Getting on a Roll

Fava Bean Season is Upon Us

30 May 2010 by Jean Johnson
If you have Hippie Kitchen you'll see this picture on page 52. I choose to show off the fava beans in their pods rather than the actual dish because they have been so maligned. Typical instructions in American cookbooks are to do not pass go and double peel the beans--first ...

Thrift + Creativity = Empowerment + Joy

7 May 2010 by Jean Johnson
I'm including these Astonishing Muffins in Grow Your Own, accompaniment as they are to Laurel & Carol's Astonishing Spinach Salad. I don't have the recipe written up just yet, but I did dutifully put dried apricots in along with walnuts. Just the kind of muffin people would think is fun ...

Flash Cooking’s Where It’s At

14 April 2010 by Jean Johnson
Flash cooking is the heart of my kitchen scene. It nets me plenty of fresh seasonal vegetables in short order--warm salad style. I've talked about it many times here on the blog, but people resonate with the idea so, that we did a video. It's a 6 minute clip from ...

Homemade Beans

8 April 2010 by Jean Johnson
It's so easy to get on a roll when you've got some homemade beans waiting in the fridge. Talk about ultrafast. All you do is flash cook some seasonal vegs into a warm salad, dress with oil and vinegar, add the beans for protein, season with salt and red chile ...

User-Friendly Kitchen Counters

25 April 2009 by Jean Johnson
This post is for one of the women at the last cooking class I did. I was talking about how much it streamlines cooking when you keep things you use a lot out handy. She wanted to know what was out on my counter. Well, here it is--at least this is ...

Thanksgiving Breakfast with KBJ’s Cranberries and Cottage Cream

22 November 2008 by Jean Johnson
Thanksgiving Breakfast complete with Cottage Cream and KBJ's Cranberries is such gorgeous food--as delicious as it is healthy and affordable. Indeed, that's what measure free cooking is all about. But a cookbook without measurements and prescriptive rote directions is so unprecedented that people tend can get wrapped up in the ...

Toasted Sesame Oil & Balsamic with Beets & Gorgonzola

26 October 2008 by Jean Johnson
As usual, it's what you put on your foundation that makes or breaks a meal. Buried under all the Gorgonzola and toasted walnuts are nothing more than beets, garbs, and beet greens plus Swiss chard. Here's how it all worked. My first catering job appeared last week, so I turned to ...

This One’s for Ruby

1 November 2007 by Jean Johnson
I can't help thinking of Ruby--the little dust mop kerin terrier who lives next door--when I work with pomegranates. Indeed, once the glistening ruby red seeds are freed from their leathery husks, they do as much to garnish soup, cereal, or warm salad as little Ruby-do does to dazzle her doting ...

Quinoa-Cinnamon Poppers

27 October 2007 by Jean Johnson
Gary and Argelis are here again putting the finishing touches on their second CD. http://www.argelismusic.com/ They were running late for their recording session so I fixed them a bento box of sorts to go. Fresh figs from my tree, Florence, and these quinoa poppers that were such a hit Argelis ...

Salmon Chowder

1 October 2007 by Jean Johnson
I'm half Norwegian, and we love cold salmon and cucumbers. Still, when fall starts to bluster, there's nothing like chowder.I made the one pictured just for myself out of fish left over from roasted salmon. Salmon Chowder Cooking Beyond Measure, p. 108 This takes all of five minutes if you have some roasted ...