Hello! Since I last posted, I got married and had a baby. So I have been busy. But I miss all of you and I miss the blog. And now I have the time and mental energy to cook again.
Meanwhile.... edible! Our little family member is absolutely delicious.
I have been on a big fish kick lately. I went to New Deal fish market in East Cambridge and sea bass was on sale, so I bought two pieces.
The fish was really easy to cook. I lightly oiled and generously seasoned each side with salt and pepper. Then I seared both sides in a hot skillet, and lowered the heat to cook through the fish. It was thick, so I quickly seared the "side" edges, too.
While the fish was cooking, I made seared spinach. So easy and delicious! Just pop a lot of spinach (this stems removed) into an almost smoking hot pan with a small dab of oil and toss. Add a little salt and pepper, and you can finish with vinegar, lemon juice, or butter if desired (I like just s and p myself). This is really fast and easy. Stop and transfer to a plate when the spinach is bright green and almost all wilted, it will keep cooking a little.
Finally I made little oven potato chips. well, actually this is the part to start first. I sliced the potatoes in rounds with a mandolin into a bowl of salt water to leach out a lot of the starch. Let soak for about 15 minutes, then pat dry with a kitchen towel and arrange on a lightly oiled pan (it is important to dry them well). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at about 375 until lightly browned and crisp and pretty.
Enjoy!!
Delicious bowties with buckwheat! I had this dish for the first time a couple of weekends ago. Maybe you were lucky enough to have a Jewish grandma that made kasha varnishkes for you all the time? Not me, so this was my introduction. Literally, it means buckwheat and bowties. I have no idea if this is a traditional recipe or alteration, but it was the closest I could find to recreate what I ate.
I used this recipe from the internet after a lot of searching for one that includes red bell peppers. Be forewarned - If you click "printer friendly recipe" you will end up with a different recipe.
A few changes I recommend:
- use twice as many peppers and onions as called for
- after sauteeing the onion and peppers, remove from heat and set aside to toss in at the end instead of cooking them with the buckwheat. This keeps the veggies tasty with a little crunch
- serve hot with a good dollop of sour cream or yogurt to mix in
I found Arrowhead Mills buckwheat groats at Whole Foods. This picture looks a little rough, but it was the last of my leftovers on day three. Still delicious!
Fish time! I have been eating lots of fish lately, especially salmon. My favorite dinner these past couple of weeks has been pan-seared salmon, pasta with garlic, scallions, and butter, and some sort of vegetable, like seared bok choi or lemon broccoli. Yum!
Carla told me she makes her salmon in the toaster oven, for 12 minutes at 325. She lightly oils and seasons both sides. Carla was kind enough to send in a photo:
Does that sound delicious, or what? Lucky me, Connie made this dinner Wednesday night when she hosted us for a regular Wednesday night date.
The biscuits were pure genius: the New Basics biscuit recipe with a handful or two of coarsely chopped scallion thrown in. I really like the way Connie cut them - she patted the dough into a rough square, and cut the square like tic-tac-toe into smaller squareish shapes.
And the soup! Roasted acorn squash scooped out into a pot that had some sauteed garlic and ginger and veggie broth. Connie added a can of coconut milk and fresh squeezed lime juice and whirred the pot with the immersion blender (I really need one). Then we topped off the soup with chopped cilantro. Matt snapped a picture with his phone.
Connie, will you be so kind as to comment with the soup recipe?
Also, Kit, we will miss you. Should have been Rami.
Hello! Happy New Year! Right after the holidays, I drove from Arizona to Boston. We were on a mission to get to Boston, and it is winter, so we just drove, drove, drove and didn't really make any fun stops on the way.
Except for in Ohio. OHIO! We stayed with our friends (and the crazy kitten Mali) on their farm in western Ohio and had the best Ohio breakfast in Dayton the next morning. As luck would have it, in Columbus we needed to switch from I-70 to I-71. And in Grandview Heights, right between these two giant interstates, there is a small ice cream shop with the best ice cream in the whole entire world, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. We told the woman working about our trip, and how this was our one very exciting stop. She was incredibly nice and we both tasted nearly every flavor in the store. Like 20 tastes each.
We each got a trio, three scoops in a bowl with a wedge of waffle cone. I had gravel road, belgian chocolate, an butterscotch with cocoa nibs. Palo had the amazing Queen City Cayanne, bush berry, and pear-reisling sorbet. Other favorites included lemon whole milk yogurt, and creme fraiche with cherries.
I can't wait to order a batch for my house. A chocolate and ice cream lover kept my dog Henry while we were away, and I sent her 6 pints as a thank you. All arrived in perfectly delicious condition.
Thanks, Carla, for the directions and idea and talking about Jeni's for the last few years. You were so right!
I know, I know! Steak and potatoes is about the oldest combination ever. But I never really made the connection that it really is the best combination ever. I also never really fully knew how incredibly easy and rewarding it is to make a steak. I saw these potatoes on a blog, somewhere, while I was following all kinds of clicks that can never be recreated, so I can't find the original post for you. But that is ok, because I don't really recommend cooking potatoes this way, they were only so-so. I think a basic bake or mash would have been way better than slicing them, stuffing them with herbs, and roasting. Although they are pretty.
Anyhow, I am really more interested in the steak. I bought a piece of sirloin, cut it into two smaller-but-still-huge steaks at home, oiled both sides of the meat, and generously salted and peppered both sides. That's it! Then I seared them on medium to hight heat, let them rest, and obtained the medium rare that I was going for.
I am by no means an expert and am just getting started with meat, but here are some tips I have to share:
- Lightly oil both sides of the meat with vegetable oil that is suitable for high heat. I like safflower.
- Salt the meat with your fingers, using salt from a bowl. I always beep a little bowl of salt by the stove and this is how I salt everything. I use the big box of Kosher salt that is red, black, and white. It is not too coarse. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the whole surface.
- Use pepper fresh ground from a pepper grounder directly onto the meat. Evenly, over the whole surface
- Get the pan almost smoking before laying the steaks on. You probably want just a dab of oil in your pan. Add the oil first to the cold pan, and swirl it around as it heats up. The oil will get less and less viscous as it heats and can coat the whole pan.
- Sear each side to a nice crusty caramel. Don't smoosh your steak down with a spatula
- Let the steak rest! Take the steak off the heat, and transfer to a plate to rest. This is really interesting and important. They steak needs to rest not only to keep cooking and evenly distribute the heat, but to allow the cells to retain moisture. If a steak gets cut right off the fire, tons of juice will squirt out. This is juice that could have been reabsorbed and make every bite juicer and more succulent. About 5 minutes should be good.
- I think the medium rare is the best thing ever.
I came across this recipe for biscotti randomly, about 9 years ago. It is very easy to make, and tasty to boot. You can probably find all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now. This is the perfect time of year to make a huge batch, so you have an excuse to make coffee all the time. But who needs an excuse to make coffee all the time?
The round pictured was an experimental batch. I added pepitas and dried cherries to the whole recipe, and cocoa powder to half.
I recommend adding about 7 or 8 Tbs of cocoa powder, I only added 2 or 3 and it was not nearly enough. Also, this recipe is crying out for chocolate chips, a lot of chocolate chips.
Next time I think pistachios, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips will be the way to go.
I just googled "quinoa crepes" to make sure my spelling was not totally off the map. And quite a few things came up, making me realize two things:
1 - Had I done this search before making dinner, my dinner would not have been so weird and mediocre,
2 - My ideas are not original.
Anyhow, I made a ton of quinoa recently, and had a ton minus a serving or two leftover. So I mixed some cooked quinoa with a little flour, milk, eggs and salt to make a crepe batter. I think I was a little heavy on the eggs and a little light on the flour and grains. I stuffed the crepes with smashed squash with herbs.
If I do it again, I will make the filling more interesting (read: cheese) and maybe toast the cooked quinoa first, and adjust my ratios.
Or just read a recipe for quinoa crepes and follow that.
Sarah (my lovely Florida friend from childhood) sent in this link for a tasty tuna sandwich with white beans. It is amazing, you have to try it.
Sarah and I both love food, and always have. We became friends in that phase of life when we were growing pre-teens and could not eat enough. In the afternoons after 7th grade classes, we used to devour an entire box of Velveeta shells and cheese with a bag of frozen broccoli mixed in with the noodles. I am happy to report this sandwich is way better than that snack.
I altered the recipe a little, and you can, too. All kinds of things would be delicious.
My changes:
More lemon juice in both parts
1 clove of minced garlic with beans, instead of 2
A shot of balsamic vinegar in with the tuna
Less salt in both parts
Tuna in water, drained, with a little extra olive oil in recipe
No olives, because I don't have any on hand
Changes I would like to make in the future:
Shredded raw beet instead of celery
Shaved fennel instead of celery
Capers instead of olives
And when I make this again I will just always double the bean part, because it is so good to keep around for snacking.
Thanks, Sarah!
I was on a protein kick for awhile. Those of you who know me will be shocked at what I was eating, and the sad fact that I was inspired by seeing Heidi Klum on E! talking about eating egg whites all day long.
Anyhow, for a couple of weeks this was my favorite thing to eat:
A sandwich with eggs whites, seared spinach, low fat jalapeño cheese, and a couple of fake sausage slices. I know it sounds gross, but it's actually really tasty. And very low in fat and high in protein.... Eat up, Heidi!
Carla mentioned Orangette in an old comment, and I have been checking in ever since. Even though it is a classic blog with a big following, it doesn't hurt to post another pitch here! Check it out if you haven't already, I think you might like Molly (I borrowed the header image). Wonderful recipes and good stories.
Those of you crunchy types who went to Oberlin might remember Ket and John's famous granola. I do. I've made two batches recently based on what I can remember of their recipe, and both turned out well.
This granola is for people who like clumps, not individual oats. It can be modified infinitely to your liking. You just need two bowls, as it is important to mix the wet and dry separately. The coconut really adds a lot, and does not make the granola taste like coconut. So even if you don't like coconut you might want to give it a try. I'm sorry the quantities are so vague
Wet - safflower/sunflower/canola oil, maple syrup (2 or three times as much as the oil), splash of vanilla, a bit of warm water
Dry - a couple handfuls of flour, about 3 times as many oats, unsweetened shredded coconut, chopped raw pecans, lots of raw flax seeds, salt (more than you think, a couple spoonfuls), pinch of cinnamon
Mix both separately. Add the wet all at once to the dry and mix thoroughly. Spread in an even layer on cookie sheets, and bake at 350.
Remove once the edges start to look golden, or just very slightly toasty. The granola will firm up as it cools, and be perfect, even though the middle might seem a little too soft.
Like Carla, I recommend adding raisins or other dried fruit at the end, when you are transferring the baked granola to a storage bin.
I used to really hate tuna fish. The thought of eating canned tuna seemed no different to me than sitting down to enjoy a tin of Fancy Feast, and the smell of someone else eating tuna made my stomach turn.
This has all changed.
I LOVE tuna. I think it is because I discovered it 27 years later than most people that I have such tuna enthusiasm. I have started making a tuna salad sandwich with one can of tuna (Trader Joe's brand or Genova in water), shredded beet, shredded carrot, minced celery, finely chopped red onion, s&p and a little mayo. Then I quickly expanded to tuna melts, and have been inviting my friends over to cook them tuna melts. They have been patient with my tuna love. Thanks, guys.
We ate this tuna melt with baked sweet potato fries, and a little salad with miso dressing.
A new discovery was made in Vermont. One grape half green, half red. Interestingly enough, the same effect can be accomplished with two people:
In addition to the apple crisp, Connie and I made a frittata with onion, green pepper, tomatoes, and some cheese. Although I just did a little reading about frittatas, and I don't really think we made a true frittata. We whisked together eggs, milk (actually I used a little yogurt and water), s&p, and the filling, and then poured this into a dish and popped it in a hot oven, and let it bake until it was set.
I read that a real fritatta is poured in a hot skillet and started on the stove top, then finished in the oven. Maybe I will try this next time.
Carla originally turned me on to frittatas. I'm not really sure if I even knew what they were until Carla started making huge vats of frittata for the hungry-hungry hippies of Oberlin.
Last week my parents and I went to Vermont, and we were kind of obsessed with farm stands and farmers' markets. We bought a big bag of tart apples (4 varities) for $1.50, and last night, back in Dorchester, Connie and I turned a bunch of these apples into an apple crisp with an oat topping. We added a splash of maple syrup to the standard oat topping (oats, flour, butter, salt, sugar) to contribute to the Vermont theme.
I attempted growing a few vegetables in my front yard, including tomatoes, cucumbers, and wax beans. I left these wax beans on the vine too long, and they were mealy, with overly developed seed-bean parts.
Last night I had two tomatoes that tasted pretty good, but nothing like Alabama tomatoes from my grandma. Also, there are amazing tomatoes to be had in Ohio.
