Ward Street Bistro

Market Seafood Chowder

I think every cook should have an excellent seafood chowder in their repertoire. This is mine. Well, actually, it's my cousin Elise's, who was kind enough to share the recipe with me. Elise is the best cook I know. Now she should start a food blog. What I love about this chowder is how all the flavors just seem to sing together. It seems sometimes chowders can be too bland--or have flavors that overpower the seafood. I find the flavors in this version are just right.

You can go directly to the printable recipe or I'll show you how to make it step-by-step...

Red Wine & Mushroom Sauce for Beef

In my dreams, I would be the type of cook that makes my own stock, reduces it down, and makes all manner of fabulous sauces from the homemade demiglace. But, alas, my weekends are normally full of other activities that interfere with tending a long-simmering stock pot.

That's why I love this recipe - it's a deep, full-flavored sauce for beef that uses the technique of reduction, but with a much-quicker combination of red wine and purchased broth. And there is no limit to the variations: you can combine different types of fresh mushrooms, use all or part dried mushroom (incorporating the soaking liquid), and/or finish the sauce off with some fresh herbs (tarragon is a favorite).

I'm showing the sauce draped over a slice of beef tenderloin, but it's also excellent on grilled steaks and other cuts of beef. It can be made well ahead of time, stored in the fridge, and reheated before serving.

You can go directly to the printable recipe or I'll how you how to make it step-by-step...

Press-in-the-pan Pie Crust

This no-roll crust is delicious and super-quick to make. The folks at Cook's Illustrated call it a "No Fear" Pie Crust and I think it really is foolproof. Even if you are experienced at making pie crust this recipe has the advantage of being fast. Plus, the cream cheese in it gives it a bit of a tang and wonderfully tender texture. It will likely become a standard for me when making pies with a single crust, such as the Rhubarb Custard Pie.

I'll show you how to make this crust, step-by-step...

Rhubarb Custard Pie

It's high season for fresh, local rhubarb right now - the perfect time to make a rhubarb custard pie. This pie is a simple and old-fashioned combination of diced rhubarb, sour cream, and sugar with a brown-sugar streusel topping. Darn - spring eating doesn't get much better than this!

You can go directly to the printable recipe, or I'll show you how to make it step-by-step...

Quick and easy berry fruit crisp

Today, I'm doing a turn as a guest blogger at one of my favorite cooking sites: Kathy Maister's startcooking.com. For my guest post, I pulled out one of my all-time favorite recipes: this quick and easy berry fruit crisp.

Kathy has so many wonderful resources on her site for cooks. The step-by-step videos are amazing! They include basic techniques such as how to prepare garlic and onions, as well as recipes such as stuffed mushrooms. I love that she has put together a site just for "busy people who never got around to learning the basics of cooking."

Grilled Mustard-Rosemary Chicken

In Seattle, the weather is mild enough to grill year-round (and we do), but when spring approaches we are even more inspired to take our cooking outdoors. This grilled mustard-rosemary chicken has been a staple for us for oh-so-many years. It goes seemingly with every side dish imaginable and is especially wonderful with a bread salad. And if you don't have a grill--no worries--I've also included instructions for broiling the chicken, which we do on occasion as well.

You can go directly to the printable recipe or I'll show you how to make it step-by-step...