Food Thoughts
20 October 2010 by
Jean Johnson
Yes, I know the lastavera doesn't quite work since vera means spring in Italian. But hey, it's close, and it conveys so well the idea of using vegetables the fall harvest brings through the door. A few posts ago I was lastavering with a grain salad. This time it's with ...
Posted in Bioethics & Sustainability, Culti-Multi Food, Fall, Food Thoughts, Fresh, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Health and Wellness, Kitchen Tips, Organic GMO Free Corn, Ratios, Recipes, Scratch Cooking, Seasonal, Seasons, The Cook Counts To, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Video | Add a Comment »
15 October 2010 by
Jean Johnson
A facebook friend who owns both Hippie Kitchen and Beyond Measure was teasing me about my "sorta cookbooks." And it's true that I'll often explain that the measure free cooking series is more kitchen companion than typical paint-by-number recipe books. That said, I contend that translating the art of cooking ...
Posted in Food Thoughts, Iris the Cat, Measurefree Cooking | 1 Comment »
11 October 2010 by
Jean Johnson
There's one like this in Hippie Kitchen on page 75, but that was made with summer savory one sunny day in June. Now the days are more golden than sunny, but harvest is plentiful as this Lastavera shows. Broccoli, tomatillos, green chiles, leeks, tomatoes, and garlic--all from the garden--all flash ...
Posted in Amie-Pure Prairie League, Appetizers, Beans, Fall, Food Thoughts, Lunches, Recipes, Rock & Roll, Scratch Cooking, Seasonal, Seasons, The Cook Counts To, Thrift | 2 Comments »
10 October 2010 by
Jean Johnson
On a recent Facebook thread, someone said, "if what you do--cooking from scratch with garden produce--means being a hippie, I'm all for it." The writer had apparently dismissed the counterculture of the Sixties--hippies--as a group of free loaders mainly interested in drugs, sex, and rock & roll. And why wouldn't ...
Posted in Food Politics, History, Scratch Cooking, Seasonal, Sixties Critique | 2 Comments »
9 October 2010 by
Jean Johnson
I don't have a cake to offer on behalf of John Lennon's 70th birthday. But I think if the man were here he'd welcome my French cut green beans with knowing look through his blue tinted granny glasses.
Honest food from my no chem garden. A celebration of harvest. Putting ...
Posted in Come Together-Lennon, Fall, Flash Cooking, Food Politics, Instant Karma, John Lennon, Preserving, Putting Up Food, Seasonal, Sixties Critique, Video | Add a Comment »
19 September 2010 by
Jean Johnson
The polenta I talked about in the preceding post had some long legs. In addition to the green bean toss, it became the topping for a cobbler. Here's how it all came down.
First I roasted some plums and peaches. Balsamic on the plums, red wine over the peaches and ...
Posted in Desserts, Food Thoughts, Fruit, Kitchen Tips, Peeling Garlic, Roasting Fruits and Vegetables, Scratch Cooking, Seasonal, Summer, Thrift | 3 Comments »
by
Jean Johnson
An inside peek at my mind would never do--chuckle--but the interior of my fridge and freezer is something that never fails to give people wandering through my hippie kitchen pause.
"It's empty!" they remark. "And you're a cook?" they say. "What's up?"
What's up is that I like food that's ...
Posted in Equipment, Food Thoughts, Getting on a Roll, Kitchen Tips, Leftovers, Technology | 8 Comments »
10 September 2010 by
Jean Johnson
Not too much longer to revel in the world of harvest, so I hope you can score on some eggplants for this great spin on pizza pie. It's a great way to use the last of the coals after you've grilled, and the next day it's a breeze for the ...
Posted in Recipes, Seasonal, Summer, The Cook Counts To, Vegetables | Add a Comment »
28 August 2010 by
Jean Johnson
In Cooking Beyond Measure I purposely call the Italian salad, caprese, this: Sweet Basil with Tomato and Mozzarella. That's because I wanted to turn it from something exotic and perhaps strange to a salad everyone can enjoy. And right now with the tomato harvest starting to come in most places, ...
Posted in Bioethics & Sustainability, Food Thoughts, Recipes, Salads, Seasons, Summer, Vegetarian | 4 Comments »
10 August 2010 by
Jean Johnson
There's something elemental about a kettle of plums simmering on the stove. The pink foam percolates up around the burnished round fruits. Purple skins burst on ruby red flesh. Leaning in over the pot for a deep breath of harvest: sweet, sticky, dense, royal.
The neighbor around the corner ...
Posted in Food Thoughts, Kitchen Tips, Preserving, Putting Up Food, Seasons, Summer | 7 Comments »
