main dish recipes

miso soup with crispy shiitakes

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If you have been wondering where I have been, I’ve been nowhere.  I’ve been right here.  However, cooking has been an issue since there is not a category on this blog for “don’t try this at home.”  From a house filled with the lovely aroma of burnt sugar, really charred would be a better description, [...]

scallops and sungold cherry tomatoes

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Usually by the middle of September we would have had a hard frost. This summer is an exception, and I am very thankful. I have a very hard time changing from summer to fall. I think fall is nice, but summer is so short that I really don’t relish the idea of fall looming on [...]

Stir-Fried Salmon with Caramelized Lemon

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I originally wanted to call this *Sticky Lemon Salmon* but I did not get warm results. I happen to love that title but alas I have bowed to peer pressure, again. This is such an amazing meal! Salmon and lemons have always been a good match. I found a recipe that will have you loving [...]

borscht, dill pollen and shoestring potatoes

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The closest thing I have had to the real thing is a borscht made by a friend from Poland. It was delicious and poured out of a beautiful sleek glass pitcher that looked like fine crystal. We drank it in tea cups on their deck with a plethora of other polish treats. I make no [...]

Too Hot To Cook?

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The Mercury in Seattle hit 103°F (39°C) this week, breaking all records in recorded history. I am sure that there were many a kitchen stove left abandoned during this heat wave. The interesting part, for me, is that here on the eastern side of the Cascade mountains it is usually that hot during this time [...]

Green & Garlic Gratin

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Are you wondering what next to do with all those sturdy greens that are so prevalent this time of the season? The chard, spinach, kale, mustard greens, etc. Alice Waters is known for simple food from the heart. While flipping through her cookbook The Art of Simple Food I found a recipe for chard gratin [...]

Thai Holy Basil Pork

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Holy Basil is a variety of basil that hails from Thailand. It is different in flavor from the Mediterranean versions that are common here. Thai basil is becoming more widely available and can be found in the produce section of most supermarkets. If you cannot find it, use the more common variety, the taste will [...]

5 minute tomato soup, this is not a joke

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School is out for summer! Yippee. Well, so far anyway. Monday was a cool day, thunderstorms and rain. I asked the boys what they would like for lunch, they responded with soup. Looking through the pantry I could find all kinds of things to make soup, but I wanted something faster and easier. To my [...]

Quick Pork Phở

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Phở is a Vietnamese soup that is so tasty, once you try it you will be hooked. Phở is pronounced fuh, so now when you pass that PhởKing restaurant down the street you can laugh too. It can be made with or without meat, I happen to think that with meat is tastier, but with [...]

Spring Cauliflower & Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

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Finally the weather is nice enough to think that spring has sprung. One of the more frustrating things about spring here is that it is winter forever, then a day or two of spring, then pounce… summer. This week was a first installment from our CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture (click here to [...]

Cinco de Mayo Shrimp with Mojo

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We were invited to a Cinco de Mayo celebration over the weekend, originally I was thinking carnitas. Then I wasn’t sure if bringing pork to the celebration, under these circumstances (H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak), would be in good taste so I decided on the camerones. Camerones is Spanish for shrimp. I have a recipe from [...]

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