Smoky Braised Mexican Kabocha Squash

I saw this vegetable at the farmers’ market and thought it was a pumpkin.  Turns out, it’s not a pumpkin.  It’s a red kobacha squash, also known as a sunshine squash.  The guy at the stand assured me it was delicious though, so I figured it would sub just fine in this recipe.  It’s also the [...]

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Pasta with Tomatoes, Anchovies, and Almonds

  Just like last year, I’ve been buying up my beloved dry farmed early girl tomatoes like crazy.  They are the best tomato ever, and if you are lucky enough to find them at your farmers market, buy them.  You won’t regret it. With those tomatoes on my mind, I was quite excited to stumble [...]

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Frozen Bloody Marys

I’m several weeks behind in my blog posts because I’ve been traveling and running around busy with other things.  But, we are still getting tons of gorgeous tomatoes around here, so I figured I should get this up before they are gone.  For a while, I was having crazy bloody mary cravings.  I’m not sure [...]

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Roasted Tomato Soup

It has been freezing here in Berkeley for the last week or two and a warm bowl of soup was just what I needed.  I found some lovely San Marzano tomatoes at the farmers’ market and this recipe from Epicurious got rave reviews, so I thought I’d give it a go. It’s a lovely soup.  [...]

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Grilled Corn, Onion, and Tomato Salsa

I made this ages ago for a party but have had a busy few weeks and no time to post.  Better late than never, I guess! I was inspired by an Epicurious recipe for a corn and tomato bruschetta, though I changed it up quite a bit to make it more like a salsa.  It [...]

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Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Parsley, Pepper, and Pecorino

I have a girl crush on Ina Garten.  I want to move in with her, into her gorgeous house in the Hamptons, and cook and drink French wine with her and her friends every night.  We’ll pick fresh herbs from the garden, Michael will bring the flowers for our table setting, and Miguel will take the photos for [...]

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My new favorite side dish

I’ve been on a major polenta kick recently.  I had never really made it until I made the braised pork with balsamic and grapes, and now I’m hooked.  It’s cheap, and while it’s a minor pain in the neck to make since it requires that you stir pretty much non stop for 10-15 minutes, it [...]

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More tomato awesomeness

If this was where you bought tomatoes, wouldn’t you be addicted? I rounded up another bag full of dry farmed Early Girls and made tomato confit again.  This time, I piled them on a pizza spread with marjoram-olive pesto.  So delicious. Marjoram Olive Pesto Adapted from Deborah Madison Ingredients 2 tablespoons aged red wine vinegar [...]

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My addiction

I can’t stop buying tomatoes.  The tomatoes in the Bay area right now are just incredible.  All these fantastic colors and they just taste amazing.  Fresh and sweet and not grey and mealy tasting like those sad supermarket tomatoes.  As a result, I just keep buying them.  At the farmers market near my house, at [...]

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Chickpea and Spinach Stew

Nothing in this recipe comes from my farm box, but it just looked so delicious I had to try it. It is pretty simple to prepare, though it does involve a fair amount of spices, including saffron. I recommend the investment, as the dish really is delicious. Again, another recipe from Food and Wine. Ingredients [...]

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