Here in Asheville people like to talk about living in the now but that’s pretty hard to do when merchants are always rushing the next season at us. It is the middle of summer and the food magazines at the check-out line are pushing cozy fall dishes. Meanwhile the reality is that your basil plants are getting leggy and woody and going to flower. Your two (or three) tomato plants have decided to ripen all of the tomatoes on the vine at the same time. And if your CSA basket holds one more onion you will have no place left in the bin to store them. Feels like the height of the growing season ...
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GAD ZUCCHS! (PART 2): UGLY VEGETABLE CASSEROLE
Three things happened this week. I had a fight with someone I love very much, made worse because I reverted to old behavior patterns which I am trying to change. I came home to some whopping big zucchini. I found a recipe for “Cooked-to-Death” vegetables. Let’s start with the zucchini. Zucchini can grow to be 2-3 feet in length and weigh as much as 5 lbs or more. (The biggest zucchini on record weighed more than 64 lbs.) But just because zucchini can grow to be that large, it doesn’t mean they should. As zucchini get larger and heavier, they get tough and bitter with large ...
CRYING CHICKEN: PERUVIAN CHICKEN WITH GREEN CILANTRO SAUCE
How do you love someone who loves someone who is hurting? Twice removed from the source of the pain, how do you help the helper? You cook for them. Over the vast history of man and the evolution of cultures, bringing food to those in need, emotional or physical, has been a source of comfort to the giver and the recipient. On a purely practical side, people need to eat. Food gives us strength. The world is a darker place when one is hungry and emotions are more difficult to negotiate. It was not just a funny joke when someone coined the term “hangry”. From a loving and loyal ...
HERB GRILLED SALMON WITH CAULIFLOWER RICE PILAF
Last year around this time I was in Greenlife (Asheville’s hippie supermarket which is actually a Whole Foods Market but we all pretend it’s not) and they had some salmon fillets on wood planks all ready for the grill. I really wanted to try it but at the time I had no grill and no place to put one. This year I have a place to put one and I have a grill so I went back to Greenlife and even though they had nothing prepared I managed to score an already soaked plank and some salmon. And when I got home I went to town on it! Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting much so I didn’t take many ...
COOKING WITH FRIENDS: A SMASHINGLY BEAUTIFUL TOMATO GALETTE
It’s tomato time! Happy dance everyone! First off, let’s just agree that a big, ripe, juicy tomato right off the vine is one of the best things out there. But after you’ve filled yourself with tomato sandwiches and made pasta sauce by the bucket loads what else can you do with these beautiful babies? Fortunately, my friend Billy and I can help! Remember Billy and his wonderful Baked Goat Cheese Rolls? You may recall that I mentioned that he had made a “smashingly beautiful tomato galette”, the recipe for which I was going to share with you when tomato season was upon us. Well, ...
ENGLAND MEETS THE AMERICAN SOUTH: A NORTH CAROLINA STYLE JACKET POTATO
This all started because it was cold out. It was not supposed to be cold. Spring in Asheville usually comes on with a rush. You move from sweaters to sundresses in a day and never look back. But not this Spring. Oh no. It’s been nothing but going back. I bounce from Spring clothes to Winter and back again like the ping pong ball my cat plays with. Anyway, cold. Cold means comfort food. It calls for cheese and starch and carbs. It calls for potatoes. A jacket potato is what they call a baked potato in England. The classic British jacket potato is baked then topped with ...
My Birthday Dinner
Yesterday was my birthday. The first one since I changed the course of my life. I knew it would be different but I also knew that, in the same way I took control of my life, I was going to make this birthday the way I wanted it to be. Here’s how it rolled: After work I walked up to downtown Asheville and bought myself some presents: some clothes, a nice smelling soap, an inspirational mug (I am centered, I am happy, I am loved) and a couple of books. Then I stopped at Karen Donatelli Bakery and Café where I bought a lovely salted caramel tart for my birthday cake. And then I got ...
