Starving off the Land

This was our last fresh tuna meal.  What’s left (and there are several pounds) is now frozen.  We liked these burgers a lot.  They had just enough added flavors to be flavorful, but to still taste like tuna.  They cook faster than you think possible — just a minute and a half per side.  If [...]

The recipe is from my friend Claire, and this is a very minor variation on her crunchy and refreshing summer salad. Pickled Cucumber Salad 3 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin 1 small sweet onion, chopped fine 1 T. salt 1 t. celery seed 3/4 c. sugar 1/2 c. white vinegar Mix the cucumber and [...]

The vegetables weren’t ours — too early in the season — but the herbs were.  It made for a lovely hot-day dinner. Couscous with Grilled Vegetables (serves 4-6) a bunch of grilled vegetables ( I used 3 red bell peppers, 1 eggplant, 3 ears corn, 1 large onion) 4 oz. feta ½ c. chopped olives [...]

The last potato salad I made was a little lackluster.  I wanted this one to be better, so I turned to the garden.  Herbs! I think you can use any combination that appeals to you in this recipe.  I used chives, parsley, and marjoram because I had them.  But if my tarragon plant had looked [...]

Kevin and I spent the whole day working on the smokehouse.  It was almost sunset when we finally quit, and neither of us was particularly hungry (we’d had a late lunch).  I was making us a couple of gin and tonics, and I happened to spy the bowl of strawberries.  Here’s what ensued: Strawberry Gin [...]

In summer, I drink a lot of smoothies.  They almost always have banana in them because, to my mind, a banana is the best smoothing fruit of all time.  You freeze it and Vita-Mix it, and you get that nice thick richness that almost — almost — makes you feel like it’s ice cream. Today, [...]

This is an adaptation of a recipe from an excellent blog called Dad Cooks Dinner. Pressure Cooker Lamb Stew with Porter (serves 3-4, depending on how hungry you are) 2 t. vegetable oil 1 pound lamb stew meat, cut in 3/4-inch cubes 1 onion, chopped 6-8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed 2 t. dried thyme [...]

I sauteed a mess of them with about half a head of cabbage and some garlic and ginger.  Some soba noodles and chopped parsley, and a … Simple Peanut Sauce (enough for two) 3 T. peanut butter 2 T. chili-garlic sauce 2 T. cider vinegar 2 T. maple syrup stock or water for thinning (optional) [...]

A couple weeks back, my good friend Allison Fishman came to visit.  While she was here, she made a clam sauce out of her forthcoming book, You Can Trust a Skinny Cook.  It was simple and it was delicious.  Because Allison doesn’t live in a place where you can go out and dig your own [...]

I’ve been making this pie for over 30 years now (not this particular, individual pie — the recipe), and it’s changed very little.  It’s really good. It’s very, very bad for you. Pecan Pie (Enough for a deep nine-inch pie) 4 large eggs 1 1/4 c. dark corn syrup 3/4 c. sugar 4 T. melted [...]