Roasted Pumpkin Pasta
Real Pumpkin. Not pumpkin spice.
Pumpkin spice is not what pumpkin tastes like. There is an entire food industry built upon convincing people that pumpkin tastes like cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg - let me tell you, it does not. There is this (typically) orange-fleshed vegetable that grows on a vine and it is delicious. It makes a beautiful pasta, which is a wonderful way to celebrate the “real” pumpkin flavor.
No-Knead Sandwich Bread
Flour + Yeast + Salt & Time.
I know you have probably heard of Mark Bittman’s No-Knead Bread recipe. It makes a great loaf, and for many people, the recipe revolutionized their beliefs about the quality of bread they could produce at home. With one loaf, they understood that they too, the home baker, could make beautifully crusted bread with an open crumb, at home, in their own oven. I love it.
This process is an adaptation of his loaf.
Habanero Hot Sauce
Turnin’ up that heat.
This week I decided to make a batch of habanero hot sauce with some of the habaneros I have sitting in the freezer from last season. I use this master hot sauce recipe as a guideline to make almost all of my hot sauces because I believe it creates the perfect base for you to create your hot sauce masterpiece.
Kombucha Fruit Leathers
Probiotic zing in roll form.
Surprisingly delicious, unless told, most people have no idea that these fruit leathers are that different from the store-bought ones. Maybe they have a little bit more sourness and zing to them, but honestly, I find them way better than that over-processed, dyed, sugar-filled store version. The tangy flavor and chewy texture of SCOBY is perfectly suited to these on-the-go probiotic-rich snacks.
Tomatillo Chicken Pozole
Tangy, funky, and hearty
The week before Aki and I moved, I made this soup and put it in the freezer. Let’s just say, as I was happily and excitedly stirring this pot of pozole, I had no idea that basically everything that could go wrong in terms of moving in the week to come, would.
Cream of Nettle Soup
Emerald green deliciousness in a bowl.
One of my absolute favorite springtime soups, this bowl of emerald green feeds my soul.
Stinging Nettle Pasta
The prize of springtime wild harvesting.
I dropped a batch of homemade pasta off at a friend’s house, and her wife answered the door. She looked incredulously at me as I told her the pasta was made with stinging nettle. She is a huge trail runner and only knew the plant as something you didn’t want to stumble in. She almost looked like she wanted to hand the container back, and I don’t blame her, but I urged her to try it. Later I got the text. “Rachel, the pasta, it’s so incredible.” I felt like I had just won the plant a new friend, and put a huge smile on my face.
Pea Shoot Pesto
Earthy delicious.
Pesto, to me, is one of the most versatile sauces. Wait, is it a sauce? Or is it a dip? I actually don’t know what I would classify it as, other than a combination of ingredients that have the possibility to be simply delicious.
As controversial as it may be, basil pesto, while very good, is not my favorite.
Have dried tomatoes? Make dried tomato pesto. Garlic scapes, stinging nettle, or in this case, pea sprouts… give it a try.