Christine Cooks

02/13/2013 03:57 PM

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Book Review: Breakfast for Dinner

Shakshuka (eggs poached in tomato sauce) from Breakfast for Dinner by Lindsay Landis and Taylor HackbarthShow of hands, please: How many of you cooks out there, while perusing fridge and pantry for dinner inspiration, come across more breakfast ingredients than dinner ingredients and ask yourselves, surely what's good for breakfast should be just as good for dinner? I'll bet there are many o

Christine Cooks

11/04/2012 02:01 AM

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Dona Nobis Pacem: Blogblast for Peace

Bloggers from over 152 countries are flying their peace globes today, November 4, 2012.See them all here. Join in.Be the change you wish to see in the world.Copyright 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved Christine Cooks. This feed contains copyright protected photos and text from the blog of Christine Cooks. If you are not reading this material in an RSS aggregator or by e-mail

Christine Cooks

10/29/2012 10:16 PM

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The Old Wedgewood Ain't What She Used to Be; The New Thermador Cooktop Is All That and More!

Although the installation is not quite finished, my sister Cynthia asked for photos of my new cooktop so I am obliging her wishes. As you may notice, the cabinetry around the oven is not finished, but will be soon.This 5-burner cooktop by Thermador has a btu range of 400 to 18,000. It totally rocks. And I am totally smitten.See the brown scorch on the wall behind the cooktop? That

Christine Cooks

09/11/2012 02:15 PM

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Pause to Remember September 11, 2001

Join Mimi Lenox and thousands of others on this day to pause and remember.Copyright 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved Christine Cooks. This feed contains copyright protected photos and text from the blog of Christine Cooks. If you are not reading this material in an RSS aggregator or by e-mail subscription, the site you are viewing may be guilty of copyright infringement. Please co

Christine Cooks

08/28/2012 09:32 PM

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Satsuma Plum Tart

Beautiful Satsuma plums went into the making of this simple plum tart.A little sugar and a touch of fortified wine to deepen the flavors is all I added.The plums wanted to shine.Farmers market plums from Neukom Family Farm: Local. Organic. Meaty. Plump. Juicy. Deeply red inside and out. Aren't they sweethearts? They're even shaped like hea

Christine Cooks

08/21/2012 10:17 PM

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Garlic: Garden Grown

Those photos, top and bottom? They are why I grow garlic. That, and . . . I can. I didn't know that before last year. That I can grow garlic. That it would be so easy and so satisfying.How can I explain what it's like to walk out to the garden, dig up a huge head of garlic, wash it, peel it, roast, saute, grate raw, do whatever with it, fresh f

Christine Cooks

08/20/2012 05:39 PM

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Labneh with Olive Oil and Sumac

Plain, whole fat yogurt drained of its whey for 24 hours.Pooled in a really, really good olive oil.Sumac sprinkled on top.You must make this.Now.Nisrine of Dinners and Dreams has the process and the beautiful photos.Go.Copyright 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved Christine Cooks. This feed contains copyright protected photos and text from the blog of Christine Cooks. If you are not

Christine Cooks

08/17/2012 03:24 PM

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San Marzano Tomatoes

While the rest of the U.S. is awash in ripe, red, juicy, delicious tomatoes, we gardeners (at least this gardener) here on the northern California coast are still waiting, watching and coaxing our tomatoes to grow (please) and become edible before the chill of fall sets in.This does not mean that we are tomato deprived. On the contrary, our inland farmers bring plenty of heirloom tomatoes to

Christine Cooks

08/08/2012 06:23 PM

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Garden Fresh Recipe for Gremolata with Meyer Lemon and Capers

Gremolata with Meyer Lemon and CapersEverything but the capers came from my back yard. This is the way I love to cook (well, alright ... chop): go outside, pick a lemon, pull a head of garlic, grab some parsley ... put it together and you have a bursting-with-flavors condiment that can be sprinkled on grilled salmon, a slow-cooker stew, roasted vegetables.Please don't skip

Christine Cooks

08/02/2012 09:47 PM

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Purple Potato Salad with Kalamata Olives and Smoked Paprika Dressing

This is the time of year when an onslaught of recipes featuring an overload of garden-grown zucchini hits the Internet as bloggers, gardeners, and cooks frantically try to use up their crop.I don't have that problem.Nope. My two zucchini plants produce (slowly) just the right amount of fruits for the two of us, sometimes a bit more but nothing alarming. Nothing I can't deal with.Freshl

Christine Cooks

07/31/2012 08:26 PM

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Spicy Chocolate Ice Cream With or Without Bourbon

Spicy chocolate. I love it.In my kitchen it usually finds its way into a cafe mocha which I share with Mr CC. But not this time.This time I wanted to share the zingy chili-enhanced chocolaty taste of this stuff with you all, and it had to be ice cream. It doesn't disappoint.Chocolate ice cream baseNow I'm entirely aware that I have a penchant for putting booze in my ice cream. &n

Christine Cooks

07/25/2012 10:14 PM

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From the Garden: Recipe for Oven Roasted Potato Gratin with Bacon and Cream

New russet potatoThese days, my cooking style leans heavily toward whimsy. Rarely do I plan a recipe or meal ahead of time other than ethereal thoughts. (Which is why you will seldom see a holiday recipe on this blog that is posted before the actual holiday in any given year.)And while it's true that I wake up most mornings thinking about what I'll cook for dinner, they

Christine Cooks

07/11/2012 07:00 AM

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Fennel Blossom and Lemon Balm Ice Cream with Absinthe

Tucked into a corner of my vegetable garden you will find fennel and lemon balm growing in perfect harmony.See them back there at the far end of the greenhouse? Nice, huh?Not long ago I was out picking the peas that reside next to this duo when the combined perfumes of the blooming fennel and sun-warmed lemon balm gave me a notion; I plucked a fennel blossom and chewed on it while holding a

Christine Cooks

07/09/2012 03:42 PM

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Slow Cooker Braised Pork Belly

Ok. I've never cooked pork belly before. Mr CC has had it in restaurants and has pretty much swooned over it. Me? Way too much fat to ingest. It was never on the list of foods I simply must prepare.Until I saw a large slab of it at my most favorite local co-op. Look at that meat to fat ratio, people! The clincher was it's local, organic, pasture-raised pork

Christine Cooks

06/18/2012 05:44 PM

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California Walnut Wine

Walnut Wine version one On June 7th my green walnuts arrived. Fresh, cool, with a slight sheen of moisture, smelling like an entire walnut orchard in a box: acrid, pungent. If you've ever walked amid an orchard of walnut trees on a warm late spring day, you'll know what I mean.On June 9th, I made walnut wine. Three slightly different ways, but basically following this recipe

Christine Cooks

06/04/2012 10:44 PM

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Apple-Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Fresh Apples

Once in a great while I just have to make something sweetly ooey-gooey delicious (and, um, fattening), not just to satisfy a personal craving, but also to assure Mr CC that I've still got the chops. Plus, lucky him, he gets to eat (most of) the results.So, this here before you is a moist, creamy, crusty, raisin-walnut-apple-y, boozey bread pudding that I defy even the staunchest dieter to re

Christine Cooks

05/13/2012 05:12 PM

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Kitchen Gadgets I Could Live Without But Would Prefer Not To: 1970s Nutmeg Grater

This vintage nutmeg grater has graced my kitchen and grated my nutmegs for 37 years (I counted backwards and, yes, that's about right). I bought it at a now-closed (and more's the pity) gift store in downtown Davis, my hometown, called Discoveries, a place with small beginnings in 1960 that grew to occupy three levels - basement, main and 2nd floor - next to wha

Christine Cooks

05/11/2012 07:30 PM

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Slow Cooker Braised Rabbit with Garlic, Cippolini Onions & Thyme

I am not feeling well. Haven't been for almost a month. That nasty cold/flu thingy knocked me flat. A few days ago I began to recover; almost felt like myself again. Went back to work, saw a few plays in Ashland. Felt not perfectly fine, but at least better. Then the headaches began, temperature spiked, felt hot, clammy, chilled all in the same mi

Christine Cooks

05/10/2012 09:30 PM

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Coming Out From Under a Rock . . .

. . . at least I hope so.It has been awhile since I've shown up here. And to be honest, what posts I have written in the past seven months did not have my heart in them. I didn't know what to say. What to write. Simply carrying on as though nothing had happened is not my style. When changes occur, when life throws punches, I want to

Christine Cooks

03/19/2012 09:06 PM

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Jade Chocolates: My New BFF

Tart dried green mangoes, spicy lime-chili rub, flecks of gray sea salt, all atop dark, bitter-sweet, perfectly bite-sized chocolate tiles. Oh, my.One bite and I was smitten.I bought a box, shared them with friends, then had to leave San Francisco the next morning to drive home. No time to buy more.A week went by. Cravings set in. I prowled

Christine Cooks

02/12/2012 05:59 PM

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Truffle Tremor - Lots of It!

I've never bought a 3-pound wheel of Truffle Tremor before.At it's usual price per pound, the cost of a wheel hovers around $75; more if purchased outside of Humboldt County.The other day, however, our beloved, award-winning cheese company, Cypress Grove Chevre, which, by the way, is a mere 12 miles from my kitchen (oh how I love saying that), had a special

Christine Cooks

02/06/2012 06:00 AM

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Kuri Squash Soup with Kale Pesto

February can bring many kinds of weather to us northcoasters: The ubiquitous rain, of course; frosty mornings; sometimes snow, but also the occasional sunny day to remind us that spring is not far off, no matter what the groundhog saw in your neck of the woods.So on a recent day, when the sun shone and the temperature reached a balmy 55-degrees, it occured to me that I should

Christine Cooks

02/04/2012 07:21 PM

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Kale Pesto

My vegetable garden doesn't produce much during our winters, but I can always count on kale.After a while though, too much of a good thing can wear a bit thin and I struggle to come up with ways to use it.Over the years, I've made my share of basil pesto, arugula pesto, spinach pesto, and even cilantro pesto but, until now, had not thought to make

Christine Cooks

12/25/2011 05:17 PM

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Merry Christmas

Although 2011 has been a year of minimal recipes and posts, many of you dear readers have stuck with me despite my non-productivity, for which I am sincerely grateful. I hope to return to the delights of culinary activity here at the turn of the new year. Meantime, I hope the holidays are bringing you comfort and joy and that you are looking forward to a bright

Christine Cooks

10/02/2011 09:00 PM

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Recipe for Spatchcocked Pan-Roasted Chicken - Redux

[Ed. note: Way back in 2008, I sent this post to my friend Paz at The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz and neglected to put it on my own blog. I've decided to remedy that. This update will not have some of the same wording as the original post, but the method and recipe are the same.]When I posted my Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken recipe a while back, Paz fairly sang its praises from t

Christine Cooks

07/15/2011 07:00 AM

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Recipe for Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with Raspberry Swirl

I coulda made this with fresh organic raspberries.I coulda driven the 12 miles to get them - 24 miles round trip.Coulda, but I didn't.Instead I had a Trader Joe's moment: organic raspberry spread and raspberry wine; both in the fridge, both cold.It took just 5 minutes to put this together plus 20 minutes to freeze.It could be in your dessert bowls tonight . . .Vanilla Frozen Y

Christine Cooks

07/14/2011 07:00 AM

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Garden Fresh Frittata with Zucchini, Chard, Kale and Basil

. . . plus eggs from my backyard chickens and fresh farmers market garlic from Claudia's Herbs.Yesterday I picked the first two zucchini from our garden. Now, that may be ho-hum to the rest of the northern hemisphere but to me, in my very coastal-cool-weather garden, it's something to crow about.Chard and kale I've got growing out my ears. Basil is slowly making its way to pi

Christine Cooks

03/17/2011 07:27 PM

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Basics: Recipe for Crimini Mushroom Stock with Celeriac and Leeks

Brown mushroom stock does not a beautiful photo make, so you will not see one in this post.Photos of the ingredients that went into making said stock? Yesiree.Making mushroom stock takes very little effort and time and is probably as simple as stock gets. But the results are far from ordinary. Roasting deepens the flavors and brings out natural sweetness.One could add carrots

Christine Cooks

03/14/2011 06:01 AM

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Recipe for Sugar Free Meyer Lemon, Fresh Blueberry Swirl Frozen Yogurt Creamsicles

Let's get this whole sugar free business out of the way right now.Yes, I did not add any sugar.Yes, you can substitute sugar for the Splenda if you wish, and I have even given the sugar equivalent in the recipe below.No, these are not totally, absolutely, positively sugar free.Fruit has natural sugars in the form of fructose.Dairy has natural sugars in the form of lactose.Natural su

Christine Cooks

03/12/2011 11:02 PM

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Recipe For Tamale Pie Loaf Becomes Mexican Polenta

I don't often cook from cans.But.This recipe, adapted from my mother's tamale pie loaf - much of the ingredients from cans - had been calling to me since I tried making it several years ago, and failed.My mother's recipe calls for cornmeal cooked in milk, the ratios of which made me wince: 1 part cornmeal to 1 1/2 parts milk. She said the resulting mush would be stiff (and

Christine Cooks

03/09/2011 10:34 PM

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Recipe For Crock Pot Braised Pork Ribs With Whole Garlic Cloves and Fresh Rosemary

I don't use my crockpot often enough, and more's the pity.Truth is, I don't usually think about how I'm going to cook something until I'm in the kitchen around 6 PM deciding what's for dinner. I'll bet I'm not alone in this.There were these gorgeous pork ribs in my freezer that had come from Yolo County pig farmer extraordinnaire, John Bledsoe, and I had taken them out to thaw

Christine Cooks

03/01/2011 06:05 PM

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Meyer Lemons: Recipes Redux

When Bill (or life, as the saying goes) gives you Meyer lemons, make . . . insert any number of lemon-enhanced dishes behind those elipses.My friend Bill did indeed give me a bag of Meyer lemons while I was in the Sacramento Valley visiting family and friends last week, picked from his backyard trees that morning. Bill has been gifti

Christine Cooks

02/21/2011 05:26 PM

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Recipe for Sautéed Carrots and Mushrooms with Thyme and Champagne-Creme Fraiche Sauce

Show of hands, please: Who doesn't like carrots? I'll bet not many of you.Carrots are such an integral part of my cooking repertoire - I use them as the base ingredient for so many dishes, from soups to stews, sautés to braises, salads, slaws and desserts - I rarely think about them as a star in their own right.A delicious side, especially in winter,

Christine Cooks

02/19/2011 05:29 PM

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Christine Cooks is Six years Old Today

Today I begin my 7th year of writing this blog.I greet this significant milestone with mixed emotions.This morning I went on an interesting journey through my blog posts all the way back to February 2005, wincing at some of the writing and the early photography (or lack thereof), laughing at some of the recipes, smiling at others that I know are keepers.Mostly what I see

Christine Cooks

02/14/2011 09:16 PM

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Basics: Garlic Rubbed Crostini Recipe

I know. Crostini. Big whoop.Anyone can make it.And you can hardly call it a recipe; a method is more apropo.But this blog began in lieu of a family cookbook for my sons and this is the year that every so often I will find the basics that appear throughout this blog and give them their own post. Crostini, as they are called in Italian, crou

Christine Cooks

02/11/2011 01:27 AM

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Recipe for Simple Chicken Liver Pâté Using Crème Fraîche

Pâtés can be smooth as silk, coarse and a bit chunky, or anywhere in between. They can be seasoned with herbs, fortified wines, vegetables, capers, onions and shallots; even brined whole peppercorns - to name a few.Or not.What I give you here is the not version: A simple, smooth and rich pâté that spreads like soft butter onto a cracker or crostini. A basic recipe with which to let your

Christine Cooks

02/07/2011 07:31 PM

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Socca with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Anchovy Filets and Cheese

This is socca. A Mediterranean street food from the Nicoise region of France, it's made with four basic indgredients: chickpea (or garbanzo) flour, black pepper, water and olive oil, rendering it not only very simple to make, but agreeable to vegetarians, vegans and gluten free folks all.The hit of black pepper and olive oil as you scrape this from the pan and pop it into

Christine Cooks

02/06/2011 05:28 PM

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So a Guy Walks into a Diner . . .

"F - U - N - E - M ?""S, V - F - M .""F - U - N - E - X ?""S, V - F - X .""O - K , M - N - X !"I couldn't have been more than 10 years old when my mother first recited that little scenario to me.I seem to be channeling her this morning though I can't say why.I had M . . .I had X . . .There you have it. Copyright © 20

Christine Cooks

02/05/2011 10:34 PM

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Basics: Roasted Rich and Robust Chicken Stock

One of the things that has been missing from this blog from the very start are posts dedicated to the basics: stocks and broths, salad dressings, sweet and savory sauces, gravies, the "how tos". Sure, some of those things are embedded within a post about soups or stews, crab cakes, dinner salads, and desserts, but very few are the stars of their own page. So one of my goals this y

Christine Cooks

01/11/2011 10:17 PM

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January Downtime

Dear Readers,I am taking the month of January off from blogging. All is well, just re-grouping. I will continue to post photos on my garden blog, Raven Ridge Gardens; I hope you will pay a visit there. I'll be back here ready to cook come February. Copyright © 2005-2011, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved Christine Cooks. This feed contains copyright-protected photos

Christine Cooks

12/24/2010 06:39 PM

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Merry Christmas To All

Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved Christine Cooks. This feed contains copyright-protected photos and text from the blog of Christine Cooks. If you are not reading this material in an RSS aggregator or by an e-mail subscription, the site you are viewing may be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact northcoastcook (at) gmail (dot) com if you feel you are reading

Christine Cooks

12/23/2010 07:44 PM

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Coconut Cranberry Frozen Yogurt

My intention was to get this on the table (read blog) in plenty of time for Christmas.I don't consider this to be plenty of time, but that's my rather disorganized life at the moment (year actually).Just now I was about to say that maybe 2011 will find me a more organized cook and blogger, but who am I kidding? I've always been this way and will offer no more excuses. Hmmm ...

Christine Cooks

12/13/2010 07:07 PM

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Lentils Braised in Red Wine with Seared Duck Breast

This dish looks suspiciously like my recent chili recipe but I assure you it's a beast of an entirely different pursuasion. Here I've incorporated lovely and tiny, dark green lentils with a mirepoix and red wine, cooking it down, down, down until the flavors have melted together and are ready to receive tiny slices of seared duck breast. I made enough

Christine Cooks

12/01/2010 10:57 PM

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It's Crab Season!

The stacks of traps had been growing by height and breadth for several weeks in anticipation of opening day when right on time this year, with fairly calm if wet weather, crab season opened at 12:01 this morning.All of we local crab lovers (some are crab fisherman lovers as well) wish our fleet safe sailing and a substantial catch.Break out the champagne, pull out a recipe or two, a

Christine Cooks

11/25/2010 03:38 PM

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved Christine Cooks. This feed contains copyright-protected photos and text from the blog of Christine Cooks. If you are not reading this material in an RSS aggregator or by an e-mail subscription, the site you are viewing may be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact northcoastcook (at) gmail (dot) com if you feel you are reading

Christine Cooks

11/11/2010 07:10 PM

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Flame-Charred Red Pepper Soup with Roasted All-Red Potatoes and Carrots

Dean the "Pepper Guy" at our local farmers market has had a wonderful selection of sweet, hot, hotter and hottest peppers this fall. And while this summer our local farmers had a tough time due to the weather, peppers and tomatoes have been enjoying a late and extended season.I love stopping at his stand and talking to him about the different flavors and heat his peppers will impart to

Christine Cooks

11/09/2010 07:26 PM

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Beef Chili With Beans - My Way

If chili has no Tex-Mex flavors, has a decidedly Mediterranean bent, is it still chili?When I started out with some grass-fed, local ground beef, my intention was to make a traditional chili. It's football season afterall and chili, cornbread, biscuits and beer are all over the culinary place.The mirepoix was done and I was gathering the Tex-Mex spices from

Christine Cooks

10/05/2010 09:25 PM

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Buttermilk Biscuits with Jarlsberg Cheese

One look at food blogs and food magazines these days will tell you that it's chili season.And what goes better with chili (with the possible exception of cornbread) than flavorful, cheese-laden biscuits? And since the my-take-on-chili post isn't ready yet, I'm giving you biscuits first.These are light, slightly chewy, and perfect for au

Christine Cooks

08/26/2010 03:20 AM

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Figs Poached in Port and Thyme Over Creamy Yogurt Cheese Plus a Fig Giveaway

Mr CC and I are eating figs these days. Fresh, juicy, oozing-figgy-syrup California figs. They are impossibly delicious.Mostly we eat them out of hand; unadorned, as you see above. Did you know that figs are filled with antioxidants, are free of fat, cholestrol and sodium and are an excellent source of fiber? Yes they are. Eat them with the skins on for o

Christine Cooks

08/09/2010 06:10 PM

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Plum Cardamom Ice Cream

I love cardamom.I especially love using whole seeds that have been extracted from their cute green pods.When I bought plums last week, I made a gluten-free plum and cardamom galette, which turned out fabulously, thank you very much.I saved some of the sliced plums from that recipe to make ice cream and when it came to deciding on a recipe, cardamom, this time using whole seeds, just seemed li

	Christine Cooks
	I'm a northern California gal who delights in preparing delicious, rustic dishes for those who appreciate what good food is. I source locally grown and produced, organic ingredients whenever possible and support local farmers at farmers markets no matter where I happen to be. Welcome to my kitchen.

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