Parsnips: What Are They and How Do I Cook Them?

Carrots (left)  Parsnips (right)

Parsnips look like carrots but are cream-colored instead of orange.  They are a little sweeter than carrots but just as versatile.

I first tasted a parsnip at a dinner party when the hostess served Curried Parsnip Soup.  I was intrigued by the idea of a soup made from a vegetable I’d never heard of.  But I couldn’t fully taste the delicate flavor because of the seasoning.

A few days later I scrubbed and roasted a few parsnips as a side dish.  Everybody liked them.  Now I often add parsnips to a panful of raw vegetables, sprinkle on some olive oil and pop the pan into the oven for 45 minutes at 425 degrees.

Where Do You Get Your Recipes?

Shrimp Chowder

I like trying new recipes, but I’ve learned to be careful about the source.  If my aunt, a terrible cook, hands me a copy of a recipe she likes, I say thank you and put it in my purse, never to be seen again.  If a close friend who is also a skillful cook offers one, I try it immediately.  I don’t always like the end result, but I’m willing to give it a chance.

With cookbooks, I’ll test out one or two recipes.  If they’re successful, I’ll try some more.  If they’re not, that cookbook moves down to a shelf near the floor of my kitchen and may never be consulted again.  If it was an epic fail, I banish the cookbook to the garage.

Welcome Home, Real Tomatoes

Basil and Tomato Soup

I just read that tomatoes may be getting their flavor back!  This probably sounds odd to anyone under 30, who may well assume that tomatoes are used in salads and sandwiches mostly for their color.

Those who’ve eaten “heirloom tomatoes” may have some idea of the way this fruit—yes, tomatoes are a fruit--used to taste.  But even heirloom tomatoes—the name refers to tomatoes eaten in the good old days—don’t always taste very good.

What to Eat on a Dark and Stormy Night

Chicken and Fresh Vegetable Soup

Wanna-be world-famous-author Snoopy said it best in the first line of his never-finished novel: “On a dark and stormy night….”  If only Snoopy or his creator, Charles Schultz, could cook, we might have seen some memorable meals in that comic strip instead of an empty dog dish.

On one recent dark and stormy and cold night in usually sunny California I decided not to go out to the grocery store.

Mom’s Basic Bootcamp: Lentil Soup

This is the second in a series of basic recipes anyone can easily make.  They have existed for centuries because 1) they are simple, and 2) they taste good.  Once you master their preparation, you’re free to improvise…or not. 

I often experiment with Lentil Soup because this basic recipe is very forgiving. 

Are Cooks Born or Trained?

Cheddar Potato Soup

How did you get started in the kitchen?  Curiosity?  Necessity?  A cooking class?

For me, it was necessity.  A newly minted college graduate sharing a one-bedroom apartment in New York, I had a low-paying job and a large appetite.  To keep from going hungry, I had to start cooking.  But I didn’t know how to make anything.

Kale: What Is It and How Do I Cook It?

You’ve probably seen kale at the salad bar—not necessarily in the salads but underneath the salads.  It’s practically indestructible and also cheap, with thick stems and strong, curly leaves. 

Kale is often a deep green, but it can also have some purple or blue streaks.  It’s sold in bunches in the fresh vegetable sections of most stores, and it holds up well in the fridge.  Avoid bunches that look dried out or have yellowish leaves.

Tomato Glut

Is it possible to have too many home-grown tomatoes?  If you asked me in December, I would say NO.  But in July, my answer is YES. We get big bags of ripe tomatoes all through the summer from our gardener friend Kenny, who doesn’t cook but can’t resist planting them every year. 

Nothing tastes better than a tomato picked ripe from a vine, but how many a day can you eat?  I’ve already confessed to making blueberry jam, but I don’t think I want to start canning tomatoes.  I’ve thought about oven-drying some, but plum tomatoes are best for that procedure.  The ones on my counter are big and round.  Better to use them in dishes where you can appreciate their flavor. 

If the tomatoes are ripe and still firm,

When Is It Worth Spending a Lot of Time in the Kitchen?

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

Some people would say “Never,” but I find cooking relaxing—unless it’s not going well. 

Recently I spent more hours than I care to admit making three large chocolate desserts for a bean-to-bar chocolate tasting (more on that in a future post).  It was worth it to me for many reasons, but mostly because I felt competent doing something most people I know would be afraid to try.  My circle of friends does not include professional chefs, although a close friend used to work in a test kitchen.

I make pizza just about every Saturday night because three teenagers are at the table and congenially demand it.  It’s worth the effort because they love pizza – and so do I.  There are no shortcuts when making real pizza dough, but hey…how often do teenagers willingly talk to you while waiting for the next pizza to come out of the oven?

Yesterday I was moved to make Black Bean Soup because

Hominy: What Is It and How Do I Cook It?

My first encounter with hominy was in a California supermarket.  A store employee was offering samples of Pozole, a traditional Mexican stew, and stacked on the table were cans of hominy.  The picture on the label showed large kernels of corn, so large that they could have been on steroids.  They tasted like corn, only more so. 

Hominy on the left, Corn on the right

Is hominy a new vegetable?  No.  Here’s how corn transforms into hominy: dried corn kernels are soaked in an alkaline solution, and that process causes the kernels to swell.  You can buy hominy in ready-to-eat form in cans or you can buy it dried in bags.

I bought a can and added a cup of hominy to homemade vegetable soup.  It was definitely a conversation-starter.

How to Get 6 Meals from 1 Rotisserie Chicken…and That’s Feeding 2 People

Vegetable and Chicken Soup

I’ve always considered myself thrifty, but maybe I’m going to an extreme here. 

On the one hand, I’ve never forgotten my budgeting days right after college when I truied to spend just $1 per dinner.  Food was much cheaper then, but my New York City salary was equally low--just under $100 per week.  I ate meat every night because that’s how I was raised.

On the other hand, I’m now older, wiser and more adventurous.  I know I won’t die or become malnourished if meat isn’t on the menu every day.

How to Feel Like an Idiot in the Kitchen

Russian Vegetable Borscht (photo by Andy Mills)

I must be incompetent.  I found a recipe for a stuffed flatbread in a prestigious publication, and it caused my mouth to water.  It involved making dough and a filling and then frying the flatbreads on a hot griddle.  The whole process was supposed to take an hour. 

I’ve been making my own bread and pizza for years.  How hard could it be to make this dish?

A Vegetable That Makes Me Feel Guilty

Photo by Sam Mills

At this very moment I have three major league zucchini staring at me on the kitchen counter.   There used to be four.  I put one out of its misery by slicing it up and frying it for a few minutes in butter.  Zucchini seem impervious to rot and if not cooked would probably last forever.

I didn’t buy these zucchini.  They were a gift from Kenny, a softball buddy of Bart’s.  I can barely grow cherry tomatoes in my pathetic garden (a gaggle of pots on my deck), but Kenny, who lives just a few miles away, raises baseball bat-size zucchini and then gives them all away.  Kenny doesn’t cook.

Soup As a Meal

Bean, Vegetable and Sausage Soup (photo by Andy Mills)

I used to associate soup with being sick.  I’d be lying in bed, and my grandmother would bring me a bowl of homemade chicken soup.  I’d slurp it up and feel better.

Actually, I think this is a false memory.  My grandmother lived too far away to bring me soup, although whenever we visited her chicken soup was invariably on the menu.