We Secretly Love The Heat (Salsa Fresca)

We're heading into the peak of summer, so what better time to post a classic treat enjoyed in cultures throughout the world: salsa! The Spanish word for sauce, salsa can actually refer to a number of sauces in Hispanic cuisines; however, in the U.S., it typically refers to a spicy tomato-based sauce, often enjoyed as a dip. There are a number of types of these salsas (Wikipedia lists over 15), but the two main categories break down to cooked versus raw. In this case, we're focusing on the raw side, and making our own salsa fresca, or "fresh sauce". And given it's the time of year when those of you with gardens should be seeing ripened tomatoes and peppers, this is a perfect idea for what to do with some of your harvest.

Can you handle the heat?

Winter Whiteout (White Chicken Cheddar Chili)

Also published in Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

I don't know about you, but after the holidays, I usually feel a little wiped out. If you've spent your cooking mojo with friends and family, or just have a busy week, a slow cooker is invaluable. Pinterest and the internet at large abound with slow cooker recipes with good reason, because this kitchen device is extremely versatile. It also lends itself to brewing up vast cauldrons of food, which should suit those with families, visitors, or bottomless appetites like mine. In this case, to ward off the winter chill, I decided to make chili.

Chili blanco

Le Poisson, Le Poisson (Hibiscus Halibut, Mango Kiwi Salsa)

This post in also available as an article in the 7/25/2012 Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

As a gift from their honeymoon, our friends Laura and Geoff gave us a delightful box of unusual spices from Ambrosia, a spice and chocolate shop on Nantucket. As Laura rightly knows, owning a spice and chocolate shop ranks even higher on my wish list than opening my own artisanal radicchio farm, so this was an excellent choice. Laura has set forth the challenge that I should devise a recipe featuring each spice, and this month's feature is hibiscus.

Kapow!

Sweet Heat (Chocolate Chipotle Cookies)

Hello, ladies and gents!

Sorry to keep you waiting, we took a bit of a holiday hiatus. With all the running around between San Diego, Chesapeake, and Pennsylvania, I think we needed it. Now we're back in the kitchen and I have a new treat to share:

Mountain of cookies

Challenge: Accepted (Roasted Acorn Squash and Avocado Salad)

I was browsing some of my favorite food blogs the other week, when something stuck out to me on My Madeleine: a roasted squash salad from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty. Molly's blog is a great place for top-notch photography (I could spend hours looking at a tabletop alone) and honest-to-goodness recipes, present company being a great example. Plenty is a great book for produce: while Ottolenghi is not a vegetarian, it features only meatless recipes. It likewise offers gorgeous photos.

Taking a stab at it