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Take Care of Your Base with Aromatics
You can’t build a good house or any other structure without first installing a strong foundation. The same is true of many food recipes, from simple soups to elaborate casseroles, stir-fries, curries, braises, and sauces. As we all know, those…
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Rubbing Your Meat the Right Way
Want to up your grilling game? I’ll advise paying more attention to the foundations of flavor. It’s about more than just lighting the fire and attending to the heat. Steve Raichlen, the author of several books on barbecue including The…
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Going Green
Welcome to prime vegetable season. The earliest entrants have already appeared in local farmstands: the first fiddleheads and spring onions, then peas. There is a whole assortment of greens to be had, all fresh, crisp, colorful, and delicious. Of course,…
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How Do Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow?
Here’s some unsolicited advice. Begin to seriously practice being a locavore – and encourage your friends to do the same. The reason: Our global food system faces grave challenges, both near-term and long-term. Since the last time I wrote about…
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Conjuring Memories with Flavors and Scents
Suppose you simply could not find an ingredient essential to one of your favorite dishes. I raise this question for two reasons: first, because shortages are occurring more frequently these days. Second, because a request from a friend got me…
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Rooting for Radishes
The Farmer’s Almanac says it’s OK to start planting hardy vegetables in the garden. One of those is the Raphanus sativus – the good old radish. These little devils are ready to harvest about three to five weeks after planting.…
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Local Fare: What’s In a Funny Name?
One of my faithful subscribers wonders about regional favorite foods, especially those dishes with unusual names. Those I picked for this blog represent local food traditions, a part of the fabric of church suppers, pub fare, and the lives of…
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Eats, Shoots, and Leaves
Better-tasting food starts with having fresh, nourishing ingredients. A Chinese proverb has the right idea: “The field nourishes the people who live in it.” In other words, they use what’s available in the local village market because it’s fresh and…
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Put a Spring {Vegetable) in Your Step
I’m ready for a menu shift. My appetite is changing. It’s the time of year when spring showers encourage the blooming daffodils and crocus. On the farm, I could smell spring coming through the thawing frosted ground. It’s the time…
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Hot Diggity Dogs
It’s baseball season, and that brings to mind the humble hot dog. Call them “red hots” (or “white hots”), “red dogs,” “Chicago dogs,” “Coneys,” “half smokes,” “Dodger dogs,” or “Puka dogs” – these meals on a bun are an acknowledged…
