With a food as perfect as a fig, you need very little to enhance the flavor. The base is a thick slice of toasted or grilled sourdough bread, slathered with a good amount of salted butter. On top of that, there’s a healthy layer of Honey Chevre, sliced figs, and a sprinkle of fresh rosemary. Simple. Delicious.
Green Pea and Basil Risotto
Risotto is creamy simply by its cooking process. You could easily make this dish vegetarian (even vegan) by using veggie stock instead of chicken stock, almonds instead of bacon and nix the parmesan if vegan. Keep it light for summer by adding Marcona almonds and save the bacon for fall or winter when you want something soul-warming.
Sweet Potato Baked Beans
In celebration of summer, cookouts, and family/friend time, I’m posting a baked bean recipe I made several weeks ago. I used sweet potatoes as the primary sweetener–the idea came to me in the grocery story checkout line when I was staring at the nutritional facts of a can of baked beans. Holy sugar!! I dropped the a can and did a you turn for more wholesome, less sweet ingredients. Sweetened primarily with sweet potatoes and a touch of high grade maple syrup and a hint of brown sugar, you won’t miss the mess that you find in the canned variety.
Cheddar Crusted Maple Apple Pie with Maple Whipped Cream (Bacon Optional)
Bare feet, budding peonies, pulled pork and coleslaw, kegged Kolsch, a candy-filled cannon, sparklers in the sunlight, cerulean smoke, a Federalist/Republican debate and a preceding campaign song, sweet tea and bourbon, a field spaniel named Sweetie, cirrocumulus clouds, mountain backdrop, front deck philosophizing, and a pie contest=one perfect July 4th. Chris’s coworker, I’ll call him The Colonel (because…
Strawberry-Basil Skillet Quinoa Cornbread
Inspired by 101 Cookbooks Skillet Quinoa Cornbread recipe and the garden stands across Eastern North Carolina, this cornbread is more like a dessert than a side, though I’m sure it would be great paired with a fresh, fruit filled salad. It’s sweet and fruity, and creamy with a slight crunch from the quinoa.
Beet and Blue Dande Pesto Pizza
Having lived in the South where fresh, local produce is sold out of the back of people’s pick up trucks or at roadside stands, I was spoiled before I moved to Alaska. When I moved in 2010, I arrived mid-winter, so my first visit to a Fairbanks Safeway left a lot to be desired. The shelves…