Winter – Page 2

Diana Henry’s Uzbeki Carrots

November 18, 2015 Leave a Comment

I like carrots just fine.

They are readily available, inexpensive and versatile, well-suited to everything from roasting, to pickling, to scooping up hummus.

But they are not, generally speaking, all that interesting.

So when I saw Heidi Swanson describe this Uzbeki carrot recipe as exactly that on her website, 101 Cookbooks, I immediately began to pay attention.

The recipe originally comes from Diana Henry’s book, “A Change of Appetite,” and just like Heidi said, it is among the most interesting things I’ve ever seen anyone do with carrots. Somehow, the carrots, tomatoes, spices, herbs, dried fruit and honey all come together, turning one of the most mundane root vegetables into something truly intriguing.

I don’t really know anything about Uzbeki cuisine or even what about it is about this recipe that earns it the moniker, but if it is all as complex and nuanced as these carrots then I definitely want to learn more….

Cabbage and Noodles

February 25, 2015 Leave a Comment

Yesterday we woke up to snow.

E. had never seen it before and we spent several minutes first thing looking out his bedroom window while simultaneously flipping through “The Snowy Day,” pointing from book to window, making the connection.

After breakfast, we bundled up and trundled outside to hurl tiny snowballs and shake the snowy bushes in our front yard. In the afternoon, we sat in front of the fire and read picture books. And for dinner we ate hearty bowls full of cabbage and noodles, the perfect meal for a snow day….

Braised Collards with Tomatoes

January 24, 2015 Leave a Comment

Sorry for all the radio silence around these parts lately.

The truth is, we hunkered down for a cold, wet January with very little fanfare and not a lot of excitement coming out of the kitchen. I’ve tried out a few new recipes that turned out to be keepers — including a caramel layer cake and some homemade yogurt — but for the most part we’ve been eating a lot of familiar, simple basics.

These braised collards are the sort of thing I tend to make a lot of this time of year. They’re comfort food, Southern style, only minus all the fatback. I don’t think you’ll miss it. Red pepper flakes, garlic and cider vinegar provide plenty of punch instead….

Preserved Lemon and Greek Yogurt Salad Dressing

December 8, 2014 Leave a Comment

This is what I did with the last of my preserved lemons.

It’s a simple little dressing with a lot of lemony flavor.

This recipe makes a pretty thick dressing, about the consistency of mayonnaise, although it does depend on the brand of yogurt that you use. I think I used Cabot, but I can’t say for sure. We go through a lot of yogurt around here and the brand varies depending on where I do the shopping.

If the dressing is too thick for your liking, you could definitely thin it down with a little water, but I like it the way that it is. …