Use this as is for a side dish, or cook some pasta such as orecchiette, cavatelli, or casarecce (or whatever) and use this as a sauce. Don’t forget to add 4-6 ounces of the pasta water to the dish to help form the sauce. It may seem odd to use salami here, but it is not uncommon in Italy, and the right salami can bring a lot of flavor to a dish. The Toscano called for here is typically flavorful and fairly easy to find. For this dish, larger fat grains are good, and a fine deep flavor with some spice is good.
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Modern American cuisine smacks into traditional Mediterranean. This salad was inspired by a Salade Niçoise, but is much, much simpler. You want to use good quality tuna for this-at least use albacore if you can’t find any European tuna packed in olive oil. Also, If you have beans you have cooked yourself the dish will be better for them, but the recipe simply calls for pantry staple canned white beans. Rinse them really well.
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This dish is cooked so it is not soupy, but rather until there is just a bit of liquid left. You can add more vegetables as you wish, and mushrooms and/or sausages turns it into a full dinner for the carnivorous set. I like it next morning heated up with a couple of farm-fresh eggs poached or basted on top.
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This is one of those really simple dishes that surprises with how much flavor it packs. The kale acts as a foil with its earthy flavor to the fennels sweet, but it has a sweetness of its own that adds depth to the dish. Adding fennel seed and pastis adds even more dimension. Cooking the kale a shorter time gives it a toothsome quality that is a welcome texture with the fennel. Crushing the fennel with your hands seems to make it sweeter and also tenderizes it.
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The Creamed Lacinato with Marsala can be used as a side dish or used to top crostini for appetizers. With a couple changes it works as a stuffing for ravioli or a squash gratin.
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This dish was inspired by a recipe from Maria Helms Sinskey. Use this as a side, on toasts as a starter, or to stuff Portobello mushrooms for a light supper.
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Lacinato, also called cavolo nero (black cabbage), is a kale that benefits from long cooking. Its deep flavor and sturdy texture blend well with the chewy quality and sweet flavor of farro. This dish can be cooked with extra liquid to make a soupy dish, or cooked until dry as here. You could put the finished dish into an oiled gratin dish and crack eggs into it and bake it with cheese for a light entrée, or toss in sausage for a one pot meal.
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This salad was originally created with curly kale and Swiss Chard, but let’s try it with Lacinato kale and beet greens, along with your mustard greens.
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This is something that was inspired by a bag of frozen black-eyed peas I bought on an impulse one time. I have since made it using dried beans and canned beans as well. I have varied it using various beans and different pork products, changing the seasonings as well. I have even substituted mushrooms for the meat. This version goes great with cornbread. Pass the Tabasco, please.
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This is a dish that straddles the line between soup and stew. It is similar to Ribbolita or Minestrone, and is the sort of thing you can eat for 2-3 days, changing it each day by adding something or other to the pot and cooking it a little longer. Also, if you have a Parmesan cheese rind, this is a great time to use it.
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