Frijoles Charros (Mexican Cowboy beans)

Smoky, meaty and a little spicy, this traditional Mexican dish is hearty, creamy and satisfying. Recipe below.

INSPIRATION FOR THIS DISH CAME, APPROPRIATELY, ON A COLD, WINDY DAY, as we stood in line to order from a taco truck in Milwaukee. It was the much loved Lonchera El Tapatio Taco Truck, a fixture north of downtown. The tacos were delicious, as were the burritos, but what really caught our attention was their frijoles charros, or Mexican cowboy beans. Hearty, smoky, meaty and slightly spicy, they could be a satisfying meal in their own right. Of course, we had to make some. Continue reading “Frijoles Charros (Mexican Cowboy beans)” →

Ramen? No. Pho? Not that either—comforting, easy Asian Style Soup

Not really a ramen or pho hack, but a flavorful, satisfying, easy-to-make soup. Recipe below.

RECIPES ARE RIFE WITH HACKS AND CHEATS THESE DAYS, especially online and on social media. We recently succumbed to exploring “ramen cheats” because we love ramen. Was the soup we ended up making ramen? No. Was it a faux pho? Again, no. But what it was was a delicious, comforting, easy Asian Style Soup. Continue reading “Ramen? No. Pho? Not that either—comforting, easy Asian Style Soup” →

Braised Pork Stew with Leeks and Mushrooms

Stovetop-cooked Braised Pork Stew with Leeks and Mushrooms is simple, subtle and absolutely comforting. Recipe below.

BIG FLAVORS TEND TO DRIVE A LOT OF OUR COOKING. Sometimes a single big-flavored ingredient, sometimes several. Braised Pork Stew with Leeks and Mushrooms is the opposite—simple, subtle and absolutely comforting in a mild-mannered way. Continue reading “Braised Pork Stew with Leeks and Mushrooms” →

Restaurant authentic, homemade Egg Drop Soup

SOMETIMES THE HUMBLEST RESTAURANT DISHES are what you really crave. Like egg drop soup. It is indeed a traditional Chinese soup, served across many regions with a number of variations. As Fred Walter says in FLAVORYCOOKING, “Egg drop soup has become an integral part of Chinese culture, symbolizing good fortune, prosperity, and unity.” Continue reading “Restaurant authentic, homemade Egg Drop Soup” →

Daube Provençal, a light but hearty beef stew from the South of France

WINTER IS BEING ESPECIALLY WINTRY RIGHT NOW, and that has us thinking of stews. One we like a lot comes from Provence, in the south of France. Daube Provençal. Unlike the other classic French beef stew of the Burgundy region, Boeuf Bourgignon, made with mushrooms, bacon, pearl onions, carrots and a big-bodied red wine, Daube Provençal is made with white wine, orange zest, cloves and olives, giving it a distinctively brighter flavor. And it’s often served over egg noodles. Continue reading “Daube Provençal, a light but hearty beef stew from the South of France” →

Cooking up a lucky start to the new year: Black-eyed Pea Soup with Thyme

Thyme and white wine add a little complexity to hearty black-eyed pea soup.

EATING BLACK-EYED PEAS ON NEW YEAR’S DAY has long been claimed to bring you good luck, especially in Southern culture. One possible explanation for the origin of their status as a good luck meal dates back to the Civil War. When Union soldiers advanced through the South, destroying food crops as they went to hasten the end of the war, they spared black-eyed pea plants, which they called cowpeas, apparently considering them merely livestock food. Continue reading “Cooking up a lucky start to the new year: Black-eyed Pea Soup with Thyme” →

Neapolitan Style Soup with Beans and Dandelion Greens, quick and easy

This hearty traditional Italian soup with bitter greens and white beans comes together quickly. Recipe below.

WE HAD A BIG DAY THE OTHER DAY, full of traipsing and talking and seeing people we love and getting home after dark all worn out. After all of that, all we wanted was something simple and comforting. As so often when we feel like that, the answer was: soup. Continue reading “Neapolitan Style Soup with Beans and Dandelion Greens, quick and easy” →

Wild Rice Mushroom Soup

Wild Rice Mushroom Soup is a hearty, savory, satisfying vegetarian soup, perfect for cold nights. Recipe below.

I’VE NEVER HAD LUCK WITH WILD RICE, which is my way of saying that in the distant past I’ve made some really awful things with it. So when our friend Carmen gave us a beautiful bag of black, shining wild rice from Minnesota, it took me some time to get over my fears and figure out, already, what to do with this thoughtful gift. No one should be surprised that the gateway to a wild rice dish that I actually love was: soup. And mushrooms. Continue reading “Wild Rice Mushroom Soup” →

Cabbage and Red Lentil Soup, for cool autumn nights

NEXT MONTH, BLUE KITCHEN TURNS NINETEEN YEARS OLD. And when you’ve been creating recipes as long as we have, you lose track of some (or many) of the things you’ve cooked. The other day, Marion came across a recipe for a soup made with cabbage and lentils. It sounded maybe worth doing something with. When she checked our archives, though, it turned out she’d already made our own version of it, Cabbage and Red Lentil Soup. Continue reading “Cabbage and Red Lentil Soup, for cool autumn nights” →

Italian Chicken Stew from a women’s writing retreat

IN HONOR OF WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, we’re revisiting a recipe, a cookbook and a place. We first reviewed Hedgebrook Cookbook: Celebrating Radical Hospitality back in 2013. Hedgebrook is a women’s writing retreat on Whidbey Island in Washington state. Since 1988, its six cabins have been home to an impressive list of women writers. Continue reading “Italian Chicken Stew from a women’s writing retreat” →