In the Kitchen with Little Buddy

Prosciutto and Spinach Farro Salad

2013-01-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

So in my "I'm trying to be healthy, y'all" (I don't actually say y'all but here it seems appropriate) kick, I've decided to try new grains. And so I introduce you to farro! If you aren't familiar with the chewy delicious little grain, from Wikipedia: "Farro is a food product composed of the grains of certain wheat species in whole form. The exact definition is debated. It is sold dried and is prepared by cooking in water until soft, but still crunchy (many recommend first soaking overnight). It may be eaten plain, though it is often used as an ingredient in dishes such as salads and soups. It is sometimes ground into flour and used to make pasta or bread."

Basically farro is a bit like risotto meets brown rice. It takes a while to cook, but it has this great chewy flavor. Like al dente brown rice.

So playing off of the farro theme, I thought I'd go Italian. See, I guess that farro used to feed the Roman legions. Yeah, I don't know. But yeah, go Italian. And prosciutto, tomato and mozzarella reminds me of Italy, for seemingly obvious reasons. And I threw in spinach to make it all healthy.

This meal was really good warm, but honestly even better as a cold salad. So if you make this, it will be even better the next day as a lunch or dinner.

So enjoy the ancient farro and all the luscious Italian flavors. And feel healthy and awesome.

Ingredients

1.5 C farro

1 T olive oil

1/2 yellow onion

4 C vegetable broth

5 C uncooked spinach

1/4 lb prosciutto

1 C chopped sundried tomatoes (the ones that come in oil, but drain the oil)

1 C chopped flat Italian parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

1 container small mozzarella balls in water

Soak the farro in water for at least 20 minutes.

Heat up the oil a large pot over medium heat. Chop to onion and add to the pot. Sautée the onions until they're soft, about 5 minutes.

Drain the farro and add to the pot, increasing it to medium-high heat.

Add 1 cup of broth and stir until it is absorbed, just like with a risotto.

Once it has been absorbed, add in 1/2 C at a time, until all four cups have been used. If the farro is still too chewy, you can add more broth.

Once the farrow has finished cooking, add the spinach 2 C at a time.

Add the remaining ingredients through the salt and pepper after the spinach has wilted.

Cook until it has blended, at least five minutes. Then turn off the heat and let cook for at least ten minutes.

Slice the mozzarella balls in half and mix into the salad. Serve when slightly warm or completely cooled.

Spicy Tomato Soup

2013-01-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

So after the holidays come two different thoughts. One is ohmygodIatesomuchfoodIneedtopurge and then I also think itissocoldIwantcomfortfood. And as you can see purge normally =/= comfort food. But soups can be that balance of healthy and comfort food.

On cold nights, I find that smoothly spicy food can be the best treat. And I'm not talking really "scald your mouf" spicy, but that warm your belly spicy. And this soup hits that mark. The spice will hit the back of your throat and warm you through. It is also nice and light. There is no cream or butter in this recipe. But you won't miss it.

So I hope while you all are recovering from the holidays and all the glorious delicious food that comes with it, you'll enjoy this soup with maybe a salad and call it a great meal and a great night.

Ingredients

3 T olive oil

1 T dried basil

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1 small sweet onion

1 28 oz can of peeled tomatoes (I use San Marzano)

1.5 C vegetable broth

Chop the onion finely and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once it is shimmering, add the basil and cayenne pepper and stir until it's fragrant (about 2 minutes).

Add the onion to the oil and sauté until the onions are translucent, or about 8-10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, including the juice.

Using a spatula, carefully split the tomatoes in half while they are in the pot (carefully because they are juicy and could splatter juice on you - yes, this happened to me). Add in the vegetable broth and raise the heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for at least 15 minutes although you could do more.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup well but still leave some chunks - I don't like mine super smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, let the mixture cool a bit before you blend it in a blender to smooth out the soup. If you do use a blender please remember that if you use it when the liquid is hot, the blender can explode. Yeah. So be careful.

Season with salt and pepper if needed and enjoy!

Beef Tenderloin Sliders

2012-12-17T19:45:00.001-08:00

So first of all, I have to apologize for the lack of posting lately. Between the technical issues with my pictures, and starting a new job, it's been kind of crazy. But I promise, no more lapses!

Anyway, onto the delicious recipe. It's the holiday season and time for holiday parties! Brett and I decided to have a pre-holiday party party and have a few people over to have some dinner before going out. But I was struggling with trying to figure out what to prepare for dinner.

Turkey? No, way too ornate. Ham? Nah, not in the mood. Brett suggested pizza but I didn't feel like preparing something that took so much time in the kitchen.

So I sat down nestled in with my new Bon Appetit magazine on my Kindle and waited for inspiration. And I found it. A beef tenderloin with horseradish cream. But I didn't feel like just serving beef. Because then I'd have to figure out side dishes, and also this was a crowd I didn't particularly know well.

One of the things that I think is Brett's favorite thing to eat are sliders. Sliders with anything on it. And I figured well, beef is good on sandwiches, no? And then I thought well, beef tenderloin sliders sounds fancy and also low key! A perfect combo.

One thing I have to note though is that beef tenderloin is STAGGERINGLY expensive. Like woah expensive. I don't buy beef tenderloin ever, so I wasn't quite prepared. BUT the 3 lbs of beef tenderloin, when made into sliders, lasts for DAYS. We had it for dinner on Sunday and dinner Monday as well. So while it is expensive, it can span many meals and make it FAR more economical.

Also, it's delicious. This preparation makes melt in your mouth beef tenderloin and the cream serves as a really fabulous condiment. I also added some arugula to give it a peppery veggie crunch.

If you're serving a crowd this holiday season I highly recommend making these. They were a huge hit and really easy to do. Plus you don't need to worry about the beef staying warm, because the tenderloin is just as good on sliders cold as warm! So I hope you enjoy!!

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Horseradish Cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream (about 5 ounces)
1 1/2 tablespoons (or more) drained prepared horseradish
1 1/2 tablespoons drained green peppercorns, minced, or coarsely ground pink peppercorns
Kosher salt

Beef
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pink peppercorns
1 3-pound center-cut beef tenderloin at room temperature
1 bunch fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Extras

Slider buns

Arugula

Mince the garlic cloves and chop the thyme and combine with the ground pepper and salt (don't worry about it being pink or whatever peppercorns, and fresh ground pepper will work). Rub the tenderloin and press into it to stick. Wrap the tenderloin in plastic wrap and leave out for at least an hour to let it marinade.

Preheat the oven to 425°. Heat up the oil and butter in a cast iron or large skillet over medium high heat. Put the tenderloin in the pan.

Brown well on all sides. The process should take no more than 3-5 minutes.

Lay the rosemary sprigs under the wire of a roasting pan (or do what I do, use a baking sheet and a wire rack to help raise the meat - my beautiful roasting pan is in Connecticut because we don't have room). I had to tie up my roast a bit because it wasn't a full piece. If this happens, just use kitchen twine. Roast for 30 minutes.

While the beef roasts, whip the creme fraiche until peaks form (basically until you can pull out the wire whisk and little peaks stand).

Fold in the horseradish and the ground peppercorns. I used multi color peppercorns, doesn't need to be pink.

Combine well and refrigerate while the roast finishes.

Remove the roast when the internal temperature has reached 125°.

Let the tenderloin rest for at least 15 minutes. THIS IS IMPORTANT! You need to let it rest or all the precious juices will just spill out. Then carve the tenderloin by cutting into thing slices.

Serve with the rolls, horseradish cream, arugula and voila! Perfect dinner!

Sausage and Mushroom Calzones

2012-11-12T18:38:00.001-08:00

When I was in college, I worked for a couple years at this bar on campus. Okay, not a bar on campus, the only bar on campus. And while it was a fun bar to go to (once you were 21...for real, there was a list of students who were 21 and you had to be on it to get in - small school) the highlight for many people was the food.

Now you could get any type of bar food. Pizzas, buffalo chicken fingers (OHMYGODSOGOODIWANTNOW), and one of the better highlights, the calzones. Now calzones are funny to me. Sauceless pizza pockets. It's like a fancy Italian hot pocket. These calzones though were ENORMOUS. Like, only if I was super drunk could I eat the whole thing big (don't judge). But having a hot calzone and dipping the slices into marinara sauce brings me straight back to Kenyon.

So this weekend I decided to replicate the calzone goodness. But I decided to make them a bit more reasonably sized. I had intended for them to be "mini" but they're more like "reasonable for 1 person" size. Unless, of course, you're my husband and eat 1 and a half. I also made them more "healthy" - aka chicken and turkey sausage rather than full fat delicious pork sausage.

Turns out with the help of Whole Foods pizza dough (for real peeps, this stuff is awesome and unlike frozen dough requires very little foresight or planning) these suckers are easy. If you're an overachiever, you can make your own pizza dough. Truth be told if I had thought of this recipe more than an hour before I planned to start cooking, I would have made my own. But I am a terrible terrible planner.

You can use this recipe to stuff whatever you want into the calzones. I had planned on making some sweet ones with apple, cinnamon, sugar and marscarpone. But I was too full after we had our first round of calzones. So I'll have to figure out what to do with all that marscarpone.... Maybe it can be incorporated into a Thanksgiving desert hah!

So enjoy these calzones. These would be an awesome family night dinner, as you can pick and choose what to put in the 'zones.

This will make enough calzones for 4-6 people depending on the hunger level.

Ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 onion
1 mild Italian turkey sausage
1 hot Italian chicken sausage
1.5 C sliced mushrooms
1 tomato
2 C shredded parmesan cheese
Cornmeal (to use while working the pizza dough, you don't need too much)
1 ball pizza dough (enough for 2 14" pies, or if you go to WF, just one package)
1 egg

Note: If you have a pizza stone, use it. If you don't, then I'd recommend putting a baking sheet in the oven while the oven heats up so that the calzones hit the sheet when it's hot. This will help it crisp up.

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Heat up the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.

Slice the onions and add to the skillet. Caramelize the onions slightly, which will take about 15-18 minutes.

Remove the onions and set aside. Uncase (aka remove the skin from the outside) the sausages and add to the pan, increasing the heat to medium.

Brown the sausage, cooking for about 8 minutes, and then add the mushrooms.

Cook for another 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft. Add the tomato and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Spread cornmeal on your workspace. This will help you with the sticky pizza dough and an easy transfer to your pizza stone. Work about a fistful of dough into about a 6" size mini pizza dough.

Add about 2 heaping T of the sausage mix to the center of the dough and top with a heaping amount of parmesan.

Fold the dough over and enclose. It should almost look like an empanada. Seal the sides and press closed with a fork. Poke some holes into the top of the calzone. Beat the egg in a bowl and brush the top of the calzone with some egg.

Put in the oven, with as many that will fit on your stone or your baking sheet. I was doing about three at a time, with two batches. Bake for about 18 minutes. Remove and serve with some marinara and enjoy!

Shrimp Rolls

2012-11-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I make food for football weekends, it's about this time of year that the food selection become monotonous. Chili, wings, repeat. So this weekend I decided that mix it up. No chili, I say! Nay! We shall have something different!

However, I was also in a lazy mood. Heavy cooking all day long for a noon Michigan game? Uh no. So I poked through my freezer and fridge and thought about what I could make with the ingredients that I have already.

And then I came across the shrimp. I had bought frozen pre-cooked shrimp a while ago and hadn't used them yet. Then it came to me. Why not make shrimp rolls, like lobster rolls? I've made lobster rolls plenty of times, and have always seen shrimp rolls on menus, but hadn't eaten them that much. But I figured hey, how different from lobster rolls can they be?

Well the adventure in shrimp rolls was a success. Brett declared that he liked these better than any of the lobster rolls I've made. It's a simple mix of mayo, greek yogurt, chives, celery, shrimp and some spices. And made into little mini rolls but cutting the hot dog buns in half, it's a perfect grab and go dish to serve to the masses.

Ingredients
1 lb pre-cooked frozen shrimp with tails removed (or just cook regular shrimp and devein and unshell the shrimp)
2 stalks celery
2 T chopped chives
4 garlic cloves
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 C 0% greek yogurt
3 T canola based mayo (or whatever mayo you have, this is just healthier)
dash tabasco
salt and pepper to taste (much more pepper than salt!)
1 dozen wheat hot dog buns

Mince the celery, chives, garlic and lemons.

Chop the shrimp. Make sure if you are using frozen shrimp that it's dethawed.

Combine with the chopped veggies.

Combine the mayo, yogurt, salt, pepper and tabasco.

Combine well and put in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to let the flavors marry. Toast the buns on a stovetop grill pan. This is optional but provides a nice crunch.

Sweet and Smoky Bison Chili

2012-10-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

So we're deep into fall football season, yet in DC it hasn't gone much below 60 degrees. But when I realized that 12 people would be at my house for college football Saturday, I thought well, guess it's time to pull out the chili! Chili always reminds me of the fall, cold autumn nights, and college football. Or football in general.

There are many ways to make chili. Some believe it should never have beans. Some like it spicy. Some like it sweet. Some like it with ground beef, while others like turkey or sausage.

Well this chili has a little bit of everything for everyone. Although I will say that if you don't like heat, I wouldn't try this. It's not super spicy by any means but if you don't like a somewhat spicy chili, then I'd suggest making the chili I make in my chili half smokes recipe. Just omit the half smokes.

This chili combines bison meat, cannelli beans, kidney beans, guajillo peppers, and a bunch of other surprises to make a rich and deep chili. It does require a bit of cooking time to really get all the flavors going, but that's how it goes with all good chilis.

I recommend serving this with some good cornbread (I made some but failed to take pictures....will do next time) and shredded cheese. Oh, and beer. And football. If you are into those things, like our household.

Ingredients
4 guajillo chili peppers, stemmed and seeded and rehydrated (you can find the dry ones really in almost any grocery store)
1 T water peppers were cooked in (more below)
1 t anchovy paste
2 T olive oil
2 sweet onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 T chili powder
2 T cinnamon
1 t curry
1 t cayenne pepper
1 lb bison meat
10 T tomato paste
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes
2 large tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped
2 T ground black pepper
1 large (29 oz) can of kidney beans
1 14 oz can cannellini beans
3 C beef broth
2 T cocoa powder
3 T cornmeal
salt and pepper additional to taste

Rehydrate the chili peppers. This basically just means heat up a pot of water to boiling, enough to just cover the peppers, add the peppers and reduce the heat to low and cover the peppers in there for about 10-15 minutes.

Put the peppers a container with the anchovy paste and 1 T of the water that the peppers were cooked in. You can add more if you need to if the mixture isn't combining well. Combine well with an immersion blender, or in a regular blender or food processor.

In a large pot, heat up the oil on medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onions and the garlic. Once they have softened, add the chili powder through the cayenne pepper.

Stir for two minutes and then add the bison meat and cook until the bison meat is broken down and browned. Add the chili paste made with the peppers.

Add the remaining ingredients. Reduce the heat to simmer (low) and cook for at least a few hours.

Stir occasionally throughout the cooking time and taste to see if you want to adjust the taste. Add more cayenne, cocoa powder, cinnamon, or cumin. It all depends on how you want the flavor to be. And chili is incredibly forgiving. If you want the chili to be thicker you can add more cornmeal, about 1 T at a time. Let it take time though, it will thicken.

Once it's done, serve with some cheese, or chips, or raw onion, or whatever you want on your chili!!

Shrimp and Grits

2012-10-21T13:08:00.001-07:00

So this week we went to Charleston, SC to see my beautiful cousin and her now husband get married. They've been dating for a long time and live in DC, so I've had a chance to get to know them well as a couple and as people over past years.

We arrive to the house we were staying, just outside Charleston on the Isle of Palms. Coincidentally, I've been here many times. Brett's family does a family reunion on Isle of Palms every year. I highly recommend going if you have the chance!

Anyway, back to the whole story. So we arrive at the house and there is this big beautiful welcome basket waiting for us. And inside? Three big ol bag of grits.

So obviously, I decided to cook with them. And I mean, we were in low country, so obviously I had to make shrimp and grits! Now, I've never made shrimp and grits before. Yeah, yeah, I'm not a northerner at heart.

I searched the internet for inspiration because yeah, that's what I do. And I came across this recipe for Crook's Corner Shrimp and Grits. I made some modifications. Used skim milk rather than half and half. And I used all cheddar rather than the parm and cheddar. But basically the same recipe. And I will say it is absolutely amazing. The whole family chowed it down.

So if you're in the mood for low country cooking, shrimp and grits done this way is great. (Note: if you're looking at the portions when I'm cooking and thinking, this looks more than mine, it's because I doubled the recipe for all of the guests.)

Ingredients

Grits
2 C water

1 can fat-free low-sodium chicken broth

3/4 C skim milk
3/4 t salt
1 C grits
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
2 T butter
1/2 t Tabasco sauce
1/4 t white pepper

Shrimp

3 slices bacon
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled (you can devein if you want but it's not necessary)

1/4 t black pepper
1/8 t salt
1/4 C flour
1 C sliced mushrooms
1/2 C sliced green onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 C fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 t Tabasco sauce
lemon wedge

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a pot.

Gradually whisk in grits and reduce heat to simmer. Stir occasionally for 10 minutes or until they have thickened.

Add the cheddar cheese and next 4 ingredients. Keep warm while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon in a large skillet.

Cook until crisp and remove the bacon and drain on paper towels, reserve 1 tablespoon of drippings in skillet.

Crumble the bacon and set aside.

Peel the shrimp and devein if you have the patience. I didn't devein most of mine and had no patience and they turned out great. Sprinkle the shrimp with pepper and salt and dredge in flour.

Using the reserved bacon fat, sauté the mushrooms until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the green onion and stir for another minute.

Mince the garlic and add to the green onions and mushroom with the shrimp.

Cook for 4 minutes until the shrimp have mostly cooked through and then add the chicken stock, lemon juice and the tabasco sauce.

Cook for another 2 minutes and scrape the bottom for any browned bits.

Serve over the grits while still warm and enjoy some good ol southern deliciousness!

Asian Marinated Tofu Salad

2012-10-08T12:29:00.002-07:00

There are just some times where a good salad is the best meal. It's not that I don't love a good burger or fried foods because believe me, I do. But a hearty salad can make my tum feel so good.

So as I sat with my block of tofu (yes, sit, we're friends) I was trying to figure out what I wanted to marinate the tofu in. I decided a good Asian-style marinade would be a good option. Fish sauce, soy sauce, pepper, a bit of honey, rice wine vinegar and grapeseed oil combined not only makes for a good marinade, but it doubles as the start to the salad dressing.

With the tofu I paired some creamy goat cheese, crispy apples, and crunchy cucumber. This is an excellent and light salad.

Ingredients
Marinade
4 T fish sauce
4 T tamari (or soy sauce, but it isn't gluten free)
1/2 C rice wine vinegar
1/2 C grapeseed oil
1 T seasame oil
1 T pepper
1 T honey
1 T salt
Salad
1 block firm tofu, drained
2 apples
1 cucumber
1/2 C goat cheese
1 head red leaf lettuce

Drain the tofu. The longer you drain it, the better it will soak up the marinade.

Prepare the marinade.

Put the tofu in with the marinade.

Combine the marinade well with the tofu.

Once the tofu has marinated for at least an hour. Drain the marinade and combine with more rice wine vinegar and honey to taste. Prepare the salad and enjoy.

Moules Marinière

2012-10-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

Mussels. They are so incredibly delicious. And easy! I've always love all sorts of shellfish, but mussels hold a place in my heart. They are meatier than clams and cheaper as well. You can get a big ol bag of mussels at the store usually for about $5-6. And they're incredibly malleable.

I've cooked mine with fennel, broth, curries, you name it. But I strongly think that this is the best kind of mussels. Butter, clam juice, wine, garlic, shallots, thyme, cornichons....yum. The broth cooks a bit longer to infuse all of the flavors together.

Mussels make for a great party meal. They're great to share out of a big bowl and bread serves as an excellent sponge to scoop up all the tasty broth. This is an easy meal and a wonderful treat.

(serves 4-6)
Ingredients
4 T butter
8 cloves of garlic
4 large shallots
1 jar clam juice
3 C wine
6 T thyme
1 jar cornichons (the best would include the little pearl onions)
4-6 lbs of mussels (about 1 lb per person)

Mince the garlic and the shallots.

Heat up the butter in a large pot and add the shallots and garlic once the butter has melted.

Add the thyme after the shallots have softened.

Add the wine, clam juice, and cornichons. Bring to a boil and let cook for at least 20 minutes.

Add the mussels and cover for 10 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread, white wine, and I paired it with roasted tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Bison Sloppy Joes

2012-10-02T18:56:00.001-07:00

Sloppy Joes are one of those things that remind you of childhood, for better or for worse. Mom's dinners, cafeterias, school lunches....all harken back to the days of sloppy joes.

Which leads us to tonight's dinner. As I sat at my desk wondering what I should do with the bison meat in my fridge, I started going through a list of meals in my head that would usually use ground beef. Tacos? Nah. I don't have any taco fillings. Meatballs? Nah, I've already done it. Meat sauce? Nah, not feeling pasta.

Thinking.

Thinking.

thinking.....

Hm. What about sloppy joes? I pitch it to Brett. He likes it. Sloppy joes it is.

So how can I make it updated? Throw in some sriracha? Yeah, yeah that sounds good. And maybe some cajun mustard? Sure! Why not. And then topped with some sweet pepper relish, this updated version of sloppy joes is unbelievably good. And it took under 20 minutes to make. Saweeet!

So embrace your inner dinner child and have sloppy joes tonight!

Ingredients
1 lb bison meat
1 T olive oil
1/2 chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 C ketchup
1/2 C honey
1/4 C mustard
2 T Boar's Head savory remoulade cajun style mayonnaise (or something similar)
1 T sriracha
4 kaiser rolls
Sweet pepper relish (optional)

In a large skillet, heat a pan to medium heat. Add the ground bison.

Brown well and then set aside in a bowl.

Heat up 1 T of olive oil in the same pan. Add the chopped onions.

Chop the garlic and add to the onions after 5 minutes, when the onions are translucent.

Stir for another minute and then add back in the meat.

Combine the rest of the ingredients.

Add to the meat and stir for another 2 or 3 minutes.

Serve on kaiser rolls with sweet red peppers.

Curry Lentil Soup

2012-09-16T16:01:00.001-07:00

Mmmm lentils. Lentil soup is such an amazing go-to recipe. Quick and easy (aka under an hour), it's a filling and great vegetarian soup. You can really throw whatever you want in there - all kinds of curry pastes, curry powders, etc. - and chances are that it will come out yummers all the time.

I've mentioned this before, but lentils are also super healthy for you. They're a great little protein-packed food. And red lentils are perfect for soups. I do warn, do not try to use green or french lentils with this recipe. They won't break down as easily and you may be disappointed with the results. So stick to red!

This soup is filling but light. It really deceives you in that it's flavorful, but it won't leave a lump in your stomach. I served this with some avocado slices which I highly recommend. Because let's be honest, when is it ever a bad idea to add avo? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Ingredients
3 T olive oil
1 white onion
6 garlic cloves
4 T garam marsala
6 T curry powder
2 T ground ginger
1 T cinnamon
1 28 oz San Marzano crushed tomatoes, or just 28 oz worth of crushed tomatoes
2 cans light coconut milk
4 C low sodium vegetable broth
2 C red lentils

Dice the onion and the garlic.

Heat up the olive oil a pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic once the oil is shimmering.

Stir until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes, and add all of the spices. Combine well.

Add the crushed tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Measure out the lentils.

Add the coconut milk and vegetable broth to the tomatoes mixture. Bring the mixture to a simmer and add the lentils. Turn the heat up and bring it to a boil with the lentils. Once it boils, reduce heat to low and cover. Let the soup cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check along the way that it's seasoned well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once the lentils are soft the soup is done!

Serve with avocado and enjoy!

Creamy Artichoke Dip

2012-09-16T13:41:00.002-07:00

FOOOTBALL! It's football season again and I couldn't be happier. For me, football is all about the party. The party, you ask? Yes, the party.

To me, football isn't just about the sport. Yes, I know a lot about football and I like watching both the NFL and college (go Browns and go Michigan!) but what I love is getting together with lots of friends, both at our house and at bars, and celebrating together. Does it matter if we are all cheering for the same team? No, not necessarily. But it's about eating good food, drinking cheap beer, and screaming loudly at the TV.

So this weekend marked the first time Brett was back in town for football season. A couple of friends came over to watch the Michigan v. UMass game. Truth be told, it was a complete blowout. We won by 50 points. But it was still an excuse to have people over. I sipped on micheladas and ate artichoke dip. Yum, right?

This recipe actually comes from my mother. When I first moved to DC I was invited to bring a dish for a potluck and was assigned an appetizer. Now, having just graduated from college I was pretty cooking inept. I was used to having people cook for me. And I was faced with preparing something other than easy mac. So I asked my mom for an easy but delicious recipe and this is what she sent to me.

Since then, I have made this countless times. And it is always gobbled up. Like, lick the bowl clean kind of gobble up. And as you'll see it is super easy to make.

But if you want to bring a dish that will have everyone worshiping you and begging for more, this, my friends, is what you bring.

Ingredients
4 garlic cloves miced well or pressed in a garlic press
3/4 C parmesan cheese
2 C 0% fat greek yogurt
2 T mayo
1/2 t pepper
1 lemon, juiced
2 16 oz cans of artichoke hearts

Preheat the oven to 350°. Combine the garlic through the lemon juice.

Very roughly chop the artichoke hearts. I like this dish because you can taste the artichokes...it's not all smooshed. So leave 'em good and chunky.

Combine and add to an oven safe bowl or dish.

Put in the oven and cook for 50-60 minutes. You want to remove it when it's browned and bubbling.

Serve with chips, triscuits, or vegetables. Really anything works, as it's just a vehicle to scoop up this creamy deliciousness....enjoy!

Pan Seared Scallops with Roasted Tomatoes, Leeks and Creamy Polenta

2012-09-12T18:34:00.001-07:00

Is there anything better than scallops? They're such a perfect food. Sweet and plump and so meaty, scallops probably come to a close three-way tie for my favorite seafood, alongside soft shelled crabs and lobster. So when I was going along the aisles for inspiration in the store for a dinner recipe, I spied the scallops and my first thought was yyyesss...but....

See, Brett was at the time at the Democratic National Convention. So I was cooking dinner for a good friend, and for myself. So while I usually know exactly what Brett will want, when cooking for others I often question myself. But I saw some great, plump, organic scallops and I thought well - hope my friend likes scallops! Turns out, yay he does!

I paired these buttery pan-seared scallops with oven roasted tomatoes, sautéed leeks mixed with spinach and served over a feta infused polenta. The combination was amazing. The scallops were meaty and well seasoned, the tomatoes served as a good charred base, the leeks and spinach added sweetness, and the polenta added a good creamy and filling base. This is a really impressive looking dinner and while it takes about 1.5 hours, it's SO worth it. So enjoy!

Ingredients
1 pint grape tomatoes
3 T olive oil, divided
1 C polenta
3 C water
2 large leeks
3 C spinach
3 T butter
10-12 large scallops
1/4 C feta

Heat the oven to 400°. Put all of the tomatoes into a baking dish. Drizzle 1 T olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put in the oven and roast for 1 hour.

Boil the water and add the polenta.

Stir occasionally but let cook for 30 minutes.

Slice the leeks after rinsing well.

Heat up the rest of the olive oil in a pan. Add the leeks.

Pat the scallops dry and set aside to dry for about 15 minutes.

Stir until the leeks are transparent. Add the spinach and add more olive oil if necessary.

Watch over and stir until the spinach has wilted.

Heat up butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the scallop once the butter is HOT and cook on each side for 5 minutes.

Set the scallops aside. Add the feta to the warm polenta and remove the tomatoes from the oven.

Put a half cup of polenta at the bottom, add some tomatoes, leeks and spinach mix and scallops on top. Enjoy!

Strawberry Mango Smoothie

2012-09-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

Smooooothies! I guess I am already getting nostalgic, even though I haven't hit the end of summer, I am still kind of craving the days for needed to grab a cool drink.

(Actually.

To be honest.

I'm so ready for fall.)

BUT any time of the year is good for smoothies! And this one is super easy and super delicious. It's a great snack, breakfast, lunch, whatever. Don't make it the meal for your whole day but it's good! Also I added in flax seed.

For those of you who aren't familiar, flax seed has been dubbed as powerful plant foods on the planet. And according to WedMD there’s some evidence it may help reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, anddiabetes. Even if you have picky "NO SUPERFOOD" eaters, I honestly can attest that no one will be able to differentiate between the flax seed and seeds that come from strawberries. Tell em it's strawberry seeeeeds!

Ingredients
1 C frozen mango
1 C frozen strawberries
1 C 0% fat greek yogurt
1 C orange juice
1 T flax seed

Put all of the ingredients into the blender.

Blend well!

And serve. Yum.

White Wine Braised Chicken with Figs

2012-09-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

I've always been slightly obsessed with figs. One of the only cookies that we could eat when I was a kid was fig newtons. We weren't a big sweets household. But the taste of figs always reminds me of being a kid.

While I eat a lot of fig spread, but I rarely actually cook with figs. They have a relatively short growing season so I rarely see whole figs in the grocery store. But I knew that Whole Foods was selling them now, so I decided to incorporate figs with a recipe.

This recipe slow braises chicken in white wine and chicken broth, cooked long with onions and shallots, and finally combined with the figs. And to top it all off, a creamy goat cheese polenta serves as the anchor for the recipe. You could easily substitute the polenta with mashed potatoes or pasta, but the creaminess of the polenta goes really well with the dish. The recipe serves 4-6 people.

Ingredients
Chicken
2 T butter
2 lb chicken quarters
1 large onion
6 large shallots
1 C chicken broth
1 C white wine
2 T herbs de provence spice blend
8 large figs

Polenta
6 C water
1/2 t salt
2 C cornmeal or any non-instant polenta blend
1/2 C goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 325°.

Roughly chop the onions and peel the shallots. Set aside. Cut the ends off of the shallots but don't chop them.

Heat up butter in a large dutch oven or any other pan that can go from stovetop to oven. Pat the chicken dry and add to the pan.

Brown the chicken, about 5 minutes on each side.

Remove the chicken and set on a dish. Add the broth, wine and herbs de provence. Scrape up any brown bits from the chicken. Bring up to a boil.

Add the chicken and any juices that may have collected on the plate.

Bring back to a boil and then add the onions and shallots. Tuck in around the chicken. Put the whole thing in the oven. Let cook for an hour.

Measure out the polenta.

Heat up the water and bring to a boil. Steadily add the cornmeal in and stir occasionally for 30 minutes.

Look! Figs! Just cut off the top of the stem and cut in half lengthwise.

Remove the dish from the oven when the 45 minutes is up.

Add the figs and cook on medium heat for another 15 minutes until sauce has thickened. You can remove the chicken if you want and set aside if the liquid is not reducing enough and cook longer.

Add the goat cheese to the polenta and combine well.

Put the polenta in a bowl and serve out some of the chicken and drizzle the sauce over the dish. Enjoy!!

Tomato, Roasted Zucchini and Nectarine Salad

2012-08-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am faced with the fact that I have a huge amount of vegetables and fruits and I have purchased with little plan as to what to cook. Tonight I faced that fact.

When I see so many beautiful fruits and vegetables at the farmers market, all I can do is purchase them. So tonight I faced a bowl full of produce. Brett is out of town, which means usually I eat vegetarian. So a basket full of produce isn't a bad thing! But what do you do with tomatoes, zucchinis, and nectarines? Well, let me tell you...you make this salad.

Now I know that a lot of my recipes I preface as SO AWESOME! But this really is. It was one of those moments where I bite into my dish and say DAMN THIS IS GOOOD! It's a combo of fresh ingredients and an interesting red wine vinegar vinaigrette. I promise that this makes an amazing first course or main course. Eat this and you will not be disappointed. Cross my heart, hope to die. Well not really die. It's a saying, you know? Anyway enjoy!

Ingredients

Salad

2 nectarines

1 medium shallot

1 medium green squash

1 T olive oil

1/2 t cracked black pepper

1 tomato

1 T fresh parsley

Dressing

1/4 C chopped chives

1/2 C red wine vinegar

1/4 C olive oil

1 t whole grain mustard

1 t Lemonaise or mayo

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Roast these guys!

Slice the nectarines in half and place in a glass 9x11 pan. Slice the zucchini in about 1/4" slices. Thinly slice the shallot. Toss the zucchini in the olive oil and sprinkle the fresh ground black pepper over the zucchini. Spread the shallots over the zucchini.

Spread the zucchini over the dish and place the nectarines on the glass dish.

Put in the oven.

While the dish bakes, chop the chives.

Combine the chopped chives and the rest of the ingredients and whisk. Put in the fridge to meld together.

After about 15 minutes of roasting toss the zucchini but to not move the nectarines. Roast for another 15 minutes until the zucchini is tender and the nectarines have caramelized.

Slice the tomatoes and place on the bottom of the salad.

Wait about 10 minutes for the nectarines and the zucchini to cool slightly and then serve on the tomatoes. Place the zucchini, nectarines, feta, and drizzle the dressing on top. Enjoy!

Roasted Tomatoes and Sausage

2012-08-19T17:47:00.001-07:00

Tomatoes tomatoes tomatoes! How I love thee. I really think that the best part of the summer is consuming massive amounts of the fruit/vegetable (yeah, I know it's a fruit, but it always seems like sort of a vegetable to me). And you know what is my favorite prep for them? Roasting them.

Now some people insist on slicing them in half and roasting them open faced. I say NO. I say roast them whole! Trap in the juices! I love nothing more than biting into a roasted cherry tomato. It's like the wholesome version of a Gushers fruit snack. God I also loved those as a kid. Juicy inside.

Anyway, so in addition to picking up two whole containers of little orange tomatoes, we also picked up some delicious looking buffalo sausages at the farmers market. Usually I cook them sausages on a grill or stovetop, but today I threw them into the oven to roast. The only other thing I threw in was a bunch of basil, a drizzle of olive oil, a touch of red wine vinegar and some salt and pepper to taste.

To finish off the meal, we also had some delicious crusty bread and a hunk of awesome cheese. I highly recommend eating this dish with those as well!

Ingredients
2 pints cherry tomatoes
40ish basil leaves
2 T olive oil
3 T red wine vinegar
1 t pepper
1/2 t salt
4 sausages

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Julienne the basil leaves or chop.

Layer the sliced basil at the bottom of a 9x11 pan.

Layer the tomatoes on top of the basil.

Drizzle the olive oil and red wine vinegar over the dish. Sprinkle the salt and pepper. Place the sausages on top of the tomatoes.

Cook for 30 minutes and then flip the sausages. Cook for another 30 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Roasted Peaches with Herbs and Reduced Balsamic

2012-08-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. Peaches and tomatoes and the like are full of flavors and juicy. And this morning, even though it was in the pouring rain, we headed out to the farmers market to pick up some produce. It's why I love Sundays. Dupont farmers market is the best. It's such a great farmers market and it is a close walk from our abode.

However, what was I not planning on? A downpour. It poured rain as we wandered from tent to tent, avoiding the waterfall-like pour off from the tents. Truth be told, I love rain when it's 70+ degrees outside. And it's a welcome break from the awful humidity that we've had for months. But, all of the sprinting from tent to tent did bruise my peaches a bit. They looked uh a little lumpy.

But no worries! Peaches be bruised, that be okay. I wanted to try out a concept I had heard about yesterday. Roasting nectarines. But my peaches were bruised and I didn't want to waste them. So I roasted peaches! Topped with reduced balsamic and tossed with herbs, the flavors worked out amazingly. I actually think that this would be amazing on vanilla ice cream. Even as a side dish, this works out great.

Ingredients
2 large peaches
2 T chopped tarragon
2 T chopped chives
2 C balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Slice the peaces in half and remove the pit and in a baking dish, put the peaches flesh side down.

Put in the oven for 25 minutes or until the juices are bubbling.

Chop the fresh herbs.

Heat up the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium high heat. The vinegar will boil and remove when it reduces by half and forms more of a syrup.

Remove the peaches from the oven.

Let cool for at least 5 minutes. Slice and plate and drizzle with the vinegar and disperse the herbs. Enjoy while warm!

Feta, Spinach and Sausage Crustless Quiche

2012-08-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

My favorite meal, perpetually, is brunch. It's the best of both worlds, breakfast and lunch. And in DC, brunch is hugely popular. There are a ton of awesome places here that are delicious.

But waiting for weekends? Not good enough for me. I want to have brunch all the time! So I decided to make a brunch for dinner meal.

One of my favorite things to eat? Quiche. Eggs, cheese, fillins and crust? Awesome. But one thing I do not know how to do? Make a quiche crust. But my desire for quiche was insatiable. How would I get myself a quiche, homemade, and in my belly? Why, by doing a crustless quiche!

I took some of the ingredients I had in the house and decided to make a spinach, feta and spinach crustless quiche. I used 2% milk, although I think that next time I will use cream and whole milk. I think it may help the custard fill out a bit. But it's an ongoing experiment.

Actually, I should say it's a warm up. Because know what happens soon? Oh that's right folks, college football season. And know what that means? Brunch every Saturday here. And I'd like to get some new brunch options on the plate. And I think that, even with some small changes, this is going to go over real well with the hungry crew.

Oh and know how I'm not a baker? Well. I didn't even realize that I didn't have a single round baking pan hahhhh! So behold....SQUARE QUICHE!

(Note to self: buy a circular baking pan)

Ingredients
3 T olive oil, divided
1/2 C panko
2 chicken sausages (I used fire roasted pepper chicken sausage)
2 C spinach
4 eggs
2 C milk (I used 2% but may go for whole milk next time but it was still delicious)
1 C feta

Heat the oven to 425°.

Heat up 2 T of olive oil on medium high heat in a large skillet. Once it has heated, add the panko.

Toast for about five minutes, stirring frequently. Layer the toasted breakcrumbs in a nonstick or buttered pie dish, quiche dish, or square 9x9 pan.

Dice the sausage. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and add the sausage. Cook on medium high heat and brown well.

Layer the sausage on the breadcrumbs.

Add the spinach to the pan with the oil. Stir until wilted.

Layer the spinach onto the sausage.

Whisk the eggs and milk.

Add the feta to the sausage, spinach and breadcrumbs. Carefully pour the egg mix over the dish.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes. The top should be browned and the center should be set (aka, not gooey).

Let cool for at least five minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Salmon Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

2012-08-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

I feel like after I travel a lot, my body hates me. Maybe it's because I eat as much delectable, buttery, craptastic food that I can imagine. Oh hello bacon egg and cheese on an enormous croissant, why yes you are a WONDERFUL idea at 6:00 AM at the airport! Oh, giant sandwich packed high with pastrami and dripping with fat, why yes I will consume all of you!

It's kind of like I travel away from home and I eat all the things. Everything. Everything bad, that is. So after traveling three of the last four weekends, my body is in a bit of disarray. FEED ME GOOD THINGS! -my body.

Tonight I decided that instead of anything heavy I would go with light light light and fresh and crisp and delicious. What immediately comes to mind for me? Salad. With salmon. Noms.

This salad is simple to prepare. A basil vinaigrette dressing with only seven ingredients (well, plus S&P to taste), cherry tomatoes, apple slices, creamy decadent avocado, and poached salmon. And we all know how much I love to poach fish now. I'm telling you, it's a game changer. The salmon has never been cooked to easily in my kitchen than it has when I poach it.

I promise you, it will be a hit.

Also you know who is very happy to have me back home? This little bebe.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Salmon
1 lb salmon
1 lemon
1 shallot
1/2 C loosely packed fresh basil
4 T cider vinegar - I recommend Bragg
1 t salt
1 t cracked black pepper

Dressing
1/4 C fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1/2 C cider vinegar
1/2 C olive oil
1/2 t anchovy paste
2 T minced shallot (about 1/2 shallot)
4 garlic cloves, minced well or put through a garlic press
1 t salt
1 t crushed black pepper

Salad
2 T minced shallot (about 1/2 shallot)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 avocado
2 apples
2 green peppers
6 C mixed salad

Slice the lemon and the shallot and add to about 8 C of water in a pot or sauté pan with the basil. Add in 4 T of cider vinegar. Heat over medium high heat.

Season the salmon with the salt and pepper. Let rest out of the fridge until the water is simmering.

While the liquid warms, combine all the ingredients for the dressing through the basil. Add the salt and pepper after to season.

Using an immersion blender or a blender combine so that there are still some chunks in it. It doesn't need to be puréed. Add the salt and pepper but adjust if needed. Put in the fridge until it is needed. Letting the dressing cool will help marry the flavors.

Mince the shallots and add the ingredients for the salad.

Once the water is ready, turn to the heat down to medium and add the salmon. Cook for 8 minutes and remove. Done!

Slice the bell pepper thinly and thinly slice the apples.

Remove the salmon and put in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Let it cool a bit. That way your salad doesn't warm up.

Toss the salad, tomatoes, bell peppers, and shallots with the dressing. Serve with the avocado and enjoy! Add any additional dressing. You will most likely have some additional dressing left over. Save it. It's yummy.

Spaghetti with Spicy Buffalo Meatballs

2012-08-06T17:29:00.003-07:00

Spaghetti and meatballs. Comfort food at its best. I still crave spaghetti like I did when I was young. Big huge heaps of starch, gobs of tomatoes, huge savory meatballs. Om nom nom.

I used to buy meatballs and canned tomato sauce. But now I'm all about making my meatballs and sauce. It's a little bit more work, but really, not that much more. And it gives me to freedom to play with my balls. Yup, you heard me, I play with my balls.

This time around, we had some ground bison meat in the fridge and so I decided that they would work well for the balls. I used some of the basics, bread soaked in milk, oregano etc. But I also decided to throw in a secret little ingredient. Sriracha. And let me tell you, it worked out fantastically. It gives the meatballs a bit of a kick, but nothing too overwhelming. And if you don't want the spicy? Easy omission. Just leave it out and they'll still be as delectable as usual.

For the sauce, I stuck with the basics. Onions, garlic, mushrooms, basil, tomatoes, etc. This was a quick cook sauce, although I usually prefer to let the sauce simmer for a couple hours to marry the flavors better. But, we had someone coming over for dinner and it was a week day. Worked out just fine.

I've also decided to try something out when recommending recipes. We're big wine drinkers in our house. No, we don't let Cody drink, but Brett and I enjoy wine. So I'll let you know what pairs well with the dinner, if we have wine. Not every post will have wine, because we don't drink every night.

In this case, the dinner was paired with a 2005 Ruffino Chianti and a 2001 Aglieta Brunello di Montalcino.

Second caveat, we did not buy these wine. No, we didn't steal them. We have a very dear friend who is a total wine connoisseur. He collects wine, knows more about every vintage and varietal than I will ever know. And at least once a month Brett and I have dinner with him. The arrangement is I cook, he brings wine. It's a pretty awesome arrangement. Our dinners are also always really fun.

Anywho, off to the recipe!

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 piece of white bread

1 C whole milk

1 egg

1 C grated parmesan

1 T Sriracha

1T oregano

1/2T black pepper

1 lb bison meat

Sauce

2 T olive oil

1 onion

1 C mushrooms (I used an organic mix from Whole Foods, but any will do)

8 cloves garlic, chopped

3 T oregano

1 T dried basil

1 T black pepper

1 T crushed red pepper

1 tomato, crushed

1 28 oz can of tomato purée - preferably San Marzano

1 C fresh basil

Spaghetti

1/2 package of whole wheat pasta

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Soak the piece of bread in the milk. Soak for about a minute or two, but just to wet it.

Grate the parm.

Crumble the bread in the milk, add to the parm and add the ingredients through the black pepper.

Add the bison meat and combine. Don't combine too thoroughly. You don't want to pack it too tightly.

Form about 2" balls with the meat. Put on a baking rack on a baking sheet. If you don't have a rack, you can just use a lined baking sheet. No harm.

Cook in the oven for 25 minutes and then turn them and cook for another 15 minutes.

Heat up the olive oil in a large deep skillet on medium heat. Slice the onions and mushrooms. Add to the pan and sauté until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the oregano through the black pepper. Combine well and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and turn the heat to medium-low. Let cook for at least 25 minutes.

While the sauce cooks, cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and add to the sauce.

Combine the meatballs, sauce and spaghetti. Let sit together for at least 5 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!

White Chocolate Covered Strawberries

2012-08-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

So earlier this week we hosted people over at our house for the Olympics opening ceremony. And I had all the intentions in the world to make white chocolate dipped strawberries. But then came the six pizzas. And the champagne cocktails. And soon, I had completely forgotten about the massive amount of strawberries in the fridge and the white chocolate chips sitting beside them.

Now, I couldn't let the strawberries go to waste. I didn't want them to rot. And I mean, chocolate! A friend of ours was coming over for dinner and he has a huge sweet tooth. So I knew he would help to consume loads of the chocolate covered strawberries.

I don't know why I don't dip more things in strawberries. It's easy to do and delicious to eat. These make an easy and quick dessert. And we ate every single last one of them.

Ingredients
1 large container strawberries
1 8 oz bag of white chocolate chips

Fill a saucepan with about 4" of water. Place a medium bowl over the saucepan. It should fit snugly but not completely fill the saucepan. Put the chips into the bowl. Heat over medium high heat. This is basically mimicking a double boiler. If you have a double boiler pan that also can work.

Stir the chips until they melt.

Continue stirring until it is completely liquid. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. dip the strawberries into the chocolate, coating about 2/3 of the strawberry. Lie the strawberries on the wax paper.

Place in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened, at least an hour. Serve chilled. And eat plenty.

Zucchini Ricotta Puffs

2012-07-31T18:53:00.004-07:00

So, in case you hadn't heard, this girl got to go to the White House. I know, I'm so baller. Don't be jealous. I know I made some awesome sangria, but I had also mentioned that I had made an appetizer. Well don't fret...I'm going to tell you...that this is that appetizer. I know CELEBRATE Y'ALL!

Just kidding. To be honest, we had a dinner reservation for 8:45 that night, and I knew that all of us would get hungryyy. So I wanted everyone to leave with bellies [slightly] full. And how would I do that? Well, thanks for asking. I would do that by creating a puffed goodness!

Truth be told, I was originally looking for pastry dough. Yes, I know. I can create my own pastry dough. Don't judge. I didn't want to. I wanted something I could roll out. And sadly, when I went to Whole Foods, there was no refrigerated pastry dough. Well screw you too Whole Foods.

But, I was and am resourceful. I looked at the variety of refrigerated dough and contemplated......

And then I thought yes, why yes, of COURSE crescent rolls would work.

Flaky and delish, crescent rolls could be a quick fill in for pastry dough.

And then we were on.

Or so I thought.

So the day before I had bought this beautiful heavy cream from a local place. Being new to creating cheese I thought well of COURSE heavy cream can be made by itself to make ricotta. Let me let you in on a little secret. It don't. It don't at all. In fact, don't use heavy cream and think THIS WILL BE GREAT RICOTTA! Because it won't. Stick to my other recipe for ricotta. Use whole milk.

So on a second batch of ricotta, and crescent rolls, this was still a successful recipe. I hope that you enjoy!

Ingredients

Ricotta
1 half gallon whole milk
2 T lemon juice
1 T white vinegar
1/2 t salt

1/2 medium zucchini
1 package crescent rolls
honey for drizzling
pepper for seasoning

Prepare the ricotta. Please refer to this recipe or just buy some ricotta. Yum ricotta.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Thinly slice the zucchini with a mandoline or just super thin with a knife.

Take the crescent roll dough and form 2" rounds and press about 5 slices of zucchini into the crescent dough. Bake for 25 minutes and remove.

Add a dollop of ricotta into to center of the rounds. Cook for another 15 minutes,

Drizzle with honey and crack some fresh black pepper on top and enjoy!

Stone Fruit and Raspberry Sangria

2012-07-31T18:10:00.002-07:00

So. A very exciting thing happened this weekend. I got to go to....THE WEST WING! Like real life, lookin in at the Oval Offices, sneakin outside the Situation Room. It was my real life SQUEEEEE. I'm a total political nerd.

So of course, what did I want to do? Make an appetizer and a sangria. Because I mean, why the hell not? My friends Melissa and Anne Marie were coming over to meet up with Brett and me to head on over to the White House. And I had previously come upon a recipe for a stone fruit sangria from Bon Appetit. I decided that given the bountiful amounts of stone fruits, it looked like a good idea.

I made some adjustments - if you so care to do so, look at their recipe and mine - but it was a total hit. And I promise, when I was in the White House, I was neither drunk nor disruptive. USA ALL THE WAY!

Ingredients
Purée
1 apricot
1 nectarine
1 small peach
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Sangria

2 bottles rosé wine

2 C St. Germaine or another elderflower liquer

1 peach sliced

1 nectarine sliced

1 plum sliced

1 C frozen raspberries

Sparkling water

Crush and purée the ingredients under purée.

Add the remaining ingredients through the frozen raspberries. Serve with 1 ice cube, a couple frozen raspberries and a splash of sparkling water. Enjoy!

Tajine Spiced Braised Lamb

2012-07-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

Is there anything better than braised meats? No. The answer is NO. Okay maybe there are SOME better things, but really, fall off the bone succulent meat is a delicious treat. One of my favorite meats to braise and cook sloooowly are lamb shanks. There really is no quick way to cook them either. But the low and slow method really brings out the flavor.

Lamb has a wonderful almost earthy flavor. The shanks can be cooked in anything. Really braised meats can be braised in anything. But this recipe pairs tajine spices, red wine, garlic, thyme, and tomato. Cooked over the course of 8-10 hours, it's a perfect meal to make when you're off at work. Or they can be made in the morning for a weekend late night meal.

AND as it is sweltering hot outside, this recipe requires very little over the stove cooking. So there's that.

Ingredients
2 lb bone in lamb shanks
1 T olive oil
5 T tajine spice mix
6 sprigs fresh thyme
8 garlic cloves
1 tomato, crushed
1 C red wine

Heat up a skillet or cast iron dish on medium high heat. Heat up the olive oil. Rub the lamb shanks with the tajine spice mix. You can either buy a tajine mix or make any combo you want. Brown the lamb on each side for five minutes each side.

Put the tomato, thyme and garlic in the slow cooker.

Once the lamb is browned, place in the slow cooker. Pour the wine in the pan and deglaze the pan with the wine. Scrape up the browned bits. Bring the wine to a boil and reduce the wine by about half.

Pour over the lamb.

Slow cook for 8-10 hours on low.

Remove the lamb and use some of the reserved sauce to pour on the lamb.