Leafing through some old cookbooks from restaurants in my part of the country I ran across this pesto recipe. Pesto has been a favorite sauce and no matter how big/small my garden was I always found room to grow this beautiful, flavorful, aromatic herb. I’ve been making my own pesto for 40 years which is … Continue reading
These cute appetizers have been appearing in my Pinterest feed and I finally decided to make them. It’s true to say I love to play with my food. Being a gardener most of my adult life I am frequently drawn to garden-related recipes, especially when they are my one of my favorite “good bugs.” The … Continue reading
One method of cooking salmon is to roast it in the oven, flavored with some very aromatic seasonings. This salmon dish comes from Naz Deravian’s cookbook “Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories” (2018). I love this cookbook as she has lots of stories to tell beginning when she was 8 and her family … Continue reading
I decided on this flavorful rice because I could not get 2 (if I cut the recipe in half) cups of fresh dill to make sheveed polo, or Iranian dill rice to go with the Persian salmon I was making. Herb packets are only available in March in Michigan and besides 2-4 cups is a … Continue reading
Herbes de Provence is a general term for a variety of herbs that can include oregano, thyme, savory, rosemary and lavender (not always included). It is to be used in cooking and not as a finishing herb and can be adapted to taste with your preferences. It is not to be mistaken for fines herbes … Continue reading
This recipe comes from Dan Pelosi through the New York Times Cooking site. It was given high ratings and good comments from readers. My only suggestion would be to use a different pasta such as fusilli or shells – something smaller. The corn seemed to get lost in the linguine (I did use bucatini). This … Continue reading
Yes, the melons are still sweet and appear often in different recipes. Summer is the best time to make this salad when the melons (I always use cantaloupes) are plentiful and basil is flourishing. A crunchy, nutty spice blend called Dukkah is found throughout Egypt and can be easily made as a topping for this … Continue reading
During the warmer weather I like to make different sides and sometimes it’s a salad such as this. Not complicated, oil/vinegar-based and requires only a few ingredients. Whole grain mustard, red wine vinegar and EVOO dress this salad. Using fresh herbs such as dill and parsley are essential to this salad’s flavor. Of course green … Continue reading
Yes, this is a recipe using Pistou, the French twin of Italian Pesto! Pistou’s ingredients are fresh basil, garlic, olive oil and a dash of salt – pine nut free! It is now apparently common to see it made with Parmesan or other cheeses. The word pistou is derived from the latin pestare which means … Continue reading
Don’t know who Pia is but this recipe comes from a favorite “Recipes from a Kitchen Garden” by Rene Shepherd and Fran Raboff. This is one of 3 cookbooks published (see below as I have all 3). Some of you gardeners/cooks know about Shepherd’s Garden Seeds which Rene founded in 1985 and ran until 1996. … Continue reading