Cooking from Scratch
Sure, you can steam or saute Swiss chard; it’s quick, and, let’s face it, it’s good, but rather pedestrian. What if we were able to tell you a way to amp up the flavor of your Swiss chard without any additional effort? Would you go for it? Of course you would, fellow scratchers. Who wouldn’t? We would, and did, and you can, too.
Continue reading “Swiss Chard in a Mustard Cream Sauce”
Originally, this recipe was for a pumpkin gratin that we got from a small book by Jacques Pépin, Poulets & Legumes. Not only does it contain recipes, it’s illustrated with artwork by the chef himself. The shape and size of the book might fool you into thinking it’s for children, but it’s not. It is, indeed, a cookbook.
Continue reading “Butternut Gratin”
We’d wanted to make a version of this recipe for what may have been several years, but we hadn’t. It seemed too rich, too much cream, too many mushrooms –well, not really — but it did seem as if it would make a dish so rich in heavy cream that our arteries might harden just looking at it. Well, we went for it, and made it, anyway, and now you can try it, too.
Continue reading “Portobello Stroganoff”
Just the other day we were in the store looking for coconut. We use a fair amount, mainly in our Best-ever Scratched Granola, which we make roughly every two weeks. As you’d suspect, that coconut is the sweetened flaked variety. But, on this shopping trip, we saw some Bob’s Red Mill unsweetened coconut that was being discontinued, with a sale price to match. We figured that it wouldn’t hurt our Best-ever Scratched Granola to have something more natural, plus unsweetened coconut might get us to make something savory.
Continue reading “Coconut Curry Simmer Sauce”
Well, these probably aren’t really Irish; we tend to think that they’re more French, but we’ll call them Irish, anyway. We think that most people from Ireland might have at least a wee taste.
We came up with the idea for these as a possible dessert for the upcoming holidays, and, naturally, we had to try them first. We’d surely hate to make them for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and have a dessert we don’t like.
Continue reading “Irish Cups o’ Cream”
Why let all those people with the ice cream machines have all the fun? Full disclosure: we have one and use it quite often. But, it’s entirely possible to make a great ice cream-like treat without an ice cream churn. Simply make semifreddo. In some respects, it might even be better than ice cream, as it’s lighter and more like frozen mousse. Sound good? Let’s scratch out a batch together!
Continue reading “Meyer Lemon Semifreddo”
You might not think it gets cold here in Southern Arizona, but it does. Not the bone-numbing cold of the upper midwest, but we will have a few nights below freezing each winter. (Yes, we know all you Minnesotans are laughing at us right now. It’s okay; we don’t mind). When this happens, our minds turn toward soup as a warming meal.
Continue reading “Cream of Cauliflower Soup”