Biscuits and the “meatiest” vegetarian red eye gravy you’ll ever make

While Blue Kitchen continues a brief break, we’re sharing some of our favorite dishes from the archives. This week, it’s Drop Biscuits and Vegetarian Red Eye Gravy, so umami-rich it might even fool a meat lover. (Also, with this post, we celebrate Blue Kitchen’s ninth anniversary.)

AT DINNER WITH FRIENDS THE OTHER NIGHT, one of the diners at our table exclaimed over a vegetarian entrée on the menu. I realized at that moment that I will never willingly become a vegetarian. If there are meat or seafood options on a menu, I can’t get excited about vegetarian choices. Or as I put it to our companions, “It would take a death threat from my doctor to make me turn vegetarian.” [Read more here…]

Provence redux: Layered Pot Roast with Anchovies, Capers and Garlic

Blue Kitchen is going on a short break for the next few weeks. We are crazy busy with a major project that, no, isn’t a cookbook—or anything even specifically food-related. All is good—we’ll fill you in soon. In the meantime, we’ll be posting recipes from the archives that we especially like. This week, it’s a traditional Provençal pot roast that is toothsome and ridiculously easy. Don’t let the anchovies scare you—they disappear into the dish, leaving only dialed-up umami behind.

A couple of weeks ago, I admitted to being a major Francophile when I wrote about roasting chicken on a bed of lentils. I guess that makes Karin over at Second Act in Altadena an enabler. After reading that post, she told me about three different French cookbooks. Already having more cookbooks than we have shelf space for, I immediately headed for the library website and ordered them. Of course, all three showed up within days of each other. [Read more here…]

Six recipes featuring seasonal, versatile pears

Pears from the American Northwest are in delicious, abundant supply right now. Here are six different ways to make the most of them.

It’s that season. You know, apple season. Time for piling the family in the car and heading off to an orchard to pick more apples than you can possibly eat. Legions of apples taking over the produce department in the market. I like apples well enough, but I love also-in-season pears. Here are some ways we’ve cooked with them. Continue reading “Six recipes featuring seasonal, versatile pears” →

Nuanced performance: Braised Pork Chops with Earl Grey Tea, Cider and Fennel

Pork chops and fennel bulb are oven braised with apple cider, tea leaves and aromatics for a quietly rewarding fall meal. Recipe below.

WE SOMETIMES COOK WITH BIG FLAVORS HERE. Kimchi. Brussels sprouts. Bacon. Flavors that swagger in and own the dish. More often, though, we choose ingredients that have plenty of personality, but are content to blend in—supporting characters in an ensemble cast happy to add to a delightful performance without upstaging anyone else. This is one of those dishes. Continue reading “Nuanced performance: Braised Pork Chops with Earl Grey Tea, Cider and Fennel” →

Cooking with cabbage’s sweeter, prettier sibling: Savoy Cabbage Potato Soup

Mild, beautiful Savoy cabbage is the base for this simple, comforting, creamy soup. Recipe below.

A LITTLE WHILE AGO I WAS VISITING ONE OF OUR DAUGHTERS, who was a bit under the weather, and when I asked her if there was anything I could fix for her, she handed me a recipe for a Savoy cabbage potato soup. I don’t know where she got it—there are a lot of recipes kind of like this floating around online—but it looked so easy and direct that I was happy to give it a try. Continue reading “Cooking with cabbage’s sweeter, prettier sibling: Savoy Cabbage Potato Soup” →

Six roasting/braising recipes = six reasons to turn on the oven again

When the weather turns cool, warm things up by firing up the oven and roasting or braising. Here are six recipes from the Blue Kitchen archives.

Last week, autumnal weather inspired me to roast some chicken with grapes, mushrooms and shallots. The cool weather continues, and so does the desire to cook meaty dishes in the oven. We’ll start with some lamb. Continue reading “Six roasting/braising recipes = six reasons to turn on the oven again” →

Seasonal times two: Roasted Chicken with Grapes, Mushrooms and Shallots

Grapes, in season now, are roasted in chicken pan drippings with mushrooms, shallots and rosemary for a deliciously autumnal dinner. Recipe below.

Seasonal cooking can refer to working with ingredients that are in season. It can also refer to using seasonal cooking methods. This week’s recipe is a mix of both. Temperatures recently took on an autumn coolness here, encouraging me to turn on the oven and roast something for the first time in a while. For the seasonal ingredient, I chose grapes. Continue reading “Seasonal times two: Roasted Chicken with Grapes, Mushrooms and Shallots” →

Green beans get a surprising seasonal refresh: Charred Green Beans with Apricots

Vietnamese fish sauce adds a subtle unifying umami hit to the crisp green beans and sweet apricots in this colorful, seasonal side dish. Recipe below.

We don’t do enough side dishes here. Unfortunately, we only tend to think of this when we actually post one. So when this recipe showed up in a recent Food & Wine email, we made it pretty much the same day—of course with our own variations. Continue reading “Green beans get a surprising seasonal refresh: Charred Green Beans with Apricots” →

Extra crispy, please: panko adds crunch to Chicken Schnitzel

Panko breadcrumbs give these chicken breast schnitzels an assertively crispy outside. Dredging the chicken with cornstarch helps keep the meat tender inside. Recipe below.

THE BREADED MEAT CUTLET GOES BY MANY NAMES. For Germans and Austrians, it’s schnitzel. Italians call it cotoletta alla milanese—or milanesa for short. At our current favorite Mexican restaurant, it’s milaneza, and our favorite Polish spot calls its schnitzel schabowy. In Japan, it’s katsu (tonkatsu when it’s made with pork). Continue reading “Extra crispy, please: panko adds crunch to Chicken Schnitzel” →

Too good to save for cold weather: Marion’s Simplified Three-bean Chili

Besides meat, beans and various spices, this weeknight-quick chili includes surprises like red wine and coffee. Recipe below.

FOR MANY PEOPLE, CHILI SEASON IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER. For us, it’s always chili season. While a steaming bowl of chili may be especially comforting when winter’s chill settles in, we are always up for a good bowl of red. Like the one you see here. It’s from a batch I made the other night, with the temperature and humidity both flirting with 90. Continue reading “Too good to save for cold weather: Marion’s Simplified Three-bean Chili” →