Epicurable

Summer Supper from Farm Market Finds

2012-08-25T23:28:00.002-04:00

We took a trip to the Portland Farmer's Market this morning and came away with some great food finds. We bought some great pasta, heirloom tomatoes, and herbed goat cheese. We used all these finds and for supper tonight, we had tri-tip marinaded in a garlic and herb marinade; caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes; pasta (blend of three kinds); and caprese with herbed goat cheese appetizer.

Recipes:

Marinade for tri-tip

1/3 Cup soy sauce
1/3 Cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
1 T fresh rosemary
1 T fresh thyme
1 T brown sugar
1 T tomato paste
1 t. black pepper

Combine all ingredients in small bowl, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Marinade tri-tip all day or over night. Grill.

For the caprese salad we used heirloom tomatos layered with fresh mozarella and sprinkled with fresh basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The caprese appetizer was made with toasted herb bread spread with herbed goat cheese and topped with diced heirloom and fresh garden tomatoes, seasoned with balsamic vinegar and lemon oil.

At the farmer's market we found someone who made fresh dried pasta. It was wonderful. Every bit as good as my homemade. She mentioned she was going out of business within the year because she was having a baby in six months. I asked if she would share her secrets and she did. I hope to try her techniques out and share them in later posts. I bought five packages from her as a thank-you for sharing her secrets. The pasta above was a mix of about 1/2 tomato pasta, 1/4 regular, and 1/4 basil pasta. I tossed the pasta with a little olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. It was a great complement to the tri-tip.

This was a wonderful, light refreshing summer meal.

Clambake!

2011-08-14T14:25:00.000-04:00

(Or, as titled by Nathanael "Clambake, Clambake, oh what fun!")

Meet our dinner last night.

And a few of his friends:

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. Most women take their husbands out to dinner for their birthdays, or maybe stop by a bakery and buy them a nice cake. I, on the other hand, decided it would be fun to have a clambake for my husband's birthday. I mean, what could be more fun than bringing a little bit of beach to my closet-sized kitchen and tiny backyard in the middle of the city?

Not to be deterred by the fact that I had no sand, and couldn't dig a hole in my brick patio backyard, I found an alternate clambake method here. This goes to show that 1) you can find anything on the internet, and 2) there are people just as crazy as me out there!

Here is the pictoral version of our clambake, as documented by Nathanael. (Taken in my windowless kitchen, so they are a little dark!)

First, find some lobsters, and some friends. Thanks, Kirk, for helping with my mad scheme!

Next, give your lobsters some beer. You want them to die a happy death, after all:

Grab some fellow sea-creatures:

And some vegetables and seasonings:

Until your counter is full of ocean-y goodness:

Next, soak some cloths in cheap beer:

Lay a cloth out on the counter and put a lobster and handful of mussels and clams in the center:

Pile on ears of corn, red potatoes, a lemon, some quartered onion, smashed garlic, and some rosemary & thyme:

Add some italian sausage to the top, and tie up the bundle. Place your bundle on a large sheet of foil and wrap the bundle in seaweed:

Wrap your bundle securely in foil, and you are ready to grill!

While your clambake is cooking, enjoy a little beach ambiance:

After about an hour, check to see if everything is cooked:

Spread out on your picnic table:

Enjoy!

We pretty much followed the Washington Post recipe for this clambake. The proportions on that recipe are for giants, however; I used 6 1-lb lobsters, 4 lbs of mussels, 2 dozen clams, 10 ears of corn, 10 sausages, and 16 potatoes. We made 6 packets (plus a 7th with extra with veggies and mussels), and it was plenty to feed 12 people. We used the "steam in packets" method, but put the seaweed between the foil and the flour-sack cloth. This kept everything really moist and had a good flavor, plus was easy clean up! I was unable to find fresh seaweed, so I ended up using dried seaweed from the Chinese market. I soaked it overnight then drained it. We used about 3/4 a bag of charcoal, and let the grill heat for about half an hour before we started. We could get four packets on our grill at a time, so we did them in two shifts. Each packet cooked in about an hour (so the charcoal lasted just barely long enough to finish the second set--it may have helped to add a few more hot coals when we put on the second set). We grilled the sausages at the end (to get them crispy), and grilled a few of the mussels that hadn't quite opened yet. I also didn't prepare the lobster before serving it, like the article said. This is a clambake, people! You spread it out on the table and let everyone dig in! (Also, half the fun is watching your guests figure out how to crack open a lobster ;)). I served everything with drawn butter and chile-thyme spiced butter.

Sour Cream-Pecan Coffee Cake

2011-06-01T21:04:00.000-04:00

Hello, June! The 100 degree weather outside is a sad reminder that Spring is already over. May flew by so quickly, that I had little time to document my culinary adventures. But here's a quick photo tour:

My first attempt at cake-pops for a co-worker's farewell party:

Vanilla cake with dark chocolate and sprinkles. I also made red velvet cake with white chocolate. Tutorial here. The balls are on wooden skewers that I stuck into blocks of styrofoam (recycling!), and surrounded with greenery from my front yard.

End of the World Taco Party!

I may have made a little much food for this party ... that'll have to be a separate post.

And lots of brunches:

Lemon Rolls, Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms, Sour Cream-Pecan Coffee Cake

The coffee cake comes from a book titled Breakfast and Nine, Tea at Four. Naturally, I bought the book just based off of the title. Actually, I convinced my Dad to buy book for me by promising to make this coffee cake -- the first recipe I saw when I opened the book. I highly recommend making it for your Dad for Fathers Day!

Sour Cream-Pecan Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup softened butter, plus 2 tablespoons diced butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

2. Combine chopped pecans, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Spoon two tablespoons of this mixture into the greased bundt pan.

3. Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until cream. Add remaining sugar and brown sugar slowly, mixing until thoroughly combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat on medium low until thoroughly combined, but be careful not to over-mix. Gently stir in the vanilla.

6. Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan. It'll be very thick and heavy, so it is helpful to drop it by large spoon fulls into the bottom of the pan. You can use a slightly wet spatula to flatten the drops down and push them together. Sprinkle half of the remaining pecan/sugar mixture over the first layer of batter. Repeat with the remaining batter and pecan mixture. Top with diced butter.

7. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (be careful not to stick it into the middle pecan layer, which will be sticky). Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Gently loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and turn out onto a plate. It's easy to lose the top layer of batter in this step, so make sure your cake is pretty loose before you turn it out. But you can always stick it back together, or drizzle a glaze over the top if it falls apart!

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Fruit bouquet

2011-04-03T20:09:00.000-04:00

I was recently inspired by Edible Arrangements to do a little fruit art of my own. This was a super fun, although time consuming process. A few people have asked about it - so here's the step-by-step.

Start with a flower pot and some floral foam:

For about 50 skewers of fruit, I used a pineapple, a cantaloupe, one green apple, a small bunch of red grapes, and 2 pounds of strawberries.

I cut some cantaloupe wedges to look similar to apple slices and skewered them from the tip into the heart of each slice:

Grapes were stacked three to a skewer:

The pineapple was cut using a flower-shaped cookie cutter. I had to use a small piece of melon rind to secure the pineapple flower so it didn't slide down the skewer. Alternatively, you can cut your pineapple so that the core (which is firmer) is in the center of the flower and skewer it that way:

Place a ball of melon on top after skewering on the pineapple flower. You'll want to use skewers of varying lengths to create the bouquet effect.

Getting started:

The strawberries were easy - just stick a skewer in through the stem until it doesn't quite push out the tip.

Any of the fruit can be dipped in chocolate, but this is more time consuming. I would budget 1 to 2 hours for a regular fruit bouquet and 2-3 hours for one with a lot of chocolate dipped fruit. The ingredients will run around $15 to $20. But they sell for $60 to $100 to if you enjoy the effort, it's a great money-saver! I think this would be a fun project to do with a friend.

Just pack as many in there as the floral foam will hold!

The chocolate dipped version:

To finish off, use some parsley to fill in the gaps and cover up the sticks a little bit.

Oranges, Part II

2011-03-07T12:32:00.000-05:00

Lest you think I'm really odd for posting a recipe for candied citrus peel in March (it's a Christmas treat, after all)... There was a reason. It looks like this:

This particular recipe adventure didn't even start out with a desire to make candied citrus peel -- it started with the cake. You see, this cake has two entire oranges in it. Yes, the WHOLE orange, pith, peel and all. So naturally, I had to see if this really could be done.

And what is a cake without a little decoration? Enter the candied citrus peel. Now if I could just figure out what to do with all of the naked oranges in my fridge...

The verdict: yes, you really can make a cake out of whole oranges. Despite numerous warnings from other websites that this cake only works if you boil your oranges for hours first, this cake wasn't bitter at all. In fact, it was delicious--rich and buttery, thanks to a few key ingredients:

Three eggs, three sticks of butter, two cups of sugar -- how could that not be good!?

Whole Orange Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze

from Alejandra Ramos of "Always Order Dessert"

Ingredients
2 whole oranges, scrubbed and washed well
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups granulated white sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour a Bundt pan and set aside.
2. Quarter the oranges, remove any seeds if not using navel, and put in food processor to puree. Set aside.
3. While the oranges are pureeing, cream the butter and sugar together in the base of an electric mixer for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until each is fully combined. Add the orange puree and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix into the wet ingredients gently, just until fully combined.
5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan, spreading so that it is evenly distributed. Bake at 350 for about 60 minutes or until a tester inserted in the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool. Cool completely before frosting:

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

Ingredients (the original recipe called for twice this amount -- I used 3/4 of the original recipe, and had leftovers... I think this amount should be sufficient)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup chocolate chips -- I highly recommend Ghiradelli's 60% Cacao chocolate chips

Put the chocolate chips in a small heat proof bowl. Heat the heavy cream over medium heat just until small bubbles begin to form. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips, let sit for 30 seconds, and then and whisk gently until fully melted and combined. Let cool for 15 minutes. Slowly pour the ganache over the cake in a circular motion, allow it it slide drip down the sides. Try to refrain from spreading it around with a spatula, and work quickly. It may take a few tries to get a smooth ganache -- but don't worry, it'll taste so good no one will notice the imperfections!

Top with candied orange peels -- let the ganache set for 15 minutes, then press in the peels gently. Let the glazed cake set for at least an hour before serving. It will keep for 3-5 days under plastic wrap.

Oranges, Part I

2011-03-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

Candied Orange Peels

(mostly) from David Lebovitz' "The Perfect Scoop"

2 large oranges (or citrus fruit of your choice), washed and scrubbed well
1 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for coating
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
pinch of salt

1. Remove strips of orange peel with a knife or vegetable peeler. Cut from pole to pole, creating long straight strips and trying to keep edges as smooth as possible. Gently scrape most of the white pith off of each peel (depending on how think you want your strips to be -- my first batch was too thin and became very brittle. Cut the peel into 1/8 inch match sticks (for curls) or into larger pieces for chunks.
2. Place the peels in a sauce pan and cover with an inch of water. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse well. Repeat this process twice more, using fresh water each time. This step helps remove the bitter taste from your orange peels. Some recipes recommend boiling for up to an hour, but I found 15 minutes to be sufficient.
3. Combine 1 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil and add the blanched orange peel. Simmer as slowly as possible until the syrup reaches 230 degrees fahrenheit. This should take a good 20-30 minutes, if not longer. Watch the pot very carefully once your thermometer gets above 220. It will take a long time in the 212-220 range, and then reach 230 very quickly. I burnt my first batch because I wasn't watching it closely enough!
4. Let the peels cool in the syrup. You can then either store them in the syrup in the refrigerator, or you can sugar them. To sugar the peels, gently lift them out of the syrup with a fork, letting the excess syrup drain off. Separate the peels and lay them on wax paper. Let them dry out for 30 minutes. Toss the peels in granulated sugar, and let dry for another 30 minutes, or longer if they still feel sticky. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. I also hear these are pretty fantastic dipped in dark chocolate.

*Notes: I always recommend using a candy thermometer, as it takes the guess work out of cooking. They are very inexpensive and can be obtained at any cooking store, or even Walmart or Target. If you don't have one, however, just cook the peels until most of the syrup has boiled away and the peels look crystalized. The syrup will have just started to look foamy as it boils.

I also don't recommend halving this recipe unless you have a very small saucepan--use the same amount of syrup even if you have one orange. Otherwise there won't be enough syrup to cover the peels and you are in danger of it cooking too fast, or your thermometer not giving an accurate reading.

Apparently there is also great controversy over the *correct* way to make candied fruit. Some recipes claim it takes days to properly candy something, while others think it can be done in just an evening. Since I was experimenting anyway, I decided to try the quick method first, of course. It worked wonderfully! I do plan on trying the longer method at some point, though, for a proper scientific comparison. And of course, I'll have to test out a few more kinds of fruit... ;). Have you tried candying anything? How did it turn out?

Roasted Vegetable Medley

2011-01-14T17:59:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the blogger hiatus. The gourmet among us got a full time job, and my problem is I just spend way too much time making mac & cheese and spaghetti and other such boring kid-friendly foods. But, we recently had company and I had the chance to try out an amazing recipe that was shared by a friend of mine (Yvonne, you have changed the way I look at vegetables!).

There are two amazing things about this recipe. First, the fact that this post is being done by the sister who used to hide carrots in her napkin at dinner time and not the sister who was nicknamed "vegetable vacuum." The second amazing thing is the way the flavor of the vegetables changes so drastically when you roast them compared to just zapping them in the microwave or boiling them in water on the stovetop.

I used this recipe to as a starting point but substituted the vegetables I felt like using that day. I just cut them up, drizzled them with olive oil, and baked them in a 425 degree oven for about an hour (for firmer veggies) or 40 minutes (for softer veggies).

These pictures are not the greatest but I am not married to a photography enthusiast like my two blogging partners so you'll have to use a little imagination. I roasted some red potatoes and some sweet potatoes:

And some carrots, parsnips, and zucchini:

The zucchini ended up getting too soft so I think next time I'll try to find a firmer squash.

After the vegetables were thoroughly roasted and a deep golden brown, I tossed them with salt, pepper, some minced garlic and some chopped basil. So simple yet so amazingly delicious - you must try it!

Butternut Squash

2010-11-09T21:09:00.001-05:00

So I'm discovering that working a full-time job is not conducive to keeping up with the blog. I have been cooking alot lately, I just haven't been taking the time to take any pictures! Or maybe the food is just gone before I get around to that... I'll let you decide ;).

At any rate, I wanted to share a few of my new season's favorite recipes --- before all of the butternut squash on your grocery store shelves is replaced with eggnog!

I absolutely love butternut and acorn squash. Unfortunately, no one else in my family seems to share my affinity. Growing up, roast acorn squash was one of the meals Mom and I would make for dinners with just the two of us. And now my husband swears he doesn't like squash.

So here are three ways I've found around my family's unjustified hatred of squash. I'd recommend trying these on the squash-haters in your family... I think you may even get your Dad to like them ;).

Maple-Roasted Squash

An Ina Garten favorite I posted in February.

3-ingredient Butternut Squash Soup

The idea from this soup came from Metrocurean, a local DC blog, but the secret ingredient is all my own! This was the best squash soup I've ever had.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and diced

4 cups of chicken broth (less if you like thicker soup)

1/4 - 1/2 cup coconut milk

1. Place diced squash and chicken broth in a sauce pan, making sure the broth covers the squash. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the squash is soft.

2. Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender (don't burn yourself!) and puree until smooth.

3. Return mixture to pan and slowly drizzle in coconut milk until soup reaches your desired consistency and taste. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I'd recommend this, even though it does bring your ingredient count to five ;)).

This was excellent served with grilled cheese sandwiches. And it may have been even better in my lunch the next day.

Butternut Squash Pasta with Browned Butter, Sage, and Pine Nuts

Adapted from the Kitchn

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and diced

1/2 a sweet onion, chopped finely

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 T +1 t olive oil, salt, and pepper

4 T butter

1 bunch fresh sage

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

half a pound of dried spaghetti (the original recipe called for farfalle, but I like how the squash coated the spaghetti noodles. Plus I was out of farfalle ;))

freshly grated parmesan cheese, to taste

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place squash, onion, garlic, and 2 T chopped sage in a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast, stirring every 15 minutes, until squash is soft and slightly browned, about 45 minutes.

2. When the squash is close to done, cook pasta to al dente.

3. While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 T butter and 1 t olive oil in a large saute pan. When the bubbles start to subside, add remaining sage leaves and cook, stirring frequently, until sage is crispy. Remove sage with a slotted spoon. Crush the leaves with the back of the spoon, and set aside.

4. Return pan to stove and add remaining butter. Cook over medium heat until butter solids begin to brown and the butter smells nutty.

5. Add squash to pan and mash mixture until just a few small pieces of diced of squash remain. Add drained pasta, pine nuts, and sage. Saute for a few minutes to pan fry the pasta and evenly coat it in squash mixture. If you have a smaller saute pan, you may want to do this in two batches.

6. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Butterscotch Gingerbread Cookies

2010-11-03T00:46:00.000-04:00

I call these my "tastes-like-fall" cookies and I like to make them at this time of year.

I got the recipe from a friend (shout out to Becca if you're reading this!) and I quickly adopted it as one of the more unique cookie recipes in my repertoire.

The recipe starts out with your basic cookie ingredients - butter, flour, sugar, eggs - and a few special ones - most notably molasses and butterscotch chips, along with some cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

Cream the butter and the sugar, beat in the wet ingredients, then stir in the dry ingredients... if you're a fellow cookie lover, you know the drill. When the dough comes together it looks something like this:

You'll have to excuse the lack of pictures for this cooking endeavor, but you would have difficulty remembering to take photos, too, if you had a half-naked urchin hanging on your oven incessantly asking "my have some, mama?"

So without further ado, here's the recipe if you want to give it a try:

Butterscotch Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 (11 oz) package butterscotch morsels

Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg and molasses until creamy. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl; mix in. Add morsels. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen.

This post is not about pumpkins!

2010-10-21T17:18:00.000-04:00

Don't get me wrong, I love fall (which has finally arrived in DC!!!).... but it seems that every time I check my blog feeds, someone else has posted a recipe using pumpkins. I love seasonal eating, but I think every now and then the fall internet world needs something not made out of squash.

So I made lemon bars! Everyone needs a little buttery, lemony, sugary goodness to round out their fall afternoons. (Of, course, if you're looking for pumpkin, I'd recommend trying these, or these... or these.)

Confession: I forgot to take a picture of the cut bars before they were gone. What can I say? They were really good...

Lemon Bars

A fair warning: This recipe contains a lot of eggs, butter, and sugar (Especially if you make 1 1/2 times the recipe, like I did -- I shared, I promise!). That is why it is sooooo good. Just run and extra mile tomorrow, and don't tell anyone you serve these to the caloric secret to their amazingness ;).

Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons powdered sugar

3/4 cup butter

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups of sugar

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (2-3 lemons)

zest from one lemon

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine crust ingredients and cut with a pastry blender until butter is in pea-sized clumps. Press crust evenly into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

3. Bake crust for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

4. While crust is baking, beat together eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest with a wire whisk. Mix together flour and baking powder, then gently stir into egg mixture. The mixture should have just a thin layer of bubbles on top. This will give you the nice flakey crust on top of your bars, but be careful not to overmix it.

5. Pour filling over warm crust and return to the oven for 20-25 minutes until filling is set and edges are slightly brown.

6. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 mins. Sprinkle powdered sugar and lemon zest on top. When pan is cool enough to handle (but still warm), cut the bars. You can remove them from the pan or leave them in there for the rest of the cooling.

Generally, you cool lemon bars before serving them. But sometimes I'm impatient and eat them while they are warm O:-).

Easy Apple Crisp

2010-10-18T22:15:00.001-04:00

If you are lucky enough to be swimming in freshly picked fall apples in varieties with names like Ambrosia and Senshu, give this a try... homemade apple crisp with just 5 other ingredients!

Peel, core, and slice five large apples for a 9" x 9" pan. Toss them with sugar (1/2 cup or to taste), flour (2 or 3 tablespoons will do), and cinnamon (to taste). Add a dash of lemon juice or water if you need to thin it out.

The topping is just as simple... Mix some flour and sugar together and cut in some butter.

Then just spread your streusel topping over the apples and bake for about 30 minutes.

Top with apple ice cream... but that's another post.

Easy Apple Crisp

5-6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
few dashes of cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons flour + 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter

Toss apples with 1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste), 2-3 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon to taste. Use a splash of lemon juice or water if you need to make it coat the apples. Arrange apples in 9" x 9" pan. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup brown sugar, cut in butter. Spread topping over apples. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown and apples are at desired softness.

Apple Fritters

2010-10-05T15:06:00.001-04:00

Our swelteringly hot summer finally decided to leave on the second day of October. Yes, October. On the third day of October it was 55 degrees and raining, so I guess winter is here now.

I miss Fall!

The weather forecast, at least, is giving me a small glimmer of hope -- it's supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny this weekend. So in holding out for a least a little fall weather, I'm making some apple fritters.

So for those of you who still live in New England and get to experience this wonderful season... go out and pick some fresh apples and make these:

Apple Fritters

Ingredients:

1/2 c. milk

1 egg

2 T. butter

grated rind and juice from 1/2 an orange

1/2 c. finely chopped apples

1/2 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. cake flour*

1/4 t. salt

1 T. baking powder

*(I used regular flour that I sifted a few times... this would probably be even better with cake flour!)

Directions:

Whisk together milk, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Add orange juice, rind, apples, and vanilla. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to large bowl, stir until just combined. Let batter sit while oil heats up (I just used about 1/2" of canola oil in a deep-sided pan on the stove). Drop batter by spoonfuls into hot oil and deep fry until browned (make sure you keep your oil between 350 and 375 degrees, otherwise the fritters will absorb too much oil as they cook). Remove from oil and pat dry with paper towel. Toss in cinnamon sugar, if desired. Makes about 8 large fritters.

Enjoy warm! They tend to get a little soggy after a day or so, but they still taste good ;).

Chicken Tortilla Soup with Style

2010-09-30T22:26:00.000-04:00

Buying Direct TV for the duration of a 6-hour plane flight is not a good idea if you are easily inspired. It is like putting a fox in the hen house. As a result of an extended exposure to cooking shows on my last cross-country flight, I now have a perfected Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe with a twist of fun and lime.

This will be a bonus post because I will include my method of making chicken stock, fried rice and tortilla toppers at the end of the recipe. You don't have to use the homemade version of these items. Just use whatever is convenient for you.

This fun version of Tortilla Soup is done by layering rice, beans and cheese in your bowl first, and then covering it with your tortilla soup. Lastly, you will top it with your favorite toppers.

Tortilla Soup

Chicken stock (3 quarts) recipe for homemade below

Better than boullion chicken base (1-2 Tablespoons)

Salsa verde (8 ozs)

Roasted corn (3/4 cup) regular corn is fine

Carrots (2-4 cut up in small pieces)

Green onions (two, chopped well into the green part)

Celery (two stalks chopped)

Canned diced green chillies (1 small can or a little less)

Taco seasoning (3/4 of the package)

Roasted chicken ( a breast, three thighs; chopped in bite-sized pieces)

These are the approximate amounts I used. You can adjust to your personal tastes and what you have on hand. I simmer everything but the chicken for about and hour, then add the roasted chicken at the end so it doesn’t fall apart so much. You can serve this immediately or let it cool and reheat it when you are ready. The flavors seem to meld together more when reheated. The salsa verde is a new thing I tried a while ago. I think it does for the chicken stock, what canned tomatoes do for a beef broth when you are making vegetable soup.

You can use whatever kind of rice you have on hand. But if you want to try making fried rice, here is the way I do it. Put 3-4 tablespoons of a half butter/half oil mixture in a skillet and heat it. Add two cups of rice and toss until rice is thoroughly coated. Fry the rice on a low-medium heat until it is lightly browned. Add 4 cups of chicken broth made with Better than Boullion chicken base. Cook 20 minutes on low or until done. Toss lightly to separate rice grains.

You can use canned black beans or cook your own. To cook your own, simmer raw beans for 3-4 hours or until tender. Drain.

Layer the hot rice, hot beans and cheese; then cover with tortilla soup. Top with your favorite toppings.

Suggested Toppings

Salsa

Cheddar cheese

Jack cheese

Cotilla cheese

Olives

Avocado

Sour cream

Tortilla toppers (recipe below)

Top off with a twist of lime! And pass the margarita pitcher, please.

To make Tortilla Toppers
Lightly brush flour tortillas with cooking oil. Cut in small strips. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. This may work with corn tortillas, but I haven’t tried that yet.

Chicken Stock

Water

Bony chicken pieces (I include necks, hearts, gizzards (but not the liver), wings backbones, ribs and other bones leftover from when I roast whole chickens.)

Carrots (3-4 cut in 1-2 inch lengths)

Onions (half an onion cut in fourths and the layers separated)

Celery (3-4 stalks plus greens)

I don't usually measure just throw it all in a pot and simmer for 3-5 hours. I usually use a 6-quart pot. I probably have my pot at least half full of water. Strain all the stuff out and cool the broth, then chill for twenty-four hours. Remove the hardened layer of fat from the top. You should have a medium thin gelatinous mixture. I use this chicken stock for my dressings and casseroles also.

A recipe for a perfect Friday night

2010-09-17T12:15:00.007-04:00

Step 1: Find a park with a free concert. Like Jazz in the Garden.

Step 2: Spread a blanket on the ground and eat delicious appetizers picnic-style while listening to the concert.

Step 3: Return home and grill Marinated Vegetables and chicken for Lemon Oregano Chicken Pasta.

Step 4: Eat dinner at dusk on your back patio with plenty of candles and a bottle of wine.

Crostini with Whipped Feta, Marinated Red Peppers, and Olive Tapenade

adapted from Cooks Illustrated (Sept/Oct 2010, pg 20)

Marinated Red Peppers
2 red peppers
1 medium clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon red peper flakes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1. Place whole red peppers under broiler and broil until charred on all sides, turning frequently. Cover peppers with foil and set aside until cool enough to handle (20-30 minutes). Remove stems, seeds, and peels. Chop finely and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine chopped roasted peppers, garlic, vinegar, oil, sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt. Place into a decorative container (like a jelly jar) and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Olive Tapenade
1 jar pitted kalamata olives (about half a cup)
1 medium garlic clove, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small shallot, cut into chunks
juice from half a lemon
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until a rough paste forms. Place into a decorative container (like a jelly jar) and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Whipped Feta
8 oz. Feta cheese
juice from half a lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth (10-20 seconds). It should have the consistency of softened cream cheese. Place into a decorative container (like a jelly jar) and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Crostini
1 large baguette (french or italian is fine), sliced 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick
olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Gently rub garlic clove on one side of bread. Brush both sides with olive oil.
3. Arrange bread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast until top begins to brown (5-10 minutes), flip over and toast until other side beings to brown (2-4 minutes).
To Serve: Spread a thin layer of feta cheese on toasts. Top with peppers or olive tapenade. This is also excellent with water crackers, if you don't feel like making toasts.

Salsa Verde

2010-09-15T11:43:00.000-04:00

One thing I quickly learned about living in D.C. is that it impossible to grow tomatoes. Not the plants themselves, just the fruit. Our backyard is home to some of the tallest tomato plants I have ever seen, but the minute the fruit begins to turn red, it disappears. Out of our walled backyard. Apparently, we have kleptomaniac squirrels.

This year, my neighbor (who shares our backyard) found a way to outwit the squirrels: grow green tomatoes! Either our squirrels aren't familiar with Mexican food, or they just don't like the color green -- but in either case, they rarely touch the tomatillos. Which is quite a loss for them, because our backyard is FULL of tomatillos.

So I, of course, decided to make salsa.

Salsa Verde

loosely followed from Simply Recipes

A note on peppers: I actually used cayenne peppers in this salsa, since I had them on hand. The red flecks made my salsa look really pretty! I used two, and my salsa wasn't spicy at all. If you don't want too much spice in your salsa, I'd recommend using half the amounts of peppers listed below, then adding more slowly. I also recommend letting your salsa sit a day before you serve it--this greatly improves the flavors.

A note on sugar: Tomatillos are pretty tart when they are first ripe (firm & apple green colored), and sweeten as they ripen more (yellow-green colored). Generally, tomatillos are considered best when they just fill the husk and are bright green. Since I didn't want to waste any tomatillos from our bushes, I ended up using quite a few that were on the yellower end of the spectrum. Plus my husband likes sweet things, so I figured that wouldn't hurt. As a result, my salsa didn't need any sugar. If you use less ripe tomatillos, your's may.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs tomatillos

1/2 white onion

1/4 red onion

2 jalapenos or 1 serrano, stemmed and seeded

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

juice of 1 lime

salt & pepper

1/4 teaspoon sugar (optional)

1. Cook the tomatillos. You can a) boil them or b) roast them

a) Boiling (the fast method): Remove husks and wash tomatillos. Place tomatillos in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes. Drain water.

b) Roasting (the slow method): Remove husks and wash tomatillos. Cut tomatillos in half and arrange cut side down on a broiling pan. Broil on high heat until tops are slightly charred (about 6 or 7 minutes).

2. Place onions, peppers, and cilantro leaves in a food processor and process until chopped finely. Remove to large bowl and set aside.

3. Place cooked tomatillos in food processor and process until small chunks of pulp remain.

4. Add tomatillos to bowl with onion mixture. Add lime juice, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir well.

5. Refrigerate until ready to serve (preferably at least 24 hours). Adjust seasonings before serving.

(yes, I did line those all up just for the picture)

Grilled Pizza Margherita

2010-09-11T14:46:00.000-04:00

September is finally here! Which means two things: It's finally not 100 degrees out every day, and the farmer's markets are full of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes.

Although we do live in a tiny apartment with a tiny kitchen, we also happen to live in the basement of a rowhouse with a beautiful back patio. And with a little TLC and a lot of weeding, it is now the perfect place for late summer grilling parties. So last weekend we decided to christen our patio by grilling pizza.

Now for some reason, I have bad luck with pizza. I mean, my pizza always tastes good, but it usually sticks to something, or crumples when I try to get it onto the pizza stone, or loses toppings on the bottom of the oven, or sets off the fire alarm. Or all of the above. So you can imagine my husband's skepticism when I suggest we try pizza on the grill.

But it actually turned out to be so easy, and fun, that his comments turned from a begrudging "ok, I'll help you grill pizza" to "look at the pizza I grilled!" But hey, if we get to eat something this good, I'll take that any day ;).

Our favorite pizza is the classic Pizza Margherita, so we decided to try it with the cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves from my garden. It was amazing:

Grilled Pizza Margherita
Ingredients
one recipe no-rise pizza dough, below
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
olive oil
15-20 fresh basil leaves
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

The key to good grilled pizza is to make it quickly. You'll want to set all of your ingredients on platters by the grill so that you can top your pizza quickly while it is on the grill.
1. Heat the grill. It should be pretty hot, and you will want to cook the pizza directly over the heat.
2. Roll pizza dough into thin circles, 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. I like to use my hands, as this stretches the dough better, but you can also use a rolling pin. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil, and set on a platter.

3. Prepare toppings. Arrange the dough, toppings, and any utensils you need close to your grill.

4. When your grill is hot, gently place rolled out dough directly onto the grate. This take some practice if you are using your hands, as you can see from our slightly crooked pizza. You could also use a pizza paddle.

5. Grill for 2-3 minutes, checking the bottom frequently. It chars really fast! You'll want some char, but not an entirely blackened pizza.

6. Flip pizza over and quickly spread out your toppings. Don't pile them very high, or the pizza won't cook well. Place the lid on the grill (this will help melt the cheese), and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Again, check the bottom frequently!

It takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of it, but hey, the pizza tastes great no matter how you cook it! Cut the pizza with kitchen scissors and serve immediately.

No-Rise Pizza Dough
from the Kitchn (Makes 2 pizzas --- which we pretty much demolished with just two people)
3/4 cup warm water (100 - 110 degrees F)
1/2 teaspoon yeast
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Dissolve yeast into water. Sprinkle a little sugar over the top, and let it set for a few minutes to activate your yeast. It should be bubbly.
2. Combine flour and salt. Add yeast mixture and stir until combined.
3. Knead dough until soft and elastic. It should not be sticky. Divide in half, cover and let rest for 5 - 10 minutes.

P.S. For a more detailed tutorial on grilling pizza, you may want to check out this blog.

Fun things to grill this summer: Corn on the cob

2010-09-08T07:39:00.042-04:00

If you live anywhere that is not the Pacific Northwest, chances are you have grimaced almost daily this summer at the thought of turning on your oven to make dinner. Well, unlike the rest of the country, it's been cold and rainy most of the summer here in Oregon. But we still wouldn't want to miss out the most fun part of summer cooking--firing up the grill.

As you can see from some of my previous posts, we've enjoyed preparing our entire dinner on the grill. Corn on the cob is another great option for the grill, but today we were looking for something a little less messy. I love the flavor of roast corn--sweet and slightly charred--so I decided to grill the corn on the cob, then cut the kernels off with a knife. For a little a color, I added my 'fiesta mix.'

Fiesta Corn

Serves two as a side dish
1 large ear of corn (about 3/4 cup of cut corn), husked
2 teaspoons oil/butter
1 Tablespoon red pepper, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro
squeeze of lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Toss the pepper, onion, and garlic with olive oil, and let it set while you prepare the rest of dinner.
Grill the corn until charred to your taste. Let the corn cool for a few minutes, then cut off kernels with a knife. Set aside.
Lightly saute pepper and onion mixture with a little butter. Toss with corn.
Add lime juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.

My calm and peaceful summer

2010-09-03T12:42:00.000-04:00

What, that isn't what your summer looked like? Yeah, mine neither.

I spent last summer looking for an apartment, moving, looking for a job, wedding planning, looking for another apartment, moving again, and looking for a new job.

So far I've spent this looking for an apartment, moving, and looking for a new job.

I think I'll skip next summer.

But we are now finally settled in our new town:

And our new kitchen:

(Which is yes, about the size of a closet. Actually, this apartment has more closet space than it does kitchen space. I turned one of of the closets in to a pantry.

But my new kitchen also contains some new features to aid in my cooking endeavors: a gas stove and a dishwasher! Theoretically, this means you should be seeing more posts from me. I mean, less time dishwashing means more time blogging, right? I guess you'll have to wait and see.... ;))

Watermelon Cookies

2010-07-04T09:37:00.000-04:00

(You have to scroll to the bottom of this page to see the final product -- sometimes you have to save the best for last).

I told Nathanael I wanted to make watermelon cookies for our 4th of July bash today, and he looked at me in surprise. As if he thought I was contemplating making something really disgusting. No, not cookies made of watermelon, I assured him. Cookies that look like watermelon.

And then he gave me the knowing look that says "oh, she's about to put way too much effort into baking something simple like cookies again."

Well, that may be true. But it's always worth it, I promise!

I remember making these cookies with Mom when I was a kid, so while a little time-consuming, they are a great family project. The cookies are just your basic butter cookies:

With a few extra-special ingredients:

Watermelon Cookies

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well.

2. Combine flower, salt, and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture until well mixed.

3. Form dough into a ball and cut into thirds. Leave the smallest portion white (yes, I'm assuming you all, like me, can't make equally-sized balls of dough ;)). Color the other two green and red. To do this, I flatten the ball of dough, and squeeze a few drops of food coloring on it. Let the coloring soak in a little, then knead with your hands to distribute the color. I usually do 3 drops at a time until I get the dough to my desired color.

See, watermelon colors!

but wait, there's more!

4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes, until firm enough to handle.

5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the red dough into a log about 1 inch in diameter.

6. Roll the white dough into a rectangle as long as your red dough, and wide enough to wrap around it once. Don't worry if the ends aren't even -- you need imperfect cookies for taste testing! Gently roll the white dough around the red log, rolling with your hands several times to ensure there are no pockets of air between the layers.

7. Roll the green dough into a rectangle in and roll around the red & white log in the same manner.

8. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and chill until very firm (freeze for 1 hr, or fridge for 2-3).

9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees a few minutes before you are ready to bake.

10. Cut the log into 1/4 inch slices, rotating the log every few cuts to ensure it stays round.

11. Cut each slice in half and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Hey that looks like watermelon now!

And the final touch....

12. Push mini chocolate chips, pointed side down, into the red dough on each cookie, to resemble watermelon seeds

13. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until firm. Remove from cookie sheet right away and cool on a wire rack.

14. Take to potluck and impress all your friends:

Marinated Roasted Vegetables

2010-06-19T10:47:00.003-04:00

In case the last recipe gave you a heart attack, here is something on the lighter side. Or, if you ask me, it's a perfect dinner compliment to Elizabeth's delectable dessert ;).

Easy Grilled Veggies

2-3 pounds of vegetables (carrots, onions, squash, green beans, green onions, etc.)
3/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (or other herb of your choice)

Wash and slice up the vegetables in large pieces any way you prefer, sliced, quartered, halved, left whole, etc. If desired, precook or blanch tough veggies like the carrots and green beans by boiling them for a few minutes, then dropping them in ice water to cool quickly. This softens harder vegetables a little so they will take the same amount of grilling time as your quick-cooking vegetables.

Place veggies in a shallow dish or plastic bag. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over vegetables. Let vegetables marinate for about an hour.

Grill veggies until tender and slightly charred. I found it helpful to place a cooling rack crosswise on my grill so no veggies fell through the rack. You could also use a grill basket, but a mesh device won't give you as nice of grill marks.

Black Tie Mousse Cake

2010-06-17T18:15:00.007-04:00

This, quite simply, is chocolate decadence. Olive Garden charges $7 a slice for this. I made the whole cake for about $5. The recipe is not a simple one, but nearly all the reviews I've read from people who have made it concur--it's worth the time.

It begins with a few of my favorite things:

You can make the first two layers the night before, like I did.

Layer one is a chocolate cake. That part actually went together so quickly I forgot to take a picture. You could even use a cake mix, although you would have a lot of leftover batter.

Layer two is a chocolate cheesecake. If you have a favorite recipe for chocolate cheesecake, feel free to use that.

Layer three is an Italian mousse. I used a recipe that involved a mixture of cream cheese and heavy whipping cream, but I've also found recipes that are for a more custard like mousse. I'd like to try it that way next time.

Layer four is a dark chocolate ganache. All I have to say about that is: chocolate and cream were made for each other.

Drizzle a little white chocolate in three circles around the cake and swirl with a toothpick before the ganache sets up.

For the grand finale, take some mini chocolate chips and press them along the edges to create a crust.

Oh, wait, we're not done yet... there's not quite enough chocolate here yet. Let's make a little chocolate whip cream to decorate the edges.

And there you have it. Chocolate. Decadence.

A little Hershey's syrup for presentation if you can handle just one more kind of chocolate:

Olive Garden copycat recipe for

Black Tie Mousse Cake

Layer 1 Chocolate cake "crust":

3 Tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla
1/4 Cup baking cocoa
1/4 Cup flour

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease bottom only of a 9 inch springform pan. In medium bowl cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, beating well after each addition; add vanilla and mix well. Add flour and cocoa and mix well to combine. Batter will be stiff. Spread in pan. Set aside.

Layer 2 Baked Chocolate cheesecake:

8 Ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 Cup ricotta cheese
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon flour

In large bowl cream cheeses with sugar until smooth. Add small amount to melted chocolate and combine well, add chocolate mixture and beat until well combined. Add eggs and flour and beat well. Smooth over top of cake batter in pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until cheesecake is set in center. Cover with foil during last 10 minutes if needed to prevent over browning. Remove from oven and cool.

Layer 3 Italian mousse:

3/4 c. heavy whipping cream
12 oz marscapone or cream cheese, softened (or 6 oz of each)
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 T. cold water
1 T. boiling water
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

Beat cream until stiff. In separate bowl beat cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until smooth. Combine with cream and fold to combine. In small bowl soften gelatin in cold water for about 1 minute. Pour boiling water over gelatin and stir to dissolve gelatin. Cool five minutes. Fold into cheese mixture until just combined. Spread mixture over baked cheesecake layer and chill well (freezing the cake at this point works well and makes spreading the final layer easier).

Layer 4 Dark chocolate/white chocolate ganache:

9 oz dark chocolate, either chips or bars broken in pieces
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons white chocolate chips
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Heat cream and butter over low heat until just boiling (may also microwave). Place dark chocolate chips/pieces in large bowl. Reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons cream mixture. Pour cream mixture over dark chips and let set about 2 minutes, or until chips begin to melt. Stir to combine. Repeat for white chips using reserved cream mixture. Let ganache cool until spreading consistency (set in refrigerator to speed this part up).

Using a sharp knife gently run blade around edge of cake to loosen. Remove cake sides from pan and place bottom with cake on serving plate or stand. Spread frosting over top and sides. Drizzle white chocolate lightly over top. Using a knife or toothpick run it lightly over top to swirl to create desired effect. Press mini chips into frosting on sides until completely coated to create a "crust".

Mousse frosting:

1/2 heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/8 c. baking cocoa
1/8 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients and whip until peaks form. Pipe generously around cake top edge, and center. Chill well and serve. Serves 12-16.

Of garlic scapes and beet greens

2010-06-13T21:07:00.001-04:00

This week's CSA share contained some strange items.

From a quick google search, I learned that garlic scapes can be made into pesto, grilled with five spice powder, used to garnish bruschetta, or even pickled. They also apparently make good bracelets ;). I made mine into a dip, a la the New York Times. (recipe at the end of the post)

Beet greens are supposedly just as versatile--although I did get so excited researching garlic scape recipes that I didn't look up very many beet green recipes. The beets themselves, on the other hand, made an excellent salad:

For this salad, I drizzled the beets with some balsamic vinegar and oil, and roasted them on 400 for about 45 minutes (my beets were small, so they cooked through quickly). I peeled and chopped them, then returned them to the balsamic reduction and chilled them. The salad is the balsamic roasted beets, toasted walnuts, mandarin orange slices and crumbled bleu cheese, with a balsamic vinaigrette.

I served the salad with garlic scape white bean dip, and a pile of freshly made pitas.

Garlic Scape & White Bean Dip

via The New York Times

1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or sea salt)

Ground black pepper

1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling.

1. In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough purée.

2. With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. For a more runny dip, add more olive oil. You can also add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired.

3. Spread out dip on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with more salt, and garnish with whatever green leaves you have in your fridge (thyme, in my case ;)).

Things I like this week:

2010-06-11T19:47:00.000-04:00

Pita bread that puffs!

(I didn't do much experimenting this week -- but I do have several things planned for this weekend. Stay tuned for this week's CSA meals, and some unusual ingredients)

This week's favorite things

2010-06-04T09:07:00.000-04:00

I am finding that each week I try far more recipes than I will ever have time to post. I also don't always take pictures, just in case the recipe flops ;). So I have decided to start a new Friday post dedicated to this week's favorite things.

I will be including links to recipes I tried this week (and liked ;)), and anything else that strikes my fancy. Mom and Dad, hopefully this means I will email you less random links to recipes. Everyone else, don't worry, I will continue to post full reports on recipes (some of the same ones you'll find here; some different) with pictures and step by step instructions-- you'll just get more recipes this way!

So, here are this week's favorite things:

1) Mmmm, spicy pork tenderloin with pineapple-jicama salsa. So easy, healthy, and good!

2) The world's best fish tacos. The Adobo rub, plus the lime-mayo coleslaw... I'm getting hungry again! I recommend serving them with red-cabbage coleslaw (recipe in the same link), avocados, tomatoes and cotija cheese.

3) Grilled "black and blue" burgers with mushrooms and bacon. Why isn't every holiday on a Monday?

First week of the Produce Share!

2010-06-03T21:09:00.000-04:00

This week I picked up my first batch of fresh produce from Heron Pond Farm's CSA. Not a bad haul for the first week of June!

This week's share is perfect for two recipes: Strawberry Stuffed French Toast, and a delicious Cobb Salad.

I'm certain that you can all figure out from the picture how to make an Cobb Salad ... so I'll leave you with my new favorite salad dressing recipe:

Cilantro Green Goddess Dressing

Ina Garten modified this dressing, which traditionally includes tarragon, to include basil. I may not be as good of a cook as Ina Garten, but I figured I could make my own modifications. I had cilantro in my fridge, and no basil, so I used that. It turned out even better than I had hoped -- so much so, that I never even tried it with the basil ;). Cilantro has a much milder flavor than basil, but tastes very fresh. That, combined with the lemon juice and green onions, is a perfect accent to a Cobb Salad.

Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup chopped green onions (white and green parts; about 3-4)

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

freshly squeezed juice from one lemon

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to serve. It keeps for a good week in the fridge, but tends to separate after that. Makes a little more than a cup. (And as you can tell, there is nothing "light" about this recipe-- this made plenty to serve 8 people for a side salad.)