Posts Tagged ‘sage’

Sep

2010

The Brown Butter Chronicles

Mahi with Brown Butter Sage Cream Sauce

Seafood • Tags: black butter, brown butter, fish, how to, mahi, nutty, sage, Today's Lesson

Sometimes you stumble upon treasures by accident. Maybe you step on a heads-up quarter while walking down the street. Or perhaps you find a great deal on your dream Wusthof knife set (Anybody want to spring for that one?). Occasionally, it’s as easy as accidentally making brown butter. Many people purposely set a stick of butter in a shallow pan over medium heat and cook it slowly and lovingly, stirring often of course, until the milk solids separate and sink to the bottom, and the resulting final product is a golden brown pan of foamy butter with a nutty aroma. Or you can do this unexpectedly when you pop a stick of butter in a low oven to melt, forget that it’s in there and pull it out once you smell something delightful yet unintentional. That, friends, is indeed what happened this time. The ceramic dish filled to the brim with this complex pool of caramel-colored, toasted butter was the jumping board for several new recipes. And today, you’ll see just what all the fuss is about.

Jan

2010

The Search Is Over

39 Comments

Oyster & Gruyère Hand Pies

Seafood • Tags: almonds, fennel, Foodbuzz, Gruyère, nutmeg, oyster, Pepperidge Farm, sage, San Francisco

We have created a masterpiece, at least in our own eyes. This is the ticket of all tickets! Following the First Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in San Francisco, we officially had the best mini pies in the history of the world. The best! Anyone who was there and also tasted The Pie Truck’s hand pies will probably agree. And then there were those Hog Island oysters that had raw oyster slurping virgins literally taking shots by the end of the night. We left San Francisco raving about the pies and oysters for days (weeks maybe). It didn’t take long for us to run through idea after idea. Somewhere along the line, there was a conversation about oyster stuffing that had all the lights going off in our heads. We had to make an oyster stuffing-style pot pie, and we had to make it taste good. With hopes of making the best little oyster stuffed pot pies in all of the land, we went to work.

Dec

2009

Two Meals in One

Butternut Squash, Proscuitto and Sage Risotto, Butternut Squash, Pancetta and Sage Arancini

Poultry & Pork • Tags: arancini, arborio rice, butternut squash, leftovers, pancetta, risotto, sage

Have you ever made a meal whose sole existence was dependent on being re-purposed for something else? This bowl of flavor-packed risotto met that exact fate. It was a successful first attempt at risotto, but making arancini was the highly anticipated end result. When a friend announced her theme for a monthly dinner party would be Italian, arancini was the first thing that came to mind. Whenever you have an excuse to try a new dish, make sure to take advantage of it. You’d be surprised how many different meals you can make out of one recipe.

Dec

2009

Cooking Red to Remember

28 Comments

Sage Potato Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Coulis

Vegetarian • Tags: coulis, potato cakes, sage, World AIDS Day

When Angela of Spinach Tiger asked us to join her for a December 1st World AIDS Day remembrance event, we were on board right away. She asked us to cook red to remember those affected by AIDS. There were no other rules other than that, so her request to lend a helping hand through this website was easy to fulfill.

There has long been a shame associated with AIDS, and for many different communities in the United States at least, it is the disease that is swept under the rug. As a country, and as a world, perhaps we have come a bit farther in our understanding of how important the AIDS crisis still is, but there is much more work that has to be done. People are infected and affected–every day and everywhere. There is no soapbox here…just two people asking you to remember the past, present and future of this disease. Let’s hope that the next generation will see a change.

If you would like to help or simply educate yourself on the World AIDS Campaign, you’ll find a plethora of information here.

Nov

2009

One Last Round

Pumpkin and Sausage Lasagna

Poultry & Pork • Tags: lasagna, mascarpone, mozzarella, pumpkin, sage, sausage

For a while, there were a lot of pumpkins bouncing around this blog. Usually the most frequent bright orange ingredient you’ll find here is a sweet potato, but it is pumpkin season, and we’ve been using the big fruit a lot. This may be one of, if not the final, pumpkin recipe you’ll see here until the need to overdose on pumpkin returns. Although it can be applied to recipes in a great way, there comes a time when you have to say ‘No more!’ Maybe you haven’t boarded the train to See You Laterville yet, but we may just be ready to bid adieu to pumpkin after this.

Mar

2009

This Is When You Know It’s Worth It

45 Comments

Cheddar Chicken Pot Pie, Garlic Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Poultry & Pork • Tags: cheddar, chicken, crust, dill, pastry, pot pie, sage

Sometimes it’s easier to throw in the towel and go pre-made. We’re all busy with insert-word-in-blank, and it takes a lot of time to really do some of the things by hand that maybe we should. Like make pie crusts. We love Mr. Pillsbury. That squishy dough man has appeased our food yearnings with biscuits, toaster strudels, crescent rolls, pizza crusts, and brownies for years. He’s also rolled out his share of pie crusts. We’ve had many, many years of Pillsbury pie crusts, and we’ve enjoyed. But there’s nothing like one you make with a mean combination of real butter, a pastry blender, and a little bicep/tricep action. Our grandmas and the Pennsylvania Amish knew what they were doing!