Tag: Food & Dining

For the Love of Figs

Just when local tomatoes start to dwindle at the market, figs arrive in all their green and purple glory, a harbinger of autumn. Figs also have a shorter, smaller harvest in early summer, but the main event comes at the end. The season is still short, so grab these precious fruits while you can. The…


Caramelized Figs With Vanilla Ice Cream

Caramelized figs may sound complicated, but actually, this is a super easy yet impressive dessert, one of those last-minute dishes that will turn an impromptu meal into a feast. Figs are naturally sweet, and not much is needed to bring out their flavors. Caramelizing them simply elevates the sweetness, making them a sublime dessert. Serves…


Figs With Jamón Serrano and Blue Cheese

Sweet, jammy figs, crunchy with seeds, are a perfect match for creamy, salty blue cheese. Add a few slivers of jamón serrano, and you’ll be blown away. I also love a version of this served with sliced tomatoes and garlic croutons. As with most recipes that are more assembly than cooking, there are various ways…


Fig and Plum Sauce

Sautéing figs with plums, shallots, and balsamic vinegar turns these simple ingredients into a savory, sweet, tangy sauce with a deep burgundy color, perfect for autumnal feasts. I serve it alongside roast pork, as a chutney for curry, and even as jam on my morning toast. I love this type of sauce—with just a few…


The Family Table: A Grandmother’s Legacy of Love, Home Cooking, and Coffee Cake Mornings

Submitted by Terese Luikens, Sandpoint, Idaho For the first eight years of my life, I lived near my grandma and enjoyed partaking in the feasts she served for memorable holiday meals. Uncles, aunts, and cousins sat shoulder-to-shoulder around tables laden with tender beef roasts, smooth brown gravy, fluffy mashed potatoes, and always a choice of cream…


Say Goodbye to Summer With a Peach Melba Buckle

A buckle is one of those early American country desserts, like a pandowdy, grunt, or cobbler, that combines fruit with biscuits or cake. The source for this recipe idea is Florida chef Clair Epting, who prepared a blood peach-raspberry crisp with a peach-honey sauce for dessert one evening at the Cakebread Cellars in Napa Valley….


Your Tomato Salad Needs a Tomato Dressing

For this fast salad recipe, we top summer’s ripest tomatoes with a bold tomato-based dressing for good measure. Serve as a light lunch with whole-grain toast or pair with grilled steak and chicken for dinner. Heirloom Tomato Salad With Tomato Vinaigrette Active Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Serves 8 2 pounds heirloom tomatoes,…


How to Make Bachelor’s Jam: Fruits, Booze, and Time

Patience is a virtue. Today, with almost our every need easily met by a tap on a touchscreen, that virtue seems to be fading. Yet some of the best lessons in patience can still be found in the hearth and home. It’s in the kitchen that a little bit of effort and plenty of patience…


One Simple Step Will Instantly Upgrade Your Tomato Sandwich

Ripe tomatoes were in abundance this weekend at the farmers market. I usually turn them into tomato sandwiches, but this week I wanted to make my tomato sandwich a little more special. This sandwich is rich and messy, creamy and delicious. The tomatoes are roasted until their flavors are concentrated and the skins have blistered….


Caponata: A Feisty Sicilian Salute to Summer’s End

It’s the end of summer, so why not go out with a bang and make caponata? Caponata is a Sicilian vegetable stew or compote. It slightly resembles Provencal ratatouille, but while both are tomato-rich stews consisting of a bounty of summer vegetables and aromatics influenced by their geography, they diverge from there. Ratatouille typically includes…