Letter from Hen Waller » Recipes.

What we talk about when we talk about green chile

Patrick — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:51:53 +0000

Fresh chiles at the Westwind Gardens stand

Growing up in the Southwest, I took green chile for granted. I didn’t even really know what it was, other than a ubiquitous, delicious, spicy stew that was served in a bowl with tortillas on the side, over eggs, over a burrito, or countless other ways. The dish [...]

Harvest season musings and a chile pickle

Patrick — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:47:09 +0000

Chiles pickling in the late summer sun

A lot has changed in our lives since we started this blog in 2004. For one thing, the term “urban homesteader” has become a lot more common. For another, we’re not really doing much in the way of urban homesteading, lately. At least not in the sense that we [...]

Nettle soup: The taste of spring

Patrick — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:10:10 +0000

I’ve recently decided that spring is my favorite season for food. There’s something so exciting and delicious about all of the greens and sprouts and shoots that arrive with the last of the rains. Everything has an earthy flavor along with a mild vegetal sweetness; a lovely balance to take us out of the deeper [...]

Yummy Lentil Soup

Patrick — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:11:00 +0000

I’ve made this a couple of times and it totally hits the spot when you want a comforting hearty pot of lentil soup. Last night we hosted our weekly community supper at our house, so we made a big pot of this soup, a fabulous colorful crunchy salad, and spaghetti squash with sage butter and [...]

Savory Bread Pudding with Winter Greens

Patrick — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:56:03 +0000

I’ve been wanting to try this since we had a bread pudding with dandelion greens at Higgins last year. I got so excited about that dish at the time that the bartender said “You want the recipe? Lemme go ask the cook!” and brought back a scrap of thermal paper with a rudimentary recipe scribbled [...]

Broiled Chicken

Patrick — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 02:36:46 +0000

I seem to have discovered our broiler recently, and we’re really enjoying it. We’ve not had a very good broiler in the ovens in our previous houses. This one is a good old-fashioned salamander â€” a big hot flame emanating from the ceiling of the oven.

This recipe is an adaptation of Mark Bittman’s version [...]

A Good Solstice to All

Holly — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:32:37 +0000

I know that part of why I felt warm riding home, despite the dropping mercury, was the casual, friendly human contact of all of our interactions over the afternoon. Good people, doing what they do well, stopping to talk for a moment, making light in the [...]

Magical Fruit

Holly — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 18:00:03 +0000

I think there is something magical about fruit. Most fruit plants are perennial, and often somewhat nondescript in appearance for most of the year&3151;they are just part of the landscape. And then, suddenly, they are laden with fruit, wonderful, energy-filled, sweet tasting, beautifully colored treasures. [...]

Salad Dressing Ramble

Holly — Tue, 16 May 2006 00:20:38 +0000

I have loved salad my whole life (to my mother's delight), but in my preteen years that meant Wish Bone Italian dressing. I loved that dressing. I can still sharply visualize the little mysterious bits floating in the vinegar layer at the bottom of the bottle, beneath the top level of [...]

Braised Oregon Elk with Maitake Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions

Patrick — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 20:32:58 +0000

This is a recipe that has been a long time coming. We prepared this magnificent dish on Dec 11 of 2005. This is a record recipe, which is to say it is as I prepared it. See notes for other options.

The mushroom and onion treatment is thanks to Jerry Ver Brugge, who gave us [...]