Easy No-crust Ham Quiche

This is the first of four quiche recipes I’m going to post for my friend Stacey-who-can-barely-stay-ahead-of-her-productive-chickens. The recipes, though similar, have slight variations. The key is finding the quiche that works best for you.

Are you a pie crust cheater?

I will confess to being a pie crust cheater of the highest order. I will go to great lengths to avoid rolling out pie dough on my counter. I usually buy the ready-made Pillsbury crusts (or the store brand, which is usually cheaper) and use those. If I plan to use them for “irregular” items [...]

Pasta e Ceci–simple Italian fare

I made this dish for dinner the other night, and realized I haven’t posted it before. I got it a long time ago out of a beautiful Italian cookbook called Romagnoli’s Table, by Margaret and G. Franco Romagnoli; it’s morphed a bit since then, but that’s where it started. The name Pasta [...]

What NOT to do with sourdough

I’ve made a few mistakes and learned a few things to be cautious about in this sourdough journey.

Sourdough Starter Redux

Last night Laura asked me, “Are you remembering that I posted about how to make sourdough starter last fall?” So I wracked my brains, smacked my forehead, and sure enough, found her instructions for making sourdough starter. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I had completely forgotten!
Here is an alternative method for making sourdough [...]

The Care and Feeding of Sourdough

Sourdough starters are a lot like teenaged boys. If you keep them warm and well-fed, they’ll be as happy as can be and grow like…well…sourdough starters! While there is some fascinating chemistry involved in sourdough starters, it really is NOT rocket science; anyone can grow a happy sourdough.

Barb’s Whole wheat Sourdough Bread

So I wanted to see how this wonderful no-knead sourdough recipe worked with whole wheat flour. In my reading, I came across the information that whole wheat flour, especially home-ground, has a great deal of native yeast on it and works really well with sourdough starter.

Clair’s Sourdough

For this recipe, you will need a sourdough starter. If you don’t have one, try to find a friend who has one and will share a bit. You can also make your own starter or you can order one from King Arthur Flour. (By the way, King Arthur Flour has wonderful products. They’re pricey and [...]

The. Best. Sourdough Bread. Ever. (or The Key to the Bread Universe)

Last weekend, we drove 9 hours to reach Auntie Clair and Uncle Paul’s house, arriving well after midnight. The next morning we all staggered down to breakfast, VERY bleary-eyed. I was halfway through a delicious slice of Artisan bread when words finally started to make sense to me. “What????” I exclaimed, “Clair MADE this bread?????” [...]

WOW! What amazing food!!!!

We had a stellar Easter weekend in terms of food. We started Saturday morning with homemade sourdough bread that was so good that I could hardly believe it hadn’t been flown in fresh from my favorite San Francisco bread shop. We had grilled ribs, grilled pork loin, rack of lamb, roasted potatoes and root vegetables, [...]