Category: Recipes
-
Garden Fresh Peppermint and Lemon Balm Tea
Peppermint is taking over my garden and it makes me very happy. I purposefully planted the mint in a bare spot that I wanted to fill in and it reliably covered all of the open space. It has established itself as the ruler of its domain, effectively blocking all weeds. It is bordered by a…
-
Hot Milk Cake with Fresh-Picked Strawberries
The best strawberry shortcake starts in the field with perfectly sun ripened strawberries that you picked with your own hands. Strawberry season is well underway in Maryland. In fact, it typically goes from late-May through mid-June, so hurry and get them while you can. We filled our buckets at Glade Link Farms on a beautiful…
-
Confit: A Traditional Preservation Method That Can Make Anything Extraordinary, Even Chicken
I usually have a hard time getting excited about chicken. But duck…duck I can get very excited about. Especially duck confit: duck that has cured and cooked slowly in duck fat until the meat is silky smooth and the flavors intensified. The problem is that duck can be both expensive and hard to find. Chicken,…
-
Pea Soup with Fennel and Greens
Spring is teasing us with warm sunny days speckled in between cold rainy stretches. We haven’t lived in this climate for years, so we need some warming up. It is time for a batch of Pea Soup with Fennel and Greens. Glowing with the bright color of spring, this is also one of our go-to…
-
Spanish Croquetas
Croquetas are a staple in Spanish tapas bars and restaurants, and we ate countless numbers of them in Spain. The perfect Spanish croquetas are breaded and fried rolls with a crunchy exterior and soft creamy interior, usually filled with bits of meat like jamón (hame), salt cod, or chicken. At first bite, I was amazed…
-
Smoked Fish Dip: Variations on a Florida Classic
So we are back in Florida for a short travel break and the first thing my husband does is break out the smoker. He loves smoked fish (me too!) and it is something we rarely find during our travels. It doesn’t take long before the amazing aromas of the smoking fish have me yearning for…
-
Seared Sea Scallops with Charred Salsa Verde
This recipe was inspired by a dish we had many years ago in Ajijic, Mexico. The name of the restaurant has been forgotten, but the taste of seared sea scallops with a smoky charred tomatillo salsa verde has stuck with us. We have recreated it many times. While the ingredients are all Mexican, we have…
-
Spicy Carrot Soup with Ginger and Curry
To recover from the over-indulgence of the holidays, we needed some light and healthy food; yet the cooler weather had us craving something warm and satisfying. With the warming spices of curry, ginger, and smoked paprika, this carrot soup fills all of those needs. As soon as we returned from our Thanksgiving travels this week,…
-
Welcoming Summer with Cherry Chipotle Gazpacho
The Spanish cherry season starts at the beginning of May and piles of them have made their way into the markets in Valencia. One of our favorite ways to use them is in this Cherry Chipotle Gazpacho, a delicious variation of the classic cold summer soup.
-
Melon Jalapeño Basil Margaritas
Sunshine reflecting on the pool, palm trees swaying in the breeze, and Jimmy Buffett playing in the background. This scene needs margaritas. When we arrived in Florida, we immediately headed to the store to stock up on margarita ingredients. Our smiles turned upside down when we saw the price of limes at more than…