bold and bright, the perfect foil for pierogies or brats or pretzels, these simple to make pickled onions can be made right in the mason jar
Condiments, Sauces, and Gravies
Radish Pesto- one of many things you can make with radish greens
how a bunch of radish greens turned into two condiments and some flat bread when I am very good I turn my fresh radish greens into a pesto or zippy chimichurri style sauce when I am just good I do the same only with slightly faded greens when I am bad I let the greens […]
Moroccan Spiced Honey: seeded honey with moroccan spices
Honey gone to seed, honey got hot. A flavor explosion of moroccan spices, seeds, and honey to add to top your briouats (that’s a phyllo triangle filled with cheese or meat or…) but is also an unexpected twist on honey topped soft cheeses. Or really any cheeses. Add this to the list of condiments to […]
Basil Butter: a basic recipe and ways to use it.
Side dishes are my secret weapon. Pickled things, biscuity bites, sauces, and now- butter. Like this versatile and flavorful butter compound loaded with fresh basil and garlic. Radishes! ways to use the basil butter Use this basil butter as a spread for sandwiches, like the cucumber sandwich pictured below or schmear it on spring radishes […]
Savory French Toast with easy Hollandaise Sauce- for One
This Savory Herb French Toast topped with a simple yet bright lemony Hollandaise Sauce uses just a few pans and requires no special equipment. A recipe written for one person (yes, you can brunch in style by yourself). Whether you dine alone or double the recipe this easy hollandaise uses the leftover egg mixture from […]
Chickpea Chili with spicy cilantro cream
I’ve made variations on this chickpea chili from scratch and I’ve made it using canned chickpeas and tomatoes because sometimes dinner needs to come together in less than thirty minutes. But with a few additions, like the spicy cilantro cream, that add flavor and complexity the sum seems greater than the parts. Remember last weeks […]
Roasted Onion Cream- simple, vegan, onion sauce
Every once in awhile I find a recipe worth obsessing over this Roasted Onion Cream, a simple, vegan, onion sauce is one of them. It’s inexpensive, the hands on time is minimal, it’s actually good for you, and you can use it so many things from soups to scrambles. Roasting the onions adds sweetness and […]
Quick Pickled Radishes (and scallions too!)
It’s the little things that can bring it all together, a garnish, a side. Of course the big things matter, the entreé is what gives strength and fills us up and helps us carry on but that is a matter of survival. Pickled radishes? They are a matter of style. Want some things to serve […]
Lamb Dumplings w/ soy vinegar dipping sauce
Since these are steamed and rich with ginger and scallions I’m calling them lamb dumplings. But really, with the hearty lamb filling and the slightly chewy homemade wrapper, I am reminded of pasties, though I’ve never seen, nor want to see, a steamed version of those. This is a winter dumpling, rich and comforting. Perfect […]
Onion Salad with pomegranate and cilantro
The pomegranate seeds fooled him. “It’s dessert,” he said. “I’ll eat it last.” It’s onions,” I said. “Onion salad, try it now.” He waited. He ate onion salad for dessert. I like it with rice. As a side for dumplings or grilled shrimp. Not dessert. Salting the onions and allowing them to sweat it out […]
lemon garlic white sauce for pizza
I suppose that pizza is not the only thing this lemon garlic white sauce might be good with but it pairs so perfectly with winter vegetables like brussel sprouts or cauliflower that I haven’t used it for anything else. Roasted the garlic mellows the garlic flavor enough to allow you to use a whole head […]
Spicy Lemon Parsley Dipping Sauce
Inspired by chimichurri this is my all purpose, add to almost anything sauce. It has a little heat, a little zest, and a lot of green.
Tomatillo Tzatziki- raita, or just call it yogurt sauce
Some may see this as a desperate attempt to make something other than enchiladas or salsa verde with my bounty of tomatillos but I’m going to stick with sort of genius. Not full on genius, that’s reserved for novels that make me both laugh and cry, math with all sorts of symbols, and world peace. […]
quick and easy mushroom salt
This quick and easy mushroom salt is the umami addition to all your favorite savory treats. So quick and easy you can whip up a batch in under five minutes and start spreading it with flair. Go ahead, be the mushroom salt bae. (quick note from 2025, the salt bae is still around here’s link to […]
Guinness Irish Stout and Mushroom Gravy
A rich and hearty gravy made with Guinness Irish Stout and mushrooms. Perfect with potatoes, bangers, or add a little milk or cream and make a luxuriously silky malty beer for breakfast biscuits and gravy.
a peck of pickled peppers: sweet hot cherry bombs
These easy to make and easy to scale pickled sweet hot cherry bomb peppers are my go to put on everything condiment. Hot and just a little sweet they add a burst of color and flavor to pizza, pasta, salads, or a a charcuterie platter. You can make a single batch- just one jar!- as […]
Fall Tomato Gravy
Fall Tomato Gravy Perfect for ugly fall tomatoes, still juicy but somewhat neglected, weather-worn, nibbled on the edges. There was a story about gravy. Or at least the beginnings of one, the first line bright and tempting. I was in the garden, culling the tomato crop, contemplating what to do with tiny pumpkins, what to […]
Romaine Lettuce Salsa Verde
Salsa verde using fresh romaine lettuce is so simple and, well, obvious that I can’t believe I didn’t try this years ago. It’s in the arsenal of non recipe recipes now. Bright and tangy I ate this easy salsa verde on a few corn tortillas with melted sharp cheddar cheese but I can see it […]
Buffalo Dipping Sauce
Like so many recipes originated in restaurants the secret ingredient here is butter- that’s all classic buffalo wing sauce is, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and melted butter. The premade sauce uses oil and butter flavor. We can do better than that. I’m not trying to get fancy or buck tradition but served any other way […]
harissa with fresh roasted peppers and preserved lemon
Bright and briny with a subtle heat and just a little sweet this homemade harissa has what I want for a catch-all hot sauce and condiment for everything from eggs and sandwiches to party dip or pasta. I spend my free fall time storing up for winter- pickling green tomatoes, plotting for thanksgiving, making hot […]
Homemade Guinness Mustard
Homemade Guinness Mustard: Spicy, malty, mustardy, and made by you. Eat it all or share with your friends. Ah March, home of the other amateur drinking day when the party tents go up at every Irish bar in town. Years ago in San Francisco I went to one of my favorite watering holes with a […]
Biscuits and Shiitake Mushroom Gravy for Two
Tender whole wheat yogurt biscuits topped with a silky, flavorful shiitake mushroom gravy. So good and just enough for two. Biscuits do not make good leftovers. But the beauty of the biscuit is you don’t have to make a whole batch. You can be baby bear about your biscuits, always just right. I, on the […]
Spiced Apple Caramel Sauce
My love affair with spiced apple cider continues. And I finally made a caramel sauce I’m completely happy with. Not grainy, with a subtle apple back-note. The secret, it turns out, is only paying some attention. A sort of half-assed state of Zen where I am at the stove but not at the stove; in […]
When Life Gives You Peppers- Make Hot Sauce
A motley crew of hot peppers have been hanging out in my produce drawer for a few weeks now. Top of the to-do list two weekends running. Today I had enough. Today I couldn’t take it anymore. Today I made homemade hot sauce. I’m giving you a recipe but realize that my ingredients were what […]
Simple Do Ahead Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauces
make ahead roasted cranberry sauce One cranberry sauce with booze and one without. These easy oven roasted cranberry sauces continue to be my go to cranberry recipes year after year. The best part is how simple it is to make them as much as five days ahead of time so you can save yourself one […]
