recipes

We have plenty of recipes in our household. When I’m cooking, I rarely follow any of them. No worries. The end product has always been edible. Every cook understands following a recipe exactly can be a disaster. A recipe functions like a tool in the kitchen, not a computer algorithm. Recipes are also the starting… Read more

During one of our vacations in Stratford, Ontario I bought this bound blank book for reasons then unknown. Eventually, beginning in 2000, I wrote down recipes in it and today the pages are more than half filled. They are the kind of recipes that are more than improvisational knife and spoon work with me standing… Read more

We use a lot of vegetable broth in our household. Making and canning it ourselves is inexpensive and we control what goes into it. It began years ago, when I planted a big patch of turnips. There were literal bushels of turnip greens too good to compost. I made a simple broth which proved to… Read more

When there is leftover rice I seek a quick meal to use it up. Add some canned red beans and a sofrito and off we go: Quick red beans and rice. The sofrito begins with the trinity: sautee bell pepper, onion and celery in extra virgin olive oil. Salt to taste and put a pinch… Read more

Canned beans are a time-saver in the kitchen, especially for weekday meals. I made this recipe from both dried and canned black beans. Flavor-wise, the canned bean preparation was better. There are three parts to the recipe: beans, sofrito and rice. Drain and wash two 15-ounce cans of organic, prepared black beans and put them… Read more

Evening meals are our main ones, especially during the pandemic. I wrote a list of simple meals to get us through this time of contagion. Last night I spent a couple of hours preparing enchiladas for the first time. Based on the amount of prep work, enchiladas are less than simple. Tortillas need cooking, a… Read more