If you can grow it in your California Garden, we can help you figure out how to cook it! http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner.htm http://www.californiagardens.com/images/cooks_corner_logo_thumbnail.jpg http://californiagardens.com/lists/cooks_corner.htm Coleslaw is a sad and lonely side on a sandwich plate. An attempt to say, "Look, these are healthy vegetables on my plate!" but smothered in mayonnaise it's neither healthy nor appetizing. Maybe it's just that I don't like mayonnaise much, but I consider coleslaw a non-edible garnish on the side of my plate. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Savoy_Cabbage_Coleslaw.htm At first glance this beet tart looks like it belongs on the dessert table. The luscious red color, creamy filling, and crunchy walnut topping could all be at home on a berry pie. But it's an equally delicious dinner pie. Not as eggy as a quiche, this beet tart is more delicate and creamy than you ever knew a beet could be. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Beet_Tart.htm I've been reading "The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating." Between recipes for pig's ears and trotter (that Fergus Henderson makes sound surprisingly appetizing) I realized I don't even use the whole vegetable. Before I went on some crusade to eat beef tongue and end food waste, maybe I should start with the beet greens I'm so quick to throw in the compost. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Roasted_Beets_and_Sauteed_Beet_Greens.htm My mother is infamous in our family for her hatred of fish. She once spat a shrimp wonton out at a Chinese restaurant, not gracefully into her napkin, but full on spat across the table. I'll admit, I ordered shrimp wontons without telling her on purpose to see if she really hated seafood as much as she said she did... I won't be trying that trick again. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Pomelo_Ginger_Striped_Bass.htm I eat a lot of butternut squash. It was one of the first real foods my little guy ever ate. But like most things you do too regularly, I was stuck in a complete rut. I took the same route home from work every day and made every butternut squash into the same butternut squash soup. Now this was a great soup, just like my route was the most efficient, but I had other options. I could take the scenic route, or the one that passed right by the ice cream shop and I'd just have to stop. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Braised_Butternut_squash.htm Dilemmas, dilemmas. A tree bursting with tangerines and a bowlful of kumquats. I'm usually a plain scoop of ice cream kind of girl, but this just clicked for me. I had fun with all the contrasts: the sweet tangerine with the bitter kumquat and the warm sauce with the frozen ice cream. How is it that half melted ice cream is sometimes better than a perfectly cold scoop? http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Kumquats_And_Tangerine_Sauce.htm It's the only time of the year better than Christmas! Southern California's strawberry season has begun and it's time to start eating our fill of delicious fresh strawberries. We bought a whole box this last weekend and ate them straight out of the box, on top of our Sunday morning waffles, and in these delicious Strawberry Meringue Ice Cream Sandwiches. My little guy spent most of the weekend running around with a strawberry in each hand yelling, "Wow! Mmmmm!" http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Strawberry_Meringue_Ice_Cream_Sandwiches.htm That's right. Lemon Poppy Seed Turnips. Not muffins. Turnips. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Lemon_Poppy_Seed_Turnips.htm A squeamish cook starts with a whole bird and ends with Duck Prosciutto. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Charcuterie/January_Duck_Prosciutto.htm A quest to transform a boring landscape into an intensive edible landscape. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Edible_Landscape/Edible_Landscape_Diary.htm In the Middle Ages newlyweds would plant a rosemary branch on their wedding day. People believed that if the rosemary grew it was a good omen for the couple and their family. I didn't know this at the time, and we've already been married a few years, but it still does seem fitting that rosemary was the first thing we planted in our new yard. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Rosemary.htm Grenadine was originally a simple cherry or pomegranate syrup, but like so many foods, it has fallen prey to artificial flavors and colors and the dreaded high fructose corn syrup. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Grenadine.htm You're in for a surprise when you slice open this radish. The plain, unassuming exterior gives way to an amazing splash of color! Also known as the Chinese Radish, the Chinese name for the watermelon daikon is "xin li mei" aptly meaning "beautiful in the heart." http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Watermelon_Daikon.htm Did you know that the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is only distantly related to potatoes or yams? It's sad that we only cook with sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And even then it's usually the same old sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows. Sweet potatoes are exactly that: Sweet! They don't need all that extra sugar to shine.It's time to give the lowly sweet potato it's own identity! Starting with the sweet potato chip... http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Sweet_Potoatoes.htm While my all-time favorite Brussels sprouts recipe is still Mom's Brussels Sprouts with Red Onions, this new recipe for Brussels Sprouts Gratin is going to start making many repeat appearances at my dinner table. The Brussels sprouts are so moist and tender after they absorb the rich cream and parmesan cheese, and what couldn't make a vegetable dish better than adding a little bacon? http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Brussels_Sprouts_Gratin.htm A recipe for Lavender Honey Biscotti, add it to your edible gift baskets this holiday season! http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Lavender_Honey_Biscotti.htm Every week we get a huge bag of spinach in our CSA box. I was starting to get in a rut, making the same old salad week after week. Spinach with red peppers, toasted walnuts, chevre, and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Nothing wrong with that, but it was time to spice things up a little. I like the contrast between the sweetness of the Fuyu persimmon and the kick of the Dijon mustard vinaigrette. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Fuyu_Persimmon_Spinach_Salad.htm This is my grandmother's recipe for Hachiya Persimmon Bread. http://www.californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Hachiya_Persimmon_Bread.htm Hachiya Persimmon Cookies were a staple of my childhood. My mom made them more often than chocolate chip cookies. The recipe card is older than I am. It's a good thing she made them so often she has it memorized because I could barely read it and needed her to translate it for me. She can't remember why the baking soda was supposed to be added directly to the persimmon pulp instead of with the dry ingredients, but she insists there was a good reason. I'm tempted to try it the other way to find out, but I'm too scared to waste a batch of these delicious cookies! http://californiagardens.com/Cooks_Corner/Hachiya_Persimmon_Cookies.htm