Who Cooked What

I made (subtle) peanut butter cookies!

2011-10-29T11:54:00.008-04:00

Hi friends,

While my cooking skills seem to be plateauing at mediocre, my baking skills continue to get better. I made peanut butter cookies from a recipe that I was able to successfully adapt from other recipes. Not that novel of an idea for most of you, but when I do this, sometimes the results are disastrous!

Let me warn you that this recipe is not REALLY rich in peanut butter taste. They are definitely peanut butter cookies, but the flavor of the PB isn't overpowering. It's almost like 3/4th PB cookie and 1/4th sugar cookie taste-wise. I didn't do this on purpose (of course), I just used as much peanut butter as I had hoping that it would all turn out OK. I think this might be my favorite recipe so far, though!

Here's the plan:

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Baking Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat together butter, peanut butter, sugars, and vanilla extract. Look for a creamy texture (after a minute or so), and make sure the brown sugar hasn't clumped anywhere (you may need to use a fork to break those up). Beat in the egg well.
In a separate bowl, sift together your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour dry ingredients into batter and use hand mixer.
Put dough and baking pan in refrigerator for an hour.
Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls with your hand and put on baking sheet. Score each ball with a fork, making the pattern of your choice (I opted for classic hash marks). Bake in the oven at 375 F for about 9-10 minutes. Cookies should be just beginning to turn a light brown on the edges. Take them out earlier rather than later because a dry PB cookie is no good!
Let cookies sit for 5 minutes on baking sheet and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Eat while hot with a glass of milk!

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think. They were a hit with everyone who tried them, including my husband who groans when I make any peanut butter recipe.

Love,
K

Post-Irene Beer-Glazed Black Beans

2011-08-28T18:37:00.004-04:00

Hello! Wow, it has been a while.

Like many others on the East Coast, I have been cooped up this weekend due to Hurricane Irene. Thankfully, the hurricane was not as severe in Brooklyn as it might have been, and I did not have to break into the bounty of canned goods that I had bought as a precaution. But I figured it was a good opportunity to share this recipe with everyone, since lots of folks affected by Irene may find that they have some extra black beans on hand right about now. And of course, they are a pantry staple for many people regardless.

This recipe is from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" Book. I actually don't have the book, but the iphone app! I really like the app - comes in handy when I am bored on the subway - I can just look through recipes and decide what to make for dinner when I get home. OK so here are the cast of characters for the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped (sometimes I am lazy and leave out the onion, it's still good)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup beer
3 cups cooked or canned black beans, drained but moist, liquid reserved
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Put the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for about a minute, then add the beer, beans, chili powder, honey and some salt and pepper.
Bring to a steady bubble and cook until the liquid is slightly reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately. Can also be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Also: dont forget!!! You can always adjust the proportions in the recipe to make less beans. I usually just make it with one can. Bittman also notes that you can add exciting things like bacon, tomatoes, or chipotle paste to the recipe. As you can see in the photo above, sometimes I add a bit of salsa.

I don't have a pic of the finished product (let's face it, black beans are not that photogenic.) But, the end result is rich and creamy and sorta sweet/spicy at the same time. It goes well with eggs, tortillas, avocado, rice, cheese, etc. Anything you would normally eat with black beans - go for it.

Also, it should be mentioned, that if you're in the NYC area and have extra food supplies due to the hurricane, you can always donate them to the Food Bank for New York City. Info HERE.

Hope everyone stayed safe during the hurricane.

I made carrot soup and gruyere biscuits!

2011-03-15T21:13:00.004-04:00

I wrote about soup and biscuits for my last post, but these are different (and equally good) soup and biscuits and deserve their equal share of attention and praise. Carrots are kind of a second tier vegetable – I wouldn't usually pick them out of a line up, but every once in a while they are EXACTLY what I want. They keep really well in the fridge, which is also a plus, especially with a recipe that calls for over a pound of them. The soup is from 101 cookbooks; it's the simplest carrot soup recipe I've come across and I like it the best. The biscuit recipe is Ina Garten's. The recipe calls for cheddar cheese but I couldn't find any in the fridge (*someone* left it in one of the Coop bags when unpacking the groceries) so I used gruyere. These are flaky and flavorful biscuits; they are also rectangular, so prepare yourself. I recommend having the extras the next morning with a scrambled egg. Enjoy!

Carrot Soup (serves 4) (maybe with other dishes)

1 1/4 pounds carrots
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or clarified butter)
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cups+ vegetable stock or water (I used 2 cups stock/2 cups water – added an extra cup)
juice of 1/2 a lemon (I like a little more lemon, but taste and see what you like)
fine grain sea salt (as much as you need) (yeah, kosher salt)

Scrub the carrots and cut into 1 inch chunks. Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add the stock and carrots and bring to a gentle boil. (I add the carrots a few minutes before the stock and saute a bit; I think it makes them more flavorful) Bring to a gentle boil and then lower to a simmer. Let it go for 20-30 minutes, or until carrots are tender. Try not to overcook. When tender, turn off heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Puree with an immersion blender (or regular blender if you don't have an immersion one). Salt and pepper to taste. Heidi says, “keep adding a few pinches at a time until the carrot flavor really pops.” Finish with a drizzle of olive oil or red chile oil.

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits (Ina Garten)

2 C flour, plus more as needed
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 C butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 C buttermilk (I used lowfat milk with a ½ TBS of white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 min before use)
1 egg
1 C grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
Egg Wash: 1 egg, beaten with 1 T water or milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas. (You could do this by hand if you don't have a mixer, it will just take longer)

Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small cup and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened. In a small bowl, mix the Cheddar with small handful of flour and, with the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.

Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly about 6 times. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. With a knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with salt, if using, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

I made pasta with french lentils, kale and artichoke hearts

2011-02-08T22:16:00.004-05:00

I just made this last night, and it was so good I had it again tonight for dinner and decided to post about it immediately. The secret is actually caramelizing, not just sauteing the onions, which means cooking them very slowly on very low heat, and that takes some patience. But it brings out the delicious sweetness of the lentils, and you can use that time to de-stem the kale and chop the artichoke hearts and boom--dinner is ready.

The recipe is below. The artichokes were my addition--it adds some nice contrast to the sweetness in the dish. I also tossed the whole batch with some Romano cheese, which has a similar effect...

Pasta with Lentils and Kale and 'Chokes!

Ingredients

1/2 cup French (small) green lentils
2 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped (2 cups)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 pound kale (preferably Tuscan; sometimes labeled "lacinato")
3/4 pound dried short pasta (I used whole wheat fusili.)
1 can artichoke hearts, quartered--if you're doing it my way.

Simmer lentils in water (2 cups) (I used broth--in which case salt isn't necessary) with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart saucepan, uncovered, adding more water if necessary to keep lentils barely covered, until tender but not falling apart, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt.

While lentils simmer, heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring, 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and golden (stir more frequently toward end of cooking), about 20 minutes. Remove lid and increase heat to moderate, then cook, stirring frequently, until onion is golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes more.

While onion cooks, cut out and discard stems and center ribs from kale. Cook kale in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water , uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer kale with tongs to a colander to drain, pressing lightly. Keep pot of water at a boil, covered.

Coarsely chop kale and add to onion along with lentils (including lentil-cooking liquid), then simmer, stirring, 1 minute. (Add the 'chokes here too!) Season with salt and pepper.

Add pasta to kale-cooking liquid and boil, uncovered, until al dente. Reserve about 1 cup pasta-cooking liquid, then drain pasta in a colander. Add pasta to lentil mixture along with about 1/3 cup of pasta-cooking liquid (or enough to keep pasta moist) and cook over high heat, tossing, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil.

I made Tomato Soup and Cheddar Chipotle Biscuits!

2011-01-29T11:30:00.010-05:00

This meal was a fancified tomato soup and grilled cheese. I made it on Monday when it was freaky cold and I wanted a cozy meal and a way to use up the buttermilk in the fridge. I bought buttermilk a few weeks ago for something (I can't remember what right now) and only used half a cup, and the remainder has sat there ever since, reminding me of my New Year's resolution to waste less food. The soup recipe is from Not Eating Out in New York and the biscuit recipe is from the Baked cookbook but I found it on Serious Eats.

Tomato Soup to Write Home About
(makes about 6 servings - maybe if you were having multiple courses. 3-4 servings otherwise)
1 large can peeled Italian plum tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 small celery rib, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
2-3 fresh cayenne or serrano peppers, seeded and chopped (or substitute with dried red chile flakes to taste) (I used on jalapeno, seeded. It was kicky but not overpowering).
1 bunch fresh basil leaves (She leaves them whole, but I decided to chop them)
salt and freshly ground pepper
3-4 TBS olive oil (plus more for drizzling as garnish)

Sweat the onions, carrots, celery and chiles in olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, stirring over low heat for about 8 minutes or until softened and lightly browned (this took about 15 minutes for me). Add the tomatoes and all their juices. Transfer mixture to a blender (or use your immersion blender) and pulse until mixture is completely smooth. Return to the pot and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for at least 40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the basil leaves and serve. Garnish each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.

Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits from Baked
makes about 20 small biscuits (I ended up with 16)

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (it’s a lot of grinding, but it’s worth it!)
1 tablespoon chipotle powder (I have chipotle chile powder and it’s really versatile and awesome. I wonder if you could use the adobo from canned chipotles if you don’t have the powder on hand?)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups grated and tightly packed sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
Kosher salt for topping

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pepper, chipotle powder, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and the 1 teaspoon of salt.
Add the butter and, using your hands or the back of a wooden spoon, work the butter into the dough. (If you use your hands to do this, don’t touch your eyes - they will burn!) The mixture should look like coarse sand. Add the cheese and stir to thoroughly incorporate it into the dough.
In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Do not overmix.
Use a small ice cream scoop or a 1/4-cup measuring cup to scoop the dough and drop it in mounds onto the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake in the center of the oven for about 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking time, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a biscuit comes out clean.
Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack. The biscuits can be served slightly warm or at room temperature (we like them slightly warm).
Store the biscuits in an airtight container for up to 2 days. (A toaster oven is great for re-heating)

I made farro and roasted butternut squash

2011-01-28T13:22:00.003-05:00

I have been pretty curious about farro lately, and the other day I decided to finally give it a try.

VERDICT: It's my new favorite grain! It's more plump and rice-like than bulgar, and more arborio-like than plain old brown rice. You guys gotta try it.

I found this recipe on 101Cookbooks. It was hearty and delicious--a great healthy fall or winter meal. The only change I might make is not toasting the walnuts--it was too much with the other heavy flavors for my taste. Or maybe I'd use pine nuts instead.

Without further ado:

Farro and Roasted Butternut Squash

2 cups farro, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
5 cups water (or stock)
3 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large red onion cut into 1/8ths
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup walnuts, deeply toasted
3 tablespoons toasted walnut oil (or more olive oil)
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled (I found it needed more cheese than this, so I through in some feta, and I actually liked that better. The saltiness contrasts the sweetness of the balsalmic, squash and onions nicely.)

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine the farro, salt, and water in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the farro is tender, 45 minutes to an hour, or about half the time if you are using semi-pearled farro. Taste often as it is cooking, you want it to be toothsome and retain structure. Remove from heat, drain any excess water, and set aside.

While the farro is cooking toss the squash, onion, and thyme with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a couple big pinches of salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange in a single layer and place in the oven for about 20 minutes. Toss the squash and onions every 5-7 minutes to get browning on multiple sides. Remove from the oven, let cool a bit, and mince just 1/2 of the red onions.

In a large bowl gently toss the everything (except the goat cheese) with the toasted walnut oil (or olive oil). Taste and add a bit of salt if necessary. Serve family-style in a simple bowl or on a platter garnished with the goat cheese.

Serves 6-8 as a side, less as a main. (No way, Heidi. I had enough for several dinners and lunches for me and my roommates. I would guess 8-10 entree-sized portions!)

I Made Black-eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes!

2011-01-27T19:03:00.005-05:00

Quinoa is my favorite grain because it has tons of fiber and it is a complete protein. My friend at the Natural Gourmet School told me that essentially all quinoa is organic, because it is only produced in certain regions of Bolivia and Peru, and farmers monitor each other to guarantee their organic certification. (As in, if one farmer decides to use pesticides, then it would mess it up for everyone, so no one wants to be caught with pesticides. Thus, organic!) The following recipe comes from Vegan with a Vengeance (p. 88-89).

1 1/2 cups cooked black-eyed peas, drained, or 1 (15-0z) can, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup cooked quinoa, at room temperature
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
1/2 tsp dried basil, crumbled
1 tsp paprika

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a mixing bowl mash the black-eyed peas with a potato masher and then your hands. Add the olive oil and soy sauce and stir. Add the quinoa and spices and combine the mixture with your hands. You should be able to mold them into balls that readily stick together.

1/2 cup bread crumbs (I didn't have any, so I toasted some sourdough slices till crispy and food processed them into crumbs)
1/8 tsp salt
A few dashes of fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (I used a squirt of bottled lemon juice)
2 teaspoons olive oil

In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients for the breading. Spray a baking pan with a little oil. Form the croquettes into walnut-sized balls. Gently roll the balls between your palms three or four times, then flatten out the ends so that the croquettes resemble marshmallows. Coat each ball with the bread crumbs and place on the prepared baking sheet. When all the croquettes have been formed, spray lightly with oil. Bake for 40 minutes, turning once after 20 minutes.

The author serves these croquettes with cooked quinoa and mushroom sauce. I didn't have time to make the mushroom sauce, so I just used ketchup and mustard. Also, these croquettes are so protein-packed because of power combo of black-eyed peas and quinoa that I didn't need any additional quinoa on the side. Lastly, after twenty minutes of baking, when you flip over the croquettes, it seems like they are overly crumbling. Wrong! After baking for a total of 40 minutes, the croquettes hold together very nicely.

EDIT: I tried this with kidney beans (food processed the first step instead of mashing). Doesn't work as well...

I made mulligatawny

2011-01-15T13:54:00.005-05:00

Yo everybody. I made this a looong time ago. We're talking back in October. It was DELISH, and I think I'm going to make it again soon. But it wasn't what I had in mind when I started out. After doing a little research I learned that the bright red, tomato based Indian soup I was thinking of is often called mulligatawny but is actually Rasam. That will have to be my next project, as I continue to pursue my goal of making every variety of lentil soup known to man.

I followed the recipe pretty exactly, except I had to substitute some of the harder to find ingredients. I couldn't find tamarind concentrate, so I added extra lemon juice because I think tamarind would add a kind of fruity bitterness? I used ground cardamom instead of the pods, and dried coriander instead of fresh leaves. Next time I'll have to go stock up at an Indian grocery store because I bet all those ingredients do make a big difference. But even with the substitutes, this soup had such a complex flavor! All those spices (as pictured above)! And you even through some apple in there--who would have guessed?

Mulligatawny
from Michelle Chen, author of the recipe: "Literally meaning pepper water, Mulligatawny Soup is an Anglo-Indian invention created by servants for the English Raj who demanded a soup course from a cuisine that had never produced one."

Ingredients

1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter), or vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 green chile peppers, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground coriander seed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 pods cardamom, bruised
1 tablespoon chopped fresh curry
1 carrot, chopped
1 apple - peeled, cored, and chopped
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 cup Masoor dhal (red lentils), rinsed, drained
8 cups chicken broth (I used No-Chicken broth)
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Heat ghee or vegetable oil in large pan (use low heat); cook onion, garlic, ginger, chilies, spices and curry leaves, stirring, until onion is browned lightly and mixture is fragrant. Do not over brown the onion or else it will give the soup a burnt taste.
Add carrot, apple, potato, dhal, and chicken stock to pan; simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until vegetables are just tender. Discard cardamom pods and curry leaves.
Blend or process soup mixture, in batches, until pureed; return to pan. (I used an immersion blender, which worked just as well.) Add tamarind, lemon juice, coconut milk and fresh coriander leaves; stir until heated through.

We made eggplant parmigiana in LA!

2011-01-12T12:49:00.002-05:00

Last week, Joey, Lauren and I went to LA to visit our dear friend, W. Hunter McClamrock. We drove to San Francisco and back, got picked up by a limo on New Years Eve, were forced to take a crazy detour through the mountains because of high winds and snow in "The Grapevine" (don't ask me California is crazy), rolled around in the fake grass at the Getty Center, ate delicious tacos and sushi and Umami (veggie) burgers, and generally had a lot of awesome adventures. On our last night, we wanted to make dinner and Hunter requested Joey's signature dish, eggplant parmigiana. Joey learned how to make this dish from his mama and has since perfected it on his own.

Most of us associate eggplant parm with the kind you get at most Italian restaurants: one cutlet of thickly breaded or deep fried eggplant drowning in sauce and mozzarella cheese. But the authentic and much more delicious way is to lightly fry thin slices of eggplant and then layer them like a lasagna with sauce and scattered chunks of mozzarella cheese.

But when it came time to start cooking, things got crazy. Let's just say Joey and Lauren had eaten a certain baked good. And let's just say the consumption of said baked good left them somewhat... indisposed (see the pic of Joey below--he was in no condition to cook.) So that left me to make the parm. I was a little intimidated, since it's always been Joey's thing and it's a pretty labor intensive dish, but I'd watched him enough times that I was pretty sure I knew all the steps.

First, of course, I made Mama Vallese's Vegetable Sauce.

Then we skinned three medium-sized eggplants and sliced them longways.

Then we prepared two bowls for the coating: one with flour, one with beaten eggs and parmesan.

Now here comes the labor-intensive part. Get a good inch of vegetable oil going on the pan, dip each slice of eggplant first in the flour, then the egg mixture, and fry those babies a few minutes on each side until the coating turns golden. You will have to do this in many, many batches. Unless you have an enormous pan. As you finish each batch, lay the fried slices on paper towels to absorb some of the oil.

When you're done with all that frying, the rest is easy. Get out your 10 x 15 baking dish and cover the bottom with sauce. Then place pieces of eggplant in one layer, minimizing any spaces between them. Then another THIN layer of more sauce. I would even call it more of a DRIZZLE than an actual layer. Otherwise the whole thing will get soupy and the eggplant won't stay as crisp. Then evenly scatter chunks of mozzarella. Then sprinkle some parm. Repeat until you've used all your eggplant, or until the baking dish can't hold anymore. On the top layer, scatter the mozz (not too much), and then throw on lotsa parmesan.

Cover the whole thing in aluminum foil, and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10 minutes more. It should be all bubbly and brown and delicious looking.

And that's it! Joey ended up recovering in time to help me fry some of the eggplant, which it would have taken hours for me to do on my own. This dish is not difficult to make, but it's way easier if you have a few helpers. Also, you can halve this menu and make it in a smaller pan if you're not serving 10 people like we were. And I guess you don't HAVE to use Mama Vallese's Vegetable Sauce, but the quality of sauce can make or break this dish, so if you're going to buy one, spring for the fancy gourmet stuff.

Here is what our beautiful table looked like in Irma's beautiful apartment in Los Feliz ("The Happiness"--what a nice name for a hood!):

And here is all of us, so psyched to finally eat that parm!

I Made Vegan Lasagna!

2011-01-11T19:53:00.004-05:00

Hi, again! Continuing my month of home cooking, I made vegan lasagna! I got the recipe from a friend going to culinary school at the Natural Gourmet Institute, and it's pretty damn good. I've shared a batch with my carnivore parents and brother (I'm vegan, if you haven't noticed), and they didn't realize that the "ricotta" was actually tofu!

Sorry, too lazy to plate and take a proper picture this time!

1 box of lasagna noodles
9 x 13" pan

Prepare lasagna noodles as directed on the box. Once they're done, drain and lay them on aluminum foil or parchment paper so they won't stock together. Preheat oven to 375F.

1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large can pureed tomato
spices to taste (basil, cayenne, etc.)

The tomato sauce part of the recipe is really up to you! The way I usually do sauces is very simple: just sautée finely chopped onions and minced garlic in olive oil, add pureed tomato, add some sugar to taste, add spices to taste (this time, I used cayenne (the noodles and "ricotta" balanced out a pretty spicy sauce), cumin, coriander, sage, basil). I let this simmer on a very low flame while I prepare the "ricotta."

2 pounds firm tofu, pressed (squeezed)
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
4 garlic cloves
2 tsp miso (you can replace with 1 tsp peanut butter and soy sauce, or with tahini and little soy sauce)
fresh rosemary finely chopped or whatever herbs you like (basil)

Put tofu, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic, miso, and herbs into a food processor and mix until tofu is smooth with a slight granular texture. The flavoring of the tofu "ricotta" is up to you as well. I had a mood for rosemary the last time I made this, so I was very generous with that herb.

Assemble the lasagna layers. In a 9 x 13" pan, place a layer of sauce, then noodles (I fit three noodles per layer), then thin layer of sauce (just enough to cover the noodles), then a layer of "ricotta", then noodles, then sauce, then "ricotta", and so on. The top layer should be noodles covered by sauce. I've been trying to eat more "naturally" lately (since it's not that great to eat Tofurky, Tofutti, and vegan substitutes all the time), so instead of having a layer of vegan cheese (like Daiya), I just had a generous layer of sauce. Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes, until hot (check your baking frequently!).

The lasagna seems to taste better after being refrigerated overnight... The portions mentioned above are definitely A LOT and enough for a few days of lunches and dinners! This is a pretty simple recipe and very adjustable. I thought it was worth sharing because it is an example of an easily veganizable recipe. Bon appétit.

I made roasted corn pudding in acorn squash!

2011-01-08T16:02:00.004-05:00

Yo everyone on the blog!

I made this a while back, but didn't post it. It happens. But this recipe was really good and pretty easy. The hardest part is probably cutting the squash. I actually did not use acorn squash but "carnival squash" - it is the kind that looks like acorn squash in shape, but instead of being dark green, it has multicolored flecks on the outside. I think they are pretty comparable.

This is the recipe that I used. I basically followed it exactly!

Here is the recipe with some of my notes:

Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash Recipe
Taken from The Vegetarian Compass written by Karen Hubert Allison (via 101 Cookbooks):

(This recipe is for 1 squash, so just increase accordingly if you want to make more.)

1 small (2 lb.) acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeded (or carnival squash)
1 tablespoon clarified butter or olive oil
1 cup milk
1 egg plus 2 egg whites
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (or more if you like)
1/4 teaspoon anise seed, chopped (I omitted - don't like anise. I used some cayenne instead.)
1/2 cup chopped scallions
a tiny pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup grated white cheddar cheese

(You may end up with extra filling that doesn't fit in the squash. If so, you can put it in some buttered muffin tins or ramekins and bake it along with the squash - I did! It was good.)

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees with a rack in the middle.

Rub the orange flesh of the squash with the butter/oil. Place cut side up on a baking sheet. You will want it to sit flat (and not tip), if you are having trouble just level out the bottom using a knife. If the squash is tilting on the pan, the filling will run out - bad news. Cover the squash with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until the squash starts to get tender.

In a bowl combine the milk, eggs, corn, anise seed, half of the scallions, nutmeg, and salt. Fill each of the squash bowls 3/4 full (see head notes about using leftovers). Carefully transfer the squash back to the oven without spilling (tricky!).

Continue baking uncovered for another 30 - 50 minutes, or until the squash is fully cooked through, and the pudding has set. The amount of time it takes can vary wildly depending on the squash and oven. At the last minute sprinkle with cheese and finish with a flash under the broiler to brown the cheese. (I didn't use the broiler for this part, just used the regular oven.) Keep and eye on things, you can go from melted cheese to burnt and inedible in a flash. Serve hot sprinkled with the remaining scallions.

Serves 4 - 6.

I made fettuccine with Brussels sprouts and pine nuts

2011-01-08T12:00:00.000-05:00

I have noticed that my cravings in winter are very specific and very constant. Last year it was butternut squash, and I put it in everything--soups, chilis, pastas, risottos, etc. This year I can't get enough Brussels sprouts.

This pic doesn't really do it justice, but this dish is extremely delicious. It's a great thing to make when you come home from a long day of being in the gross city slush and just want something quick and easy and comforting and warm that you can eat in a bowl while watching some sweet episodes, you know?

Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts

Ingredients

3/4 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed
1/2 pound dried egg fettuccine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
I added a whole lotta lemon juice

Slice Brussels sprouts in a food processor fitted with slicing disk.

Cook fettuccine in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat butter and oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook pine nuts, stirring, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add Brussels sprouts, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, then sauté over medium-high heat until tender and lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta and add to skillet, tossing with enough reserved water to moisten.

I Made a Chickpea-Quinoa Pilaf!

2011-01-07T17:02:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year! It's been a while. A few minutes ago, as I was eating my leftover chickpea-quinoa pilaf from yesterday, I realized that this recipe was both simple and delicious so I thought I should share. Incidentally, I trying not to eat out that much this month since I just bought tickets to a cruise, so I'm planning on tons of cooking... Anyway, I had some quinoa lying around, and after looking through Veganomicon, I realized that I had everything I needed to make this hearty, protein-packed chickpea-quinoa pilaf (p.115-116):

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped finely (around 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced

In a small stock pot over medium heat, saute the onions in olive oil for about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed (I just used coriander??)
Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Add the tomato paste, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and salt; saute for another minute. (I added some cherry tomatoes from my garden, the last batch from summer...)

1 cup quinoa

Add the quinoa and saute for 2 minutes.

2 cups cooked for 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth or reconstituted bouillon

Add the chickpeas and broth; cover and bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, lower the heat to very low, and cook for 18 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water; stirr occasionally. Fluff with a fork and serve.

We made Sweet Potato Gnocchi

2010-12-24T14:39:00.004-05:00

Yo guys. It's been a while, we know. But a lot of cooking has been going down since October (!), it's just been a busy busy fall, so our poor blog has been neglected. Hope everyone is having a very nice Christmas Eve right now. At this very moment, I am watching a DVD of a 1978 Bruce Springsteen concert with my dad and bro and drinking some Silk Nog.

Alena, Nat and I made this dish back in early November, and it was so good Alena ended up making it again for her family as a Thanksgiving side dish.

It's really way easier than it looks, just a little time consuming. It's the kind of thing that works best with a couple roommates to make the gnocchis in an assembly line. But it is FREAKING DELICIOUS and healthier and more flavorful than regular potato gnocchi.

We only followed this recipes for the gnocchis themselves. Instead of the sage butter, we made a simple white wine/arugula/garlic/parmesan sauce. (Sautee some garlic and red pepper in olive oil, add a lotta wine, let it reduce a little, then add the arugula, cook for a couple minutes until wilted, then sprinkle in maybe 1/3 c parm, stirring briskly so the sauce gets a creamy texture.)

BUT Alena made the sage butter for Thanksgiving and said it was also great.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage

2 1-pound red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), rinsed, patted dry, pierced all over with fork
1 12-ounce container fresh ricotta cheese, drained in sieve 2 hours 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 3/4 cups (about) all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage plus whole leaves for garnish

Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place sweet potatoes on plate; microwave on high until tender, about 5 minutes per side. Cut in half and cool. Scrape sweet potato flesh into medium bowl and mash; transfer 3 cups to large bowl. Add ricotta cheese; blend well. Add Parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and nutmeg; mash to blend. Mix in flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto floured surface; divide into 6 equal pieces. Rolling between palms and floured work surface, form each piece into 20-inch-long rope (about 1 inch in diameter), sprinkling with flour as needed if sticky. Cut each rope into 20 pieces. Roll each piece over tines of fork to indent. Transfer to baking sheet.

Bring large pot of water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt and return to boil. Working in batches, boil gnocchi until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer gnocchi to clean rimmed baking sheet. Cool completely. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Preheat oven to 300°F. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until butter solids are brown and have toasty aroma, swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add chopped sage (mixture will bubble up). Turn off heat. Season sage butter generously with salt and pepper.

Transfer half of sage butter to large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add half of gnocchi. Sauté until gnocchi are heated through, about 6 minutes. Empty skillet onto rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining sage butter and gnocchi.

Divide gnocchi and sauce among shallow bowls. Garnish with sage leaves.

I made wild mushroom pizza with caramelized onions, fontina and rosemary

2010-10-05T23:08:00.012-04:00

Yo. This pizza was the bomb.

We followed the recipe pretty exactly, except we used way less butter and made one big pizza with our store-bought whole wheat crust instead of a few little ones with homemade dough. (This kind of messed up the proportions, and our pizza was PILED WITH SHROOMS. But you can never have too many shrooms, in my humble opin.) Also discovered that fontina cheese is so freaking good on pizza! Gotta do that more often.

Wild Mushroom Pizza with Carmalized Onions, Fontina and Rosemary

Ingredients

7 tablespoons butter, divided (You don't really need this much. Used a spoonful of Earth Balance combined with olive oil for the onions and the mushrooms.)
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil (Skipped this.)
3 onions, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise (about 6 cups)
2 pounds assorted wild mushrooms (such as crimini, oyster, chanterelle, and stemmed shiitake), cut into bite-size pieces
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons minced shallot (about 1 medium)
2 cups dry white wine
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

Pizza Dough (If you are less lazy than me)

Cornmeal (for dusting)

Garlic oil

3 cups grated Fontina cheese (about 10 ounces)

Preparation

Melt 3 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until golden, about 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter with 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil in another heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, and shallot. Sauté 4 minutes. Add wine and simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently, about 13 minutes. Add rosemary; season with salt and pepper.

Position rack in bottom third of oven. Place heavy 17x11-inch baking sheet on rack (invert if rimmed). Preheat oven to 500°F at least 30 minutes before baking. Roll out 2 dough disks on lightly floured surface to 8-inch rounds, allowing dough to rest a few minutes if it springs back. Sprinkle another baking sheet (invert if rimmed) with cornmeal. Transfer 1 dough round to second baking sheet. Lightly brush dough with garlic oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Scatter 2 1/2 tablespoons onions over cheese. Scatter 1/2 cup mushrooms over onions. Sprinkle with salt.

Position baking sheet with pizza at far edge of 1 side of hot baking sheet. Tilt sheet and pull back slowly, allowing pizza to slide onto hot sheet. Repeat with second dough disk, garlic oil, cheese, onions, mushrooms, and salt, and slide second pizza onto second half of hot baking sheet. Bake pizzas 6 minutes. Rotate pizzas half a turn. Bake until crust is deep brown, about 6 minutes longer. Using large spatula, carefully transfer pizzas to cutting board. Let rest 1 minute. Slice into wedges and serve. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

I made harira, the traditional soup of Morocco

2010-10-05T22:49:00.009-04:00

One of my favorite Middle Eastern restaurants, Bedouin Tent in Beorum Hill, serves this kind of soup--a hearty, tomato based soup with lentils and chickpeas and a complex, savory but cinnamon-y flavor. As the weather's gotten colder, I've been in the mood to make soups and thought this was a good one to start the season.

I did some research and looked at a bunch of recipes on the web. I learned that in Morocco, this soup is eaten for Iftar, the nightly traditional meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan. It's thickened with tadouira--a mixture of tomato paste, flour and cilantro. There are many variations--some include chicken, some lamb. The kind I'd had at Bedouin Tent was veggie, so I knew they had to be out there. Finally I found a few versions which were mainly lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, spices and vermicelli. And who doesn't like some noodles in their soup? I settled on this recipe and followed it pretty exactly.

I am being completely honest with you all here: THIS WAS THE BEST SOUP EVER. Seriously guys. You will want to eat this soup ALL THE TIME. It's hearty and filling and noodle-y and tomato-y and lemony and cinnamon/spicy. One bite and you will be like, "Fall and winter: BRING IT ON."

Harira Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients

Harira

1/2 cup green lentils
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 cinnamon stick
1 15-oz. can chopped tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
2 cups vegetable broth
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup vermicelli
Lemon wedges, for garnish

Tadouira

2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. tomato paste

Directions

To make Harira: Cook lentils in pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes. Drain. (I did this but still don't understand why it was necesssary.)
Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion, parsley, cilantro, ginger, and cinnamon; sauté 5 minutes, or until onion is soft. Stir in tomatoes, and sauté 5 minutes more.
Stir in broth, chickpeas, lentils, reserved tomato liquid, and 3 cups water. Season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 45 minutes, or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.
To make Tadouira: Whisk flour with 1 cup water in bowl. Whisk in cilantro, lemon juice, and tomato paste. Stir Tadouira and vermicelli into Harira, and cook 3 minutes, or until noodles are soft. Serve with lemon wedges.

Okra and Chickpea Stew and my New Kitchen!

2010-09-30T00:27:00.005-04:00

Guess what? I moved to San Francisco!

I live in the Haight, home of the Summer of Love and the Upper Haight Farmers' Market.

Here is the kitchen:
So I went to the farmers' market and bought some okra. Why not? I thought, this will give me a reason to look up a recipe for okra.

But smitten kitchen didn't have one.

And our blog didn't have one.

So I tried TasteSpotting, and I found this Okra and Chickpea Stew Recipe on a blog called Roti N Rice.

I didn't have a bunch of stuff in the recipe, so I'll note below what I substituted / skipped.

Okra and Chickpea Stew
12 oz okra, trimmed
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I didn't bother rinsing or draining)
4 oz roasted lamb, cubed (I didn't have any lamb - omitted)
2 tomatoes, cubed (I had about 1 cup of cherry tomatoes)
2 tbsp tomato paste (didn't have any - omitted)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ tsp tumeric (didn't have any, so I used a combination of: garam masala, cumin, and chili powder)
2 tbsp olive oil
1½ cups water (didn't use any -- used the water from the chickpeas instead)

salt and pepper to taste In a heated pan, add 2 tsp olive oil. Sauté onions and garlic until soft. Add lamb, pepper, and tumeric. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add chickpeas and water. Bring to a boil. Add okra, reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove and serve immediately with basmati rice.

even with all the omissions / substitutions, the recipe came out really good!

yeah!!!

we ate it with a kale salad with pluot and pepperjack cheese.

it's like you're there!

We made quinoa gratin with spinach and sweet potato

2010-09-26T14:18:00.010-04:00

I saw this recipe a couple years ago in The New York Times. Except it didn't have sweet potatoes--just a simple quinoa, spinach, gruyere casserole that would make a good side dish. And then last week, Joey and Lauren were coming over for dinner on a gross, rainy day, and I wanted to make something warm and comforting. I thought of this recipe, and decided to add sweet potatoes in order to make it more of a main dish. It worked beautifully! In fact, I think it's a format you can use to make a lot of different quinoa-based casseroles. Quinoa+cheese+vegetable+some kind of spice or herb or something else to flavor it. Like, can you imagine this baby with BUTTERNUT SQUASH? and KALE or CHARD instead of spinach? And maybe some GOAT CHEESE?? Or what about EGGPLANT and some MOZZERELLA?!?!? The possibilities are endless.

Quinoa Gratin with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes (adapted from Baked Quinoa with Spinach and Cheese)

Ingredients

1 6-ounce bag baby spinach

A few tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 or 5 sweet potatoes, skinned and sliced into medallions or half medallions, depending on the size

1 medium onion, chopped

2 plump garlic cloves, minced

4 cups cooked quinoa, (1 cup uncooked)

2 large eggs

3 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (3/4 cup)

1 teaspoons nutmeg

1 ounce Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup)

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Oil a 2-quart gratin or baking dish.

2. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan or a wide saucepan over medium heat. Sautee the sweet potatoes slowly until tender enough that you can easily break the pieces with a wooden spoon. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. Heat a little more olive oil ithe pan, and add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir with the onion until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach and season with salt and pepper. Cook just until wilted. Remove from the heat.

4. Beat the eggs in a large bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in the quinoa, the onion and spinach mixture, the sweet potatoes the Gruyère, and the nutmeg. Add freshly ground pepper and stir the mixture together. Scrape into the gratin dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Place in the oven and bake until nicely browned on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to sit for about 5 minutes, and serve.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

I made blueberry muffins!

2010-09-14T23:30:00.015-04:00

Long time no post! Hi from sunny Austin, Texas everyone. Lately I've been cooking more (this is mostly inspired by my addiction to this season of Top Chef) and I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I'm not a great cook. What I am pretty good at is baking, so I'm having fun with that these days.

Recently I stumbled upon the blog Smitten Kitchen. Her recipe for perfect blueberry muffins really caught my eye so after another unsuccessful night of trying to cook an original and delicious dinner (sorry, husband), I opted to make dessert. Below is a slightly tweaked version (aka I didn't add lemon zest because I personally don't like it and I don't have a sifter so that didn't happen either but you can see the original here).

PERFECT BLUEBERRY MUFFINS! (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into batter. Mix just until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough might be thick so Smitten Kitchen lady suggests an ice cream scoop tool to fill your muffin cups [note: I didn't need one. A spoon was fine]. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more, so you might only need 9 instead of 10 cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean.

The end result is beautiful, delicious and pretty dang perfect.

I made Paletas de Pepino con Limon y Chile (Cucumber Ice Pops With Lime & Chile)

2010-09-08T15:25:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, during one of those really hot weeks, I got a lame summer cold! My throat really hurt, and I was drinking a lot of hot tea with lemon, honey, and cayenne pepper. The heat+spice felt really good on my throat, but the tea just made me sweaty and more uncomfortable in the nasty summer humidity.

Then I saw a post on the website The Kitchn all about sweet+spicy POPSICLES. The perfect thing to soothe my throat AND cool me off!!!

So I impulse bought some fancy popsicle molds (shaped like rocket ships!!!) and made the recipe below. They are also pretty healthy, which can't hurt when you have a cold! But the point is, you don't NEED to have a cold to enjoy these. They are refreshing, sour, spicy, a little sweet, and of course, nice and cold.

Paleta de Pepino con Limon y Chile (Cucumber Ice Pop With Lime & Chile)

Makes about 5/6 pops

* 2 cucumbers (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded and chopped
* 1 tablespoon sugar - (I used honey because I thought it would taste good too.)
* 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
* 1/2 teaspoon habanero chile powder -- (OR you can totally substitute cayenne pepper, which is what I did. Just add a little (few pinches) at first, and then add more if you want to make it more spicy. Apparently you can find habenero powder at places like Whole Foods.)
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions: In a food processor (or hand blender), pulse all but 1/2 cup of the cucumber until smooth. Strain into a bowl; you should have about 2 cups juice. (I did not strain. It came out fine! But if you want a really uniform texture, go ahead and strain.)

Add the rest of the ingredients and pour about 1/3 cup of mixture into each mold. Freeze for at least 2 hours.

We made zucchini pancakes and ate them while watching Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at Prospect Park!

2010-08-22T19:34:00.008-04:00

Pictured above is my mother holding a giant zucchini she grew in her garden while Alice the Basenji looks on. This zucchini, may it rest in peace, was as thick and almost as long as my arm. (My mom was a little embarassed to have her picture taken with it. "It's obscene!") I knew I had to make something special with it, but I didn't know what. And then Alena reminded me of a post I'd seen on Serious Eats for zucchini pancakes. It was the perfect thing to take with us to the Sharon Jones concert that night.

Zucchini Pancakes

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini (Or one obscenely giant zucchini which probably equaled more than two mediums.)
1/2 medium yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or oregano (We used thyme.)
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest (This really made a big difference! We probably added more than the recipe, and it really added a nice dimension to the flavor.)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed

Procedure

1. Shred the zucchini and onion on the large holes of a box grater or in a food processor with the shredding disk. Place the shredded vegetables in a colander in the sink and sprinkle with the salt. Toss to combine. Let drain for 30 minutes, then pick up by the handful and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Place on a kitchen towel or double layer of paper towels. (We should have taken this step more seriously--ours came out a little mushy, though still delicious.)

2. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, garlic, cheese, herbs, lemon zest, and pepper. Beat well with a fork. Add the drained zucchini mixture and mix together. Sprinkle the flour and baking powder on top and mix with a fork just until well combined.

3. Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a wide, heavy pan. When the oil is hot, drop the batter into the pan by heaping tablespoonful. Cook for about three minutes on the first side, until nicely browned. Flip and cook for about two minutes more. Place the cooked pancakes on a paper towel-lined plate and repeat with the remaining oil and batter. Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, sour cream, tzatziki or applesauce.

We decided to go with tzatziki because my parents had also recently given me packet of tzatziki mix they brought back from their trip to Greece.

The mix really made a difference. Tzatziki is so often too bland. We just added yogurt, lemon, a little olive oil, and some chopped up cucumber. It was perfect on the pancakes!

Here are Lauren, Alena and Keelin enjoying our picnic at the concert:

Click here for a youtube vid from the concert! Sharon Jones is my hero.

I made Gnudi w/ onion, sausage, wilted arugula + toasted walnuts!

2010-08-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

So back in May, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! I told them I would like to cook them dinner as an anniversary gift, but then we could never find a date that worked until the very end of July. But, finally, the day came around and I tried to figure out what to make.

All I knew was that I wanted to make something summery, and simple - but impressive. After looking at a few recipes, I decided to make GNUDI, the potato-less, lighter cousin of gnocchi. Even though I was a bit apprehensive about making something for the first time for such an important occasion (what if it comes out wrong??) I decided to just go for it.

Turns out, it was really not all that hard!! Phew. Here is what you need:

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Unsalted butter
1 bunch tarragon (I also think other herbs like basil, sage, rosemary, etc. would work.)
1 lemon
1 small white onion
1 egg
¾ lb fresh ricotta cheese
¼ lb freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
1/3 cup semolina flour
1 tbls all purpose flour
small bag whole, shelled walnuts
a bunch of baby arugula
sausage of your choice (optional) - I used D'artagnan brand chicken sausage with truffles - fancy! -(Mushrooms would be a good vegetarian alternative in this recipe.)
homemade or store-bought vegetable stock for poaching the gnudi (optional) - I just used water.

Make the Gnudi Mixture

In a small mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, one tablespoon chopped tarragon, egg, Parmigiano, half of the flour and the tbls of all-purpose flour. Using a wooden spoon, mix until the ingredients are well combined. Salt and pepper to taste.

Place the remaining flour in a shallow bowl. Using floured hands, pinch about a tablespoon worth of mixture and form into a little football shape. Dredge each through the flour in the bowl and onto a baking sheet. Continue this until you’ve made as many gnocchi shaped pieces as you can. You can either immediately poach them or cover with foil and refrigerate for up to a few hours.

(The lemon in the photo gives you an idea of the size of these.)

Poach the Gnudi

Bring either stock or plain water to a simmer (not boil). Take out the gnudi and drop 5 or so into the pot for about 2 minutes, or until they rise to the top of the liquid. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a clean flat baking sheet. Do this for all of the gnudi, being gentle and taking care not to break them as they can be delicate. Refrigerate for up to a day, or let rest for about a half hour before finishing the dish.

Make the toppings

Roughly chop the walnuts and toast them, either in a pan or an oven. Watch them closely so they do not burn! Sautee the onion in some butter or oil slowly in a large pan until translucent. Season with salt and pepper and some lemon juice. Chop and add sausage (or mushrooms) if using. Sautee until sausage (or mushrooms) are browned. Carefully add the gnudi to the mixture, gently stirring just to incorporate the ingredients and heat the gnudi. They are very delicate ! You don't want to break them. Add the arugula just for a moment, it will wilt quickly.

Plate up the gnudi and season with some more grated Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

I served this with a kale salad with mint and lime dressing and some baby heirloom tomatoes that I marinated in oil, garlic and salt + pepper.

For dessert I made a fruit salad with multi-colored plums, blueberries, and marinated it for a few hours with some honey, lime juice and chopped mint. We had it with vanilla ice cream!

Man, it was a pretty awesome summer dinner!! Happy anniversary to my parents.

We made eggplant parmesan rolls with swiss chard and mint!

2010-08-16T16:40:00.011-04:00

The other day, Hillary and Faryl came over for dinner. Alena and I decided it was finally time to make a recipe I had noticed on epicurious and emailed to her a long, long time ago, especially since eggplant and swiss chard are now in abundance, AND Alena happened to have some fancy ricotta cheese left over from making gnutti for her parents (girl when you gonna post that?).

Well, it was a complete success. This is a delicious, lighter, summerier alternative to eggplant parm or traditional eggplant rollatini. The eggplant is broiled instead of fried, the Swiss chard adds some green, and the fresh mint gives it a nice kick.

Eggplant Parmesan Rolls with Swiss Chard and Mint

Ingredients

2 medium eggplants (about 2 1/4 pounds total), trimmed, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Coarse kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 1-pound bunch Swiss chard, center ribs removed
2 large eggs
1 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 15- to 16-ounce can tomato sauce
1 8-ounce ball fresh water-packed mozzarella,* drained, thinly sliced

Cover bottom and sides of each of 2 large colanders with 1 layer of eggplant slices; sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Continue layering eggplant slices in each colander, sprinkling each layer with coarse salt, until all eggplant slices are used. Place each colander over large bowl; let stand at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. (We just laid them out on paper towels, which worked fine.) Rinse eggplant slices to remove excess salt; dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Position oven rack 5 to 6 inches from heat source and preheat broiler. Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on prepared baking sheets. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil. Broil 1 sheet at a time until eggplant slices are tender and beginning to brown, watching closely and removing eggplant slices as needed if cooking too quickly, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove baking sheet from oven and cool eggplant while preparing filling.

This was our first time using our oven's broiler!

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add chard to pot and boil just until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water. Squeeze chard very dry, then chop coarsely. Squeeze chard dry again between paper towels. Whisk eggs and pinch of coarse salt in medium bowl. Stir in chopped chard, ricotta cheese, 1 cup Parmesan, mint, and black pepper.

Lightly oil 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread half of tomato sauce evenly over bottom of dish. Divide chard-ricotta filling among eggplant slices, placing about 1 heaping tablespoon filling in center of each. Starting at 1 short end of each, loosely roll up eggplant slices, enclosing filling. Arrange rolls, seam side down, atop sauce in baking dish. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over. Place mozzarella slices in single layer over rolls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with foil and chill.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake eggplant Parmesan rolls, covered with foil, until heated through, about 30 minutes if freshly made or 40 minutes if refrigerated. Uncover and bake until brown in spots and sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Here is us chilling on the fire escape while the eggplant baked:

And here is an aerial view of our meal. It looks like Hill's arm is moving SO FAST!!!

YUM.

I made ratatouille--spicy, hot herby.

2010-07-28T00:26:00.009-04:00

I tried making ratatouille about a year ago, and I wasn't crazy about it. I have realized two things since then: 1. I don't like fennel. Maybe in small doses, but that recipe was very fennely. 2. The kind of ratatouille I have been craving is the more Mediterranean variety I had when I was in Spain, which is more SPICY and less HERBY, which I guess is more French.

ANYWAY, The Moosewood Cookbook has both herby and spicy options, and I chose the latter. SUCCESS! It was everything I've ever wanted ratatouille to be! So delicious! And a great way to use summer veggies!

Moosewood Ratatouille

3 T olive oil
4 medium cloves garlic
2 c chopped onion
1 medium eggplant, cubed
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t basil
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t cumin
2 t chili powder
cayenne to taste
1 c pitted, oil-cured olives (I used Kalamata)
1 medium zucchini, cubed
2 medium bell peppers, in strips
fresh black pepper
1 14oz can tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
freshly minced parsley
juice of one lemon

1. Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. (I used two skillets: garlic, onion and eggplant in one, zucchini and pepper in the other. You want there to be enough surface area so all the veggies can saute evenly.) Add garlic and onion and saute over medium heat for about five minutes.

2. Add eggplant, salt, spices and herbs, and stir. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes or until eggplant is soft.

3. Add zucchini, bell pepper, black pepper, and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about ten more minutes, or until zucchini and bell peppers are tender. (I browned the zucchini and peppers, then combined with the eggplant, then added the tomatoes.)

I recommend serving over couscous!

I made quinoa, corn and edamame salad

2010-07-27T23:50:00.008-04:00

Got this recipe from NY Times Recipes for Health. Delicious. Refreshing. Nutritious. Takes about two secs to make. Bring it to a picnic!

Quinoa, Corn and Edamame Salad

For the salad:

1 cup quinoa, cooked

2 ears sweet corn (I used canned. So sue me.)

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 red bell pepper, cut in small dice

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery, from the tender inner stalks

4 or 5 radishes, sliced

1/2 cup fresh or thawed frozen edamame (This is the trick to dealing with frozen edamame: it really only needs to thaw, not cook. No matter what the directions say on the package, put it in boiling water for one, maybe two minutes and that's IT. Otherwise they get mushy. Then salt them separately. They need salt. And lime juice is great if you're eating them by themselves.)

2 ounces feta, cut in small dice, optional (who ever opts out of cheese?)

1 jalapeño or serrano chile, minced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

I added one avocado, cubed

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 garlic clove (more to taste), finely minced or pureed

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

1. Cut the corn kernels away from the cobs. Discard the cobs (or use for stock), and place the kernels in a steamer above 1 inch of boiling water. Cover and steam for four minutes. Remove from the heat, rinse with cold water and drain.

2. Soak the onion in cold water to cover for five minutes. Drain, rinse and drain on paper towels.

3. Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and toss with the salad. Serve.

Serves four to six.

I made Summer Borscht in honor of my move to Greenpoint

2010-07-27T17:33:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I see recipes on various websites and blogs that sound delicious, so I copy and paste them into an email, and send it to myself. Then I file them in a folder in my email entitled "RECIPES". The problem is, I sometimes forget to click on that folder when I am in the mood to cook something.

That is what happened with this recipe, which I originally saw on the blog Not Eating Out in New York. I emailed it to myself almost a year ago (October 13, 2009 to be exact) and only just thought of it and made it the other week.

As Laura mentioned, it has been HOT in NYC and this is a nice, chilled soup which only requires a tiny bit of stove time to make.

This was also the first real meal that I cooked in my new apartment in Greenpoint, and while I was making it, I realized how funny that my first cooking endeavor there would be borscht, since Greenpoint is a largely Polish neighborhood full of restaurants serving lots and lots of bowls of the famous soup. I think there was something subliminal going on here.

So this is the recipe, with my notes!

Jui Shih’s Summer Borscht
(makes about 6-8 servings)

about 5 medium-sized beets, boiled or roasted until tender, peeled and diced *I boiled the beets, which was nice and easy. You could also do this ahead of time if you want, because it is really the only time consuming element of the dish.
about 2 English cucumbers, diced - I used cucumbers that I bought at the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint too!! A very Greenpoint meal.
about 3-4 medium tomatoes, diced
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth (chilled or room temperature)
2 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or more to taste)
1 small bunch fresh dill, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
fresh lemon juice and zest to taste (optional) - I went for it.
chopped scallions or chives for garnish (optional) - I omitted.
sour cream to garnish (optional) - Omitted.

Reserve any juices from the beets, tomatoes and cucumbers while chopping and combine them in a large pot or bowl with the broth and yogurt. Add the vinegar, dill, a pinch of salt and pepper, and taste. Sugar can be added to cut the acidity as well, to taste. Add optional lemon juice and anything else to taste. Top each bowl with optional garnishes of chopped scallions or chives, extra dill, and/or a scoop of sour cream.

*I also used the hand blender a bit to make the soup a little thicker. I only blended it until the pieces of vegetable were a bit smaller and some had been pureed. I think the soup benefits from the texture of the crunchy veggies, so don't go overboard if you take this advice!*

I made Beet Carpaccio and Pappardelle with Zucchini Ribbons!

2010-07-26T09:23:00.006-04:00

It is hot! If you live in New York, this is not news, but I still can’t get over it. Food-wise this means I’ve been desperately trying to avoid using the stove while still making use of all the beautiful produce that’s around/feeding myself. Here are two recipes, one that doesn’t use the stove at ALL and one which does, but not for a crazy amount of time.

The beet carpaccio recipe is from Epicurious and it actually calls for roasted beets, which I’m sure would be delicious, but which isn’t going to happen in my kitchen until it’s cooler. I ignored the roasted part and used the beets raw and it was delicious! Also, the dressing for this is ridiculously good and could be good on many other things. My notes in bold!

12 2-inch beets, trimmed

1 cup crumbled soft fresh goat cheese (about 5 ounces)
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup walnut oil or olive oil (I used olive oil)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (I only used one teaspoon)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place beets on sheet (if using both light- and dark-colored beets, place them on separate sheets to prevent discoloration). Sprinkle beets lightly with water. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until beets are tender when pierced with fork, about 40 minutes. Cool on sheet. Peel beets. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Place in resealable plastic bag; chill.) (I skipped this step and just peeled the beets and used a mandoline on the smallest setting to slice them thinly)
Using cheese slicer or knife, slice beets very thinly. Slightly overlap slices on 6 plates, dividing equally. Sprinkle with cheese, then shallot, salt, and pepper. Whisk vinegar, mint, oil, and sugar in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over beets. Sprinkle with chives.

The next day, we had leftover dressing and I decided to incorporate it into this other “low-cook” recipe from the blog Cooking Books (http://cooking-books.blogspot.com/) which I ran across on the Serious Eats Photograzing section.

Pappardelle with Zucchini Ribbons

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Enough olive oil to suit your taste and coat the pasta

Whisk all of these together and set aside. (I skipped this whole above piece and used the leftover dressing from the beets, but I’m sure this is excellent as well!)

For the pasta and zucchini:
1 package pappardelle pasta
1 tomato chopped (I put in cherry tomatoes cause big tomatoes aren’t *quite* in season here)
2 zucchinis, peeled into ribbons using a vegetable peeler (I had one big one -- all good!)
I added some quickly sauteed spinach and garlic, and threw some cubes of fresh mozzarella on top. Goat cheese would also be good, I bet.

Cook the pappardelle pasta according to package directions, and combine with the tomato and the zucchini ribbons. Toss with the vinaigrette while the pasta is still warm. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

I made granola and reminisced about Minneapolis

2010-07-25T23:57:00.007-04:00

I realize we already have a granola recipe here, but you can never have too many granola recipes, right?

So I visited my friend Leah last week in Minneapolis, and it was a perfect midwest mini-vacation. Leah is an amazing host, and one of the highlights of the trip was eating her homemade granola with yogurt and white nectarines (why can't I find good nectarines here??) every morning.

Another culinary highlight of the trip was the Juicy Lucy (sometimes spelled Jucy Lucy), which is a cheeseburger with the cheese in the middle of the burger. Maybe sometime I will try to make those. (The photo of Leah above was taken in the oddly-oriented restroom of Matt's, the bar in Minneapolis where Jucy Lucys were invented. Or weren't. Check wikipedia, I guess.)

Another culinary highlight of the trip was this drink: Jameson whiskey and R.W. Knundsen's Simply Nutritious Lemon Ginger Echinacea juice.

But back to the granola! I was thinking of calling Leah to ask her how she made it, but I didn't want to wake her up (why am I making granola at midnight?). I think she said she used Smitten Kitchen's recipe? So this is an adaptation of that.

Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut chips
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup chopped almonds
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
cinnamon
salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried figs, chopped (man, I could take pictures of figs all day)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375. Line a shallow baking pan with parchment paper. Shoo the cat away from the ingredients.

Mix together all the ingredients except the dried fruit, and spread mixture evenly on the baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes, checking on it and stirring it a couple times. Add dried fruit, and bake for 5 more minutes.

Remove from pan and cool. And, oops, pick out the burnt bits. Next time, readjust oven temperature / baking time.

And this I learned from Leah, as well as from Smitten Kitchen: keep the granola in the freezer! It will stay crispy forever that way.

Hey you want some granola? Sounds good, let's have some when we go back inside.

I made Caesar salad with grilled salmon! (well, Joey grilled the salmon.)

2010-07-15T18:49:00.002-04:00

I made this to celebrate Alena's first official night as a resident of my apartment! I looked at a bunch of recipes and eventually improvised based on my research:

First I made some croutons. Cut some peasant bread into cubes and coated in olive oil, garlic powder, salt and paprika. Baked on 350 for 10 minutes.

Then I made the dressing, by putting the following things in a blender.

1 egg. That's right, a raw egg. You can coddle it by cooking for 45 seconds, but I decided coddling is for pansies. Raw eggs don't scare me.
4 anchovies, minced
1/2 cup grated parm
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 garlic clove
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 generous tsp dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
a little s&p.

Then I blended that shit.

Joey grilled the salmon on a griddle. It seemed pretty simple: just some olive oil, s&p, slapped it on the griddle a few minutes on each side.

Then we threw some chopped romaine in a bowl, along with the grilled salmon, which was cut into chunks and the croutons. Tossed it with the dressing. Garnished with some more parm. Boom.

P.S. Here is a video I made while I was cooking.

JUST KIDDING!!!! I found it on youtube and it made me laugh! Especially the music!!! Hahaha. But that is pretty much how you make a Caesar salad.

I Made Edamame Hummus!

2010-07-13T18:24:00.005-04:00

Hey, it's been a while since I've contributed to this blog! I first tried this recipe last fall, when I had a craving for edamame hummus from Teany (90 Rivington St.) but that restaurant (partly owned by Moby) was closed due to a fire or disaster. Also, I didn't want to try the Trader Joe's version, partly because I was too lazy to go downtown and partly because I thought I could do better and cheaper myself. Anyway, I found this recipe from the Food Network. It's pretty good!

Ingredients and Directions
My friend Tina, who is working on a book of vegan baking recipes, introduced me to this format of outlining recipes.

1/2 pound frozen shelled edamame (green soy), about 1 1/2 cups

Boil the beans in salted water for 4 to 5 minutes, or microwave, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes.

1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons), juiced
1 clove garlic, smashed
3/4 teaspooon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander (Err-- I couldn't find this, so I tried sage. Still good.)

In a food processor, puree the edamame, tahini, water, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, cumin, and coriander until smooth.

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

With the motor running, slowly drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and mix until absorbed.

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (Anyone have tips on what to do with tons of leftover parsley?!)

Transfer to a small bowl, stir in the parsley and drizzle with remaining oil. Serve with the suggested vegetables, or refrigerate, covered, up to 1 day.

Lately, I've been eating tons of hummus spread on sourdough bread and toasted til the hummus is crusty. You can, of course, eat this however you eat "regular" hummus.

I made gazpacho just like the kind I had all the time in Spain!

2010-07-03T15:29:00.007-04:00

I spent the summer of 2003 in Granada, Spain, where I became insatiably addicted to two things: olives and gazpacho. It was the summer of that record breaking heat wave in Europe, and I just could not get enough of this simple, nutritious, refreshing soup. Since then, I still eat olives constantly, but I had to go through gazpacho withdrawal--nobody, not even fancy restaurants, makes it like they do in Spain. In the US, it's always more like salsa in a bowl--chunky with lots of other vegetables and heavy on the cilantro and cayenne, which is more Mexican than Spanish. But the real thing is actually a thin, simple, vinagery soup, with a slight salty/sweet bite, sometimes garnished with chopped veggies like cucumber, bell pepper, etc.

A few weeks ago, years after I'd lost hope of ever finding anything resembling the gazpacho I once ate every day for a whole summer, I did a simple search on epicurious and found this recipe for Classic Andalusian Gazpacho, adapted by Gourmet from a famous restaurant in Cadiz, a small city on the Costa del Sol. It looked promising: garlic, soaked bread, tomatoes and SHERRY VINAGER (duh! how could I not have thought of that!) a little cumin (that I would not have guessed), a little sugar, a little salt, a little olive oil.

As soon as I started mixing the ingredients, I knew my gazpacho mania was on its way back, and I think it's here to stay.

Here's the recipe, copied and pasted with comments:

Classic Andalusian Gazpacho

Ingredients

1 (2-inch-long) piece baguette, crust discarded (I used ciabatta)
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar (preferably "reserva"), or to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
2 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered
1/2 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil (preferably Andalusian hojiblanca)
Garnish: finely chopped red and green bell peppers (as you can see in the photo above, I also garnished with chopped avocado, which isn't exactly traditional but whatareyougonnado.)

Soak bread in 1/2 cup water 1 minute, then squeeze dry, discarding soaking water.

Mash garlic to a paste with salt using a mortar and pestle (or mince and mash with a large knife). Blend garlic paste, bread, 2 tablespoons vinegar, sugar, cumin, and half of tomatoes in a food processor (I threw it all in a bowl and used a hand blender.) until tomatoes are very finely chopped. Add remaining tomatoes with motor running and, when very finely chopped, gradually add oil in a slow stream, blending until as smooth as possible, about 1 minute.

Force soup through a sieve into a bowl, pressing firmly on solids. Discard solids. (This is the only tricky part, but totally worth it--in the epicurious comments, some people wrote that they skipped this step but without it, you will have mushy soup that separates from the liquid, instead of smooth perfect deliciousness. So just be patient. Pour it in a little at a time and swish it around in the strainer. My trick has been to use the back of a large serving spoon to spread it around, let it drip through a little, then gather it up into a pile of mushy tomato stuff and press on it.)

Transfer to a glass container and chill, covered, until cold, about 3 hours. Season with salt and vinegar before serving.

Serves about 4.

We made Bittman's braised artichokes

2010-07-01T22:22:00.009-04:00

It's artichoke season, but lately it seems like they've been flying off the racks at grocery stores. I always notice them when I don't need them, but then when I come back, they're gone. Especially after reading Mark Bittman's article on braising artichokes complete with a witty ("it's artiCHOKE not artiSWALLOW!") instructional video, I was intent on finding some artichokes to braise.

When I finally found them, Martha and I decided to make our own witty instructional video, below, as a Bittman homage:

Here's the recipe, copied and pasted. We followed it pretty exactly.

Bittman's Braised Artichokes

Ingredients

4 medium artichokes

4 tablespoons butter ( 1/2 stick)

1 cup chicken stock, or more as needed

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Zest and juice of 1 lemon.

1. Cut each of the artichokes in half; remove the toughest outer leaves, use a spoon to remove the choke, and trim the bottom.

2. Put 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. When it melts and foam subsides, add artichokes, cut side down. Cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add stock (it should come about halfway up the sides of the artichokes), bring to a boil, and cover; turn heat to medium-low. Cook for about 20 minutes or until tender, checking every 5 or 10 minutes to make sure there is enough liquid in the pan, adding more stock as necessary. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and transfer artichokes to serving platter.

3. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to a sauce. Stir in lemon zest and juice and remaining tablespoon butter; taste and adjust seasoning. Serve artichokes drizzled with sauce.

Yield: 4 servings.

Deconstructed Puttanesca with Grape Tomatoes by S&J

2010-06-29T16:39:00.010-04:00

This idea had several inspirations:
1. Lately I have been really into roasting grape tomatoes. It's so easy and I've been adding it to a lot of pasta and quinoa dishes.
2. Have you ever noticed that the Top Chef contestants' favorite thing to do is "decontruct" dishes? Like deconstructed lasagna becomes a couple pieces of flat pasta tossed on plate with some other stuff?
3. The other night I was at Joey's and we were deciding what to make for dinner. We were in the mood for pasta and thought of puttanesca, but worried it would be too heavy a meal to eat in 90 degree city heat.

Thus, the genesis of:
DECONSTRUCTED PUTTANESCA WITH ROASTED GRAPE TOMATOES!!!
a sarah and joey orig

Ingredients
a lot of grape tomatoes. We used about two and a half packages. It will look like a lot, but they cook down when you roast them.
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1 or 2 tablespoons capers (Joey thinks I am caper crazy, but I think you can never have enough...)
6 or 8 anchovy filets
4 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
red pepper
pecorino romano cheese
1 bunch basil, chopped

Roast grape tomatoes at 450 tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until they begin to burst and shrivel and brown a little. About 20 minutes. While that's happening, heat a generous amount of olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic, red pepper, anchovies, capers and olives. Cook for a couple minutes and then add the basil. Cook and for a couple minutes more. It will look like this:

When the tomatoes are ready, they will look like this:

Now just combine all of it with your pasta. We used cappelini--it goes well with a thin, twirlable pasta, but it's up to you.

Sprinkle with cheese and you're DONE. Won't take you more than half an hour for an impressive, delicious result.

We Made Kale Pizza

2010-05-24T15:36:00.008-04:00

A few Saturdays ago Hill and Amy came over and we made pizza. Hill had the great idea to put kale on top!

I know this is my third post in the last month about greens - after the kale salad and collards posts - but hear me out. Kale on a pizza is delicious. I will post about something completely different next time.

Here's what you need:

Ingredients

I bought pizza dough at the pizza place near my house. (One day maybe I will make my own, one day.)
1 large can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 bunch lacinato kale
1 large ball of fresh mozzarella cheese - smoked mozzarella would be great too
grated Parmesan, salt, pepper to taste
olive oil (for kale)
We also used these toppings - fresh tomatoes, chicken red pepper sausage (OPTIONAL)

Preheat your oven to 400-450 degrees.

Form your dough into a flat circle - it should probably seem TOO flat, as it puffs up a bit in the oven. If you have too much, set it aside for pizza #2!
(We formed the dough into two pies - one was large and very flat, and one was a bit thicker and more free form.)

Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the dough, along with some salt and pepper. Slice the mozzarella cheese thinly and layer it on.

If using other toppings like tomatos or sausage, layer it over the cheese. (Although our sausage was pre-cooked, we sauteed it for a few minutes in a pan with some olive oil to get it a bit crispy before layering it on.)

Wash the kale well and remove the thick stems/stalks, leaving only the soft leaves. Chop roughly and toss in a light coat of olive oil and layer over the pizza. It REALLY cooks down in the oven, so don't be stingy, even if the leaves seem to be over flowing from the dough.

Grate some Parmesan cheese and sprinkle salt and pepper over the kale.

Put it in the oven!! Depending on your oven, probably needs to bake for a different amount of time. Keep an eye on it. You want the kale to brown a bit and get crispy, but not burn. It comes out looking like this:

This goes really well with some cold beer.

I know it sounds crazy, but I was so into this crispy kale topping that I ended up making a baked pasta dish later in the week, and instead of topping it with cheese, I topped it with more kale. I baked it and it gave me the same results - crispy and tasty.

I guess the moral of the story is, don't feel weird about putting chopped up kale on top of everything you bake. (OK, almost everything.)

I made David Lebovitz's Polenta cake with Rosemary and Olive Oil!

2010-05-24T10:00:00.004-04:00

I made this cake for Mother's Day and it was a big hit with the family. The recipe is from Serious Eats and when I first read it the idea of using polenta and olive oil in a cake intrigued me (apparently it's intriguing other people too, because I feel like half the cakes I've seen on food blogs recently have had one of those ingredients). Making this cake involved several firsts for me: using the aforementioned new ingredients, breaking in my new mixer, and baking a cake in abundt pan...of silicone! Anyway, it all worked out and this cake is amazing even though the photo is not (I forgot to take a picture until the last piece...).

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 teaspoons plus 4 teaspoons finely minced fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons plus 3/4 cup polenta or stone-ground corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
5 large eggs, at room temperature (yes, this is a lot of eggs, but well worth it!)
2 large egg yolks (Make yourself an egg white sandwich with the leftover whites and feel virtuous!)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used almond extract - it felt fancy)
1 1/3 cups sugar (I ran out of white sugar after about a cup, and used brown for the rest. It seemed to work fine.)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Smear 1 tablespoon butter all over the inside of a 10-cup (2.5-liter) Bundt cake or tube pan. (I had neither, luckily Selena, who lives down the street, lent me her Bundt pan - maybe a regular cake pan would work too if the volume matched?). Sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of rosemary evenly into the pan, then dust with the 2 tablespoons (20 g) of polenta, tilting the pan to coat the sides.

3. To make the cake, in a small bowl, sift together the flour, 3/4 cup (130 g) polenta, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the olive oil, eggs, egg yolks, and almond or vanilla extract.

4. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together 1/2 cup (4 ounces/115 g) butter and the sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly dribble in the egg mixture, a little at a time, until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture along with the 4 teaspoons of rosemary until just incorporated. Don't over mix.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool for about 30 minutes, then invert the cake onto a serving plate. (Mine was done at exactly 40 minutes)

I made quinoa, tuna and white bean salad

2010-05-13T18:36:00.010-04:00

The other day, I came home from a long day of work and class starving. I wanted to make something delicious and comforting and protein packed. I thought to myself, do people ever make quinoa salads with tuna? Is that crazy? I googled "quinoa tuna salad" and found that no, it's not crazy. Lots of recipes exist. But I ended up making one up myself. It's basically your standard tuna white bean salad, but with quinoa.

Salad:
A few handfuls chopped arugula
1 can white/cannolini beans
2 cans good quality tuna packed in olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons capers
handful chopped fresh parsley
1/2 large red onion, or 1 small, chopped finely
whole wheat bread crumbs
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Dressing:
few tablespoons olive oil
few tablespoons red wine vinegar
juice of two lemons
2 garlic cloves, minced

Cook the quinoa. (Combine with water, bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15.) Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir it up.

When the quinoa's cooked and cooled a little, just combine it with all the other ingredients in a big bowl. Except the bread crumbs. Then add the dressing. Stir it up. THEN sprinkle the bread crumbs on top for garnish!

In the future, I might try this with chickpeas or some other kind of firmer bean instead. White beans are soft, and it and it needed something to counter the mushiness of the quinoa. But besides that, it was really delicious! I couldn't stop eating the leftovers cold from the fridge.

I learned: it is NOT crazy to put tuna in your quinoa salad!

I made chana masala

2010-05-13T15:42:00.004-04:00

I'd been meaning to make this since I saw it on Smitten Kitchen months ago. I finally got around to it on a recent chilly Sunday, and it was perfect: pretty easy to make, hearty, and very spicy. This dish, like most Indian food, requires a well-stocked spice cabinet. Other than that the ingredients are pretty inexpensive and easy to find. EXCEPT amchoor powder, which I couldn't find anywhere. But good old Deb says lemon juice is an acceptable replacement.

Chana Masala

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon amchoor powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced) (see note; I used a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Serve over rice. We drizzled the finished product with some raita that Natalie whipped up. It was a nice way to counter the spiciness.

Don't be afraid of collard greens

2010-05-10T10:16:00.005-04:00

Hello.

This is just a short post with a simple recipe for collard greens. They are one of those vegetables that I mistakenly thought could only be prepared with hours of slow cooking. Although this is true for the traditional southern style preparation, I recently found out that there is another, quick and easy way to cook them. I've made them this way a few times now, and I think I will keep on doing it!

Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 pounds collard greens (I think that is one large bunch)
* 2 garlic cloves
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Remove and discard stems and center ribs of collard greens. Cut leaves into 1-inch pieces. In a kettle of boiling water cook collards 15 minutes and drain in a colander, pressing out excess liquid with back of a wooden spoon.

Mince garlic. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat butter and oil over moderately high heat until foam subsides and stir in garlic, collards, and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté collard mixture, stirring, until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Drizzle collards with lemon juice and toss well.

In the photo, I just accompanied my collards with some arborio rice cooked in vegetable broth and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. I also made them with Sarah one night and we had them with some black eyed peas ("hopping john" style). They really go with anything. If you want to eat greens but are sick of spinach or kale or chard etc, give these a shot.

I made Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad (with Meyer Lemon dressing)

2010-05-04T11:49:00.006-04:00

I recently made this salad and brought it to Laura's house to enjoy while celebrating her birthday! I had noticed it on the NY Times writer Kim Severson's website while perusing blogs a few days earlier and it sounded easy to make, healthy, and tasty.

And it was!

Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad

(Kim Severson said: I think I first saw a version of this in Gourmet magazine)

1 bunch of Tuscan (lacinato) kale
1 big shallot, chopped fine (I actually used 1 large clove of garlic, which was good too.)
Juice of a good-sized lemon (preferably Meyer), about 2 tablespoons
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup of olive oil, or more
1 cup ricotta salata, coarsely shredded (might be good with feta cheese too)
(Also: If your dressing tastes too lemony/acidic, like mine did at first, a drop or two of honey will balance it out really well.)

Directions:

1. Trim the leaves of the kale above where the stems become thick. Stack the leaves in a pile, roll them like a cigar, and slice it thin crosswise.

2. Whisk together the shallot, lemon juice, salt, and oil. Go light on salt until you taste the salad. The ricotta can be salty. Taste and add more oil if you like.

3. Toss the dressing with the kale and ricotta salata, taste and adjust seasoning, and serve.

Kim's Note: This is one of the few green salads I know that holds up well in the fridge. It’s great the next day, too.

Serves 4.

I made quinoa with black beans and cilantro

2010-05-03T15:04:00.002-04:00

This is a quick, easy one-pot recipe. Great for a healthy weeknight meal that will leave you enough to bring leftovers to work.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups chopped white onions

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 cup quinoa,* rinsed, drained

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

11/2 cups water (used no-chicken broth instead)

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Crumbled Cotija cheese or feta cheese (optional)

* A grain with a delicate flavor and a texture similar to that of couscous; available at natural foods stores

I added garlic and cayenne

Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and red pepper (and garlic); sauté until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in next 4 ingredients (plus cayenne). Add water; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until quinoa is almost tender, about 14 minutes. Add beans and 1/4 cup cilantro; cook uncovered until heated through and liquid is fully absorbed, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl; sprinkle with 1/4 cup cilantro and cheese, if desired

I served it with some guacamole I whipped up. You can also just throw some avocado chunks into your bowl for garnish.
.

I made (controversial?) Lasagna

2010-04-27T15:39:00.005-04:00

Hi! I have not posted in a while! But I do have some catch up posts to share with everyone soon....

To start off, I thought I would just do a real quick post about something I made this past Sunday.

Lasagna is something that I am positive everyone on this blog has made a billion times, so maybe it is silly to even post a recipe? I am sure everyone has their own favorite recipes and techniques. BUT I added one possibly controversial ingredient to the mix. TOFU. Instead of Ricotta cheese. Lots of folks (vegans) have done this before, but if you read on you will see that my version is NOT vegan! (There is mozzarella cheese.) So don't panic.

My logic was simply:

I love lasagna, but I wanted to make something I could bring to work for lunch that wouldn't be too rich. The tofu makes the dish lighter, and the added protein ensures that I will not fall asleep at my desk after I eat it.

OK here is the recipe.

Veggie Lasagna with Tofu

What you need:

TOMATO SAUCE - Obv. I endorse the recipe Joey posted here. I made a shorthand sauce this time though, with the following:

1 can whole peeled tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste (add to your liking)
garlic, onion, basil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (add to your liking)
Let that simmer as long as you can. (If you want to use pre-made sauce, totally do it. I am not hating on pre-made sauce, it is awesome.)

Lasagna noodles: Of course fresh pasta is the most delicious. I didn't go that route though, and I used the "De Boles" brand, which you boil first before using. I am not a fan of the 'no bake' noodles.

For the filling:
Fresh Mozzarella cheese
Basil
1 package firm tofu
Veggies - I used cremini mushrooms and spinach, two of my faves. Any type of vegetable you want to throw into the mix is fine....peppers, zucchini, carrots, kale.....??

WHAT TO DO:
Get the sauce going first, so it has time to simmer.

Then take your tofu out of the package, and put in on a large plate. Place a layer of plastic wrap on top, and then balance something heavy on top (a heavy book or large bag of flour, etc.) so that you can drain out all the moisture (a la this Tofu Scramble I made). Do this for a few minutes, draining the excess water from the plate periodically, until most of the water seems to be drained from the tofu.

Chop/saute all your veggies with salt+pepper (and more garlic/onion if you like) and set aside.

Crumble the tofu until it is in small "cheese-like" crumbles. In a large bowl, combine with the sauteed vegetables.

Chop up your mozzarella cheese in thin slices.

Then, in a casserole dish, layer some sauce, some noodles, some veggie/tofu mixture, some cheese + basil leaves, more sauce, more noodles, etc. Be liberal with the salt + paper in between layers too- tofu doesn't have salt like ricotta cheese does, so it needs a bit.

Bake, covered in foil, at 375 for about 30 minutes, and then another 10 minutes at 350 degrees, uncovered. (Or a bit more/less - depending on your oven!)

So...there you have it. I hope I have not offended any lasagna purists out there!

The next photo shows how Jed enjoyed a slice for an early dinner the next day:

I made spaghetti with swiss chard and garlic chips

2010-04-20T16:06:00.005-04:00

Found this recipe on smittenkitchen. It came out great. The garlic chips really did look as golden and pretty as in Deb's arsty photo! But it was NOT as easy as she made it out to be. It takes a lot of work to slice all those cloves super thinly. And the recipe calls for two pounds of chard! That's a lotta chard! Three bunches worth at the grocery store. By the time I de-stemmed and de-ribbed every leaf, there was a mountain of shrubbery on my kitchen counter.

BUT, the result was delicious. I recommend this dish if you have a couple sous-chefs to help deal with all that chard and garlic.

Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Garlic Chips
Gourmet, November 2008

Makes 4 to 6 servings

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 head garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise though I am sure crosswise would work as well
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried currants (we skipped this) (so did I--currants just seem weird with the other ingredients)
2 pounds green Swiss chard, stems and center ribs finely chopped and leaves coarsely chopped separately
1/2 cup water
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, cut into slivers
6 ounces feta, crumbled (1 1/2 cups)

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer garlic with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Cook onion in oil remaining in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add currants and cook, stirring, until plumped, about 1 minute.

Stir chard stems into onion mixture with water and 3/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook, covered, over medium-high heat until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in chard leaves and cook, covered, until stems and leaves are tender, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 5 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water and drain spaghetti.

Toss spaghetti with chard, olives, and 1/2 cup cooking water, adding more cooking water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with feta and garlic chips.

I made asparagus cashew stirfry

2010-03-18T17:33:00.006-04:00

This is a really delicious stirfry with an interesting mix of flavors: basil, mint, hoisin sauce, lime. And it's very healthy. It's in Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking and on her blog. I've made it a few times, but I like this adaptation the best.

Asparagus Cashew Stirfry

toasted sesame oil
8 ounces extra-firm tofu, cut into slices thick as a pencil
4 green onions, thinly sliced
scant 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (peeled)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 a bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
a couple big pinches of fine-grain sea salt
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 big handful of toasted cashews, chopped up a bit
a few handfuls of spinach, or chopped kale, or chopped chard (I left this out. In the past, with all the mint and basil AND kale, it was just too many leaves, youknow?)
zest and juice of one lime
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 small handful fresh mint, slivered
1 small handful fresh basil, slivered

Have all your ingredients prepped and within arms reach of the stove. Heat a splash of sesame oil in a large pan, or well-seasoned wok over medium high heat. Alternately, you can do this in a dry non-stick pan - one of the few occasions I still use non-stick. When it is hot, add the tofu, and cook until golden - a few minutes. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside. (I cooked the tofu with garlic, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, and some soy sauce.)

Add another (generous) splash of oil to the pan and, as soon as it is hot, add the onions, ginger, red pepper flakes, asparagus, and salt. Stir fry for about a minute, then add the garlic, cashews, and spinach and stir-fry for another minute, or until the spinach wilts. Return the tofu to the pan. Stir in the lime zest and juice and the hoisin sauce. Cook for another 10-20 seconds, stirring all the while.

Remove from heat and stir in the mint and basil. Taste and add a bit more salt if needed.

I served it over whole wheat lo mein noodles, which was delish. Brown rice udon would also be good. I think soba would get too mushy. I also topped it with some chopped scallions.

Serves 2-4 (main/side)

I made some Qrazy Quinoa!!!

2010-03-18T17:01:00.005-04:00

This is a dish I made up. I was in the mood for something hearty and healthy, so I conceived of the most hearty and healthy and delicious dish ever made: a cornucopia or roasted veggies, superfoods, carmelized onions and leafy greens coated in delicious pesto.

Qrazy Quinoa, an SG orig

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash
2 cups quinoa
1 bunch kale
1 red onion
1 can corn
1 cup pesto (click the link to see how I make it. You can always buy some, but it's so easy to make yourself and tastes much better when it's fresh.)
1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
2 large cloves garlic
salt & pep
some olive oil
grated parm
crushed red pep

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and then sit down, put on some jams, and deal with your squash. Skin and chop that sucker into 1-inch cubes. This will take about 30 min of good hard physical labor. Then spread out the cubes on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with olive oil, s 'n' p, and pop it in the oven. I didn't pay close attention to time, but I think they roasted for about 30-40 min. You know they're done when they start browning and you can pierce them easily with a fork. About 20 minutes into this time, you will want to start roasting your cherry tomatoes. Same thing: toss 'em on a baking sheet with oil, s, p. They take about 15-20. They'll brown a little and start to pop and shrivel when they're done. Don't overcook--you want them to still be juicy.

While all that roasting is happening, make your pesto and cook your quinoa. Depending on the brand you buy, you may have to rinse it first. Then, just follow the instructions on the box: twice the liquid to quinoa, bring it all to boil, then cover and simmer. I like to cook my quinoa in broth, or maybe half broth half water for a little more flavor.

Now you've got some veggies roasting AND some quinoa simmering. Time for the kale and onion. Heat up some olive oil in a pan. Coarsely chop the onion, and throw it on, letting it carmelize. Mince the garlic and throw that on too. When that stuff is almost done, rinse and chop the kale, and add it to the pan. It will cook down pretty quickly--you don't want it to get too wilted. 5 min should do it.

Ok, now ALL THE COMPONENTS are ready. Dump them all into a huge bowl or pot, PLUS THE CORN!!! and mix it all together. Serve with the parmesan and red pepper for garnish.

The end.

We made a Middle Eastern feast!

2010-03-03T22:24:00.002-05:00

YO! SG here. It's been a while, but I'm back on the Who Cooked What scene to tell you about this Middle Eastern feast in which M, Hill, Lanez, Nat and I participated a couple weekends ago. As you can see, we enjoyed it picnic-style on a blanket on the floor. Because sometimes it's more fun to eat that way.

I made some baba ganoush:

Followed the recipe pretty exactly. I tried roasting the eggplant over an open flame on the stove, which is pretty simple. You just need some tongs to keep turning them. But I got scared and took them off too early because this skin was so charred--but I guess that's what is supposed to happen. I roasted them a little longer in the oven after that to get them soft enough.

Natalie made some delish hummus:

M was in charge of falafel (I believe we used the Moosewood recipe, right M?):

I wanted to make avgolemono, which is really Greek and not Middle Eastern, but I was getting over a cold and was really in the mood for this comforting, nourishing lemony rice soup I used to get from a local Greek restaurant back in Jersey. I found this recipe in a comment on epicurious. There were a million comments after it, all saying how much better the recipe posted by "A Cook from Boston" was than the actual epicurious recipe! We followed it pretty exactly. Thank goodness I had Martha to help me "temper" the eggs, which I had never done before.

Here it is copied and pasted:

I'm 34 and have been making this since I could stand up on the stool in my Yia Yia's kitchen (my grandmother who is now 80 yrs. old). Soupa Avgolemono: 8 c. homemade chix stock, 1 c. orzo, 4 eggs/ separated, juice of 3 lemons, fresh ground black pepper. This recipe will make a perfectly balanced salty, rich, filling, comforting soup. Boil broth, add orzo and simmer until tender 20 min. Whip whites until medium peaks, add yolks beating continuously, add juice, beating. Temper eggs with 2 c. broth, adding in constant slow stream while continuing to beat furiously so you do not curdle the eggs. Add egg mixture back to remaining broth and serve. When reheating, do not re-boil - heat slowly until very warm or you may curdle the eggs. Garnish with thinly sliced lemon. I sometimes add more than juice of 3 lemons, as the sourness is the best part of the taste! You should taste lemon, richness of eggs, salt of chicken, and starch of rice, in that order and you've made it perfectly. You can also add thin pieces of shredded chicken meat (pull off bone in strips), although classic recipes don't include chicken, vegetables, garlic or any of the ingredients many reviewers added to "fix" this recipe. Try mine and you'll be hooked for life!

And here is what the finished product looked like:

Here is us enjoying the meal by candlelight:

And this is how full we were after:

Here are two vids. The first is of us all putting Hill's pitas in the oven, and the second of us dining to some jams.

I made a rice bowl!

2010-02-16T18:42:00.004-05:00

This recipe is based on the rice bowls at Community Food and Juice on the Upper West Side. It is a bowl of rice with lots of julienned veggies, a protein, and a cilantro-lime dressing topped with peanuts! I was there recently and greatly enjoyed my tofu rice bowl and thought it would be easy to recreate at home and it was. One caveat: we have a mandoline, which makes all the slicing superfast and easy. If you don't have one, it will take a little longer, but will still be good!

The components:

Brown Rice (I recently discovered that I really like medium grain brown rice and that is what I used)

Protein:
The restaurant offers salmon, tofu, and grilled chicken. I've used both cubes of tofu sauteed with a bit of sesame oil, and also used edamame. Baked tofu would probably be really good also. Or hard boiled eggs!

Veggies: (This is very flexible - these are some things I've used)
cucumber
red cabbage
bean sprouts
jalapeno
carrots
daikon
avocado

Dressing:
cilantro, finely chopped (a few TBS)
lime juice (I usually use two limes)
sesame oil (enough dashes to make it sesame-y)
mirin (about a half TBS)
mint (I didn't have this, but I'm sure it would be good)

Garnish:
chopped peanuts
scallions
sesame seeds

close up!

Assembly: Cook the rice and your protein. Start prepping vegetables. If any need to be cooked, do it! You can either mix all the veggies in a mixing bowl (the slightly easier way), or wait until you're plateing, then create individual vegetable piles in your bowl and mix it in the bowl as you eat (this is how the restaurant does it). Mix the dressing and chop the peanuts and scallions. When the rice is done, put it in your bowl, and either top with vegetable mix, or assemble your chosen vegetables. Top with dressing and garnish. Enjoy!

I made your basic butternut squash, sweet potato+carrot soup

2010-01-27T13:02:00.000-05:00

There are about a billion recipes out there for butternut squash soup, so I am not quite sure what struck me about this one, as I was Googling recipes a few weeks ago, except maybe for the fact that it contained coconut milk. (I love coconut milk so much. I love everything coconut actually. Coconut water, coconut sorbet, coconut-scented SOAP - I love it all.)

OH - another thing that I found appealing about this recipe was that it did not involve roasting anything. Roasting vegetables makes them taste really good, but it takes so much time, and I was hungry. So this recipe won over some of the other recipes that I saw which instructed me to roast squash for an hour or two.

I modified the recipe I found a bit, and here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 or 3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut in large cubes
1 liter vegetable or chicken broth
1 large can of coconut milk (you don't necessarily need the whole can)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
cinnamon to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
dash of maple syrup

GARNISH IDEAS:
pumpkin seeds
pita chips/bread crumbs/crackers
avocado cubes
BACON**
PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING

Heat some olive oil in a large pan, add the onion and garlic and braise until soft. Add butternut squash, carrots and sweet potato and sautée for about 2-3 minutes.
Then add the stock and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until veggies are soft.
Then add some of the coconut milk and mix with a handheld mixer until you get a very smooth soup. Add more coconut milk if desired. Season with some salt and freshly ground pepper, cinnamon and cayenne to taste.

This made enough soup for about 5-6 servings. I tried allll the garnishes mentioned above, at different times. The soup is so smooth, so its nice to have some chunks of of other stuff in there to keep things interesting.

**Especially delicious.

Poor man's pea risotto.

2010-01-26T14:38:00.002-05:00

Hello.

I just walked in from work a few minutes ago ravenously famished. All I had in the fridge was a container of leftover brown rice (plain, too much of it, from a measurement oversight this past weekend), half a bag of frozen peas, and some grated parmaggiano cheese.

So, I threw a glob of butter into a medium sauce pan, splashed some extra virgin olive oil on top, and then a few spoonfuls of the brown rice (3/4 a cup maybe - already cooked that is). I added lots of salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes too, and let it all get sassy and loud on high heat. Then I lowered the heat, added the frozen peas, gave it a good stir, and covered it all. I left it alone for approximately 4 and a half minutes, or the length of this Alicia Keys song I was jamming to. When I returned, I turned the heat off, threw in maybe 1/4 cup of grated parm, gave it another good mix, and then threw it onto my plate.

The results were delicious, surprisingly creamy, and tasted very reminiscent of a good pea risotto. A happy, hungry accident indeed.

Love,
Joey

I made an Autumn Millet Bake...it's good for winter too!

2010-01-24T12:14:00.002-05:00

With the start of the new year, I wanted to up my healthy food intake a bit. I also tend to fall into food themes (see last year's "Winter of Cabbage", and the previous year's "Experiments with root vegetables") and this year was no exception - I've suddenly become interested in whole grains. First up: Millet. Maybe you already know how good it is; I did not until just last week!

I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks which is a blog with lots of healthy recipes, but it is actually a Mark Bittman recipe and is, unsurprisingly, very simple and delicious!

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for the dish

3/4 cup millet
1 medium butternut or other winter squash or 1 small pumpkin, peeled seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (I used butternut squash)
1 cup fresh cranberries
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon minced sage leaves or 1 teaspoon dried (I randomly had fresh in the house)
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey (I used maple syrup - I'm not really a honey fan)
1 cup vegetable stock or water, warmed
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or coarsely chopped hazelnuts (I don't like pumpkin seeds and didn't have hazelnuts. I ended up adding scallions and chopped walnuts for some crunch)

Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a 2-quart casserole, a large gratin dish, or a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil.

Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the millet and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes. Spread in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Scatter the squash or pumpkin cubes and the cranberries on top of the millet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the sage and drizzle with syrup. Carefully pour the warmed stock over all. Cover tightly with foil and bake without disturbing, for 45 minutes.

Carefully uncover and turn the oven to 400F. As discreetly as possible, sneak a taste and adjust the seasoning. If it looks too dry, add a spoonful or two of water or stock. (I added another quarter cup or so). Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top, and return the dish to the oven. (I skipped this part, and added my scallions and nuts after it was out of the oven) Bake until the mixture bubbles and the top is browned, another 10 minutes or so. Serve piping hot or at room temperature.

Serves 4 to 6.

My Perfect Peanutbutter Chocolate Brownies! (Hyperbolic, I know, but so so good)

2010-01-09T11:58:00.002-05:00

I have been experimenting with peanut butter chocolate brownie recipes for a few months now and about two weeks ago I finally pieced together a bunch until they tasted exactly how I wanted. What's here is a long "from scratch" version of the recipe, but right after I will post my shortcut version of the recipe which tastes almost as good.

Ingredients:

1 pound unsalted butter

1 pound semisweet chocolate chips

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate (if you can’t find baking chocolate, use those bitter German chocolate bars you can find in any grocery store or bodega– the fat purple squares, you know what I’m saying?)

6 extra-large eggs

2 tablespoons real vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups sugar

½ cup Nutella (yes, Nutella!)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ cup creamy natural/unsweetened peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour your brownie pan (13x9, or bigger, whatever you have – you can just make according to thickness of the pan)

Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly.

Stir together the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Put the Nutella in the microwave for about 10 seconds to loosen it up a little bit, then stir it into the mixture (don’t overstir, but get it mixed in).

Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Then, put your peanut butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds until it is melted and liquidy. Pour the peanut butter as evenly as you can in 3 or 4 rows (depending on wide the pan is) across the width of the pan. Take a butter knife and run it straight down from top to bottom. Then do this again a few inches apart from bottom to top. Repeat until you have one of those pretty swirled arrow designs up and down. If you’re not sure what I mean, then you can also just glop the peanut butter all over the brownies, Jackson Pollock style. It doesn’t matter. It will be amazing no matter what. (It should look something like this.)

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the knife comes out clean enough (though in my oven these are sometimes ready in about 20 minutes, so just check a few times) . I say clean enough because it's better if they are a little underdone; they will continue cooking outside of the oven and you really want thehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifm chewy and fudgey and delicious. No one wants a dry brownie. At least I don't think...

LAZY BONES RECIPE

Buy a box of Betty Crocker or Duncan Heins (whichever) fudgey brown mix. Make it as you always would, just replace apple sauce for the oil, add the Nutella into the batter before pouring it into the pan, and glop on/beautifully swirl the peanut butter as specified above. It's not AS good as the above recipe, but it takes a quarter of the time, saves you some money, and they taste really f-ing good.

I made a Daisy!

2010-01-03T22:53:00.010-05:00

A few weeks ago I was browsing the food blogs, and a cocktail recipe jumped out at me from The Paupered Chef, mainly because it had whiskey and grenadine and sounded both tasty and doable. Nothing came of it until Z and I became the proud owners of a seltzer maker, headed over to the Coop for a pomegranate, and went to town. There are a few steps to the drink, but nothing too strenuous, and you get to juice a pomegranate (because grenadine is made of pomegranates and sugar, something I didn't know!). The drink was so tasty that it was the featured cocktail on New Year's Eve.

Here's the link to the recipe, which includes instructions on how to crack ice in your hand (satisfying but very cold -- the following time we just used cubes):

http://thepauperedchef.com/2009/12/my-perfect-daisy-with-homemade-grenadine.html

And here are the basics with my notes in bold:

1 pomegranate
1/4 cup of sugar

Press firmly down on the pomegranate with the palm of your hand and roll it around until it is soft. (This part is fun) Make a small slit with a knife along one side. Squeeze as much juice out as you can. (Be careful, the juice can spray) It will have about 2 ounces of juice. Pour the juice into a jar and add an equal amount sugar, which should be about 1/4 cup. Secure the lid on the jar and shake until the sugar dissolves.

2 ounces Rye Whiskey (We used Maker's Mark since that's what we have in the house)
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon homemade grenadine
1 1/2 teaspoons simple sryup
club soda (or seltzer!)

Pour the whiskey, lemon juice, grenadine, and simply syrup into a shaker. (Sadly, we have no shaker, so we stirred it and it was fine). Add enough ice to come 3/4 of the way up the sides. Shake for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass filled with cracked ice. Top with a bit of club soda. Enjoy!

I made my go-to quiche

2009-11-29T23:28:00.002-05:00

It almost feels silly to post a quiche recipe on this blog. All of you who contribute to this blog have probably made quiche at one point or another, because it is so easy to make and so tasty, and you probably have your own go-to recipes for it. Well, this is mine! But, I figured, since I took some photos of it, why not share it with you all. Maybe one day you will want to make a quiche and try this method out.

One reason that I like this particular recipe is because compared to many other quiche recipes I have seen, this is slightly healthier. No cream or cream cheese or other heavy foods. Just some milk and a bit of Parmesan (and in this case, goat cheese!) I also like using a combo of parm and swiss.

Quiche is a great thing to bring to a potluck or a brunch, but I actually made this quiche a few weeks ago for no reason at all. I just felt like cooking something easy and delicious. So I did!

Here you go:

This recipe is modified from one by Sara Moulten, via the Food Network website.

Ingredients
1 frozen prepared pie shell (or of course feel free to make your own! I have never done that, but I bet a lot of you have, so totally use your favorite recipe, if you'd like.)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 chopped shallots or 1 medium chopped onion (or a mixture of both!)
1 russet potato, peeled and sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach - thawed, excess liquid drained. (Draining out all the liquid is key! You don't want a watery quiche.)
1 pound cremini mushrooms, chopped (I think a pound is maybe about a dozen or so mushrooms?)
3 large eggs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup milk
2/3 cup (3 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Blind bake the crust: Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and weigh it with pie weights or beans (I actually never weigh it down, and it's fine. If the crust puffs up a bit, just poke a few holes in it with a fork and it will deflate).

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until light golden brown.

Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

In a large skillet, heat oil over moderate heat. Add onion or shallots and cook until softened. Turn up heat to moderately high. Add garlic, mushrooms, and potato and cook until the mushrooms begin to brown and release some of their moisture. Add spinach and continue cooking until it is heated through. Drain off any excess liquid.

Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the Parmesan, half the goat cheese and milk. Add the spinach mixture and pour into the pie shell. Sprinkle remaining goat cheese on top. Bake on a sheet pan in the middle of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until just set.

We Made Pumpkin Cashew Curry ON HALLOWEEN!

2009-11-21T14:28:00.000-05:00

On Halloween this year, Alena, Martha and I (Sarah G.) had the idea to carve a jack-o-lantern AND make something with actual, real, not-from-a-can pumpkin. (Take a look at our aquatic jack-o-lantern, pictured above!) Originally, I had envisioned that a single pumpkin could serve both purposes, but DUH--the pumpkin meat is attached to the skin, so a second pumpkin was needed.

Cooking with pumpkin isn't that different from cooking with any other kind of winter squash. Peeling it is a pain in the ass, but once you're over that hurdle, it's pretty easy. Also, I think pumpkin is tougher than other kinds of winter squash, so you have make sure to cook it until it's soft enough.

When Hill, Martha, Annie and I were in Cambodia, we had some really great pumpkin dishes. I remember one had pan fried tofu with pumpkin, scallions and ginger. There were also some amazing pumpkin curries. I've thought about making similar dishes for the past couple years, so we searched the web and found this recipe on Epicurious.

Creamy Pumpkin and Cashew Curry
Bon Appetite October 2009

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
4 1/2 cups 3/4-inch cubes peeled seeded sugar pumpkin or butternut squash (from about one 1 3/4-pound whole pumpkin)
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds*
8 curry leaves** (Just used regular old curry powder.)
2 small red onions, cut into 1/3-inch wedges
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
3 dried chiles de árbol*** (Couldn't find this--just used a ton of cayenne.)
3/4 cup unsalted roasted cashews
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
11/2 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk****
1 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro plus additional for garnish (We also garnished with scallions and sliced almonds.)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Steamed basmati rice

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add pumpkin and cook until golden, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to bowl.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to same skillet. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves; cook until seeds pop and leaves sizzle, 30 seconds. Add onions, garlic, and ginger. Sauté until onions are golden, 4 minutes. Add chiles, cashews, turmeric, and cumin; stir-fry 1 minute. Add coconut milk and coconut cream. Increase heat to mediumhigh. Boil until thickened, 2 minutes. Return pumpkin to pan; reduce heat to medium. Simmer until pumpkin is tender, 4 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup cilantro and lime juice. Spoon over rice; garnish with additional cilantro.

* Sold at specialty foods stores, Indian and Asian markets, and adrianascaravan.com. If unavailable, use brown mustard seeds.

** Also known as kari patta; available at Indian markets.

*** Thin, red, hot three-inch-long chiles; available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Latin markets.

**** Available at supermarkets and at Indian, Southeast Asian, and Latin markets.

It was the perfect Halloween meal. Rich, spicy, sweet, yummy, SPOOKY!!! Not really. But still.

I made a hearty vegan brunch!

2009-11-13T14:52:00.005-05:00

I made a hearty vegan brunch (salivate at the above picture) consisting of scrambled tofu (recipe will follow), fake ham from some Asian brand of Buddhist products bought from Flushing, LightLife Gimme Lean ground-style "meat," and rustic bread with Smart Balance.

I got the recipe for the scrambled tofu from Ira Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan with a Vengance:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks
2 cups thinly sliced cremini mushrooms
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 carrot, peeled (optional, grate it in at the end, mostly for color)
For spice blend
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme, crushed wiht your fingers
1 tsp ground paprika
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onions for 3 minutes, until softened; add the mushrooms, saute for 5 minutes; add the garlic, saute for 2 minutes. Add teh spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Add 1/4 cup of water to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to get all the garlic and spices.
Crumble in the tofu and mix well. Don't crush the tofu, just kind of lift it and mix it around. You want it to remain chunky. Let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necessary to keep it from sticking too much. Lower the heat a bit if you find that the tofu is sticking. Add the lemon juice. Add the nutritional yeast and mix it up. If the mixture is sticking to the pan, add splashes of water. The moistness really depends on how much water the tofu was retaining before you added it.
Grate the carrot into the tofu mixture and fold. Serve with guacamole and salsa and potatoes and toast and tempeh bacon.

For the "sausages," I took the LightLife Gimme Lean pack of "ground meat" (I find myself making the quote gestures whenever I talk about fake meats, by the way), and rolled it into shape with my hands. This product has great texture and great shape-ability for making un-meatballs, etc. but it is kinda sticky. Sauteed it in a pan with hot olive oil until browned. Did the same with the sliced fake ham. Serve everything with toast and Smart Balance.

I had a glass of Silk soy milk to complete my meal.

Perfect vegan hearty brunch!

I Made a Coconut Water Cocktail (from Canada) !

2009-11-11T12:56:00.001-05:00

(Disclaimer: This recipe has been sitting in the drafts folder for months! I don't know why. Now it is fall and it seems silly to drink cold, fruity cocktails. I suppose that is OK. You can just crank up the heat and pretend it is summer if you make this.)

SO, here is what I wrote a while back:

Over the summer my parents spent a few weeks in Vancouver, BC. When they came back, my mom was telling me about this cocktail that she had at a really good Thai restaurant there, Maenam, that combined coconut water, vodka, ginger, and chile. It sounded good to me, so one night when I was hanging out at my parents house, I did some internet searching to see if the recipe could be found anywhere. I didn't find the exact recipe, but I found something close and decided to try my hand at being a mixologist.

Of course, it wasn't until after I made the cocktail that I had the idea to see if the recipe was posted on the restaurant's website.

It was! Here is how it is described on the Maenam menu:

Siam sun ray:
wyborowa vodka, lime,
chile and ginger infused toasted coconut juice, soda

"Toasted coconut juice" is a new thing to me. I did more research. I think it may be this. "Roasted" is sorta like "toasted".

(Another disclaimer: I actually found a can of this stuff in Woodside, Queens recently. It was definitely toasty and SO SWEET. Maybe too sweet on it's own, but I can see it being good mixed with Vodka. Seek it out if you want to!)

In any case, roasted/toasted aside, here is what I used to make the drink.

2 parts coconut water
1 part vodka
juice of approx. 1 lime (to taste)
agave nectar (or simple syrup, to taste) - Though if you use the "roasted coconut juice, it will definitely be sweet enough.
small piece of ginger
small piece of a mild chile pepper (Optional).
soda water (Optional).

To prepare:
In a glass (or cocktail shaker if you have one), muddle the ginger (and chile, if using) into the coconut water. Add lime juice, agave or simple syrup (if using) and vodka. If using a cocktail shaker, add ice, cover and shake. Strain into a chilled glass. (If no cocktail shaker, simply remove the ginger and strain into a chilled glass). Add more lime juice/sweetener if needed, or a splash of soda water for some fizz.

We ate this with some fruit! I also put a piece of pineapple in my drink, because it tasted good.

That is my mom holding the drink. She said it was different than the one she had at the restaurant, but still good. I will definitely make this again. And if I ever go to Vancouver, I can try the real thing.

We Made Mushroom Bourguignon

2009-10-09T14:00:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone. Have we got a fall/winter dish for you. Last weekend Hillary, Sarah, Laura and I collaborated on the creation of a delicious Portobello Mushroom Bourguignon. The dish is actually pretty easy to make. Just a bit of chopping, throwing this and that into a big pot, and then all you have to do is let it all simmer on the oven while you snack on bread and butter. Even if you are not a vegetarian the dish is easier and cheaper to make than beef bourguignon and just as rich and satisfying. Hill also made an amazing chocolate mousse for dessert which will probably be posted soon!

Mushroom Bourguignon (From Smitten Kitchen)

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 pounds portobello mushrooms, in 1/4-inch slices (save the stems for another use) (you can use cremini instead, as well)
1/2 carrot, finely diced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup full-bodied red wine
2 cups beef or vegetable broth (beef broth is traditional but vegetable to make it vegetarian; it works with either)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup pearl onions, peeled (thawed if frozen)
Egg noodles, for serving
Sour cream and chopped chives or parsley, for garnish (optional) - You can also use greek yogurt like us.

Heat the one tablespoon of the olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a medium Dutch oven or heavy sauce pan over high heat. Sear the mushrooms until they begin to darken, but not yet release any liquid — about three or four minutes. Remove them from pan.

Lower the flame to medium and add the second tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the carrots, onions, thyme, a few good pinches of salt and a several grinds of black pepper into the pan and cook for 10, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for just one more minute.

Add the wine to the pot, scraping any stuck bits off the bottom, then turn the heat all the way up and reduce it by half. Stir in the tomato paste and the broth. Add back the mushrooms with any juices that have collected and once the liquid has boiled, reduce the temperature so it simmers for 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are very tender. Add the pearl onions and simmer for five minutes more.

Combine remaining butter and the flour with a fork until combined; stir it into the stew. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 more minutes. If the sauce is too thin, boil it down to reduce to the right consistency. Season to taste.

To serve, spoon the stew over a bowl of egg noodles, dollop with sour cream or greek yogurt (optional) and sprinkle with chives or parsley.

I made beer braised pork loin

2009-09-16T20:37:00.003-04:00

So yesterday I got it into my head that I wanted to make some kind of slow-roasted meat. I looked around online today and settled on this recipe: http://www.porkroastrecipe.net/PorkRoast/BeerBraisedPorkRoast.htm

It was the simplest recipe of all the ones I looked at, and involved cooking with beer, which I've never done before. So I bought a 2.5 lb pork loin at the grocery store, which was the largest they had (and more than enough for 2 people. I have leftovers for 2 days).

This is how I did it:
1 (2-3 pound) Pork Loin Roast
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
2 medium Onions, diced
Salt
Pepper
2 (15 ounce) cans or bottles Guinness Stout or Dark Beer

I seasoned the pork with salt and pepper, then browned it on the stove in the vegetable oil. Once that was browned on all four sides (took about 15 minutes) I set it aside on a plate. Then I threw two small diced onions into the pot and sauteed them til they were soft, about 10 minutes. Then I put the loin back in the pot with the onions, poured two 15 ounce cans of Guinness around it, covered it, and brought it to a boil. Once it began to boil I turned it down to low and simmered it for about an hour. In the end I overcooked the pork slightly. By the time I checked the temperature it was 160 degrees. I read in my "Cooking Meat" cookbook that I should have taken it out of the pot at about 145-147 degrees as the meat will raise to about 155 once its resting. It was a tad on the dry side, but still very good.

I also made mashed potatoes and oven roasted carrots and turnips. After I took the loin out of the pot, I put it on a cutting board and tented it with aluminum foil. As I cooked the vegetables I brought the beer and onion broth up to a boil and let it slowly cook down. I didn't have the patience to make an actual reduction sauce or gravy at this point (I'd been in the kitchen for about 2 hours), but the broth and onions was still tasty spooned over the potatoes and meat.

The carrots and turnips I coated in oil and salt and pepper and baked on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. For the mashed potatoes I used 6 while potatoes, a healthy amount of butter, and hot milk. There's nothing worse than luke warm mashed potatoes.

I made Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho!

2009-09-14T13:00:00.000-04:00

Alison was having a dinner party last Saturday and I was trying to figure out what to bring. Something tasty, easy to transport, and seasonal, I thought to myself. Then I realized that I had been excited to make gazpacho all summer long but had never found the time. Well, the time has come, I thought to myself again.

I decided to go with a traditional gazpacho and followed this recipe exactly. It was so easy!!

Classic Andalusian Gazpacho
Adapted from El Faro, Cádiz, Spain

1 (2-inch-long) piece baguette, crust discarded
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar (preferably "reserva"), or to taste - (I did not use "Reserva" vinegar, wouldn't sweat it.)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional) - I say go for it.
2 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered (As you can see I used 4 large heirloom tomatoes and one smaller guy.)
1/2 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil (preferably Andalusian hojiblanca) - Again, just used my standard olive oil. Why not?

Garnish: Finely chopped red and green bell pepper (I also used Persian cucumber and a bit of jalapeno. I think some very finely chopped red onion could be good too.)

Preparation:

Soak bread in 1/2 cup water 1 minute, then squeeze dry, discarding soaking water.

Mash garlic to a paste with salt using a mortar and pestle (or mince and mash with a large knife).

My attempt at making the paste with a knife. Five minutes after I finished, I found a mortar and pestle in my cabinet that I had no idea existed. Ah well. Next time I guess. It would definitely be easier that way.

Blend garlic paste, bread, 2 tablespoons vinegar, sugar, cumin, and half of tomatoes in a food processor (I used the trusty HAND BLENDER!) until tomatoes are very finely chopped.

The first batch, waiting to be blended.

Add remaining tomatoes with motor running and, when very finely chopped, gradually add oil in a slow stream, blending until as smooth as possible, about 1 minute. Throwing that yellow tomato into the mix made the soup a crazy orange color!

Force soup through a sieve into a bowl, pressing firmly on solids. Discard solids.

Look at all the seeds and peels I strained out!

Strained soup, ready to chill.

Transfer to a glass container and chill, covered, until cold, about 3 hours. Season with salt and vinegar before serving.

Gazpacho to go!

I don't have any photos of the final product, but we served the soup in little ceramic mugs with some of the garnish on top, and it looked pretty cute. I was really proud of this soup. The tomatoes were so flavorful, and the soup tasted fresh and bright. Straining it makes the texture so smooth and creamy and it actually feels a little bit fancy, even though it is really simple. I want to make it over and over while there are still delicious tomatoes to be found. You should too.

I made Blueberry Boy Bait!

2009-09-01T22:58:00.005-04:00

This is a dessert I made last week when I got together with Hillary, Alena, and Monique for Burrito Friday. It's a funny name for a cake, and no, I haven't caught any boys with it. Yet. If something WERE to lure boys in however, it might be this cake. It's VERY tasty, and surprisingly light given the two sticks of butter in it. I found the recipe, unsurprisingly, on Smitten Kitchen, and she got it from Cook's Country. The original recipe was actually created by a 15 year old girl in 1954 for the Pillsbury Bake Off. All in all, an excellent dessert and also good as breakfast the next day. My notes are in bold below.

Serves 12, generously

2 cups plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour (I swapped out 1/2 cup of the regular flour for whole wheat -- makes it healthy!)
1 tablespoon baking powder (I thought this seemed like a lot, but it worked out fine)
1 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk (though buttermilk, which was all I had on hand, worked just great) I used buttermilk as well!
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not defrost first as it tends to muddle in the batter)

Topping
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not defrost)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (nutmeg might also be a nice addition)

The Bait! Cut and ready for friends to enjoy.

For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

Whisk two cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about two minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down bowl. Reduce speed to medium and beat in one-third of flour mixture until incorporated; beat in half of milk. Beat in half of remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally remaining flour mixture. Toss blueberries with remaining one teaspoon flour. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries. Spread batter into prepared pan.

For the topping:
Scatter blueberries over top of batter. Stir sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl and sprinkle over batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out and place on serving platter (topping side up). Serve warm or at room temperature. (Cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)

I Made Swisschard-akopita

2009-08-23T12:56:00.011-04:00

Good Day,

Last night I scrambled to make a good impression on all my new classmates by bringing a delicious dish to a potluck reading. My original plan was to make dumplings (which I have never done before, but always admired Sarah for) but none of my New Mexico grocery stores had the dumpling dough. I ended up leaving with Phyllo dough, and made a last minute switch to do Swisschard-akopita which worked out great!

As a kid I really hated Quiche and I think this would be a good option for any Quiche haters out there if you're looking to little by little get over your Quiche disgust (for me it's the texture! Barf!) Because this is densely packed with greens the eggyness just fades away. Also if you have pie crust phobia this dish might be a good alternative.

Spanakopita is a traditional savory greek pastry, which traditionally probably isn't so good for you (tons-o-butter+cheese), and the greeks normally eat it as a little snack for that reason. With slight modifications I think this dish is filling healthy and great with just a salad as green and hearty meal. I read somewhere that during high holidays the greeks often make this without any dairy, which I would also like to try, and for any Vegans out there would be a great option!

I got home and took a look at a recipe...Below is the recipe, and my modifications:

Ina Garten's Spinach Pie
2 yellow onions (I used 2 red onion, which made things nice and sweet)
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt (I actually omitted this because cheese is so salty)
2 teaspoons pepper
3 (10 ounce) packages of frozen chopped spinach defrosted (I used 1 large bunch of colored brights Swiss Chard which I bought raw)
6 eggs
2 teaspoons nutmeg
6 cloves garlic minced (the recipe did not call for any garlic, but I love it)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I think I used slightly less)
3 Tablespoons dry bread crumbs (Omitted)
1/2 pound good feta
1/2 cup pine nuts (I used chopped walnuts)
1/4 pound butter for the phyllo dough (I used a 1/4 cup of olive oil instead and it worked great)
6 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted (I used 8)

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees

1) Chop 2 onions and saute them in 1 TBS olive oil until translucent and a bit brown, 8-10 minutes, and set them aside to cool a bit, add ground pepper.

2) Cook down your chopped greens in a TBS of olive oil. I used Swiss Chard and it worked wonderfully. Do not over cook them as they will spend ample time in the oven, just cook them down enough to where they are a bit tender, but their cores are still crunchy. 6-8 minutes or so. This made me think I'd like to make this with Kale or even Mustard greens at some point, and it seems like a good way to introduce your children to exotic greens that they normally wouldn't tolerate. If you are using the frozen spinach drain as much water as possible from it.

3) Combine your greens (cooked, or defrosted and drained) with the onions, 6 eggs (beaten), nutmeg, parmesan, minced garlic, feta, and nuts (pine, walnuts, or both!)

4) grease a pie pan, or any pan really, but i find the rounder the pan the better the top looks when you fold it over. gently handle the Phyllo dough, unrolling it, and placing the first sheet in the pan. Let the edges of the phyllo dough hang over the pan. Then gently brush on olive oil (with a brush, or your fingers) covering the whole bottom of the pan where the Phyllo Dough touches working your way out to the edges of the dough that hangs. Continue layering phyllo dough 6 sheets deep brushing olive oil on each layer.

5) Once you have 6 layers in your pan go ahead and pour your filling in. Depending on the size of you pan you may have enough filling for 2 pies.

6) lift the edges of the phyllo dough up and over the filling (It's okay if it doesn't cover the filling completely you can put 2 extra sheets on top to seal your pie.)

7) bake in the oven for an hour. You could bake it for 45 minutes if you're short on time, but the full hour really lets all the flavors set, and gives you a pie you can cut well.

8)Let the pie cool at room temp before serving, and refrigerate leftovers they are great cold or warmed up!

Opa!

I made that olive oil granola that everyone is talking about!

2009-08-18T14:47:00.002-04:00

Ever since this granola recipe was published in the NY Times a few weeks ago I feel like I can't read a food blog without coming across a wild endorsement. My interest was already piqued when I read that the recipe contained one of my favorite flavor combos, savory and sweet. I have never seen a granola recipe call for kosher salt before, and I was intrigued. I finally decided to make it on a Sunday morning 2 weekends ago, and I have been enjoying is ever since. I actually just polished off the last of it this morning. Time to make more !

This is the original recipe with my notes/substitutions:

(The ingredients are pretty flexible. As long as you've got the right balance of oats/sweeteners/oil, you can really add pretty much anything.)

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raw pistachios, hulled (Omitted)

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled (Only used about 1/2 a cup)

1 cup coconut chips (Omitted)

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (Used a bit less.)

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I actually found the saltiness too subtle. But I REALLY like salt. If you also really like salt, I recommend adding another teaspoon. )

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I recommend adding extra if not using cardamom.)

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (Omitted)

3/4 cup chopped dried apricots (Omitted)

ADDED:
Blanched whole almonds (1/2 cup)
Sunflower Seeds (1/2 cup)
Sesame Seeds (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed (1/2 cup)
Dried cranberries (1/2 cup)

Fresh ricotta, for serving (optional)

Fresh berries, for serving (optional).

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine oats, your selection of nuts, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom (if using). Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and well toasted.

2. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add apricots (if using), tossing to combine. Serve with ricotta and fruit, if desired.

I think I understand why people are so crazy over the granola. As the Times article says, the olive oil gives the granola a unique, somewhat bitter and fruity flavor. The salt adds a nice layer of flavor as well. After the sweetness hits, that's when the salt comes through, creating a really interesting combination.

The only problem for me is that the unique flavor of the granola was somewhat overwhelmed when I combined this with yogurt - all I could really taste was the sweetness, and those other layers of flavor sort of disappeared. I think this granola might be best straight up by the handful. Of course, I didn't get a chance to try this with ricotta and berries like the author suggests, but perhaps that's another solution that would compliment the granola instead of overwhelming it. Something to keep in mind for the next batch.

Enjoying some granola at work, as I am known to do.

I made Salmon and that pesto pea rice that Alena made!

2009-08-14T12:26:00.018-04:00

Greetings from Albuquerque!

I wanted to share my easy salmon marinade with everyone, and I decided to take Alena up on her suggestion to pair her pesto peas and rice dish with fish Alena's and I'm certainly glad I did!

Grocery List for The Marinade

2 pieces of 6 ounce Salmon (Sockeye is more fishy, Atlantic is mild and buttery) I know there is an on going debate about Farm raised Salmon, and wild caught etc. but no judgement here, just eat what you're comfortable with.

2 TBS Soy Sauce
2 TBS Tequila Lime Hot sauce (We picked this up in Austin, TX at the Tears of Joy Hot Sauce Shop Super delicious stuff! If you don't have that, use whatever hot sauce you have laying around. I highly recommend Tequila Lime hot sauce for fish marinades. It's also an important Southwest flavor, and it's unique to that area.)
6 TBS Olive Oil
2-4 TBS Balsamic Vinegrette
pinch of Salt and pinch of pepper
the juice of half a lemon
3 cloves crushed/chopped garlic
2 TBS Honey

Mix all the ingredients above into a bowl, and put your fish filets skin side up meat side down into the marinade. (Remember the longer your fish sits in these flavors the better, but usually 30-45 minutes is fine.) This marinade also works well on Tuna steaks!

Put the fish and marinade in the fridge while you whip up your side dish. I followed Alena's recipe exactly, except as well as peas I put in some nice, meaty, fresh shiitake mushrooms. I sauteed the mushrooms in a little bit of butter and added at the same time as the peas.

While the rice is setting, before you add the peas and mushrooms, take your fish out of the fridge, and put it in your oven on Broil for about 15-20 minutes. (Depending on how thick your fish cut is.) Make sure you remove the fish from the marinade when placing it on your broil pan. Do not drizzle any juices over your fish it will produce it's own in the oven!

Once your fish is done broiling, go ahead and serve this up! I highly recommend eating this meal with a lovely glass of white wine, preferably a Riesling!

Enjoy!

I made Arborio Rice with Spinach-Basil Pesto and Peas!

2009-08-03T22:43:00.006-04:00

So here I go with another "lazy risotto". Ain't no shame in it!

This is another dish I cooked up on a sleepy weeknight when I also really did not have too much food in the house. But this just proves that you can cook up something fast and tasty with what you got around.

First, I made a spinach-basil pesto. I used:

-Equal proportions spinach + basil (I used about 1/2 a bag of baby spinach and some basil leaves from my sad little basil plant*
-Some walnuts
-1 or 2 cloves garlic
-juice of 1 lemon
-olive oil
-salt+pepper

*Since I did not have enough fresh basil, I supplemented my pesto with some jarred pesto from Trader Joe's, which I like to keep on hand for moments just like this! Again, ain't no shame in it. I used the hand blender! (Sarah's fave technique.)

Then I cooked up some arborio rice in the same fashion as my lazy risotto. While that cooked, I looked around my kitchen for other elements to add to the dish. I came up with some frozen peas and Parmesan cheese and decided that they would go nicely with the pesto.

I sauteed the peas in a pan for just a few minutes to thaw them and get the moisture out. If you have fresh peas, even better, but frozen will do the job admirably. Just make sure not to throw them in the pot with the rice as it cooks - even though this will defrost and cook them, by the time the rice is done, they'll be overcooked and mushy. Mushy peas are not cool. I know they are a popular thing in England, but I don't get it.

Once your rice is done and has a nice chew to it, (about 12 minutes, maybe), take it off the heat and stir in the peas, some grated parm and the pesto - add gradually to your liking. Top with some more Parmesan cheese. (Also delicious I bet: ricotta or goat cheese.)

The peas add a nice sweetness to the rice and all the salty pesto and cheese. Fresh tomatoes would be tasty as well, although they would alter the all-green theme of the dish.

This dish was a tasty and satisfying light dinner. I think it would also make a great side dish paired with fish or shrimp or even just a really good salad. I brought the leftovers to work for lunch the next day and was very happy.

I made Tangy Cabbage Salad and Peach Crisp!

2009-08-03T09:33:00.003-04:00

I went to the greenmarket on Saturday with a vague idea of 'slaw' in my head and I bought a cabbage (as well as numerous other non-slaw vegetables). I found this "Tangy Shredded Cabbage Salad" recipe on Smitten Kitchen, which she "adapted from Ruta Kahate via SFGate.com, 6/8/07". It's very simple and tasty; I think it would be good at a picnic.

Below is the original recipe with my notes. I also added diced kohlrabi and chick peas because I had them on hand and I thought they'd blend well. I bought kohlrabi last week because it looked interesting and then didn't know what to do with it, but I found a recipe similar to this one using kohlrabi instead of cabbage, so I threw it in. It added a nice crunch to this dish.

2 cups shredded green cabbage (The recipe suggests using the large holes of a grater. I used one at first but found that it took a really long time and I resorted to finely chopping the cabbage with a knife. Maybe your box grater is better than mine though...)
1 small serrano chile, minced (I used a jalapeno)
2 TBS lemon juice
1 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp sugar
1 TBS canola oil
1/2 Tsp mustard seeds

In a medium bowl, toss together the cabbage, chile, lemon juice, salt and sugar. Taste and adjust the seasoning. You are looking for a well-balanced, sweet and sour taste.

Heat the oil in a small skillet or butter warmer over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add the mustard seeds, covering the pan with a lid or splatter screen. When seeds top popping, immediately pour the oil over the cabbage salad and toss well. Let the salad sit for at least 15 minutes before serving, to allow the flavors to blossom.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

*******

Now onto peach crisp!

Peach crisp is great for summer when you want a fruit dessert, but don't feel like committing to making pie crust. You can also use nectarines, or other stone fruit. In the fall and winter you can use apples and I highly recommend it. This is the recipe my mom uses, and she would always make this in the summer when we vacationed in Vermont. She lessens the amount of sugar (to about 1 cup) and butter (8-10 TBS) and so do I.

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup flour
12 TBS butter
6 to 8 peaches, about 3 pounds
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
grated rind of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 375. Combine the sugar, flour, and butter in a mixing bowl and mix well with the fingers. Set aside. Peel and quarter peaches. Cut into thin slices. Blend cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle over peaches. Sprinkle with lemon rind. Add lemon juice and toss to blend. Arrangethe slices in a not too shallow baking dish. Cover with the butter and sugar mixture, smoothing it over. Place the dish in the oven. Bake for one hour.

I made Fancy Lunch for Frances!

2009-07-30T22:30:00.013-04:00

Today I had Frances over for lunch. I decided to make something really beautiful and refreshing and summery and that we would eat it in the new alternate dining area in our apartment, since our new layout has doubled our common space. Frances was the first guest to eat at this table.

I found two recipes I liked: Chilled Mango and Cucumber Soup, from Gourmet Magazine (by way of Epicurious) and Lemon-scented Quinoa Salad from www.101cookbooks.com.

Here they are, annotated of course:

Chilled Mango and Cucumber Soup:

Ingredients:

2 mangoes, peeled and pitted (2 pounds total)
2 seedless cucumbers (usually plastic-wrapped; 1 1/2 pounds total)
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Finely chop 1 mango and 1 cucumber and set aside. Coarsely chop remaining mango and cucumber and purée with 1/4 cup water (I used No-Chicken Broth instead) in a blender until almost smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in finely chopped mango and cucumber, onion, lime juice, and 2 cups cold water (again, broth). Place bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir until cool.

Just before serving, stir in cilantro and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt.

Soup can also be chilled in the refrigerator until cold, but it will take about 2 hours.

I garnished the soup with sliced avocado, a dollop of Greek yogurt, and a few thinly sliced scallions. AND, just to be crazy, instead of just throwing on some fresh cilantro, I made a little cilantro oil by putting it in the blender with olive oil. It was very pretty. Just look:

And now for the salad:

Lemon-scented Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 can garbanzo beans, or dried equivalent
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped

Tahini Dressing:
1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
1/4 cup tahini
Zest of one lemon
scant 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons hot water
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Rinse the quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer. In a medium saucepan heat the quinoa and water until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up, about 15 minutes. Quinoa is done when you can see the curlique in each grain, and it is tender with a bit of pop to each bite. Drain any extra water and set aside.

While the quinoa is cooking make the dressing. Whisk together the garlic, tahini, lemon zest and juice, and olive oil. Add the hot water to thin a bit and then the salt.

Toss the cooked quinoa, beans, cilantro, red onion, and half of the dressing. Add more dressing if you like and season with more salt to taste. Serve garnished with a bit of cilantro.

Serves 4.

I changed a couple of things here. Cooked the quinoa in No-Chicken Broth instead of water and added maybe 1/2 tsp turmeric. Pan fried the chickpeas a little bit with one clove of garlic. Added some Bragg's to the dressing to give it a little more flavor. Also threw some scallions and pine nuts on top.

It was a nice hearty compliment to the fruity soup.

This is what it looked like all laid out on the table:

These are two very simple but delicious dishes that would be easy to take to a picnic or barbeque.

I made pickles!

2009-07-23T23:19:00.004-04:00

Last week at the Carroll Street Farmers Market I saw some really cute Kirby cucumbers (a.k.a. pickle cucumbers) and I decided to embrace my inner "Little House on the Prairie" and give pickling a shot. It took a trip to the Food Coop to get all the needed spices for the pickling mix, but it was surprisingly easy. Preserving foods sometimes makes me worry a bit that I'll give myself botulism/something equally bad, but as long as you follow the recipe, you should be fine! If you're really worried, get yourself a courageous friend to taste them first.

This recipe is from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I don't really have any notes since pickling novices such as myself should not futz with recipes.

Three-Day Pickles

Mark says you can also use carrots, radishes, celery, fennel, pearl onions, cauliflower, peppers, turnips, summer squash, eggplant, peaches, or beets.

2 pounds Kirby cucumbers
6 TBS salt
2 cups white or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Pickling spice (see below)

1. Wash the cucumbers well, scrub them if they're spiny, and cut lengthwise into halves or quarters or slice. Put the cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the salt; toss well.
2. Let sit in the sink or a bowl for about 2 hours. Rinse the cukes and pat dry with paper towels; put in a nonmetal bowl.
3. Put the remaining 1/4 cup salt, the vinegar, sugar, and pickling spice, along with 2 cups water, in a pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, then let cool for about 5 minutes. Pour the mix over thecukes and let cool to room temperature. (Add more vinegar or water if the cucumbers are not covered.)
4. Transfer the cucumbers and pickling liquid to airtight jars or containers; store in the fridge for at least 3 days or longer for stronger pickles. They will keep in their pickling liquid for up to 3 weeks.

Pickling spice

2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
10 bay leaves
2 small hot dried red chiles or 1 TBS hot red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/4 cup mustard seeds
2 TBS allspice berries
2 Tsp whole cloves
2 TBS black peppercorns
2 TBS coriander seeds
2 Tsp cardamom seeds
2 TBS dill seeds

1. Break the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and chiles into pieces.
2. Roughly chop (or crush with a heavy skillet) all the other ingredients, leaving most of the seeds whole.
3. Stir to combine the spices and store in a tightly sealed container for several months.

Ceviche

2009-07-22T23:01:00.004-04:00

Last night I had Martha and KC over for dinner and I made ceviche, rice and beans, and a tomato and basil salad. I bought a pound and a half of fresh, headless shrimp and one big slab of Chilean Sea Bass. It took about 2 hours to clean and prep the shrimp and fish. Then about another 30 minutes or so to squeeze 6 lemons, 6 oranges, and about 8 limes. It takes a lot of time but it's definitely worth it. After I cleaned and cut the shrimp and fish I threw them in a bowl with all of the citrus juice. While these were soaking I cut up 1 red bell pepper, 1 orange pepper, 2 jalapenos and half a red onion. I add all of this to the bowl with the seafood, covered it with saran wrap, and put it in the fridge and marinated it for 3 hours. No cooking required - the citrus juice "cooks" the seafood. The beans and rice were the typical kind but I added salt and chili powder and the salad came from my back yard! Fresh basil and 3 kinds of tomatoes that I picked 3 hours before dinner, plus I added small cubes of mozzarella. All that plus some avocado for a garnish, great white wine that KC brought, lots of Corona with lime, and plum tart with vanilla ice cream from Martha, made a great dinner.

I WENT ZUCCHINI CRAZY!!!

2009-07-20T11:57:00.006-04:00

Recently, on a drive through the country with my mom, I picked up a whole bunch of zucchini at a roadside farm stand. They were all just so enormous and fresh and impressive looking, I couldn't resist buying way too many. And then I had to figure out what to do with all that zucchini. Fortunately, this was not a bad problem to have, because zucchinis are very versatile vegetables. I made Buttermilk Summer Squash Soup, Zucchini Pasta, AND Zucchini Muffins.

I'll start with the soup. I found this recipe on www.101cookbooks.com, which I have been using a lot lately. It was pretty simple, and the result was quite delicious. Here it is copied and pasted, with minimal commentary--I actually stuck to the recipe for once. You might think it strange to use buttermilk in soup, but this is actually something I learned from my mother, who makes a similar zucchini soup on Christmas, except hers is seasoned with curry.

Buttermilk Summer Squash Soup

a generous splash of olive oil or (3T.) knob of butter
3 large shallots, chopped (I used more--I always go crazy with shallots.)
a couple pinches of fine-grain sea salt
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
3-inch sprig of rosemary
1 1/2 pounds yellow or green summer squash, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices/chunks (used both)
3/4 pound potatoes, un-peeled, cut into 1/4-inch thick pieces
3 medium cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups lightly flavored vegetable stock or water (used No-Chicken broth here)
2/3 cup buttermilk

garnish with: fresh herbs, toasted almonds, a generous drizzle of olive oil/ melted butter, and/or some crumbled feta

Heat olive oil/butter in large thick-bottomed pan over medium heat. Stir in the shallots, salt, red pepper flakes, and rosemary. Saute until shallots are tender - a couple minutes. Stir in the squash and potatoes, and cook until the squash starts to get a bit tender - a few minutes. Stir in the garlic, remove the sprig of rosemary, and then add the stock (or water) to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. (Pay attention to this last detail. I think I blended my veggies before the potatoes were soft enough... Didn't end up being a big deal, just made for a more textured soup.)

Puree with a hand blender. If you like a silkier soup feel free to pour the soup through a strainer. Slowly whisk in the buttermilk, taste, and adjust the seasoning - adding more salt if needed. I like this soup topped with a bit of crumbled feta, some toasted almonds, a drizzle of olive oil, and a small pinch of red pepper - but it's perfectly good straight with no fuss on top. (I garnished with feta and scallions! YUM.)

Serves 6 - 8.

Ok now on to the pasta. I kind of made this up. Not even really a recipe. Just julienned a bunch of zucchini, sauteed them in some olive oil with garlic, tossed them with some pasta and some homemade sauce--Mama Vallese's recipe of course. Didn't take any pics. But try it! A fun way to dress up your pasta. Bet it would be good with pesto too.

And now, last but not least: the muffins.

I am not much of a baker. But these were so easy! The recipe is from www.simplyrecipes.com. Literally the first thing that came up when I googled "zucchini muffins" but it was perfect--they came out moist, perfectly risen, not too sweet.

Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients

3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

You don't need a mixer for this recipe.

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add these dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture. Fold in the walnuts and dried raisins or cranberries if using.

2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

I made Lemony Chickpea Stirfry!

2009-07-05T14:11:00.002-04:00

Lately I just want to drench everything in lemon juice. It just makes everything taste better, right? Maybe it's because it's summer and I crave things that taste citrusy and fresh. Regardless, I was in a lemony mood the other day, and I found this recipe on 101cookbooks.com. This was delicious and very easy to make. Don't be dissuaded by my lengthy tofu tangeant.

Ok here it is, with copious comments:

Lemony Chickpea Stirfry

2 tablespoon ghee or extra-virgin olive oil (I used the latter.)
fine grain sea salt (I used a couple Tbs of Bragg's instead.)
1 small onion or a couple shallots, sliced
1 cup cooked chickpeas (canned is fine, if you don't want to cook up a pot of dried chickpeas)
8 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 cup of chopped kale
2 small zucchini, chopped
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
I added: garlic, soy sauce

Heat 1 tablespoon of the ghee/olive oil In a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in a big pinch of salt, the onion, and chickpeas. Saute until the chickpeas are deeply golden and crusty. Stir in the tofu and cook just until the tofu is heated through, just a minute or so.

Ok extended interruption: I cooked the tofu separately to get it golden brown and crispy. I'll share my method with you because--don't want to brag but can't lie--I've been really good at cooking perfect tofu lately.

The first thing is to get as much water out of that tofu. I used a method mentioned in the blog before: wrapping the tofu in a paper towel and piling a few heavy books on time. Sounds crazy, but it works. Leave it like that for a little while, maybe 20 min. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in the pan. Add a couple minced cloves of garlic. The heat should be high. Then unwrap the tofu, pat it dry, and cut into small cubes. Throw them in the pan, making sure each piece has its own surface area. Splash on some soy sauce. Sprinkling on a little nutritional yeast also helps it get crispy, but it will come out fine without it. Let a sizzle a little, then check a couple pieces. When they're brown on the bottom, stir it up so another side cooks. Don't drive yourself crazy flipping every little piece. Just keep stirring them around--every side doesn't have to be exactly the same. Keep sizzling and stirring until it looks golden brown and perfect. DONE. Set aside in a bowl. Now back to the rest of the recipe...

Stir in the kale and cook for one minute more. Remove everything from the skillet onto a large plate and set aside. In the same skillet heat the remaining tablespoon of ghee/olive oil, add the zucchini and saute until it starts to take on a bit of color, two or three minutes. Add the chickpea mixture back to the skillet, and remove from heat. (Now add the tofu.)Stir in the lemon juice and zest, taste, and season with a bit more salt if needed. Turn out onto a platter and serve family style.

I made a strawberry custard tart

2009-07-01T15:20:00.003-04:00

Hi, I'm new to the blog - Martha invited me. Today I made a strawberry custard tart. I used the recipe from this website: http://www.cooksrecipes.com/dessert/custard_tart_with_fresh_berries_recipes.html

I didn't make quite enough graham cracker crust, my custard comes up above the crust by about a half an inch. I also didn't make the glaze the way they suggest: instead I pureed some strawberries in my food processor and added about a tablespoon of sugar and orange juice. It's cooling in the fridge at the moment so I can't comment on how it tastes yet. But I tried the custard mixture before it went in the fridge and it was pretty good. It may look nothing like the photo from the website but I think it will still taste great.

Lazy Risotto ! by A

2009-06-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

The other night I came home from a long day and was craving risotto. I don't know why, but lately I have noticed that risotto has usurped the title of "best comfort food" from my old placeholder, mac and cheese. I crave that creamy rice like all the time. I made a joke to Sarah one time about wanting to go home and curl up in bed with a nice bowl of risotto. Doesn't that sound nice?

The problem is, risotto always seems time consuming or a bit intimidating, two things which comfort foods should not be. But this dish I ended up concocting is pretty fast and easy. It began with a google search for "arborio rice recipes" which lead me to this recipe for Parmesan Black Pepper Arborio Rice Pilaf. This dish was attractive because it promised risotto-like results without risotto-like preparation. But I wanted to include some vegetables, and perhaps do something with the piece of goat cheese that was sitting in my fridge, so I turned to google again, and found a Jamie Oliver recipe for Spinach and Goat Cheese risotto via the food blog Cheese Plus Everything. I used bits and pieces of these two recipes and concocted a really tasty dinner. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
(I didn't put amounts for most of these, because it's really up to you....feel it out.)

arborio rice (I used a half cup of rice with one cup of liquid for one large portion - make sure to adjust proportions if making a larger serving....you already know that.)
some garlic
some onion (I used a red onion, any kind is fine.)
olive oil
unsalted butter
fresh or dried mushrooms (optional)
mushroom/vegetable/chicken broth (BUT broth is only needed if you are NOT using dried mushrooms. You'll see why.)
spinach
goat cheese
Parmesan cheese
salt+pepper
fresh lemon juice (optional)

If using dried mushrooms, rinse well in water and then place in large bowl with a good amount of hot water to rehydrate. Set aside. Then chop up your garlic and onion. Heat a mix of butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion+ HALF of the garlic (and a good amount of salt and pepper) and saute until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add rice; stir to coat for about one minute.

IF using dried mushrooms, now is the time to strain 1 cup (or whichever amount, depending on how many portions you're making) of the water. The water will now be fragrant and mushroom-flavored ! (Keep soaking the mushrooms in more water if they are not hydrated fully yet.) Add broth to the pot. (If using other stock (pre-made mushroom/chicken/vegetable) just measure out the correct amount and add it.) Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until stock is absorbed and rice is creamy and soft with a little "chew" at the center, about 12 minutes. (Feel free to add more broth as the rice cooks to make it more creamy and risotto-ish.)

While you wait for the rice to cook, heat olive oil in a pan and add the rest of the garlic. Add spinach and fresh mushrooms (if using) and saute until cooked.

Once your rice is cooked, remove from heat and stir in the sauteed vegetables, add more salt and pepper to taste, and a nice grating of Parmesan cheese. (If using dried mushrooms, make sure they are hydrated, and chop + add to mixture now as well.)

Stir in goat cheese (start with a little, add more to taste) until it melts and combines with rice mixture. Serve hot in a big bowl with some more Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of fresh lemon juice on top.

Pour yourself a glass of wine and curl up in bed with it!