When the temperatures soar and even the weeds are wilting, chilled soups manage to exude effortless elegance despite their dead-simple preparation and often humble ingredient list. Many, such as cucumber soup and Spanish gazpacho, are essentially liquefied salad and don’t require any cooking at all. Others, such as classic French vichyssoise, a chilled potato and […]
Food & Drink
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A Juneteenth convergence of cultures
Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when enslaved Texans finally learned of their freedom – two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing the date as a federal holiday. Juneteenth has a red-themed culinary tradition, from crimson hibiscus tea to Sea Island red peas, which […]
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Canned goods for the summer
The height of the summer produce season may seem like an odd time to lean on canned and jarred ingredients, however this time of year I find myself reaching often for the can opener. From flaky tuna to creamy cannellini beans and punchy olives, these pantry staples are in constant rotation in my summer kitchen […]
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Getting sauced: The magic of romesco
I just picked up my first bunch of local asparagus at the farmers’ market. In anticipation of grilling outside, I made a batch of romesco sauce. A staple of Spanish cuisine, romesco sauce is a traditional condiment from Catalonia in the northeast. Although it is now famously associated with calçots – tender spring onions roasted […]
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Five simple salad dressings
We finally enjoyed our first homegrown salad this week. Normally we’d have been feasting on greens much sooner, but an unseasonably hard cold snap decimated our first plantings of lettuce a few weeks back and we had to replant. This cherished first salad was simply dressed with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, good olive […]
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Celebrating women with “kids”
This week’s column is dedicated to a deeply caring connection: women and their “kids” (a pun very much intended). The late 1970s marked a period of two parallel cultural movements in the U.S. This intensely creative era fundamentally changed the way America works and what America eats. While the personal computer was being invented in […]
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Pavlova is a beautiful, tasty dessert
Pavlova is a lofty, show-stopping dessert that’s at once beautiful, easy and economical. Essentially a giant baked meringue with a crusty exterior and a fluffy, marshmallow-like interior, pavlova is fervently beloved by both Australians and New Zealanders alike. The recipe’s history is a source of much dispute between the two nations which both claim it […]
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The verdant resurrection
The onset of spring brings with it a shift in what we do in restaurant kitchens. The season marks our departure from the heavy root vegetables of winter to fresh, vibrant produce. Following months of quiet dormancy, the emergence of foraged treasures like morel mushrooms and ramps, followed by locally grown asparagus, changes our menu […]
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Classic French toast
Brunch season is upon us! Whether you’re in the mood for laid back and lazy or showstopping and decadent – classic French toast is a deliciously reliable dish that seldom fails to please. Its first recorded history dates back to a fourth century cookbook from the Roman Empire, though it’s likely that versions of this […]
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Ooey gooey goodness
Now in my third year at Champaign’s Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery, I stay busy working at Caprae, our farm-to-table restaurant, and teaching culinary classes in our new education facility. Recently, I have also begun spending my Saturday mornings assisting at the Salt Fork Food Works Food Hub back home in Springfield. A few weeks […]
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Strawberry season
Many may be surprised to learn that strawberries are not technically a fruit or even a berry. Botanically, strawberries are classified as a pseudocarp, or “false fruit.” The juicy, red part that we eat is referred to as the receptacle, or the part of the plant that produces the fruit, rather than the fruit itself. […]
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The French Connection
One of the most rewarding aspects of travel is discovering local culinary traditions – those storied techniques and heritage dishes that I would love to weave into my own kitchen repertoire. Every trip is a research and development project. This past autumn, a winning bid at a school fundraiser bought us a week in a […]
