yellebellyboo

Roasted Gnocchi

2013-05-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I mentioned my new favorite trick for making gnocchi. Let me preface this by saying I tried to make super authentic homemade gnocchi once. I attempted to make Giada's Sweet Potato Gnocchi because - well they have maple in them. I was living with a family friend, just after moving to DC and she's not exactly a cook. In fact the only "bowl" she had in the house was her pasta pot. I made do but well, not ideal for trying complicated cooking.

My gnocchi came out like balls of glue. It was the most disgusting thing I think I've ever made. I was at the peak of being poor and unemployed, yet I think I still threw the whole batch away. Their only redeeming quality was that they were covered in a brown butter maple sauce, which I'm pretty sure I drank. I'm just not Giada, but that's OK with me. So when my old coworker's sister taught me this trick for making pre-packaged gnocchi I was quite excited. Gnocchi was back on my radar!

(Side note: yes, that's a Spotted Cow in the background. The Monkey Scientist flew into Milwaukee on his way home from Florida and stopped on his way back to Chicago to get me some of this rare gem of a beer. It was perfectly paired with this Midwestern weeknight dinner of pork, gnocchi and asparagus!)

This is literally the easiest way to make gnocchi ever. Is it a little more Sandra Lee than Giada? Sure. But I know my limits. And the result is about 10000 times tastier than my glue-ball fail. They are toasty and crunchy on the outside with a nice soft bite on the inside. I like this version the best, with a little bit of a kick from some Cajun seasoning, but you could really make them any way you like. The original version I had left out the Cajun seasoning and added shredded Parmesan that crusted up like the outside of an Asiago cheese bagel. The possibilities are endless!

Roasted Gnocchi

Ingredients
1 package of pre-made gnocchi
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp Cajun seasoning

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 380 degrees F.
2. Place the gnocchi on a foil-lined baking sheet and toss to coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning.
3. Bake for about 20 minutes, tossing a few times, until the outsides are crispy but the insides still have a bite.

Lemony Rice Salad

2013-05-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

Recently, I took quite possibly the most spontaneous trip I've ever taken. The Monkey Scientist was down in Florida with his family for Mother's Day and the roommate and I were feeling bored on Friday night. A lot of our friends were working or out of town, so we didn't have much to do over the weekend. So around 8 pm on Friday night, we booked a hotel in St. Louis. We got up at 5 am and drove down there for a couple days. Just like that. It was so out of character for me!

We had a blast on our mini vacation. We've been friends for so long that it doesn't take much until we're both cracking up at each other. Anyone who knows me well knows I tear up quite a bit when I laugh, and it was only about an hour into the drive that I had to stop and buy a box of tissues. Once we made it down there, we scalped tickets to a Cardinals-Rockies game and enjoyed the beautiful weather. While it was cold and miserable in Chicago, the weather was sunny and perfect in St. Louis!

The highlight of our trip was far and away the City Museum. Have you ever been there? I don't think I've stopped talking about it since. It's a giant playground...for adults. There are caves you can crawl in, tunnels in the ceiling that make you slide along on your belly, and a 10-story slide inside what looks like an old alley between two buildings. And that's just the inside! It was absolutely spectacular. We had no idea what to expect, and we were blown away. I think we spent almost 4 hours there. If you're ever in St. Louis it's a must-see! But I highly recommend you wear work-out clothes, which was the little tip we'd wished we were given!

This rice has nothing to do with St. Louis. But it is really great. The roommate had made it a few weeks ago on his night to make dinner, and I liked it so much I insisted he make it again. It's lemony and fresh - just what I was looking for as we're hitting the peak of Spring. It would be a great dish to bring to a barbecue this summer since it's just perfect at room temperature. I know we'll be making this all the way through to fall!

Lemony Rice Salad
from Serious Eats

Ingredients
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup golden raisins

Instructions
1. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the pine nuts, stirring frequently, until just starting to brown. Don't let them burn!
2. Meanwhile, cook the rice on the stove or in your rice cooker, following the package instructions.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, orange juice, white balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
4. When the rice is done cooking, stir together the hot rice, pine nuts, dressing, sliced green onions, and golden raisins. Allow to settle to room temperature and serve.

Gardening in an Apartment

2013-05-17T10:54:00.000-04:00

While this blog is about cooking, it's also about how to prepare great food at home even if you're living the apartment life, like me. I have just 1 oven, 4 burners (3 of which are small), and limited counter space. Yet nearly everything on this blog, I made at home. Which means you have no excuses. So when it comes to gardening, I want to encourage you to know that you can do it in your apartment, too! You're not going to grow an apple orchard, but there is no reason you can't grow some herbs and things!

The first thing I've been practicing with is what I call shot glass scallions. This is the easiest thing you can try at home! I have managed to kill many a plant in my day, but this has been a great success!

When you're cutting up your green onions, leave just a little bit more than the roots at the bottom. Instead of tossing the ends, plop them in tall shot glasses with a little bit of water. I forgot to take a picture the first day, but after 2-3 days they had already started to sprout this much. You can see from my arrow where I had cut them. The green had all grown in that quickly! I was excited.

I changed the water once every 3 days or so. After another week, this is how big my green onions were. Almost usable!! I'm so excited. They needed barely any maintenance: no soil, just a little water and sunlight on our windowsill. My mom had this great bud vase growing up that was the shape of 6 shot glasses connected to each other. I think that would be perfect for this if I could find one. I might never need to buy scallions again if I just keep re-growing them!!

This was such a success that I'm going to start trying to grow a few more herbs - basil, rosemary, thyme, and peppermint - in pots outside. I have a history of killing all of the above herbs (and even letting a small basil plant disappear off my DC balcony in a thunderstorm once) so we'll see what happens. We're also trying some cherry tomatoes and habanero peppers, which are even more of an experiment. I have a pretty little flower, too. So we'll see what happens. I'll give you an update in a couple of months!

Bacon Chicken Caesar Salad

2013-05-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

Before my parents moved up to the lake, I used to spend my vacation time in New England on Cape Cod with my aunt, uncle and little cousins. It's a shame that it's becoming harder and harder to squeeze in any time on the Cape now that I've moved further away and my job doesn't have the flexibility of my college internships. I miss lobster rolls, my daily serving of incredible ice cream, and especially my Aunt's Chicken Caesar Salad (which she got from Jamie Oliver). So with the first bit of what felt like summer last week, I was craving this salad for dinner.

Obviously I didn't quite think through the fact that having our oven on 400 for 2 hours on the first day when Chicago had temperatures over 80 was probably not the best idea I'd ever had. But when I got home from yoga and this salad was done, I didn't even care that I was sweating bullets. I was transplanted to a summer day on the Cape when I could still carry my littlest cousin to the beach and when she saw me her face lit up like I was Santa Claus. Nowadays I just get pictures of her wearing high heels and makeup. Sigh.

There are a couple of things to note about this salad. The first is that this is not a "look I'm on a diet so I'm eating salad for dinner" salad. You just let a loaf of bread soak up chicken fat and bacon grease for 2 hours and then ate it. Don't kid yourself. On a side note, these are literally the best croutons in the entire world.

If you do burn them a little bit because you turn the broiler on and then get distracted doing something important like studying for med school finals (I'm not saying that the Monkey Scientist burned all of the croutons while I was at yoga or anything like that), try to salvage them and just cut off the charred bits. They'll be just fine as long as you didn't burn the whole thing!

The second is anchovies. Yes, I know you're scared. Yes, they smell like cat food (and look like it once you mash them up). No, they aren't something I want on my pizza. But this is Caesar salad folks. And without anchovies, it just isn't Caesar dressing. I promise they won't taste like cat food once you drown them in olive oil, creme fraiche, and lemon juice. Just trust me on this one, OK? On the bright side, who knew that a can of anchovies cost barely more than a dollar? I don't even feel that bad that I threw the rest of the can away (because what the heck was I going to do with leftover anchovies).

Now when I say this is my favorite Caesar salad ever, I'm not joking. The dressing is creamy and delicious. The croutons soak up all that fat, get crispy in the oven, and then when you put the dressing on them they soak it up and become chewable without destroying your teeth. Again, best croutons in the world. I enjoy the baked, dark meat chicken on this about 1000 times more than the rubbery slices of grilled chicken breast you get anywhere else. Although my aunt actually uses bone-in, skin on chicken breasts and it works great, too. And despite the fact that the roommate made a side of pasta, I stand by the fact that this salad is a solid meal. Even the Monkey Scientist had it for his whole dinner. It's worth every minute of sweltering over the oven.

Bacon Chicken Caesar Salad
slightly adapted from Jamie Oliver

Ingredients
4-6 chicken legs, skin on
1 round loaf sourdough bread (about 9 ounces), chopped into 1.5" cubes
6 slices bacon
3 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped
dressing
1 clove peeled and smashed garlic
4 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
3 oz freshly grated Parmesan, plus a few shavings to serve
1 heaped tbsp creme fraiche
1 lemon, juiced (about 2 oz)
Extra-virgin olive oil (about 6 oz)

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large glass baking dish, lay out the cubed bread, then bacon, then chicken legs. Drizzle with about 3 tbsp (or more) olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground sea salt, black pepper, and chopped rosemary. Toss to coat evenly.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-35 minutes, or until the chicken can easily be peeled off the bone. Remove the chicken, and toss the bacon and croutons. Make sure to leave all the fat drippings from the chicken and bacon in there. The croutons will soak that up and that's what makes them delicious! Return to the oven and allow to bake until the croutons and bacon are crispy but not burnt, tossing every 5-10 minutes or as necessary. If this isn't happening at 400 degrees F, turn the broiler on low, but watch carefully as the croutons could start to burn quickly!
4. When the chicken has cooled slightly, use your hands or two forks to peel off the skin and discard, then peel the meat off the bones and shred. Chop the crispy bacon into bite size pieces.
5. Add the lettuce, chicken, croutons, and bacon to a large salad bowl.
6. Assemble the dressing: Using a mortar and pestle (or in my case, a small bowl and the handle of a lemon reamer), smash the anchovies and garlic into a thick paste. Whisk in the grated Parmesan, creme fraiche, juice of 1 lemon, and 3 times as much extra-virgin olive oil as lemon juice.
7. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat evenly. Serve with a few Parmesan shavings on top.

Caprese-Topped Steak

2013-05-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

I have been learning to love craft beers over the last few years. Since college, I'm not a huge drinker, but I am getting quite skilled at drinking a half to a whole bottle of a really good beer lately. It's been a long journey from ordering light beers to understanding what types of beers I actually like. I know I'm not the only one who would choose a nice craft beer over a Bud Light. The growing number of bars with loads of beers on tap are a statement that wine-lovers aren't the only ones who get to be picky anymore!

In DC, we used to love going to Comet Ping Pong, where not only is the beer list long, but the pizza is pretty stellar as well. The fact that you can play ping pong while you wait for a table on their patio doesn't hurt either. And it was at Comet Ping Pong that I learned to love a brown ale, but more specifically learned that my very favorite beer just might be Tommyknocker's Maple Nut Brown Ale. If you're surprised that this beer infused with maple syrup is my favorite... Hi, I'm Dani and welcome to my blog that might as well be named yellebelly-full-of-maple. And lucky for me, I found a single bottle of this gem in the Make Your Own 6-Pack section of my local Jewel last week. Unlucky for me, I only found a single bottle. Can we find me some more please?

My favorite beer, well most beers really, went great with this flank steak, broiled and topped with a caprese salad. I know what you're thinking, "wait a minute, Dani, you ate tomatoes?" Yes folks, I have been learning to tolerate, maybe even like, cherry tomatoes. As long as they've never seen a refrigerator. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks after all! Because man, I loved every bite of this dish!

Caprese-Topped Steak
from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients
1 (2 lb) flank steak, about 1 inch thick
1 1/2 c dry red wine
1/2 c olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
caprese topping
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small shallot, diced (I left this out)
1/2 c mini mozzerella balls, quartered
10 basil leaves, freshly chopped or chiffonaded
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp garlic salt
pinch of pepper

Instructions
1. In a large ziploc bag, combine the steak, red wine, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Shake it up, then let it marinate for 2-24 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Place the marinated steak on a foil-lined cookie sheet and broil on high for 6 minutes on each side, or until it's starting to char. You're welcome to grill it too, if you're into that.
3. Pour the extra marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes until it is reduced and you've killed all the evil steak bacteria.
4. In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, shallot (if using), mozzarella balls, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.
5. Allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes before slicing (unless you're impatient like me and hungry enough to eat dried out steak). Serve slices topped with caprese salad. Serve the reduced marinade on the side as a sauce for those who'd like it (or would like to dip freshly baked french bread in it).

Malted Maple Blueberry Muffins

2013-05-03T04:00:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was the first weekend with really gorgeous weather. The kind of weather that makes me force the Monkey Scientist out of the house to play in the sunshine with me. I wanted to celebrate with a bright and yummy breakfast to start the day on Saturday, which to me always means muffins. I bought a bag of frozen Maine blueberries at Trader Joe's a while ago and used the first half to make Easter muffins. They were corn and blueberry muffins and well... they were not a hit. So I decided to scrap that recipe and try something new.

Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and make the recipe as it was written. I'm too obsessed with maple and malted anything to allow that. So I winged it and added quantities I thought would work (reasons I am not usually a baker) and magically it worked out! I was sort of afraid they'd end up super dry or un-risen or something, but somehow my additions didn't disturb the recipe too badly. Saturday win!

These muffins turned out wonderfully. Right after I put them in the oven I had to run to yoga class, so I left the Monkey Scientist to pull them out of the oven and make sure they were done. When I got home an hour later, one muffin was halfway in his mouth and another had disappeared. Looked like an upgrade from my Easter muffin fail for sure! Next time, I'd love to increase the maple flavor - maybe even using maple sugar instead of regular. But this recipe is an easy weekend go-to for now!

Here's to hoping this weekend is just as beautiful as last!

Malted Maple Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Taste of Home
makes one dozen muffins

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup malted milk powder
1 stick butter, softened
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cups frozen Maine blueberries
topping
1 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and malted milk powder.
3. In the bowl of your standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extra and mix until combined evenly.
4. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the frozen blueberries with a spatula.
5. Evenly distribute the batter into a 12 muffin tin lined with muffin cups. In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and nutmeg and sprinkle over each muffin.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Bibim Nengmyun (Gochujang Buckwheat Noodles)

2013-04-30T05:34:00.000-04:00

Unless this is your very first visit to the blog, you know we are spicy food eaters. I'm pretty sure sriracha has replaced ketchup in my regular diet (yes, it's all I put on my hot dogs), and the Monkey Scientist believes salt and pepper means salt and crushed red pepper flakes. When the roommate and I were at HMart, the women handing out samples warned us a few times that we should be careful because whatever they were giving us was very spicy. We disagreed.

I say all of this as a warning. This dish was barely more than spaghetti and marinara sauce in our house, but our house is clearly not the norm. If you hate spicy food switch on over to this post. And just ignore all that crushed red pepper....

One thing I love about Asian foods is the variety and intensity of the spiciness they offer. Korean foods in particular have great flavor even in the spiciest ingredients. Whenever we go to the Asian market, we have to pick up a container of gochujang. This time, I learned something new about gochujang! It is rated in terms of spice where the higher number is spicier. Gochujang rated 1-2 is mild, 3 is medium, 4 is hot, and 5 is "burn your face off" hot. Or at least I think that's what this label was trying to tell me. We picked up a 3 and a 5 (the latter for the Monkey Scientist, of course). We don't actually buy this brand, despite their amazing graphic design. We buy Sunchang because the woman at HMart told us it's the best (and some others seem to agree).

I liked this dish because I thought it would be a good way to test out the difference between the gochujang rated a 3 vs the 5. Honestly, I was terrified of the 5 at first. The picture on the jar doesn't have eyes anymore! But it actually wasn't that bad. At first, I don't think there is even a difference between the 3 and 5, but once it hits your mouth the 5 does create a tingle. I definitely burns a little bit, but it's also sort of just like a really pungent half sour pickle. For every day, the 3 is just fine, but I'm ok with keeping the 5 in the house as well.

The dish itself is...interesting. Which I know was what my great grandmother said about things she didn't like, but that's not what I mean at all. I wouldn't say it was my favorite thing I've made recently, but it was a nice change of pace to what we usually eat and was super simple to throw together. It's a cold noodle dish, which I'm not very accustomed to making. I like the cold of the noodles contrasted with the heat from the gochujang. The tobiko on top added a nice bite that I enjoyed a lot. The original recipe was served with a hard boiled egg, but that did not sound up my alley at all. Otherwise, the recipe itself was very good!

BiBim Nengmyun (Gochujang Buckwheat Noodles)
slightly adapted from spoon fork bacon

Ingredients
8 ounces Korean-style buckwheat noodles
1/3 cup gochujang
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoon low sodium soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
garnish:
1 tbsp tobiko (flying fish roe)
¼ small hothouse cucumber, julienne

Instructions
1. Cook the buckwheat noodles according to package instructions. Rinse in a colander under cold water until the noodles are cool.
2. Combine the gochujang, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. The gochujang will be thick at first, but just keep whisking!
3. Pour the sauce over the noodles and stir to coat. Garnish with tobiko and julienned cucumber.

Bulgogi Style Salmon with Bok Choy and Shitake Mushrooms

2013-04-24T16:43:00.001-04:00

This weekend we finally made a trip up to my favorite type of grocery store - the Asian market. We hadn't been in so many months, I was running low on lots of my staple ingredients! Although there are a few Asian markets on the north side of Chicago, I haven't found any Korean markets, and I hadn't found any markets that were very big. So this weekend was the grand adventure - we went up to the HMart in Niles.

I've been to HMart's in Maryland and Massachusetts, so I knew generally what I could expect. But the one in Niles is a Super HMart which means it's the size of the Home Depot next door. We were literally lost in there for hours. We watched folks making kimchi, tried lots of samples (except the blood sausage... the woman handing out samples didn't think it was a good idea to offer me any), and loaded up on some of our favorite ingredients.

One fun part of the trip was watching the men at HMart making fresh kimchi. For those of you who aren't familiar with kimchi, it's a spicy fermented cabbage dish. It's almost similar to a good half sour pickle. In Korean restaurants, they often start the meal with a variety of very small side dishes that can include tofu, a type of Korean potato salad, broccoli, and always kimchi. I'd never seen anyone make it before so this was a special treat for me. They pull the cabbage to shreds while they're mixing it with the spices and vinegar. Pretty cool!

This salmon dish was really delicious. It was a nice change of pace from our usual lemon juice and garlic salt preparation. It was just a little bit spicy from the sambal oelek and was sweetened by the sherry and sugar. The ginger, garlic, and soy sauce rounded out the traditional Asian flavors. In Korean tradition, I served a side of the freshly made kimchi along with our meal, which was spicy and pungent. My favorite! I especially liked the bed of bok choy and mushrooms under the salmon. Stay tuned for the final component of the meal!

Bulgogi-Style Salmon with Bok Choy and Shitake Mushrooms
slightly adapted from WeHeartFood

Ingredients
3 large garlic cloves, peeled, divided
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking sherry (Chinese rice wine would work, too)
2 tsp minced fresh ginger, divided
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp chili-garlic sauce (sambal oelek)
2 salmon fillets, 0.5-1 lb each
1 tbsp olive oil (or chili-infused olive oil)
1 bunch bok choy, bottoms removed and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Combine 2 of the garlic cloves (I broke them up slightly but didn't bother mincing), green onions, soy sauce, sherry, 1 tsp of ginger, sugar, sesame oil, and chili-garlic sauce. Blend using either your immersion blender or food processor until smooth to create your marinade.
3. Place the salmon in a glass baking dish. Pour the marinade evenly over the salmon fillets and allow to marinate for at least 5 minutes. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the salmon is just opaque at the center.
4. Meanwhile, place the olive in a wok and heat over medium high heat. Add the remaining clove of garlic, minced, and 1 tsp of ginger to the oil and heat until fragrant.
5. Add the bok choy and mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are soft and the bok choy is wilted.
6. Serve the salmon over a bed of bok choy and mushrooms.

Spicy Roasted Okra

2013-04-17T10:30:00.000-04:00

Let's talk okra. Have you ever tried okra? I grew up just north of Boston, so needless to say we were not a big okra-eating family. Actually, we weren't an okra-eating family at all. I'm not sure I'd ever even seen okra before I moved to DC, never mind tried it. I mean, the stuff looks like it's covered in dog slobber. Not exactly on my top 10 "must try" list.

Strangely enough, the grocery store by my apartment in Chicago almost always has okra. (Except the first time I'd worked up the nerve to try it. Obviously, that day they had no okra whatsoever.) In my store, it's up on the shelf with the Brussels sprouts. And that is another food - Brussels sprouts - that I never thought I liked until I found out they're actually my favorite thing in the world when sauteed in bacon fat and mixed with Israeli couscous. So if I could give Brussels sprouts a shot, why not okra?

My first instinct was that the dog slobber oozing out of the okra needs to be dried up. Please. And that means we are not making okra in a pan. We are not sauteing it down to a puddle of dog slobber. I'm not quite ready for that, even if I was using bacon fat. When I found this recipe for roasting the okra, I figured this was the best way to go.

By the way, as long as we're talking bacon fat, I have a confession to make. For Easter, I made a quiche (which obviously included bacon) and ever since I've been saving leftover bacon fat in my fridge. I only use it for things like quick brussels sprouts on a weeknight. But yeah, there's that. Don't judge me. Especially if you're my sweet Kosher-keeping Bubby.

Right, so okra. Okra rocks. Or at least this okra recipe does. I'm not quite ready to venture out and try any others yet, but I'm pretty stoked about what we had going on here. I'm always looking for a new vegetable to change up our routine (which, come summer, is asparagus, asparagus, asparagus....and our roommate hates asparagus) so this is a really nice change of pace. Plus it's seriously easy. You don't even have to trim the tops off if you don't want to! And the chili-infused olive oil the Monkey Scientist's mom gave us has some serious kick to it, so you know he was loving this recipe, too. (But if you're a weirdo and don't like spicy foods, you could use olive oil instead and I think you'll be just fine!) I'm excited. It's going into the rotation.

Oh, P.S. those glorious little nuggets on the plate that look like tater tots are actually roasted gnocchi. In this case, Cajun roasted gnocchi. My old co-worker's sister gave me this recipe months ago and it is one of my favorite things ever. I really need to share it with you one of these days!

Spicy Roasted Okra
from Tartlette

Ingredients
1 lb okra
1/4 c chili-infused olive oil (we bought it, but you can make your own)
1/2 tsp ground sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Wash the okra and slice in half vertically. I cut the tops off first, but this is optional.
3. Put the okra in a large bowl with the chili-infused olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.
4. Place the okra in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the okra is browned and crispy. Serve immediately.

My Home

2013-04-16T15:12:00.001-04:00

I really try to stick to food blogging here, but I feel like I'd be doing a great disservice to my hometown to not say something today.

I grew up every year spending Patriot's Day with my dad and brother, watching the Boston Marathon. Coming into this week and all through the morning yesterday, I was so disappointed that I couldn't be home for one of my favorite traditions for yet another year. And then I heard about the tragedy.

To be honest, I really have no words. My emotions are raw.

I'm angry. That's my city. It's my home. It makes me feel violated and wrong. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. It's a special city that I am so proud to be from and I am pissed.

I'm sad. I'm so very sad for the people affected by this tragedy. I am so grateful to everyone who called, emailed, texted, and Facebooked to reached out to me to make sure my family and friends are safe. My heart is where it always truly is - in Boston.

Tomorrow, I'll post the recipe and blog post I wrote up last week. I hope it can comfort you the only way I know how - with food.

Thai Red Curry Chicken

2013-04-10T11:22:00.001-04:00

I'm just going to not talk about my lack of frequent posting today and instead talk about yoga. Just for a quick change of pace, and because this dinner was eaten at 10 pm so that I could go to yoga before I ate. I'm lucky the Monkey Scientist grew up in a household where they almost always eat late dinners because this is becoming a more and more frequent occurrence for us, especially since my Tuesday and Thursday yoga classes are at 8.

Like this blog, my yoga journey started in DC. When I was living in DC for my "intern summer" (my DC readers know what I'm talking about), I was working in a ~~government affairs~~ lobbying office on F Street for a huge IT company. My family friends have always been huge into yoga, but I'd never been to a real class of my own. I discovered this amazing yoga studio in Dupont Circle that I would walk to once or twice a week for class. More importantly, I discovered a yoga teacher who was patient and wise and made me leave with such a sense of calm and happiness that I had never felt in any other type of exercise. I dragged others to her class with me and enjoyed it all summer long.

I moved back to Michigan at the end of the summer to finish school and tried a yoga class here and there. In January, I moved back to DC to find that my yoga teacher was off on a long journey that would eventually bring her to settle in Costa Rica. My yoga studio had been turned into a nail salon (like seemingly many storefronts in DC). I tried a few other studios, but they were so crowded that I didn't feel the personal centering I had felt before. And then I joined Stroga.

Stroga is meant to bring together strength and yoga. Instead, I felt like it pulled them apart for me. When I was going there, there was a big divide between the "strength people" who did group fitness classes and the "yoga people". We were on different floors and there didn't seem to be a lot of overlap between people taking the different classes. And so I got really into group fitness. I learned to love (and hate) kettlebells, medicine balls, and TRX. And I never ventured down to the yoga floor - in fact I kind of drew away from yoga. By the time the infamous NY Times article came out, I was done with yoga. Me and my kettlebells had moved on.

And then I moved to Chicago. I was dying to join a studio with group fitness classes, like Stroga had been for me in DC. There is actually a studio that's really similar to Stroga right across the street from my house, but I couldn't justify spending hundreds of dollars per month on a gym membership. So I joined the regular gym across the street (for less than $40 per month) and tried to bring everything I'd learned at Stroga to my own gym routine. I saw yoga classes on the schedule, but until I had a big push from my roommate, I had no interest. But he pushed me, and I'm glad he did.

I am so lucky that yoga at my gym is wonderful. I've been to what I call "gym yoga" classes at other gyms where they push you and don't correct you, and I think these are the types of injury-laden classes the NY Times was talking about. Even though one of our weekly classes is yoga sculpt, our wonderful instructors correct me constantly and have pushed me far beyond any limits I felt before. In fact, my yoga sculpt class is where I am CONSTANTLY being yelled at to plug my shoulders into my back, which has improved my arms stands and head stands tremendously.

So I'm back into yoga. I feel like I'm getting a lot stronger from it and I'm starting to find that peace of mind back that brought me to love yoga in the first place. Still, some weeks, I have no interest in going. But others I find myself on the mat three times a week. For someone who has never been big into working out, that's huge for me. It makes me earn this curry dish. With regular coconut milk.

Thai Red Curry Chicken
from Eat, Live, Run

Ingredients:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1″ knob ginger, peeled and grated
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks
3 tbsp red curry paste
3 cups coconut milk, light or regular
1 1/2 cups water
2 baby bok choy, chopped
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped snow peas
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and julienned or diced into 1/4″ thick pieces
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp salt
cooked rice or quinoa for serving

Instructions
1. In a dutch oven over medium high heat, melt the coconut oil.
2. Add the grated ginger and saute until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Don't let it start to brown.
3. Throw in the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is seared on all sides but not cooked through. Add the curry paste and continue cooking and stirring for 2 minutes.
4. Pour in the water and coconut milk (be sure to shake or stir the coconut milk before adding) along with the bok choy, bell pepper, snow peas, and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil.
5. Once boiling, add the sugar, fish sauce, lime, and salt. Turn the heat down to medium or low and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Serve over rice or quinoa.

Smokey Roasted Chicken Tacos with Spicy Goat Cheese Crema

2013-03-19T11:49:00.000-04:00

As you probably guessed, I've been having a lot of internal debate lately. There are a lot of days where I just say, that's it. I want to quit the blog. But then, like the hot girl at the gym, a recipe comes along that I have to share with you that changes my mind. So I'm back here again. So don't despair.

So what have you missed? We had a delicious Valentine's Day dinner at what just might be our favorite restaurant in Chicago. I am so excited for my a la Chicago cards to come in the mail so we can go back again ASAP. The Monkey Scientist had a milestone birthday, which called for two cakes - a graham cracker torte from me and a carrot cake (his favorite) from his mom. We had a romantic French dinner for our anniversary at a Chicago institution. And now, of course, Cadbury Mini Eggs have returned to my daily food pyramid. They almost make up for the fact that Spring has definitely not sprung yet in Chicago.

For my loyal DC following, I did make a quick trip back to my former home last month. It was great to be back, even just for a couple of days. I got in an amazing workout with my old trainer who I miss every time I work out in Chicago. No one can kick my butt into shape quite like he can. I also had a really great dinner at Maple with some friends I love and miss every day. That little corner of Columbia Heights has really transformed since I moved with new restaurants and bars! I'm loving what's going on there food-wise.

Oh, you just wanted to hear about the tacos? The tacos are incredible. This is not your every-Tuesday taco. It's definitely up a level. The goat cheese crema has a kick from the jalapenos that I really enjoyed. And the chicken is smokey, spicy and exactly what I needed. Way better than my standard ground chicken/turkey (even though I do love my homemade taco seasoning blend). It takes a little more work, but it's still a pretty easy weeknight dinner if you give yourself the time to roast the chicken. We will definitely be having this one again soon. Or at least making some more crema, because I could eat that stuff with a spoon. (OK, I did eat some of it with a spoon.)

Smokey Roasted Chicken Tacos with Spicy Goat Cheese Crema
slightly adapted from How Sweet Eats

Ingredients
1.5-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 sweet onion, sliced
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 limes, sliced into wedges
spicy goat cheese crema
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or unsalted butter)
1/2 jalapeño pepper, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
6 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper
for serving
whole wheat tortillas, warmed
chopped tomatoes
sliced avocado
diced red onion
tequila lime salsa
lime wedges

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne, mixing to combine.
3. Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, then rub to coat with the spice mixture/
4. Spread the sliced onions evenly across the bottom of the baking dish, then set the chicken on top. Place lime wedges in between the chicken pieces. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45-60 minutes.
5. Remove chicken and let cool slightly, then shred with two forks.
6. While the chicken is cooling, make the goat cheese crema: In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. When completely melted, add the garlic and jalapeno, cooking while stirring for 1-2 min. Add the flour and whisk to form a roux. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes to brown very slightly. Then, whisk in the milk. Reduce the heat to low and allow to cook for another 1-2 minutes until thick. Stir in the goat cheese until entirely melted, then season with salt and pepper.
7. Assemble the tacos on warm tortilla shells, with the shredded chicken, goat cheese crema, tomatoes, onions, avocados, and salsa. If desired, top with fresh squeezed lime juice.

This recipe was featured on Full Plate Thursday!

Coat Rack

2013-02-04T16:35:00.000-05:00

This has been one of the more ridiculous weather weeks of my life. It has rained, sleeted, hailed, snowed, been 60 degrees, been 10 degrees - my body is hating it. I can deal with the cold, but the ups and downs and grim dark clouds are getting to me. My coat collection has never gotten so much use!

Since winter came, we've been having trouble figuring out what to do with our coats. The one thing our apartment really lacks is closets. We could definitely use a coat closet and a closet in the bathroom for towels. But since we rent, we're making do with what we have. That means big plastic bins for towels under the bed and for our coats, we had been hanging them on a single hook that was blocking my full length mirror and the way into our closet. It was just not working.

I wanted to get a new coat rack without spending too much money. I found this coat rack at Home Goods that was exactly what I needed - just the right size and everything - but it was a pretty hideous red. I saw it's potential though! Just as my mom says when showing houses, you can ALWAYS paint it. And so I went to Home Depot and picked exactly the color paint I liked, bought a sample size of paint, and gave it a little makeover. I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. What do you think? Next time I'd love to make it a real DIY and build the whole thing myself, but this was a nice quick project to solve my coat issues!

Roasted Tomato and Basil Israeli Couscous

2013-01-31T11:21:00.000-05:00

I made this recipe a loooong time ago (hense the Christmas bowl - but it works for Valentine's day too, right?) and I'm sorry I'm just getting around to sharing it with you! We made this for the Monkey Scientist's niece, who came over for a sleepover during her winter break from school. It is so simple to make and was easy to make with just the ingredients we had in the house.

I am not a big tomato person, but when you roast them I'm in love. Even in the winter, when tomatoes are far from their best, they're great when you roast them. Mixing them with a little basil and Israel couscous - possibly my favorite grain - I was in heaven. We usually have grape or cherry tomatoes in the house so this one is an easy one. It's a little sweet, savory, and great for a weeknight meal.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Israeli Couscous

Ingredients
1/2 c cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
4 tsp olive oil, divided
salt and pepper
1 cup Israeli couscous, cooked to package instructions (still warm)
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

Instructions
1. On a cookie sheet lined with foil, toss the tomatoes in 2 tsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Broil for about 5-10 minutes, or until the tomatoes look wilted and just barely start to brown.
2. Toss the tomatoes, israeli couscous, basil, salt and pepper, and remaining olive oil in a bowl. Serve immediately.

Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken Thighs

2013-01-27T11:09:00.001-05:00

To make the understatement of 2013, this post is overdue. To be honest, after the holidays I needed a little hiatus from blogging. I needed to just get in the kitchen and cook without worrying about taking photos or finding the time to write up a post. But I knew the blogging bug would come back eventually, so I didn't want to scare you into thinking yelleBELLYboo was gone forever.

So, I probably shouldn't be admitting this, but I was so lame on Friday night. We came home from work, had a few snacks, and were lying horizontally on our bed looking at cookbooks to find a recipe for dinner. The next thing I knew, it was 9:30 and I couldn't get myself to fully wake up. To be fair, we had an incredibly busy week!

Side note - highlight of the week was seeing Book of Mormon. We went to a great dinner at Bistro Voltaire first (they have an excellent $29 prix fixe pre-theater menu) where we had fabulous french onion soup, creme brulee, and lots of other French favorites. Then we went to the show - my Chanukah/Christmas present - and laughed the entire time. It was one of my favorite dates we have ever been on.

Anyways, my week was like that. Every night was something. Including a Thursday night gym trip after work that somehow turned into over 2 hours at the gym and not getting home until 9. By Friday I was exhausted. So when I couldn't revive out of my coma, I sent the Monkey Scientist to the store and he came back with all of the ingredients to make this recipe.

It reminds me a LOT of one of my favorite recipes - Spicy Chicken Thighs with Cucumber Avocado Salsa from Cooking Canuck - and I think it was every bit as good. We (of course) made it spicier than it originally called for. Good news - I think my taste buds are growing back because I actually tasted the kick in this one. The boys? Not so much. This was a late night dinner, but it was fantastic, quick to put together, and easy as pie. So easy my brother could make it - and with an ingredient list short enough that we had everything in the house except the chicken. Served with a salad it was just what I needed!

Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken Thighs
slightly adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ancho chili powder (regular chili powder would work fine)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray
6 tbsp honey
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp sriracha

Instructions
1. Combine the garlic powder, ancho chili power, salt, cumin, paprika, pepper and red pepper in a large bowl.
2. Add the chicken thighs to the bowl and toss to evenly coat with all of the spices.
3. Line a cookie sheet with heavy duty foil and spray with cooking spray. Lay the chicken thighs flat on the cookie sheet. Broil (on high) for 5 minutes on each side.
4. While the chicken is broiling, combine the honey, vinegar, and sriracha in a small bowl.
5. Once the chicken has cooked on both sides, remove from the oven and brush one side with the honey mixture. Broil for an additional 1 minute. Remove from the oven and flip, then brush the other side with the honey mixture then broil 1 minute or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately.

Peppermint White Chocolate MandM Cookies (Merry Christmas!)

2012-12-24T14:14:00.000-05:00

This year, I'm spending Christmas with the Monkey Scientist's family. His mom is an expert baker and I wanted to help contribute to the endless flow of Christmas cookies she's producing. I picked up a couple bags of these MandMs at Target (uhh they were white chocolate and peppermint, of course I bought 2 bags) a few weeks ago but I'd been fighting not to eat them so I could make cookies! (I knew if I opened the bag without a plan, I'd eat it all in a day or two. I lack self-restraint.)

I whipped these up yesterday so that I wouldn't be contributing to the chaos once the Christmas cooking really begins. We have them in an airtight container (along with his mom's famous sugar cookies) and I think they might last through tomorrow! There is never a lack of good food around here - especially baked goods. I was glad I could contribute a little something.

This is my first year not heading up north in New Hampshire to ski over Christmas, I think in my whole life. Things were just a little too crazy for me to travel over the holidays. Luckily, the Monkey Scientist and I will get a good weekend of skiing in just after the New Year. It doesn't sound like the skiing I'm missing has been very bad lately, anyways! I'm certainly missing my family, but looking forward to seeing most of them in a few weeks. I'm also lucky the Monkey Scientist's family takes me in as one of their own! It's my first Christmas with a tree, rather than a pile of presents at the bottom of the stairs or under the fireplace.

These cookies are super sweet and minty - just how I like them! They would be perfect to leave for Santa under the tree as well. They came out a little bit puffy for me, which I tried to fix with my rapping against the oven door trick, but I think you could also reduce the flour a bit. I also left out the candy canes because the Monkey Scientist thinks they stick in his teeth too much. Regardless, they taste wonderful!

Have a happy holiday!

White Chocolate Peppermint MandM Cookies
slightly adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients
2 1/2-3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup White Chocolate Peppermint MandM's

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. In the bowl of the standing mixer, cream the butter and sugars until blended. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to incorporate.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing on low until fully incorporated. Mix in the white chocolate chips and MandM's.
5. On a baking sheet (I lined mine with a Silpat) drop the cookies in tablespoon-sized balls about 2 inches apart. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven. Bang the pan against the open oven door or your stove-top to flatten the cookies. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the cookies are browning around the edges (but still soft in the middle).
6. Remove from the oven and let rest on the cookies sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Apple Cider Pound Cake with Apple Cider Glaze

2012-12-14T12:04:00.000-05:00

Last week I had a very special treat. My former coworker was visiting Chicago and invited me and the Monkey Scientist to have dinner at her sister's house. I used to eat lunch with her every day, but now I hadn't seen her in months! It was great to be able to spend time with her and catch up. I can't believe how many people I used to work with have had babies since I left. I miss the flurry of baby pictures I used to get in my email.

As I've mentioned before, my coworker isn't a big chocolate person. I dug through my recently starred recipes in Google Reader and it seemed like everything was chocolate! Finally, I came across this cake and I knew it was perfect. I love cakes that are sweet and this cider glaze was perfect. I knew she'd love it.

Besides that, the Monkey Scientist gave me a bundt pan last Christmas and I still hadn't used it until now! His mom makes a few really amazing bundt cakes, so I never wanted to compete with her. Fortunately, this cake was far enough from her chocolate chip cake that I wasn't too worried. However, after the first 70 minutes I could tell the cake wasn't going to keep its shape and was going to become a pool of dough. I threw it back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes, though, and it really did the trick. So even if your cake is starting to turn brown around the edges, don't fret! Let it cook all the way through! (Especially if you have a silicon bundt pan).

To no big surprise, this cake came out really delicious. It's sweet without being too sweet, and has a nice subtle apple cider flavor. I love the warmth of the cinnamon throughout. I didn't reduce the cider quite enough so the glaze looks pretty white compared to what it should have looked like. It didn't matter though - I liked the white color and it tasted great.

Apple Cider Pound Cake with Apple Cider Glaze
very slightly adapted from Buns in My Oven

Ingredients
For the cake:
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the glaze:
1 cup apple cider
1/2 - 1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
dash of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 and grease a bundt pan.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time until incorporated.
3. In a large bowl, whisk to combine the dry ingredients. In a measuring cup, combine 1 cup of apple cider with 1 teaspoon vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry mixture and cider a bit at a time, alternating between which you are adding. When everything in incorporated, spoon the batter into your bundt pan. Bake for 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (I used a silicon bundt pan and it took closer to 90 minutes).
5. Remove from the oven and let the cake sit for at least 20 minutes in the bundt pan. Remove from bundt pan and allow to cool completely.
6. Add the remaining 1 cup cider to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for at least 10 minutes or until the liquid reduces by half (I don't think mine reduced enough, so it wasn't dark in color).
7. Add the butter, salt, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. If it isn't thick enough, continue to add powdered sugar until it reaches desired consistency.
8. Allow to cool slightly, and then pour over cake. I recommend doing this over a jelly roll pan so you can collect the drippings and pour it over again if you like (I did this 3 times). Serve at room temperature.

Santa (and Rudolph) Ornaments

2012-12-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

Even though I'm Jewish, I can't help but love Christmas. We have my menorah set up (I have a gorgeous one that my mom's friend gave me) but I've also done a lot of Christmas decorating. Since the Monkey Scientist's family celebrates both Christmas and Chanukkah, this year he gave me the perfect excuse to get my first Christmas tree ever. It's a tinsel tree - so it's not exactly traditional - but I'm loving it nonetheless.

I bought most of my ornaments at Crate and Barrel and Target, but I had to make a few of my own! When I found these cute little Santas on Floral Blossom (via Home and Garden) I knew I found this year's craft. All of the instructions to make these yourself can be found right here.

I started out by following the instructions exactly - using my hot glue gun to stick on all the pieces besides the base. But then I tried to actually sew on all the pieces to each side and then sew it all together and I liked how that came out a lot more. Plus it was pretty relaxing to sit and sew while we watching Sunday football.

In fact, I was having so much fun that I decided to make a little Rudolph, even though I hadn't actually bought the fabric for the Rudolph pattern. I think I did pretty well with what I had! I think the Monkey Scientist liked my homemade ornaments too. He suggested that this be the start of a tradition, so I wrote 2012 on the back of these in hopes that they'll be the first of many!

But don't worry that Christmas has totally taken over. We've still been lighting the menorah every night!

No matter which holiday you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday season filled with love!

Sweet Potato Bread Pudding

2012-12-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've ever eaten as much food over a 4 day period as I did this Thanksgiving. We had huge dinners with both sides of my family, sandwiching a couple of delicious restaurant meals. I feel ready for hibernation - I do not need to eat another thing for the next month!

One dish I just had to make was this sweet potato bread pudding. We never grew up having sweet potato casserole, but I love it. I mean, what's not to love? Sweet potatoes. Marshmallows. YUM. I'd take that over tzimmes any day!

My cousin, who is 8, is a fairly picky eater. He's usually willing to try new things, but I've seen him not like a lot more things than he likes. When he tried this bread pudding, he actually sought me out to tell me how much he liked it. That was a major compliment coming from him! His sister loved it as well, but I'm not sure she didn't just pick the marshmallows off the top.

This recipe is dessert, but it really isn't that bad for you. I think you can totally justify it as a starch, rather than a sweet. We used unsweetened almond milk in our version because my grandfather is allergic to dairy, and I think it made it better! It added a new dimension of flavor to the dish in addition to making it lactose-intolerant friendly.

The challah we used is from one of my favorite places in the world - Rein's Deli - that we picked up on our way back to New Hampshire from Connecticut. Normally, I would probably make my own bread, but I know I can trust bread from Rein's. We served it alongside my Lobster Mac and Cheese. It was quite the indulgent evening. We also had my grandmother's famous pastrami that my brother craves all year. It was a pretty fantastic meal all-around. I may have been full - but I think it was well worth it!

Sweet Potato Bread Pudding
adapted from Baking Bites

Ingredients
2-3 medium-sized sweet potatoes
2 2/3 cups unsweetened almond milk (cow's milk is ok)
4 large eggs, lightly whisked
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
9-10 cups cubed challah
4 cups mini marshmallows

Instructions
1. Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until soft enough to pierce with a fork. Remove the potatoes from the oven and lower the temperature to 350.
2. Remove the skins and puree in a large bowl with an immersion blender (or in a food processor). Whisk in the almond milk, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
3. Add the bread to a separate large bowl and pour the potato mixture over it. You could add the bread into the original bowl, but it's really difficult to stir and your bread will get all broken up. Fold to coat all of the bread and let it sit for 20 minutes so the bread can soak up the liquid.
4. Grease a 9x13 baking dish, then transfer the bread into it. Bake in the 350 degree oven for 40 minutes, or until the pudding is set and springs back when lightly pressed.
5. Take the dish out of the oven and carefully sprinkle the top with mini marshmallows. Place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes (WATCH CAREFULLY, marshmallows burn easily!) until the marshmallows puff up and turn brown.
6. Let cool for 15 minutes, then serve.

Lobster Mac and Cheese

2012-11-28T17:55:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty sure the thing I miss the most about living in New England is the seafood. The ability to go to the grocery store, grab a lobster or some fish without spending a week's grocery budget (or fearing digestive disaster) is a luxury I took for granted growing up in Massachusetts. Now, when I'm back home, I take any advantage to enjoy all the seafood there is to offer.

We had my little cousins over for dinner on my last night home and decided to make mac and cheese. Of course, this meant I had to get some lobster in there. It was the right thing to do. It's the bacon of the ocean, after all.

I was mostly inspired to eat lobster because of my camp friend. She grew up a pescatarian, so she's never had meat or poultry at all. For Thanksgiving, her family has lobster and oysters. How amazing is that? I am not a turkey person so I'd take lobster and oyster Thanksgiving over the traditional any day!

By the way, why does anyone still eat mac and cheese out of the box? I mean it serves its purpose, and sometimes I crave it, but man it does not COMPARE to homemade mac and cheese. Sure, it's more expensive to make it from scratch, but it's easy to do and the taste is night and day. This is the serious comfort food I need in the middle of winter. Plus you can change it up in so many different ways - using different kinds of cheese or any mix in from lobster to bacon to pumpkin. It's a versatile dish that guests of all ages love.

Oh right, the recipe. I don't think I even need to tell you how good this was. My little cousins scarfed it down despite being sometimes-picky eaters (we conveniently didn't tell them there was lobster in it) and I couldn't resist taking a second helping. We doubled the recipe and used meat from 2 small-ish lobsters and I'm not sure how many ounces it actually was, but I'd use more next time. I'm sure it was way less than 24 oz though so I think you'll be OK using the recipe as is below. I might need to go home soon so I can make some more!

Lobster Mac and Cheese
from Annie's Eats

Ingredients
8 oz. pasta (I used cavatappi)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
6 oz. fontina cheese, shredded or finely diced
4 oz. white cheddar cheese, shredded
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
Dash grated nutmeg
12 oz. cooked lobster meat, cut into ½-inch chunks (claws and tail)
½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
Minced fresh chives, for garnish

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.
2. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish with butter.
3. Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook the pasta for about 2 minutes less than the package directions say is "al dente". Drain well into a large colander.
4. While the pasta is in the colander, return the pot to the medium heat. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in the pot. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until light golden brown, about 1-2 minutes.
5. Slowly whisk in the milk in small additions until completely added and no lumps of flour remain. Stir in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Continue to heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce bubbles and thickens, about 5 minutes.
6. Once bubbling, cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent burning. Remove the pan from the heat.
7. Stir in the cheese one handful at at time and mix until completely melted.
8. Return the pasta to the pot and mix to coat well with the cheese sauce. Gently fold in the lobster meat. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
9. In a small bowl, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the microwave. Stir in the Panko and toss until the crumbs are evenly coated. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the pasta in the baking dish.
10. Bake uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until the top is browned and the cheese is bubbling. Serve warm topped with fresh minced chives, if desired.

Thanksgiving Favorites

2012-11-19T11:59:00.002-05:00

I know my posts have been a bit scarce lately. When work gets really busy, I end up working late, getting home late, and by the time we're done with dinner I'm too exhausted to write up posts. Hopefully things will calm down a bit more soon and I'll be able to share recipes again!

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few links to some of my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving:
Mom's Stuffed Mushrooms
Buttery Cloverleaf Rolls
Yankee Maple Cornbread
Tourtière (French Canadian Meat Pie)
Lentil Pot Pie
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Dried Cherries and Israeli Couscous
Cinnamon Maple Applesauce
Sweet Potato Bread Pudding (from Baking Bites)
Maple Pecan Bars
Mint Chocolate Polka Dot Cookies
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie (from She Wears Many Hats)

We started out our Thanksgiving early this year with a Friendsgiving on Saturday. My friend made one of the best turkeys I've ever had! (And I am NOT a turkey person!) The simple tips I gave her were 1) UNDERcook, not over cook, since it will keep cooking under the foil while it rests, and 2) Use something to keep it covered in the oven. I've used a turkey bag before but foil works well too, but then uncover at the end to crisp up the skin.

I'm also not into stuffing my bird - I prefer to fill it with citrus and herbs. That way I don't have to worry about cooking the stuffing to 165 to kill bacteria (and in turn overcooking my bird!). The Monkey Scientist's family stuffs their bird with White Castle burgers. What do you do?

I hope everyone has a wonderful turkey day. This is a great time to remind everyone in your life just how thankful you are for them! Enjoy!

Avogolemeno

2012-11-05T12:33:00.005-05:00

I should start this by saying, I fully stand behind the idea that people from the East Coast live in a bubble. Growing up in New England, everything between Pennsylvania and California is a big jumbled mess in my head. Even after years of now living in the Midwest. The Monkey Scientist constantly makes fun of me when I mix up Iowa and Idaho (you think living one state away that I'd get it, but it's still a frequent flip flop in my head) or when I try to think about how far West certain states are. Once you get to the South, I have no idea what falls on which side of Texas. Including Louisiana, and I've driven there. It's pretty embarrassing.

Before I went to Michigan for undergrad, I thought it was about a bajillion miles from Boston. Once I'm in Michigan, I'll be able to take road trips to California, right? And I for sure thought it was about two times zones over when it turns out it's totally in the same time zone. And I know I'm not the only one from the East Coast who thinks that. The first time my mom and I went out there to look at U of M, we thought it was a good idea to "go check out Detroit" and so we went to a Coney Island in Greektown (which is amazing by the way) and I first tried this amazing soup. Avgolemono. Even the name is fancy. And I fell in love.

And then we subsequently drove three hours in the wrong direction into Canada. Who knew that actual Canada was ever that far South? We thought it was just a city named Canada! (i.grew.up.in.a.bubble)

Anyways....

I have been trying to replicate this recipe for a long time but without much success. I recently bought a new cookbook called "This is a Cookbook" after reading about it in the NY Times. I'm not a big cookbook buyer (the ever growing blog roll in my Google Reader gives me more recipes than I could ever make) but this book spoke to me. It's exactly how I love to cook. SIMPLE. Short ingredient lists. Lots of low and slow cooking to develop flavor. A little bit of Asian food. Plus there was a recipe for Avgolemono. AND it's based on the Avgolemono from Coney Islands in Detroit. I knew I had a winner.

And it's everything I hoped it would be. The ingredient list is so simple. Nothing fancy here at all. Chicken broth, a whole chicken, white rice, lemon juice, egg yolks, salt and pepper. It's exactly what needs to be there and nothing more. It's sour and lemony but hearty and warming at the same time. There's nothing quite like it. If you're missing Detroit, or you just love a REALLY good soup, you should make this. Unless you're feeding my dad or brother or some other crazy person who hates lemon. Then you're on your own.

Avgolemono Soup
slightly adjusted from This is a Cookbook

Ingredients
six cans (87 oz) high quality, low sodium chicken broth (or make your own)
1 4-lb whole chicken (neck and things removed and saved for stock)
1 3/4 c white rice
4 egg yolks
juice from 4 lemons
salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Add the broth and chicken to a large pot. Cover partially and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer 30 minutes.
2. After 30 minutes, skim the fat from the top of the broth and flip the chicken over. Cover partially again and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
3. Remove the pot from the heat. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool on a large plate. Add the rice to the pot and bring it back up to a simmer. Cover and allow to cook for 20 minutes.
4. Once the chicken is cool enough to touch, remove and discard the skin. Remove all the meat from the bones and shred. (Save the bones for stock!) After the rice is cooked, add the chicken back into the pot. Remove from heat.
5. Whisk the egg yolks in a heat proof bowl. While whisking continuously, slowly add 1/2 c ladles of soup to the yolks to temper (prevent curdling) until they are close in temperature to the soup.
6. Add the egg/broth mixture back into the pot, along with the lemon juice. (Do not turn on the heat!) Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Happy Halloween!

2012-10-31T12:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween! Unfortunately, I am not spending the holiday at home, waiting for trick or treaters. I guess I will have to check with the boys to see if any kids show up. I have been stuck in DC for the last few days due to Hurricane Sandy. At least I got plenty of use out of my Pumpkin Shirt while I have been here!

At least a few days inside led to some super tasty treats. I made homemade ice cream ~~sandwiches~~ Sandy-wiches for my friends who let me stay with them while I waited until I could get a flight. I used the regular old Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but halfway through baking I took the tray out of the oven and banged it on the open oven door to flatten the cookies out and make them extra crispy. It's my mom's college roommate's trick and the key to her amazing cookies. (Although mine never come out quite as good as hers).

My friends don't have a standing or hand mixer, so I actually made the dough totally by hand (don't worry, we didn't lose power from Sandy, but I would have been prepared!). In a bit of kitchen trickery, I used a lemon juicer (like this) to cream the butter and sugar. It actually worked amazingly well! While the cookies were still a little bit warm, I put blackberry ice cream between 2 cookies and wrapped them in Saran then threw them in the freezer for an hour or two. They came out perfectly!

We finally escaped the storm on Tuesday night and made it to the restaurant where the Monkey Scientist and I had our first restaurant date - Nam Viet - for some delicious Pho. It hit the spot on a cool, rainy evening.

It's been great being back in DC - I had missed it (and my camp friend) a lot - but I'm ready to head back to Chicago. Cross your fingers that I make it back tomorrow!

Have a great Halloween!

October's Secret Supper at Southport Grocery

2012-10-26T15:37:00.000-04:00

When we moved to Chicago a few months ago, I have to admit I was nervous. Not because I didn't think we'd love Chicago, but because we signed a lease before I'd ever even stepped foot in the neighborhood we'd be living in. I'd gotten stuck in NYC with a cancelled flight after a business trip, and was unable to make it out to Chicago the weekend that the Monkey Scientist and our roommate came to look at places. Still, I trusted their judgement and I quickly realized how much I love our part of town!

One of the best restaurants in our area is the Southport Grocery & Cafe. A coworker had actually told me about it before I moved and I was not disappointed. Their brunch is top notch and their cupcakes are out of this world. And I moved from DC, land of cupcake shops. Plus they have a great little market with high end ingredients like jellies, pickles, sprinkles and real maple syrup. So when I heard they host a "Secret Supper" once a month, I knew I needed to get an invite. I grabbed 4 seats to the October party as soon as I heard about it (by joining their email list) for me, my bff, my roommate and the MS.

All of the food was really a step above anywhere we've gone lately. My favorite course was the clam chowder. Now I'm a New England girl, and this was some seriously good clam chowder. The liquid wasn't too thick and there was a great substance-to-liquid ratio. I hate when there are big chunks of potatoes in chowder, but these were perfectly diced and the texture was offset by crispy shallots. The clams were cooked exactly how I like them - just a bit chewy and not at all briny. Plus the sourdough bread bowl they baked upstairs was perfection. Sourdough is my favorite bread by far - I think I could live off of it. I couldn't ask for anything more out of this course (except for, well, more).

The main course was a Pork Confit and Orchiette served in a large mug. As the Monkey Scientist put it, there might not be anything better than a mug full of pork. It was topped with currants and a juniper gelee, and was mixed with local arugula and carrots. Some of our table found it a bit sweet, and I thought the sauce might have been a little heavy. Plus, cooked carrots just don't do it for me. It wasn't the highlight of the meal but it was really great nonetheless.

For dessert, we were served a pumpkin rice pudding with a black sesame lace cookie. I'm not sure I'd ever had a homemade lace cookie before, but now I'm determined to make them myself. They melt in your mouth and have the perfect bit of crunch. Sesame seeds aren't my favorite thing ever so I might experiment with other things I can put in the caramel if I make them at home. The rice pudding sitting below the cookie was great too. Rice pudding is one of my favorite desserts. To be honest, I think we all expected a little more pumpkin flavor, but it was topped with dried cranberries and candied ginger which was amazing. I loved the mason jar presentation, too!

The only thing I didn't capture was the special treat at the end of the meal. They had homemade Reese's, Three Muskeeter, Almond Joy, and Butterfingers that their pastry chef had whipped up for us. I think we all felt sweets overload at the end of the meal (OK everyone but me. I don't understand sweets overload until it's way too late) but they were absolutely delightful, albeit a bit melty. I especially liked the Butterfinger and thought the Three Musketeers was unique and delicious (the consistency was denser than the original). This was definitely a special dinner for us (we even got a bottle of wine, and we never drink at dinner), but I'm hoping we can go to another Secret Supper sometime (maybe if my folks come visit!). It was a blast!

Salted Caramel

2012-10-23T12:30:00.000-04:00

Now that autumn is in full-swing, all I want to do is go apple picking. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated between the drought and early heat this spring - which led to a small harvest this year - and the rain storms we've had lately. I tried to plan a big trip and we had tornado warnings all weekend. Such a bummer. Still, there have been great Honeycrisps from Michigan at the grocery store and I've really been enjoying them!

This weekend, I decided that if I was going to eat apples inside in the rain, I needed to dip them in caramel. This recipe was SUPER easy. I think I could have let the sugar get a little bit deeper caramelization, but I was so afraid of burning it that I pulled it off a little early. Next time I'll let it get a little darker. This recipe is fantastic though! I brought the leftovers to the Monkey Scientist's parents - I'm hoping his mom uses it to make some spectacular baked goods. It would be wonderful swirled in brownies or cake!

Salted Caramel Sauce
slightly adapted from Lick My Spoon

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Heat sugar and water in a 2-quart or 3-quart non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to help the sugar dissolve, but stop stirring when the sugar comes to a boil. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want.
2. When the liquid sugar hits a dark amber color (I don't think I waited quite long enough), add all the butter to the pan. The mixture will foam up and thicken. Whisk until the butter has melted. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat.
3. Add the cream to the pan (the mixture will foam up again) and continue to whisk to incorporate.
4. Add the sea salt and vanilla and whisk until caramel sauce is smooth.
5. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass jar and let cool to room temperature. Don’t worry if the sauce seems a bit too thin at first, it will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving to loosen it up again.