Reviving Traditional Foods
Bacon, Chicken and Green Beans has an almost-Asian flavor to it, which was a delightful surprise to my family who has been on the GAPS diet for about 2 years now. Since we don’t eat soy in any form, including soy sauce, we’ve been missing those Asian inspired dishes. This recipe uses bacon, and you’ll [...]
Tomatoes provençale, a simple dish that highlights the bounty of late summer gardens with its emphasis on fresh tomatoes, finds its way to our table almost daily in August when we buy heirloom tomatoes by the case at our local market. Tomatoes, you see, don’t do well up here at 9,000 feet. So we get [...]
I always feel a little lost, a little wasteful when it’s time to thin my garden as though all those little plants, doing their best to grow in our very rocky mountain soil, are being plucked early with no chance of reaching their potential. It’s a curious thought, but I’m known for being particularly sentimental [...]
Dandelion greens, like all greens, love fat. Their robust bitterness and peppery undertones are muted, to some degree, by the liquid smoothness of unrefined olive oil or – even better – the smokiness of a good quality bacon fat, free of added nitrates and nitrites and produced from hogs raised outdoors and under a vibrant [...]
Winter squash soufflé, sweet and mild yet robust with the complex flavor of roasted garlic, finds its way to our kitchen table towards winter’s end every year. It’s this point in mid- to late-winter that we sort through the remnants from autumn’s harvest gleaned from the last days of our farmers market: stray turnips [...]
Looking for a collard greens recipe to bring a little luck to your new year? In this traditional recipe for creamed collards, collard greens are gently simmered in fresh cream with caramelized onions and sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg. Creamed collards speak to the essence of comfort food in a way few other dishes do. [...]
Onion gratin with fresh herbs is one of those special indulgences: fragrant, rich with cream and herbs. It’s an old-fashioned dish with no pretense. It’s comfort food at its best: sweet and savory and salty all at once. Warm for the growing chill of mid-September, onion gratin, humble as it is, deserves a place on [...]
Green beans with bacon and caramelized shallots is classic comfort food: simple and well-seasoned. This recipe for green beans with bacon is savory and easy. While my version of green beans with bacon may vary slightly from the original served by my godmother, the essences of the flavors remain the same: fresh green beans seasoned by a healthy serving of bacon and shallots. While the ingredients may be humble, it is often the simplest of foods and preparations that yield the very best dishes. If you’d like to use pastured lard, why not learn how to render it.
Simple food makes for the best food. The key to preparing simple food well is to purchase the very best ingredients you can find: in that way, their natural flavors are liberated. Some of the simplest preparations allow the beauty of those subtle flavors to stand on their own, albeit dressed with a little butte. [...]
Baked garlic, savory and sweet, finds its way into our kitchen more often than it should – weaving its way in and out of sauces, breads and soups. And, without a doubt, we enjoy it in its own right – unctuous and smooth, intensely garlicky and scented with fresh thyme. Garlic, mellowed but simultaneously made [...]
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Jenny McGruther is a wife, mother and cooking instructor specializing in real and traditional foods. Her work has been featured on CNN, the Globe & Mail, the Atlantic, the Christian Science Monitor, Denver Post and WebMD. Click here to learn more.
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