Breakfast for dinner: Breakfast Pasta with Bacon and Kale

Bacon, kale and a freshly beaten egg give this weeknight-quick pasta a satisfyingly breakfasty flavor. Recipe below.

Breakfast Pasta with Bacon and Kale

Our younger daughter just moved to a new city and started a rewarding, but demanding, job. To her credit, she is still managing to cook at home more often than not. Sunday evenings will often find her cooking a batch of something that will serve as at least a few lunches. For dinners, she frequently improvises something like this quick pasta. Continue reading “Breakfast for dinner: Breakfast Pasta with Bacon and Kale”

Fried Green Tomato Soup, inspired by Toledo

Green tomatoes make this creamy soup less tomato-y, more vegetal. Leeks, garlic, thyme and bacon add to its savoriness. Recipe below.

Fried Green Tomato Soup

We seem to have a natural affinity for the Rust Belt. Marion grew up in Detroit, me in St. Louis. And while our ultimate destination on our recent road trip was Washington, DC and the Virginias, stops in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Toledo moved us every bit as much. Continue reading “Fried Green Tomato Soup, inspired by Toledo”

The Anniversary Edition: 11 Years, 11 Recipes

Endive Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

Eleven years ago this month, we started Blue Kitchen. We really had no idea exactly what we were doing or any clue we’d still be publishing it now. But our love of food—eating it, making it, thinking, talking and writing about it—has kept us going. Today, we launch into year 12 with a look back at the first 11 years, one recipe per. Continue reading “The Anniversary Edition: 11 Years, 11 Recipes”

Sipping autumn: Apple Cider Old Fashioned

A seasonal spin on the classic old fashioned, made with bourbon, apple cider, maple syrup and rosemary. Recipe below.

Apple Cider Old Fashioned

Our recent road trip had a definite autumnal feel, everywhere we traveled. Crisp, chilly mornings followed by warm, sunny afternoons with deep blue fall skies. Followed later by rainy, misty gray weather the last two days on the road. Continue reading “Sipping autumn: Apple Cider Old Fashioned”

Sweet home Chicago

odometer_10-24

We are home again after having driven precisely 2,200 miles in 11 days. An amazing trip through Pittsburgh; Washington, DC; various points in Virginia; Charleston, West Virginia; and Cleveland (with an art stop in Toledo this afternoon). Tuesday nights are when we write our posts that go up on Wednesday, but we’ve seriously been home an hour and a half now. See you next week with a recipe and a travel story or two.

Making the most of the cheap cuts: four recipes for braised short ribs

Beer-braised Beef Short Ribs

It’s been a sloppy couple of days here as fall settles in—rainy, blustery, chilly. That might get some people thinking about warm, sunny climes somewhere. What I’m thinking about is short ribs. Meaty, flavorful and, yes, a little chewy, short ribs are one of my favorite “cheap cuts” of beef. Here are four recipes perfect for cold, rainy days. Continue reading “Making the most of the cheap cuts: four recipes for braised short ribs”

A simple, versatile sauce makes this dish: Seared Scallops with Orange Gastrique

Orange gastrique—a simple, classic French sauce of reduced sugar, vinegar and orange juice—adds an elegant touch to quickly pan-seared scallops. Recipe below.

Scallops with Orange Gastrique

You never know what will send us down some culinary rabbit hole. This week’s recipe was inspired by a restaurant review in a back issue of some magazine, now misplaced and forgotten. What caught my eye was the term gastrique. Unrepentant Francophile that I am, I had never heard it. Continue reading “A simple, versatile sauce makes this dish: Seared Scallops with Orange Gastrique”

Comfort in the kitchen: Dijon Beef Stew with Brandy and Shallots

Beef, brandy, two kinds of mustard, generous aromatics, carrots and mushrooms braise into a robust, soothing stew. Recipe below.

Dijon Beef Stew with Shallots

Comfort food. Are there two more comforting words? They conjure up very different things for all of us, I’m sure, but for me, they often look/smell/taste like this meaty, stew-y dish. But comfort isn’t just in the food—it’s in the making of food, time spent in the kitchen. Continue reading “Comfort in the kitchen: Dijon Beef Stew with Brandy and Shallots”

Savory, satisfying, meatless: six of our favorite vegetarian recipes

Curried Lentils with Poached Eggs

I claim to be an omnivore, but if I’m being honest, I’m more of a carnivore who also appreciates decent sides. I’ve been known to say, “A day without meat is like a day without sunshine.” That said, some really delicious vegetarian recipes have appeared here over the years, some of them even cooked by me. Here are six of our favorites. Continue reading “Savory, satisfying, meatless: six of our favorite vegetarian recipes”