Way up north, In Alaska, there is a very popular cheese dip known as Kenai Cheese Dip, or Jalapeno Cheese Dip. But I didn't actually find it when I was there, I found it later in The Alaska from Scratch Cookbook by Maya Wilson which I brought home as a reminder of my trip. The recipe caught my eye because it looked a lot like that Southern favorite, Pimento Cheese, altered to fit the tastes and available produce of the north. It also caught my eye because I have three pounds of jalapenos needing to be eaten or preserved in some form. The cookbook version calls for store-bought ...
BROWN BUTTER SAGE APPLE BREAD
Forsaking the traditional cinnamon flavoring, this quick bread uses the savory flavors of Browned Butter and Sage for a fresh take on Apple Bread. October is here. I am not sorry to say good-bye to September. My September was pretty eventful: from hurricanes to a wedding to a funeral, it pretty much spanned every type of stress. As a friend put it to me recently, I have been living in a deep end of emotion. Which might explain my obsession with baking these days. Homemade muffins and breads, pies and cookies, cakes and desserts, they all speak to me of comfort and stability. So ...
I LOVE FALL: APPLE AND SAUSAGE STUFFED ACORN SQUASH WITH BACON
Acorn squash is roasted then stuffed with an apple, onion and sausage mixture. It is finished with a layer of bacon and cooked until the bacon is crispy. Once removed from the oven, the bacon is brushed with maple syrup for a satisfying Fall dinner. I love September. I love the clear blue skies, the gradually cooling nights, the lingering touches of Summer, and most of all I love the food. Even when I lived in the tropics, September turned my mind to comfort food. Melted cheese, soups, winter squash and stews. Now that I am home in North Carolina, I am free to indulge in all things ...
APPLE AND FIG BUTTER CAKE: TAKE THAT GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW!
A basic yellow butter cake recipe is topped with seasonal apples and figs in this homage to The Great British Baking Show I love the Great British Baking Show. The cakes and desserts they bake remind me of my years in Hong Kong and England. My British and Australian friends would always have a cake or some other home-baked good on hand whenever we got together. “Tea” was a real thing. Many afternoons were spent at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and a slice of something delicious. When it was my turn to host, I would scour my English cookbooks or turn to The Australian Women’s Weekly ...
ADVENTURES OF AN ASHEVILLE COOK IN A HURRICANE
Did you miss me? Did you notice I was gone? It has been two weeks since I posted anything on my blog, the first missed entries in a year and a half. I wish I could say it was on purpose. I wish I had gone on a fabulous vacation and left the cares of the world behind me. But I did not. Instead, the roaring winds of Hurricane Dorian turned its sights on North Carolina, the beach on which my family has a much-loved home, and on Wilmington, the coastal city where my youngest daughter, Abby, was to get married that same week. I arrived in Sunset Beach a week before the wedding with every ...
SHEET PAN CHICKEN WITH FIGS
Chicken and Figs go together with a Simple Rub of Rosemary and Lemon Zest for an easy-to-make Dinner August is the Sunday of Summer. Like Sunday, it is bittersweet. There is still time for fun outside and summer eating but the quality of the light and lengthening shadows speak of Fall which will soon be upon us. Even the colors of August remind me of the coming cool weather. Gone are the vibrant reds, yellows and pinks of summer peaches and berries. The color of August is purple. Purple eggplant, blackberries, blueberries, plums and, one of my favorites, figs! Someday in the future, ...
Tomato Tarts: Summer on a Plate
This has been a wonderful summer. And now it is the middle of August. The mornings are getting cooler and the sun rises later. In the evening the light has a golden tinge which signals the coming Autumn. An even surer sign of summer's end is the sound of children waiting for the school bus. Their laughter is such a pleasant sound to wake to although I am sure they would rather not be headed back! My tomato plants are sagging under the weight of ripening red orbs and I have eaten tomato sandwiches for lunch and dinner with an undiminished joy. But, as the summer harvest continues, even ...
Spiced Tomato Bread
My crazy summer continues. I have been doing a LOT of traveling and really enjoying myself as I explore new cities and places, and their food. I realized that while I have traveled around a lot of the world, it has been a long time since I visited many of the cities in the United States. So it has been a treat for me to do some travelling in the United States. You can follow my travels on Instagram @awomancooks and on this blog in The Adventures of an Asheville Cook. This week I returned from Cincinnati (Graeter's Ice Cream and Montgomery Inn BBQ Ribs) to find a massive number of lovely ...
SAVING SUNSHINE FOR LATER: SLOW ROASTED TOMATOES
Yesterday I slow roasted a bunch of tomatoes, packed them in oil and put them in the fridge to use next week. I had to. My garden was getting away from me. After ten years of struggling with bad drainage, soil contaminated by conifer needles and a lack of sunshine, I finally have a location where my plants are thriving. As I stood and looked at my tomato plants bending under the weight of ripening fruit; at my lush zucchini plants which for the first time have survived an early onslaught of aphids, worms and mold and are continuing to turn out squash at a steady rate; at the strawberries ...
RICOTTA FROM HOME
Here it is, Summer again and the markets are full of more fresh fruits and vegetables than one person can eat. I have written about tomatoes and squash, peaches and watermelon, fresh corn and herbs unending. Which is all very nice but I am starting to feel like a one trick pony. Isn’t there something more to say? Rhetorical question! Of course there is! The finest fresh ingredients call for the finest complements. The perfect tomato deserves the best balsamic, corn that is just minutes off the cob needs seconds in the water and the perfect peach needs creamy, slightly salty, ...
