Category: our kitchen

Sockeye salmon with mustard balsamic glaze

This is Marie, contributing a new recipe we tried out just to shake things up a bit. I had gotten some balsamic vinegar for my birthday that was begging to be used, as was a partial bottle of white wine from Florence’s Wine Seller that had been gifted by the generous folks from Florence Restaurant Week. So I spent a little while searching marinade and glaze recipes with both items. This one jumped out even though it only called for a tablespoon of wine because I wanted some salmon anyway. I’m not in a mood for fish very often, best to take hold of it when it comes! Especially when sockeye is on sale. Can’t pass up something like that. Continue reading “Sockeye salmon with mustard balsamic glaze” →

Asparagus Pasta

This is Marie, contributing a few comments about a pasta dish I made because the photo looked so lovely I could not resist making it as soon as possible. I really enjoy both asparagus and pasta, but had never thought to combine the two. Since the girlchild is also a fan of both, Grant put up very generously with the recipe. Continue reading “Asparagus Pasta” →

Chicken and Chorizo Stew

This is Marie, talking about a recipe that Grant found for “Chicken and Chorizo stew.” I liked the story behind it, that a woman with a child was trying to make something out of what remained in her kitchen after a week; as she mentioned, sometimes shopping with a kid is a breeze, and sometimes you have to escape before he has a complete meltdown over whether he can have one of the $6 toy cars that break in less than a week. Continue reading “Chicken and Chorizo Stew” →

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup with Penzeys Arizona Dreaming

This is Marie, contributing an article about a recipe that Grant was very enthusiastic about. I was a little dubious about this particular recipe at first, to be honest, despite its origin in the Penzeys catalog (we love Penzeys). For one thing, please note how many different variations on tomatoes are in it. I think there must be about at least a pound, in just about every format available except dried. And those could be added! For another, it’s a slow cooker recipe and I was thinking this was supposed to be spring. In Georgia, spring generally means two nice days followed by the immediate and vigorous onset of summer. However, this year’s weather being as odd as it is, it was plenty cool enough to take a slow cooker recipe and go with it. Continue reading “Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup with Penzeys Arizona Dreaming” →

Emeril’s Jambalaya

This is Marie, contributing an article about a meal I cooked. Every once in a while I get the subtle hints my husband throws my way (read “constant peppering with e-mails about new recipes”) and make something in a spicier vein than usual. Although I do generally still wind up watching him put half a container of red pepper flakes on the result, I’m not offended; after all, the base recipe has to be mild enough to share with the toddler. Continue reading “Emeril’s Jambalaya” →

Banana Bread

This is Marie, sharing my own recipe for banana bread, arrived at over years of fiddling and originally derived from (I think) something in the Joy of Cooking. I really like banana bread, but only if it is moist and dense and richly banana-flavored. I made quite a few loaves that looked and tasted like bricks, using various recipes that people swore were great, before deciding to mess around with the recipe until it was actually right. One thing I discovered is that the texture I wanted really required Crisco, not butter. Another was that many recipes call for far too many bananas. Lastly was that salt is actually required, as it keeps the batter from getting too dry. So the commentary on bread that comes below the recipe is mostly what I learned while teaching myself how to bake. So if it’s written on a beginner level, that’s why – I developed this as a beginning baker. Continue reading “Banana Bread” →