• Pickled Cherry Pico de Gallo
    Food

    Pickled Cherry Pico de Gallo

    If you made last week’s cherries, I hope you reserved some. As promised, I am sharing this Mexican recipe as another way for you to enjoy your quick pickled treats. Beyond tapas and charcuterie boards, give your meal a delicious twist by adding a pickled flavor to your pico. Whether you prefer carnitas or a vegetarian taco, this topping works incredible well with traditional Mexican flavors. Also known as salsa fresca, pico de gallo is a combination of chopped tomatoes, onions, peppers, and seasoning that can be layered on tacos or enjoyed with tortilla chips. As the word fresca suggests, it is a salsa made from the freshest ingredients left…

  • Dill Tzatziki
    Food

    Dill Tzatziki

    Often served with grilled meats, tzatziki offers the quintessential flavors that get me craving Greek food. In fact, there are variety of similar yogurt-based dips and sauces from throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. Serve this version as a dip, a sauce for meat skewers known as souvlaki, or dive right in with some pita. There are a few tricks to making tzatziki at home. First is to drain the liquid from the yogurt and cucumbers before mixing ingredients. This entails some waiting, but it’s well worth the time and prevents a watery sauce. Cucumbers are full of liquid, which can cause the tzatziki to separate. Another must is to…

  • Food

    Blueberry Barbecue Sauce

    Of all the destinations on the Eastern Seaboard, the rugged shores of Maine have a particular allure. Rocky beaches, lobster in the rough, and the heavy scent of nearby forest meant vacation to me, while most of my childhood friends traveled south. My father and I climbed the jagged rocks by day, and the sunburned shoulders I had earned were covered by night, when there was a chill to the salty air. With the abundance of wild blueberries, breakfasts were sure to include pancakes dotted with them and syrups made from bursting the tiny fruits. Since cultivated blueberries are more widely available, I rely on them at home to make…

  • Green Goddess Buttermilk Dressing
    Food

    Green Goddess Buttermilk Vinaigrette

    Whether it is the crumb on a muffin or the chile chive drizzle on a piece of freshly grilled fish, I love a good topping. This green goddess buttermilk vinaigrette has become my latest go-to dressing for salads, smoked salmon, and sandwiches. If you’re looking for a healthy and incredibly delicious way to add an extra layer of flavor to a dish, this recipe will not disappoint. Green goddess is traditionally made with mayonnaise and sour cream, but I lightened it up a bit. In the form of buttermilk vinaigrette, the dressing is thicker than a typical oil and vinegar emulsion, but healthy enough that you can use it liberally.…

  • chili chive oil
    Food

    Chile Chive Oil

    When I was growing up, cream cheese had one companion – chives. Many, many chives. Bright green and full of flavor, they were delicious confetti. But sometimes I want to add their light, onion flavor to a dish without contributing extra texture or spots of color. Consider corn chowder or lobster bisque. A drizzle of chile chive oil adds herbal onion flavor and a fun, spicy kick that melds beautifully where chopped chives would fall short.