If you didn’t know already, I live in Texas, and it’s taken some time [about 3 years] but I really like it [come on, I’m a New Yorker, it’s bound to take some time to adjust]. While I like to eat healthy I’ve learned that there’s something really special about freshly made fried food [stick with me here]. They do it all down here, especially around the time of the State Fair of Texas, held right here in Dallas. It’s held in the fall and you can pretty much get anything deep-fried. Oreos, butter, sandwiches, beer, burgers. You can also get a real huge turkey leg and walk around chomping on it like it’s no big deal. It’s a lovely lovely time usually followed by a detox. Anyways a little fried food never hurt anyone, especially when it’s homemade. So basically what I’m saying is that while I used to look at vegetable and think, hmmm, I bet I could roast or caramelize that, now I think, I bet I can fry that. Fried avocado, now that is good. Fried portabella’s – yum! Recently I was in Austin visiting a friend and came across fried beets. I was mesmerized. Beets? I’d come to love beets as an adult, but beets are for salads or for the hot pink risotto I make once a year around Valentine’s Day…Fried beets seemed…so weird, I had to try them immediately. They were so freaking good! And I have to admit, taking such a powerfully nutritious vegetable and turning it into a fried food felt sort of wicked, I loved it. It’s like when parents trick their kids into eating broccoli by smothering it in cheese…devious yes, but sometimes you’ve gotta go the distance to make a person eat a veggie. Fried Beets with Minty Thyme Aioli PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 10mins / Cook: 55mins / TOTAL: 1hr5mins [8 appetizer size servings]
Minty Thyme Aioli [Total: 5mins] [1 cup]
Start out by rinsing and peeling the beets. Your hands may turn a little (or a lot) pink, but it’s worth it. Chop the beets into large slices about 1/2 inch thick. Place them in a large skillet, toss with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Add 1/2 cup water, cover and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Let boil for about 5 minutes, then lower heat to a simmer and cook until all the liquid has evaporated, about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the beets are cooking you can make the minty thyme aioli. I usually do this in a small food processor, but you can also do it by hand…it just takes a little more patience and time. Roughly chop up the mint and remove the thyme leaves from their stems, mix together in the food processor with the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, egg yolk, salt and pepper. Slowly incorporate the oil a little at a time. The mixture should slowly emulsify. Refrigerate. Once the beets are done cooking [you can test them with a fork, they should pierce easily and slide off] remove them from the skillet, and let cool for about 5 minutes [until they are cool enough to handle]. While the beets are cooling off, rinse out the large skillet you were just using, making sure to wipe it dry, add 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil and put over med-high heat. In a medium bowl combine the flour and seltzer, salt, pepper and cayenne. The consistency should be like sour cream, if it’s too thin add a little more flour, if it’s too thick, a little more seltzer. The thicker the better it coats the beets. Prepare a plate covered in paper towels or newspaper. Add a few beats to the mixture making sure they are all evenly coated. When the oil it ready, you can [carefully] flick a little water and see if it sizzles – or to be extra sure you can use a "test" beet and see if the batter turns golden when added to the oil. Transfer beets to the oil in a slotted spoon. Repeat until skillet is full with beets, wait 1 minute and then start to flip them. Beets are finished when the batter has turned golden brown. Transfer to platter and let paper soak up some of the oil. Repeat until all beets are finished. Serve on a fresh platter with aioli. Enjoy!
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I haven’t cooked meat in a while…for no reason in particular, but it is hard to photograph. I mean a big hunk of juicy meat doesn’t always look as good as it sounds. I also try and stick to what I crave [I suppose I should add here “in moderation” for health’s sake] which tends to be pasta, noodles, sandwiches…with lots of veggies and maybe [absolutely] a smidgeon [a good amount] of cheese. I like to make aiolis, sauces, and dressings, and there’s always a batch of pesto of some sort hanging around in my fridge or freezer. Recently though a good friend of mine told me straight up that I needed to do another meat dish for my blog. So what did I do? I came up with something that I could slather in a sauce – cause that’s my comfort zone. I had an eggplant in my fridge and in my mind that lead to tzaziki and that made me feel a little Mediterranean and then bingo…I arrived at lamb…but it didn’t stop there…I then thought of mint and finally - mint tzaziki! Not every recipe I come up with makes a whole lot of sense – but this one did. I was pretty happy with myself when I went to the supermarket to pick up the lamb. But then I walked by a can of beans, cannellini beans, and knew that they had to be added in. I also wanted to add a little texture and for some reason my mind kept going to faro, subtly nutty with a nice bite. I realized now that my dish was taking a weird turn, but all the ingredients sounded so good together – and I usually go with my gut, which almost always tells my mind what do to. So yeah, that’s usually how my process works. Ground Lamb and Roasted Eggplant with Mint Tzaziki PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 15mins / Cook: 45mins / TOTAL: 1hr] [4 servings]
Mint Tzaziki [Prep: 10 mins, included above] [Yields about 1 1/3 cup]
Preheat oven to 400°. The eggplant needs about 40-45 minutes to roast so lets start with that. After it’s been washed and the cap trimmed off, slice the eggplant in half lengthwise and score the flesh, making sure not to pierce the skin. Drizzle about a 1/2 tablespoon, some fresh cracked pepper and a few dashes of salt over each half. Roast face down on top of foil in on a baking sheet for 40-45 minutes. You’ll know the eggplant is finished when the skin becomes wrinkled. Meanwhile you can make the mint tzaziki. Measure out 1 cup plain yogurt into a small mixing bowl, discarding any liquid. To this add, 2 pressed garlic cloves, juice from 1/2 lemon, the paprika, salt and cracked pepper. Roughly chop up about 1 tablespoon of the fennel fronds and 8 mint leaves and incorporate. Peel and grate the cucumber into a small mixing bowl. Spoon off any liquid, pressing down with the back of the spoon helps to squeeze out any excess, incorporate with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. If you are going to be using the tzaziki as soon as the eggplant comes out of the oven you can leave it out, if you are making it a few hours a head of time then it should be refrigerated. Into a small pot add 2 cups water, a dash of salt and 3/4 cups faro. Bring to a boil – this will take about 2-3 minutes. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the faro. It will need about 20 minutes to cook. Set a timer for yourself so you don’t forget about it during your next steps! Now onto the ground lamb. For some reason I didn’t use my cast iron skillet [stupid stupid…] it will really get you the best browning, caramelized flavor that you want. Take a well oiled cast iron skillet let it heat up over med-high heat. You’ll want to cook the meat in 2 batches, crowded meat doesn’t brown well – and here’s the trick, once you’ve put the meat into the skillet and broken it up a little, just let it sit…and sit without touching it. It’s hard I know, but this helps the meat caramelize and not end up a gray nondescript color (and flavor). Leave it for about 1 minute before flipping and you can begin to break it up more and season with salt [about 1/4 teaspoon] some fresh cracked pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. The whole process will take about 8-10 minutes each batch – of letting the meat brown and then mixing. When it is ready, remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the lamb to a small mixing bowl. Return the skillet to low-med heat and add 1 tablespoon butter and the sliced fennel. The fennel will take about 5 minutes to turn a nice golden color – stir occasionally so it does not burn. Once the fennel is nearly finished add the sliced garlic and cook for about 3 minutes longer. Remove the skillet from the heat and incorporate the mixture with the ground lamb. The faro should be finished by now, reserve 1/4 cup of the water and drain the rest. Add the drained and rinsed cannellini beans to the same skillet and keep the heat on low. Heat them up slowly, stirring occasionally. Incorporate the cooked faro and 1/4 cup reserved faro water into the skillet. Add the ground lamb mixture to the skillet and about 5-6 torn up mint leaves. The eggplant should be ready to come out of the oven. Carefully flip the halves with a spatula so that they skin side down, and transfer a half to each plate. Add a few spoonfuls of lamb mixture next to eggplant and top the dish off with the tzaziki and garnish with a few mint leaves and fennel fronds. Enjoy! Hankering for more meat based dishes? Here are two other recipes I've been meaning to try - they're good examples of how to caramelize ground meat. Lady and Pups is a fun [daring] food blog I follow and Melissa Clark always [always] gets it right!
I established in my first post from last summer that I wasn’t a baker. This fact shouldn’t be confused with me not liking to eat baked goods. Because I do. A lot. I just happen to be lucky enough to have found a guy who likes to bake - and who eats sweets more than anyone else I know. Seriously. He has a weakness for donuts and cheese filled danishes. I also do my fair share of sweet treat eating – my weakness though, definitely cinnamon buns. The problem with a lot of baking and pastry making is that there are so many steps to follow, in a very specific order, in very specific measurements to be conducted at very specific temperatures. I just can’t do it…so I try to stick to the basics and make them nice and flashy so you don’t notice how easy it was to do. When I came across a recipe for Clafoutis last summer [pronounced Cla-foo-tea, not Clawfoodie, like I had originally thought…], I was so happy because I could make it! I knew I could and it wouldn’t take me all day. Clafoutis is a French dessert originally baked with whole cherries, but you can swap the cherries with pretty much any ripe seasonal fruit. Essentially it’s a fancy pancake with fruit cooked into it, topped off with sugar, either confectioners or granulated, and finished with a dollop of whipped cream. I mean come on… I’ve tried making it with cherries, I’ve tried it with fresh figs [YUM], but right now, other than citrus, it’s sort of slim pickins down in Texas, so I found some good looking strawberries and went at it. I think this dessert – or breakfast, is a true show stopper. It looks all puffed and golden brown when it comes out of the oven and once you dust it with sugar it looks so darn pretty. I think it’s probably the near instant satisfaction of this dessert that wins me over. Strawberry Clafoutis with Grenadine Cinnamon Whipped Cream PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 20mins / Cook: 40mins / TOTAL: 1hr [8 servings]
Grenadine Cinnamon Whipped Cream [Total: 3 mins] [3/4 cup]
Zest the lemon and melt the butter [microwave it for 20-30 seconds]. Combine milk, heavy cream, granulated sugar, flour, eggs, melted butter, vanilla and almond extract, salt and lemon zest [reserve a pinch of zest for the whipped cream] into a blender or food processor and mix for 1 minute. Let this batter sit for 20 minutes. Rinse and stem the strawberries and cut in half lengthwise. In a small mixing bowl add the berries, 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, mix well. Preheat oven to 425°. Butter 9 -10 inch cast iron skillet or baking dish, including sides and coat with granulated sugar. It’ll take about 1 1/2 tablespoons. [If using a skillet make sure the handle is oven-proof.] Place strawberries in the skillet, spacing them out evenly. After batter is done resting, add to the skillet and put it into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 425°, then lower heat to 375° and bake for 20-25 minutes more. The clafoutis is finished when it is a dark golden brown at the edges. While the clafoutis is baking, combing remaining cream, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon grenadine and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Beat until stiff peaks form. If using an electric blending this will happen quite fast, if beating by hand it will take about 3 minutes. When the clafoutis is done baking let it rest for a few minutes. [It is best served warm, but if served right out of the oven it looses its shape.] When ready to serve, dust the cake with the confectioners sugar and add a dollop of whipped cream to each portion. Enjoy! It’s sort of fun to see how much ones tastes change depending on the weather. Bright sunny days make you want to start anew and eat something healthy. Juice smoothies anyone? Rainy days are often cookie days. And cold weather…I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say, man this cold weather is making me hanker for a garden salad with dressing on the side. No. We want stews, and steaks. We want pizzas and pastas. Oven roasted tasties, sweet and savory. So needless to say (or as I’m always thinking in my head “needles to hay”), the transition from winter to spring is a confusing time. The temperature fluctuations, pretty much all across the country, will make your head spin. Most nights what I end up eating is concocted on my bike rides home from work (when I’m not planning a meal a head of time) and recently I’ve been all over the map. One day I’m riding in a sweatshirt giddy with anticipation for spring, the next I’m hunkered down in my ski parka, ski mittens, a fleece lined hat and neck warmer. I could go on, but lets talk food. What I really wanted to talk about is this magic thing called a roux. Now it’s not very nutritious or glamorous. It’s not some new superfood. It’s nothing really, just a little butter, flour and milk full of old fashioned charm. I think it’s magical. Add some spices, infuse the milk with an herb, throw in a little cheese…and now you have a bonafide fancy cream sauce, a faux-alfredo sauce. You don’t need mountains of cheese or heavy cream, just a few basic pantry items. Now I’m not trying to label this pasta recipe as “healthy” but it does have some veggies in it, and it’s way lighter than some other cream sauces that I’ve come across. It’s still a comfort dish and I think we’re all in need of a little comfort to battle this cold winter. Faux Alfredo with Asparagus, Mushrooms and Prosciutto PRINT RECIPE
[Prep: 10mins / Cook: 25mins / TOTAL: 35mins [4 servings servings]
Put a large pot of salted water over high heat and cover, it should take about 10 minutes to boil. During this time you can start prepping the ingredients. Into a small skillet or saucier pour 1 ¼ cup milk, add the sage leaves and bring to a slow simmer over med heat. You’ll want to whisk the mixture so the milk doesn’t burn and stick to the bottom of the skillet. After a few minutes of simmering turn the heat to low and let sit for 5 minutes. Pour off the milk mixture into a small container, there should be about 1 cup remaining. Rinse and dry off the skillet – you can reuse it to toast the panko. While the milk is simmering you can get started on the veggies and prosciutto. Rinse the asparagus, snap off the bottoms - discard, and cut the remaining pieces into 1 ½ inch spears. Rinse the mushrooms, trim the stems and quarter. Layer the prosciutto slices on top of each other and roll tightly lengthwise. Cut into ½ inch strips. Unroll and pull strips apart. Heat a large skillet over med-high heat. Add ½ tablespoon butter, asparagus and a dash of salt. Let sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times. Remove asparagus and add the mushrooms to the same skillet. Add ½ tablespoon more of butter and let mushrooms sit undisturbed for the first minute. Add a dash of salt and stir mushrooms a few times, after 5 minutes remove them from the skillet. Add prosciutto strips to the skillet, let sit for 1 minute undisturbed. Stir a few times and let cook for about 5 minutes or until crisp. The pasta water is probably boiling at this point. Add 1 box of fettuccine – or any other pasta that you have chosen, I think bowties would work really well this recipe – and bring back to a boil. If you are using fettuccine set your timer to 10 minutes. Now onto the last two elements of the dish. To toast the panko, just add a little pad of butter to the small skillet and put the heat on medium. Once it’s melted add the panko, a dash of salt, a few grinds of fresh black pepper, and 1 /4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Let it toast for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so the panko doesn’t burn. Once it is finished, pour toasted panko into a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the grated parmesan cheese, mix well. (I had a sprig of parsley I wanted to use up so I chopped that up and added it in to the mix) The base of this “cream sauce” is the roux. To begin, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the large skillet over med-high heat, whisk in the 2 tablespoons of flour. The mixture should be smooth, thick and start to bubble. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the sage infused milk. Put it back over the heat, but lower it to medium. Season with a little salt, some fresh black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. Gently whisk roux until it thickens – about 2-3 minutes. Add vegetables, prosciutto and parmesan. Mix well until everything is coated. The pasta should be finished about this time. Reserve ¼ cup pasta water. Drain and add pasta to the large skillet. Mix well add a little of the reserved pasta water, cover and let sit for 2 minutes. Serve and top off with the panko mixture and enjoy! Hey so I’m back! I’m not quite sure who out there is following me yet, but to those who are, I am sorry I left you hanging…Amidst post holiday fatigue, a baby shower, cleaning out my childhood apartment (sniff) so they can be sold, travelling to see family (see two previous items mentioned), a rockin’ ladies weekend in Memphis, and a stronger desire to eat food instead of holding on a sec and documenting it…I haven’t been a good friend to you all. It’s also been super cold, no wait it was springtime last weekend…annnnnd now it’s cold again. So I haven’t been quite sure what I wanted to make for you. So finally I decided on this: tuna salad with raisins and hard-boiled eggs! I call it Eggy Tuna Salad. I have a feeling your first reaction isn’t going to be all that great, its ok I’ll wait. Sound good yet? No? Well it may never actually sound good, but it tastes good and that’s all that matters. Come to think of though, I’ve had this one in the back of my mind for a while. Ever since I first tasted this combination, tuna salad with hard-boiled egg on raisin grain bread, I’ve been a bit perplexed. It was a few years ago now and having put some space between that sandwich and my palette I can quite remember the seasoning, but I thought I’d give it a try and put my spin on it. Oh and I used to think a boiled eggs was just you know…a boiled egg. But check out this diddy from Bon Appetite if you what to know what’s what about cooking an egg. Eggy Tuna Salad PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 20min / Cook: 5min / TOTAL: 25min [4 small servings]
Place eggs in a pot, add enough water to cover the eggs, cover and set over high heat. You want to let the water come to a boil, when this happens, wait one minute, then remove from heat and let sit covered for 10 more minutes. After this they will be hard-boiled but not overcooked or dried out. Before peeling you can put them in a cold-water bath so they will be cool enough to handle.
After the eggs have been boiled and are resting you can make the salad dressing. Using a mini food processor (you can do this by hand but you’ll need to mince or press the garlic and finely chop up the parsley first) add parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, water and spices. Pulse until parsley leaves are broken down. Now onto the salad greens. After they have all been rinsed and stemmed where needed (only the stem of the kale really needs to be taken out), roughly chop up the spinach and romaine, finely chop the kale and thinly slice up the scallions. Add all, reserving about half of the sliced scallions, to a large mixing bowl and incorporate a few tablespoons of the salad dressing. Toss until well mixed. In a small mixing bowl, incorporate the tuna, raisins, remaining scallions, 2 tablespoons of the salad dressing, a dash of salt, pepper, cayenne and curry powder. Mix well. Put your toast into the oven/toaster and get started with peeling the cooled eggs. Once peeled chop them up into big chunks. To assemble the salad, place the lightly dressed greens on the bottom of your serving platter, next the hard boiled eggs, and finished it off with the tuna salad. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the Eggy Tuna Salad. Slice up your toasted bread and enjoy! I was trying to put together a menu for this weeks post when a close friend of mine called me and said, “I’ve made a huge batch of pimento cheese last night, I’ll bring you over some after work.” I politely declined and said, “I’m not a fan.” She responded with something like, “phsht, oh come on. Have you ever even tried pimento cheese?” No, I hadn’t and was ashamed to admit that I’d said no to something I’d never tasted. “You’ll like it,” she promised. So I’ll admit I had to look up pimento cheese the first time I heard about it. Growing up in the northeast it wasn’t one of the comfort foods that I had become familiar with. Actually when I finally I figured out what it was, I thought pimento cheese sounded perfectly awful. Mayo? American cheese? Jarred peppers? Why would I want to eat that? It was a southern tradition that I was fine to miss out on. Except that it kept popping up, at restaurants, in conversations and cocktail parties… I remained skeptical even when a friend ordered it at a diner in the grilled cheese fashion, and enjoyed it. It really took one of my best friends – originally from Mississippi – making a homemade batch, for me to try it. I trusted her not to steer me wrong, but I still told her no thanks the first time she offered. She persisted. I finally gave in and said, “What!? This is what I’ve been missing?” It was good. Really really good. Since then I’ve had pimento cheese with sliced apples, crackers, warmed up on toast as she suggested. I was a convert. What I learned is that like any dip, spread or sauce, there’s a supermarket processed version, and then there’s homemade. There are so many possibilities with pimento cheese, you could add pickles or garlic, mix different kinds of cheeses, or spice up your mayo. So Basically I’ve learned to shut my mouth, open my mind and try anything once. Especially when it’s homemade. I think I’ve made my southern friends very happy. Smoked Gouda Pimento Cheese Sandwich PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 25min / Cook: 5min / TOTAL: 30min] [6 servings]
Homemade Mayo [~3/4 cup]
The hardest part of this recipe is making your homemade mayo – which of course is totally optional. While I’d like to say that I whipped it all up by hand, I recently got a mini food processor and really wanted to try it out. So first I added all of the ingredients for the mayo – except the oil – together in the mini food processor and pulsed it a few times. Then I slowly added the oil bit by bit until the ingredients started to come together, thicken, and become mayo. It really is that easy, and it tastes delicious. You should experiment with herbs and spices to make “fancy” mayo, a good way impress any dinner guest. To make the pimento cheese spread start by shredding the smoked gouda, you can do this by hand or in a larger food processor that has a part for shredding cheese. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the cheese, yogurt, mayo, and pimento peppers. Finely chop up the rest of the herbs and veggies, incorporate and mix well. There you have it! Pimento Cheese.
This type of cheese spread can be served many different ways, with crackers or veggie sticks, but I think the best way is the grilled cheese way. Basically just pile as much pimento cheese onto a slice of bread as you can handle, top it off with another slice and “grill” on a well-oiled cast iron skillet over med heat. Flip after one side is browned and toasted, about 3 minutes and cover, waiting about 1 more minute. Here are a few things that we all know about winter: it gets cold, people get sick, soup gets made. We all have our favorites and family recipes. Me, I normally make a roasted butternut squash and sweet potato soup. In a restaurant though there’s really only one I order, the mouth burning French Onion soup. We all do it, we order it and wait expectantly for the gooey bubbly cheesy little crock to be placed in front of us – and when it finally arrives we are told to be careful because it is still quite hot. And what do we do? We dig in and burn our mouths. But we go on because the magical soup is so good, so comforting, and so cheesy, brothy and mushy. All table manners go out the window when the soup is all gone and we start to pick at the burned hardened cheese that had bubbled over under the broiler. But don’t worry, the other restaurant goers understand because you are eating French Onion soup and that is just what you do. This past weekend I was gearing up to make my first batch of winter soup and I saw an article in the New York Times about Red Onion Soup. The author had made a similar version years before with Jacques Pepin – the be all and end all of French cooking (except for Julia Child of course) and he was going over how it was made. This version used water not broth; it really was a pauper’s soup – onions, garlic, herbs, stale bread, cheese, salt pepper, a little wine and a lot of water. I did a little more research and saw that everyone had their own style; some used broth – beef or chicken, wine – white or red, alcohol – sherry, brandy or cognac. So many choices! I’d never made French Onion soup before and was a little overwhelmed because so many people said theirs was the “true” recipe. I decided to stick with the original recipe that used water, I liked the simplicity of it – and honestly I wanted to see how good water and caramelized onions could actually taste. Good. Really really good. It tasted better than it had any business to. And it was so easy! So please, go to the store, stock up on onions and try this soup. Here’s the link to the NYTimes Red Onion Soup recipe published on 1/1/14. …and because we all love Julia Child French Onion Soup PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 20min / Cook: 1hr 15min TOTAL: 1hr 35min [6 servings]
The prep for this soup is painfully simple, peel and thinly slice your red onions – but choppers beware you will most likely cry. This is a large amount of onions and it is hard to get through cutting all of them without taking a break. The only trick that works for me (sort of) is biting the wooden end of a matchstick. Now onto the garlic, the cloves just need to be roughly chopped – which is great because all you have to do is press the cloves with the flat side of the blade of the knife you’re working with – the garlic will smoosh and pop out of its skin a little, making it super easy to peel. Then just a few little chops – no tedious mincing required. Once you’re done with the chopping, set up your stove with two skillets – as big as you have would be ideal – and a large pot, at least 3 quarts. Add 1 cup red wine, 2 bay leaves, small bunch thyme and minced garlic to the pot. Turn the heat to med-high under both of the skillets. As soon as they get hot – about 1 minute – pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil in each skillet and let heat up for about 30 seconds before adding the onions. They may need to be cooked in 2 batches, you don’t want to overfill the skillets, otherwise the onions won’t brown evenly. Add salt to each – about 1 teaspoon and a few grinds of pepper. Let sauté for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. Have 2 cups water ready – once the onions are finished, they should be a dark golden brown and may have sections of dark brown if they got a little burned (that’s ok!), turn off the heat and add them to the pot – then pour one cup water into each skillet to deglaze them. Using a wooden spoon scrape up all the little bits left on the bottom of the skillet, the water will take on the caramelized onion flavor. Add deglazing water to the pot. Repeat until all the onions have been cooked.
Turn heat to mid-high under the pot and bring mixture of onions, garlic, red wine, deglazing water and herbs to a simmer, let sit for 5 minutes. Add two teaspoons of salt a few grinds of pepper and 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil – this will take a few minutes, if the tap water is hot when you add it this will speed up the process a little. Once the soup is boiling turn the heat down so it stays a slow simmer - you may need play with the heat a little. Let simmer for about 45 minutes. Now you can start prepping the bread, cheese and herbs. I suggested 6 slices of bread because this soup yields 6 bowls, however if you are making this recipe but only have a few mouths to feed you’ll only need a few slices. Also this soup (pre-cheese) will last a few days in the fridge and you can always freeze it for later! Grate the desired amount of cheese into a small mixing bowl. Chop the sage and thyme – or any herbs that you have on hand and think will go well – add them to the cheese and grate some fresh pepper on top. Mix it well. If your bread is fresh and not stale, now is the time you should toast it. After 45 minutes have past, taste the soup and season accordingly, you can always add another splash of red wine or even sherry, cognac or brandy. Let cook for 5-10 more minutes. You can make the soup ahead of time (up to a day ahead) and re-heat it. Once the soup is ready to plate put your oven on broil, make sure the rack in the oven is near the top, about 6 inches away, then pile the cheese and herb mixture onto the bread and put it in the oven. *I put the bread slices on foil first and then on a baking dish, otherwise the cheese melt over the sides and stick to the dish. You only need to leave the toast in the oven for about 45 seconds, just until the cheese is a browned and bubbly. Now you are ready to plate the soup. Pour a few ladlefuls into warmed bowls and put the freshly made cheesy toast on top. Grate some fresh pepper and enjoy! *If you have proper soup crocks with a rolled rim, follow these instructions for a more traditional presentation of the dish. Place the piece(s) of toast in the bowl before adding the soup and cover well with gruyere. Put the whole crock into the oven under the broiler, about 8 inches away from heat, for 3-4 minutes. So picture this – you’re hungry and out of ideas for what to eat – be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. I’m not saying that you have to feed a whole army – it’s not that kind of dire situation – you just have to feed yourself and maybe a hungry boyfriend/wife/roommate. I secretly love this scenario. You’re desperate and think you have nothing to make, but then ingredients start popping up in the fridge as ideas start lighting up in your head. Bread – check, random assortment of half used veggies – check, small piece of smelly cheese – check, one egg left…- check! So I start picturing this epic meal – just a sandwich really - in my mind and I get hungrier by the second. How can I maximize efficiency and cut down on time…enter trusty cast iron skillet. Well hello my hefty well-seasoned problem solving friend – lets get down to business. It's at this point I realize that I can pretty much add all of my ingredients into the skillet and cook them at the same time – I am feeling pretty self-satisfied. Ok enough about my feelings and talking to my kitchen cookware. I’ve made this sandwich a few times now and it’s yummy and satisfying. You don’t need to use the same exact ingredients that I used, that’s exactly NOT the point - It’s to use up what you have in your fridge and make an awesome sammie. There are too many options to even try and cover here. So go on now, go on and try it for yourself! Portabella Skillet Sammie PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 10 / Cook: 20 TOTAL: 20 (the prep can take place simultaneously to cooking)] [one serving]
Heat the oven to 350° - this is only necessary if you don’t have a toaster oven.
Place a large cast iron skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil. Wait a few minutes for it to heat up and then add the portabella cap face down. Let this cook on its own for a few minutes - 5 minutes should be enough. While the mushroom is cooking, put the sliced bread in the oven - set your timer to 5 minutes - slice up the onion, pepper and tomato. To the same skillet add the sliced onions, red peppers, and tomatoes. Keep them separate from each other. The idea is to caramelize the onions and blacken the peppers and tomatoes. The peppers and onions should be stirred up and can mix a little with each other, but the tomatoes will fall apart if you are too rough with them. When the onions start to turn a warm golden color and the peppers start to blacken, carefully flip the tomato slices over. [Check to see if the toast is ready!] Now you can flip the portabella slice over and add a pinch of salt to everything and a pinch of sugar just to the onions. Then you can let everything sit in the skillet for 5 more minutes, stirring up the onions and peppers every now and then. While you are waiting on the veggies in the skillet, spread on the still warm toast whichever soft cheese you’ve decided to use - I had a rich triple cream on hand. Take the halved avocado and mash it up with a fork while still in its skin. Take the peeled garlic clove and rub all over the other half of toast, then smear it with the mashed avocado and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the piece of toast smeared with cheese to the skillet and crack your egg into any empty space you can find – you may need to do a little rearranging for everything to fit – and cover. Since the skillet should be nice and hot the egg shouldn’t spread out too much once it hits the pan, if it does, just coax it back a little before covering. The egg should be done after a 2 minutes or so, flip it – waiting about 30 seconds, and then scoop it up with a spatula and place on top of the portabella. Now the fun part - carefully stacking the sammie. I chose the creamy triple brie smeared side to be on the bottom, dressed it with the arugala and then the portabella with egg. Next, I added the fried tomatoes, peppers and onions, and topped it off with the garlicky avocado toast. So yes it’ll become sort of a mouthful for a sandwich, but you can press down a little on it, cut it in half and watch the yolk spread and mix with all the yummy ingredients. [If runny yolk isn't your thing just let the egg cook another minute (instead of 30 seconds) after you’ve flipped it.] If you have some potato chips to throw on the side, even better! Oh and it’s a pretty hearty sandwich – so if you feel like sharing – a half is probably enough to fill a hungry belly. Enjoy! What to make on a chilly fall’s morn? Why oatmeal of course! Though because I normally have some form of oatmeal throughout the week I wanted to make it extra special. I’d recently made a version of Not Without Salt’s [Ashley Rodriguez’s] home-made chai recipe and was blown away with how good it was. Much better than any chai I’d had from a tea bag. Even my boyfriend who’s had his share of good chai while hiking around Nepal [lucky dog] was impressed. So when I lounged in bed this past Sunday morning thinking of what lay in my pantry and in my fridge I thought why not cook some old fashioned oats in some homemade chai and see what happens…so I shuffled downstairs in my shearling slippers and got cooking. It takes a little more effort but I think it’s worth trying. I mean who doesn’t want the smell of simmering home-made chai filling their kitchen? Sunday Morning Chai Oatmeal PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 5 / Cook: 30 TOTAL: 35] [Two servings]
Pour milk into a medium sized saucepan. Add sugar, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, whole cloves, cardamom pods, grated nutmeg, all spice, black tea leaves, and slices of peeled ginger. For this recipe I used a ¼ teaspoon of almond extract, mostly because I was out of vanilla extract [it still tasted good!]. Carefully bring mixture to a simmer over medium high heat. I say carefully because milk likes to boil over-quickly. It should take about 8 minutes for the mixture to come to a simmer; you should keep an eye on it and stir often so the milk doesn’t stick to the bottom. Once it has come to a simmer, remove the chai mixture from the heat and let sit 20 minutes to steep.
While the chai mixture is steeping prep the toppings for the granola. Wash and dice up the granny smith apple and chop the dried figs. Cut the pecans in halves or thirds. You don’t want the pieces to be too small because they will burn when toasted. Put the pecan pieces into a small cast iron skillet and lightly salt. Toast for 3-5 minutes on medium heat stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on them, once they start to toast – you’ll smell it – they will burn not long after. When they are ready remove them from the skillet or they will keep cooking and burn. When the chai mixture is done steeping, strain it into a small mixing bowl. Discard the used spices and pour the strained chai back into the saucepan. Bring it back to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring often. Once it simmers, add the oatmeal, turn the heat down to medium and let sit for 2 minutes. Add chia seeds to the chai oatmeal and wait 2 more minutes stirring often. The oatmeal should be done after 4-5 minutes. Serve in a warmed bowl and top with the apple, pecans and figs. I apologize – I haven’t been posting recently, but I have been cooking and eating – a lot. You see that’s been the problem either I don’t stop to take photos for my blog, or I’m trying something out for the first time – either a random concoction of my own or someone else’s recipe that I just cant stop thinking about. I even tried my hand at home made pasta. Excuse # 3 is that my sister was visiting – just in time to catch the last weekend of the Texas State Fair and all the fried food you could dream up. Again, I was all set to take photos, but I quickly got distracted by said fried food, and my good intentions fell by the way side. Therefore I’ve decided to dedicate this post to left overs based on some killer recipes I’ve tried out. The first is a smoothie, the Green Machine Smoothie to be exact taken from Whole Living’s website, it yields about 3 cups worth of healthy goodness. It combines parsley, romaine, kale, pineapple and ginger perfectly – I know I’ve gone on about parsley before but who knew it could taste so good in a smoothie? The recipe also calls for mango, but I’ve subbed in apple juice and apricot juice, it’s just as good. Have coconut water hanging around, you could add a little of that too! So I’m getting off track and could very easily end up wandering into my kitchen and see what else I can throw into my blender. My point is that I have some romaine lettuce and purple kale in my fridge and whenever I have romaine I always want to make a creamy caesar salad. This brings me to the next recipe that I was literally talking about for days - Melissa Clarks’, Green Goddess Roasted Chicken from the New York Times. I don’t cook chicken often much less a whole chicken, but the photos from this NYTimes story where pretty ridiculous. All you had to do to was blend a few ingredients, Buttermilk, basil, chives, green onion, garlic, and a little salt and pepper, do a spatchcock number on that chicken [butterfly it] and let it marinate over night. Then roast in the oven for about 40 minutes at 500 degrees. You reserve a little of the marinade sauce at the beginning to drizzle on the finished bird and its pretty close to roasted chicken perfection. The only suggestion I would make is that if your bird is small enough after it’s been flattened, brown the underside in a cast iron skillet and then transfer it into the oven. Basically what I am left with is, some leafy greens, left over roasted chicken, and a badass basil chive buttermilk sauce. So yes, in my mind this equals a rockstar version of the good old traditional chicken caesar salad. Rockstar Chicken Caesar Salad PRINT RECIPE [Prep: 20 / TOTAL: 20] [Serving size depends on home much chicken is left over]
Dressing:
For the basil and chive buttermilk dressing, whisk all of the ingredients together in small bowl except for the olive oil. The oil you should slowly incorporate a little at a time while whisking, so it can emulsify and the dressing can become thicker. This dressing won’t become as creamy as a traditional caesar salad because of the volume of buttermilk already in the sauce – it will still taste darn good. To assemble the salad just wash and chop up the romaine, kale [stem it first] arugula and put into a large mixing bowl. Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes, pit and cube/slice the avocado and mix both in with the greens. Here you can pre-mix the salad with a few tablespoons of the dressing – just enough to coat everything. In small skillet or saucier pan toast a 4 tablespoons of panko crumbs on medium-high heat. Add a dash of olive oil, a pinch of salt, a little cracked pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Toast for 4 minutes, stirring a few times so it doesn't burn. Pull the roasted chicken off the bones and slice it up. [You should save all the bones, skin and other inedible pieces from the whole roasted chicken, it will make killer stock. You can always save them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer until you are ready to make a homemade stock.] Plate the mixed salad and top with the sliced chicken. Drizzle more of the dressing on top and finish off with the toasted panko, the shaved parmesan and a few grinds of cracked pepper. [If you see something missing in this photo it's because I had to ditch the purple kale, it smelled pretty bad – it had gone funky. It’s always a bummer when food goes to waste...] NOTE: If you have some leftover chicken but no buttermilk sauce (so sad) no worries, here’s a basic caesar dressing that’s easy to whip up:
Classic Caesar Dressing [Should make enough for 2-4 salads, depending on serving size]
Blend all the ingredients together in small food processor, except the olive oil, or mash anchovies and pressed garlic together in a mortar and pestle and incorporate all the ingredients – again, except the olive oil. Transfer to a small bowl or measuring cup and slowly drizzle the olive oil while whisking the mixture. The slow drizzle will help the dressing come together and become creamy. If it becomes too thick for your liking you can always add a little water or vinegar to thin it out to be more like a vinaigrette. |
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October 2014
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