July 12th, 2010 | by Jen | published in All, Cheese, Delectable Dairy, DIY Food Projects, Weekend Projects
Ricotta, ricotta, ricotta. So versatile, so simple, so delicious when done well, and so awful when done wrong. For most of my life I hated ricotta, thinking it too rubbery and tasteless. That is, until I tried (quote unquote) REAL ricotta. Not the stuff from the grocery store, but the artisan cheese that is traditionally […]
June 13th, 2010 | by Jen | published in All, Delectable Dairy, Veritable Vegetables, Weekend Projects
The first time I saw tumbleweed rolling down the street was in rural eastern Washington. We were in some small town near the Idaho border whose name escapes me now. It was early, 7AM or so, and my dad and I pulled the truck up to the only place in town that was open, a […]
March 15th, 2010 | by Jen | published in All, Cheese, Delectable Dairy, DIY Food Projects, Fantastic Fruits, Honorable Herbs, Lemon, Thyme
There is no cheese that I enjoy more than high quality, handmade ricotta. For years I poo-poo’d it because all I had ever tasted was the shelf stable, strangely homogeneous, fairly tasteless, mass-produced grocery store variety. And then a few years ago…
May 8th, 2008 | by Jen | published in All, Beets, Cheese, Delectable Dairy, Fantastic Fruits, Orange, Veritable Vegetables, Weeknight Recipes
Ah, beets. My trusty standby — ready to be prepared and enjoyed in the same old ordinary way (roasted, plain), yet always willing to be a player in my latest experimental recipe. It’s hard not to appreciate…
April 9th, 2008 | by Jen | published in All, Asparagus, Basil, Honorable Herbs, Peas & Pea Shoots, Veritable Vegetables, Weeknight Recipes
Today’s recipe is a fantastic manifestation of the idea, ‘what grows together, goes together’. In these early days of spring, ‘bright green’ seems to be the theme — bright green shelling peas are exploding in my garden…
I daydream a lot about cooking during the week, especially when I’m on the train. Its rhythmic...
Yesterday I inaugurated my new canning equipment -- a huge 12 quart stockpot, a canning funnel, a ma...
I read cookbooks to relax. There is no better way for me to unwind than to read a recipe, imagine t...
I have been craving some serious American food as of late. A week ago I had the overwhelming urge ...
A few weeks ago on the same France trip that introduced me to Feves au Lard Fume, Steven and I met u...
When I try to explain what tempeh is to a person who isn't familiar with it, it never ends up soundi...
I had a quiche epiphany the first time I tasted the quiche from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. Th...
Besides the expected potatoes and cabbage, green garlic is one item that I have been coming across w...
Hands down, my favorite breakfast is two soft boiled eggs, a touch of butter, a piece or two of good...
The range of culinary emotions I've experienced living here in Germany for the past three months spa...
Long time no see! The recent Modern Beet silence has been due to the fact that I made an internatio...
I can't believe how easy it is to make gravlax. Or let me rephrase that statement -- I can't belie...
I was looking out my apartment window the other day when my gaze came to rest on a tree about fiftee...
Oh. My. God. This is the best pie crust I have ever tasted! So flaky. So moist. And oh the hin...
These past few weeks have been particularly busy and challenging for me. I changed jobs, spent two ...
Wilkommen nach Deutschland! Ok, full-disclosure time: I haven't yet made this myself, but I watche...
A while back, I got the idea in my head that I wanted to make my own sausage. Why? first and forem...
I was walking back from lunch the other day with my coworker Fritz, and he (very) jokingly proclaime...
Perhaps you would have chuckled if you saw me leaping into the air, grabbing at bunches of elderberr...
The annual zucchini proliferation is upon us! Last week alone I was given six large zucchini, which...