FOOD

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Fri, 07 Jun 2013 08:26:56 -0400

Challenge - Recipe 5 - Crunchy Slaw Salad

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:58:21 -0400

Heidi Swanson cooks like I wish I could eat everyday. Her books and website are full of healthy, yummy, whole vegetarian foods. Her books are beautiful to look at. The photos and the quality of the paper are like therapy. She does use kind of obscure ingredients, but her book does come with a list of places to get everything she uses.

Grade: B+

For some reason, I’ve been craving coleslaw. I hate coleslaw. This is not the sort of slaw you think of when you hear coleslaw. There’s no mayo (thank god) and there’s tons of flavor. Heidi’s recipe called for a savoy cabbage (which is softer), but I used red cabbage because it looked really good in the store. She also used an apple, which I think would be really nice in the slaw, but I forgot to get one (it was still good). If I did it again I would probably get a mix of red cabbage and savoy cabbage for texture differences and not forget the apple!

By the way, the rest of the food was a lovely grilled salmon with chives and grilled asparagus. NOM.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

juice of one lemon

fine grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

splash of heavy cream

1 extra-crisp apple, peeled and cored

1 big squeeze of lemon juice

1 small savoy cabbage

1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Directions:

To make the dressing, whisk the apple cider and lemon juice together in a bowl, season with a few pinches of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper, then gradually whisk in olive oil followed by cream.

Shred the apple on the large holes of a box grater, then put the shreds in a bowl of cold water with the squeeze of lemon to keep the apple from browning. Cut the cabbage into quarters and core each section, the cut them into a very fine chiffonade. Just before serving, drain the apples and toss with the cabbage, walnuts, and dressing in a large bowl. (Note: I just made the dressing in the bottom of my serving bowl and gave everything a really good toss before serving.)

Challenge - Recipe 4 - Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:32:30 -0400

Cookbook: the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Another good one from Smitten Kitchen. Did I mention I love this cookbook and the blog. I’ve got at least one more recipe from this book I’ve already made and am planning on posting in the near future.

Grade: A

The book has a pizza dough recipe in it that I’ve used a bunch. I really love making homemade pizza because it’s ridiculously easy and tastes terrific. My dog hates it because the smoke alarm always goes off. This recipe is the perfect way to do pizza in the spring! Because Mark isn’t a big fan of pungent cheeses, I skipped the Parmesan and added a parsley and spinach pesto, with hazelnuts because that’s what I had.

Recipe found on website

Super herbed couscous salad with roasted tomatoes. Basil,...

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:07:13 -0400

Super herbed couscous salad with roasted tomatoes.
Basil, parsley, and mint.

I’ve been waiting for a couple weeks to post these! I...

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:06:14 -0400

I’ve been waiting for a couple weeks to post these! I made my mommers these cookies for her birthday and didn’t want to spoil the surprise until she received her birthday box.

The recipe is mostly Smitten Kitchen’s homemade oreos, with the exception of the filling. As much as I trust Deb Perelman, I just couldn’t bring myself to make frosting out of shortening. Instead, I just mixed butter and powdered sugar with vanilla and mint extract to make Mint oreos!

The cookies are nice and thin and soft and chewy, chocolaty but not too sweet. And the filling is minty, but not too much so. I sent her a bunch and saved some for me too.

Challenge - Recipe 3: Ratatoille Sub Cookbook: the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook This recipe comes from...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:17:18 -0400

Challenge - Recipe 3: Ratatoille Sub

Cookbook: the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

This recipe comes from one of my favorite food blog writers. I think I like her so much because her blog (and cookbook) have a really great balance between food to impress and everyday dinners that taste terrific. It also doesn’t hurt that she seems to share my need of sweets.

Grade: A

Mark and I both really liked this dinner. It was super hardy and warm in the belly on a cold rainy day, but it also felt incredibly healthy. I did, however, make the mistake of using subpar rolls. You should definitely use a nice roll or chunk of baguette.

Ingredients:

1 long, thin eggplant (I used 2 baby eggplants)

1 long, thin zucchini

1 long, thin yellow squash

1-2 bell peppers, long and thin (I used a red and a yellow)

1/2 small yellow onion (I think I used a whole large one since we love onion)

1 cup tomato puree (I couldn’t find puree, so I used peeled, crushed tomatoes)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt

red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

rolls or a baguette

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prep veggies. Slice each veg into thin rounds. Trim the ends off of the peppers and remove the core, while leaving the flesh intact. Slice thinly crosswise to create rounds.

Spread the tomato puree into a 2-quart baking dish. Stir in onion slices, minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a couple of pinches of salt and red pepper flakes. Arrange the slices of veggies so that they overlap, with just a little bit of flat surface visible. The pepper will be the most difficult, but it will still bake nicely. You may not need all of the vegetables. Drizzle remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the vegetables, and sprinkle with thyme.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until vegetables are almost fork-tender.

Split sub rolls. After 45 minutes, increase heat to 425 and remove foil. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Place rolls on other oven rack to toast.

Serving works best with a spatula. Carefully pick up one section of vegetables and slide onto roll. Add more until you have put 2 layers of cooked vegetables inside roll. Scoop up oniony sauce and spoon over the sub.

This challenge is a bit belated because we’ve been having...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:51:39 -0400

This challenge is a bit belated because we’ve been having plumbers and handymen in and out of our kitchen for a while fixing floors and burst pipes.

But, here it is:

Recipe 2: Carrot Soup with Toasted Curry and Pistachios

Cookbook: Andrea Reusing’s “Cooking in the Moment”.

This book is full of amazingly fresh and easy to do recipes. It also has some of my favorite photos.

Grade: A

This soup is super carrot-y in the best way. I modified it slightly because I did not have white wine or pistachios and I wanted to add some crispy fried shallots on top.

Original recipe:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 pounds carrots

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons curry powder (She makes her own)

Pinch of cayenne

1/2 cup dry white wine

thick Greek-style yogurt (I used plain kefir because it was what I had)

1/2 cup shelled roasted pistachios (I used chopped, toasted almonds)

Directions:

Melt the butter in a heavy 4-quart pot. Add the onion, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cover and cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes, until onions are soft and translucent.

Meanwhile, peel the carrots and slice them into thin rounds.

Raise the heat to medium, add the curry and cayenne. Stir and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the carrots, wine, and another 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook for 2 minutes, until wine reduces a little. Add 6 cups of water and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 25-30 minutes, until carrots are completely tender.

Puree in a food processor or an immersion blender. Add water if too thick. Adjust seasoning and serve. Garnish with yogurt, pistachios, and curry powder.

I mixed in some plain kefir after pureeing to make it creamier, and finished with toasted almonds and some crispy shallots.

Challenge - Recipe 1: Green-Poached Eggs with Spinach &...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:38:00 -0400

Challenge - Recipe 1: Green-Poached Eggs with Spinach & Chives

Cookbook: Melissa Clark’s Cook This Now

I made this for an Easter potluck dinner. The original recipe was done in a skillet and serves four, but I doubled it and finished it in the oven to make it more potluck-friendly.

Grade: A-

Most people gave great compliments on the dish. I omitted the chile flakes to make it more palatable to everyone, but I think it could have really used a good spice. I also think it could be neat to do an Indian style version, think Saag Paneer, only with baked eggs.

Original recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 fat scallions, sliced (white and light greens separated from dark greens)
1 garlic clove, finally chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh chives
10 oz fresh baby spinach (about 4 quarts)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup heavy cream
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4 large eggs
Chile flakes for serving
Course sea salt, for serving
Buttered toast, for serving

Directions:

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the foam subsides. Add the white and light green scallions and garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chives. Toss in the spinach, a handful at a time, letting each batch wilt slightly before adding more. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Stir in the cream and lemon zest; let simmer until the spinach is very soft, about 3 minutes.
Using the back of a spoon, make 4 little indentations in the spinach- think of them as nests for the eggs. Crack the eggs into the nests. Lower the heat to medium-low and sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and let the eggs cook until almost opaque, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the eggs rest, covered, until done to taste, 30 seconds for yolks that are runny (whites should be completely cooked through), or longer if you like harder eggs.
Carefully scoop the eggs and greens into two bowls. Season each bowl with chile flakes and flaky salt; garnish them with scallion greens. Serve with buttered toast.

Cooking Challenge

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:49:20 -0400

I really love cookbooks. So much that I have collected quite an array of them. I love going through each book and marking all the recipes that I have to try, and then putting them on my bookshelf and never looking at them again.

So, I’ve charged myself with a challenge: I will make at least one recipe from my cookbooks each week. I’m also going to count my food magazines as part of this challenge (I currently subscribe to three).

My first recipe is from Melissa Clark’s Cook This Now. This book is organized by seasons (which I love) and has a ton of vegetarian options, even though it’s not a vegetarian cookbook.

I am making “Green-Poached Eggs with Spinach and Chives for an Easter potluck we’re going to this afternoon. I’ll be sure to report back on how it went and maybe a photo or two!

100 Things to do with Meyer Lemons

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:57:41 -0400

100 Things to do with Meyer Lemons:

I love me some meyer lemons!

Had an amazing maple latte the other day at Happy Badger and now I can’t stop thinking about...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:53:28 -0400

Had an amazing maple latte the other day at Happy Badger and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Espresso, fresh, local milk, and maple sryup, YUM!

Thug Kitchen is awesome. Fuck you Jamba Juice indeed!

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:24:31 -0400

Thug Kitchen is awesome. Fuck you Jamba Juice indeed!

Fruit tacos with chocolate tortillas

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:42:39 -0400

Fruit tacos with chocolate tortillas:

Holy noms!

Asparagus, spinach, and brussel sprout panzanella, aka...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:01:54 -0400

Asparagus, spinach, and brussel sprout panzanella, aka “that baguette is too stale to eat as regular bread now… better figure out something to do with it”.

Almond biscotti, another component of our thank you box....

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:47:33 -0400

Almond biscotti, another component of our thank you box. You’ll notice that some of my biscotti are a little “crisper” than others, but all in all, I think my first attempt at these twice baked cookies was a success.

Recipe was adapted from two different recipes, one that my BFFFF swears by, and the other from my favorite food blog, Smitten Kitchen.

P.S. I don’t think my house has ever smelled so wonderful than during the first round of baking.

Part of our thank you package to Mark’s aunt and uncle....

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:09:35 -0400

Part of our thank you package to Mark’s aunt and uncle. Meyer lemon and fresh cranberry scones from Smitten Kitchen. The secret is in the heavy cream, so don’t even think about skipping it!

Ginger dressing a la your favorite sushi restaurant. I found...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:07:14 -0400

Ginger dressing a la your favorite sushi restaurant. I found the recipe to be a bit thick, so I added some more water. Also subbed balsamic vinegar for apple cider vinegar. Yum.

marissalosesit: 3 Ingredient Sweet Potato Burger I’m not...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:40:17 -0400

marissalosesit:

3 Ingredient Sweet Potato Burger

I’m not kidding. And they taste phenomenaul at about 160kcal a patty.

Cut up 3 large sweet potatoes, then boil them until soft.

While that’s cooking, mash up 4 cans of white beans with a fork, potato masher, or food processor.

Once the potatoes are cooked, add them together with 2Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes and mash it all together.

Form into patties, throw in the oven at 425* F until the edges start to crisp.

So fucking easy. Thank me later.

Holy Noms!

Tonight’s dinner: Baked mahi mahi with brown butter sage...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:44:22 -0400

Tonight’s dinner: Baked mahi mahi with brown butter sage sauce, sauteed spinach and red peppers, and mashed root veggies (turnips, carrots, and sweet potatoes).

http://www.marthastewart.com/967968/tuscan-kale-orecchiette

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:39:36 -0400

http://www.marthastewart.com/967968/tuscan-kale-orecchiette:

Made a fun variation on this for dinner this past Monday. Had to substitute Tuscan kale for a red kale and a purple flowering kale, also added in some asparagus and peas to the mix. Definitely don’t skimp on the goat cheese!