

  Tenderheart: A Cookbook About Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds by Hetty Lui McKinnon My rating: 5 of 5 stars   For those that know me, the fact that I have pledged to try at least one of the eggplant recipes in this book if I try ALL the other recipes, is probably the most astounding review I could ever give a cookbook. But this is more than just a cookbook. It is a story of the way food both nurtures and cultivates memories and helps us work through our grief to find those tangible things in life that help us hold on in healthy ways. McKinnon writes beautifully about both her parents, but particularly her memories of her father. The book opens with a quote from Francis Weller's  The Wild Edge of Sorrow : "Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that there is no love that does not contain loss and no loss that is not a reminder of the love we carry for what we once held close." McKinnon's father, Wai Keung Lui...

 It has been a minute. Or several. I've been thinking a lot about social media this week as I watch people react to the shooting of nineteen students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. People need an outlet, and I get that...but I increasingly despair about how empty it all feels. Sometimes it is just preaching to the choir with some sort of acerbic or biting meme that finds a way to amplify our emotions. Sometimes it is directing our energy toward arguing about gun control or mental health with a few people online. I've never been a single-issue voter, but I also realized that I haven't been monitoring gun control votes very carefully, outside of when it comes time to vote for a candidate. So I looked up the information  and there were a few surprises, and some questions, but not many. I made a few donations. And I cooked. What does cooking have to do with tragedy? Not a whole lot---at least as it happens in my kitchen. I'm not World Central Kitchen . I'm ...

Honeydew is always hit and miss with me, usually because it is either too sweet (overripe) or not ripe enough. I came across this recipe from Rikki Snyder  (via Pinterest) however and was intrigued, because I was looking for something that would accommodate honeydew at almost any level of ripeness. It did not disappoint! I did find that I didn't have the patience to use the melon baller on the entire thing, so that's why you see chopped honeydew in my salad. I'm sure there is some home economics maven out there who is incredibly disappointed in me. I'm sorry. However, I did find the strength to make just enough for a wonderful cocktail of my own devising:   I made this with gin (Sapphire (TM))--I'd use Hendrick's (TM) next time---I muddled the honeydew and it is basically a G & T with muddled honeydew.  Very subtle. And the thyme garnish? Well, I've become a big fan of garnishing my cocktails with whatever herbs I have on hand. I had a nice marti...

Cannellini and Lamb Soup from Jerusalem , p. 135, photo by RM This is probably one of the best soups I have ever made and was absolutely perfect for the snowy wintery weather we've been having. A few things. It calls for 20 cloves of garlic.   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KITCHEN GADGET ALERT: GARLIC EDITION! This is my favorite tool to peel garlic. It shouldn't cost more than 2 bucks. You don't need anything fancier. All you need is a clean, stable, and dry surface. The older the garlic, the easier it is to peel. This actually works, believe it or not, in removing garlic odors from your hands. Yes, I know, you can rub your hands all over your stainless steel kitchen faucet, but forgive me if I think this is more graceful. And a shout out here to Katie (over at Cook The Book Fridays ) who sent me my steel soap one year for Christmas! -----------------------------...

Last Sunday's dinner was one of my better successes in creating an entire meal, by myself.  That may seem like a strange thing to say, but what usually ends up happening is that I choose a challenging entrée to which I must devote all my time and attention. When my husband gets home from work, then, the first thing out of my mouth is usually, "Can you make the salad?"  Just what everyone wants to hear when they get home from work, I know. (I'm hoping he remembers that time I did have a martini waiting for him when he walked in the door...that's got to be worth something, right? It happened once.) Now, the Lord of Shallots does not go to work on Sunday, but I really wanted to cook something new, but something easy that would allow me to concentrate on the entire meal. Enter sole.  Sole, like tilapia and other thinner fishes, is a great fish to cook when you don't have a lot of time. I had picked up some grey sole at the Farmers Market, and found this recipe ...

Reb's Granola It is rare when I find something to be outrageously expensive (like a small box of granola for $9) that I decide to go ahead and make my own. I usually just go without. The other morning, however, I was determined to make my own granola because I had a recipe from one of my favorite books ( The Craft of Baking ), and a whole cabinet full of various nuts and dried fruits which I needed to empty. Is it hard? No. Is it time consuming? Yes. This explains only a SMALL fraction of the markup, I assure you. I doctored the recipe a bit, so we can say it is largely based on the original with a few modifications. Anything I modified or added is in italics. Reb's Granola (based on Karen DeMasco's "Toasted Nut & Honey Granola") INGREDIENTS: 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 2 1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 1/3 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped 1/2 cup slivered almonds 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil* 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons packed dark ...

I have wanted to use a recipe from Barbara Lynch's Stir cookbook, almost as much as I've wanted to go to her restaurant, No. 9 Park . Most of the recipes aren't weeknight-type meals, but this one looked like something I could handle. I bought some great pork chops from Stillman's at the Turkey Farm at the Somerville Winter Farmers Market , along with some apples as well. I'm actually not a big fan of apples with pork chops, usually, but the caramelization did the trick here! Mmm....caramelized apples... Due to copyright, I won't give the amounts, but the ingredients are as follows: Pork Chops with Caramelized Apples, Celery, and Spiced Walnuts grapeseed or canola oil (I used grapeseed) pork chops, about 1 1/2 in thick salt and pepper Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apple (I used the latter) sugar (for caramelizing) unsalted butter (for caramelizing) chopped fresh thyme celery stalks, sliced very thinly on the diagonal whole parsley leaves (1/4 cup...quite a lot--...

Curried Carrot Slaw with Wild Rice Pilaf-Stuffed Chicken Thighs CURRIED CARROT SLAW This is a hit at every summer potluck/bbq, super easy to make, and extremely versatile as a side dish. It is my mother's recipe which I've doctored up just a tiny bit. INGREDIENTS 1 bag of whole carrots, peeled and shredded (tip: use the food processor!)* 1/4 cup t0 1/2 cup raisins 3-4 tablespoons shredded coconut (optional) 3/4 cup mayonnaise (you may wish to use less depending on your taste) 1 tablespoon dry mustard 2-3 teaspoons curry powder salt and pepper to taste Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well! Chill for at least an hour. A few notes: you can make this up ahead of time, but do know that the spices and salt will draw a fair amount of liquid out of the carrots. For this reason, you may want to adjust the amount of mayonnaise you use. If I want it to have more kick, I use more curry powder. If I want a sweeter slaw, I include more shredded coconut. You can buy "shredde...

MUSTARD-ROASTED FISH Source: Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients by Ina Garten (New York: Clarkson/Potter, 2008), p. 136. As I've mentioned before, this is one of my absolute favorite cookbooks (received last Christmas as a gift from my wonderful aunt). I had hesitated with this one because I tend to find cream sauces and the like too rich for my palate (and my digestive system). However, Ina Garten has yet to fail me, and since I ate rather conservatively for Thanksgiving, I figured--why not? Well, the trick here folks is the crème fraîche. Don't get me wrong--low-calorie this dish is not. But the crème fraîche balances the mustard flavor perfectly so that it doesn't overwhelm the fish (she suggested snapper, I used tilapia) and it is much lighter than using traditional heavy cream or whipping cream. The fish almost poaches in the sauce, rather than roasts, so if you are looking for a crispy fish recipe, this is not it. The fish wa...