Hi. I’m Isabel, I cook and scribble. I make a lot of food and do a lot of writing, and Bread & Courage is what I have to show for it. It started as a simple food blog called TASTE but evolved into something more—a place where I express my love of food, community and the environment. Thanks for spending some time here—and be in touch!
Zucchini, summer squash: crunchy, crisp, soft, charred, somewhat sweet, sometimes runny, best salted. I love these things. I hear a lot of people moan about how much is coming out of the ground. Too much, some say. Too much? I’ve eaten a lot of zucchini this summer, but it feels like our affair just got [...]
Gazpacho is always a surprise. I’ve never made the same batch twice, because the market and my mood are never the same.
I am a big fan of blending my gazpacho, although I also like it chopped. It depends on the goal: if avocado and lots of herbs or a green pepper are part of the [...]
Is this the time for ginger granola? Probably not, but I’ll tell you something: it got me through a lot this spring, and it goes great with slivered nectarines. It’s certainly the kind of thing I imagine eating in flannel PJs and slippers, but it has gone just fine with cotton t-shirts and old cut-offs [...]
I hope you’ll enjoy tonight as I will.
Go Huskies.
Texas Guacamole
Serves 4
1 large shallot, chopped
1 medium, red onion, diced, divided
1 jalepeno pepper, finely diced
1 large, red tomato, diced
2 jumbo avocados (or 4 small)
1/2 c chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
lemon juice
–
Saute the shallot and 1/2 of the onion in olive oil until soft and transluscent. [...]
A while ago, I though I would have time for salmon gravlax with buckwheat blini. Who was I kidding? I barely have time to butter an English Muffin. It might have been around New Year’s–when I was finishing up a month-long vacation, and when smoked salmon felt ’seasonal.’ The truth is, sometimes I get seduced [...]
My friend Mark, dear, amazing Mark, is the gentleman behind the best-ever gingersnaps. He is also the man who discovered this incredible batter, which comes straight from the pages of Saveur.
This recipe is the one I make when I need to make an impression. Since carrot cake seems relatively innocuous, nobody thinks you’re being a [...]
I just finished licking all ten of my fingers and am feeling like Sir Kay from The Sword and the Stone. For some reason, one of my most vivid childhood memories involves watching him take down a drumstick in a single lippy bite… and wincing in embarrassed self-recognition. I may have been disgusted then, but [...]
I really like a late summer plum. We’re into fall now, but still on the cusp, and stone fruit gets better and better from now until its dearth. I made a rustic plum galette recently, which is a nice way of saying that I made a dessert with permissibly crumpled edges and uneven folds. Every [...]
I have loved a lot of zucchini this summer. Never, even when it took over my garden and would not stop showing up in heaps and piles at the market, did I stop collecting it. I can pretty confidently say that I’ve eaten summer squash and zucchini every day for the last two and a [...]
If you want to make nice, make these. It’s amazing how people will fall for dessert in the morning if you tell them what they want to hear. In this case, “Jam.” Muffins are one of my favorite modes of deception (un-frosted cupcakes), although bars are equally versatile. If you added chocolate or toffee, your [...]
