Seasonal Menus

Saturday supper

2012-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday: roast chicken; roasted sweet potatoes; napa cabbage with balsamic vinaigrette

Just our usual Zuni chicken dinner, with the addition of the salad. We've both been really craving uncooked greens recently, and fortunately Victor likes his salads just as unadorned as I do. So, nappa cabbage sliced as for slaw and tossed with this dressing. I made the dressing with Rockridge Orchard's "Rocksalmic" faux balsamic vinegar - it was delicious but came out tasting like honey-mustard dressing. I don't know if that was because of the vinegar, or the particular (strong dijon) mustard I used, or what.

where crispy = caramelized

2012-01-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

Friday: Fragrant Lentil Rice Soup with "Crispy" Onions; fresh-baked bread

(Originally planned for Thursday; foiled by my own tiredness and desire for take-out.)

A lovely soup, even though it turned out that I didn't have any greens to stir in near the end. I don't know why she calls the onions crispy, as they're clearly caramelized (and she calls them that in the head notes). But whatever - it is indeed fragrant, and we both enjoyed it.

Fragrant Lentil Rice Soup with (optional) Spinach & "Crispy" Onions (adapted from Cook This Now)

For the caramelized onions:
3 medium onions, halved from root to stem & thinly sliced
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
pinch kosher salt
pinch sugar
Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Melt the butter and heat the oil, then toss in the onions with the salt. Cook until they release their juices (5 min), then sprinkle with sugar, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook until golden (7 more minutes). Turn heat to high, and cook, stirring only a few times, until they are deeply caramelized (5-10 more minutes). If you're me, you won't be able to resist adding a few tablespoons of water and deglazing the pan at this point. Either way, set aside the finished onions.

For the soup:
2 Tbsp oliv oil
1 onion, finely chopped*
2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped*
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped*
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 tsp ground cumin
pinch ground allspice
a bay leaf
6 C stock (chicken or veggie)
3 C water
1/2 C brown long-grain rice
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt more to taste
1 1/2 C red lentils
5 C baby spinach leaves (~ 4 C) or equivalent amount chard or kale (just be sure to cook less-tender greens a bit longer)
lime (or lime juice), optional
Heat a large pot over medium heat; warm the oil in it. Add the aromatics (if you didn't puree them together, add the onion first; just add the ginger & garlic with the other spices) and saute until they begin to smell cooked - about 4-5 minutes. Add the spices and cook until very fragrant, about another minute. Add the stock, water, rice, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the red lentils and cook until the rice is done and the lentils are meltingly soft, about 30 more minutes. Stir in the greens (if using) and let them completely wilt. Tast, and add more salt if necessary. If the dish tastes flat, add a little lime juice.

To serve, spoon into bowls and top with a bunch of caramelized onions, a bit of flaky salt, and maybe a tiny squeeze of lime.
serves 6

* I cut the aromatics into chunks and pureed them in a mini-food processor.

all greens, all the time

2012-01-24T15:43:00.001-08:00

I'd planned to make a bit more for dinner, but Monday night's nosh ended up being very light: just this kale salad. I didn't really measure any of the ingredients, but it came out very well. V kept saying "This is DELICIOUS" in an incredulous voice - I don't think he'd had very high hopes for a raw kale salad (truth be told, I was a little dubious too). We ate most of it last night; I had the rest for breakfast.

well, that worked out pretty well

2012-01-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Braised White Beans; sauteed greens; bread. Apple Sharlotka for dessert.

I made all the recipes pretty much as-written.

For the braised beans: It took about 45 minutes on medium-high before I was satisfied with the beans' caramelization. They smelled amazing - the finished recipe was good, but wasn't quite able to live up to their initial aroma. I added about 1.5 Tbsp strong Dijon mustard, lots of salt, a bit of better-than-bouillon (chicken flavor), and a bunch of pepper. I ended up simmering the beans for just under two hours (I started with the saddest looking bag of discount beans from the grocery store, but then soaked them for two days. YMMV.)

The greens were a bunch of semi-random greenery that had been floating around the fridge - a half-bag of Trader Joe's prewashed greens that I picked up in a moment of panic on Christmas Day and a bag of greens from last week's farmer's market excursion. I cut up a single strip of bacon, fried it 'til crispy, and then cooked two garlic cloves a bit before adding the greens, some smoked paprika, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. I added some water to steam, and kept cooking 'til we were ready to eat.

Because we decided (somewhat last minute) to have someone over for dinner, I made Smitten Kitchen's Apple Sharlotka as well. I LOVE this recipe, and I don't even know if I cooked it enough. Was it really supposed to be creamy in the center and crisp around the edges? Does it matter? It was delicious, and I'll definitely be making this again. But for the time it takes to cut up the apples, it's very low-effort, and the ingredients are minimal.

I can't speak for my dinner companions, but for me, this meal was a total success.

Menu for week of 1/22/2012

2012-01-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Saturday

Sweet Potato Noodle Kugel

2012-01-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

I originally clipped this recipe from a magazine many years ago, and I've been making it ever since. Sadly, I don't think it would ever be kosher for our seder table (I've never found kosher-for-Passover egg noodles; more importantly, we eat meat at that meal, so the sour cream & butter make this dish a no-go). I sometimes make it with peach jam, since often I make more of that than apricot; it's good either way.

snowed in

2012-01-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

We're having a cozy few days as we wait for the roads to clear. Fortunately, I had planned a couple of fairly elaborate meals, so we've been eating well *and* keeping ourselves entertained.

First, a pair of recipes from the always-awesome Smitten Kitchen: carrot soup with miso and scallion meatballs with soy-ginger glaze. These were both wonderful and pretty dang easy to make. The glaze was so good that V kept trying to think of new uses for it (he tried it on ice cream, but unfortunately he said it made the ice cream taste "like blood").

Last night we made chicken stew with sweet potato biscuits. I couldn't quite bring myself to use all the butter called for in the chicken stew recipe, but made it with a single stick of butter instead. Also definitely a recipe I'll be making again (though hopefully in a situation where we won't be required to eat it all ourselves....).

Shafers' Goosh Buns

2011-12-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from a friend, who got it from someone in her husband's family. I suspect that there are many similar recipes floating around, but this one is perfection itself (in that it reminds me - in a wonderful way - of elementary school lunches where this would be called "barbecue on bun"):

Goosh Buns
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 14-oz bottle catsup
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp prepared mustard
Brown meat and saute onion and pepper. Add remaining ingredients and simmer.
yield: 6 servings

Impulse Purchases

2011-12-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

Monday: crispy brussels sprouts with sriracha; baked sweet potatoes

We were armed with our usual list when we went to the farmer's market yesterday, but Victor was beguiled by some beautiful brussels sprouts and I decided I couldn't leave without some of the world's best sweet potatoes. Tonight I was planning to make some slow-cooked beef shanks, but didn't get the slow cooker going in time, so I was glad we had something extra around to make.

I used a hybrid of these two recipes for the sprouts - lots of stove-top cooking (in bacon fat) while the potatoes roasted, then a quick deglaze/steam with a sriracha/lime/honey mixture. The sweet-spicy flavor of the sprouts also complemented the sweet potatoes, though the ones from Lydell Farms are so sweet that they really don't need any additional flavoring.

What I did on my "summer" vacation...

2011-12-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been... a long time. There's been a lot of cooking, much of which I no longer remember well enough to identify individual recipes. I've found myself coming back to the blog to try to find things I've made and then realising that I never recorded the recipe I was looking for in the first place. To help remedy that, I'm going to post what I can remember now, and maybe add to it later. This website is, after all, primarily intended as a memory prompt for myself.

Without further ado, the recipe backlog:

From Tasty:
I haven't had the best luck with this cookbook, but told V that I'd give it one more shot before I donate the book. I think it's possible that the author likes a different set of flavors than I do, since everything I've made from it has tasted just slightly less good than I'd like.

pot roast with porcini and beer -- I might have used too dark a beer, or maybe I just don't like the taste of beer in stew, but I wouldn't make this again.
real good meat loaf -- not nearly as good as my favorite meatloaf recipe, and a lot more work. Also not worth making again.
roasted tomato soup with grappa and orange -- this was delicious until I added the orange juice (and I didn't have grappa, so my version was NA, too). I'd make it again, but omitting the orange zest/juice.

Ham Tetrazzini from The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook. I also used the base sauce from the tetrazzini to make tuna noodle casserole several times.

"Goosh" Buns - recipe from my friend Kerrie, these are what we Pennsylvanians would call barbecue (known to the rest of the country as "sloppy joes").

From Vegetarian Suppers: I continue to love this cookbook, and have made my favorite recipes from it many, many times.

Tofu & Sugar Snap Peas in lemon grass broth: my first total misfire from this cookbook, the recipe was just as bland as it sounds
Seared Tofu & Mushroom Saute: I know I made this, but can't remember anything about it
Brown Rice Supper with tofu, roasted peanut sauce, and stir-fried carrots: surprisingly flavorful & delicious

From Appetite for Reduction: A new (to me) cookbook that's been mostly good so far.

Upside-Down Lentil Shepherd's Pie: yum, though not really a shepherd's pie
Mushroom & Cannellini Paprikas: also yum, but I don't remember much about it other than that V & I polished off the entire recipe for dinner (says it serves 4...)

Chicken & Fennel Pot Pie: adapted from As American As Apple Pie to use the pie crust we learned to make in a pie class we took summer 2010; also, I had leftover chicken, not turkey for the pie. It was delicious - possibly one of my favorite things that I've ever made.

So - there we go! I have clearly neglected to list more recipes than I've remembered here, but I'm hoping to remedy that as I run across them again (between bookmarks and stray sheets of online printouts, I'm bound to see at least some of them). And some of the recipes mentioned above deserve a full write-up (especially that delicious pot pie!), so I will try to catch up at some point.

Wild Mushroom Meatloaf

2011-04-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

I know - it's spring, and I should be writing about asparagus and ramps. Unfortunately, it's too early here for asparagus, and ramps don't even grow in Washington. Also, we've had a run of truly disheartening weather - mostly in the low 40s, mostly rain with the occasional burst of hail. We've been craving comfort food.

V has been working pretty much non-stop, but on the one night last week that he was actually home for dinner, I made Potato & Turnip Mash, Roasted Beets, and this Wild-Mushroom Meatloaf. It looks like the meatloaf recipe must have been cut from a magazine at some point, but I neglected to clip anything that would have identified which one. I'd guess that it's from about eight years ago, from where it is in my binder - it's been my go-to meatloaf recipe for years.

Wild-Mushroom Meatloaf

chopped fresh mushrooms (any kind) about 1/2 C
1 onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
1 tsp olive oil (or rendered bacon grease...)
1/4 C dry white wine
1/4 C (or so) dried wild mushrooms, soaked in 1/4 C hot water
1/4 C milk (any kind)
1 egg
6 slices bread (I usually use whole wheat sandwich bread), torn into rough pieces
3/4 lb extra-lean ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
ketchup, chili sauce, or barbeque sauce (optional)
Heat oven to 375F.

In a skillet over medium heat, warm the oil or fat. Add the fresh mushrooms, onion, garlic, and thyme and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Cook until golden brown. Pour in the wine and cook until it has evaporated - turn up the heat a bit if necessary. After the liquid is gone, set the pan aside.

Meanwhile, drain the wild mushrooms through a sieve lined with paper towels. Reserve the soaking liquid. Lift out the mushrooms and chop. Add to cooked mushroom mixture.

In a large bowl, combine milk, egg, bread, and soaking liquid to form a paste. Stir until the bread bits are pretty well incorporated. Add beef, mushrooms, and about 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Stir to combine, but try not to overwork the beef, as that can make the meatloaf tough.

Put the mixture into a greased 9"x5" loaf pan and cover the top with sauce, if desired. Bake for 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before removing from pan.
makes 4 generous servings

Purim cookies

2011-03-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

As part of my continuing cookie-baking adventures, we made hamantashen last week. Hamantashen (or "hamentashen" - various spelling abound) are triangular filled cookies served for the Jewish holiday of Purim. I have many fond childhood memories of eating my grandmother's hamantashen, which she made in great quantities every year. Her cookies were generally denser and less floury than the ones I've eaten elsewhere, and she stuck with the traditional poppy and prune fillings, although in later years she branched out and also used apricot jam and cherry pie filling.

I opted to use her recipe for the cookie dough (actually Grandma's friend Ruth's recipe), but for the filling I went non-traditional and used some Roasted Tangelo Marmalade. (Looking back, I see that I'd intended to do that all along!) We overcooked them very slightly, but these hew pretty closely to the cookies I remember from my childhood.

Hamantashen
Ruth's recipe from the Heirloom Cookbook, adapted and expanded

1/3 C vegetable oil
¼ C orange juice
1 C sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 (plus) C flour, plus extra to achieve correct consistency
1-2 C very thick jam or other filling

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, mix together the oil, juice, sugar, and eggs. In a smaller bowl, sift together the baking powder, salt, and 3 C flour. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones. After the initial flour is mixed in, keep adding more flour until the dough is thick enough to roll out (it will probably still be sticky).

Form the dough into a flat disk and wrap with plastic. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours (or even overnight).

Roll out dough on a lightly-floured surface, until 1/2"-1/8" thick (the thickness really just depends on your personal preference - ours were on the thicker end of that range).

Use a glass or biscuit-cutter to cut dough into rounds. Place a small amount of jam on the center of the dough rounds, and pinch into a triangular shape. Place on a parchment paper or Silpat-covered baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes or until dough is a light golden brown.

cookie time

2011-03-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't made many cookies - this is part of the reason I still claim that I "don't really bake" despite all indications to the contrary - but a friend and I recently decided to start making cookies with her 2-year-old. We began with some simple molasses cookies. It was a blast; all three of us had a great time, and the cookies are delicious. I think that I'll add some orange peel (or possibly a bit of orange extract) the next time I make them, as they're a tad too simple for me.

Sugar and Spice Drop Cookies
adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 C sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 C molasses
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 C traditional whole wheat flour
Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter together with sugar and spices. Beat in the molasses and then the egg. Finally, beat in the flour. Refrigerate the dough, covered, for at least 30 minutes.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.
yield: approx. 53 cookies if no one eats any dough
(we got 44 cookies)

"sneaky" banana pancakes

2011-03-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

The "sneaky" in the title refers to the whole wheat flour I used; because the first question I ask when I serve something like this is "can you taste the whole wheat?" they're not actually sneaky at all in our house. They might be in yours, however - I don't think you can tell that they're not made with white flour.

The recipe is based on one in Helen Witty's Home-Style Menu Cookbook, tweaked with some advice on making pancakes with whole wheat flour from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. The recipe is easily doubled.

Banana Pancakes

1 large egg
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 C milk (I used skim)
1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp orange juice (this won't make the pancakes taste at all orange-y, but does diminish the flavor profile of whole wheat flour)
1/2 C white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
optional: 1/3 C toasted and chopped pecans or walnuts
Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the banana, sugar, milk, oil, and juice; beat well.

In another bowl, sift together the remaining dry ingredients (other than nuts, if using). Add the flour mixture (and the nuts) to the liquid mixture and stir until the dry ingredients are just dampened; don't overmix.

Heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium-low heat, until drops of water sizzle slowly when flicked on. If the drops hop and skip, your pan is too hot - turn down the heat and let cool a bit before pouring in the batter for the first pancakes. These pancakes should cook slowly and turn only a light brown.

Bake until half the bubbles on top are "set" and stay open; then flip and cook for an additional two minutes or so, until the pancakes feel firm and springy to a fingertip. A scant 1/3 C measure of batter will yield a regular-sized pancake; 2-3 Tbsp of batter will yield silver-dollar-sized cakes.
serves 2

Dried Fruit Extravaganza

2011-03-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

Monday: Roasted Root Veggie Tsimmes; Farro Pilaf

Tsimmes is a traditionally Jewish dish, and one of my favorites (sweet-salty main dishes are very much my thing, after all). This one is from Clean Start, which I have checked out of the library. I'm not very enthusiastic about cookbooks that are prescriptive (rather than descriptive), so I found the "clean start/clean food" concept to be a little preachy. It's also an entirely gluten-free cookbook, which is a dietary restriction I'm grateful not to have (I think it makes baking especially difficult). I'm only willing to jump through all the gluten-free hoops if I'm cooking for someone who needs to eat GF, so most of the recipes for baked goods would be special-occasion-only in our house. All that aside, though, there are some great-looking recipes in here, and I definitely enjoyed Walters' version of tsimmes.

Fruits-and-Roots Tsimmes
adapted from Clean Start

1 tsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 C orange juice
8-10 C mixed root veggies, cut into 1-inch chunks (she suggests carrots, sweet potatoes, and parsnips)
1 yellow onion, sliced
10 pitted prunes, halved
1/2 C dried cherries
thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
1/4 C maple syrup
juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
peel from 1 lemon, roughly chopped
salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 375. Whisk a bit of the orange juice into cornstarch or arrowroot powder until it forms a paste. Whisk in the rest of the juice. Combine all ingredients (just use a few pinches of salt to start) in an oiled casserole dish. Cover, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover, stir, and bake another 15 minutes. Stir again, and bake for a final 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, stir again, add salt to taste, and serve.
serves 4-6

The pilaf is something I improvised to use up some farro I found in the back of the pantry.

Farro Pilaf
1.5 C farro (we get ours at the farmer's market from Bluebird Grain Farms)
8 C stock (or water plus bouillon)
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/2 C walnuts, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
juice from 1/2 lemon
generous grinding of pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
In a dry skillet, toast the farro for 4 minutes or so over medium-high heat. The grains will begin to brown and pop in the pan toward the end. Add the liquid, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 5o to 60 minutes. The grains should be tender (sadly, they will still be "squeaky"). Drain.

Toss with remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I found that this dish tasted best with a lot of pepper.) Serve warm.
serves 4-6

a recipe in search of a menu

2011-03-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

No menu this week, since I was gone for most of it. I'm back from my vacation, and was craving home-made food. I ended up making a comforting spicy-greens-with-buttermilk-grits recipe from Running with Tweezers. Awesomely, it required no shopping - I used powdered buttermilk, canned tomatoes, and some elderly kale that was hiding in the produce bin. The only change I made was to finish the grits with a bit of butter before serving. If we'd been a bit hungrier, we might have poached some eggs and put them on top, but for tonight, this really hit the spot.

from the "archives"

2011-03-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

It should be in the archives, anyway, as I made this soup back in October. I defrosted the leftovers and had them for dinner before my trip to Mexico. I thought I'd posted the recipe here, but apparently not. After much searching, here it is.

N.B. This soup improves enormously with a "rest" period - it is substantially better the next day (or even months later, if you are as bad about rotating frozen leftovers as I am).

Cauliflower and Bell Pepper Chowder
adapted from Cooking Light

1 Tbsp butter
4 large shallots, minced
1/2 C sliced celery
5 C home-made stock (veggie or chicken) or 5 C water plus Better Than Bouillon
1 head cauliflower, chopped
2 red or yellow bell peppers, chopped
1 C peeled and chopped red potato
bay leaf
1 C 2% milk
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp dried basil
1/4 C sour cream
Melt the butter in a soup pop over medium heat. Add shallots and celery. Cook 5 minutes or so, until softened. Add stock or water & bouillon and bring to a boil. Add cauliflower, bell pepper, potato, and bay leaf; return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potato is tender (about 20 min). Stir in milk and pepper; discard bay leaf.

Using an immersion blender, process until some of the soup is pureed, but leave a few chunky bits. Stir in basil and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.
serves 4

Winter (week of Feb 21)

2011-02-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

Monday: left-overs
Tuesday: brown rice; sauteed spinach; miso-topped tofu
Wednesday: brown rice; Massaman Curry with Tofu & Sweet Potatoes (curry paste from Thai Curry Simple); Ginger, Rum, and Coconut Sorbet
Thursday: left-overs
Friday: Baked Eggs
Saturday: take-out
Sunday: I'm in Mexico!

Dark-n-Stormy Sorbet

2011-02-23T20:05:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of an ice-cream person (all the milk fat gets in the way of the sugar - and I'm all about the sugar), but I love me some sorbets. I suddenly decided I *had* to make this recipe last night, then realised I was out of rum. I made it to the liquor store mere moments before they closed. Of course, making ice cream/sorbet/whatever isn't an immediate-gratification thing, so we had it with our dinner tonight. Yum!

Dark-n-Stormy Sorbet
Adapted from this recipe

24 ounces ginger beer, thoroughly chilled (I used Reed's extra-spicy)
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons demerara or turbinado sugar (or regular brown sugar)
1 cup coconut milk (I used "light" coconut milk)
1 Tablespoon key lime juice (I'm sure regular would be fine as well)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1/2 C finely shredded coconut flakes
2 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

In large bowl whisk together ginger beer and sugar till foam subsides and sugar is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. Whisk in coconut milk, lime juice, salt, and ginger. Mix in coconut.

Transfer mixture to ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. When sorbet is finished, slowly pour in rum and churn one minute longer. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm and scoopable.
makes about 1 pint

back to smoothies

2011-02-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

I am a little faddish about my breakfasts. These fads are personal to me, but I often eat the same thing for breakfast for weeks or even months. Certain things (like skinny ties?) come back time after time, while other things (jellies?) are popular for a while and then forgotten. Smoothies are a classic for me. For a long time, we had a mango-blueberry one every day; before that it was a strawberry-carrot smoothie (which I no longer quite remember how to make). Now is the time of the cinnamon pear smoothie, apparently.

Mango-Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie
1 C OJ
1 C mango chunks
1 1/2C frozen blueberries
1/2 block soft silken tofu
sweetener, if necessary/desired
serves 2

Cinnamon Pear Breakfast Smoothie
1 1/2 C OJ
1/2 pear, cut into chunks but not peeled
~~3/4~~ 1/2 C uncooked rolled oats (eta: I measured how much I'm adding, and it's slightly less than I'd guesstimated)
1 frozen banana
2 C spinach
1 tsp cinnamon
serves 1 generously

guess I should update my profile...

2011-02-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

I finally overcame my distaste for dissertating, finished my dissertation, and successfully defended it in late January. Crazy. Anyway, between the exciting (by which I mean "terrifying") run-up to the defense and Victor's long hours at work, there hasn't been much cooking around here. I'm slowly getting my cooking mojo back, though, and planning to post a bit more regularly. Of course, I'm heading off to Mexico in a little more than a week, so don't get your hopes up quite yet (and, to any potential internet baddies - Victor and our ferocious attack-cats will both be staying here in Seattle).

I had some folks over for a soup swap last night, so it feels fitting that I'd start posting again with that recipe. It's one I've made many times and keep returning to, because it is tasty, healthy, and easy.

Chipotle-Kissed Red Bean and Sweet Potato Chili
(adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow-Cooker)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 ½ lb sweet potatoes, cut into ½” chunks
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 15.5 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 ½ C cooked beans)
1 ½ C water
salt, to taste
1 Tbsp minced chipotle chiles in adobo

Heat the oil in a large skillet (if you’ll be using a slow-cooker) or in a heavy soup pot (if you’ll be cooking the chili on the stove). Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and a little salt, and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the sweet potatoes, and stir to coat with spices.

If using a slow-cooker, transfer the mixture to a large slow-cooker crock and add the tomatoes, beans, and water; otherwise, just add them to the pot you used to sweat the onions and garlic. Season with a bit more salt.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours in a slow-cooker or simmer for an hour (or so) on the stovetop, until potatoes are soft. Stir in the minced chiles (NOT the whole can) and salt to taste.
serves 4-6

not-at-all vegetarian roast veggie dinner

2010-11-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Monday: Roasted Cauliflower with Bacon & Garlic; roasted spicy sweet potatoes

This cauliflower recipe would be equally good with broccoli, I think, and with double the garlic. I cooked it at 425F instead of 375F because I wanted a hotter oven for the sweet potatoes.

I mixed a bunch of small sweet potatoes (quartered lengthwise) with 2 tsp of Penzey's Chili9000 and 2 tsp kosher salt, plus enough oil to moisten everything. I roasted them in a single layer for 15 minutes (if they were larger, I would do 20 minutes instead) and then flipped them and sprinkled them with a bit of brown sugar and a little more salt. (This is the point where I put the baking sheet with the cauliflower into the oven.) Then I roasted for an additional 20 minutes.

more laziness (now in dinner form)

2010-10-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Victor's been working through dinner a lot these days. (One day, his game will ship, and possibly I'll get to see my husband again. Oh happy day!) Usually I just make dinner and he takes leftovers to work for lunch the next day (his company generally provides them with dinner if there are many people around late enough for it).

It's not terribly fun, though, so sometimes I just have a snack-ish thing for dinner instead. Tonight it was crackers, cheese, and branston pickle. And since I'm making a renewed effort to keep track, last night I revisited the Sichuan Green Beans I made a while back. I did add more pepper, and it was good.

Wednesday: Sichuan Green Beans; brown rice
Thursday: snacks-for-dinner (cheddar, pickles, and crackers)

I have a strong suspicion that this whole "blog" thing would be more useful if I were less lazy. Oh well.

2010-10-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Monday: Sweet-and-Sour Lentils; whole-wheat couscous

Sometimes when I revisit an old recipe, one I used to make frequently, it's great and I wonder why I ever stopped making it. And then there are recipes that I wonder how the hell I ever thought it was worth my time to either make or eat. This one falls somewhere in between, although as I was reading it over to type up for this post*, I noticed that the header says "if you would like the dish sweeter, add a small amount of brown sugar or honey." Why, yes, I would like it sweeter. D'oh. So maybe I'll make it again, add some sweetener, and see if I can move the recipe firmly into the first camp.

Sweet-and-Sour Lentils
adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

1 1/2 C brown lentils, rinsed
2 C apple juice
1" piece ginger, peeled and grated
2 C water
1 C chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, grated or minced
1 C diced carrots
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1/2 can crushed pineapple
1/8 C brown sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
chopped scallions (garnish)
Combine lentils, juice, ginger, and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer (uncovered) 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on them near the end, and add some of the excess pineapple juice if they seem to be getting too dry.

Meanwhile, saute onions, garlic, and carrots in oil over medium-high heat until onions begin to soften (~5 minutes). Add pepper, squash, tomatoes, pineapple, and brown sugar. Cover and cook on low for another 10 minutes until just tender. Stir in soy sauce and vinegar. Garnish with scallions and serve.
serves 4-6

*I have a small, highly curmudgeonly pet-peeve about the word "blog." Seasonal Menus is my blog, the individual entries are "posts" or "blog posts," not "blogs." I know it's standard usage at this point, but I feel strongly on this issue. At least, strongly enough that I had to get it off my chest here, in this tiny footnote.

putting the "Sichuan" in the green beans

2010-09-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

We made a Cook's Illustrated version of Sichuan green beans this evening; for some reason, their Asian recipes always eliminate what they call the "foreign ingredients." (I suspect that anyone who's interested enough in cooking to attempt their recipes is more than capable of going to Penzey's and the asian section of the grocery store.) Anyway, I didn't change much in the recipe other than to replace the things that they used to replace Asian ingredients.

One of the substitutions I made was to use szechuan peppercorns instead of the called-for ground white pepper; I wasn't sure how much to use, however, and I think I didn't add enough. Next time - more pepper! The other substitution was that I used mirin instead of sherry, but I just did a straight-forward replacement there. It was great, and we're both looking forward to tweak it a bit in the future.

Sichuan Green Beans with Pork
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp (or so) szechuan peppercorns, freshly ground
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (either use very spicy ones next time, or increase the amount to 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp dry mustard
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 lb ground pork (they suggest substituting 4 oz shiitake mushrooms to make it vegetarian; I think this would be a great addition in general)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced or grated
3 scallions, sliced thinly
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
To make the sauce, whisk together the soy sauce through dry mustard.

Heat the oil in a large skilled over high heat. Add the beans and cook until tender with slightly shriveled and blackened skins (6-9 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl.

Reduce heat to medium-high and add the pork. Cook, breaking up the pork, until no pink remains. Add the garlic and ginger and continue stirring for another 30 seconds or so. Add the beans and the sauce (stirring if it looks like it started to separate) and cook until the sauce looks thickened a bit (just another few seconds). Remove from heat; add the scallions and sesame oil. Give it a final stir, and serve.
serves 2 as an entree

Early Fall Menu (week of Sept 12)

2010-09-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday: roast salmon with fennel & tomatoes
Monday: chicken puttanesca
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: pork with pan-roasted tomatoes
Thursday: espinacas con garbanzos
Friday: peanut-butter and banana smoothies
Saturday: Tolkien feast dinner (bread; cold meats; cheese; chanterelles with bacon; blackberry tart)

Late Summer Menu (Week of Aug 29)

2010-09-15T04:37:00.000-07:00

I've gotten so terrible about updating these! Here's one from a few weeks back that I apparently forgot to publish... oops!

Sunday: Salmon Roasted in Butter; Tomato, Basil, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad; Blueberries
Monday: slow-cooked ginger salmon; broccoli with crispy garlic & ginger; brown rice
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: roasted chicken; oven-roasted carrots & potatoes
Thursday: Savory Bread Pudding with Tomatoes and Herbs
Friday: out
Saturday: leftovers

blackberry-white nectarine jam

2010-09-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we went blackberry picking with a friend. We didn't have a tremendous amount of time, so our berry haul was slightly small, but the berries were at the perfect height of ripeness. I had planned to make Blackberry-Apricot Jam, but we were a little past apricot season here. There were some lovely white nectarines, though, so I used them instead. I also halved the recipe to accommodate my slightly smaller quantity of berries.

Using a food-mill (this is the one I got) to make the blackberry puree was surprisingly fast and easy. I am basically in love with the food mill now, and pretty much want to use it for everything.

blackberry-white nectarine jam

2 C nectarine puree
2 C blackberry pulp
2 C sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1 packet liquid pectin (half a box)
In a large saucepan, combine fruit and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, watching and stirring to avoid boiling over. Add cinnamon and lemon zest/juice and stir some more. After the mixture begins to thicken (perhaps 5-10 minutes longer), add the pectin and allow to boild vigorously for at least five more minutes.

Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
yield: 5 half-pint jars

the best applesauce ever

2010-09-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

When Victor and I got married, one of our friends (an extremely eccentric friend...) gave us some frozen applesauce as a wedding gift. It was his mom's homemade applesauce, so bonus points for that, but it was also two years old. We didn't eat it, and we completely didn't understand why he thought it was a reasonable gift. I made some applesauce tonight that almost makes me understand why he felt he was giving us something of such great value.

The "recipe" here is beyond simple and imprecise; I think the important things are getting really excellent apples and using a food mill. We used freshly-picked Gravensteins and my brand-new Oxo food mill (purchased for making a jam that I'll write about very soon). This combination made by far the best applesauce I've ever made or eaten (if I do say so myself). I'm not quite ready to gift it to someone for their wedding, but I no longer think that present was completely insane, either.

Simple Microwave Applesauce
some apples (I had about 2 lbs Gravensteins), quartered and cored (NOT peeled)
a splash of apple cider vinegar
a splash of water
a sprinkle of cinnamon (I actually used some pumpkin pie spice mix I had sitting around)
a sprinkle of sugar
Combine all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and cook on HIGH for 10 minutes, or until very mushy. Run through a food mill. Enjoy!

countdown to labor day

2010-09-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

I made Marisa's Sweet/Spicy Cucumber Pepper Relish the other day. It's great - as soon as I tried some, I began to imagine glopping it atop a grilled Hebrew National dog - *drool*. (I love all things sweet and vinegary, and believe there should be nearly as much relish as hotdog. These jars won't last long around here!) No changes to the recipe - it is perfect as-is!

Jello Night!

2010-08-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my knitting group (which meets at the fantastic Fiber Gallery on Tuesday evenings) had a Jello themed potluck. We were inspired by this sort of vintage recipe: http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/knox/4.html. Instead of doing something disturbingly glistening, though, I decided to go in another direction. In the comments for this recipe, someone complained that the panna cotta tasted like "milky jello" and another commenter pointed out that panna cotta is milky jello.

Confident that this met our theme, I played around with several recipes and came up with a Lemon-Lavender Panna Cotta. (I'm on something of a lemon-lavender binge at present.) It would be delicious with blueberry sauce, but I guessed (correctly, as it turned out) that there would be lots of other sweet creations to pair it with. (If you happen to have some, it went pretty well with Blueberry Jello Surprise.)

Lemon-Lavender Panna Cotta

4 C whole milk, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp unflavored gelatin
1 Tbsp dried culinary lavender buds
2 Tbsp grated organic lemon zest
3/4 C sugar
Sprinkle gelatin over 1 C of the milk in a small saucepan. Put the lavender in a cheesecloth pouch or tea ball. Let the milk & gelatin stand for 10 minutes.

Add the lavender and lemon zest and gently heat over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, whisking until gelatin dissolves. Keep stirring and increase heat to medium. Add the sugar and whisk some more, until the sugar dissolves.

Take off the heat and remove the lavender pouch, squeezing a bit to get more liquid out. Add the remaining 3 C milk and give the mixture one last good stir.

For an elegant presentation, pour into 8 6-oz ramekins and allow to chill at least 4 hours. When the mixture is completely set and chilled, invert each panna cotta onto a dessert plate. Pour berry sauce over the panna cotta, if desired. (For a potluck, it's much easier to just pour the hot mixture into a pretty serving bowl and scoop it out of there to serve after chilling.)
serves 6-8

post-farmers' market dinner

2010-08-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

Monday: Salmon Roasted in Butter; Tomato, Basil, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad; Blueberries

Wow, it's been a looooong time since I've posted anything. I guess summer is all about food that's so simple I don't need to write it down? Anyway, I have all kinds of tasty food stuff planned for the week (including some canning), and I have a feeling that our holiday weekend will include some pie-makin'.

We had quite the haul from the farmers' market, including an extra-large salmon fillet. We had planned to have salmon once this week (tomorrow), but had so much fish that we made a simple recipe with it (from Mark Bittman's Fish) in addition to a glorious late-summer tomato salad. We also scored some delicious blueberries from Sidhu Farms (which has consistently had the best blueberries at the market, IMO). The salad feels so simple that it's hardly worth writing down, but here 'tis:

Tomato, Basil, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad

1 large or two small, very ripe tomatoes, sliced into moderately thin wedges
2 oz fresh mozzarella (ours was from Golden Glen), sliced
1 handful fresh basil, chopped or snipped into small pieces
glug olive oil
generous drizzle balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste
Arrange the first three ingredients however appeals to your sense of food style on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil & balsamic; sprinkle with salt & freshly ground pepper.
serves 2 as a side

lemon cookies with lavender icing

2010-07-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

I've had an image in my mind of a very specific cookie. I think it had its origin in the lovely lemon crunch cookies at Sugar and was likely also inspired by the many desserts they have there that use lavender (sometimes paired with lemon, even). But what I wanted was more specific even than that: I wanted a pale yellow lemon-flavored sugar cookie with a light lavender frosting (in my mind, it was a delicate lilac color).

Finally last weekend I decided that I just had to have that cookie, and set about making one. I started with a variation of the Fannie Farmer sugar cookie recipe, because it had an egg (not all sugar cookies do) and I was pretty sure that was part of the texture of the cookie I craved:

Lemon Sugar Cookies
adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

1 stick butter, softened (1/4 lb)
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp lemon extract
grated zest from an organic lemon
1 Tbsp milk
1 1/4 C flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350F. Cream the butter, then add the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg, flavorings, zest, and milk. Beat until uniformly mixed. In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to the dough and blend well. Arrange by spoonfuls on cookie sheets, 1" or 1 1/2" apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned
yield: ~40 cookies

While the cookies cooled, I hunted up a recipe for lavender frosting (I used skim milk, but otherwise followed the recipe). I added a tiny bit of food coloring to get the look I was going for. Because I can't resist adding salt to things, I made a few with a sprinkling of pink Hawaiian salt on top. (The salt covered cookies were good, IMO, but not really what I was trying to make.)

Overall, it was a success - I've only made cookies a few times, so I was surprised that they turned out at all, much less that they were tasty. They weren't quite the cookies I'd been imagining (possibly because I didn't have lemon extract and subbed in fiori di sicilia instead), but they were pretty darn close.

Early Summer Menu II (week of June 27)

2010-07-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

Sunday: loads-of-veggies pilaf (Vegetarian Suppers)
Monday: slow-cooked ginger salmon; snap peas; brown rice
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: roasted chicken; braised kale with bacon; roasted carrots
Thursday: out
Friday: hoisin pork and "Asian" slaw (with thinly sliced radishes); ice-cream(!)
Saturday: lemongrass soup with tofu & rice noodles (Bittman)

Early Summer Menu (week of June 20)

2010-06-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Baked Eggs over Croutons; green salad
Monday: grilled veggie sausages & grilled green garlic; strawberry-rhubarb crumble
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: roasted chicken; baked sweet potatoes; braised kale
Thursday: stir-fried pork, broccoli, and green garlic; brown rice
Friday: skillet-seared tofu; oven-roasted asparagus (topped with miso sauce from tofu); brown rice
Saturday: out

strawberry extravaganza

2010-06-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

As I so often do, I ended up going a little overboard with the canning this weekend. This month's can jam is everything berries, and I'm thinking I should pick just one of the following recipes for my entry... it's so hard to decide, though! They all turned out wonderfully, but I think that the "oven-roasted strawberry jam with rosemary" is my favorite.

Two weeks ago, we went to our usual Sunday market, sampled strawberries from all the organic vendors, and found only one place with truly flavorful ones. (It's been so wet here that the berries are a little watery, I think.) Typically, they were also the most expensive strawberries at the market. I asked if they had any seconds, and it turns out that they bring all their seconds to the Saturday market and sell them by the bucket. With no idea what size that bucket was, we tentatively decided to go to the Saturday market the following weekend.

Here is what we ended up with on Saturday:

It wasn't labeled (other than with price - it was $20), and I neglected to weigh it or otherwise figure out precisely how much was in that big bucket. It took us about 3 hours to hull and quarter all the berries, enough to make 20 half-pint jars of jam, plus however many berries we ended up eating as we worked.

We spontaneously decided to break in our new pasta maker, so partway through the hulling process, Aaron came over and he and Victor made linguine:

(why didn't we cover the chairs? no idea)

Meanwhile, I divided the strawberries for different recipes and let them macerate. We ended up with:

5 x 8 oz jars Vanilla Strawberry Jam (I followed his recipe except that I added 1 split vanilla bean and its seeds during the maceration step)
2 x 8 oz jars Key-Lime Strawberry Jam (this recipe, but replacing the lemon juice with key-lime juice)
5 x 8 oz jars Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam (recipe follows)
4 x 8 oz jars Strawberry Preserves with Balsamic Vinegar and Black Pepper
4 x 8 oz jars Oven-Roasted Strawberry Jam with Rosemary (recipe follows)

For all but the oven-roasted jam, I used some Pomona's Pectin to thicken the liquid slightly. It still has a "European-style" lightly-gelled set, but I didn't need to fuss with it as much to get there. Because I hadn't originally intended to use the pectin, I ended up mixing the pectin power with just a few tablespoons of sugar and blending that in for the last few minutes of boiling. In a few cases that led to some clumping, so I think that in the future I'll try harder to remember to add it when I add the bulk of the sugar (prior to letting the strawberries macerate).

Lazy Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam
adapted from Saving the Season

My adaptations mostly had to do with forgetting to keep the rhubarb and strawberries separated during the maceration (hence the "lazy" in the recipe title).

1 lb rhubarb, sliced
1.5 lb strawberries, hulled and quartered lenthwise
2 C sugar (if using Pomona's Pectin, mix with 2 tsp pectin powder)
zest of half a lemon
1 Tbsp lemon juice
optional: 2 Tbsp Kirschwasser
optional: 2 tsp calcium water (only if you're using Pomona's Pectin - if you are, this comes with the pectin powder)
Toss prepared rhubarb and strawberries with sugar, zest, and juice. Allow to macerate at least an hour (mine sat for maybe 5 hours - overnight would be fine, too).

In a large sauce pan, cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring to prevent scorching. If you want a little fruity kick, add the Kirschwasser, too. (If you're using Pomona's Pectin, add the calcium water early in the cooking process.) During the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, stir with a whisk to break up the fruit into a sauce, if desired.

Ladle into hot prepared jars, seal, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
yield: 5 8-oz jars

Oven-Roasted Strawberry Jam with Rosemary
adapted from Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving

8 C strawberries, hulled and quartered lengthwise
4 C sugar
1/4 C lemon juice
4 sprigs clean fresh rosemary
Combine berries and sugar and allow to macerate, two hours (up to a day or so). Stir to mix in the sugar occasionally.

In a large saucepan, add lemon juice and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat a simmer, and continue cooking for 10 minutes.

Pour into two 13" x 9" pans, add two sprigs rosemary to each pan, and bake in a warm oven for 10-12 hours. (The directions say to use a 150F oven - the lowest my oven will do is 170F, so that's what I used. It worked fine. If using a convection oven, apparently the process only takes 2-4 hours.) Stir occasionally. Keep baking until the mixture has thickened and will form a gel.

Ladle into hot jars, seal, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
yield: 4 8-oz jars

perfect kale

2010-06-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Wednesday: roasted chicken; sweet potato spears; "braised" kale

The Zuni Cafe roast chicken recipe is pretty much the only one I use. Once in a while I'll dally with another technique for roasting the bird, but I always come back to this. It is especially good if you have time to let the chicken rest for three days before cooking, though two or even one day of rest will still give you a delicious dinner.

I don't bother with the herbs - I don't think their flavor gets into any of the meat that's not in direct contact with them. I also have decided that the pan drippings are put to better use in a gravy than in the bread salad she suggests (I say this even after having had the chicken/bread salad at Zuni in SF... it's good, but not worth giving up gravy for). I usually add some stock to the pan after I take the chicken out, but this time I made the gravy with some white wine we had in the fridge - definitely a tasty addition.

Last night we also roasted some sweet potatoes while the chicken cooked - they were tossed with olive oil/salt/pepper. I think I ended up having them in the oven for about half the chicken's cooking time. I'd also planned to make Michael Ruhlman's braised kale, but as I started cooking I realised two things: I didn't have most of the ingredients, and my 475F oven was likely too hot. What I came up with was probably the best kale I've ever eaten, though, so it all worked out in the end.

Kale with Guanciale
inspired by Michael Ruhlman's braised kale

hunk of guanciale, diced
two large bunches kale, cleaned and cut into strips (don't dry it - you want the residual water clinging to the leaves)
red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp honey
glug or two sherry vinegar
salt to taste
pepper to taste
In a large pan over medium-low heat, cook the guanciale until the fat is mostly rendered and the meat is beginning to crisp. Add the kale and turn the heat up to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, until it has started to wilt. Add a pinch or two of salt, a grind or two of pepper, and the red pepper flakes. Cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 15-30 minutes (honestly, I have no idea how long it was cooking for... until it looked done, I guess). When it's mostly cooked, add the honey and sherry. Cook off the liquid, taste, and add more salt or pepper as needed.
makes 3-4 servings

quick & easy Vietnamese chicken

2010-06-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

I went on a trip to the recently-relocated Elliot Bay bookstore a few weeks ago. I'm resisting buying more fiction, which I can get from the library, and instead focusing on things I'll reference again and again (like cookbooks!). The "bargain" section there was very well stocked, and I ended up buying three new books.

Quick & Easy Vietnamese is a book I've been meaning to get for a while, and so far it's been great. The first recipe I made from there - Lemongrass Chicken - was perfect & easy. The second - Chicken Stir-fried with Fresh Ginger - I loved but Victor pretty much hated. He felt like it had a "mentholated" flavor somehow; I think it must have been ginger overload. I'm looking forward to cooking more with it, since Vietnamese is mostly what we get when we go out to eat, and this book truly does make it simple. Yay!

Late Spring (week of June 6)

2010-06-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Ricotta Omelet (Vegetarian Suppers); steamed asparagus spears
Monday: Chicken & Ginger Stir-fry; garlicky chard
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: out
Thursday: left-overs
Friday: out
Saturday: picnic in the park

Spring II (week of May 30)

2010-06-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday: spicy asparagus soup; sweet potato, asparagus, and parmesan bread pudding; cherry crumble
Monday: hot dogs; peanut-radish slaw ; baked Pope's beans; sliced pickled shallots
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: Memorial Day leftovers; quinoa pudding
Thursday: more leftovers
Friday: lemongrass chicken; jasmine rice
Saturday: mashed potatoes and turnips with sauteed onions and greens (Vegetarian Suppers); improvised spicy asparagus risotto (using leftovers from Sunday)

pickles: an exercise in delayed gratification

2010-06-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Although I just missed the deadline for the asparagus portion of May's Can Jam, I did actually pickle a few jars. Of course, since they're still pickling, I have no idea how they taste. They sure do look pretty, though. (If the sun comes out in western WA again, I will take some photos.)

"Herbed Asparagus Pickles," adapted from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving: the only changes I made were that I used 12 oz jars, so the recipe only made 3 jars' worth of pickles and that I substituted baby Walla Walla onions for the shallots called for in the recipe.

post boot-camp breakfast

2010-06-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

I recently signed up for a "boot camp"-style fitness class at the local Y. It meets very early in the morning, so I don't eat much of anything beforehand (I just have a glass of milk). I'm hungry when I get back, but (so far at least) I mostly just want to fall down somewhere and not move for a while. This is a simple little meal that I can just sit down and eat: whole-wheat couscous cooked in orange juice (heat juice in microwave for about 2 minutes, add couscous, and let sit for 5 minutes). I add some dried cranberries and walnuts and top it off with some drained yogurt (which is similar to store-bought Greek yogurt, I think). With a sprinkle of cinnamon on top, it's quick, tasty, and nourishing.

memorial day 2010

2010-05-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Monday: hot dogs; peanut-radish slaw; baked Pope's beans; sliced pickled shallots

The sun finally peeked out a big Monday afternoon, just in time for us to grill some hot dogs (actually called "country dogs" by the farm that sells them at the market). I also made some slaw - I followed the recipe fairly closely, but I think some cilantro would be a good addition. We didn't have any, though, and it was still great.

I warmed up the kitchen a little bit by making baked beans based on my favorite lentil recipe. Although I didn't add any this time, I do frequently add some crisped bacon to this dish (just 2 strips).

"Barbecue" Baked Beans
adapted from Cooking Light

4 cups cooked beans (reserve 1 C or so of the cooking liquid)
1 onion, diced
2/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine beans and diced onion in a baking dish. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Pour the ketchup mixture over the bean mixture, stirring to combine.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 1 hour. If the beans are getting a little too dry, add some of the reserved cooking liquid.
serves 6-8

whew

2010-05-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday: spicy asparagus soup; sweet potato, asparagus, and parmesan bread pudding; cherry crumble

This was supposed to be a simple supper that kind of got out of control. My plan was to modify this recipe to use sweet potatoes and asparagus. We've been buying sweet potatoes at the farmer's market (this was the first year they were available); they are by far the most flavorful sweet potatoes I've ever eaten. (Note to self: next time I'm living somewhere with real garden space, grow sweet potatoes!!) And of course asparagus is way more spring-like than butternut squash is.

I roasted the sweet potatoes and then briefly sauted the asparagus before adding it to the pudding. (I was just using up some of the bread-based odds-and-ends from our freezer.) I bought too much asparagus, though, and so I had lots of asparagus (asparagi? asparaguses'?) ends AND more tips than I needed. I've been thinking of making asparagus broth, so I figured I'd give it a try and use the results as the base of a creamed asparagus soup.

I took the ends and simmered them in water to cover with a parmesan rind. After about 40 minutes, I strained out the solids. I sauteed some spring onions and some red pepper flakes in a little olive oil and then added the extra asparagus, which I cooked (lid on) for another 3-4 minutes. I added it back into the warm stock and simmered it all together for another 4 or 5 minutes. Then I pureed it (with an immersion blender). It was spicy, but, with apologies to Eugenia Bone, I didn't love the stock - maybe because I didn't follow her method. Better than Bouillon (chicken-flavored) to the rescue! With that added bit of salt and flavor, the soup was delicious. I think if I had started out simmering the asparagus stalks in chicken stock, that might also have done the trick.

This was the first week that we had cherries at the farmer's market. We just bought a few handfuls, so for dessert we pitted them and improvised a crumble, too.

Mid-Spring II (week of May 23)

2010-05-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday: slow-cooker pork shoulder with barbecue sauce; pita (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day)
Monday: eggs baked on a bed of croutons and mushrooms (Vegetarian Suppers)
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: apricot & chickpea salad (Urban Pantry); left-over pita
Thursday: left-overs
Friday: out
Saturday: sweet potato "falafel;" pita; herbed yogurt (from Urban Pantry)

baked eggs over croutons

2010-05-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Monday: baked eggs over croutons with mushrooms and asparagus.

Wow. Pretty much everything I've made from Vegetarian Suppers has been a success all around, and this was no exception. We made the recipe as directed and I dry sauteed some asparagus tips (left over from a chop salad last night - I only like to eat the stalks raw; the tips need cooking, IMO). The combination of flavors and textures pretty much knocked my socks off.

eggs baked on a bed of mushrooms and croutons with asparagus tips
adapted from Vegetarian Suppers

2 Tbsp butter, divided into halves
2 slices bread, cut into small cubes
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large finely diced shallot
1/2 lb mushrooms (cremini or portobello)
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 tsp chopped rosemary
salt & pepper
1 Tbsp tomato paste
3/4 C red wine
2-4 eggs (adjust to fit your appetites)
asparagus tips from ~2 lb asparagus
Preheat the oven to 400F. Prepare two shallow baking dishes (we used pasta bowls) by spraying with cooking spray or coating with butter.

Melt half the butter in a medium skillet, add the bread, and toss to coat. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until browned and crisp but not hard (8-10 min). Divide the croutons between the dishes and set skillet aside.

Over medium heat, melt the remaining half of the butter in a large skillet with the olive oil. Add shallot and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms and most of the herbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Saute until the mushrooms have started to brown, about 5 min. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the wine and use it to deglaze the pan. Lower heat and simmer until the sauce has reduced to about 1/4 C. Season with a bit more salt and pepper and divide the mushrooms between the dishes.

Meanwhile, heat your first skillet over medium heat with just a tiny bit of additional oil (or use a squirt of cooking spray). Cook the asparagus for about 10 minutes. You don't need to move it around in the pan until it starts to sizzle. The asparagus is done when it's tender and tasty.

Make a shallow depression in the center of each mushroom mound, and break 1 or 2 eggs in each dish. Add a bit more salt and pepper. Bake until the eggs are to your liking (about 15 minutes). Remove, sprinkle with the remaining herbs and maybe a bit more salt and fresh-ground pepper, and serve.
makes 2 servings

Mid-Spring Menu

2010-05-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday: fried rice (Victor's own recipe...); vanilla quinoa pudding
Monday: skillet-seared tofu; oven-roasted asparagus (topped with miso sauce from tofu); rice
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: lentils; eggs; bread (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day)
Thursday: Aloo Paratha (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day)
Friday: spiced kibbe & herbed yogurt (both from Urban Pantry); pita (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day); red pepper sticks
Saturday: leftovers

red-hot rhubarb

2010-05-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well, not really red hot, but very cinnamon-y nonetheless. This cinnamon-rhubarb jam was my favorite of the quartet of rhubarb preserves I put up last August. For some reason, that batch of jam set up very hard, but this year's didn't. Whatever - I love cinnamon, and I love this jam. The last jar disappeared a few weeks ago, so I'm happy to have it back in stock, so to speak. This month's Can Jam (which called for either rhubarb or asparagus) was a great opportunity to make it again. (I actually am planning to make something with asparagus, too, but won't have a chance until the weekend.)

One thing to note - it definitely does get spicier as it ages, so that the last batch was, by the end, really quite hot. If you're not a fan of strong cinnamon flavors, I'd recommend eating within six months or so (or don't add the cinnamon sticks to the jars prior to canning).

Rhubarb and Cinnamon Jam
adapted from Sensational Preserves

2 lbs rhubarb, sliced
2 lb sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
juice of 1 lemon
Stir the rhubarb and sugar together in a nonmetallic bowl, cover, and let macerate in refrigerator overnight. Transfer to a saucepan and add the cinnamon and juice. Heat over medium heat, stirring often, until sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to a boil; boil for 15-20 minutes until the setting point is reached (220F). Remove the cinnamon sticks, put one in each jar, and ladle jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 in headspace. Process in boiling water canner for 15 minutes.
yield: about 4 half-pint jars

slow-cooker compote

2010-05-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

We made this compote as the finish to a simple Sunday supper menu. Simple, yes, but with many different dishes. Given the demands on our time (and on our stove), it seemed best to leave the dessert to the crock-pot. One of the guests brought the ice cream to go with it, and we served the compote warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb-Strawberry-Vanilla Bean Compote
adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker

1/4 c OJ
1 c sugar
1 lb rhubarb, sliced
1 vanilla bean, cut in half & seeds scraped out
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 pints strawberries, hulled & cut in half
Combine orange juice through vanilla bean (with its seeds) in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 3-4 hours. Add the lemon juice and berries and stir to distribute. Continue cooking on LOW for up to another hour (though you can just mix in the strawberries and serve, I thought they were better cooked a bit).
serves 6-8

Vegetarian Borsht

2010-05-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

This Borsht (she spells it "Borshch") was absolutely incredible the day I made it. Neither of us liked the leftovers all that much, however, and it makes a truly heroic quantity of soup. Plus, it's a ton of chopping (even if you use a food processor, which I did). Unclear whether I'll make it again at some point.

Vegetarian Borshch
adapted from The Winter Vegetarian

2 large onions, peeled & finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled & minced
1 large carrot, peeled & finely chopped
1 parsnip, peeled & finely chopped
1 turnip, peeled & finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
6 medium beets (1 1/2 lb), peeled & finely chopped
3 medium potatoes, peeled & finely chopped
1 small celery root (1/4 lb), peeled & finely chopped
1 lb cabbage, shredded
1 c pitted brine-cured black olives (I consider this an optional ingredient, but add more salt if you omit it)
1 tart apple, peeled, cored, & finely chopped
8 C water
1 28-oz can tomatoes in puree
2 Tbsp tomato paste
10 black peppercorns
3 allspice berries
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
minced fresh dill (as a garnish)
sour cream (as a garnish)
In a huge stockpot, saute the onions, garlic, carrot, parsnip, and turnip in the oil until soft. Stir in beets through salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat a simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice and pepper. Serve hot, garnished with dill and sour cream.
serves 10-12

miso miso miso

2010-05-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Monday: skillet-seared tofu; oven-roasted asparagus (topped with miso sauce from tofu); rice

Before you begin messing with the tofu, start the oven preheating to 400F. Wash and trim the asparagus (if I can find really fat stalks, I trim a bit off the bottom and then peel them as high up the stalk as seems necessary - I test by just eating some of the fresh asparagus and seeing if it's fibrous). Toss with some olive or peanut oil and a bit of salt and pepper.

While you're making the tofu and its miso sauce, roast the asparagus. After it's softened but not quite done (about 10 minutes), remove from oven and top with a thick-ish layer of the sauce. Continue roasting for another 5-7 minutes, until sauce looks cooked (and maybe even blackened in a few places) but not burnt.

Urban Pantry

2010-05-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, I love this book. I just got it from the library and I've already made one thing out of it, even though it completely didn't fit with the meal we were having. Fried rice followed by vanilla-quinoa pudding? The combination was a little weird, yes, but oh-so-good.

I think I must share a similar palate and a similar sensibility with the author - I want to make every single recipe in the book AND I love her down-to-earth approach to eating. I'm not actively looking to adopt a particular eating philosophy (beyond being very much pro-home-cooking), but "thrifty, sustainable, and seasonal" (the book's sub-title) definitely matches up with where I'm at right now, food-wise.

Take the pudding, for example. Pennington writes that she loves the flavor of "rich cinnamon-scented rice pudding" but that white rice really doesn't work for her - "not nutrient-dense enough." I couldn't agree more. This recipe isn't health-food, exactly (it is dessert, after all), but I don't feel guilty eating it, either. Also: yum! I made a few additions, and I'll likely continue to tweak it. This is definitely a recipe I'll be making again, and soon.

Vanilla Quinoa Pudding
adapted from The Urban Pantry

1 C quinoa, washed and rinsed VERY well
3 C milk (I used a combination of skim and half-and-half, since I needed to use up the half-and-half, and we don't have whole milk in the house - she calls for whole milk)
1 vanilla bean, split, beans scraped into pot (I saved the bean and put it in a jar of sugar for vanilla sugar...)
1/8 tsp orange flower water
pinch kosher salt
1/4 C raisins
1/2 C sugar
1 cinnamon stick
Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan and bring to a low boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes (stir occasionally to prevent scorching). Remove from heat and allow to rest, lid on, for another 30 minutes. Serve warm.
makes 4-6 servings

update 5/17/10: it also makes a delicious breakfast the next day!

Spring Menu w/ Sunday Supper

2010-05-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

Sunday: sauerbraten; mashed potatoes; garlicky greens; skillet green onions; gougeres; rhubarb-strawberry-vanilla compote with vanilla ice cream (compote from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker)
Monday: roasted spicy sweet potatoes; roasted asparagus
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: bulgur salad; hot dogs
Thursday: chicken paprikash; egg noodles
Friday: stir-fried pork with green garlic; rice
Saturday: leftovers

Onion-Topped Pot Roast

2010-05-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Onion-Topped Pot Roast
(adapted from Cooking Light Five-Star Recipes)

2-lb lean, boneless bottom round roast
(cooking spray)
fresh-ground pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 c coarsely chopped onion
1/2 c dry red wine
1/2 c beef broth OR beef bouillon equivalent (I use "better than bouillon," which is a paste...)
1/4 C no-salt tomato juice (or just use a Tbsp or so tomato paste)
1/2 tsp salt
1 C water
18 small round red potatoes (or another kind to total about 1 1/2 lb)
1/2 pound carrots cut into sticks (or baby carrots, which is what the recipe actually calls for)

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a food processor (the recipe says to use the "knife blade," whatever that is), process garlic for 5 seconds. Add onions and process for 1 minute or until smooth.

Coat an oven-proof Dutch oven with cooking spray; pace over medium-high heat until hot. Add roast, and brown on all sides (8-10 minutes). Remove roast and sprinkle with pepper; spread the onion puree over the roast. Return roast to dutch oven and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour.

After an hour, add the wine, beef broth, tomato juice or paste, and salt. COVER and bake for 2 1/2 more hours.

After 2 1/2 hours, add water (pouring around edges of roast, NOT over it), potatoes, and carrots. Re-cover and bake 1 more hour, or until tender. (Total of about 4 1/2 hours baking time.)

serves 6

Early Spring Menu

2010-05-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Chinese beef barley soup
Monday: bulgur salad
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: Beans with Caramelized Onions and Bacon (Heirloom Beans); cornbread (Art of Simple Food); garlicky greens
Thursday: skillet-seared tofu; oven-roasted asparagus; rice (tofu & sauce from Madison's Vegetarian Suppers)
Friday: out
Saturday: leftovers

we made it, and it was good

2010-04-27T23:29:00.000-07:00

Tuesday:
Coconut Red Lentil & Split Pea Soup

I made it exactly as directed, but in the future, I'd probably make it without the split peas. I normally like them, but in this soup they just didn't do it for me.

I think it's actually spring now

2010-04-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

I feel like this is the first real spring recipe I've made this year. Hello, Spring 2010 - I am so very glad to see you!

I love going to the farmer's market and letting a menu fall into place while I'm there, but that's not really possible during the winter. This recipe is the first thing I've just thrown together with farmer's market finds and stuff we have on hand.

Morels and Asparagus with Pasta
inspired by this recipe

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp butter
1 bunch green garlic, white parts only, sliced
1/2 lb fresh morels, cleaned and sliced
1/2 water + 3/4 tsp "better-than-bouillon" (or 1/2 C broth)
1/4 C 2% milk
3/4 tsp Wondra (or flour)
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and the butter. Saute the green garlic and morels until the mushrooms have released their liquid and it's mostly cooked off (about 5-10 min).

Add asparagus and water or broth to the pan (if using bouillon, add it now, too). Simmer, covered, for 4 minutes or so (asparagus should be crisp-tender). Meanwhile, mix the Wondra or flour into the milk.

Add milk mixture and tarragon and continue cooking, uncovered, until the sauce has thickened (2-4 minutes more). Season to taste and serve over pasta.
serves 2 if you want lots of veggies with your pasta

early spring recipe round-up

2010-04-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

This probably won't be very interesting for anyone actually trying to read this blog, but it's useful for me to be able to find the recipes later. Here's what I've been making that I liked enough to make again:

Onion-Topped Pot Roast (Cooking Light Five-Star Recipes)
Vegetarian Borsht (Winter Vegetarian)
Roasted Spiced Sweet Potatoes (Smitten Kitchen)
Garlicky Greens (101 Cookbooks)
Kabocha French Lentil Soup (101 Cookbooks)
Mushroom Bourguignon (Smitten Kitchen)
Southwestern Pulled Brisket (Smitten Kitchen)
Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Soup (Cook Local)
Beans with Caramelized Onions and Bacon (Heirloom Beans)
Sweet Potato Noodle Kugel (Cooking Light)

Roasted Tangelo Marmalade with Rosemary

2010-04-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

I'm not 100% sure that this "counts" for this month's Can Jam, but it's what I've had time to make this month. Also, it came out incredibly well, so it's worth sharing either way. (I was hoping my mint would be up so that I could make a lemon-mint concentrate syrup for the Can Jam, but our cold weather thwarted me.)

One of my very kind friends sent me some ultra-fresh citrus all the way from Arizona! I started a batch of preserved lemons and made this marmalade with the amazing tangelos she sent. I ended up making several batches.

The first one I overcooked, so that it darkened and caramelized slightly, but I have to admit that it's my favorite. It has an almost nutty quality that's incredible with the rosemary; I'm planning to use most of that batch as hamantashen filling since it also ended up being quite thick. I can't wait to have my dissertation finished so that I can get to the baking - I'm really eager to try the resulting cookies.

I also made a batch with thyme sprigs instead of the rosemary, but I haven't tried any of that yet.

Roasted Tangelo Marmalade with Rosemary
My recipe is adapted from this one.

2 lb tangelos, scrubbed
1/2 C sugar per C of chopped citrus and juice (about 3 C)
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
clean rosemary sprigs (1 per jar)
Roasting:
Cut tangelos in half, pick out the seeds, and put them cut-side down in a pan or cookie sheet(s). Roast in a 400F oven for 25 minutes (uncovered). Remove from the oven and let cool.

Making the marmalade, day 1:
When the tangelos have cooled, cut or dice them (peel and pulp) into shreds or very small (approximately 1/4-inch) rough cubes. Measure the chopped citrus and juice together. You should have about 3 cups. For each cup of chopped fruit and juice, measure into a large pot 1 1/2 cups of water.

Bring the citrus/water mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to stand overnight (or at least 12 hours).

Making the marmalade, day 2:
For every cup of the fruit pulp and liquid , add ½ C sugar. Add the fresh lemon juice. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Allow to boil until marmalade jells. This will probably take about 30 minutes – stir it occasionally until it sets, both to check the set and to prevent it from scorching on the bottom.

When the marmalade has jelled, ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add one rosemary sprig to each jar. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Makes approximately 6 half-pint (1 cup) jars.

pickled shallots

2010-03-13T14:28:00.000-08:00

Back to pickling! I had this recipe bookmarked even before learning what this month's Can Jam ingredient was. We have a sort-of CSA at the farmer's market (we write them a check for $300 and get $400 in "store credit"). The farm that we have this arrangement with specializes in alliums, especially garlic. Their shallots are pretty great, too, so I used a variation on The River Cottage Preserves Handbook's pickled onion recipe to make these pickles.

Pickled Shallots with Red & White Wine Vinegars
adapted from The River Cottage Preserves Handbook & the Ball Blue Book

about 2.25 lb small shallots, peeled
50g fine salt
300ml / ~1.5 C red wine vinegar (I used a cabernet vinegar)
300ml / ~1.5 C white wine vinegar (I used champagne vinegar)
150g honey or sugar (I used honey)
25g scrubbed ginger, cut into coins
2 tsp allspice berries (I ended up substituting 3 tsp of pickling spices for the allspice, mace, and mustard)
2-3 mace blades
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
(If you find you have trouble peeling the shallots - they can really be little buggers - try plunging them into boiling water for 20 seconds and then immediately plunging into ice water. They should then peel more easily... though they're still tedious to peel.)

Pour the vinegars into a pan with the honey or sugar, ginger, and all spices other than bay leaves. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to infuse overnight.

Meanwhile, put the shallots into a dish and sprinkle with the salt. Cover and leave overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat brine to a boil. Rinse the onions in cold water, drain, and add to brine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Pack into jars.

Pour hot liquid over shallots, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Allow pickles to mature for at least 6 weeks before eating.

yield: about 4 C (I ended up with 2 pt jars and 1 1/2 pt jar)

ETA on May 18, 2010: I finally tried the pickles - they're very tasty, and the perfect accompaniment to grilled hot dogs and burgers.

Monday: Sausages; Marinara Sauce; Polenta

2010-03-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Monday: Sausages; Marinara Sauce; Polenta

Monday's meal was similar to this summer one, except that I actually did take the time to make the polenta. For a while we ate this (or something similar) about once a week, but we've been eating so much other meat recently that I've been skipping it. Still, yummy comfort food is yummy.

I made the polenta a little looser than I often do, so that it stayed more porridge-like when it was re-heated for our lunches the next day.

Polenta

5 C water
1 C polenta
~ tsp salt
olive oil
parmesan
Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the polenta and salt, continuing to stir until the polenta no longer falls to the bottom of the pan when you stop stirring. Continue to simmer over low heat until cooked to your liking, 30-60 minutes. Stir in some olive oil and parmesan for flavoring and serve.
serves about 4

spring-ish

2010-02-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Mushroom Bourguignon with Pappardelle

I sometimes wonder if I completely fail as a foodie because I can't pronounce French words. At all. You don't even want to hear my attempt to say the name of this dish.

Anyway, it's a good "bridge" meal. Here in Seattle we are well on our way to spring (I was able to use fresh chives and parsley from my own tiny garden!), but it's still quite brisk at night. This mushroom bourguignon isn't as rich and heavy as the beef version, but it's not exactly a dish that screams "springtime!" either. What it is, though, is delicious. Highly, highly recommended.

One note - Deb suggests this as a simple weeknight dinner, which it's not. It took more than an hour and a half, start-to-finish. Part of that may have been the cremini mushrooms I used, since I'm sure they required more prep time than portobellos would have. However, I used frozen pearl onions, so I didn't need to spend the extra time peeling all those wee alliums. Much of the time is hands-off, so it's not really a very intensive dish, but if I had to make it after work I would resort to frozen dumplings. YMMV.

Recovery

2010-02-27T22:52:00.000-08:00

Not much cooking going on around here - I had some (very minor, I swear!) surgery and the recovery's had me not eating much, and not cooking at all.

Victor did make some tasty things as I was starting to feel better, though - this Southern Pulled Brisket recipe (with home-made hamburger buns & quick pickles, because I have the best husband ever) and also some Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup, using some of our extra-special lentils from Big John's PFI. Neither of us remembers what kind of lentils he used, except that they were the yellow-ish ones, and they fell apart just as red lentils normally do. Anyway, it was all delish, and just what I needed to get myself feeling more like myself again.

just can't stop jammin'

2010-02-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

Even though I promised myself I'd focus mainly on pickles for the can jam, there's a recipe for sweet carrot preserves in one of my cookbooks that I've wanted to try for some time. I only made one minor modification - I used half a vanilla bean, too, because what I had in mind has more richness than the recipe looked like it would have. It's a very small batch recipe, so I think I might experiment with it some more in the future - I think next time I might use brown sugar instead of the white, as I'm picturing a very rich and flavorful jam. This batch was almost there, but not quite.

Angel's Hair
adapted from Sensational Preserves

10 oz carrots, peeled and grated to yield about 1 1/2 C
1 1/4 C sugar
1 large lemon
3 white cardamom pods, split
1/2 vanilla bean, split
In a medium sauce pan, mix the carrots and sugar together. Add the cardamom and vanilla bean. Cut the lemon peel into thin strips, squeeze the juice from the lemon, and put both the peel and the juice into the pot, too.

Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, then boil for 10 minutes or so until very thick. Skim with a slotted spoon.

Spoon the jam into warm, clean, dry jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

yield: about 1 half-pint jar

your house will smell amazing!

2010-02-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

Although this year I've resolved to "put up" more pickles and whole fruits, I still have a lot of jams and sweet preserves from last year (and a few from the year before that, truth be told). I'm trying to use them in new ways. One I hadn't really thought of previously is in baking, but when I saw this recipe for Marmalade Gingerbread, I knew the Lemon-Ginger Marmalade I canned last winter would be perfect for it.

I brought a loaf with me to the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat (which I've gone to every year I've been in Washington); the gingerbread was a hit with my knitting buddies.

Marmalade Gingerbread
adapted from Sensational Preserves

1 1/4 C dark brown sugar
1 1/4 C skim milk
1/2 C butter, melted
1/2 C unsweetened applesauce *
2/3 C marmalade (any kind - each will be a bit different, obviously, but all should work, including store-bought) *
3 C all-purpose flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 large eggs, beaten
7 pieces preserved ginger in syrup, chopped *
2/3 C plump raisins
Preheat oven to 310F. Prepare two loaf pans (I use baking spray with flour) and set aside.

Mix the milk and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Add melted butter, marmalade, and applesauce, stirring until marmalade dissolves. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients together and form a well in the center. Mix the marmalade mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring to make a smooth batter. Stir in the eggs. Stir in the chopped ginger and raisins.

Pour into your prepared pans and bake for 60-90 minutes, until risen and firm to the touch in the center. Leave to cool in the pan.

Store in an airtight container. From the recipe's headnotes: "This gingerbread is best kept for a couple of days before being eaten."

makes 2 full-sized loaves

* If you have some home-canned versions of these, this would be a great recipe to use them in.

Winter II (Week of Feb 7)

2010-02-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Plumped Ginger-Caramel Shrimp with brown jasmine rice
Monday: Ginger Fried Rice with a Fried Egg
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: Red Curry with Winter Veggies; brown rice
Thursday: braised chicken; oven-roasted russet potatoes
Friday: out
Saturday: out

from the freezer

2010-02-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday: braised chicken; oven-roasted russet potatoes

I have some kind of weird hyper-sensitivity to potato skins, so I've had to give up eating them. I miss them, and am always looking for ways to "dress up" my poor naked potatoes. I ran across this simple method for improving oven-roasted potatoes, and immediately made plans to make them that way for dinner. They were great! Next time I think I'll toss them with more oil (I added a glug before I shook them in the pan after parboiling) and I think I'll cook 'em at 425F rather than 450F.

The chicken (frozen leftovers from an earlier dinner) was a lovely "sauce" for the potatoes.

winter in the PNW curry

2010-02-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

Wednesday: Red Curry with Winter Veggies; brown rice

This recipe ended up being a lot more work than I initially thought it would. I made some changes to cut down on that, and am changing the order of preparation around a bit so that it's easier to have everything ready to go at the right moment. Beyond that, I feel like, if I'm going to put this much time into making a curry, I should probably make the curry paste from scratch. Live and learn. It was tasty, though not amazing.

Red Curry with Winter Veggies
adapted from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen
time, start to finish: about 1 hour

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 bunch kale, chopped
1 carton firm tofu in water, drained, patted dry, and cut into 1" cubes
1 can coconut milk
1 C water
2 tsp Thai red curry paste
1/2 C chopped cilantro, plus some sprigs for garnish
2 tsp peanut oil
salt
2-3 tsp soy sauce
6 large shallots, peeled and sliced into rounds
sugar
1 lime, cut into wedges
small handful roasted peanuts, chopped
Steam sweet potatoes & kale until the potatoes are softened (10-20 minutes over boiling water, or about 10 minutes in the microwave).

Meanwhile, cook the tofu: heat a large nonstick skilled over medium heat with a little cooking spray in the pan. Let them sit for about 5 minutes without moving them, then turn them over (I do this one at a time carefully using my fingers - YMMV). Cook for another 2 minutes or so, until they're starting to look like a lot of the water has been cooked out. Turn again, and cook for another minute. The sides that have been cooked should be golden brown. Sprinkle salt and soy sauce over them, and cook for another few minutes until the soy sauce is pretty well evaporated and the tofu cubes have a soy sauce glaze.

In a large saute pan, heat the coconut milk, water, and curry paste. Whisk the mixture to fully break up the curry paste. Once it's come to a simmer, stir in the (drained) sweet potatoes and kale, the chopped cilantro, and the tofu cubes. Continue to simmer over low heat while you prepare the shallots.

Wipe out your nonstick pan and heat it again over medium-high heat. Heat the peanut oil and add the shallots. Sprinkle with a little salt and sugar and caramelize them slightly (about 8-10 minutes). When caramelized, mix into the simmering curry.

Serve over rice, with lime wedges, a bit more cilantro, and more salt and/or sugar, to taste.

serves 4

catching up

2010-02-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

I'm back from Boston, where I spent my time whipping up a variety of freezable meals, had a fantastic meal at Hungry Mother, and generally had a lovely time.

Cooking has been a bit light around here, and will continue to be so for a while. I'm finishing the writing on my doctoral thesis, and much as I'd love to escape to the kitchen, I need to focus on that for a while. Here's what we've been up to food-wise this week:

Sunday: Plumped Ginger-Caramel Shrimp; brown jasmine rice

This is, so far, the only shrimp recipe I've used. Eating seafood is a relatively new thing for me, and I still am somewhat hesitant to cook it. This was my second time making it, and it was (again) delicious. I made a 1/3 recipe:

Plumped Ginger-Caramel Shrimp
adapted from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper

for the brine:
1/2 C kosher salt
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C medium-hot chile powder
2 qts water (warm if using frozen shrimp, cold if using fresh)
1 1/2 lb shrimp (in or out of their shells)
In a medium bowl, mix together the non-shrimp brine ingredients. Add the shrimp, and let stand for 20 minutes while you chop the other ingredients (at room temp for frozen shrimp, and in the fridge for fresh).

for the saute:
4 large garlic cloves, grated
4" piece ginger, peeled and grated (you could mince both this & the garlic, but I like to use my microplane on 'em)
1/4 C vegetable oil
a few grinds of black pepper
a sprinkle of salt
4 tsp sugar
After they've been brining for 20 minutes, drain the shrimp. Peel them if necessary and pat them dry. Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic, ginger, pepper, and salt. Cook for about a minute, stirring to let all the aromatics come into contact with the hot oil. Add the sugar and keep cooking until the garlic is pale gold - the line between slightly darkened and burnt is a fine one in this dish, so be watchful. Drop in the shrimp and stir for another 2 minutes or so, until the shrimp are turning pink and are barely firm.
serves 4, very generously

The brown rice was partly a chance to play with my new toy - a rice maker that will cook it! Our old Zojirushi was wonderful, but basically couldn't cope with brown rice. The new one is smaller (we just got a 3C, since I found a fabulous deal on that size), but still makes enough rice for 4 people. Or for the two of us, plus enough leftovers for fried rice the next day:

Monday: Ginger Fried Rice with a Fried Egg

Victor made this - it was amazingly good and didn't seem to take too long. Definitely an addition to our regular rotation, since it has a lot of room for improvisation, but the crispy bits of garlic and ginger really take this particular version beyond most fried rice recipes. For this time, though, he just made the recipe as detailed on Smitten Kitchen.

Winter (week of January 24)

2010-02-05T23:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday: ribollita; rye bread
Monday: Spicy Basil Chicken; kalijira rice
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: linguine with marinara
Thursday: out
Friday: vegetarian borscht
Saturday: on vacation(!)

whoops

2010-01-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

I made a crazy amount of soup tonight, and have lots to say about it, and the book I got the recipe from, but it's time for me to run off to Boston for a while. I'll be back in a week!

developing your "kitchen ecosystem"

2010-01-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned Eugenia Bone's post on "kitchen ecosystems" before; it is an excellent article.

I was really excited when I read her post, because it sums up so many of the things that make cooking from scratch much easier and simpler. There's an ebb and flow to what you're doing, and you need to be fairly nimble and flexible, but beyond that you need to find specific things that work for you. There are a lot of pantry "must-have" lists out there, and for a long time (especially when I wasn't cooking without recipes but wanted to start) I tried to follow their guidelines.

After spending a lot of time cooking - much of it from scratch, often without a real recipe - I've decided that those lists have it exactly backwards. The writer's "go-to" kitchen staples probably aren't yours, and even if they might some day be things you'd use, they're not worth stocking if you don't know what to do with them right now.

I think it makes a lot more sense to cook a lot and get a feel for the types of things you use on a regular basis. When you can think of one or two things like that, by all means stock up!

Or better yet, focus on playing with those ingredients: maybe you do a lot of cooking with beans. You could buy a lot of canned beans when you see them on sale, or you could buy some dried ones and cook up a big batch one weekend. Divide them into "can-sized" portions, if that's how most of the recipes you currently use are written (1 2/3 C cooked beans (from scratch) = 1 can beans), and freeze. Maybe get those beans from your local farmer's market ("fresh" dried beans are really worth the effort to find, if that's possible for you), or maybe you buy some cheap ones from the supermarket. Either way, do that a few times with different beans and you have the backbone of your cooking - and you'll be well on your way to a vibrant kitchen ecosystem of your own.

thai-ish

2010-01-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

Monday: Spicy Basil Chicken; kalijira rice

First, a quick note about the rice - kalijira, a tiny and aromatic rice, is from Bangladesh, which currently has banned rice exports. While good for the people of Bangladesh (... I hope!), since it will theoretically make rice more affordable there, it is sad for me. I love kalijira rice probably more than is reasonable, and it's very very difficult to get in the U.S. right now. We still have a small amount, and while I *could* just eat it unadorned (truly, it is a wonderfully tasty rice), I made some for dinner tonight.

The chicken was adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe. Their method is fairly involved; below is my version:

Spicy Basil Chicken
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

2 C fresh basil leaves (tightly packed), divided
3 peeled garlic cloves, cut in half
6 red thai chiles, stemmed and cut in half (if you want to make the dish less spicy - and it is pretty hot - seed them, too)
2 Tbsp fish sauce, divided
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp white vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (either breasts or thighs), cut into medium pieces
3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (between 3/4 & 1 C total)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
In a food processor, process half the basil, plus the garlic and chiles until finely chopped, but not a paste (10 or so pulses). Mix together just a Tbsp of the basil mixture, half the fish sauce, and the soy sauce and vinegar; set aside.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add the basil mixture from the food processor (you don't need to clean it out, or even scrape it very thoroughly). Add the shallots, too. Sprinkle with the sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are starting to brown (about 10 minutes).

Process the chicken and the remaining fish sauce (1 Tbsp) in the processor until the meat is in small pieces, but not a paste (about 8 pulses). Once the shallots are browned a bit, add the chicken and cook until most of the pink is gone, breaking up the pieces with a spatula (3-4 minutes). Add the basil, fish sauce, etc. mixture to the pan and cook until the chicken is no longer pink, stirring as needed (1-2 minutes). Stir in the remaining basil and cook until the basil is just wilted (about 1 minute).
serves about 3 (just add a bit more chicken if you have a 4th person)

freezer-clearing ribollita

2010-01-24T23:08:00.000-08:00

Sunday: ribollita; rye bread

Heidi's post about her ribollita recipe touches on the "kitchen ecosystem." I'm comforted to see other people who have an ecosystem similar to mine, and it was especially useful here, as the ribollita ended up being essentially a "pantry meal" for me.

The only changes I made to her recipe were to use chicken stock in place of the water (although some day I aspire to have a pressure canner and have lots of homemade stock in the actual pantry, it instead came from the freezer) and to amp up the umami with a parmesan rind, 2 Tbsp of tomato paste, and a sprinkle of fish sauce.

We took it to a pot-luck game night at a friend's house, and it seemed to be a hit. It didn't quite do it for me. I thought it still was somewhat bland even after my additions; I probably won't make it again.

I also made a loaf of the rye bread from the new Artisan Bread in Five Minutes book. Yum!

piroshki eat you!

2010-01-23T21:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday: piroshki!

Since Victor was the one who first introduced me to piroshki (as opposed to pierogies, which I grew up eating), it seems only fitting that he was the one to decide that we should make our own piroshki. Although Seattle has some kickin' piroshki options, we both miss St. Paul's funky-yet-awesome Russian Tea House, so this is something of a nostalgia thing for us, I guess.

Victor also was the one who ended up making them from start to finish. He combined two recipes to begin to approximate the Russian Tea House ones, which are somewhat doughy and beefy. The filling is from this recipe; the dough from this one (we were skeptical about the "sunshine sauce" and skipped it entirely).

They were delicious and made the house smell wonderful. Seattle's on track to have its warmest January ever recorded, so we didn't really need this hearty winter fare, but it was comforting nonetheless.

Mid-Winter (week of Jan 17)

2010-01-23T20:21:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Miso-Topped Seared Tofu; Garlicky Kale; rice
Monday: Chicken with Peach Chutney; roasted brussels sprouts; rutabaga & potato mash
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: Strip Steak with garlic puree; stove-top beet slices; garlic bread; home-canned peaches in light syrup
Thursday: out
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: Piroshki!

hot buttery lemon!

2010-01-22T21:11:00.000-08:00

I had a very full night of cooking this evening: when I read Heidi's post about her freezer-clearing Ribollita, I was inspired to clear out my own freezer. Although the soup itself's a post for another day (we haven't eaten it yet), the recipe has quite a lot of waiting while things simmer for 10 or 15 minutes.

We had a big bag of clementines that needed to get used up - I used to be able to eat a pound or so of them at a sitting, but apparently I am getting old, so now even one gives me heartburn. (... perhaps because I used to eat them in 1-pound increments).

Anyway, I decided to use my simmering time productively, and started cutting them into quarters. I'm trying to make fewer very sweet preserves this year, and I love pickles (really, anything vinegary), so when I was looking for a recipe for the Can Jam I had bookmarked this recipe for pickled oranges, too. Since I had surplus clementines, that turned into pickled clementines instead. I changed the spices somewhat, and decided to add a vanilla bean. It smells good, but since these pickles are supposed to mature for two months before you eat them, it'll be a while before I know whether this was a good experiment or not.

Pickled Clementine Quarters
adapted from Sensational Preserves

2 lbs clementines (or so - enough to make about 8 C cut-up fruit)
2 1/4 C sugar
6 whole cloves
1 thumb-sized hunk ginger, peeled and chopped
5-in piece cinnamon stick
1 Tbsp allspice berries
1 whole star anise
1/2 vanilla bean, split
2 1/2 C white wine vinegar
Wash clementines thoroughly and quarter them if they are small (mine were tiny) or cut into wedges if they are larger. Put them into an oven-safe pot and add water to cover. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the peels are tender.

Meanwhile, make the brine: heat the sugar with the spices and vinegar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat to a simmer; simmer for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 275F.

Drain the clementines, discarding the cooking liquid. Put the fruit back in your oven-safe pot and pour the brine over it. Cover and cook in the hot oven for an hour, until the peels are translucent. (NOTE: mine never got translucent - I hope it doesn't matter too much!)

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the oranges to your prepared jars (warm, clean, etc.). I really packed 'em in there, being careful to distribute the spices amongst the jars. Boil the vinegar on the stove for an additional 10 minutes (keep the jars with the fruit in the off but still-warm oven). Pour the brine over the fruit to cover. Rotate the jars to expel any air bubbles.

Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Store in a cool, dark, dry place for 2 months before eating.
makes 3-4 pints

Also, since I was already zesting a lemon for the soup, I decided to juice it, plus half of a somewhat-elderly red grapefruit I had sitting around, and make a quick batch of grapefruit curd. It's delicious (who can resist any kind of citrus curd??), but not quite as grapefruity as I might have liked.

Microwave Grapefruit Curd
adapted from the Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving

1 lemon, juiced
1/2 grapefruit, juiced
1/4 C butter
3/4 C granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
Put the lemon juice and however much of the grapefruit juice it takes to make 1/2 C liquid total into a 4-C container. Add the sugar and butter and microwave on 100% power for ~2 minutes until the butter is melted. Whisk until the sugar dissolves.

SLOWLY add the hot buttery lemon mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly so that the egg doesn't begin to cook. After you've added all the hot liquid to the eggs, microwave for another 1-3 minutes on 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds. Keep going until the mixture has visibly thickened, but don't allow it to come to a boil. Pour into a clean, dry jar and enjoy! (Keeps for several weeks in the fridge, apparently, if you don't eat it first.)
makes about 1 3/4 C curd

red meat! we do eat it sometimes!

2010-01-20T20:52:00.000-08:00

Wednesday: Strip Steak with garlic puree; stove-top beet slices; garlic bread; home-canned peaches in light syrup

Whoa. That? was a really heavy meal, and I'm now too tired to write it all up. The steak & beet recipes were both from The New Steak, which was ostensibly one of Victor's gifts from me this year. (Does it still count if I was also eager to get that cookbook?) They were good, though the very red and very juicy beets made our steaks look exceptionally bloody, which was a little disturbing.

The garlic bread was just a way to use up some stale bread, and I wanted something sweet after we had dinner, but definitely only wanted something light and simple. The peaches (from August) were a little taste of summer.

change of plans

2010-01-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

The thing with menus is that, even with a weekly menu in-hand, you still need to be flexible. Originally, tonight's dinner was intended to be two separate meals, one vegetarian (later in the week) and a Thai chicken stir-fry from Cook's Illustrated we wanted to try out. Unfortunately, the co-op only had Anaheim peppers, which seemed like a terrible substitute for Thai chilis. And the chicken should probably get used before Wed., which is the next night we're making dinner. So, we had instead:

Monday: Chicken with Peach Chutney; roasted brussels sprouts; rutabaga & potato mash

We have lots of left-overs. I learned something new today, too - while I was pondering the rutabaga, I looked in one of my British cookbooks. Turns out that our rutabagas are their "swedes." Good to know.

Chicken: pound skinless, boneless breasts into cutlets; sprinkle with salt & pepper; heat some oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and brown the breasts. Remove the chicken from the pan & deglaze with a little chicken stock. Add chutney and chicken; simmer until sauce is heated through.

Brussels sprouts: halve, toss with salt, pepper, and oil; roast, tightly covered with foil, in a 450F oven for 10 minutes; remove the foil and roast for another 10-20 minutes.

Root veggie mash: peel and cut into chunks; cover with water and cook at a hard simmer/low boil until tender; drain and mash with butter, salt, and pepper to taste.

umami-heavy tofu dinner

2010-01-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Miso-Topped Seared Tofu; Garlicky Kale; rice

Yep, it's that same kale we had last week, though on a very different menu. The tofu is from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen.

Skillet-Seared Tofu

1 carton firm tofu packed in water, drained
2 tsp olive oil or vegetable oil (or cooking spray if using non-stick skillet)
sea salt
several dashes tamari soy sauce
slivered scallions and thin red & green bell pepper strips
Slice the tofu into about 6 sections and blot well with paper towels. Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the tofu, sprinkle it with salt, and cook over medium-high heat until golden. Flip over and cook until the second side is also golden brown. Then, shake some soy sauce onto each piece and keep cooking until it evaporates, giving the tofu a nice glaze. Serve with the scallions and peppers.
serves 2-4

Miso Sauce

1/3 C white (shiro) miso
2 Tbsp mirin
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced or grated
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
small splash tamari soy sauce
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
Mix everything together or blend in a food processor until smooth. Preheat the broiler and set the seared tofu sections on a piece of foil on a cookie sheet. Top each with a thick-ish smear of the miso sauce and broil until blistered (2-3 minutes).

Cold-Soother Jelly

2010-01-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

This jelly combines citrus with a generous dollop of ginger and is sweetened with honey instead of sugar, for the ultimate in sore throat/stuffy nose soothing. It's the perfect thing for your toast the morning you wake up and notice an odd scratchy feeling at the back of your throat. Or when you have the flu. Or a cold. Or just want a little citrusy pick-me-up.

I made this jelly as part of Tigress' Can Jam, an event that challenges food bloggers to can a specific seasonal ingredient once a month. One of my resolutions is to space out my canning projects so they don't make me mildly insane a few weekends a year, and the Can Jam is a great way to keep myself honest and inspired. The process of picking this recipe led me to a few other seasonal canning treats, too, so expect to see some pickled oranges here soon.

Since this was my first time making jelly, I picked a recipe that doesn't call for a jelly bag. (I think you don't need one because there isn't whole fruit to be separated out). I'm really happy with how it turned out - it's nicely balanced, so that you can taste the flavors of the ginger, lemon, and honey about equally. It is especially lovely on scones or English muffins.

If you wanted to really dote on someone when they were sick, you could bring them a few trashy magazines, some tissues, and a loaf of bread with this jam.

Cold-Soother Jelly
adapted from The Food Lover's Guide to Canning

1/2 C fresh-squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 large lemons)
1/4 C fresh-squeezed lime juice (from about 2 medium limes)
2 C honey
1/4 C crystallized ginger, minced
3 oz liquid pectin
Combine the juices and honey in a large pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Add the ginger, stir, and bring back to a boil. Once you've achieved a vigorous boil, stir in the pectin. Continue boiling for exactly one minute after the mixture has returned to a vigorous boil. Remove from heat immediately, stirring for a few minutes to keep the ginger pieces from sinking to the bottom. Ladle into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 in headspace, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 5 minutes.
3-4 half-pint jars

Update: I added a photo of the jelly; yes, I've just been eating it with a spoon!

New Year Menu (week of Jan 10)

2010-01-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Eggs baked in cream with sauteed yellow foot chanterelles; whole-wheat bread
Monday: Cook's Illustrated's Cacio e Pepe
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: Pasta Fazool; Garlic Bread
Thursday: pureed acorn squash with caramelized onions; garlicky kale
Friday: Tomato and Onion Braised Chicken; fresh bread
Saturday: leftovers

braised chicken

2010-01-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

Friday: Tomato and Onion Braised Chicken; fresh bread

This is my favorite braised chicken recipe. Once you get over having to brown the chicken for a long(ish) time, there's really not much to it, and it works equally well on the stove-top or in the oven. I made it on the stove this time, since I was baking the bread at 450F during part of its cooking time. (Overall, I prefer to make it in the oven, since it is easier to control the temperature in there.)

Chicken Legs Braised with Tomatoes, Onions & Garlic
adapted from The Art of Simple Food

4 chicken legs, seasoned with salt and fresh-ground black pepper (can do up to a day or two in advance)
olive oil
2 onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 bay leaf
sprig rosemary
2 tsp dried oregano
4 tomatoes, diced coarse, or 1 small (12 ounce) can organic whole tomatoes, diced (including juice)
1/2 C - 2 C chicken broth

Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat and add sufficient olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Place the chicken legs into the pan skin side down and cook until crisp and brown, about 12 minutes. Turn and cook for another 4 minutes. (Watch out - there's likely to be a lot of splattering oil during this process!)

After it's browned, remove the chicken and add the onions, cooking until beginning to get translucent (5 min or so). Add the garlic, rosemary, and oregano and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and use their juice to deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom.

Arrange the chicken in the pan, skin side up, and pour in any juices that have collected. Pour in enough chicken broth to reach halfway up the chicken.

Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Cover and cook at a bare simmer or in a 325° oven for 45 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Serve as-is, or shred the meat from the bone and mix into the vegetable mixture. (Shredding the meat first is nice if you'd like to serve the chicken over pasta instead of with bread.)
serves 4

this rain is getting to be a drag

2010-01-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

Thursday: pureed acorn squash with caramelized onions; garlicky kale

Not much of a recipe today - I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, and roasted it (with a little olive oil) at 400F for 35 minutes (until it was soft). While it was cooking, I cut up and caramelized an onion (slice thin and add to the pan, sprinkle with a little salt and sugar, and cook in some olive oil on medium heat, deglazing occasionally with a splash of water). Scoop out the squash flesh when it's soft, mash it up, add some butter and olive oil and the caramelized onions. Taste, and add salt, pepper, or sugar if needed.

Victor made the kale using this method.

beans, beans

2010-01-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

Wednesday: Pasta Fazool; Garlic Bread

I love beans, so I was excited when I started hearing about Rancho Gordo and their Heirloom Beans cookbook. I gave myself the gift of a whole bunch of cookbooks this year, and am just now starting to try out recipes from them.

There are a few farms that have dried beans at the farmer's market we go to (though not the heirloom varieties Rancho Gordo specializes in, sadly), so I substituted a non-heirloom but relatively fresh dried cannellini for the more exciting marrow beans called for in the recipe. I was amazed at how quickly the beans cooked up, and at how creamy they were. I'm planning on making similar substitutions as I try out the other recipes in the book (unless some enterprising local farmer wants to work with more heirloom bean varieties... hint, hint).

For the garlic bread, I pulled out my trusty copy of the Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen Cookbook (which I turn to every time I look at my other cookbooks and think "Help! I can't be the only person on earth who needs a recipe for this!"). They recommend slathering your bread with butter and chopped garlic, plus a little oregano (I also added some salt), wrapping tightly in foil, and baking at 375F for 15 minutes. I was feeling tired, and out of sorts, so I didn't really appreciate this meal quite the way I probably should have, but it was very good.

Pasta Fazool
adapted from the Heirloom Beans cookbook
4 slices bacon, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, chopped
4 C chicken broth
some oregano, fresh (or, if you don't have any, some dried - this is what I did...)
1/2 lb cannellini, marrow, or cellini beans, soaked and drained (they recommend just starting the soak the morning you'll be cooking, as fresh(er) dried beans only need about 4-6 hours soaking time)
1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes
salt and fresh pepper to taste
1 C tiny pasta shells, tubes, or orzo
1/4 C chopped parsley
fresh parmesan to grate over pasta for serving
Saute the bacon in your soup pot over medium heat, until the fat is rendered, ~ 10 min. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Pour off most of the bacon fat and add the olive oil. Over medium heat, saute the onion, celery, garlic, and carrot until soft and fragrant, also about 10 min. Add broth, oregano, and beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Continued simmering until the beans are tender, about 45 min if using "fresh" beans and about twice that for the grocery store variety.

When the beans are done, add the tomatoes. Taste, and add salt & pepper as needed. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente, adding water if necessary. Stir frequently, as the mixture should now be pretty thick and will burn if you let it.

Once the pasta's cooked, add the bacon and the parsley. Stir, taste, and add more salt and/or pepper if needed. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld, then serve sprinkled with Parmesan and maybe a drizzle of olive oil.
serves 4

pasta alchemy

2010-01-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Monday: Cook's Illustrated's Cacio e Pepe

More of a method than a recipe, Victor made this magically creamy pasta for dinner. We picked up a copy of Cook's Illustrated for airplane reading when we were in San Francisco last week, and this was one of the recipes we both wanted to make out of it:

Cacio e Pepe
1-2 tsp kosher salt
about 2 C finely grated Pecorino Romano (~ 4 oz)
1 lb spaghetti
2 Tbsp half and half
2 tsp olive oil
fresh black pepper, finely ground (about 1 1/2 tsp)
about 1 C coarsely grated Pecorino Romano (~ 2 oz)
Bring 2 quarts water to a boil (for the recipe to work, it's important to use more or less exactly this amount of water, so measure it before it goes on the stove). Add the salt and the pasta; cook until just al dente. Reserve 1 1/2 C cooking water (which should be very starchy) and drain the pasta.

Whisk most of the reserved cooking liquid (1 C) into the finely grated cheese until smooth, then whisk in the half and half, oil, and pepper. Pour the sauce over the pasta, tossing to coat. Let the pasta rest for 2-3 minutes, tossing frequently, to allow the pasta to absorb some of the sauce while the sauce thickens. If you need to, add some of the rest of the reserved cooking liquid. Top with the coarsely grated cheese.
serves 4

not-quite-a-muffin

2010-01-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

The pear bread, it turns out, was even better than it smelled. Yum! And now I have tasty breakfast goodness for the rest of the week. I only modified the recipe slightly, replacing some of the butter with applesauce. I think next time (and, boy howdy! there will be a next time) I will sub oil instead, and go up to 1/2 C applesauce (thus, only using 1/4 C oil).

Pear Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
2 to 4 pears firm, ripe pears, depending on size (you’ll need 2 grated cups total, but I don’t recommend you grate them until you are about to use them, so they don’t brown)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a fork to mix everything well. If you’re using nuts, scoop out about 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and combine it in a small bowl with the chopped walnuts, stirring and tossing to coat the nuts with the flour.

Peel and core pears, then grate them. You’ll want two grated cups total; set them briefly aside. In a medium bowl, combine the butter or oil, applesauce, eggs, sugar, grated pear, nuts (if using), and vanilla, and stir to mix everything well. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.

Quickly scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the bread is handsomely browned and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely, top side up. Serve it as is, sprinkle it with confectioners sugar or drizzle it with a simple glaze made from whisking 3 tablespoons buttermilk, a dash of vanilla and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar together.

back in the swing of things

2010-01-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

I have a couple of food-related resolutions this year, one of which is to get at least my menus up here every week. I used to keep a three-ring binder with recipes in the front and notes about what I was cooking in the back, but I've gotten very lax about it, so this blog is my best reference when I want to look up the recipe for that awesome squash gratin or whatever. But only if I manage to post here.

Sunday: Eggs baked in cream with sauteed yellow foot chanterelles; whole-wheat bread

Today ended up being something of a prep day for the rest of the week: I made chicken stock, bread dough, and there's some pear bread in the oven right now.

Since I was already doing all this crazy cooking stuff, we had a simple dinner: a modified version of Luisa's Egg Baked in Cream. We picked up some mushrooms at the farmers' market today, and I sauteed about 3/4 lb yellow foot chanterelles with a diced yellow onion instead of just using leeks as in the original recipe:

Eggs Baked in Cream

small glug olive oil
small pat butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tsp or so dried thyme
3/4 lb mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
2 eggs
2 splashes half and half
Preheat oven to 400F. Heat the olive oil and butter in a hot skillet. Saute the onion until just starting to soften and turn translucent, about 2 minutes; add the thyme and mushrooms and continue cooking over medium-high heat until all the moisture has cooked out of the mushrooms and evaporated (about 15 minutes).

Divide the mushroom mixture into two oven-safe ramekins. Crack an egg into each one (try to center the yolk in the ramekin so it'll cook more evenly). Pour a little half and half into each ramekin. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the eggs are done to your liking. (For this recipe, I like the yolks to be just barely set, which generally takes about 11 minutes.)
serves 2

I also baked some whole-wheat bread. The folks at Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day have a new book out focusing on whole grains, and their mostly whole-wheat bread recipe is our new standard. (I am a total ABin5M groupie, so I pre-ordered the book, but the recipe is here if you don't want to rush right out and buy a copy.)

must be fall...

2009-09-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

I know that whole equinox thing is traditionally the determining factor for when fall starts, but my annual urge to bake muffins is nearly as reliable. I may make braised chicken all summer long, but somehow muffins don't appeal until fall, either for baking or for eating. Today my internal cook apparently flipped over to "fall," and I woke up with a strong desire to bake muffins.

Muffins and quick breads are somewhat equivalent in my mind, but I only make quick breads when I'm sure we'll eat them right away - it's just easier to freeze and reheat muffins than quick breads, at least for individual portion sizes. We had a bunch of blueberries from the market on Sunday that absolutely needed to get used right away, so I went ahead and made two batches.

Blueberry Oat Muffins
adapted from The Kitchn

1 cup blueberries, washed and dried
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 C white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats [I ground them up a bit in my mini-prep]
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk [I used powdered buttermilk, adding the powder with the dry ingredients and one cup of water to the wet ones]
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fiori di sicilia [or just use all vanilla]
Pre-heat the oven to 325°. Prepare muffin tins.

Toss the berries with 1/4 cup of AP flour. This will help keep them from sinking in the batter.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining flours, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar in a small bowl. In separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and fiori di sicilia. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir gently until you see no more dry flour. Fold the blueberries into the batter.

Spoon into the muffin tins (you can fill them nearly to the top - I found that this recipe didn't rise a ton) and let rest for 5 minutes. Bake for 30-40 minutes. They're done when the tops are puffed and dry, and when a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

makes about 14 regular-sized muffins

Penzey's Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Penzey's

1/4 C butter, softened
1/4 C unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp fiori di sicilia [or just use all vanilla]
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 C AP flour, divided
1/2 C white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C buttermilk [I used powdered buttermilk, adding the powder with the dry ingredients and one cup of water to the wet ones]
2 C blueberries
Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare muffin tins.

Toss the berries with 1/4 cup of AP flour. This will help keep them from sinking in the batter.

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then blend in apple sauce, extracts, eggs, and buttermilk. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Mix the liquids into the dry ingredients and stir gently until smooth. Fold the blueberries into the batter.

Spoon into the muffin tins (fill them about 2/3 full) and let rest for 5 minutes. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
yield: 14-18 muffins

Kitchen Experiment: Pizza

2009-09-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the fact that we made pizza last night completely blew me away. It worked! The smoke alarms didn't go off! And it was not just edible, but extremely tasty. I used the pizza method from Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day, which calls for using one of their bread recipes (I used my usual half whole wheat version of their boule dough, though next time I'll go ahead and make the suggested olive oil focaccia dough).

Crank the oven up as high as it'll go - the new oven in our apartment continues to be a real workhorse: it not only goes up to 550F (many ovens top out at 500F) but it didn't seem at all damaged by the experience (a friend's oven practically melted at its top temperature... she needed to replace all the plastic knobs afterward). Let heat for at least 20 minutes. While the oven's preheating, prepare your ingredients (I used fresh farmer's market mozzarella, some left-over tomato sauce (drained of all juice over a fine sieve), and a puree of fresh basil and black olives). Allow to cool a little before serving, or the cheese will slide right off!

Using flour to prevent sticking, roll out the dough to about a 1/8" thickness. Take it slow - the dough will relax as you go, but it can take several minutes between expansions. Spray a cooking sheet or pizza crisper (we have one of these) with non-stick-spray-with-flour stuff. Once your pizza dough is sufficiently thin, roll it around your rolling pin to transfer it to the prepared pizza crisper (just like you would to move pie dough).

I spread out the basil/black olive mixture all over the dough and then spread the tomato sauce on top of that. Finally, rough rounds of mozzarella top of the whole thing. Get it into the oven ASAP and cook for 8-15 minutes (it pays to keep a close eye on pizza, as there's a fine line between lightly-browned-but-crisp and blackened at 550 degrees).

Rescuing Blueberry Butter

2009-09-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure whether the problem with my slow-cooker blueberry butter attempt was the recipe, or if the problem was with my crock pot. (Given the other issues I've had with crock-pot recipes recently, I think it's probably not the recipe...) In any case, I followed a pretty standard blueberry butter recipe I found somewhere on the internet, and it just completely failed to work. I actually cooked it for 24 hours in the slow-cooker (on high!) and it really didn't cook down at all.

I knew I needed to add some more body to it, so that it would have that characteristic fruit butter texture, and I thought some additional pectin might be good, too. I ended up adding some green apples and using the immersion blender to get the texture just right. It was still a little too sweet, so I added a bit more lemon juice. I'm still not completely pleased with the way it turned out, but I definitely was able to convert an almost unusable batch of blueberry better into something worth eating. I'll count that as a win.

Blueberry-Apple Butter

5 C blueberries
3 C sugar
4-5 small tart green apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Granny Smiths)
1/8 C lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Mix all ingredients together in a large pot. Cook for about 45 minutes, or until things are sufficiently softened to use the immersion blender. Blend until smooth, or mostly smooth. Continue to cook at a simmer until the fruit has cooked down and the texture is very thick. Can in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Judging Recipes

2009-09-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I look at a recipe, am pretty sure it's going to be "meh" and go right ahead and make it. I'd like to say that I'm wrong just enough that it's worth it to experiment, but actually I think these recipes are ones I want to make for reasons unrelated to flavor. They'll use up something in the fridge, or they're super easy, or they are really really healthy. I'm pretty frequently right - I make the recipe, and it is very very dull - and yet I persist. (The real reason might just be that I'm a nut case.)

Here is a recipe that I expected to not really like but made anyway. Sometimes these things do work out - this one is a keeper:

Summer Vegetable Stew
adapted from Cooking Light's "Light & Easy Meals"

1 smallish fennel bulb
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 C vegetable broth (I used "Better than Bouillon")
1 14-oz can Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes
2-3 carrots, roughly chopped
1/2 lb green beans, de-stringed and cut into 1" lengths
2 Tbsp fresh herbs (I used a mix of rosemary and thyme)
1 C frozen green peas (I believe fresh green peas should be saved for things where their flavor and texture really sing... this recipe is tasty, but doesn't highlight the peas)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 C crumbled goat cheese
Trim the fennel fronds and toss all but 1 Tbsp or so of them. Mince the reserved fronds and set aside. Roughly chop white parts of fennel, discarding anything that seems too tough to eat.

Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat. When hot, add the olive oil. Saute fennel for 5 minutes and add the broth, tomatoes, carrots, and green beans. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add peas, herbs, and reserved fennel fronds; cover and simmer 2 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste; top each serving of stew with crumbled goat cheese.
serves 4

vacation!

2009-09-04T23:57:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say I'll be out of town for the next few weeks and won't be updating.

xoxo, mk

Lentil Salad

2009-08-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

This recipe was something of a gamble, both because I wasn't sure it would be good and because I was going to mess with its ingredients. Unfortunately, it wasn't a gamble that paid off... From the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites cookbook, it basically called for cooking the lentils with some chopped onion and garlic, and then mixing them with chopped bell peppers, red onion, and celery. The salad has a "Curried Mango Yogurt Dressing," which was where I made some substitutions. I used the curried rhubarb, date, and apricot chutney I made earlier this summer, but otherwise followed the dressing recipe pretty exactly. I also added some salt. And then a bit more salt, in the hopes of making it less dull. No dice. I'm not even going to bother typing up the recipe - it DEFINITELY wasn't a keeper.

To cheer myself up, I chopped up some nectarines from the market this morning, tossed them with some blueberries, and made a fruit crumble. Now that? Completely made up for the so-so entree.

ETA: Actually, after allowing the flavors to meld overnight in the fridge, this recipe wasn't too bad. Still not likely to make it again, but it made an ok lunch.

Late Summer II (week of Aug 23)

2009-08-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Some weeks (especially in the summer) we just don't end up eating at home very much; this was definitely one of those weeks.

Sunday: Pork with Bourbon-Peach Sauce; mashed potatoes with chives
Monday: tomato salad
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: out (at A Caprice Kitchen)
Thursday: out (at Stitch & Pitch)
Friday: SE Asian-inspired hamburgers; "baked" beans
Saturday: out (at Tamarind Tree)

Summer Tomato Sauce

2009-08-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

This is a scaled down version of a recipe I'm auditioning for possible large-scale canning.

Last year, I just put up plain tomatoes. They were delicious, but my 9 pint jars really didn't last very long, especially as I'd use two of them every time I made pasta sauce. I'm thinking of cutting out the middle man, so to speak, and just canning sauce. There's not a whole lot you can do with tomato sauce and still use a boiling water canner. Garlic, especially, can be problematic for canning that way.

So I found a recipe for sauce that sounded pretty good in The New Vegetarian Epicure. When I first got this cookbook many years ago, the idea of canning 100 lbs of tomatoes seemed pretty much beyond crazy. Now that I know how fast 30 lb of canned tomatoes gets used up, though, it seems a whole lot more reasonable. If I do end up canning sauce rather than just tomatoes, I think this will be the recipe I'll use. It was really tasty, though to get the consistency I like, I ended up cooking it for about twice the recommended cooking time.

Summer Tomato Sauce
adapted from The New Vegetarian Epicure

3 lb ripe tomatoes (at least a quart when chopped)
1 Tbsp fruity olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp minced basil leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
Remove the tomatoes' skins (I use the same process here as I do for peaches). Trim off the stem ends and process briefly with an immersion blender so that there are no whole tomatoes remaining.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan and add garlic. Cook for about a minute, then add tomatoes, basil, and a little salt and pepper. Cook for about 45 minutes, until the sauce is no longer watery. (If you're cooking down a large batch, this step will take longer.)
yield: about 2 C sauce

Summer Ratatouille

2009-08-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

I'm somewhat surprised that we've made it this far into the summer without having ratatouille. Both of us like it a lot, and even though I already have a basic recipe I like, I'm always trying other versions. This one came out well, although I ended up tweaking it fairly extensively.

We had it on some excellent egg noodles, left with us when some friends cleaned out their pantry prior to moving out of state.

Summer Ratatouille
adapted from Simply in Season

1 medium eggplant
salt
2 onions, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 Tbs fresh basil, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 - 1/4 C tomato paste
1 tsp fresh marjoram, chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)
2 summer squash, chopped
2 bell peppers, any color, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
pepper, to taste
Cut the eggplant into rounds and sprinkle both sides with salt. Place in the sink in a colander and allow to drain while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a large saucepan, saute the onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent, 5 - 8 minutes. Pat off the eggplant and chop it. Add the eggplant, basil, rosemary, salt, tomato paste, and marjoram to the saucepan, and simmer over medium heat until the eggplant is soft, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep from burning on the bottom.

Once the eggplant has softened, add the squash, peppers, and tomatoes. Continue to simmer until everything is tender, 10-15 minutes. Taste, and add pepper and additional salt if needed.
serves 4

Late Summer (week of Aug 16)

2009-08-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday: leftovers
Monday: Summer Ratatouille
Tuesday: cook's holiday
Wednesday: Raspberry Borscht & Bread
Thursday: tomato and basil salad; bread
Friday: pasta with Summer Tomato Sauce
Saturday: out (at Tamarind Tree)

Canning Cherries

2009-08-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

I love cherries. I mean, I love all fruit, really, but the cherries that grow here in Washington are truly a wonder. My favorite preserve from last year was a cherry-almond jam, so I bought a bunch of cherries to do that, and also try some pickled cherries. The jam was something of a failure - I thought it had reached the jelling point, but it never really set. Luckily, cherry-almond syrup is still delicious!

The pickled cherries smell great, but I'm letting them pickle a bit longer before I actually eat any of them. They sure are purty, though!

Cherry-Almond Jam
adapted from the Ball Blue Book

2.25 lb pitted cherries (about 3 lb cherries will yield this, with some left over for eating)
3/4 amaretto
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin
4 1/2 C sugar
Finely chop the cherries (I use an immersion blender for this, and puree them in the saucepan). Combine cherries, amaretto, lemon juice, and pectin in a large saucepan. Stir well to combine. Bring to a boil and add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring to make sure it doesn't stick. Remove from heat and skim foam. Ladle into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.
yield: 6 half-pint jars

Pickled Sweet Cherries
adapted from Small-Batch Preserving

1 3/4 C white vinegar
1 3/4 C granulated sugar
3/4 C water
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
2 lb dark sweet cherries (optional: pit the cherries - the recipe calls for using them "with stems," but I went ahead and de-pitted them for ease of later eating)

Combine everything other than then cherries in a small pan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat a simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered.

Pack the cherries into sterilized jars and pour the hot syrup over them, leaving 1/2" headspace. Process 15 min for pint jars.
yield: about 3 pint jars

Raspberry Borscht

2009-08-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

This recipe wasn't really a resounding success. Victor and I both thought it was odd, and more than a little "dessert-y." Actually, I'm pretty sure that without the onion (but including the vinegar) it would be a delicious dessert soup. With a touch more sugar, I suspect it would also make a good sorbet. It is tasty, and it was refreshing, but I doubt we'll be making it again... at least as a main course.

I also baked some bread. Because it was hot, I baked the bread in my bread machine (bless you, craigslist!). The bread machine definitely turns out more "sandwich bread" than artisan loaves, but it's easy and - most importantly right now - doesn't heat up the kitchen.

Raspberry Borscht
adapted from The New Vegetarian Epicure

around 2 lb beets (2 bunches)
pinch of salt
1 pint raspberries
1/4 C minced red onion
1/2 C lemon juice
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 sugar
Cut the tops off the beets, reserving for another use if you like beet greens. Scrub them, and put them in a pot with enough water to cover by an inch or so. Throw in a pinch of salt. Simmer until tender (about 45 min for large beets; perhaps 30 min for smallish ones.)

Drain, reserving 2 C of the cooking liquid. Allow to cool. (I went ahead and cooked the beets to this point while it was still cooler early in the week, since I knew it would be blazingly hot yesterday.) Peel the beets and cut into chunks. Puree the beets and berries with the reserved cooking liquid. If you prefer a smooth soup, strain out the raspberry seeds. Add the onion, lemon juice, vinegar, and a bit of the sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Taste, and add more lemon juice, vinegar, or sugar as needed. Chill until you're ready to eat.
serves 4 as a light entree