winter

Easy Everyday Vegetable Stir-Fry

We had a couple days of unbelievable sunshine and warmth here in Dublin this week (though today it has turned cloudy and cool). In true la belle vie style my husband made the last minute decision to take a vacation day and we skedaddled off to Portmarnock beach. It...

Chicken Soup Noodle For What Ails You

It's that time of year. As winter draws to an end and spring threatens to break through, everyone seems to be suffering from a cough or a sniffle. I made it all winter without getting sick, and then BAM! It hit me like a freight train: a full blown head cold....

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake for Valentine’s Day

I love chocolate-- the darker the better. I might even say I need chocolate. Every day around 4:00pm I start rifling through kitchen drawers looking for my hidden dark chocolate bar. One little bite is all I need. A good quality chocolate bar is a beautiful thing, but...

Brussels Sprout Salad with Hazelnuts, Thyme and a Pink Lady

Happy New Year! I have a good feeling about 2014. The last year was one of change and transition as my husband and I moved from America to a small town in Ireland. This year holds so much promise! I'm eager to discover everything Ireland has to offer-- the artisanal...

Grandma Bercher’s Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls are a Bercher family tradition. It all started with my great grandmother, Frances Bercher. Born Frances Schuster in Germany, she immigrated to America with her family in 1908 at 13 years of age. Eventually she married my great grandfather and settled...

Duck Breasts with Pomegranate Sauce

Hello there! It's been a bit quiet here on La Domestique, but right now can find me over on Contemporary Living with a festive recipe for Duck Breasts with Pomegranate Sauce and Roasted Brussels Sprouts. It's a quick seared duck breast paired with a tangy, sweet sauce...

Barley Risotto with Irish Red Ale, Butternut Squash and Sage

It's been one of those perfect autumn days here in Cavan. We had blue skies and golden sunshine, the wind felt fresh and crisp, and there were even a couple passing sun showers. As I write this now I gaze out the window and watch the sun slowly disappearing behind the...

Autumn Mushroom Soup with Thyme and Brandy

Autumn is my favorite time of year. This is my first Irish autumn, and the change in country makes the season even more interesting. It's not the fall that I grew up with in Arkansas, which was marked by warm golden-hued days with dramatic red, orange and yellow...

Roast Chicken Legs with Mushroom Sauce

These photographs of Roast Chicken Legs with Mushroom Sauce were part of the series from my last post featuring Roasted Carrot Soup. I photographed this series  for a client and none of the recipes are my own. I cannot share the recipes here, but I thought you might...

Roasted Carrot Soup

A few weeks ago I photographed this Roasted Carrot Soup recipe for a client and I've been on a pureed vegetable soup kick ever since. Root vegetables like carrots, beets, and squash add a pop of color to the soup bowl that's most welcome during the grey days of...

Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Fennel and Red Bell Pepper

Hello there! We're halfway through January, can you believe it? To be honest, the past couple of weeks have been a blur for me. Has it been that way for you too? After taking a little time to relax and enjoy the holidays, I've been completely overwhelmed getting back...

Winter Salad with Grapefruit and Seared Scallops

I love a fresh start. A clean slate. A chance to begin anew. I don't make resolutions for the New Year, but I do become quieter and more thoughtful. After all the holiday parties and visiting, it's nice to retreat to my nest with the husband. I've been thinking a lot...

Irish Christmas Cake

Last night we ate our first slice of Irish Christmas Cake. To my Irish-born-and-raised husband, this fruit cake is an essential part of celebrating Christmas. If you ask him about Christmas cake, his eyes gloss over as he recites its virtues, from boozy dried fruit to...

Kosher Thanksgiving: Challah Stuffing with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts

Kosher couldn't be farther from the pulled pork sandwiches and steaks smothered in creamy sauces I grew up eating in Arkansas. So when I was asked to develop a Thanksgiving menu abiding by the laws of kashrut, I felt overwhelmed and intimidated. Growing up I didn't...

Chocolate Pear Tart

I've always loved apples. Come the first day of fall I'm dreaming of apple pie, apple butter, and warm apple cider spiked with brandy. The German in me loves applesauce with sausage. Don't forget apple turnovers for breakfast and apple cider doughnuts! I liked pears,...

Gravlax

Remember when I said I was having a Nordic moment in the kitchen, back in the beginning of June? Well, I guess that moment has turned into a full on obsession that led me to making my own gravlax. In case you missed it, check out my step-by-step gravlax tutorial on...

Egyptian Red Lentil Soup

Do you remember Egypt, or has it become muddled in your mind- stuffed towards the back of your brain with all those other Arab countries in rebellion? Life is busy, and time goes so fast, at least it does for us here in the United States. I would bet Egyptians feel...

Rose Water Scented Couscous with Citrus, Yogurt, and Almonds

It's 6:00 am. I can hear my husband's alarm softly ringing from his cell phone on the bedside table. My eyes open, and I'm startled by a wet nose in my face. Minnie, our daschund, is asleep between us, blissfully unaware that it's Monday. The sun has yet to rise, and...

Boca Negra, a Chocolate Chipotle Cake

Each week I contribute an article to the Whole Foods Market Cooking Boulder website expanding on one of the 10 Ways Tuesday ideas. This week I cooked and photographed a recipe for Boca Negra. For the full article, click on the icon below. The name says it all- Boca...

Fried Oysters

Each week I contribute a column to the Whole Foods Market Cooking Boulder Website expanding on one of the 10 Ways Tuesday ideas. Below is the original article from this week, a mixed seafood fry-up with oysters, squid, and scallops. The new year is a time to...

Leek & Blue Cheese Tart

Each time I pick an ingredient of the week, there is usually one dish I become obsessed with trying. For leek week that dish is leek tart. As I scanned the internet and my cookbooks for a recipe, my obsession was fueled by pictures of flaky pastry topped with buttery...

Cardamom & Prune Bread

I realized yesterday that winter has arrived in Colorado and it's here to stay. Rather than fluctuating between 80 degree days and snowstorms, we've settled into a peaceful season of sunny but decidedly chilly temperatures. I haven't seen a snowflake tumble from the...

Lebanese Flatbread with Lamb, Pomegranate Molasses & Winter Salad

I find myself turning to the cookbook Artichoke to Za'atar again and again for inspiration. Greg and Cindy Malouf have written a guide to "modern Middle Eastern food" organized alphabetically, by ingredient (no wonder I love it). William Meppem's photographs draw me...

Chestnut Stuffing with Caramelized Onions, Apples & Calvados

  Each week I contribute an article to “Whole Foods Market Cooking Boulder” website expanding on one of the 10 Ways Tuesday ideas. This week I shared a recipe for Chestnut Stuffing with Caramelized Onions, Apples & Calvados as well as my thoughts on the art...

Ingredient of the Week: Brussels Sprouts

Here in Boulder, Colorado, we've already enjoyed our first snows. The nights are chilly and days are crisp and sunny. It's the perfect time to harvest the ingredient of the week, Brussels sprouts. These tiny cabbages grow in clusters on a thick stalk, much like...

Ribollita

Each week I contribute a column to "Whole Foods Market Cooking Boulder" expanding on one of the 10 Ways Tuesday ideas. This week I shared a recipe for Ribollita, a hearty Tuscan soup featuring a type of kale called cavolo nero. Here is the original article: This...

Potato Galette

For my weekly "Whole Foods Market Cooking Boulder" column I've written about Pommes Anna, also known as a potato galette. Here is the original article and recipe: This week I’m welcoming fall with the humble potato. It’s easy to take this tuber for granted, she’s...