Cod Fillets in a Red Curry Sauce

The last of the garden tomatoes are sitting on counters all over the Northeast. Looking for something tasty to do with them ? I'm suggesting a spin on a Madhur Jaffrey recipe that takes tomatoes, onion, garlic, curry spices and transforms all into a soft, chunky, and spicy hot curry sauce. Jaffrey takes that sauce and uses it to form a base for spice-rubbed cod fillets. Her recipe calls for the dry rub marinade that sits on the fillets for half an hour. Then, the fish is quick fried on both sides to crisp the outer surface. The fish is then laid atop the red curry sauce to finish in a hot oven.

Coffee Spices ... Something to Try !

 Coffee starts my day. Every day. There is a limit, though, on my coffee intake. I'm a one cuppa girl. Anymore and I begin having shakes and jiggles. My nerves can't handle too much of a caffeine jolt. So, one cup and into the suds to clean the mug for tomorrow !

Chicken and White Bean Tostito Soup

 

It's been a while ! It's not like we haven't been eating good food, but many times we're eating just what you find in the recipe archives (see Labels in the sidebar), as who doesn't tend to head for old favorites time after time ? 

This past week, I got a yen for a 'Tex Mex soup' - that Tostito cracker soup that you sometimes find on the menu at your local burrito or taco shop. I've been sicker than a dog and not feeling like doing a restaurant visit, so I patched a recipe together using on-line recipes as a basis to start from. 

Chicken Satay ! Peanut Dipping Sauce ! Cucumber Relish ! Oh, my !

 

Yes, Spring is very much on my mind these days ! Yes, I am having a crisis of seasonal fatigue when it comes to winter weather ! Yes, I have bridled under the yoke of a late winter infection that laid me low ! Yes, I am ready for some fresh tangy food that wakes up the taste buds and zaps my kitchen routine out of the late winter casseroles, soups, and heavy braising.

The Little House Cooking Club - Maple Sugaring !

"Every day Grandpa puts on his boots and his warm coat and his fur cap and he goes out into the snowy woods and gathers the sap. With a barrel on a sled, he drives from tree to tree and empties the sap from the buckets into the barrel. Then, he hauls it to a big iron kettle that hangs by a chain from a cross timber between two trees. 

"He empties the sap into the iron kettle. There is a big bonfire under the kettle, and the sap boils, and Grandpa watches it carefully. The fire must be hot enough to keep the sap boiling, but not hot enough to make it boil over. "

                                                                                                          - Little House in the Big Woods 

Braised Short Ribs with Tomatoes and Mushrooms

 

Mmmmm ! What could that be under that smooth tomato-y, mushroom-y sauce, you ask ?! It's only the most succulent and fall-off-the-bone tender beef short ribs that have been cooking all day in a very slow oven and making the grey cottage smell like Nonna's kitchen !

Dreaming of Summer ... and Key Lime Pie !

This week has been a challenge ! Just as February wanes, it seems that winter has grabbed New England by the scruff of its neck and tossed it to the snowbanks !  Our little dirt road is again snow covered and the sounds are all muffled by the blanket of snow that settled on roof, wall, and branches.  It's pretty and all, but my wintertime feel-goods are all used up. I'm dreaming on springtime and warm weather !

The Little House Cooking Club - Oyster Stew

 "... In all her life Laura had never tasted anything so good as that savory, fragrant, sea-tasting hot milk, with golden dots of melted cream and black specks of pepper on its top, and the little dark canned oysters at its bottom. She sipped slowly, slowly from her spoon, to keep that taste going over her tongue as long as she could."                        

                                                                                         - excerpt from By the Shores of Silver Lake

Sweet Corn and Butternut Squash Succotash

 

This is SUCH a nice side dish for this Maple Sugar Time of Year ! We had this with roasted baby potatoes and grilled lamb chops this evening.  It was a bit of springtime before the actual seasonal warm up. 

The Little House Cooking Club - 1, 2, 3, 4 Cup Cake

 

"Self sufficiency was the badge of the American pioneer. Self sufficient, indeed, the Ingalls seemed. Yet, they never dared settle too far from the country store. It was their lifeline, supplying the essentials that made survival possible and the luxuries that made life livable. "  This week, I chose to depart from the corn flour recipes and dwell a bit on the idea of a special celebration cake. The Ingalls would have had to time their visits to the general store around seasonal weather, harvest times when they could use some of their excess for trade, and the train supplying the merchants at the various outpost stores and general stores they used over the years.         

"It seems strange to have everything one could want to work with," Ma said at the end of the long winter when the supply train finally arrived." Now I have cream of tartar and plenty of saleratus, I shall make a cake." She was speaking of two important stores that made the difference between heavy baked goods and light ones. Saleratus, now called baking soda, and cream of tartar are the main components of baking powder, a key ingredient of cakes and quick bread ... "            - excerpts from The Little House Cookbook

The Little House Cooking Club - Cornbread and Soup

 

It all starts with a good cornbread recipe. Corn ... the staple of farmers for their animals and for their families. Corn ! Fresh and dried, soaked in lye to make hominy, pounded in various gritty grindings to make flour, grits, and coarse polenta. Boiled and buttered when its fresh off the stalk, grilled and cut from the cob to add to salads and custards. It's such a versatile grain !

As I embark with dozens of other fans of The Little House on the Prairie books and television series on this journey with The Little House Cooking Club, our first cooking challenge is to make a cornbread in homage to Ma Ingalls. I took my recipe from Melissa Gilbert's cookbook that honored her days on the series. 'Half pint' has grown up and moved on, but she still credits the series with giving her a firm foundation in home cooking and she's gathered some fine recipes together to honor the series and farm cooking.

Decadent Raspberry Cheesecake

 

Oh, the decadence of this gorgeous cheesecake was just overwhelming ! It was birthday week here at the Grey Cottage. Our lovely daughter-in-law had a birthday on Monday and Silent Bob had his birthday on Saturday. Bookend celebrations ! We opted to choose Friday evening to celebrate over a dinner here, so I was tasked with creating a super duper cake. Since traditional birthday cake is not Brianne's fave, I opted for this special cheesecake. Super rich filling that has Grand Marnier added to it, a crust that is graham cracker and ground pecans, and perfect fresh raspberries over top a thick raspberry jelly smear. It was picture perfect with a final dusting of confectioner's sugar ! 

Roasted Chicken with Arugula Cream

This dish is such a dinnertime lifesaver. It's a meal for a busy day. It's a meal for a time when you want a solid meat and potatoes experience. It's got a killer dipping sauce that is so addictive that you'll be thinking of other meat dishes to make that will incorporate the arugula cream. It comes straight from food writer and 'cooking goddess', Diana Henry. 

Maple Pecan Scones for Two

 

Scones tend to dry out and become heavy if you don't knosh them fresh from the oven. Am I right ? This batch gets eaten in one sitting, as the entire batch is four regular sized scones! 

Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Pie

 

What started off as a nimble way using up small bunches of ingredients in the fridge turned into a real revelation.  Meet Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Pie ! Slide these out of their pie pans and right onto the plate. They hold their shape beautifully ! Side them with baked sweet potatoes.  Have small bowls of sour cream and spicy hot salsa for dolloping on bites of the pie and you have a really delicious meal !

Avocado Toast - Easy Lunch or Breakfast

An easy and healthy lunch here in The Spice Garden today ! You're probably saying, " Really ?! Why is she posting such an easy recipe ? Aren't we all 'over' the Avocado Toast scene ?" 

Traditional Frikadeller ... Danish Comfort Food !

 So ... this is a recipe that I have had for several years. This summer, I was hot to use it while cooking over the fire on one of our RV jaunts and it was stellar ! Last evening, I had the right combo of ground pork and ground beef to do it again, albeit on the stove at The Grey Cottage and NOT over open fire. It was still really delish !

Grammy Lindquist's Blueberry Cake with White Vinegar Sweet Sauce

 

It's blueberry season on Gap Mountain and the first batch came down from the blueberry patch yesterday afternoon. Every year, SB tends the bushes by cutting away brush to encourage the sun and rain to tend the berries ... and not the weedy brush. The pay off is great when nature provides the right amount of sun and rain, no late frosts arrive to freeze the blossoms, and no dry spells settle in to wither the tiny berries.

This years promises to be a bumper crop year! Huzzah ! 

Cherry Almond Biscotti

 

Chilly grey day ... baking to warm up the kitchen and give SB and I a nice, crisp snack to have with a cuppa this afternoon.  The days of baking sweets once or twice a week have long gone. I'm convinced that we appreciate cookies more, now that they are truly an infrequent treat.

Hamentaschen in Honor of Purim

 

You know how you can get obsessed about making a recipe now and then that you haven't thought about in ages ? These little cookies popped into my mind, last week at about the same time that I saw a post about Purim online.