Tarragon and Chives

  further explorations into the zen of making potato salad  I never know where my love of mustard and dill will take me but playing together in a potato salad is a nice selection on the road of top ten hits headed to mealtime.  It's summertime and that's a time for potato salads and homemade pickles but showing up together in a salad -now we are talking about good stuff.  Dijon mustard and fresh dill in a creamy tartar sauce combined with warm lemony virgin olive oil coated  red potatoes cut with the likes of fragrant pickle brine, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar -waking up all those acidic taste zones.  I'm happy with my potato salad concoction and will serve it with just about anything we grill these days, like tonight's butcher made chicken and beef kabobs- yes bring on a bowl of potato salad straight from the fridge-all the work is done ahead in the morning while the house is still cool.  I may have to slice up a cold watermelon, throw together...

 I love to make comfort food, like soup or chowder and one of my all time favorites is a corn 🌽  chowder made at the height of the  fresh sweet corn season, nothing like it.  I always add bacon 🥓 , onions 🧅 , potatoes 🥔 , red bell pepper, butter  🧈 and cream to my corn chowder but this time I added a spoonful of chipotle paste for a nice spicy note with the sweet corn.  When I think of chowder it's usually about clams or seafood 🦞.  I used to make a traditional  striped bass chowder with onions, bacon, potatoes, butter and milk or cream, now that is a bowl of comfort food.  Using emojis reminds me of turning in written papers for school that had assignment requirements like two pages of lined binder paper double spaced, emojis would have been great filler back in the day.  So, what defines a chowder?  If you don't have access to seafood like clams, a chowder can be also be made with ingredients like, chicken, vegetables -like ...

chicken vegetable curry curry powder, coconut oil, yellow onion  garlic, jalapeño, ginger chicken, potatoes, green beans, carrots, red pepper, peas, coconut milk,  cilantro served with basmati rice Happiness is a warm comforting bowl of chicken vegetable curry for dinner.  I love cooking the curry powder, onions, garlic, jalapeño and ginger in melted hot organic virgin coconut oil. I've baked with coconut oil several times  but recently have starting using it more to replace cooking with butter or olive oil. I like rubbing coconut oil on my hands when I'm cooking, especially now in the time of covid when we're washing our hands all day long.  I bloomed my sweet curry powder, spice house blend, in the coconut oil and then added onions, garlic, jalapeño and ginger to give the curry a flavorful base before adding two bone-in trimmed chicken breasts plus broth to simmer in the pot of aromatics.  While the chicken cooks I prepared all the veggies, which are adde...

I made this veg soup drizzled with basil pesto for dinner last night and today I had a bowl for lunch with grated parmesan cheese. This is a versatile soup and it stands on it's own for a meal. I like to serve up a bowl with a slice of sourdough, a spoonful of basil pesto, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese or a swirl of extra virgin olive oil. The additions are all good taking this simple veg soup to another level or levels, depending on how you adorn your bowl.  I have a recipe to share but feel free to use the vegetables of your choice, like corn, I love corn but forgot to pick it up at the market. Oh well, bring on the fresh baby spinach leaves, it works just like that.  Ingredients for Provençal vegetable soup makes enough for 6 1 large yellow onion, chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 2 bay leaves 2 sprigs fresh thyme 4 carrots, peeled an...

Leftovers in the form of grilled steak and roasted new potatoes are repurposed for a Monday afternoon family meal, maybe an even better one than  the original one on Saturday night? I think using leftovers can be fun as you peruse the fridge or pantry, like a treasure hunt to find and use up more ingredients as creative additions to your dish.  I had peppers, a ripe avocado, fresh herbs and a bowl of ripe tomatoes on my counter to choose from and of course I chose all of them to go with my steak potato hash. I forgot to sprinkle my herbs on my hash in my first photo so I had to sprinkle and reshoot, as the first photos looked slightly naked without  herbs. Ingredients for Steak Potato Pepper Hash Makes enough for 3-4 people 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped 1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup cubed leftover grilled steak 1 & 1/2 cup cubed leftover roast new potatoes 4 eggs Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons fi...

I love cranberry beans and this soup recipe with homemade pork sausage is one of my favorites made with these classic heirloom beans.  First I make a big pot of beans, always flavoring my beans with Mediterranean bay laurel leaves, then I freeze what we don't eat for later.  I get a lot of mileage out of a 16 ounce bag of beans. During the first weeks of our Corona Virus quarantine the bean shelves at our markets were either empty or largely picked over and there's a good reason for that, homemade beans are an easy to prepare, delicious and healthy food.  First you soak them overnight in cool water and in the morning place the beans with the  soaking water in a large pot and add flavorings, like onions, carrots and bay leaves.  Then bring to a boil and simmer until tender -for a few hours, depending on the beans and that's it, so simple, delicious and good for you. I also add a spoonful of salt to my beans towards the end of cooking and often the bea...

Feta mashed potato cakes made with left over Greek mashed potatoes from last night's dinner, which were so delicious all on their own.  I added a simple avocado tomato salad to bring these humble potato cakes to life. First I'm sharing the mashed potato recipe then the very simple potato cakes and finally the topper fresh avocado tomato salad that I served for today's lunch. Mashed Potatoes with Feta  4 medium size Yukon Gold potatoes 1 garlic clove, minced 1/4 cup plus 2 T extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup Greek yogurt 3 T milk 8 oz Feta cheese, crumbled 2 T finely chopped parsley Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, cool and slip the skins off. Put the potatoes in a large glass bowl and mash with a potato masher. Gradually add the garlic, oil, yogurt, milk and feta cheese, mashing together until smooth and blended. Add the parsley, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot, use the left...