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Tag Archives: simple

A slice of pepper-ginger pound cake sits on a small plate, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a light yellow cascade of pawpaw puree. Two pawpaw seeds sit on the plate as garnish.

Pepper-ginger pound cake with a pawpaw puree

September 28, 2017by Mike Bierschenk 3 Comments

A great example of flavors combining in exciting, unforeseen ways: spicy cake, delectably sweet pawpaw, and simple vanilla ice cream come together in a harmonious dessert.

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Desserts/Sweet Things
Three salt-crusted new potatoes sit in a tiny dish in the foreground; behind them a good-sized bowl of peach-basil dipping sauce. In the background, a large two-handled pan full of more potatoes.

Salt-crusted potatoes with peach-basil dipping sauce

August 25, 2017by Mike Bierschenk 4 Comments

Cooking new potatoes directly in heavily salted water leaves them creamy on the inside and crispily salty on the outside. Combine that with a sauce that balances sharp garlic and vinegar against sweet peaches, leavened with aromatic herbs, and I’m in summer heaven.

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Appetizers/Snacks, Side Dishes, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
Closeup on a plate of fried potatoes, pale yellow discs of potato studded with brick-red rounds of sausage and soft shreds of meltingly soft jalapeño and onion. In the foreground, blurry, a bite potato and sausage speared on a fork, touched with mayonnaise from a thick dollop in the corner of the frame.

Mr. W’s campout potatoes

February 24, 2017by Mike Bierschenk Leave a comment

My homage to the fabulous potatoes one of my scout leaders cooked on most campouts. We had to beg for leftovers back then, but now I can make these spicy, salty fried potatoes any time I want.

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Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
Rows of pale pink pussyhat cookies (blood orange glazed sugar cookies) line up on a white platter, specks of red and orange zest adorning each one.

Blood orange glazed cookies for the Women’s March

January 25, 2017by Mike Bierschenk 3 Comments

Inspired both by a friend’s recipe and by the Women’s March on Washington, these vegan cookies are the real deal; rich and sweet and toothsome, with a tart, sweet cap of simple citrus glaze.

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Desserts/Sweet Things, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
Closeup on a spoon of black-eyed pea and okra curry, with rice, sitting in the midst of the larger plateful, the delicate white grains of rice contrasting with the hearty thickness of brown, red, olive, and green curry ingredients.

Black-eyed pea and okra curry

January 6, 2017by Mike Bierschenk Leave a comment

Earthy, hearty black-eyed peas in a thick, satisfying sauce brightened by tomato and spices, sweetened by coconut, and studded with tender green okra: I can think of no better start to a new year.

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Main Dishes, Stuff on Rice, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
Closeup on a bowl of butternut squash soup with ham an scallions. The soup is a deep gold color, studded with dark green scallions, half submerged. A spoon rest in the soup, its bowl partially lifted out, supporting a nubbin of pink ham and a round of pale-green scallion.

Butternut squash soup with ham and scallions

October 14, 2016by Mike Bierschenk 4 Comments

Butternut squash soup for people who think they don’t like butternut squash soups: salty and savory, rich with green onion and studded with chewy ham. Just right for the slow creeping-in of sweater weather.

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Main Dishes, Soups
A bowl of rice topped with "simple Swiss chard with garlic and crystallized ginger," sits on a wooden countertop. Next to it sits a stainless steel pan filled with more chard, the bright red and yellow stems punctuated the emerald-green leaves.

Simple Swiss chard with garlic and crystallized ginger

September 30, 2016by Mike Bierschenk 4 Comments

Sweet ginger, salty soy, bright earthy stems, and verdant leaves: whether an easy side for dinner, or a simple lunch with rice or bread, this is one of my favorite preparations for any greens, and it’s especially grand for chard.

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Side Dishes, Stuff on Rice, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
A thick slice of cornbread, covered in beans and topped with a fried egg, sits on a brightly-colored plate on a porch rail.

Vacation house beans and cornbread

July 29, 2016by Mike Bierschenk 8 Comments

I went to a mountain cabin in the Pacific Northwest, and I made… beans and cornbread? Yes I did. No regrets. Too good for regrets.

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Breakfast, Main Dishes, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
Pale yellow bay leaf rice, served in a small white bowl sitting on a wooden countertop. An olive-colored cooked bay leaf is tucked in along the edge of the bowl.

Bay leaf rice

April 21, 2016by Mike Bierschenk 1 Comment

Bay leaves usually play a supporting role, lending complexity to more complex dishes. In this rice, though, they step into the spotlight, infusing plain white rice with a heady perfume.

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Grains, Veg*n or veg*n-possible

Coconut creamed spinach

December 31, 2015by Mike Bierschenk 6 Comments

Absolutely the best spinach I’ve had to date. A half-hour simmer transforms a pile of disconnected vegetables into a rich stew with flavor far beyond its components.

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Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Stuff on Rice, Veg*n or veg*n-possible

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Shredded chickenThose peppers are just so redBroccoli MountainAlarmingly giant spoon handleLet’s just pretend that’s a snowscape, not a blown-out car windshield
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All text and photos © Mike Bierschenk, 2014-2016
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