My San Francisco Kitchen

Apricot Tart

Kristianne — Sat, 25 May 2013 17:43:54 +0000

I am so excited it is a 3-day weekend, and especially because my family is visiting us from southern California. Today we are packing a picnic and enjoying the beautiful day. It has really been feeling like summer in San Francisco, so this past week I made a fresh apricot tart with frangipane. If you haven’t made frangipane before, it has an incredibly delicious flavor. The base is made with ground almonds, and I added some almond extract for extra almond flavor. You can also coarsely grind a portion of the almonds for a great texture. I am loving all of this fresh summer produce around the Farmers’ Markets lately!

What are your plans for this weekend?

Apricot Tart

Prep time

1 hour 20 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total

2 hours

Type: Dessert

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

Crust

5 tbsp butter, room temperature
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg
3-5 tbsp cold water

Filling

⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅔ cup almonds, finely ground
4 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 egg
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1½ pounds fresh apricots, pitted and quartered
Confectioners’ sugar for garnish

Instructions

Combine the butter, flour and sugar in a food processor (or by hand with a pastry blender) until crumbly.
Add egg and pulse.
Add water a tbsp at a time and pulse until you can gather the dough into a ball, but it should not be too mushy.
Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the apricots and set aside.
Add butter, ground almonds and sugar in a stand mixer and cream together.
Once smooth, add egg and vanilla.
Continue beating and add the flour.
Once chilled, roll out the flour and press into a greased tart pan.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Pour the frangipane into the tart, using a spatula.
Press the apricots into the frangipane, working in a circle from outside to inside.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is crispy and slightly browned, and the apricots are wrinkled.
Cool for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Makes 1 9-inch tart

Apricot Arugula Pizzettes

Kristianne — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:40:08 +0000

This week I started a new 6-week block of pharmacy rounds, and today I got to do my first hospital discharge medication consultation. It was so rewarding! I have a really short lunch break, so I have been needing to think of fast recipes for lunch every day. I should just get up early and make something in the morning, but that never happens!

This apricot arugula pizzette recipe is one of my favorite lunch recipes because the combination of flavors is incredible, and it is pretty quick to make! It is made with fresh apricots, arugula, crumbled goat cheese and carmelized onions with herbs. It is light, yet very satisfying! I just love healthy lunch recipes like this one

Apricot Arugula Pizzettes

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total

20 mins

Type: Main

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 pieces of whole wheat flat bread
3 tbsp olive oil
2 apricots, pitted and quartered
½ cup fresh arugula, rinsed and strained
⅓ cup crumbled goat cheese
¼ onion, thinly sliced
¼ tsp thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a small skillet over medium heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil.
Add the onions, thyme, salt and pepper to taste.
Stir over a few minutes until the onions turn translucent and a brown color (do not burn!).
Remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Spread 1 tbsp olive oil over each flat bread, then top with carmelized onions, apricots, and crumbled goat cheese.
Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then remove and top with fresh arugula and pepper to taste.

Makes 2 6-inch pizzettes

Chia Seed Chocolate Pudding

Kristianne — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:40:39 +0000

I apologize in advance for the terrible photos in this post. Yes, I took them with my phone. This is what happens when I leave the house without my DSLR, but NEED to share an amazing recipe with you guys (and too lazy to recreate it within a decent amount of time). We went to BBQ at a friend’s, and for dessert he proposed making chocolate pudding – made with chia seeds! I must admit, I haven’t used chia seeds in any of my recipes ever, but apparently they have been deemed THE health food of 2013. They are the new flax seeds, with even better omega 3 to 6 ratio, fiber and protein content. We were all laughing because on the chia seed bag it states, “Aztec Superfood,” but it seems like they are sort of a superfood.

This chocolate pudding is gluten-free and vegan, and it tastes really good! The texture wasn’t exactly what I hoped for (it isn’t as smooth and creamy as traditional chocolate pudding), but the flavor was delicious! Add fresh fruit on top before serving.

Have you jumped on the chia seeds bandwagon yet? What recipes do you use them in?

5.0 from 2 reviews

Chia Seed Chocolate Pudding

Prep time

30 mins

Total

30 mins

Type: Dessert

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 can coconut milk
⅓ cup chia seeds
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1-2 tbsp honey (or desired sweetener)

Instructions

Soak chia seeds in coconut milk.
Stir every 5 minutes for a total of 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.
Chill in the refrigerator prior to serving for best results.

Lemon Rosemary Tilapia Amandine

Kristianne — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:26:12 +0000

Did you know that I used to hate fish? Before I met my husband, I swore I would never eat it. Of course, with his love for fish, I eventually found myself trying a light, white fish in Malibu, CA and completely loved it. I was immediately fascinated with the many ways one could decorate fish – herbs, garlic, lemon, tomatoes, nuts – it seemed endless. One of my favorite fish to experiment with is tilapia, because the flavor is not very fishy. This allows you to add almost anything you want and it will always come out great! This weekend I made lemon rosemary tilapia with garlic and slivered almonds on the top (I learned garnishing something with almonds is called “amandine” – isn’t that a pretty word?). I love that this recipe is so easy and fast to make, it is perfect for any night of the week! I like to serve this tilapia dish with a side of vegetables and potato wedges or jasmine rice.

This morning I woke up to many of my neighbors leaving at an early hour, including my husband, to go watch the annual San Francisco “Bay to Breakers” race/celebration. Apparently it gets pretty crazy here, but I had enough of that during my college years so I preferred to sleep in on my Sunday Does that make me sounds old? I think it does!

What are you plans for the day?

5.0 from 3 reviews

Lemon Rosemary Tilapia Amandine

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

14 mins

Total

24 mins

Type: Main

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 tilapia fillets, defrosted
2 tbsp olive oil
½ lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 tbsp slivered almonds

Instructions

Preheat a toaster oven or oven to 325 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease with olive oil, using a brush or your fingers.
Place the two tilapia fillets on the baking sheet.
In a small bowl, add the juice from ½ lemon, freshly grated lemon zest from the ½ lemon, olive oil, minced garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir well.
Evenly distribute between the two fillets, using a brush to completely cover them with the lemon mixture on one side.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then quickly remove and top each fillet with 1 tbsp slivered almonds.
Set the oven to broil, and broil for a few minutes – make sure to watch carefully because you want the almonds to be slightly browned but not burnt!
Garnish with lemon slices and fresh rosemary on top, then serve immediately.

Makes 2 fillets

Homemade Cherry Lemonade

Kristianne — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:30:17 +0000

It’s Friday, and I should be happy, but I’m not. Today marks the end of my week off from pharmacy rotations, and I don’t have another break for a really long time! It went by too fast, since I was busy cleaning and catching up on other things I didn’t get to during my last rotation. I was thinking about going on a picnic this weekend, if the weather is nice. Earlier this week I made this organic homemade cherry lemonade with some fresh organic cherries my friend gave to me. This is the perfect drink to take along on a picnic! Don’t you love the color? It comes out to be a bright pink lemonade. It is really easy to make: just add lemons, ice, water, sugar and pitted cherries to a blender and you get a nice, foamy top! I don’t like my lemonade too sweet, so by making it at home I am easily able to control the amount of sugar. Make small adjustments, because just like with spice, you can always add more, but never take away. I never like to make too much because I always want it freshly made, so this recipe only makes enough for two servings. You can double or triple it for more!

Today is the 26th wedding anniversary of my parents. Congratulations Mom and Dad, I love you!

Homemade Cherry Lemonade

Prep time

5 mins

Total

5 mins

Type: Drinks

Serves: 2

Ingredients

3 tbsp granulated sugar
¼ cup lemon juice (~2 lemons)
1½ cups cold water
¾ cup ice
6 organic cherries, stemmed and pitted

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend for 30 seconds.

Makes 2 cups

Chocolate S’more Cookies

Kristianne — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:14:19 +0000

What happens when you crave s’mores and chocolate cookies at the same time? S’mookies happen. Yes, I am totally coining this term! Soft, fudgy, chocolate cookies bursting with gooey chocolate chips, crispy graham cracker pieces and marshmallows = s’mookies. Just as a disclaimer before you go on reading, there is absolutely nothing healthy about these cookies. This just so happens to be one of those dessert attacks I get every once in a while and bake something majorly fattening and bad for you, but oh-so-good!

I made these for the first time, so it was sort of an experiment. Unfortunately, the marshmallows melted in the oven when the cookies were baking, so that fluffiness factor was pretty much non-existent when they were done :/ Solution: about two minutes before taking them out of the oven, pop a few marshmallows on top, pressing them in the cookies. This would be very tedious for a large batch, but I don’t know a better way to do it.

By the way, did you know that s’mores are an American thing? Well, according to Wikipedia, it is a Canadian thing too. My German husband never heard of them before seeing them for the first time when we were in Tahoe last year sitting by a campfire. I was shocked!! How can any child grow up without s’mores?! OK confession time: in college I kept a box of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows and chocolate around at all times in case I had a s’more attack. The microwave is actually a fairly decent substitute for a campfire.

OK, here is a question for my non-American, non-Canadian friends out there: did you eat s’mores growing up?

Oh, and since Google Reader is on its way out, I just got Bloglovin! Follow my blog with Bloglovin

5.0 from 2 reviews

Chocolate S’more Cookies

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total

23 mins

Type: Dessert

Serves: 24

Ingredients

½ cup butter (1 stick, room temperature)
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped graham cracker pieces
1 cup miniature marshmallows, divided

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).
In a mixing bowl, beat room temperature butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until creamed together.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt with a fork.
Add flour/cocoa/baking soda/salt mixture a little at a time into butter/sugar/eggs/vanilla mixture by beating at low speed until well blended.
Mix in chocolate chips, graham cracker pieces and ½ cup mini marshmallows by hand.
If oven is still preheating, let chill in refrigerator for a few minutes (I find this helps the cookies keep their shape).
Using a teaspoon, drop batter onto cookie sheets, leaving an inch around each cookie drop. You can stick in chocolate chips and graham cracker pieces onto the tops to make them “prettier.”
Place into oven and bake for 6 minutes, then quickly press the other ½ cup marshmallows into the tops of the cookies.
Bake for another 2-3 minutes, then remove from the oven.
Let cool 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes 24 cookies

Quinoa Zucchini Boats

Kristianne — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:12:00 +0000

Have you noticed I haven’t put up a quinoa recipe in a while? I barely had any time to cook during my last 6 week rotation block at the hospital, but this week is my week off and I plan on catching up on all of the lost time in the kitchen! Quinoa is one of my favorite “health foods” because it is so versatile. Today I made these quinoa stuffed zucchini boats. I got the idea of stuffing zucchini from my mom, but because I love quinoa so much I wanted to fill the zucchini boats with my favorite quinoa mix. I added tomatoes, basil, olive oil, light feta cheese, garbanzo beans and slivered almonds. Make sure to cover them with aluminum foil while cooking for the first 20 minutes, otherwise the quinoa will get too hard and crunchy. You can use your imagination to come up with other quinoa stuffing mixes for these zucchini boats! This is my new favorite “Meatless Monday” recipe

For my week off, I made a “to-do” list:

Clean out my closet [as my mom says, if you haven't worn it in one year, donate it!]
Re-organize the kitchen
Run
Tan

Ok, so the last one probably won’t happen. I do live in San Francisco, remember?? It has actually been sunny the past few days, so you never know!

Quinoa Zucchini Boats

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total

40 mins

Type: Main

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 medium organic zucchini
1 cup organic white quinoa
2 cups filtered water
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 organic roma tomatoes, diced
¼ cup light feta cheese
¼ cup garbanzo beans
2 tbsp slivered almonds
1 tsp dried basil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Add water, garlic and quinoa to a rice cooker (or bring water and garlic to boil, then add quinoa and once it starts boiling again lower heat and cover) and cook for 15 minutes. Remove lid, fluff and cool.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with two pieces of aluminum foil, side-by-side.
Slice the zucchinis in half, longwise.
Use a teaspoon to carve out the seeds.
Add olive oil, tomatoes, feta cheese, basil, almonds and garbanzo beans to the quinoa and mix well.
Fill zucchini boats with quinoa mix and place on the aluminum foil, four per sheet.
Take each side of the aluminum foil and bring together over the top of the zucchini boats to cover them.
Bake for 18 minutes, then open aluminum foil for the last 7 minutes until slightly browned. If you like it crunchier, you can leave it open-faced longer.

Makes 8 zucchini boats

Mini Lemon Cake

Kristianne — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:04:47 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day!! I didn’t get to spend the day with my mom today, *sigh*. In celebration of finishing my first rotation and Mother’s Day weekend (e-gift?), I made this mini lemon cake from a recipe I have been wanting to try out from Cooking Light. This recipe already aimed to cut down the fat, but I made a miniature version because one whole cake is too much for the two of us. This was the perfect dessert portion, because we didn’t feel sick after eating it! This cake is really moist and packed with lemon flavor. I do not like to use a lot of icing, so I spread a thin layer on and prefer topping the cake with a few dots of light whipped cream – yum! Note: this recipe makes two 4-inch ramekins. To make a whole 9×9 inch lemon cake, triple the ingredients.

Yesterday we went hiking in Marin, and it was beautiful until the fog rolled in!

OK, back to this delicious lemon cake…

Recipe adapted from Nathan’s Lemon Cake Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine

4.0 from 1 reviews

Mini Lemon Cake

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total

40 mins

Type: Dessert

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Cake

⅔ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
½ tbsp canola oil
1 large egg
⅓ cup milk
1 tbsp finely grated lemon rind
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
½ tbsp lemon rind
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Milk, as needed for texture

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray two 4-inch ramekins with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour. Shake around until the flour evenly coats the ramekins.
In a standalone mixer with the paddle attachment (you can also use an electric hand mixer), add butter, oil, sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind and salt.
Mix on medium speed until creamy.
Add the egg and continue mixing.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
Add the flour mixture and milk, alternating, while mixing on low speed.
Evenly transfer the batter to the two ramekins and place in the oven.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean after piercing the center.
Remove from the oven and let stand 15 minutes to cool before removing.
Use a butterknife to loosen the sides of the cakes and flip upside down onto a cooling rack.
In the meantime, add all ingredients for the icing to a bowl and beat together.
Once cooled, cut the top part of the cake off to make a flat surface, then cut the cakes in half.
Frost one half of the cakes, then top and frost the rest.
Decorate the top with light whipped cream and lemon twists.

Makes two 4-inch cakes

Curried Sweet Potatoes & Tofu

Kristianne — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:49:13 +0000

OK, I know I have been really bad about posting recipes this week, but it is my last week of my first rotation and it has kept me so busy! Tomorrow is my last day, then I have a short break before the next. I actually don’t have any plans for my week off, but sometimes that is the best – to have a week of having absolutely NO PLANS!

This curried sweet potato and tofu dish is really easy to make during week nights, and perfect for “Meatless Monday” or any other time you are in the mood for a vegetarian dish. I love sweet potatoes, and I love curry, so this is one of my favorite dishes to make for lunch or dinner. It is not very spicy, but it is easy to add more spice to it if you wish. I used one NatureBox’s Taj Mahal Snack Mix, which has curried nuts and raisins, to give it some more texture and flavor. You can see this recipe on the NatureBox blog here!

Are you a fan of curry? What about tofu? I used to dislike tofu, but it kind of grew on me! In fact, the other day I made some low-fat chocolate mousse made out of…you guessed it, tofu!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Curried Sweet Potatoes & Tofu

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total

50 mins

Type: Main

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 tbsp canola oil
½ onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
½ cup NatureBox Taj Mahal Snack Mix (www.naturebox.com)
2 tbsp curry powder
¼ tsp ginger powder
1 cup light coconut milk
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
½ package (7 oz) extra-firm tofu, drained and cubed
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Instructions

Heat 1 tbsp canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add sweet potatoes, onion and garlic and simmer for 7 minutes, until onions are translucent.
Add the curry powder, ginger, pepper and coconut milk.
Stir well and simmer for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, heat 1 tbsp oil in a separate skillet over medium heat.
Add tofu and sprinkle salt on top. Stir occasionally while cooking for 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside.
After the curry is done simmering (after about 15 minutes), potatoes should be tender.
Once done, add the tofu and Taj Mahal Snack Mix and stir well.
Serve immediately over jasmine rice and sprinkle freshly chopped cilantro over the top for garnish.

Serves 2

Sunday Trip to Tara Firma Farms & Wine Country

Kristianne — Mon, 06 May 2013 02:29:11 +0000

Living in San Francisco, I am only 1 hour away from wine country, yet I have never explored it this whole time I have been living here. My friend and I decided to start our Sunday by taking a tour at Tara Firma Farms, a sustainable, chemical-free, free-range farm in Petaluma, CA, followed by wine tasting in the afternoon at Benziger Family Winery.

My husband wasn’t anywhere near as excited as I was to take a farm tour, #1 because I am the major foodie in our relationship and #2 he grew up in Germany where there is beautiful “farm country” almost everywhere! Growing up as more of a “city girl” and being all about organic, free-range, local foods, I was so excited to learn more about this rare sustainable farm.

The farmers we met were all extremely friendly and enthusiastic about the way their farm operates, as it is very different from conventional farms. Have you seen the documentary Food Inc.? After watching that, I began to take more of an interest in where my food was coming from. It was so great to see all of the chickens, pigs, and cows being able to roam around the grass freely – every animal I saw looked so peaceful and happy, and they all lived in healthy, comfortable conditions. This is the food I would prefer to eat over the meats coming from animals caged in tiny, dark spaces on top of each other and being pumped with antibiotics and being fed unnatural foods.

I loved everything about the way the farmers at Tara Firma operate their farm.

After the farm tour, we headed over to Benziger Family Winery, where we took a tour of the facilities and tasted some of their wines.

It was a perfect Sunday.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun, or just have a relaxing weekend at home?