Nordic Mussel And Cod Stew With a nod to my Nordic roots and thanks to Trina Hahnemann’s wonderful book, The Nordic Diet, I have found a fast healthy way to enjoy the over- abundance of leeks from our garden. Who put steroids in their spot? They are hugely magnificent! Leeks have an elegant subtle flavor…
Salmon Steaks With Vodka, Dill and Lemon Marinade
Salmon Steaks With Vodka, Dill and Lemon Marinade Will four ounces of vodka in thirty minutes knock the salmon steaks out? Nope. Quite the opposite as the natural freshness of lemon zest and savory dill marinade wakes up salmon’s inimitable flavor. Besides salmon don’t drive. For minimal fuss, serve with an alfredo red pepper pasta…
Raspberry-Orange Pecan Waffles With Raspberry Coulis
Having a family brunch? This waffle combination of orange zest, raspberries and bits of pecans guarantees a memorable meal! (While creating this endearing brunch, tell any hungry gremlin children they are eating dessert first. Then bribe them with raspberries or lots of bacon….) I am using the Bakewell Cream waffle recipe from The New England Cupboard Cookbook…
My Sweet Abby, A Golden Retreiver
Now I call her “My Little Abby” as she has diminished from 78 pounds to below 25 pounds. She was such a furry cuddly Golden and came from an aristocratic thoroughbred English background. Abby was so gentle that David maintains he never had to scold her as she never did anything wrong. We went pheasant…
Beefed Up Stew
No one appreciates a wonderful homey smell emanating from the oven more than kids. This beefy stew is elegant enough for sharing or says ” I love you lots!” to family. Especially on hearth cozy days. I used to be such a DYI foodie and downright snob. Not now. I respect humble great tasting food…
Minnesota Beer Cheese Soup
Drink your heart out Wisconsin! We Minnesota “nice” Viking fans really like your cheeseheads; in fact we use them to make soup. Kind of. Football is king in the upper Midwest and no game is worth watching without tailgating with family and friends. A regional soup can be the centerpiece if it is rich and…
Turkey Hot Brown
The Food Network’s Bobby Flay has the Kentucky Hot Brown on the menu in his restaurants. This is one important dish with as many variations from Chef Fred Schmidt’s original 1920’s recipe at The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, as there are mint juleps at the Derby. Back in the middle nineties, my daughter and…
Fresh Corn and Black Bean Southwestern Salad
Julia Child did not like arugula or cilantro. In an interview in 2002 with Larry King she indicated that they both taste rather dead to her and that she would pick them out of food and throw them on the floor. Cilantro is polarizing as approximately 70% of the population like it and 30% say…
Jilly’s Dilly’s – Do You Carrot All?
Back when my kids were kids, the laundry room/pantry served as storage for the jeweled array of beets, peach pickles, dills, sauerkraut, corn relish, hot peppers, jams, jellies and many forms of tomato products. I pickled garden goodies experimentally and often threatened the munchkins with pickling them as well. Translated, that meant doing chores like…
Grandma Reinertsen’s Bread and Butter Pickles
You butter believe it! These picks have an extra dimension of flavor that I learned from my maternal grandmother’s spiced peach pickle recipe. Oil of cloves and cinnamon coupled with snippets of fresh bay leaves replace pickling spice seasoning. I maintain visions of sitting in her pristine blue and white kitchen enjoying a bowl of…