Kitchen Tips

Freezing French Cut Green Beans & Happy Birthday to John Lennon

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 ...

From Polenta to Peach Cobbler

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 ...

Reflections on a Refrigerator

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 ...

Plums and Pots and Purple Juice

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 ...

Hippie Primavera, Video on Flash Cooking

16 June 2010 by Jean Johnson
Flash cooking continues to attract people to my work. I'm glad because it's the heart of what my measure free, seasonal, sustainable message is about. So here you go. In these vids I show how to Turn the burner on high with a puddle of water. Put your rustically chopped veggies in, ...

On Cleanup and Storage

7 June 2010 by Jean Johnson
If you have a copy of Hippie Kitchen you'll know that I one of the ways I like to eat fava beans is with Tripped Out Peanut Sauce (page 56). But generating measure free recipe ideas to inspire creative cooking is only part of what my work is about. ...

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 ...

On Vinegar and Wine

by Jean Johnson
Help me out here. Standard oenophile wisdom is that using vinegar when you're drinking wine is a no-no. Thus, I assume that's why Laurel and Carol called for lemon juice in their Astonishing Salad. The gist of their idea is to soak dried apricots in warm wine and lemon juice, toss ...

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 ...