She Manufactures

Good Problems

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 14:28:00 PDT

Hey, thanks for hanging in there with the blog. I am still doing some food-related show-and-tell, but finding other venues more fun than blogger.

This year I found various forms of micro-blogging, and realized that most of what I have to say about food is "yum!" or "Look, I made this!" And sometimes the thought of writing up something substantial to go with that simple message took the fun out of the original experience.

Also, fitting in to a particular corner of the food/writing world is limiting. I am tired of putting more effort into manufacturing a narrative about my life with images and words than I did into actually making food.

Most importantly, I'm finally getting busy with life here, and finding work that I like.

So, look! I made baked oatmeal. Yum.

See you on Tumblr, Pinterest, and Facebook. :)

Sushi at Home

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 08:36:00 PDT

The first time I had raw fish was in Japan. I was served family style strips of raw fatty tuna along with piles nori sheets and bowls of seasoned rice to make hand rolls at a private meal. There was probably soy sauce available but I don't remember seeing wasabi or pickled ginger. It was extremely simple.

My friend and I did ok with our first experience of sashimi, but didn't go in for seconds. After waiting for the polite amount of time, one of the two older ladies sharing our platter turned to her friend and said something in Japanese that approximately meant, "I insist that you take the last of the tuna, since these American kids have such undeveloped palates." And then they ate it all. Fair enough.

Nat and I went through a bit of sushi phase, and it was really fun to practice by ourselves and with big groups of friends. We used mats and presses and and saran wrap. We put together crazy combinations and spicy sauces, glued together the insides of the rolls with mayo, and even deep fried rolls. We made enormous, satisfying piles of rolls and impressive messes in the kitchen. But I'm coming to appreciate the simpler approach of my first experience. Sushi at home is going to be different, and I think in a way it can be better than sushi at a restaurant.

The main difference is that you can make up for the lack of variety, expertise and time by being really generous with the fish. Our move closer to the ocean has opened up some options for us. If you can, get fresh sushi grade raw fish. Then don't go wild with combinations and sauces. Sometimes the reason that restaurant sushi is fried and sauced so heavily is that the fish isn't fresh. With great fish, even soy sauce should be used with restraint - just brush a small quantity across the fish, don't make a puddle that soaks through your rice. Look for the milder version of soy sauce made specifically for sushi. Uchi: The Cookbook is a great resource if you want to learn more.

Sushi rice can be hard to get right, especially if you don't have a rice cooker. When I was constantly monitoring my rice in a pot over a gas burner, I found that the Han Kuk Mi brand of korean sushi rice worked better than the few other brands I tried. Now that we have a rice cooker I feel like there's a little more flexibility. Spreading the seasoned rice out on a baking sheet and fanning it helps it cool faster without getting smashed.

It takes chefs a long time to learn how to make delicious and presentable sushi rolls. If you're learning, start with sushi bowls, or have everyone make their own hand rolls. Make nigiri. These options will get the same good flavors to your mouth faster, and keep the nori from sitting around getting soggy from the rice. (Toasting the nori helps too.)

I'm not saying not to experiment, or not to try to recreate your favorite roll. We try something new every time - last time it was fresh shiso. And I love looking at the recipes from Uchi for inspiration. Just don't try to compete with a restaurant in variety and presentation, especially when you don't have the essentials under control. That is a contest you will always lose.

Do you have any sushi advice for us?

Photo by jetalone, used under creative commons license.

3 cookbooks I want for summer

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 07:36:00 PDT

La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life is perfect. The recipes remind me of Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day but are a bit fussier for when you feel like a cooking project. I am often so visually overwhelmed by the parade of idyllic photos on Bea's blog that I click away instead of scrolling down to inspect the recipe. But in cookbook form, with one gorgeous full page photo per recipe, the photography is put to good use drawing your attention to the creative recipes. I love how her food is defined by unexpected flavor combinations instead of the absence of ingredients she avoids. Instead of a recipe for a gluten-free cake or muffins, she gives you strawberry, millet, almond cake with buttermilk or basil-zucchini muffins with comte cheese. So in spite of the fact that the format is what drew me in, this recommendation isn't just based on style preferences. Bea will expand your palette and maybe even inspire some kitchen experimentation. The recipes cover lunch and dinner as well as baking, but baking in particular with these recipes will require you to use some ingredients you probably haven't worked with before. It definitely won't duplicate the recipes in the cookbooks you already own.

Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard I estimate that Nigel Slater's tome on fruit has fifty pages devoted to just apple recipes (sweet and savory), but the basic recipes like apple crumble show you how to improve on traditional techniques to bring the flavor of those apples into focus. It's deep and wide.

I looked earnestly through Booksmith in Coolidge Corner for The Fresh & Green Table but couldn't find it. (Honestly, I probably remembered the name incorrectly and walked right past it.) Still, I would buy this sight unseen. Even though I haven't been blogging about Susie Middleton's first book Fast, Fresh & Green recently, I still cook from it regularly and it's the first place I go when a new vegetable shows up in the delivery box. Has anyone bought the second book yet? Please tell me all about it, along with any other good cookbooks you've found recently.

P.S. Book links go to Amazon - I get some spare change if you buy something.

One Dish Meal: Satay Shrimp & Roasted Cabbage

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:54:00 PDT

It's cool most days here, so my dinner cooking is still very dependent on roasting. A March article in Bon Appetit was the inspiration for cooking both shrimp and cabbage on one baking sheet, pairing up a roasted vegetable with a main that can also be roasted, quickly, once the cabbage is done.

Roasted cabbage slices are mildly sweet and nutty, while still maintaining some crunch. You can follow this basic recipe for roasted cabbage slices, but I also flipped them to encourage browning on both sides. When you're roasting you don't want to pile the veggies on top of each other too much, but you can fit enough food for two on one big baking sheet. Once the cabbage slices begin to brown and soften, you can scootch them over to make room for the shrimp.

For the shrimp, I followed this recipe for a satay marinade, but roasted the shrimp on the same pan, at the same 400 degree temperature as the cabbage, until they were pink and firm.

The combination of shrimp and roasted cabbage reminded me of the sweetness of dishes with peanut sauce. Toss together the cabbage and shrimp, and top them with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts and a squeeze of lime, and possibly a dab of fish or soy sauce.

A Confetti of Flavors

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:07:00 PST

So after all the hype about making hassenpfeffer, I feel a little silly for not realizing that this particular recipe wasn't going to work well just from reading it. The sauce has bacon and wine in it, so it wasn't all bad. But marinating the rabbit in an acid (vinegar) for a long time, as directed by the cookbook, is a bad move. It made the meat tough and sour, so the rabbit was ruined before I even started cooking it. The search for an authentic recipe continues.

Is there consensus on what traditional hassenpfeffer even is? I've seen recipes that call for pickling spices, lemons, grape jelly, sour cream, or cognac to the sauce. Another recipe would have me out scavenging the neighborhood bushes for juniper berries. Bittman claims chocolate is a traditional ingredient, but the only other recipe I've seen that backs that up is a jugged hare recipe in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's imposing tome on Meat. Jugged hare is a rabbit cooked in its own blood. Forgive me, I am not yet bored enough with food to eat blood sauce.

Usually I can at least compile a decent recipe from researching online, but for this one the ingredient lists are all over the map. I might be curious enough to try again if I can find a better recipe, but I suppose a hunter's stew will always be somewhat improvised.

I had a bit more culinary luck on a recent visit to my friends in NY, where I was thoroughly spoiled with miso ramen from Momofuku noodle shop, a juicy burger from Joy Burger, and the amazing toasted marshmallow milkshake from Stand.

Watery Spaghetti and Hasenpfeffer

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:20:00 PST

My extended family ate some really weirdly-sauced spaghetti when I was growing up. Heavy on the ground beef and water, light on the canned tomato. When I, a polite and tactful child, told my cousin Andy that his mom's version of spaghetti was gross, he explained that it was German spaghetti, and added that he was proud to be German. I was shocked by both of these assertions. I think that Germans would also be shocked to hear that our puddle of meat spaghetti had anything to do with them.

Wherever the blame for German spaghetti belongs, it turns out that I do have German heritage. My experience was that we didn't talk about being German or do anything that could be explained by being German, other than having a Christmas tree. But some of the family names on both sides of my family tree, Minneman and Helfrich and Hunsberger, form the outline of a story that I am trying to understand.

Once I found a book lying around my grandparents' house, outlining the appropriate words for religious milestones with facing pages in German and English. It turned out that it had belonged to my great-grandfather, a bilingual German Lutheran minister. His daughter, though, wasn't allowed to speak German at home. She lived through Prohibition, when of course all the beer gardens closed, which spelled the end of many Germantowns. There was more than one war during her lifetime that made people suspicious of German Americans. When she was young, her social circle was defined by the Lutheran young people's group. It seems likely that being Lutheran probably became the last safe place for expression of her heritage, and very likely the last place where she heard any German public figures held up as role models. She's my grandmother. It wouldn't surprise me if her experience as a bit of an outsider was what gave her the strength to take an independent stance on occasion (she was the sole non-union teacher at her school), but she doesn't really talk about it.

I've heard people suggest that the complete "assimilation" of massive numbers of German-Americans can be a hopeful example to other countries struggling with immigration issues, including Germany. But the assimilation of my family was motivated by acute pressures to avoid public Germanness, the kind of pressures that made my great-grandparents believe that their children would have better lives without German accents.

What is a more American experience than being an immigrant or the child of an immigrant under pressure to assimilate? We, the immigrant people, the new nation, the country with the constant identity crisis? We are still becoming America. If we could collectively remember the whole story of immigration, then maybe we would stop perpetuating the ugly parts.

It's probably very American to make a hobby of learning about your cultural roots, making up narratives and links to the past partly because many of the stories of my family are lost to time and intentional forgetfulness. Whatever it even means to be German-American: all that the German-Americans could agree on right before the world wars was making sure their kids could speak German and preserving their freedom to drink beer.

Given that, maybe it's not so silly to try to begin reconnecting to my heritage through making peppered/pickled rabbit, enjoying a good weihenstephaner, and someday trying to remember how to make Grandma Clamme's laborious thinly sliced egg noodles. Since I'm as German as German spaghetti.

With apologies to my aunt, who taught me valuable life skills like washing my hands before cooking, and didn't make anything else that tasted bad to me.

This is Mark Bittman's marinade for Civet of Rabbit, or Hasenpfeffer. See how I thought this recipe turned out.

2 cups of red wine (I chose Pinot Noir)
1/2 cup vinegar, apple cider or red wine
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 rabbit
Salt and pepper

1. I am being lazy and thawing the rabbit in the marinade. Eventually you'll want your rabbit in pieces, so if your rabbit is thawed go ahead and cut it into pieces.

2. Place all the ingredients in a gallon bag or another container that will allow most of the rabbit pieces to be covered by the marinade ingredients. Marinate in the refrigerator for 8 hours to 3 days, turning occasionally so all the meat gets soaked through.

Happy New Somewhat Arbitrary Measure of Time

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:44:00 PST

My only resolution for this year is to eat more green leafy things. Not out of guilt for the amazing fried seafood in Florida, or the comforting pecan caramel rolls in Ohio. No regrets over vacation. I came home with a whole bag of kitchen gifts - a bulk supply of saffron and other spices from K&S in Bangkok, and a kitchen scale so I can work on making make my recipes more friendly to non-US readers. How lucky am I, right?

Last semester we probably had greens once a week. But, after vacation we needed a ton of groceries to restock the empty fridge. Nat came with me to the grocery store to help carry things, went down an aisle I usually avoid to grab some frozen spinach, and discovered a wonder of modern food science. You can also get chopped frozen kale. A small discovery, but now we have a giant hoard of basically instant greens, and I am eating them almost every day.

I know I'm prone to getting excited about and then sometimes giving up on ambitious projects - last year I resolved to run a half marathon (I did!) and read 52 books (do blog articles count?) and to sort through all of our belongings before our move (I did) and post a certain amount of articles each month on the blog (hit or miss). Generally I like challenges, big ones with concrete goals and deadlines. Enthusiasm lasts only so long and deadlines help you ride that wave before it is spent. So yes, this is a phase. But maybe I can turn the phase into a habit.

Right now I am helping collect recipes and nutrition tips for getfit@mit, which is a really well-designed program that helps members of the MIT community make healthier habits. That's all I really want out of "more greens."

If I made my normal style of resolutions for this year, I would have mapped out a plan for a superwoman who would get an awesome job, join Crossfit, regularly go rock-climbing, and do yoga, while cooking all our meals from scratch, writing a book, earning a DSLR camera and then getting good at using it, learning Italian, taking adventurous biking and culinary vacations (p.s. I don't bike yet), regularly going out to posh restaurants and parties and concerts in attractive but playful incarnations of "the feminine", and having great totally functional and supportive and delightful relationships with everyone. But there are variables in the future that I can't control.

A lot of people each year make a resolution to find a better job, and don't succeed. And I'm going to say it, I don't care that it's angsty: It was heart-breaking to get to the end of this year and not have reached my main goal. My somewhat artificial deadlines have caused me grief, along with sometimes motivating me.

With the "more greens" resolution I think I've managed to find a goal and a mindset that is both a good change and a kind change. A possible change. Today I can take care of myself. I can make Collards & Kale soup with Saffron Butter.

No recipe forthcoming. Sometimes there's no recipe for what you are making.

Good luck on your resolutions, whatever they are!

Happy Merry

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:55:00 PST

Are you home or headed there? I hope you this year you have a great visit with your family and friends! And a chance to enjoy all your favorite food traditions. This is the only time of year that we get my mom's secret recipe ultra-luxe flaky buttery sandwich cookies. They're kind of a big deal.

Decorating some gingerbread villagers is still on my wish list, but I can check off some Gretchen's eggnog and these fig-date swirls. Nat helped me make them! It totally made my day. The nice thing about these is that you can freeze the rolls of dough and just slice off only as many cookies as you need. (Recipe from Lottie and Doof.)

And after the holidays we can talk about why, next to the other roll of fig-date swirl cookie dough, there is a rabbit in my freezer. Guesses?

Vindaloo Burgers

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:05:00 PST

"The scale of complexity in recipes is in no way a litmus test of how good or bad a recipe is." - Monica Bhide

This spice mix was a Christmas gift that I got last year. I love it, and now that there is a Penzey's down the road from us, I'm all stocked up. It would be nice if Penzey's sent several recipes along with their spice mixes, more than just the one on the package, but you don't really need a cookbook. This spice mix is really easy to use.

Quick lamb burgers for dinner, plus some roasted vegetables, is the quickest way I know to make a flavorful dinner. Forgive the lack of pictures. We only had one burger left after dinner, and I decided not to bother trying to photograph a food that looks like a greasy hockey puck. But they do taste good. We've liked them with chopped onions mixed in, and left them out. We've also liked beef vindaloo burgers, and a cucumber raita to go with them. Basically, vindaloo seasoning is versatile and fun to experiment with. How would you use it?

Vindaloo Burgers
Cooking technique from this recipe

1.5 lbs ground lamb
2 Tablespoons of Penzey's Vindaloo seasoning
Salt to taste (at least 1/2 teaspoon)

1. Work spices into ground meat and shape into six patties.

2. Grill (if it's warm). To cook on the stovetop, heat two frying pans, one two medium-high, and one to medium. Add a bit of your preferred cooking oil to the pan. Cook each patty 2 minutes on each side in the hotter pan, then 2 more minutes on the medium pan on one side. Our lamb burgers ended up cooked about medium. They shrunk a bit and released a lot of fat, so you might need to pour some of it off as you go.

By the way, Penzey's has no idea that I or my blog exist, I'm just a happy customer. All opinions about their products are my own.

Almond Flour Cupcakes with Cranberry Chutney

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:59:00 PST

Let's be honest: one of the best reasons to have a food blog is so you can get up in the morning and convince yourself that you need to make cupcakes.

Emma Galloway has a beautiful rhubarb, lemon & almond cake on Food52 that I've been meaning to try, but of course it's not exactly rhubarb season right now. I did have half a jar of cranberry chutney in the fridge though. I am definitely planning to go back and try the original recipe once rhubarb is in season, but I think the cranberry substitution was delicious and seasonal.

While I'm admitting to hacking other people's well-tested recipes, I have to admit that I didn't have lemons, do I made a daring substitution of ground coriander, which was subtle and tasty. Also, I only mixed up a half batch, so I could put the whole recipe together quickly in my 3-cup food processor.

These are as sweet as normal cake and have normal cake texture. The flavor is maybe a bit eggier - if that doesn't sound good to you, add a dash of your favorite flavored extract. The almond flour means they are definitely more filling than your average wheat cupcakes and have lots of protein. This is good news - you are unlikely to eat more than two, even if you are very hungry! Data comes from a very scientific test I ran on myself, where I didn't eat breakfast and then made cupcakes.

As written (and as I made it) the recipe is gluten-free. This was my first time using brown rice flour - the amount is small and I can see how you might not want to go buy a bag of it just to make these, so if you don't have a problem with gluten you could sub in your normal flour. Still, if you are at all curious about baking with alternative flours, but haven't tried it yet... start with this recipe.

December has started off pretty well. Volunteering and a fun seasonal job have been helping me get over feeling completely useless and isolated during my extended job search, and we have plans to see lots of family in December. It's been bizarrely sunny and warm - I walk past blooming roses on the way to the T and go out without a coat to pick up groceries!

Almond Flour Cupcakes with Cranberry Chutney

Adapted from a recipe by Emma Galloway

Makes 6 cupcakes

2 eggs
1/3 c. granulated sugar
4 and 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
scant 1 1/2 c. almond flour
2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/8 tsp. coriander
About 3 Tablespoons of cranberry sauce or chutney

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 6 cups of a muffin tin with cupcake liners, or grease and flour.

2. In food processor, blend eggs and sugar until thick and yellow. Add butter and blend until well combined (it's fine if the butter isn't entirely incorporated, as long as there aren't any big lumps).

3. Add remaining dry ingredients and pulse until smooth.

4. Divide the batter between six cupcake tins. Make a 1/2 inch deep well in the cupcakes, and fill with cranberry chutney. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Remove from tins and allow to cool.

Giveaway: Ciao Italia Family Classics

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:00:00 PST

It's a tradition that my mom gives each of us a cookbook for Christmas every year, so I've always had a lot of cookbooks around. I find inspiration and sources for current recipes in all of them. The transition to eating along paleo lines hasn't changed that - I think cookbooks with only paleo recipes are great if you're just getting into the lifestyle, but I am not going to stop being a cookbook junkie.

Ciao Italia: Family Classics is the most recent acquisition. A (primal & gluten-free) Supreme Lasagna recipe won me a copy in a PBS Food contest, but due to a mix-up I was sent two copies. They were nice enough to let me share the extra copy with you!

**********Update********************

Congrats to entrant 38, Carolyn! She said: "The "Fried Ricotta Cheese - serve on red pepper wedges instead of bread" caught my eye right away. Sounds interested! And yummy!!"

Here's how you can get a free copy of Ciao Italia-Family Classics:

1. Read through the paleo/primal friendly main dish recipes from the book (listed below the jump), then leave a comment saying which recipe you find most intriguing.

2. For an additional entry, follow me on twitter @shemanufactures & tweet a link to this giveaway, then come back here to leave a comment saying that you did so.

Entries close at 9 pm. Eastern on Wed. Nov. 30. One winner will be chosen by a drawing on random.org. Accidental duplicate entries will be deleted. Sorry, for legal reasons this giveaway is only for residents of the continental US who are 18 or older. Entrants agree not to hold me liable for any unforeseen technical problems (like Blogger crashing).

Paleo/Primal Friendly Recipes in Ciao Italia: Family Classics

Antipasti
Antipasto Salad
Classic Antipasto
Fried Ricotta Cheese - serve on red pepper wedges instead of bread
Red Pepper Boats
Marinated Salmon Trout
Raw Tuna Antipasto
Carpaccio of Sea Scallops with Fennel Slaw
Marinated Shrimp - sub in cucumber instead of cannellini beans to keep it a no-cook dish
Pecorino Cheese and Fresh Fava Beans
Fresh Fava Bean and Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Cylinders

Soup
Nonna Galasso's Chicken Soup
Two-Ricotta Cheese Soup
Chunky Roasted Vegetable Soup
Fish Broth
Fish Chowder
Sicilian-Style Mussel Soup
Wedding Soup - use your favorite paleo meatball recipe

Pasta & Sauces
- serve the sauces over zucchini "spaghetti", spaghetti squash, or really any vegetable
-if desired, substitute chicken stock for wine.
Mixed Mushroom Sauce
Onion Sauce
Creamy Lemon Sauce
Pork Ragu
Tuna and Lemon
Seafood Sauce
Clam Sauce
White Clam Sauce
Fontina Sauce
Tomato Sauce
Puttanesca Sauce
Sun-dried Tomato Sauce
Uncooked Cherry Tomato Sauce - leave out sugar
Pesto
Garlic and Oil Sauce with Walnuts and Pecorino Cheese
Oven Baked Beef Shin Tomato Ragu
Ricotta Cheese Sauce
Sicilian Lemon and Olive Oil Sauce
Ragu Bologna Style
Nonna Galasso's Stuffed Rolled Beef
Orange Sauce
Tuscan Style Meat Sauce
Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil

Fish
Baked Scallops
Roasted Sea Bass with Fennel, Oranges, and Olives
Stuffed Baked Fish Bundles
Large Shrimp, Amalfi Style
Christmas Eve Clams
Halibut in Lemon Sauce
Pan-Cooked Shrimp in Garlic and Wine
Salmon, Peas, and [not!] Pasta - sub in a veggie for the pasta
Sole in Galliano Butter Sauce
Scallops in Viniagrette

Meats
Steak Neapolitan Style
Italian Style Pot Roast
Pork Sausage with Bitter Greens
Homemade Italian Sweet Sausage
Chicken Livers and Onions
Rabbit in Balsamic Vinegar
Lamb Stew in Lemon and Egg Sauce - omit flour
Marinated Lamb Should Chops w/ Fresh Mint Sauce
Luigi's Lamb Chops

This huge list doesn't even account for the vegetable and salad sections. There's also a rice section that the adventurous could adapt to riced cauliflower. So many great ideas!

World's Easiest Ham

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:39:00 PST

If the presentation of a traditional holiday ham is Megan Fox on the red carpet, this looks something more like Britney Spears caught walking her dog in sweats and no makeup. The ham falls apart into chunks and threadlike shreds, like BBQ, from being slowly braised. The surrounding water turns pink. This may not be a main dish you make to impress company, but it makes a ton of tasty meat.

The recipe is basically what you see in the picture above. I put a ham butt of about 7 lbs in our 6 quart Le Creuset, and covered it halfway with about 4 cups of water. I had to trim the ham a bit to get the lid on. Then, it went into a 275 oven for 5 hours. My mom sometimes has left the ham in overnight at 250, which will make it fall apart a bit more.

Mom got the recipe from a neighbor, Mrs. K. Once, my sister, a friend and I went on an expedition through the corn fields between our house and hers. It turns out that in Ohio, being able to see a house doesn't mean that it is close by. By the time we arrived at Mrs. K's house, we were exhausted. She seemed unfazed by three children showing up via the back field, gave us something to eat, and most importantly, drove us home. Good neighbor.

For reference, here's the meat I started with:

Wordless Wednesday: a moment to be grateful

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:09:00 PST

Primal Party: Thanksgiving Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:53:00 PST

via thebittenword

Do you have a plan for Thanksgiving yet? I have some suggestions!

Our favorite turkey recipe, for its citrus flavor and crispy skin. When I say irresistible, you should imagine us crowding around this turkey when it came out of the oven, sneaking dainty samples at first, but then not able to stop pulling off chunks to eat. We honestly ate dinner with our fingers right there, even though I was raised to pretend to have manners. Don't judge. More importantly, don't forget to thaw and get some salt in that bird ahead of time.

***Update***
Gluten-free gravy! via Serious Eats

Sides:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Orange Butter

Tiny Roasted Root Vegetables

Mashed Cauliflower

Cranberry Orange Relish Cranberries definitely need some sugar, but oranges will add natural sweetness. Try adding in half of the suggested amount of sugar, tasting and adjusting from there.

via llsimon53

Desserts:

Pumpkin Custard via Food Renegade, with real whipped cream + brandy.

Ripe pears with a creamy cheese

Roasted Almonds You know that amazing smell you get walking past a roasted nut stand? Make these and your whole house will smell like that. (You can reduce the sugar or use a substitute. While I was going through a sugar substitute phase, I successfully used Truvia for half of the sugar.)

Today I'm grateful for a delicious homemade latte, a sunny day, the easy comfortable feeling of being with friends, and for the Harvest Dinner we're headed to tonight!

What are you hoping to make or eat for Thanksgiving?

This post is part of a roundup of posts by real food bloggers called Fight Back Friday.

Creamy Chicken, Kale and Red Onions over Spaghetti Squash

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:23:00 PST

Have you ever been introduced as someone else? And was the person who confused your identity someone you interacted with pretty regularly? This happened to me once. Even though it was an innocent mistake, and the person apologized profusely, and I always had a hard time keeping my students' names straight too, and actually sometimes their gender, so yeah, really I've done much worse...well, honestly it didn't feel great.

Maybe that's why I feel so protective of spaghetti squash when I see people recommending sauces for spaghetti squash that are designed to go with pasta. Imagine the awkwardness! "Sauce, you'll love my friend, spaghetti!" "Er, actually I'm a squash, but don't worry, I don't have any identity issues from being constantly mistaken for spaghetti or anything." Poor gold string melon.

Spaghetti squash doesn't taste like spaghetti, so I'd rather not pair it with a traditional tomato-based spaghetti sauce. They just taste irrelevant to each other. Why not respect the individuality of the spaghetti squash by choosing a sauce that builds on and enhances its flavor profile?

A creamy sauce with red onions and kale is my attempt at a step in the right direction. I added chicken, because it's convenient to roast chicken and squash at the same time, but roasted turkey or chickpeas could also be good protein options. Maybe you'll have some leftover turkey on your hands soon? This meal happens to be gluten-free, primal, and can be adapted to be vegetarian.

Brining the chicken before baking makes a big difference in the flavor and moisture. However, I usually forget to leave time for thawing meat and an hour of brining. Next time I buy chicken I'm planning an experiment: I'll portion it out into recipe-sized servings, and freeze it in the brine. The meat will brine as it freezes and thaws. I know this strategy works for marinades - has anyone tried this for brine? I will let you know how it goes.

As you can probably tell from this scary final picture, cooking without a recipe took longer than I expected and so it was dark by the time I got around to plating. But it was tasty and worth the effort, as things made with heavy cream tend to be. Bonus tip: keeping your SO waiting around for dinner until they are starving is one way you can make sure they really appreciate your cooking.

Looking for more recipes that treat spaghetti squash like more than just a spaghetti substitute? There are some great suggestion in this roundup by the Family Kitchen.

Creamy Chicken, Kale & Red Onion over Spaghetti Squash

The "bechamel" was inspired by this recipe by chef Fabio Trabocchi. A food processor is helpful for incorporating raw egg into the hot cream without lumps. Brining the chicken is optional, but I really recommend it. Here's how: In a saucepan, boil 2 c. water with 3 T. salt (I used sea salt crystals) until salt dissolves. Add two chicken thighs, and cover with about 3 cups cool water. Refrigerate submerged in the brine at least one hour, or up to three.

2 chicken thighs, brined (optional)
1 spaghetti squash

1 red onion, sliced

2 T. olive oil

1 bunch kale, stems removed, cut into bite size pieces

Flourless "Bechamel"

1 pint heavy cream

1 T. butter

1 egg

1/2 t. salt

pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 450. Set a large pot of salted water on to boil for the kale.

2. The squash, chicken and onions are all going into the oven, but the onions for a shorter time than the chicken and squash. Split the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, rub cut surface with remaining olive oil, and place each cut half face down on a baking sheet. Roast squash until quite soft, 40-50 minutes, and then remove the seeds. Roast the chicken in a shallow dish or on the same baking sheet as the squash, until skin is brown and crispy, about 45 minutes. Cool a bit, then shred the meat. Toss the onion slices with 1 1/2 T. of olive oil, and roast for about 10-15 minutes, until beginning to brown.

3. Once the water is boiling, add chopped kale, turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 10-30 minutes, stirring every now and then. It's done when it's tender but not mushy. Drain.

4. Meanwhile, make the flourless bechamel. Combine the cream and butter, simmering and stirring over medium heat, until reduced by half. Spoon a tablespoon or two of the hot mixture into your food processor, add the egg, and pulse. Once combined, add the rest of the cream and pulse until combined.

5. In a large saucepan over medium-low, combine the drained kale, flourless bechamel, and roasted onions. Add shredded chicken or other protein, and stir to combine, bringing everything back up to a simmer. Taste for seasoning. Scoop the warm squash into each plate and top with sauce, or serve sauce over a whole roasted squash half (this is a big serving!).

Tiny Roasted Root Veggies

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:45:00 PST

I read recently that a writer should bleed in the first line. But that only seems appropriate on a food blog if you're dealing with beets. It's so aggressively cheerful when they bleed and turn everything pink.

Beets have been repeatedly showing up in our delivery box, so I tried pink soup (otherwise known as borscht) and on a whim I even tucked some pureed beets into brownies. The bad news was that the brownies didn't turn out with the intended red velvet effect. The good news was that no one suspected that the dessert had been booby-vegged. People aren't inclined to trust you after a low-down trick like that.

These roasted root vegetables with shallots and herb salt are another reliable recipe from Fast, Fresh & Green book. They're comforting, a very good way to warm up the kitchen and round out a weeknight dinner. Dicing makes the vegetables cook faster and you get a nicer blend of flavors in each bite, but obviously it means the prep takes longer. You could cut them into larger cubes and bake them about five minutes longer, but in that case leave out the shallots, which will burn. Cutting the veggies into dice could be a good job for willing but inexperienced helpers during prep for Thanksgiving. The herb salt is quick and makes this feel special without being fussy.

I haven't given up on my plan to cook through this cookbook - it's a well-thought out book that stands up to heavy use. My respect for it grows each time I follow the smooth path of Susie's directions. But I do seem to have a hard time only focusing on this one project when I am surrounded by new influences and ingredients. It has been stretching to have the change of flavors that come with a change of place, along with being jolted out of familiar daily patterns. I've been motivated to take new risks. Some of the results were... less convincing. Well, it happens.

Recipe development isn't the the only part of my life where the road to success is non-linear, things worth accomplishing take time, and the unknown offers both challenge and promise. But I will keep trying.

Tiny Roasted Root Veggies with Shallots and Herb Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 475.

2. Dice up a combination of any of the following: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips.

3. Toss your vegetables with olive oil to coat and sliced shallots. If you want to include beets (you do!), dice them first and get them into the oven while you work on dicing the other vegetables.

4. Spread out the diced veggies into a thin layer on a baking sheet. Roast until soft, 20-25 minutes.

5. Optional - combine fresh rosemary or thyme and kosher salt, bruising the herb against the salt. Stir into the finished root vegetables.

This is the seventeenth recipe I've made from Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton, a cookbook so awesome that I am cooking my way through all the recipes. Sue's online home is Six Burner Sue, where you can find her hard at work running a vegetable farm on Martha's Vineyard and developing recipes for a second cookbook that will be called Fresh & Green for Dinner.

Mashed Cauliflower

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:15:00 PDT

In general I think gotcha recipes like Fake Mashed Potatoes are silly, but when a beautiful head of cauliflower showed up in our Boston Organics box, I was getting ready to make a stew that would be perfect on top of some creamy mash. It was a good enough excuse to try subbing cauliflower for potatoes. And actually, I really liked this. I don't usually go out of my way to eat cauliflower. But this was tasty.

Mashed cauliflower is a tad bit easier than mashed potatoes, because there is no peeling. Just cut the head into florets, boil until tender, drain & dry, and blend together with some creamy seasonings. You do need a food processor, preferably a large one, so that you don't have to bother with processing multiple batches.

For seasonings, I went with roasted garlic cloves that I keep on hand my freezer, cream cheese, salt & pepper, and some half & half. I made this to go with beef bourguignon, and maybe sometimes I will get around to sharing that too. The combination was delicious.

Mashed Cauliflower

Adapted from this Mock Mashed Potato recipe

1 head of cauliflower, trimmed into small florets
2 T. cream cheese
4 cloves roasted garlic, or 1/2 tsp. fresh minced garlic
Salt, Pepper & Butter to taste

1. Boil the florets until tender, about 6 minutes.

2. Drain and pat dry.

3. Combine florets and other ingredients in a food processor, and blend until smooth.

Oh, and... I won a case of pretzel crisps to give out to trick-or-treaters in a healthy snack contest. Do you have Halloween plans?

Glorious Apple Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:04:00 PDT

It was decadent, and decadent pie is the only kind worth eating. Almost as good as my mom's apple pie. She claims that there is no secret ingredient, but it wouldn't surprise me if her amazing results had something do with her fearless liberality with butter, sugar, and heat. Butter goes into the apples inside as well as the crust, and she bakes the pie long enough to reach a deeper color than golden brown, like the mahogany of a seasoned Floridian sunbather. She also never uses thickeners like flour, preferring the risk of bubbling juices to gumminess or muted flavor.

I actually set out to make a paleo rustic apple pie. And I will admit that I completely screwed up the proportions of the crust ingredients, so that the crumbly mixture of almond and coconut flour was not holding together. I hoped I could save it by patting it into a tart pan, and layering the McIntosh, Honeycrsip and Granny Smith apples on top. It smelled so amazing as it baked. And it was beautiful.

It was also extremely dry. The crust was inedible, even after a soak in frozen yogurt, and I ended up picking the baked apples off the top and throwing the rest away. Again, this is probably my fault for mixing the thing up incorrectly.

Still, I am taking a break from paleo treats, from baking with coconut and almond flour, from paleo pancakes, paleo pie, paleo pudding made with avocado, and other "sweets" trying to be what they are not. (This doesn't apply to veggies - I'll post more recipes soon with healthy veggie substitutes that I really liked.) I went into the paleo baking relationship blinded by love, and things were really great for a while. I'll admit that I've found recipes I like for paleo muffins, and I think Elana's recipes are well-tested. And I'm glad to have added a few new ingredients to my toolbox. But five failed attempts at pancakes, followed by this apple tart disaster, broke my resolve.

So I'm going back to a daily healthy diet plus occasional splurges. It fits my life right now better, partly because I'm a moderater, not an abstainer. Abstaining from treats constantly to stay paleo made me me fixate for the first time on the pancakes and brownies I was missing. Back in college, there was unlimited ice cream and pie available to me in the cafeteria every lunch and dinner, but I didn't eat it often. There was no self-control involved - I just didn't want the gooey glop of apple flavored sugar and fillers once I had tasted perfection.

It was such a treat to bake this real apple pie with my good friend Alisa, who is full of worldly experience in baking with lard and rolling out pie dough with a rolling pin improvised from a bottle. The crust recipe is the best I've tried, and I've done a bit of experimenting, including a vodka pie crust. The lightly lemony filling of apples was traditional but fresh. I only wish I had baked the pie even longer, like my mom does.

Yesterday I went out and bought a real rolling pin. Next time there's an occasion for pie, I want to be ready.

Glorious Apple Pie

Recipe adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook & my mom's recipe

Christopher Kimball of Cook's Illustrated fame recently pointed out that apple pie is one of the hardest things to get right, because the crust needs careful handling and apples vary a lot in flavor and consistency. Using a mix of apples is a good solution. McIntosh apples have great flavor but don't hold their shape as well after long cooking, while Granny Smith tend to hold up to cooking and add pleasant tartness. If you want to experiment with other apple combinations, here's some guidance, but keep in mind that you might need to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe if you change the variety of apples.

1. At least an hour before you want to bake the pie, make the Best Ever Pie Crust. Divide in two (I like to make one half slightly larger to go on the bottom of the pie), roll into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill.

Apple Filling:

4-6 McIntosh apples
3-4 Granny Smith apples
3/4 c. sugar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 cinnamon
1 T. butter (optional)

Optional Crust Garnish:

1 egg white, beaten
Sugar

1. While the crust is chilling, juice the lemon and place the juice in a large bowl. Peel and slice the apples 1/4 inch thick, stirring around in the lemon juice occasionally to prevent browning.

2. Stir together the sliced apples with the sugar, zest, salt, nutmeg, & cinnamon.

3. When you're ready to bake the pie, heat the oven to 425. Roll out each crust as thin as you can, about 1/8". Place the bottom crust in the pie pan, & fill with apples. Dot with butter if you want to be cool! Cover with the top pie crust and crimp the edges and cut some vent slits in the top. If you want, spread egg white on top and sprinkle with sugar.

4. Bake at 425 for 25 min. Lowever the temperature to 375 and bake until deep golden brown, at least 35 minutes, but longer, watching it carefully, if you want to thoroughly brown like my mom's pie. I baked mine on a metal baking sheet with parchment paper under it just in case it dripped, and it did. Let it cool a bit for the best flavor and slicing conditions.

Treat yo self!

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:26:00 PDT

Recently The Hungry One came home late, and was not excited about the plan for dinner. "Soup just doesn't sound like a meal." The Hungry One is not me, and is not Nat, but sometimes it can look a lot like one of us. Also, the Hungry One is not exactly what you would call rational, emotionally stable or polite, because it is a monster with low blood sugar.

I quietly panicked, as people tend to do when attacked by weird made-up monsters, and brandished a serving of this tomato soup...

...which is a compromise by way of a short cut. When the weather started to cool down there was a wave of mildly complicated tomato soups on the food blogs. I loved the idea of roasting plum tomatoes in the oven, but I just couldn't see myself putting in the time when I was so used to the Campbell's tomato soup concentrate of my childhood, mixed with milk, served with grilled cheese. Tomato soup is the epitome of quick comfort food. I also don't trust a soup recipe that doesn't start with at least sauteing some onions, and there are canned tomatoes that come pre-charred. The way was clear.

We aren't eating grilled cheese too often around here, but, you know, everything in moderation. Making one sandwich into croutons to share is one way to make this meal a bit healthier.

As for The Hungry One, when the beast noticed that the soup was full of chunky tomatoes and onions, it stopped growling and started eating. Somewhere on the way to the bottom of the soup bowl, the fairly savage beast was appeased with creamy tomatoes. The day had been saved.

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

This recipe is a bit more work than making soup from a can. But, it also tastes better, doesn't have weird additives or preservatives, makes a generous amount and freezes well. Those last two are especially important qualities in our house, where we try to be prepared for worst case scenarios involving The Hungry One.

1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 28 oz cans of regular crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz one regular crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes by Muir Glen
1/2 c. cream cheese
1/2 c. half and half

1. Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat until melted. Add the chopped onions and saute until beginning to brown on the edges and, 10-15 minutes. It's fine if some edges of the onions brown deeply.

2. Add all tomatoes and bring it to a boil.

3. Turn heat to medium-low. Stir in cream cheese until melted and well-incorporated. Stir in half and half and rewarm, but do not boil. Serve, garnishing if you want with grilled cheese croutons or some basil.

Important note: using low fat dairy products for cooking will result in curdling. Avoid!
Also, Muir Glen has no idea who I am or that my blog or this recipe exists.

Supreme Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:51:00 PDT

Why supreme? The sauce for this lasagna is full of sausage, peppers, garlic, tomatoes and onions, so the flavor instantly reminded me of a slice of supreme pizza. This was also an experiment in lasagna so full of vegetables that you don't really need lasagna noodles - a supremely veggie, post-noodle lasagna.

Zucchini has a nice neutral flavor, and can jump into the noodle role with any special peeling, salting, soaking or pre-cooking. (I'm glaring at you, eggplant.) We have thin zucchini "pasta" instead of spaghetti for dinner pretty often.

For this recipe, I just sliced small 6" zucchini thinly with a sharp vegetable peeler. If you can only find larger specimens, use a mandoline; or, quarter them lengthwise, and trim out the seedy middle before slicing. Don't work too hard to get the entire zucchini sliced nicely - I chopped the remainders finely and threw them into the lasagna too.

Making lasagna completely from scratch is always a long process, but I feel like it's occasionally worth it because it makes a lot of food. And it's nice to putter around a warm kitchen in this cooler fall weather. Lately it's all been warm and rich dishes, like creamy tomato soup, beef bourguingon, and this vehicle-for-cheese lasagna. My freezer is stocked up with emergency dinners, and I just got a big batch of novels from paperback swap, so today after work I might finally curl up with a cup of coffee inside a big drapey sweater to read a book on our back porch.

So, would you try your hand at post-noodle lasagna? And what's your favorite lasagna recipe? I have to admit, I remember the rich bechamel in Smitten Kitchen's mushroom lasagna fondly.

Supreme Lasagna

1 recipe of Supreme Sauce (recipe follows)
1 recipe of Rich Ricotta mixture (recipe follows)
About 3 lbs of zucchini, sliced into thin, lasagna noodle-like strips with a vegetable peeler or mandoline
1 lb sliced mushrooms, sauteed (optional)
1 c. shredded mozzarella

1. Make the supreme sauce, stir together the rich ricotta mixture, and sautee the mushrooms (optional). Any or all of these things can be done the day before you want the lasagna.

2. Preheat the oven to 350.

3. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 pan. Layer zucchini slices to cover the bottom of the pan. Spread with half of the ricotta mixture, and sprinkle with half of the mushrooms. Top with tomato sauce. Repeat layers, ending with tomato sauce, zucchini, and more tomato sauce.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the lasagna with mozzarella, and bake for another 15 minutes.

It's really hot at this point, so let it cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Things were a little liquidy in there, but it didn't bubble over and held up surprisingly well to being sliced while still hot.

Supreme Sauce:

Inspired by Kay's spaghetti and lasagna sauce

1 lb of Italian sausage
2 large onions, diced
1 green pepper, diced
5 cloves of garlic, diced/pressed
2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes

1. Cook the Italian sausage in a large pot over medium heat, until the meat is no longer pink.

2. Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the onions, garlic and peppers, and brown until the onions turn a light golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

3. Pour in the tomatoes and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Taste for seasoning. This made more than enough sauce for a 9x13 pan of lasagna.

Rich Ricotta Mix:

Adapted from the America's Test Kitchen recipe for Simple Cheese Lasagna

2 c. ricotta
1 c. shredded parmesan
1 egg
1/2 c. fresh basil, sliced/torn
1/2 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste

1. Stir together the cheeses, egg and basil until well combined. Keep refrigerated until needed. This makes enough for a 9x13 pan.

Kitchen Fails: Mix by Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:43:00 PDT

Photo by Hello Turkey Toe

As someone who enjoys the history of words, I find it particularly funny that the phrase "mix by hand" really means no such thing. I'll explain for any non-cooks out there: in the context of a recipe, it's a way of abbreviating "stir with a spoon instead of potentially over-beating the batter with a machine mixer of some sort."

And when I was nine, my mom found it particularly funny to come into the kitchen and find me elbow deep in a bowl, both hands covered in lumpy coca-cola chocolate cake batter.

Of course, being willing to get my hands dirty served me well later for making bread, and I am not the only person who has ever been overly literal in my interpretation of this phrase. I blame the industrial revolution.

Do you like to get your hands into your food? Or are you one of those prissy mixing spoon users?

Kitchen Fails is a series about how I once had no idea what I was doing in the kitchen, and managed to survive through all the grease fire and pyrex shrapnel and sharp knives that were involved in learning, until I eventually came to have great satisfaction in my amazing culinary skills.*

*Except for when the stories are about a cooking disaster from last week.

Sauteed Broccoli and Prosciutto

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:58:00 PDT

Adjustments are happening around here - most obviously a new look for the blog, but also learning by trial and error to photograph what I cook in a new lighting situation, and in a season less generous with daylight hours.

Not to mention learning to cook with the vegetables that arrive in our box. Luckily, this broccoli isn't hard to love.

I hope that the new site organization makes it easier to find what you like. I'm still thinking about improvements, so let me know if you have suggestions. Also, my apologies if my experiments with layout accidentally spammed you with updates.

I happened to have some prosciutto on hand, so I subbed it in for the original recipe's pancetta. It needs to be treated a bit more delicately. After frying it up, remove it from the pot so that it doesn't overcook and then add it back in to heat up at the end. If you use pancetta, just leave it in the pot the whole time.

So, what do you think?

Sauteed Broccoli with Mellow Garlic and Thyme

3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
Six slices of prosciutto, sliced into bite size pieces, or about 2 oz of pancetta
2 or 3 heads of broccoli, trimmed into florets that each have a sliced side
10 cloves of garlic, halved
Kosher salt, about 1/2 tsp.
6 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp. dry

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the prosciutto briefly until it begins to wrinkle up, about one minute. Remove from pan and save for later. Add in the garlic and brown for two to three minutes, not stirring.

2. Turn the heat down to low. Add in the broccoli, salt, and thyme, and cook until the broccoli begins to brown. Allow browning to occur by not stirring too often, and cook for about twenty five minutes. If you are using fresh thyme, remove the sprigs before serving, and taste for seasoning.

This is the sixteenth recipe I've made from Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton, a cookbook so awesome that I am cooking my way through all the recipes. Sue's online home is Six Burner Sue, where you can find her hard at work running a vegetable farm on Martha's Vineyard and developing recipes for a second cookbook that will be called Fresh & Green for Dinner.

Summer Vegetable and Tomato Tian with Parmesan Bread Crumbs

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 09:17:00 PDT

Roasted tomatoes, toasty cheese and crunchy bread belong together. Grilled cheese with with a slice of fresh tomato inside? Bruschetta with tomato? This strata? Yes please, especially when there is a layer of caramelized onions hidden underneath the tomatoes.

I just eye-balled the proportions of zucchini and tomato, but when I make this again, I will use double rows of tomatoes and single rows of zucchini. Or even all tomatoes.

We had some friends stop by during an epic drive across the country, and the four of us took this down easily as a side with roasted chicken. The recipe is a bit involved, but can be put together ahead of time.

Do you have any roasted tomato and cheese recipes that you love? Please share!

By the way, I've been working on some aesthetic improvements for this place to make it feel a little more homey. It's coming along, slowly, and may be ready next week. I hope you'll like it.

Summer Vegetable and Tomato Tian with Parmesan Bread Crumbs

1/3 c. plus 2 tsp olive oil, more for the pan
1 T fresh mint, chopped (basil would be a great substitute)
1 T orange juice
1 t. balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
12 oz zucchini, sliced
1 1/2 lb small ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
1/2 c. breadcrumbs
3/4 c. parmigiano-reggiano, grated
1 T fresh parsley, chopped

1. Combine the zucchini slices with the orange juice, balsamic vinegar, one tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 tsp. salt, and mint. Set aside to marinate.

2. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat, and cook the onions slowly until they begin to turn light golden brown. This can take ten to fifteen minutes.

3. Place the cooked onions in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole. Drain the juices from the tomato and zucchini, and layer the zucchini and tomato slices over the onions.

4. Combine breadcrumbs, two teaspoons of olive oil, and cheese. Sprinkle over the tian, and drizzle with the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil. Bake at 375 for 60-70 min.

To make this primal/paleo friendly and gluten-free, substitute crushed plantain chips for the breadcrumbs. (Thanks to Health-Bent for this idea!)

This is the fifteenth recipe I've made from Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton, a cookbook so awesome that I am cooking my way through all the recipes. Sue's online home is Six Burner Sue, where you can find her hard at work running a vegetable farm on Martha's Vineyard and developing recipes for a second cookbook that will be called Fresh & Green for Dinner.

Spicy Mustard Greens with Ginger-Garlic Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:15:00 PDT

I've been having a string of bad luck in the kitchen. This dish turned out great, but when I tried to adapt the recipe to a faster cooking green (calaloo/asian spinach, pictured above), I wandered off and burned my first attempt into a disgusting mess. Yesterday I made the ugliest blueberry muffins ever, which turned grey-green from blueberry juice and were missing an ingredient. And for dinner there was also an almost inedible lemon chicken dish that came out tasting strongly of bitter pith instead of zest.

Why all this distraction? I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life, and apparently I shouldn't attempt anything more complicated than boiling water until I have found suitable employment.

This dish actually turned out well, but by the time I finished making it I was a bit annoyed with mustard greens. I was warned that the greens would shrink down by the vendor at the farmer's market, but I still wasn't really prepared to end up with such a small dinner.

Why would anyone make a dish with multiple steps and dirty pans that shrinks down to two servings? Two reasons. This recipe was tasty, as recipes made with heavy whipping cream tend to be. If you like creamed spinach, you will probably think these mustard greens are great.

But more importantly, it turns out that mustard greens are really good for you. Every now and then I like to look up the nutritional stats on vegetables over at World's Healthiest Foods. (Stop sniggering.) In this case, I was hoping for justification to never cook mustard greens again, but I instead discovered that they are an unusually excellent source of good stuff like vitamins K, A, C, and folate. They lower cholesterol, and help cure cancer. Darn super food.

So make mustard greens, but don't say I didn't warn you that they REALLY shrink down. On the plus side, this recipe did allow me to relieve some job-search tension with a hammer.

Spicy Mustard Greens with Ginger-Garlic Cream

A pound of mustard greens
1/2 c. heavy cream
2 garlic cloves, smashed
4 slices if ginger, smashed
salt

1. In a large pot, boil salted water. Strip the stems from the mustard greens, using a knife or your hands, and rip the leaves into smaller pieces. Boil the mustard greens until tender, 4-6 minutes. Drain, rinse with cool water, and squeeze out the water.

2. Simmer the ginger and garlic in the cream until the cream thickens. Remove the pieces of ginger and garlic, then stir in the greens until well combined and warm.

This is the fourteenth recipe I've made from Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton, a cookbook so awesome that I am cooking my way through all the recipes. Sue's online home is Six Burner Sue, where you can find her hard at work running a vegetable farm on Martha's Vineyard and developing recipes for a second cookbook that will be called Fresh & Green for Dinner.

The Perfect August Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Adrielle) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 07:07:00 PDT

This recipe was a team effort. We made it before we moved with the help of some friends who brought over homemade pesto. It's full of veggies that are in season right now, and really easy.

The snow peas need to be cooked briefly. Originally the recipe called for yellow beans, and those would also need a dip into the boiling water before using. I couldn't find them at the time, so I went with peppers to get a similar color. Add mozzarella...

And lots of pesto and fresh basil leaves for good measure. The end.

Kosher salt
2 yellow sweet peppers (or, 8 oz yellow wax beans), sliced into 1 inch pieces
8 oz sugar snap peas
8 oz cherry tomatoes, or halved grape tomatoes, halved
6 oz mini-mozzarella balls, halved

1/4 c. pesto
1 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 T. olive oil
1/3 c. toasted sunflower seeds (or pine nuts)
20 large fresh basil leaves
ground black pepper

1. Boil salted water, and cook snow peas just until bright green, about two minutes. Allow to cool.

2. Stir pesto, vinegar, lemon juice, and olive oil until combined. Pour over vegetables in large bowl and stir until evenly coated. Garnish the salad with basil, seeds and pepper.

This is the thirteenth recipe I've made from Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton, a cookbook so awesome that I am cooking my way through all the recipes. Sue's online home is Six Burner Sue, where you can find her hard at work running a vegetable farm on Martha's Vineyard and developing recipes for a second cookbook that will be called Fresh & Green for Dinner.