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 It’s a sure sign of spring when the rhubarb pops up; it’s a perennial and is the first thing we can really start harvesting fresh each spring. This is a very simple but delicious way to use that first spring rhubarb, and the recipe can be varied endlessly with other fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, cherries, etc. Simply substitute 1/2 of the fruit quantity with whatever other fruit you’d like to use. We also like to double this recipe and that fits perfectly into a 13 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch standard baking dish (the crisp shown in the photo is a double recipe of 1/2 [...]
Continue reading Fresh Rhubarb Crisp
 This is so easy that it barely qualifies as a recipe, but the shrimp turn out so delicious when they’re cooked this way. They’re much tastier than boiled shrimp, and I think this preparation method is easier too (no boiling water pot to contend with), so it’s a winner all around. Just add some spicy cocktail sauce and you’ve got the best homemade shrimp cocktail you’ve ever tasted. I like to use the largest, wild-caught (not farm raised), shell-on shrimp I can find at the store, and adjust the cooking time by size. This makes enough to serve 6 – 8 as an appetizer [...]
Continue reading Roasted Shrimp
 The Swiss chard is looking beautiful in the fall garden, and this homey fritatta makes delicious use of it. For filling a fritatta like this, chard is one of our favorites for color and flavor; but other greens like escarole, frisee, collards, dandelion greens, arugula, and spinach can also be used. Greens always go well with salty bacon, but they also go exceptionally well with onion and garlic. If using the garlic, start the saute with the onion, then add the potatoes and greens, and add the garlic at the end so it doesn’t overcook and become bitter.
Another thing that I like about this recipe [...]
Continue reading Swiss Chard Fritatta with Bacon, Potatoes, and Cheese
 The peppers (red, yellow, and jalapeno) are all ripening in the garden now; so I’ve been making hot pepper jelly again (click here for the recipe). It’s great to have around for gifts and this quick appetizer - the appetizer is so easy it barely qualifies as a recipe. But, it’s always a hit wherever and whenever it’s served:
1 package (8 ounces) Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2 jar (4 ounces) hot pepper jelly*
Ritz Crackers
Place a serving dish big enough to hold the cream cheese on another larger serving dish. Place the softened cream cheese in the center dish, stir the hot pepper jelly in the jar [...]
Continue reading Cream Cheese & Hot Pepper Jelly Appetizer
 Thanks to my sister-in-law, Laura, for teaching me this super easy and delicious recipe for Key Lime pie. I’d always thought that making this kind of pie was going to be a major effort, but it’s actually so quick and good it’s ridiculous not to consider it for your next summertime party. It was great for the 4th of July celebration!
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 9″ graham cracker crust
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Combine the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice. Mix well. Pour into unbaked graham cracker shell. Bake in preheated oven [...]
Continue reading Easy & Delicious Key Lime Pie
 Making ricotta cheese at home is really simple and since we’ve got a supply of fresh milk; I decided to make some and flavor it with herbs as a cheese spread for our last party with friends. I flavored the freshly made ricotta with scallions (2 diced), fresh dill (2 tablespoon chopped), fresh chives (1 tablespoon chopped), 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. It was delicious! Since ricotta has a delicate flavor by itself, there are about a million different ways that it can be flavored and used, just make sure to allow time in advance so that it can [...]
Continue reading Homemade Ricotta Cheese
 I love recipes that I can prepare ahead and then serve a group; and this is one of those dishes. We had it over the Easter holiday and it was delicious – bread pudding for breakfast! What could be better? The recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten. I baked it ahead and then just reheated in the microwave before serving for breakfast. And since it’s served with maple syrup, we added maple bacon for a really great start to the day.
1 challah loaf (egg bread), sliced 3/4″ thick (I couldn’t find challah, so I used egg rolls instead)
8 extra-large eggs
5 cups [...]
Continue reading French Toast Bread Pudding
 This is another dish that we made over the holidays; and it was so yummy that there were several requests that it be posted to Better Hens and Gardens - so here it is. The fennel and Gruyère cheese really elevate au gratin potatoes to a special dish. It’s can go from the oven to the table, or can be cooked ahead and reheated at 350°F for 30 minutes – making it a truly versatile dish too. It’s adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten.
2 small fennel bulbs
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 pounds baking potatoes (4 large potatoes)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy [...]
Continue reading Potato Fennel Gratin
 The fact that “whole” foods are beneficial and that “white” refined products can lead to increased levels of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancers have been well documented; so we switched to baking 100% whole wheat breads a few years ago. We found that dense, heavy, unappealing 100% whole wheat breads are not the norm – light, nutritious, nutty tasting breads are entirely possible using 100% whole wheat; it just takes the right ingredients and equipment.
Describing everything we learned about how to bake light, delicious whole wheat products would be an extremely long post – so I decided to break it [...]
Continue reading 100% Whole Wheat Bread Baking (Part 1) – Wheat & Milling
 This chili is really more like a stew – just full of chicken and lots of red and yellow peppers. It can be made with chicken breasts from the grocery store, but is really tastiest when roasted heritage* chicken is used. It’s a favorite at our house - delicious and healthy too!
*Heritage chickens are traditional chicken breeds that are raised over a longer period of tme than today’s factory raised chickens, and therefore develop more flavor (see Heritage Birds for Real Chicken Flavor).
8 cups chopped yellow onions (6 onions)
4 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and diced (large dice)
4 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded, and diced (large [...]
Continue reading Heritage Chicken Chili
 This pot pie is terrific made with homegrown heritage* chicken, but it’s also delicious made using store-bought chicken breasts. It’s really a thick chicken stew covered with a puff pastry, so it’s very easy to do too. It’s quickly become one of our favorite ways to eat heritage chicken because it’s got so much real chicken flavor.
*Heritage chickens are traditional chicken breeds that are raised over a longer period of tme than today’s factory raised chickens, and therefore develop more flavor (see Heritage Birds for Real Chicken Flavor).
2 whole heritage roasting chickens (app. 4 lbs. each) or 3 whole, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
5 cups chicken stock [...]
Continue reading Heritage Chicken Pot Pie
 We’ve got a bumper crop of sugar snap peas this year (see Growing Sugar Snap Peas), so we’re actually beginning to tire of eating them straight from the garden. This is an easy, flexible, and delicious variation that everyone seems to love.
1 lb. raw sugar snap peas*
Dark sesame oil
Black sesame seeds (white or toasted white may be substituted)
Kosher salt (optional)
Wash, remove the stem end, and “string” each pod. Then toss the snap peas in a bowl with the sesame oil (a little goes a long way), sesame seeds, and kosher salt (if desired). Serve at room temperature. Obviously, the recipe can [...]
Continue reading Sesame Sugar Snaps
 This year, I’m happy to report that we’re getting a bumper crop of sugar snaps peas; and they’re absolutely delicious. As a result, I’m documenting exactly what I know about growing them, in hopes that there’ll be more bumper crops in future years.
What Exactly Are Sugar Snaps?
Sugar snaps (Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon), are a type of edible podded pea; similar to a snow pea except that their pods are round when mature rather than flat. They’re also similar to garden peas, except the pod is less fibrous, and can therefore be eaten when young. This eliminates the need for [...]
Continue reading Growing Sugar Snap Peas
 This is wonderfully flavorful; yet it seems light, perfect for springtime. You can serve Panna Cotta with just about any sweet or fruit topping; it doesn’t need to be strawberries - but the strawberries in balsamic are terrific with it. You’ve got to try it, it doesn’t look all that sensational, but it’s delicious!
Panna Cotta is an old Italian dessert, and I think this recipe was originally from Mario Batali; however, the idea for serving it with balsamic strawberries comes from the Barefoot Contessa At Home cookbook by Ina Garten.
1 packet unflavored gelatin (2 tsps)
3 cups heavy cream
2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
3/4 [...]
Continue reading Panna Cotta w/Balsamic Strawberries
This year I planned to grow only heirloom tomatoes (Brandywine, Green Zebra, and Eggyolk), but in a crazed moment (what if the heirlooms don’t produce this year?) I picked up some Early Girl transplants at the garden center. So, I have two orange tomatoes ripening in the garden right now, Brandywine and Early Girl.
The Early Girl tomatoes (picture on the right) look beautiful – deep orange, blemish-free, uniformly round, and you expect they’ll be delicious. The Brandywine tomatoes are not so pretty (the picture on the left). They’re deeply ribbed, often cracked, and randomly shaped. Folks that haven’t experienced heirloom tomatoes go straight for the Early Girls.
But beauty doesn’t create a great [...]
Continue reading A Tale of Two Tomatoes
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