Amish soul food from a Top Chef semi-finalist: Johnnycakes and Apple Butter

Johnnycakes and apple butter create a delicious breakfast that straddles traditional Southern and Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. Recipes below.

LIKE MANY CHEFS, CHRIS SCOTT DEVELOPED HIS LOVE FOR COOKING IN HIS GRANDMOTHER’S KITCHEN. And like many Black Americans, his life has been shaped by migration. After the Civil War, his great grandfather left the South and moved to work in a steel factory in “the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country,” as Scott puts it. So when Scott learned to cook at his grandmother’s side, he picked up traditional Black Southern recipes, of course, but also those of the family’s adopted home, Amish country. Continue reading “Amish soul food from a Top Chef semi-finalist: Johnnycakes and Apple Butter” →

Seasonal, savory and sweet: Apple Cheddar Scones

Chopped apple provides a sweet foil to the savory cheese and buttermilk in these crisp outside/airy inside scones. Recipe below.

A quick note: with this post, we have now been doing Blue Kitchen for 16 years. We’re as surprised as you are!

THESE SCONES WERE INSPIRED BY AUTUMN AND A READER’S COMMENT. The changing season has filled farmers markets and supermarkets with apples. Falling temperatures have put us in the mood to bake, which for me, often means scones. Which reminded me of a comment by Sherry when we posted lemon lavender scones here last spring. She said she tended to like savory scones, with herbs and cheese. We’d never done savory. Continue reading “Seasonal, savory and sweet: Apple Cheddar Scones” →

Cooking that’s almost not cooking, but also not takeout: Lemon Parsley Pasta

Lemon Parsley Pasta is a satisfying, summery vegetarian meal that’s ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Recipe below.

WE JUST GOT BACK FROM A SIX-DAY ROAD TRIP. We ate lots of amazing food—chef-driven Oaxacan small plates, hearty shepherd’s pie from a Brit pub in Duluth and wonderfully sweet, tart strawberry rhubarb crumble made by our friend Carmen in Minneapolis. (“You can’t leave Minnesota without eating strawberry rhubarb crumble,” Carmen told us, and we think she was right.) What we did not eat is anything cooked by us. Continue reading “Cooking that’s almost not cooking, but also not takeout: Lemon Parsley Pasta” →

A peachy spin on an Italian classic: Peach Caprese Salad

PEACHES ARE JUST STARTING TO SHOW UP IN THE MARKETS. Sweet, juicy and summery. And that reminded us of a delicious spin we did on the classic caprese salad several summers ago, swapping peaches for tomatoes, and adding mixed greens with a balsamic vinaigrette for more flavor and crunch. You’ll find the recipe and the cookbook that inspired it here.

You don’t have to be vegetarian to like Tofu with Black Pepper and Asparagus

Tofu, asparagus and plenty of black pepper star in this weeknight-quick, company-pleasing vegetarian meal. Recipe below.

THE OTHER DAY, AS WE WERE GETTING READY FOR WEEKEND GUESTS, I ran across an interesting, easy, fast recipe by Kay Chun in the New York Times. It had everything we wanted to please our guests, one a vegetarian and the other vegetarian-adjacent. Our version is even more stripped down than the original. Our guests loved it. We loved it. Continue reading “You don’t have to be vegetarian to like Tofu with Black Pepper and Asparagus” →

Satisfying, easy, healthy: Cauliflower Chickpea Dinner

This satisfying, weeknight-quick vegetarian meal is in our rotation—try it once and it will be in yours too. Recipe below.

OUR DAUGHTER LAUREL MAKES THIS QUICK, DELICIOUS DISH on a regular basis. She is not sure where she got the original recipe—she ran across it while visiting friends a few years back—but it’s become a regular part of her arsenal. It’s clearly inspired by the Indian street food chaat. It is packed with fiber and flavor, and it is so satisfying. We love it. Continue reading “Satisfying, easy, healthy: Cauliflower Chickpea Dinner” →

Weeknight quickish, vegetarian Mushroom Spinach Quiche

Mushrooms add “meatiness” to this quiche, creating a satisfying vegetarian meal. Recipe below.

YEARS AGO, CARLY SIMON’S SONG “ANTICIPATION” was brilliantly coopted for a Heinz Ketchup commercial, turning the frustration of their famously slow-flowing condiment into a delightful moment. For us, that anticipation could also be applied to quiche. One of the pleasures of making quiche is seeing leftover quiche in the fridge, wrapped in plastic and awaiting reheating. Yes, we made quiche again. And yes, seeing it in the fridge is making us quite happy. Continue reading “Weeknight quickish, vegetarian Mushroom Spinach Quiche” →

A delicious spin on a classic: Pizza Beans

A rich, thick stovetop-cooked tomato sauce with white beans is topped with two cheeses and then baked. It can be vegetarian or not. Recipe below.

SOME PEOPLE THINK WE HAVE AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR FOR BLUE KITCHEN—that we carefully and thoughtfully plan what we are going to cook and talk about it weeks or even months in advance. Those people do not know us. Continue reading “A delicious spin on a classic: Pizza Beans” →

Artichoke Heart and Spinach Quiche? Yes, please

Marinated artichoke hearts and spinach create a subtle, flavorful base for this vegetarian quiche. Recipe below.

I AM ALWAYS READY FOR QUICHE. If we’re out somewhere and see it on the menu, that’s what I’m ordering. I’m also a big fan of artichoke hearts. So recently, when Kalyn Denny shared her recipe for Artichoke, Kale and Ricotta Pie, my first thought was “that looks delicious”—closely followed by my second thought: “artichoke hearts would make a great quiche.” Continue reading “Artichoke Heart and Spinach Quiche? Yes, please” →

Simple, authentic, delicious: Burmese Green Tomato Salad (kayan chin thi thoke)

Green tomatoes, and some kind of pepper and onion are at the heart of this crisp, tart, easy-to-make traditional Burmese salad. Recipe below.

IT’S OCTOBER. THE DAYS ARE GETTING SHORTER, the nights crisp (well, sometimes). The bees are fewer in number and acting kind of drowsy. But the tomato plants, ever cheerful, are still optimistically generating loads of tomatoes. Continue reading “Simple, authentic, delicious: Burmese Green Tomato Salad (kayan chin thi thoke)” →