I was having some trouble coming up with an idea for this week so I took a look at my mom’s recipe books. Always good ideas for summer vegetables in them. I was thinking about a quick cold soup for weeknight dinner and spied an ingredient which got my creative wheels turning: fennel. But what else to add to the mix?Continue reading “Cold Fennel and Apple Summer Soup”
Peach and Ricotta Tart
Labor Day is approaching fast so it’s time to squeeze the most out of the summer fruit. You try to get them into everything while they last. I bought some really good looking peaches last week to add to sangria and had a couple left. Since my fresh ricotta tart is one of the few desserts I can actually do really well I thought I’d make one with the remaining peaches.Continue reading “Peach and Ricotta Tart”
Smoky Black Pepper Botifarra and White Beans
If there is one food which brings back fond memories of our honeymoon it is botifarra amb mongetes. Catalan sausage and beans. The food counters in the back of the big market, Mercat de la Boqueria, in Barcelona is where I had my first plate of this specialty and it was delicious. Looking back now with 20/20 hindsight, I could say this was the possibly moment I really started to embrace and become intrigued with the art of the sausage.Continue reading “Smoky Black Pepper Botifarra and White Beans”
Blaue Zipfel, or Things You Learn on Brewery Tours
Not quite a summery food post but I learned about this particular dish while we were checking out a new brewery in our neighborhood, Dovetail. Dovetail makes German, Belgian, and Czech style beers. We really like them a lot. After the brewery tour on Saturday we struck up a conversation with one of the owners about sausages. The two owners had spent time in Germany doing the Siebal Master Brewer program and he asked if I made blaue zipfel (or was it sauer zipfel? not sure, I’d had a few beers and they’re the same thing apparently). I replied, what’s that?Continue reading “Blaue Zipfel, or Things You Learn on Brewery Tours”
Million Dollar Pickles or Bread and Butter Pickles?
Cucumbers. There are a lot of them floating around right now. We picked up a bunch of pickling cukes, you know those smaller ones which look like pickles, so this week I decided to make some pickles. But not just any pickles. Million Dollar Pickles. At least that’s what my mom’s recipe book calls them. You may also know them as Bread and Butter pickles.Continue reading “Million Dollar Pickles or Bread and Butter Pickles?”
Cold Melon and Prosciutto Soup
Last weekend on our way home from a round of golf last we stopped at a farm stand which had some really big cantaloupes. Like as big as my head big. When I saw them I knew I’d be doing something with one for this week’s post. If it’s hot and miserable where you are, like it’s been here, then this cold melon and prosciutto soup will help. Very light and refreshing, and full of flavor!Continue reading “Cold Melon and Prosciutto Soup”
Chick Peas with Lardo (Ceci e Lardo)
While cleaning out the fridge the other day I came across a package of white gold tucked away in the ‘cheese’ drawer. A luscious 250 grams of vacuum-sealed lardo from our trip to Tuscany. Christmas in July!Continue reading “Chick Peas with Lardo (Ceci e Lardo)”
Summer Fruit, Summer Pie – Cherry Pie
I’m not always all about the pig here. If you’ve followed along during the last almost 5 years you know I usually try to do more seasonal things. Summer is about fruits and vegetables. Mostly. Cherries are in season and hitting the markets so this week armed with a bag of dark cherries, I baked a pie.Continue reading “Summer Fruit, Summer Pie – Cherry Pie”
A Spin on Habas con Jamon – Kind of a Vacation Inspiration
Vacations inspire me to make something new or recreate something local or traditional we really liked while on vacation. Hang on, you say, you were in Scotland. What does Scotland have to do with a Spanish dish? Well, the Scottish dish I am definitely going to make (Cullen skink) isn’t one for our summer, fits more with fall or winter here. However there is a connection between our trip to Scotland and Spain. Let me explain.Continue reading “A Spin on Habas con Jamon – Kind of a Vacation Inspiration”
Scotland Part II – Some Food
After a very relaxing 10 days in Scotland, we’re back in Chicago. We went on two good hikes, the one I posted about last week and another one which put us across a glen from Ben Nevis. Couldn’t see the top of it though. It wasn’t all hiking up mountains though. We did find time to eat, cook, and sip some whisky.Continue reading “Scotland Part II – Some Food”
The Roaming GastroGnome 