Dinner

First Summer Squash of the Year & the Last of the Sugar Snap Peas

21 July 2011 by Jean Johnson
Letting the seasons change what's on your plate is such a groove. Tonight it took the form of flash cooking a just-pulled cippolini onion from last fall's planting, a minced clove of garlic, whole sugar snaps, a green and yellow zucc sliced off on the diagonal, and a chop of ...

Peasant Food Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This

19 May 2011 by Jean Johnson
One bowl meals. It's how to turn gorgeous food out on a dime. A dime of both time and money. In this case, there were leftover French lentils and quinoa in the fridge--so into the bowl they went with some jarred roasted red peppers, a pear from the season's end, and ...

We Don’t Have to Go to Tuscany to Have a Sexy Food Life

25 February 2011 by Jean Johnson
That's right. A trip to Italy isn't required. All we need do is turn the lights on in our own kitchens and pour of glass of wine. All we need do is scratch cook with local, seasonal ingredients at their height of freshness. All we need do is leave behind ...

Quiche for the Holidays

27 December 2010 by Jean Johnson
Quiche is reliable since it's just a custard with goodies in it that sets up no problemo. Also it's great served room temperature, so is perfect for something like a New Year's buffet. Shrimp Quiche Here's one I did for Christmas with wild prawns that I boiled first, sliced in half ...

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, ...

Corn Crescents with Avocado for Justine

6 May 2010 by Jean Johnson
Corn Crescents with Avocado for Justine These little stovetop cornbreads are quick, warm, crowd pleasers. On tours I make them round, stuffed with cheese or refried beans drawing on gorditas and empanadas as my guide. In April 2010, though, Justine, a Facebook pal from Southern California, shipped a box of avocadoes ...

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 ...

Brown Butter Sauce, Beurre Blanc & the New Julia Child Movie

19 August 2009 by Jean Johnson
Julia. Even the sound of her name brings lavish thoughts--grounded in a no nonsense approach to life. Bon vivant she was with her "bon appetit!" That's why I've been smiling since watching Meryl Streep bring Julia Child alive once again on the big screen. Ah, yes. Wasn't our Julia a grand ...

Flash Cooking & Asparagus

23 May 2009 by Jean Johnson
Flash cooking is the term I've coined for getting veggies ready pronto. Here's the way I describe the technique in Hippie Kitchen, the second in my measurefree trilogy due out this fall: Flash Cooking To flash cook vegetables, start with a puddle of water, spices if you’re in the mood, and ...

Cooking for the New Economy, Thai-Style

10 April 2009 by Jean Johnson
Who better than to take cues for economizing than the Thais. For centuries these creative southeast Asian cooks from  have used local, seasonal ingredients and a flair for building flavor right in the bowl to regale eaters far and wide. Americans, in particular, have fallen in love with Thai food ...