Category Archives: cooking

Roasted Carrots and Beets with the Juiciest Pork Chops

Posted on January 27, 2012 by diary of a tomato

Carrots and beets, such winter stalwarts but it never occurred to me to combine them before. The problem lies in how beets bleed, leaving everything they touch magenta pink. This recipe from one of my favorite of Jaime Oliver’s cookbooks, … Continue reading →

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Whole Wheat Bagels

Posted on January 25, 2012 by diary of a tomato

Except for a restaurant job that required me to make 30 apple tarts a day, my experience has mostly been at the savory end of things. In the kitchens that had them, pastry cooks seemed a separate breed from those of … Continue reading →

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Farfalle with Northern Shrimp and Pistachio Pesto

Posted on January 20, 2012 by diary of a tomato

I often include shrimp when making pasta with pesto, so when I came across a Sicilian one based on pistachios, it seemed natural to add shrimp to it also. This has since strayed far from the original and, like all … Continue reading →

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Northern Shrimp with Tomatoes and Yellow Eye Beans

Posted on January 13, 2012 by diary of a tomato

The season for Northern Shrimp — a sweet, delicate wintertime treat — has finally arrived. We buy buckets of them straight off the boat, so fresh they’re still wriggling around. Left overnight to calm themselves down, we then roll up our … Continue reading →

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Cheddar and Ale Gougères

Posted on January 11, 2012 by diary of a tomato

When I had an unexplicable urge to make gougères, I wondered if I was channeling something. All of a sudden they seemed the right thing to make. Light as air with tops shellacked by melted cheese, their crackling crust give way … Continue reading →

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Porri al Forno (Leeks Baked in Cream)

Posted on January 6, 2012 by diary of a tomato

To say we grew a lot of leeks this year is an understatement. We had a number of extra seedlings and couldn’t bear to leave them unplanted. Thankfully, leeks store well and their abundance has allowed me to delve deeply … Continue reading →

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12.18.11 Juliet tomatoes with eggs

Posted on December 28, 2011 by diary of a tomato

At the last North Berwick Farmers’ Market in late October I was able to grab a couple of pints of  Juliet tomatoes from Moondance Gardens before they disappeared for the season. My first encounter with the Juliet several years ago was less then promising … Continue reading →

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