My Own Farmer’s Market

My Farmer’s Market opened on Monday. It felt like the first day back at school.  I was embarrassingly giddy.  The kids were ecstatic to see what goodies would be laid out on the tables.  There were a few “new kids-” the honey man has his own stall this year and there was a produce vendor I didn’t remember from last year.  I ran into lots of my friends.  I caught up with my farmer friends about the happenings of life during the off-season- weddings, births and natural disasters.  There’s something about this that feels like a homecoming. Read more

Canapés with Walnut Butter, Apples and Aged Gouda

I’m going to tell you something about myself that will seem very incongruous with what you think you know about me.  Revealing this bit of information forces me to uncover that- deep in my heart- I’m not as gracious as I aspire to be.

I hate bringing food to potlucks.  I hate being asked to bring an appetizer, or side dish or whatever.  That seems weird, doesn’t it?  I mean, I love to cook and I love cooking as a gesture of affection.  What’s my problem? Read more

Drinking With Your Kids

It is finally hot out- truly sweaty, summery hot.  It’s the kind of hot that makes you thirsty.  You know how important it is to keep yourself and your kids hydrated in this kind of weather.  However, most parents turn to sugary or- just as bad- artificially sweetened drinks to whet their little whistles. Read more

The Miracle of Mirepoix

I’m gonna teach you about something so elementary that it will seem almost silly.  Being in possession of this grand culinary secret will make you feel like a gourmet insider.  It may be what some of you need to leap from recipe slaves to recipe architects. Read more

Walnut Butter

There are many reasons to love walnut butter:  it’s an interesting alternative to ubiquitous peanut butter, it’s rich with Omega-3s, and it’s incredibly versatile.  You’re already sold, right? There’s an even better reason to love walnut butter: it tastes kinda like cookie dough.  Really. Read more

Vadouvan Grilled Shrimp with Fava Bean Succotash

It’s time for more fun with favas!  This dish is throw-your-head-back-and-moan good.  You’ll be bewitched by the way that the complex spice blend, smoky grilled flavors and sweet succotash come together so perfectly.  Best of all, you will love that this dish is so simple to prepare and execute. Read more

Spice-rubbed Grilled Chicken

This is the summertime version of Classic Roast Chicken.  This recipe is just as much about lifestyle as it is about flavor.  It’s about sitting out on the front porch with the other moms watching the kids play.  Suddenly, I look at the time and realize, ohmigosh, it’s five o’clock.  I run to the grill and light the coals with my beloved propane starter.  I pour a glass of wine, spatchcock a chicken, cleave the breast, rub it with spices, and before you know it I’ve got my bird on the grill and I’m back out with my girlfriends- breaking up squabbles about who spilled the bubbles and finding out the real reason why the folks on the next block put their house on the market. Read more

So you say you don’t have time to cook…

“What would you say to someone who said they don’t have time to cook?”

This question was posed to me by a local journalist who was at my house about two weeks ago.

Before I tell you what my answer to that is, let me describe that day.  It was a Monday and my shopping day.  I hadn’t slept all night for the second night in a row- typical kid sickness and insomnia stuff.  After doing the breakfast, dishes, get-‘em-off-to-school thing, I headed out to tackle “grocery day.”  I returned home to put the refrigerated stuff away. Heading out the door to pick up Sally by noon, I listened to the message on the answering machine regarding a business “project” I’ve been involved with.  There was a little crisis with that. Read more

Spatchcock This!

Okay, I admit it.  I do kinda like to say “spatchcock.”  It sounds naughty.  I’m like a little kid with a bubblegum cigarette, aren’t I?

I actually used this as the password for a website where I’d posted my book proposal.  I’m always forgetting passwords, so I wanted to make this one memorable.  “Spatchcockthis” was pretty unforgettable.  It felt like a dirty little secret of mine.  It was fun until I decided to show the proposal to some people I didn’t know so well.  This included my friend’s father, who is an Evangelical pastor with an interest in cooking.  I explained what “spatchcocking” actually meant, but the secret was out: Jill Shepherd has a trashy, trouble-making side.  Fair enough. Read more

The One. The Only. The Irreplaceable Food Mill

The first serious cookbook I ever acquired was The Martha Stewart Cookbook. Her recipe for a spicy corn chowder was among the first dishes I ever attempted in my teensy NYC studio apartment kitchen.  That recipe also began my collection of serious cooking tools.  The recipe calls for the use of a food mill to separate the soft starchy corn from the tough outside hull of the kernel.  This begs the question, “What the hell is a food mill?”

Undaunted, I traipsed off to the nearest store selling cooking miscellanea.  I asked a fellow 22-year-old who was looking infinitely more knowledgeable about such matters in his authoritative red apron to show me where I might find a food mill.

“A what?” was his answer.  “Lemme go find my manager.” Read more

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