3 lbs butternut squash, peeled & cubed (alternatively halved, seeded, and roasted face down with olive oil)
1 qt chicken or vegetable stock
2-3 C milk
1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1 small onion, diced
1/2 C heavy cream
salt & pepper
1/2 stick butter
Melt the butter in a large soup pot, add onions, salt, pepper & sautee until translucent. Add butternut [...]

Two weeks ago my produce shipment included several Fuyu persimmons (shorter, squattier not acorn shaped, more suitied to raw eating). Last weekend I noticed a few had turned pretty ripe, jelly like, and while I don’t enjoy slicing them and serving them in salads and other items in that state, it is great for baking.
I [...]

Because it’s soup season, I’ve taken to roasting whole chickens (generally the organic, air-chilled, fresh variety). One challenge is that I actually don’t own a proper roasting pan (as an aside, I like to serve in the dishes I cook in whenever possible, and an au gratin pan will work just fine thankyouverymuch), and have [...]

This is a typical dish from the north west of Italy, usually prepared with pumpkin but any winter squash will work well. I like to use butternut squash. It is typically fried after boiling, served in a brown-butter sage sauce. I call it typical and not traditional because it only came about around the 1800’s [...]

For his birthday, this evening I made:
- filet mignon with port reduction
- garlic-orange rainbow chard
- israeli couscous with cinnamon & laurel leaf
There is a love-hate relationship with Andronico’s markets that I’m sure many of you in the SF bay area can relate to. They have beautiful meat. They have beautiful almost everything, and everything costs [...]

Should I ever succumb to death, this is where I wish to rest.
Most of you probably don’t know I’m in sales–a colleague of mine is prospecting Omnivore Books here in San Francisco–I had NEVER heard of the place and although they’re closed on Monday, I’m ready to grab my sleeping bag, call in sick tomorrow [...]

2 lb sweet potatoes/yams
1 qt vegetable or chicken stock
1 qt milk (not skim; or more stock and some heavy cream)
1 small onion
1 large orange
1 stick cinnamon
1 T fresh grated or  1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (preferably fresh)
1/2 stick butter
salt & pepper
You will need a food processor.
In a large soup or stock pot, melt [...]

Good on a variety of meats and dishes, this relish gave purpose to the fresh cranberries I received in my produce shipment. This recipe requires a food processor.
2-3 C fresh washed cranberries
1 large orange with good skin
1/4 C candied ginger
Sugar to taste
Wash and chop the orange into small segments as if to garnish a drink. [...]

I drove my Capay Farm Leeks back up the coast to Mendocino for Thanksgiving and found myself cleaning & chopping them to make a leek & potato soup to feed all of us cooks before the main event–kind of like the “family meal” in a restaurant.
On cleaning leeks & picking leeks: A good leak is [...]

So as you know from my last entry, Thanksgiving this year was a big, cooperative event. What follows is a photo entry of the action and dishes. I don’t have all of the recipes, but will follow this post with 2-3 of them. If there’s a specific recipe you’d like, please post a comment and [...]