Carrot Soup with Orange and Tarragon

This is a great all-purpose soup. You can make it in the summer with a pound of garden or farmer’s market carrots, or any time with a bag of peeled carrots, as in the original recipe. We actually have the bag of carrot snacks in the fridge quite often and if they don’t get used for…snacks, I am often wondering how to use the bag up fast. This soup was the answer.

Usually I am so-so on carrot soup but something about the flavors here just clicked for me. It was especially good the next day, as the different ingredients had time to come together and meld. I’m also already forming a plan to use this recipe in the Fall with some butternut squash or pumpkin for the . . . → Read More: Carrot Soup with Orange and Tarragon

The Best Roasted Vegetable Stock & What To Do With It

Okay, so this is not the most season-appropriate dish ever but if you lived in Portland, you’d understand. We have been rainy and a little cold, although today and tomorrow are promising to be nice, sunny and *gasp* Summer-ish!

If you do have a day that is not so hot, this is a great thing to do with your oven and stovetop. I have even made the chicken version of the posole in the crockpot before, when it was too hot to simmer it stovetop.

The vegetable broth you do need the oven for, so either wait for a cool day, roast your veggies in the morning, or throw caution to the wind and crank up your oven in a 90 degree day!

Roasted Vegetable Stock
Adapted from a recipe in . . . → Read More: The Best Roasted Vegetable Stock & What To Do With It

Nuts in the Kitchen: Sicilian Sweet and Sour Rabbit (but with Chicken)

One of my favorite cookbook authors, Susan Herrmann Loomis, is coming to Portland! Very exciting! She’ll be at In Good Taste, August 12-15, 2010.

In Good Taste is located at 231 NW 11th Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97209. It’s a 3-day class (with a welcome dinner the night before) and you can enroll by e-mailing cookingclassesATonruetatinDOTcom. You can also call In Good Taste at 503-248-2015 with questions. More info here.

As if that’s not enough, Susan also has a new cookbook out, Nuts in the Kitchen, and I was lucky enough to receive a review copy. So far, I have made two recipes from the book, but like all of her books, some of the most interesting parts are just reading the little features within the cookbook about the people . . . → Read More: Nuts in the Kitchen: Sicilian Sweet and Sour Rabbit (but with Chicken)

Rachael Ray (and More) in Space: Part I

Facebook, not just for fake farms and stupid quizzes…
I went to grade school, junior high and then high school with someone who now works at NASA. I know, neat! We recently got back in touch via facebook and now I am contributing to a cookbook review he’s working on. Not just any cookbook, but The Astronaut’s Cookbook: Tales, Recipes, and More. I must admit that when he first asked me if I wanted to help review the book and cook a few of the recipes I was a little worried. My only previous experience with space food was the novelty packages of freeze dried Astronaut Ice Cream you could get at the Bay area Frys. (Edited to add: I kind of miss the San Jose Ancient Egypt-themed Frys).

But, . . . → Read More: Rachael Ray (and More) in Space: Part I