Amuse Bouche

2009-08-20T18:01:00.002-05:00

I'm not here...

...but you can find me at www.thethinchef.com.

Turkish-Style Beef + Eggplant Sandwiches

2009-08-19T20:35:00.004-05:00

For the second week in a row, we got some beautiful lavender-skinned eggplants in our CSA box. Long and slender, they were just begging to be cooked into something delicious. I also had some ground beef in the freezer, and the two knd of came together in my mind as a nice filling for a weeknight sandwich, sort of loose-meat style.

I roasted the eggplant and browned the meat with a whole mess of garlic and some sliced onions. When the eggplant was tender and browned, I tossed it in with the meat and added a handful of fresh herbs.
I then piled it into a flatbread wrap, and dolloped on a sauce of thickened yogurt spiked with hot pepper flakes and a little lemon juice. It was, in a word, mouthwatering. We loved it and ate every. last. bite.

Turkish-Style Beef + Eggplant Sandwiches
serves 2 with leftovers for lunch

3 Japanese eggplants or 1 large eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 pound ground beef
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or dill, or a combination of both
2 teaspoons freh lemon juice
2 flatbread sandwich wraps or pitas, warmed (or any flat, wrappable bread you like)

Yogurt Sauce
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt
Pinch red pepper flakes
Chopped dill and/or mint

Preheat oven to 450º. Toss eggplant with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a big pinch of salt; place on a large rimmed baking sheet, and roast for 12 minutes, or until eggplant is browned and soft.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the beef, breaking it apart with the spatula. Toss everything to combine, and cook until beef is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

Add eggplant to skillet, and toss. Add herbs and lemon juice, and toss to combine. Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, salt, pepper flakes, and herbs. Stir to combine.

Spoon filling into bread, dollop with yogurt sauce and serve.

{serve with oven fries for even greater success}

A Change is Gonna Come

2009-08-17T11:32:00.000-05:00

Big announcement coming soon...

Stay tuned!

'Mater Love

2009-08-16T19:01:00.002-05:00

I found out this weekend I was chosen to participate in Foodbuzz's 24, 24, 24 dinner for the month of August. Here's an explanation of the event from Foodbuzz.com, which is linked to last month's event:

"Showcasing posts from 24 Foodbuzz Featured Publisher bloggers, the monthly Foodbuzz 24 highlights unique meals occurring around the globe during a 24-hour perio d."

I submitted a menu last week and got picked. Woo! My idea was to have a farewell to tomatoes menu, since (at least in Alabama) summer 'mater season comes to an end in late August. I get $250 from Visa Signature to help me buy the ingredients, too. Fabulous.

Here's the menu...I plan on getting as much as I can from farms and other local sources. I'll keep you updated as I prepare for the meal, which will be a week from this coming Saturday (August 29).

Tomato gin or vodka fizz
Tomato, cucumber & goat feta napoleons with basil oil
Chilled creamy tomato-dill soup
Locally raised trout in tomato aqua pazza, topped with fresh tomato relish
Candied cherry tomatoes on squares of dark walnut bread spread with honey-sweetened ricotta
Matched wines

More to come...

Our Eats This Week

2009-08-16T14:28:00.003-05:00

Keeping it pretty quick and easy this week, but I promise to have recipes for the pitas and the Spicy Tomato Shrimp...

Monday - Chipotle–Black Bean cakes (ccokbook re-test), fresh corn on the cob, squash
Tuesday - Middle Eastern–style roasted eggplant and ground beef pitas, oven fries
Wednesday - Spicy Tomato Shrimp, fresh field peas and rice
Thursday - Flatbread (cookbook) and salad

The Color Purple

2009-08-13T16:07:00.003-05:00

{This is an edited re-post of one I wrote when this blog was in its infancy. It's appropriate for this time of year, so I wanted to share it again}

The plums in the market right now are so lush, the skin so purple it's almost black. I love the flavor dichotomy of ripe plums — the first bite of skin and fruit is tart, but as you get closer to the pit, the flesh gets sweeter. There are 2,000 varieties of plums, but only about 20 types are generally sold in the U.S., including classic purple ones, red ones, green ones and even red-flecked pluots, which are a cross-breeds of plums and apricots.

I love to cut them into chunks and mix them with cantaloupe, fresh lime juice, mint and a touch of sugar. The combination of the flavors and textures of the different plums made for a lovely mix. The smaller, green ones are tart and firm, while the darker ones are sweet and softer. The melon added another layer of flavor, while the lime and mint added some depth. You could certainly sub out the cantaloupe for honeydew, and add in some peaches, blueberries or any other summery fruit you think would work well. This keeps well in the fridge — it's just as good (if not better) the second day—if it lasts that long.

Plum and Melon Salad
makes about 2 1/2 cups
1 or 2 medium purple plums, pitted and cubed
1 small green plum, pitted and cubed
1 medium red plum, pitted and cubed
1 pluot, pitted and cubed
1/4 t0 1/2 cantaloupe, peeled and cubed
Juice of one small lime
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint

Combine everything in a large bowl, toss to coat fruit in juice and sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour. Stir before serving. Keeps up to four days, refrigerated.

The Runaround

2009-08-11T20:57:00.005-05:00

My week has felt pretty crazy so far, and it's only Tuesday! Of course I determine how well a week is going by the meals I cook and eat...

The past 2 days have been strange. First, Jason hurt his ankle playing basketball early Monday morning, so he's been needing extra help and hasn't been able to do everything he normally is able to. (He is a superman husband, I tell you. He is so helpful when he's not down to 1 good foot.) Anyway, when I came home from work yesterday, I made dinner, and then tested two recipes, did a huge load of all the dirty dishes, then cleaned the kitchen. Even though it was all fun (for the most part), I was on my feet in the kitchen from 5:30 pm until almost 10.

This morning, I woke up 10 minutes after I am supposed to be at work. Lovely. So I scrambled around and rushed out the door. I had deadlines galore at work, scarfed down Subway for lunch, then ran home to take Jason to the doctor for x-rays. (His ankle had gotten more swollen since yesterday, but it's not broken—just sprained, thank goodness.) By the time we got home at almost 6:45, we were famished, so I hastily threw together some veggies and squeezed in one cookbook test. Ran errands after dinner, and am just sitting down with a glass of wine to decompress.

I tell you this to let you know that food hasn't been at the forefront of my mind. But I have been saving pictures of these tacos we had a while ago, because I didn't really have much of a recipe for them. But they're a perfect thing to share during a busy week, because they require little effort for a delicious payoff.

Remove the skin from a rotisserie chicken, then shred the meat. (I shred the white meat and save the dark for other things, but you can mix if you like.) Throw it in a skillet slicked with vegetable oil, and toss around until warm.

In a saucepan, warm up a can of drained black beans. Add some cumin and a grated clove of garlic, if you feel like it. With a potato masher, mash the beans until they're smooth with a few chunks.

Wrap a stack of corn tortillas in a damp paper towel, then pop in the microwave for 30 seconds or so. Leave them in the microwave until you're ready for them.

Shred some lettuce. If you're feeling ambitious and tomatoes are in season, dice a tomato and 1/4 of a sweet onion. Add minced cilantro and a glug of olive oil. Season with salt.

Pile everything on the warmed tortillas, and garnish with sour cream, if desired.

Quick and Easy Lemon-Dill Green Beans

2009-08-08T17:00:00.004-05:00

This isn't exactly a recipe, but this is how I throw together a quick, and delicious side dish.

Place the freshest green beans you can find in a deep skillet with a lid. Add about 3 to 4 tablespoons water, depending on the thickness of the beans. Use more water for thicker beans, less for skinnier ones. Drizzle with about 2 teaspoons olive oil, and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt. Toss.

Cover, and turn heat to high. Let beans steam for about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the beans. When they are just barely tender, uncover skillet. Keep heat on high, and let water evaporate while the beans pick up a little bit of color from the oil, tossing constantly.

When the water is gone, turn off the heat. Add the zest of 1 lemon and a lot of dill (like, a quarter cup. Or more.) Sprinkle with extra salt and fresh pepper, and taste. Add a bit more oil or even a pat of butter for good measure. Serve.

Alabama Locavores

2009-08-08T14:03:00.006-05:00

Our CSA box was full to the brim with the most gorgeous produce yet! I am so excited to get these beauties on our cutting board, in our pans, and into our awaiting mouths and bellies. Behold, the loveliness that is the early August harvest...

Here's how we'll enjoy them this week...

Sunday - Brunch: Eggs with Cajun salsa, fried okra, and corn cakes
Dinner: Cavatelli con Vongole et Spinaci (cookbook test)
Monday - Asian-Style Veggie Night: grilled baby eggplant with miso dressing, Broccoli with Puri Puri Sauce (cookbook test), Black Eyed Peas with Ginger Soy Sauce (cookbook test)
Tuesday - Beef Brewat Rolls (cookbook test), cucumber salad
Wednesday - Chicken curry with CSA veg, rice
Thursday - Black-Bean Chipotle Cakes (cookbook re-test), millet, CSA veg

{beautiful fresh soybeans, perfect for an afternoon snack!}

Sopa!

2009-08-03T17:23:00.007-05:00

Sopa Azteca is essentially a tomato-chicken broth you ladle over fried tortillas and avocado chunks. I tested a version of this Mexican classic the other night for the cookbook I'm helping with. Though I can't share the exact recipe here, there are a multitude of recipes to be found online, and I'm sure they're all pretty delicious.

Because the tomatoes here are SO good right now, and because we had tons from our CSA box, I used them in the version I made, but I assume it would be {almost} as good with canned tomatoes. I fried the corn tortillas and diced a beautiful avocado...those two garnishes make the soup what it is.

And although it wasn't in the recipe, I added one whole breast of chicken to the soup, and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Once cooked, I shredded the meat and added it back into the soup, making it a filling dinner.

I highly recommed making this soon. This recipe looks good, or just Google around until you find one that sounds good to you!

Sweet Home Alabama

2009-08-02T21:18:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite parts of living in the deep south is the selection of what we call Meat-and-Threes—essentially cafeterias serving up homestyle Southern food. A typical plate consists of a meat, such as pot roast, fried catfish, or fried chicken, and three veggies, such as slow-cooked green beans, collards, macaroni and cheese (while not actually a vegetable, it's considered one here), and my favorite, fried okra.

When I was little, we often ate at Picadilly Cafeteria, and I always—and I mean always—ordered fried okra as a side dish. Even the mediocre frozen kind (which is what you most often find) is good to me.

So when our CSA box had a bag of fresh okra, I knew what I had to do. I looked and looked for a recipe and found lots of fancy varieties, but in the end, I decided to go simple. Buttermilk and hot sauce, a dredge of cornmeal, and that's it. Even Jason, who's never liked fried okra, had a handful and enjoyed it. It was okra at its finest. Hot, crisp, and delightful.

{soaking in buttermilk & hot sauce}

Failproof Fried Okra
serves 2, but can easily be doubled

1/2 pound fresh okra, stems removed and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
Tobasco or Frank's Red Hot (or similar)
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 cup cornmeal
Fine-grain salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place okra in a bowl, and cover with buttermilk and hot sauce. Stir to combine and coat fully. Let sit for 20 minutes while the oil heats. Pour oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy, high-sided pot to a depth of 1 inch, and heat over medium-high.

Put the cornmeal in a shallow bowl, and add a big pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Set aside. Remove okra from buttermilk mixture, shaking off excess. Dredge half of okra in cornmeal mixture.

Sprinkle a pinch of cornmeal mixture into the oil. If it bubbles quickly, it's ready. Carefully place the breaded okra in the hot oil, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown. If the breading browns very quickly, turn the heat down.

Drain on a plate lined with paper towels; repeat with second half of okra. Serve hot.

Like a Bunny

2009-08-02T11:04:00.005-05:00

I'm posting a quick menu today because I'm busy running around getting everything ready to be the food stylist for a magazine shoot tomorrow! I'm very excited, if not just a little bit nervous...it will be my first time styling something that will actually be published.

Anyway, there's lots of prep work to be done. I promise to share as much as I can when it's over (it's going in the Nov/Dec issue of TeaTime, where I am Associate Editor) and when the issue is out, I'll be sure to share more!

In the meantime, here's our weekly menu...still testing recipes for the Disney cookbook, so that's a majority of our meals.

Sunday - Burgers, fried okra, summer squash, and sliced cucumber
Monday - Chicken paillards, couscous, Lemon-Dill Broad Beans
Tuesday - Northern Bean Soup (cookbook), green salad
Wednesday - Pasta with CSA Summer Squash and Tomatoes
Thursday - Escolar with Vegetables (cookbook)
Friday - Robusto Flat Bread with Romesco Sauce (cookbook)
Saturday - Cavatelli con Vongole et Spinaci (cookbook)

Food is Pretty

2009-07-30T20:34:00.008-05:00

Because I can't share the recipes of things I've been making, I wanted to show you some of the beeeyoootiful produce we've been getting from our CSA box.

I know not everyone gets weak in the knees when they see perfect, golf-ball-sized onions, golden corn, and green-tipped zephyr squash that weep when you slice it...

but I do.

Back in the Saddle

2009-07-26T12:16:00.003-05:00

Wow, what a crazy 2 weeks it's been since I last wrote. To begin with, I dropped a gigantic bamboo cutting board on my left big toe on the Tuesday before last, causing almost a week's worth of a gauze-wrapped foot, hobbling on crutches, doctors visits, and a small amount of painkillers. Needless to say, I spent very little time in the kitchen. In fact, I only made one meal the whole week! It actually worked out well that our kitchen was in shambles until the following Sunday, because I wouldn't have been able to stand in front of the stove anyway.

Then I left for London, and had a whirlwind week of incredible service, delicious food, and lovely company. I stayed at the Ritz London (not the Ritz-Carlton...no relation) as part of a press trip sponsored by the hotel, and it was one of the most fabulous weeks I've ever had.

So now that I'm back, our kitchen looks wonderful, and everything is all put away—it's time to get cooking again. I've posted a fairly similar menu to the one I last did, because I wasn't able to make any of it while I was out of commission. As I mentioned before, I'm testing recipes for an upcoming cookbook, so those recipes will make up many of our meals the next few weeks.

Sunday - Veggie night: Tomato & Onion Salad with Mustard Basil Vinaigrette (cookbook), watermelon-feta salad (cookbook), sauteed squash, peppers, and onions from our CSA box
Monday - Chana Punjabi, brown rice, green salad with Coconut-Buttermilk Dressing (cookbook)
Tuesday - Simple grilled shrimp with grilled lemons, sauteed eggplant from CSA
Wednesday - Black-Bean Chipotle Cakes with Brown Rice (cookbook), TBD veggies from CSA
Thursday - Sopa Azteca (cookbook), TBD salad from our CSA box goodies

I'll post some before/after pics of the kitchen later! Have a great week.

2009-07-12T15:57:00.003-05:00

Even though we're kitchenless, I'm still planning a few meals for the week. Oh, and I forgot to mention...I'll also be absent from blogland next weekend and the following week—I'm off to London for a work trip (!!!) so posting will be sparse until I'm home on July 24.

I'm currently testing recipes for a to-be-published cookbook {not mine, unfortnately!}, so I can't give recipes for a lot of the things I'll be making...but I'll still share what they are so you can see the fun things we're having.

Monday - Tonight we'll be eating from paper bowls, so I'll grab takeout soup from Whole Foods, and throw together a quick tomato salad with Mustard-Dill Vinaigrette (a cookbook recipe)
Tuesday - Black-Bean Chiptole Cakes with Brown Rice (cookbook test)
Wednesday - Chana Punjabi, brown rice, green salad with Coconut-Buttermilk Dressing (cookbook test)
Thursday - Sopa Azteca (cookbook test), TBD salad from our CSA box goodies
Friday - Robusto Flatbread with Romesco Sauce (cookbook test), TBD salad or side from our CSA box

Brief Hiatus

2009-07-12T12:30:00.008-05:00

Our kitchen is in shambles, which is actually a good thing. Let me explain. When we moved in to our little rental cottage, we noticed the cabinets kind of stunk. No matter, we thought. We'll just let them air out, and all will be well.

Fast forward 6 months later, and they were still stinky. In fact, we realized the root of the problem was actually mildew or mold in the wood of the cabinets. Gross. We were washing our clean dishes before using them because they smelled musty—completely ridiculous. Our lovely landlord took us seriously, though, and got the reno project started. First, we unloaded everything from our cabinets and put it all on our kitchen and dining room tables. It's crazy to see how much stuff we have! (And, we just had a yard sale. Sigh.)Then our landlord's handymen Juan and Juan (a father-son duo) started ripping out the old, moldy cabinets and started installing the new ones. When the old cabinets came out, it was obvious that the 1970s, gold-swirled formica counters wouldn't survive the renovation, so they're being replaced, too {halleluiah!}. Great to get new counters, but it means the whole project is taking a bit longer than we thought it would.

We've been without a kitchen since Friday morning...and it looks like it will be Tuesday at least before we have any semblance of a working kitchen. In the meantime, we're making do with takeout and eating out, with a few snacks and cereal on paper plates. Mostly, it's the lack of sink that's the hardest to work around...our stove and fridge are in place, and they left the old counters just resting atop the new cabinets, but it's not exactly the ideal cooking situation.

So, all that to say I'll be out of pocket for a few days until we're back up and running by mid-week. See you then!

Local Love

2009-07-10T08:51:00.005-05:00

{photo via stock.xchg, as I don't have any farm photos of my own}

We {finally} did it—we joined a CSA. I’ve been trying to support local farmers via the farmers’ markets and produce stands, but the bulk of my shopping still happens at Publix. I’m a Publix girl all the way, but when it comes to fresh fruits and veg, the selection is less than inspiring. It can also be expensive, mainly because more than half of the stuff there isn’t even grown in America, let alone in Alabama. Even the produce at the stand isn’t all locally grown. Frustrating, since I know there are beautiful farms all around Birmingham, even one right in the middle of the city.

An explanation of CSAs, from the USDA site:
Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or “share-holders” of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer's salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production.

Here’s a link to our CSA. I’m thrilled to finally be a part of one. There are manifold benefits to eating locally harvested food: it’s environmentally friendly, since you’re lessening your dependency the mass amounts of fuel used to ship things halfway across the country (or world). It’s healthy, because you’re getting boxes filled with farm-fresh produce, eggs, milk, cheeses, and meats, many of which are organic or at the very least grown and raised as naturally as possible. It’s a great way to stimulate and support your local economy. American farmers, dare I say, offer a huge solution to the rising obesity crisis we face as a nation. By supporting these farmers, we can guarantee costs stay lower, so fruits and veggies can be more prominent in the diets of Americans.

I found ours by googling "Birmingham, AL CSA." I hope you'll look around to see what's out there in your community...I bet you'll find something, too.

P.S. While we're on the subject, can anyone spare $400 for Jason and me to attend this dinner, put on by the oh-so-gorgeous and swoon-worthy Outstanding in the Field? Anyone?

{photo via outstandinginthefield.com}

Go Fish

2009-07-10T06:47:00.001-05:00

Sockeye Salmon was on sale at Whole Foods for just $10.99 per pound, which is fabulous, because it's usually close to $20+ per pound. So while I walked into the store thinking of shrimp, I walked out with a neatly wrapped paper package of richly red and beautifully marbled sockeye.

I'm a sucker for crisp skin on just about anything, so since the salmon had gorgeous silver-and-charcoal skin, I decided on a quick sear. The trick here is getting the salmon to room temperature, and making sure the skin is super-dry. I slid the fillets into a hot, nonstick skillet skin-side down. Then, borrowing a tip I saw on Anne Burrel's great Food Network show, I placed an oiled skillet on top of the fish to weigh it down. After it was mostly cooked, I flipped it and let it cook for only a minute or so. The result was crisp, nicely browned skin and perfectly cooked salmon.

I served the salmon over a simple mix of fluffy couscous (1 cup uncooked+1 cup broth), sauteed zucchini and green onions (2 each, chopped), and lots of chopped fresh dill (about 3 tablespoons) for a light, summery supper.

Something for Everyone

2009-07-08T21:12:00.004-05:00

As I have mentioned before, my master's thesis was a project (not a paper). I developed a healthy eating magazine for parents with young kids, and for the magazine, I created healthy but yummy recipes that would get lots of good-for-you things into kids but still taste good. (I also took all the pictures, did all the layouts, wrote all the stories...)

The recipes were a hit with my tasters (my then-14-year-old brother and friends, who are now—unbelievably—17), but just because kids would like them doesn't mean grownups won't. The thought behind this meal is that the chicken and pilaf are plain enough for kids, while the pesto adds an extra somethin-somethin for the parents. These are printed verbatim from the magazine, hence the little tips, etc.

Bon appetit!

Sunshine Bulgur Pilaf
1 cup bulgur
1 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1 diced orange bell pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon orange juice
Freshly ground black pepper
1 sliced green onion

Bring stock to a boil. Place bulgur in a large heatproof bowl and cover with boiling stock. Add in salt and bell pepper, stir and cover bowl with plastic wrap.

Let sit for 20 minutes or until bulgur is soft and liquid is absorbed. If necessary, drain in sieve, pressing out excess stock. Stir in olive oil, orange juice, green onion and black pepper. Fluff with a fork and serve.
Lemony Chicken Tenders
Chicken tenders are just that – tender and juicy. And they’re the perfect shape for dipping.

1 1/4 pounds of chicken tenders
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place chicken in a zip-top bag. Add olive oil, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper to bag. Squeeze and shake bag to evenly distribute marinade on chicken. Place bag in refrigerator for 30 minutes to marinate.

Preheat indoor or charcoal grill to medium-high. Grill chicken tenders until they are firm and cooked through.

Parsley-Feta Pesto
This pesto is deliciously mild and is lower in fat than regular pesto. Try the leftovers as a sandwich spread or veggie dip.

1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
2 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Toast walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 6 minutes or until fragrant. In a food processor or blender, blend the all ingredients until smooth.

Four-Minute Zucchini
3 large zucchini
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil

Slice zucchini into 1/2-inch-thick half-moon slices. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Place zucchini in skillet and toss in oil. Toss occasionally and cook until zucchini is bright green and golden-brown in spots. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

27 Years

2009-07-08T20:09:00.004-05:00

I had a lovely birthday. Before I talk about the delicious gift that was waiting for me in the mail today, I have to share the rest of my day yesterday.

My sweet coworkers (who are more wonderful than I could have even asked for) surprised me with colorful gerber daisies and a banner at my desk. I had a cheeseburger for lunch from my favorite local burger spot, Baha Burger. And for dinner, we enjoyed a fabulous meal at local eatery Bettola. I started with a Campari and soda, as well as Caprese salad with locally grown heirloom tomatoes and fior di latte mozzarella. For my entree, I chose Bettola's homemade tagliatelle with pork ragu bianco, which is basically a tomato-less meat sauce. To die for...the sauce was silky and perfectly seasoned. We all shared an almond cake for dessert and a bottle of Montepulciano wine. Love!

And today, I was so excited to find a gift from one of my best friends Peyton—two amazing artisinal chocolates that she found at a museum in Boston. The company, Taza Chocolate, uses traditional Mexican stone mills to grind the chocolate, giving it an interesting, rustic texture (i.e. not waxy in the least). How cool, too, that it's completely organic, and the cacao comes from a small co-op in the Dominican Republic. I couldn't wait to break into the salted almond variety, which was heavenly. The other one, infused with guajillo chilis (pictured above), is also delicious...the spice is very subtle and only announces itself right at the end before you swallow...like a little surprise.

Salt and chili peppers might seem like totally strange things to some people to put in chocolate, but for me and my not-so-sweet tooth, it cuts the sugariness (even of dark varieties) and enhances the flavor of the chocolate itself.

Thanks, P, for such a thoughtful, tasty birthday gift!

Who's Your Beanie

2009-07-06T20:18:00.006-05:00

It's hard to make black soup look good (especially when you're really hungry and don't feel like messing with it).

So. I realize I post about beans a lot. But let's be honest: what's not to love? Creamy, low-fat, low-cal, high-fiber...and flavorful, too. They're healthy and versatile, and they're oh-so convenient from a can. (Though we all know I prefer them from Rancho Gordo.)

I know it's been, like, a million degrees outside and soup seems like the last thing you'd want to be eating. But sometimes a soup can be so light and delicious, it doesn't feel like a winter meal at all. One night last week I set out to make another clean-out-the-pantry dinner to save money. I had a can of black beans, some leftover chicken stock, a getting-wrinkly jalapeno, and a fresh tomato, so I decided soup was in order. I just randomly tossed everything together and played around until it was right.

Success! It was so yummy I decided to make it again this week and write everything down so I could share it here. I hope you'll try it—if you want an easy and quick (and cheap!) weeknight meal, this is it.

Simple Black-Bean Soup
serves 2 as a meal
This soup is a perfect canvas for your kitchen creativity. I imagine the following would add more layers of flavor: roasted red peppers, a dash of cumin or chili powder, corn, and/or a garnish of crushed tortilla chips. This was enough for the 2 of us to have for dinner, with a little bit left over—a perfect lunch portion to pair with a salad or sandwich.

2 to 3 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 big or 3 medium cloves garlic
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups chicken stock, divided
1 can black beans
1 medium fresh tomato, cored and diced
2 green onions, white and light green parts, sliced
Garnish: chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and salt, and stir to coat onion in oil. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion is soft and starting to brown slightly around the edges. Add the jalapeno. With a microplane (zester), grate the garlic into the pot. Stir well to distribute the garlic.

Add 1 1/4 cups of the stock, and whisk to loosen any bits of caramelized onion from the bottom of the pan. Add the can of beans, including the liquid; add 1/4 cup stock to the can, swirl it around, then add to the pot. Increase heat to high, and boil soup for 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low.

Use a potato masher to mash the beans in the soup so about half of the beans are mashed and the soup is creamy. If the soup seems too thick, add remaining broth, a bit at a time, until you like the consistency. Stir in diced tomato and green onion; garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.

Our Menu This Week

2009-07-05T16:54:00.002-05:00

Sunday - Big salads with chicken
Monday - Black bean soup, creamy lime slaw
Tuesday - My Birthday! (Eat out.)
Wednesday - Chicken with quinoa, tomatoes, and broccoli
Thursday - Shrimp skewers, couscous-green bean salad with dill pesto

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2009-06-25T08:17:00.003-05:00

You may notice that Amuse Bouche got a little makeover. My fabulously talented husband Jason (whose portfolio will soon be found here) is helping me with a major facelift of the blog.

He started by surprising me with an all-new header. Isn't it fab?

Lentil Love

2009-06-25T06:04:00.001-05:00

I don't have a recipe to share, just some ideas on making a simple, yummy dinner.

Cooked inky-black beluga lentils, sliced and cooked spicy Italian turkey sausage, and fresh spinach...sauteed together in a healthy splash of olive oil, and enlivened by 1 grated clove of garlic, red-wine vinegar, and a dollop of Dijon mustard. Serve with extra mustard on the side.

Easy, quick, healthy...what's not to love?

Roll Out

2009-06-24T06:28:00.001-05:00

Last week when I was cooking from my freezer, I found the other half of this great whole-wheat pizza dough I made some time before the wedding. I never got around to blogging about it the first time around, but it's definitely worth telling you about. The whole-wheat flour adds a wonderful chewiness and nuttiness that you don't get with regular white pizza dough. It's definitely not traditional Italian-style crust, but we loved it.

I made a quick fresh tomato sauce by halving and seeding, then roughly chopping 4 fresh tomatoes. I simmered them in a glug of olive oil with 1 grated clove of garlic. Instead of salt, I added about 2 teaspoons of anchovy paste. The one I have has butter in it (or some such thing) which added a lovely creaminess—but just a touch. Off the heat, I stirred in a few big pinches of fresh basil chiffonade.

Plain and simple mozzarella was sprinkled on top, and the whole pie was baked at 400° until the cheese was bubbly. Belissima!

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
{From Cooking Light magazine}
Especially since it's been so hot out, our air-conditioned kitchen isn't exactly warm and free from drafts. So what I like to do it fill a pan or bowl with superhot tap water, and put the dough and the water-filled bowl in the oven (but don't turn the oven on!). It creates a nice warm spot for the dough to rise.

1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (100° to 110°)
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Cooking spray

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, oil, and salt to yeast mixture, stirring until well-blended. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide dough in half; roll each half into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface.

{katie note} We always par-bake the crust because we like our pizza extra crisp. If you do, too, place the un-topped dough on a preheated pizza stone or a baking sheet on which you've sprinkled a bit of cornmeal. Lightly prick the dough with a fork, and bake at 400° until it's lightly crispy. Top, then bake again until crust is brown and toppings are hot and bubbly.

Also, as I mentioned, the dough freezes quite well. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and then in foil. Then place the dough in a freezer bag, mark it with the date (and with what it is), and freeze for up to 3 months.

Like a Schoolgirl

2009-06-23T15:16:00.008-05:00

{photograph from zazurestaurant.com}

As you might remember, I have a major food crush on the California-based sister restaurants Zazu and Bovolo. Today as I was drooling over my monthly Bovolo email, at the very bottom in teensy tiny font, like oh by the way, it's not big deal, but... it said "Out and About: DISNEY WORLD's PARTY for the senses at Epcot, Florida on Saturday, November 7. come with us!"

Yes, hello— Party for the Senses is only the coolest, most swoon-worthy of food parties out there. It's a gathering of some of the most incredible restaurants around the country, all offering bite-size tastes of their cuisine. It's a pleasure I've been fortunate to indulge in only once. And now, knowing that Zazu and Bovolo will be there...well, let's just say Southwest just booked two more passengers on its Nov. 6 flight from Birmingham to Orlando.

I'll hopefully get to meet the chefs...here's hoping I'm not too geeked out to make intelligent conversation. I'm that excited. It's like a first date with a really dreamy boy, only this boy tastes like bacon.

{aside to Jon and Jason: haha, the e-mail from Bovolo says Epcot, Florida.}

edited to add: I just realized that my first post on these gems was almost exactly one year ago. Fate.

Chez Nous

2009-06-22T19:51:00.012-05:00

Our French bistro-inspired dinner was magnifique. The sauce tasted pretty close to the ones we had in Paris, the filets were tender and delicious—I didn't get the skillet hot enough to get a nice, crusty sear on the steaks, but I think that was the only hiccup in an otherwise delicious meal.

I'll just link to the recipes I used...I followed everything to the letter for the green peppercorn steak sauce and the clafoutis. For the individual potato gratins, I just sliced Yukon golds thinly with the mandolin, layered them in the buttered dishes, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and then poured a mixture of heavy cream and whole milk over them. Topped with a bit of Gruyere, and baked for 45 minutes. Voila.

Here's a glimpse of our lovely evening...

{our delicious red}

{salade vert with classic vinaigrette}

{nice and rare}

{the guys}

{plum clafoutis}

What a Guy

2009-06-22T19:47:00.003-05:00

So the other weekend, as I was busy making homemade hash browns in my new cast iron skillet, Jason was busy with a project all his own.

I turned around just in time to see him putting the finishing touch—a fresh, plump strawberry—on some bright, bubbly mimosas.

What a dreamboat.

Our Eats for the Week

2009-06-21T12:03:00.005-05:00

Last week, I tried really hard to eat out of our pantry and freezer, and as a result, I saved quite a bit on our grocery bill—I only spent $50 total for the whole week! I'm going to do my best to do it again this week...especially since my good friend Joanna gifted me with 2 grocery bags FULL of pantry staples. (She and her husband, Jason, are moving away from Birmingham :( and she didn't want to move any of the food in her kitchen.) She has great taste, and a lot of her gifts to me were wonderful things like quick-cooking barley, roasted jalapenos, roasted red peppers, cans of beans and tomatoes, couscous, arborio rice...etc. So the menu this week will be based on some of the things in there.

Tonight, though, we're having Joanna and Jason over for a last dinner together at our house. To share from of our Parisian honeymoon, I'm making a traditional (or, as traditional as possible) French bistro meal.

Le Menu
Apéritif
Champagne, olives, baguette
Plat du Jour
Filet de Boeuf avec Sauce au Poivre Vert {steaks with green peppercorn sauce}
Gratins Dauphinois {individual potato gratins}
Salade Vert {green salad}
Le Dessert
Clafoutis aux Prunes {plum clafoutis}

The rest of the week...
Monday- Chicken, veggie & udon-noodle bowls
Tuesday- Black-bean soup, spinach salad
Wednesday- Lemon-harissa chicken, couscous
Thursday- Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez's Chana Punjabi (via The Wednesday Chef)

Friday, we're off to Danville, Kentucky for the Brandon Family Reunion 2009! We're sure to enjoy some great Southern cookin'.

Food, Inc.

2009-06-09T12:46:00.003-05:00

This film stokes the small flame that burns in me...
and I have a feeling that after I see it, it will become a giant wildfire.

p.s. Sign this petition

This Week's Menu

2009-06-07T13:01:00.002-05:00

Sunday - Tilapia, millet-veggie salad with tomato vinaigrette
Monday - Spinach-cauliflower tart, green salad
Tuesday - Chicken paillards with lemon pan sauce, brown rice, green beans
Wednesday - Pasta with roasted veggies
Thursday - Turkey burgers, salad, homemade potato chips

Mr. Bean

2009-06-03T21:40:00.010-05:00

If you are like me, regularly drooling over fabulous foodie blogs like 101cookbooks.com, chocolate and zucchini, and Last Night's Dinner, you've hopefully heard about Rancho Gordo beans. But if you haven't, consider this my hearty endorsement.

I must admit, I'm not tough to please in this department. I love beans. Refried beans, lima bean soup, black beans and rice, white bean dip, three-bean salad...I love 'em all. But aside from once making the aforementioned lima bean soup with a ham hock and Publix brand dried limas, I'd never cooked beans from scratch. Why take all that time when canned beans are so easy?

...Because they taste so much better, that's why. Truly. And Rancho Gordo heirloom beans...well, they're in a class all their own. I'll let their Web site explain more. I got my dad a few varieties for Christmas, and he loved them, so I'd been meaning to order some myself. I finally got some, but then it took me a month and a half to get around to cooking them. But, the day finally came, and I am here to report that They. Were. Awesome.

I ordered black beans, craberry beans, and Christmas Limas. I decided to try the Christmas Limas first. I soaked them for 5 hours, then cooked them for another 3 1/2 hours. With nothing but water and a dash of salt in the last 30 minutes of cooking, the beans cooked beautifully and created a mohogany-colored pot liquor. The beans themselves were nutty, tender, and creamy. Fabulous.

I ate a bowl—plain, save for some Louisiana hot sauce—for lunch one day, but I wanted to try a little something more...exciting, so I built a vegetarian salad using the beans, some veggies, a zesty lime dressing, and a few handfuls of cooked whole-wheat couscous. It ended up being a light, filling, healthy one-bowl meal.

Veggie-Couscous Bowls
serves 4 as a side, or 2 for dinner with leftovers
Of course I now must recommend dried heirloom beans for this salad, but if you must, canned beans will work in a pinch. One 14.5-ounce can of drained, rinsed black beans or butter beans would work well here.

1 small lime, zested and juiced
Extra-virgin olive oil (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ripe avocado
3/4 cup vegetable broth
2/3 cup whole-wheat couscous
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 pound dried Christmas Lima beans, cooked and drained

In a medium bowl, combine the lime zest and juice. Whisk in olive oil, tasting as you go, until you get a dressing that you like. (We like ours on the very tangy side, but just keep tasting as you drizzle.) Add salt and a few grinds of pepper. Dice the avocado, and put it directly into the dressing. Set aside.

Bring the broth to a boil in a saucepan over high heat, and then stir in the couscous. Remove from heat, cover, and let steam for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

In a large bowl, combine the avocado and dressing, cucumber, red pepper, and beans. Toss gently to combine. Add the couscous, and toss to evenly coat everything with the dressing. Serve.

A Simple Snack

2009-06-03T21:05:00.006-05:00

One of the coolest parts {for me, at least} about marrying a man with a Palestinian family is his mom's cooking. She makes a lot of really delicious Arabic dishes—hashweh, mjaddarah, mashi, kibbeh—that I absolutely love, but I don't know how to make almost any of them. There are recipes, of course, but the thing about these dishes—and it's what makes them really special—is that the food is made by women who "measure" by memory, sight, and taste, not with recipes. So to learn how to make these recipes the right way, I'll be spending some long afternoons in the kitchen with Jason's mom and grandma. And I can't wait.

In the meantime, when an Arabic "recipe" involves just one ingredient, I know I can handle it. Lebneh is thickened yogurt, and it's a breakfast staple. Jason's mom lightly salts hers, so I do, too. I absolutely adore lebneh, and lately I've been spreading it on my toast in the mornings. It's traditionally served more as a dip, but I find it's a perfect partner for whole-wheat bread. With a drizzle of olive oil, it's deeeelish.

Oh, and—if you like Greek yogurt, this is essentially the same thing, only when you make it yourself, it's about 1/3 the price. At my Publix, a big tub of plain yogurt costs almost the same as a single serving of Fage Greek yogurt. Sheesh.

Here's what you need
A smallish collander (I use a silicone strainer with a handle, not a stand-alone colander)
A bowl that the strainer can rest on without it touching the bottom
Paper towels
1 pint plain yogurt (I use low-fat, but the full-fat kind gives a slightly thicker end result)
Plastic wrap

Here's what you do
Place the strainer over the bowl, and line it with one layer of paper towel, covering the strainer's entire surface. Scoop out the yogurt into the paper-towel-lined strainer (wash, dry, and save the container). Smooth it out so it's even and flat on the top. Wrap with a layer or two of plastic wrap, and place in the fridge. Leave it alone for at least 8 hours, but 10 to 12 is even better.

Scoop the lebneh back into the cleaned yogurt container (or into a tupperware). When ready to serve, spoon into a serving bowl and drizzle over a healthy amount of extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt...or drizzle with honey and serve with berries...or use on tacos or baked potatoes instead of sour cream...or...

It's that good. :)

It's Been a While

2009-04-29T09:36:00.002-05:00

Have you missed me? I've missed you. I'm not sure what happened to this little blog of mine...I have neglected it, and that's just silly of me. Blogging isn't hard, and it isn't that time-consuming. But at the end of the day, it gets pushed to the bottom of my priorities list, and I end up choosing to be lazy on the couch instead of keeping up with forlorn and forgotten Amuse Bouche.

Le sigh. Anyway, I don't have any new recipes to share, mainly because since we're been gone so many weekends that my shopping trips have been sporadic and my meals have been based upon convenience. I realize that convenient meals are good ones to share, but lots of times I finish eating before I even remember to take a picture.

Here's the thing: Planning a wedding takes a lot out of you, even when you have a supermom who does all the heavy lifting for you. (Thanks, mom!) It just feels like my brain is on another planet. This spring has been a whirlwind of parties, showers, lunches, dinners, rides in cars and on airplanes, and a whole lot of smiling for the camera. In short, it's been an amazing few months...the best ever.

I do think there will be a little bit of melancholy this summer after all the hubbub has gone. But--lucky me--I'll have a sweet, wonderful husband to get me through. And this blog. I promise, my friends, I will be back and I'll have an army of fabulous food, including some Paris-inspired menus. (Did you know we're off to Paris for the honeymoon? Swoon.)

Until then...

Pasta Mama

2009-03-10T19:27:00.011-05:00

Last I left you, I promised to tell more about my homemade pasta experience. As you may know, I am getting married in May. This past year has been an exciting, wonderful time in preparation, but I must say…the last couple of weeks have been especially wonderful, because we’re beginning to receive wedding gifts.

Among said gifts is a hand-crank pasta maker. Growing up, I spent a handful of Saturdays with my dad, rolling out pasta in the kitchen, and then slurping the fresh noodles with some kind of homemade sauce, and thinking to myself that there was never anything more delicious. I am among the lucky few to have grown up with a father who does things like makes pasta from scratch, bakes sourdough bread, preserves lemons, and uses the Thanksgiving bird for scratch-made stock. What can I say? The man is unique, and I am a more educated and inspired cook because of him.

I digress. Making pasta is among one of the easiest and most satisfying, if not time consuming, things you can make. Flour and eggs magically transform into a ball of supple, golden dough. Actually, let me back up. They transform into the golden, supple ball when you use the correct amounts of ingredients. For my inaugural pasta making, I followed Mario Batali’s recipe for basic egg pasta dough, which is the same as the one found in the Italian cooking Bible, The Silver Spoon Cookbook. Their recipes were as follows: 4 cups all-purpose flour + 4 large eggs. Maybe a teaspoon of olive oil. And a sprinkling of water, if the dough looks dry. Perfect, I thought. It can’t be wrong. If millions of Italians use this and an expert of Italian cooking uses it, it’s got to be perfect.

Not so much. I don’t know if my flour was extra thirsty or the package of organic large eggs had an ego problem and was exaggerating on the size, but the combination listed above yielded a bowlful of hard, crumbly dough that weighed about 10 pounds. Let it rest, I told myself. Maybe it will get better. It got worse. I couldn’t even roll it!

Fuming at Mario Batali in his smug orange clogs, and frustrated at wasting 4 beautiful organic eggs and almost all of my flour, I almost gave up. But then I remembered how great homemade pasta is. So I started over. This time with a scant 3 cups of flour and 4 more eggs, plus another egg yolk and about a teaspoon of olive oil. Belissima—it was perfect. I later found a Batali recipe calling for 3 1/2 cups flour and 4 extra-large eggs. Perhaps I just got a dud recipe.

(4 eggs plus 1 yolk -- perfect!)

(Nice and moist...much better this time.)

(Beautiful ball of dough, with the bad one in the back. For shame.)

It rested (next to the offending lump of unyielding, rock-hard dough, just to show it what it should look like) for 40 minutes or so, and then Jason helped me roll it into silky strands of fettuccine.

My advice for making pasta: First, start with 4 eggs + 1 egg yolk and 3 cups of flour (unless your eggs are enormous). You can always add more flour to a gloopy dough, but you can’t take it out. I’m not here to make a liar out of Mario Batali (or any number of internet sources that all gave the same amounts of ingredients), but the 4+4 thing didn’t work for me. Secondly, almost every recipe says to make the dough on a large cutting board by mounding the flour and creating a well in the center in which to put the wet ingredients, but I don’t have a large enough board. I made a well in the middle of flour in the largest bowl in my kitchen, and it worked just fine.

My Pasta Dough
Serves 4 to 6 depending on cut of pasta

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

In a very large bowl, or on a large wooden cutting board or clean countertop, mound the flour into a mountain shape. Use your fingers to make a well in the middle, turning the mountain into a volcano. Add the eggs, egg yolk, and oil into the center of the well. Use a fork to lightly scramble the eggs, and then slowly but continuously stir the eggs, incorporating a bit of flour each rotation.

Keep stirring in this manner until about half of the flour is incorporated. The dough will look raggedy. Scrape the dough off of the fork, and then use your fingers to finish mixing in the remainder of the flour.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. (Skip this step if you’re already working on the counter. Duh.) Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it’s elastic and smooth. Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and allow to rest for 30 to 45 minutes at room temperature.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, and follow your pasta maker’s instructions for beautiful, tasty pasta.

This Week's Menu

2009-02-22T13:55:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted my weekly menu. I guess I just haven't felt all that inspired to share our meals, but today I feel like sharing. So here it is...

Sunday - Leftovers smorgasbord including: shrimp and mussels over homemade pasta with vodka sauce (more on that later), roasted brussels sprouts, salad, garlic bread
Monday - Seared Tuna Steaks with Lemon, Dill and Caper sauce, broccoli, quinoa
Tuesday - Tomato-Lime Chicken Soup, crispy baked tortilla chips
Wednesday - Crispy chicken salad with low-cal homemade ranch
Thursday - Quick Spicy Black Bean Soup, cucumber salad

Food of Love

2009-02-13T15:45:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, a day that brings to mind lacy, red, shiny, heart-shaped boxes of—let's face it—chocolates that aren't very good. Not to knock Russel Stover, but the waxy, mostly flavorless chocolates enclosed in these big silly boxes just aren't worth the calories.

I'm not really a candy person, but I do love dark chocolate. Fortunately for me, Jason knows this. So my version of Valentine's chocolates was an assortment of artisan chocolate bars. The selection includes Gran Saman Dark Chocolate Venezuelan Single-Bean Origin (70% cacao, almost bitter, and delicious), 3400 Phinney Nib Brittle (65% cacao with teensy little crunchy bits of cacao nibs), Newman's Own Sweet Dark Espresso Organic Dark Chocolate (mmmm, coffee and chocolate), and the most interesting bar of all, Dagoba Organic Lavender Blueberry (59% cacao with the essence of lavender and tiny wild blueberries). As you can see, I've already devoured half of the lavender-blueberry bar. To me, there's just nothing better than chocolate at its (almost) truest form highlighted with interesting, delicate flavors.

I hope you'll eat something that makes your heart go pitter-patter tomorrow.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Allow Me Just a Moment...

2009-02-11T20:10:00.001-06:00

Is there anything more comforting than a big bowl of grits with melting butter and a generous dose of Franks Red Hot? I mean, seriously. Swoon.

Do-Re-Miso

2009-02-11T16:37:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling bit under the weather, which is unfortunate, mostly because I feel I've lost the bragging rights to my super immune system. I managed to avoid all the pre-Christmas illness that was going around, so I was quite proud of my immune system's capability. I guess it couldn't last forever.

I'd been wanting to make something with miso for a while, so when I came home from work with a scratchy throat and feeling yucky all over, I knew it would be the perfect night for it. I started with leftover rice and some fresh spinach, topped it with roasted miso-marinated chicken, then ladled nourishing, steamy miso broth over everything. I'm feeling better already...

Miso Chicken Bowls
serves 2

3 1/2 to 4 tablespons white miso paste, divided
1 (1 1/2-inch) piece ginger, peeled, 1 inch grated, 1/2 inch sliced, divided
1 large garlic clove, grated
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
2 meaty bone-in chicken thighs, skin and as much fat as possible removed
4 green onions, root and top ends trimmed, very thinly sliced
1/2 (10-oz) bag baby spinach
1 cup cooked rice, reheated if needed
Garnish: chopped cilantro

In a small bowl, whisk together the miso paste, ginger, garlic, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons water. Place chicken thighs in a large shallow dish. Pour marinade over chicken, and turn to thoroughly coat. Cover refrigerate for at least 40 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400º. Shake off excess marinade from chicken. On a foil-lined baking sheet, place the chicken in a single layer, and bake for 25 minutes, or until juices run clear when pierced with a knife. Set chicken aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, bring 2 cups water to a boil over high heat. Whisk in remaining 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons miso paste (taste as you go to determine if you need more miso). Add sliced green onions and sliced ginger. Let simmer, covered, for 10 to 20 minutes.

Separate cooked chicken from bones. Remove ginger from broth, and discard. Place spinach in broth, stir, and cover for 2 minutes.

In each of 2 shallow bowls, spoon 1/2 cup rice. Use tongs to strain spinach from broth, and top each bowl with an even amount of spinach. Evenly top each with chicken, then whisk the mis broth, and ladle about 1 cup over the dish. Garnish with chopped cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

2009-02-10T12:00:00.000-06:00

If you have ever found yourself looking for a quick chicken dish, whether for a weeknight or for a party, this one should be high on your list. Tender, juicy chicken and a nice little dipping sauce can be yours with very minimal effort and time. I totally forgot to post this after our Christmas party! So here it is, just a few months late...

Start with chicken, white or dark meat, preferably skinless and boneless. If it's for dinner, you'll probably want to leave the pieces whole; if it's for a party, cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. In a bowl, whisk together one part fresh lemon juice to two parts olive oil. Zest the lemons before you squeeze them, and add the zest to the juice-oil mixture. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper, and whatever herbs you like. {Herbs are optional but add nice flavor. Dill and parsley are my favorites.} Taste, and adjust as needed—you want it to be tart and lemony but not sour.

Place the marinade and the chicken in a big zip-top bag, and seal it. Then squish and smoosh the bag, distributing the marinade all over the chicken. Don't leave any pieces naked. Then stash the bag in your fridge for about an hour. Or more—whatever. Just don't leave it more than 6 hours.

When you're ready to cook, you've got options. If you've made a lot of small pieces for a crowd, then just shake off as much marinade as possible {reserve the marinade}, and place chicken on large rimmed baking sheets. Bake at 425º for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork. You can also skewer them on well-soaked bamboo skewers for easy eating. If you've got whole breasts {or thighs}, bake at 400º for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken.

For the sauce, put the reserved marinade in a small saucepan over high heat, and boil {seriously, vigorously boil to kill any bacteria} for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside. Chop some fresh herbs {whatever you used in the marinade} and place the herbs and the cooled boiled marinade in a bowl. Whisk in some mayonnaise until you get the consistency you like. Serve the sauce with the chicken.

Easy, right? Tasty, too, I promise.

How Keen

2009-02-07T16:56:00.000-06:00

Have you tried quinoa? It's this fantastic, crunchy little grain that's native to the Andean region of South America (largely Bolivia and Peru). It's light and fluffy, and each tiny grain pops just so in your mouth. It's very mild tasting, so it's perfect with nearly any flavor you want to give it.

Sometimes I make it, plain, cooked in chicken broth, as an alternative to rice. It cooks in a flash (just 20 minutes) and it contains more protein than any other grain. It's also great as the base to salads. In short, it's a really great pantry staple. You can find it in bulk bins, some grocery stores, and health food stores. Whole Foods sells a big bag of it for around $3.

For a healthy Friday afternoon lunch, I made a pot of quinoa, tossed it in a gingery vinaigrette, and loaded it with veggies for a colorful, healthy, and filling one-bowl meal.

Asian Quinoa-Vegetable Salad
Makes about 3 lunch servings or 2 dinner servings

1 cup quinoa
1 small bag frozen shelled edamame, corn, and red pepper mix
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon sriracha (Asian chile-garlic sauce)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 handfuls washed baby spinach

Wash quinoa in a fine-mesh seive until water runs clear. In a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook quinoa for 10 minutes. Drain in the fine-mesh seive, and fill the saucepan with 2 inches water; bring to a boil. Set the seive with quinoa over the saucepan (don't let seive touch water). Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and the pan lid, and steam for 10 minutes, or until quinoa is dry and fluffy.

Meanwhile, cook edamame mix according to package directions.

Combine vinegar and grated ginger in a large bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add sriracha and soy sauce, and whisk in oil until dressing is uniform in consistency. Add cooked quinoa and spinach, and toss well. Add the cooked edamame mix, and toss again. Add extra soy sauce and sriracha to taste.

Cha-Ching

2009-02-07T16:19:00.002-06:00

A group of girlfriends and I were talking the other day about how our lives would be different if we made a six-figure salary. One friend said she'd buy a beautiful home, another said she’d spend nearly every afternoon at Anthropologie. I, however, waxed poetic about the amazing ingredients I’d buy. Organic, free-range poulet rouge, black truffles, and heirloom tomatoes. Humanely raised lamb and ribeyes, and sushi-grade yellow tail. Salumi from Italy, and an entire leg of prociutto, a wheel of parmesan the size of my torso. Blue Point Oysters and Osetra caviar. True, I do buy some of these things, but sporadically. And every time I do, it’s a splurge.

I know I’m fortunate—in this economy or otherwise—to have a career in the field that I’m passionate about. I’m in no way complaining about my salary, but I have recently been very conscientious about the way I spend it, particularly on food, so I can make what I do have go further.

From the time I’ve spent in the blogosphere, I read here and there about something called The Grocery Game, aka The Coupon Game. These incredible people (mostly stay-at-home or work-at-home mothers) were buying hundreds of dollars worth of groceries and other goods for a fraction of the retail value. They have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves, online resources…and a whole lot of determination.

Because I know we’re all trying to hold on to every dollar we can, I thought I’d spread the money-saving love and share what I've learned from these ladies.

Do you shop at Publix? If you do…

BOGO= buy one, get one free. There are different BOGO deals each week at Publix. If it’s something that either keeps well (i.e. canned goods, cereal, or frozen foods) stock up! Here’s the best tip I’ve gotten about BOGO: Publix allows you to use one coupon per item. That means you can use a coupon for the free item, saving you double. So if Quaker Oatmeal is BOGO at $2 a carton, and you have two $.50-off coupons, you can use both for $1 savings, and you’ll get two cartons of oats for $1. Make sense? This has made a huge difference in my grocery bills!
Many Publix stores accept competitor’s coupons. Just ask the manager before you get to the register. Target often has great coupons, and my favorite are the Walgreens $5 off $20 purchase, or even $10 off $40. And your Publix may accept them! Look for them on the Walgreens web site – there’s usually one every few months.

The following web sites update between once a week and once a month, and you can print manufacturer’s coupons right from the web site.

www.coupons.com
www.smartsource.com
www.redplum.com
www.afullcup.com (Target coupons)
www.coolsavings.com

Last, but most certainly not least, the following are my very favorite money-saving blogs. These three wonderful ladies are so smart and such great stewards of their money. I encourage you to check them out! Sarah of Fiddledeedee outlines all the Publix sales, and matches them to printable coupons, as well as any coupons that have appeared in the newspaper in weeks past. She’s my Publix hero!

The others also outline grocery deals, as well as great deals around the web.

The Money Saving Mom
Fiddledeedee!
The Coupon Game

Shroomy

2009-01-18T17:49:00.000-06:00

Tonight for dinner, I made something that Jason would not touch with a 10-foot pole: Heidi Swanson's Porcini Mushroom Soup. If you haven't visited 101 cookbooks yet, go there immediately. Actually, finish reading this post, and then go there. Heidi uses good-for-you ingredients in some amazing dishes. I truly admire her wholesome, simple-yet-exciting outlook on food, as well as her equally inspiring photos.

This soup is a great example of how just a few totally pure ingredients make a delicious, perfect dish. I didn't use quite as much oil as she calls for, but I wasn't shy with it, either. I replaced the fresh rosemary with a big pinch of herbes de Provence, and I halved everything because my package of mushrooms was only 1 ounce, and since this is only for me, I figured half the soup would be enough...now that I've tasted it, I wish I'd made the full batch—I could eat this for days! *One big note that is not in Heidi's recipe: make SURE you strain the mushroom soaking liquid through a paper towel or coffee filter. There was a lot a grit I got rid of, and it would be tragic to ruin this soup with grit. Even after straining, there was a small amount of grit, but I think that must just come with the dried wild mushroom territory.*

Earthy porcini mushrooms are excellently paired with red-skinned potato. Heidi is right about the salt—it's important to add enough that the flavors really shine; since there are so few ingredients, the salt helps everything taste its best. With a hunk of baguette with garlicky olive oil and a glass of crisp white wine {I've been enjoying Three Thieves Bandit pinot grigio—don't let the box fool you...it's fantastic.} it was a perfect, light supper. And I'm not going to lie...as I was putting away the leftovers, I stood over the pot with some toasted baguette and sopped up more of the broth and ate it right there in the middle of the kitchen. Ah, the joys of eating alone...

P.S. My soup looked just like Heidi's pictures. But my pictures...not so much. Hers do this soup much better justice!

Sorry!

2009-01-13T14:58:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone. Just a note (in case you care) that I am fully cognizant of the fact that I have not posted anything in way too long. Work has been unbelievably busy...and while that's a good thing, given that I work in media and I still have work to do, it also means that when I get home at night, I have not been very creative in the kitchen. I've largely been relying on epicurious.com and foodnetwork.com recipes. Then instead of writing about them, I've been choosing to spend quality time with Jason and Chaplin. This is good for my mental health but bad for my blog.

So. I should be a little less crazed by the end of this week, and I have some things in mind. A few new and a few old standbys. Oh, and Jason is leaving for a few days, which means I get to make all the things he won't eat (see September 9, 2008). I'm thinking a nice, fatty ribeye is in order...and maybe an extra-pungent puttanesca. I'll keep you posted. No pun intended.

I'll be back! I swear. Until then, I will leave you with this, a great read for any food lover, or...anyone who eats, really: An Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief

Oh Happy Day

2008-12-23T19:13:00.000-06:00

merry christmas.

New Life for Leftovers

2008-12-16T20:13:00.000-06:00

Pulled Pork becomes Carnitas tacos...Only made more delicious with the addition of a sprinkling of crunchy cabbage and fresh cilantro...

...and some freshly fried tortilla chips
...and some creamy, dreamy guacamole

This Week

2008-12-14T17:36:00.000-06:00

For the party, I cooked enough food for...um...probably close to 40 people. We had closer to 20. So we have a LOT of leftover pork, chicken, and smoked salmon. Since this is our last week in B'ham before going home for two weeks for Christmas and New Year's, my goal is to eat as much of these leftovers as possible. I'm going to try to be creative...Friday night we're going to see Avenue Q {so excited}, so I think we'll eat out at a restaurant we have a gift card for. And then Saturday night will be our little Christmas celebration, so I'm going to make us a fancy meal we can enjoy with the bottle of Veuve Clicquot we've been saving. Have a wonderful almost-Christmas week!

Monday - Thai-style chopped chicken salad
Tuesday - Asian ~~pork &~~ veggie noodle stir fry
Wednesday - Carnitas soft tacos, guacamole, margaritas
Thursday - Cocktail party for Katie, Jags game for Jason...dinners on our own
Friday - Eat out before Avenue Q
Saturday - Smoked salmon toasts, braised short ribs with homemade pappardelle-style noodles

Sugar's Sweet

2008-12-14T13:37:00.000-06:00

These yummy little bites are inspired by the brilliant minds at Martha Stewart. I am not huge on baking, mostly because I don't have much of a sweet tooth. And the patience some baking requires...well, I don't have it. So I love recipes like this where there's very little actual measuring or baking involved. These crispy, nutty, chewy little bars were reminiscent of Samoas Girl Scout cookies {a fave of mine}, and they a big hit at the party. Jason doesn't even like coconut, and he enjoyed these.
Like so many other sweets, the end result of these is so much greater than the sum of it parts. I made a few substitutions to the original recipe...and I thought the end result tasted more like toffee than butterscotch, so I just rewrote it and linked the original. Finally, I didn't count how many graham crackers I used...just fill your baking sheet; you'll have enough toppings.

Loaded Toffee Bars
adapted from marthastewart.com

1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
12 to 15 cinnamon graham crackers, plus more as needed
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350º. Spread walnuts and coconut on baking sheet; bake until golden, 5 minutes. Cool thoroughly; toss with chocolate chips.

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. (katie note: mine was 17.25x11.5) Break graham crackers into quarters; fit in pan in single layer.

In saucepan, whisk butter and sugar over medium heat until smooth; slowly and carefully pour over crackers. Bake until bubbly, 10 minutes. Sprinkle with nut topping; press gently but firmly. Cool; press fillings again, and separate rectangles.

Low and Slow

2008-12-14T11:16:00.001-06:00

The first recipe I'll share is for the pork, which is my all-time favorite go-to thing to make for a party. Pork shoulder (AKA pork butt) is very inexpensive and very hard to screw up. You can flavor it in a million-and-one different ways, and it's a never-fail crowd pleaser. When you bring it home, remove some, but not all, of the fat cap {the thick white layer}.

I wanted to keep the flavors simple so it would meld well with the roasted garlic aioli I attempted to make. {Attempted is the operative word here. More on that later.} Anyway, I used a mix of freshly ground black pepper, kosher salt, and a great seasoning called Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt. This was a staple in our house growing up, and it's still a staple in mine. {And Peyton's!} We lovingly call it Krazy Jane's. It's fantastic on pasta, steak, veggies...and it makes a mean bloody mary seasoning.

I digress.

Take a handful of seasoning and toss it on the pork shoulder. Rub it in like a nice shiatsu massage. This is a crucial step. The meat is thick, so the seasoning has to penetrate, and it won't unless you really smoosh it in. Then put the hunk-o-meat in a deep-sided roasting pan, and cover with foil. Now here comes the absolute most important thing to remember...forgetting this is the only way possible to screw this up. The oven temp must go no higher than 270º. For a 7-pound roast, you'll want to give it at least 6 hours, but it could probably go even longer.

The magic of this cut of meat is in its heavy marbling. At this low heat, the fat and connective tissue completely melt, rendering the meat juicy, flavorful, and succulent. Any hotter, and you won't get the luscious texture. And that's it. When it comes out, let it cool for about a half-hour, and then using two forks, shred it into bite-size pieces. Put a good amount between a nice, soft bun, and voila—pulled pork sliders!

Here are some other flavoring options for this versatile cut of pork...
Carnitas: Cumin, chipotle chile powder, and a touch of cinnamon
Vietnamese-style: Fish sauce, sugar, small hot chiles, and lime zest
Southern BBQ: Smoked paprika, sweet paprika, Krazy Jane's, brown sugar, and garlic powder

To Be Jolly

2008-12-14T10:39:00.000-06:00

(I did not take this picture, fyi)

I am happy to report that the party was a hit. We're so blessed to have so many wonderful friends here in Birmingham, and we were happy to host {almost} all of them last night! The food was well received...yay! I have to admit, though, I was running around like a crazy person until about 10 minutes after the party started. I made the brilliant decision {can you sense my sarcasm?} to do everything the day of the party.

Really—what was I thinking? Well, I probably wouldn't have had such a hard time if I hadn't had to slow-roast the pork ALL DAY at 250º. What I should have done was start the pork first thing in the morning instead of 11 a.m. after running pre-party errands. I had three other things to bake, but they couldn't go in until one hour before the party. YIKES.

But Jason was the best sous-chef any girl could ask for. He was such a trooper...the two of us must have looked like a well-organized yet chaotic dance duo. I was here and there with scorching trays full of crostini, he was swinging by with bubbling pots full of peanut butter and chocolate chips. The oven would beep and we'd both go running. But...it got done. And miraculously, not much after 6:00 when our first guests came. {And in the meantime, Rebecca was a lifesaver with her beautiful platters and bowls, as well as her candle lighting, drink pouring, and general sweetness.}

Anyway, on to why any of you read this blog in the first place: here's a rundown of what we ate.

Savories…
Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sliders with Roasted Garlic Aïoli
Lemon Chicken with Creamy Lemon Sauce
Black-Pepper-Cornmeal Biscuits with Smoked Salmon
Rosemary-White-Bean Dip with Parmesan Crostini
Parmesan & Black Pepper Popcorn

Sweets…
Spiked Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Butterscotch Bark
Jason’s “Puppy Chow”

Recipes to come!

'Tis the Season

2008-12-11T12:41:00.000-06:00

So, ok, I know I’ve been a bad, bad blogger. But I have a confession to make: cooking, recently, hasn’t provided me with as much joy as it usually does. I think I’m just in a mini funk, and I’m sure it will resolve itself. But it’s been a little disheartening.

This might sound strange…it sounds strange to me, even, but I had an awful, awful migraine a few weeks ago, and I really think it did something to my brain that made me apathetic toward all food. I had no real appetite for a few days after, and I even came home from work one night and nothing sounded good to me except pizza or waffles. {Don’t worry, I’m not pregnant.} So we went out for pizza. That’s just so not like me. That weird palette issue hasn’t happened again, but I have since been a little disinterested in the kitchen. I have made a few things recently I want to share, so bear with me as I pull myself out of my blogging/cooking funk and get some pictures up here. Meantime...

I have a feeling that the Christmas soirée Jason and I are hosting in our new little house this weekend may remedy this meh-in-the-kitchen feeling I’ve been stricken with. I’ve devised a menu of cocktail-hour bites for our friends…I’ll take pictures and share recipes for everything at/after the party. {I’m not really one for making up my own baked goods, so I’ve linked the recipes for the desserts.} We’ll also have beer and wine, along with an alcoholic dessert of sorts.

Happy Christmas!

Savories…
Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sliders with Roasted Garlic Aïoli
~~Chicken Puff Pastry Bites~~ Lemon-Parsley Chicken Skewers with Parsley Oil and Homemade Ranch
Black-Pepper Biscuits with Smoked Salmon
Rosemary-White-Bean Dip with Parmesan Crostini
Parmesan & Black Pepper Popcorn

Sweets…
Spiked Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Butterscotch Bark
Store-Bought Amaretti Cookies
Jason’s “Puppy Chow”

What I'm making...

2008-12-07T14:34:00.000-06:00

Sunday - Minestrone, salad, crusty bread
Monday - Bunless burgers, spinach and chickpea saute
Tuesday - Baked chicken breasts with tomatoes and white beans, Heston Blumenthal's broccoli
Wednesday - Asian-style salad with grilled shrimp
Thursday - Cornmeal-crusted pan-fried fish, creamy lime slaw

Dreamy

2008-11-24T19:19:00.000-06:00

It was rainy and cold here today. Fitting for a Monday, especially for a Monday after a wonderful, beautiful weekend spent in sunny, breezy New Orleans with a lovely group of girls. (One of whose mother sometime reads this blog, which excited me to no end to find out.)

So...what to eat when the weather is nasty? Soup, bien sur. We had brothy soup last week, so creamy chowder was in order. I've made chowders before. But I wanted something different. I'd never made clam chowder, but it's one of Jason's favorites. So I found a recipe on Epicurious and made some tweaks to suit our tastes (and the contents of my fridge).

I'm sorry I didn't make this sooner—it's definitely one of those classic recipes I can check of my "to make" list. (And then put it right back on my "to make again" list.) I'm sure we've all ordered clam chowder at a restaurant and received a bowl of pasty milk with a few sad little rubbery clams and some mushy potatoes. (Meg—I'll never forget your chowder from Cedar River.) Well, this one was nothing like that. It was creamy, flavorful, and comforting—and perfect for a cold, rainy weeknight. Serve with a green salad, and you're golden.

Classic New England Clam Chowder
{adapted from gourmet magazine}
You could certainly use regular bacon in place of pancetta...and heavy cream or regular half-and-half in place of the milk and fat-free half-and-half. But I must say, the lightened-up version was very creamy and still delicious.
serves 6 as a first-course, 4 as a light supper

4 (tunafish-size) cans chopped clams, juices reserved
2 cups bottled clam juice
1 (1/4-inch) slice pancetta, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 bunch green onions, chopped finely
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled, diced small
2 cups whole milk
1 cup fat-free half-and-half
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Tabasco, to taste
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Oyster or saltine crackers

Drain the clam juice from the clams, and combine with enough bottled juice to equal 3 cups of liquid. Cook the pancetta and butter slowly in a stockpot over medium heat until lightly browned and crisp, about 4 minutes.

Add the green onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2-3 minutes.

Whisk in the clam juice, bring to a simmer, and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally; it should be the consistency of heavy cream. Add the potatoes and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place the clams, milk, and half-and-half in a small saucepan, and simmer for 5 minutes.

When the potatoes are tender, add the clams and milk/half-and-half to the soup base. Simmer for 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce. Serve in bowls with the crackers on the side. (The roux)

Creole and Cajun in the Crescent City

2008-11-24T12:04:00.000-06:00

Just back from New Orleans...get jazzed (er...sorry for the terrible pun) for a rundown of the fantastic food we had. Here's just a little something to get your mouths watering...

(photo via passionateeater.com)

Shame, shame, shame.

2008-11-17T15:36:00.000-06:00

{Photo by Portal and Friends via Flickr}

I can't help it. I love chips and queso. I might draw the line at the kind that squirts out of a pump at concession stands. But queso, processed and gooey and salty as all get-out, holds a dear place in my heart. Many people in Birmingham just call it cheese dip. Which is actually more fitting, seeing as how this stuff is not even close to something authentically Mexican. Ay Dios mio, I can't get enough.

What is your secret (or totally public) shameful food indulgence? Mom...fried shrimp? ;)

Slurrrrp

2008-11-16T19:51:00.000-06:00

Hi. I won't make excuses, but I know I've been MIA for way too long. For my (however small) crowd of readers, I apologize for the abrupt halt of even remotely interesting posts. Especially after I set out last Sunday saying I'd be back. And then I wasn't. Again, I come with no excuses, just an apology. And! A soup recipe.

We were craving something light but still warm since it's mighty chilly here in Birmingham. A brothy soup fit the bill. And since we've been trying to stay budget friendly with our dinners, this was also a clean-out-the-pantry meal. A can of tomatoes, a can of beans, a box of broth...some spinach and chicken in the fridge needing to be eaten, and the the last of a bottle of white wine. An onion came from Publix, but otherwise, everything else was readily at hand. I kept the flavors very light and simple—feel free to add and adjust to suit your tastes.

And with that, I'm back.

Sunday Night Soup
serves 4 with leftovers
I didn't want this to be too heavy on the chicken, so I only used 1 1/2 breasts. You can use one or two, or even none. I kept the chicken breasts whole and shredded them, because I prefer that texture in soups, but you could chop the raw chicken into bite-size pieces and toss it in the hot broth, and it would cook much more quickly.

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional olive oil for drizzling
1 onion, chopped or diced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 (14.5-ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed well
1 cup white wine (the drier the better)
1 (4-cup) carton chicken stock
1 1/2 chicken breasts
1/2 (16-ounce) bag spinach, chopped well
1/2 lemon, cut into wedges

Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add onions and salt, and stir to combine. Cook until onions are soft and transluscent, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes including the liquid in the can, then add the beans. Add wine and broth; stir, taste, and adjust seasoning. Raise heat to medium-high, and add chicken. Lower heat if necessary to maintain an even simmer.

Cook chicken for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breasts. Remove, and set aside to cool slightly. Put spinach in soup, and lower heat to medium-low. Using two forks, coarsely shred chicken. Return chicken to soup, and stir to combine.

Ladle soup into serving bowls, and squeeze a wedge of lemon over each bowl. Drizzle with a touch of olive oil, and serve.

For real this time

2008-11-09T13:24:00.000-06:00

So...moving took a LOT more out of us than we thought it would. I guess it wasn't the smartest plan to try to move over the course of a workweek, instead of over a weekend. Hm. Anyway, we ate out...every night. Agh! It pains me to admit it, but I didn't unpack the kitchen until yesterday, so we did a little tour of some inexpensive B'ham spots. Pizza at Chez Lulu (always delish), Chili and BBQ at Demitri's (darn good), pho and spring rolls from Que Hong (just so-so), and tacos at Cantina (our fave). I went out for drinks after work on Thursday (we scored a free appetizer...sweet!) and I made fried rice for myself on Friday. Saturday's I've-been-unpacking-all-day-in-a-freezing-house-and-all-I-want-is-something-hot-and-fast dinner was at a place that will remain unnamed. It wasn't even a little bit good.

OK, so, this week will be my actual first week in the new kitchen. Needless to say, I am ready to get cooking again! Here's what I'm making...

Sunday - Chili & grilled cheese
Monday - ~~Pork tenderloin~~ Chicken thighs with creamy mustard-thyme pan sauce, Heston Blumenthal's broccoli
Tuesday - Tuscan White Bean Soup, garlicky spinach
Wednesday - Ina's Indonesian Ginger Chicken, quinoa
Thursday - Solo dinner again...probably leftovers.

This Week

2008-11-02T15:07:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry I've been MIA — we didn't end up moving yet, but we will be in the new house by tomorrow evening. So after we're finally settled, I promise to update, update, update!

Until then, here's what I'll be making in our new house this week...

Sunday - packing...eat out
Monday - Ginger Chicken, broccoli, roasted grape tomatoes
Tuesday - Beef tacos, creamy lime slaw
Wednesday - Asian pork noodle soup
Thursday - Solo dinner...maybe baked potato with broccoli & cheese...or leftovers...

I still love you...

2008-10-19T10:01:00.000-05:00

...I'm just a bad blogger! It's been a busy month, and the upcoming week promises to be even crazier. Some things to note: we're moving (just to a new rental house a few miles away) this week, mostly in the evenings after work. (We'll be out of town for the next 4 weekends, so this week is really the only time we can do it!) As a result, dinners are going to be quick, easy, and most of all, inexpensive. I'm cleaning out our freezer and fridge as best I can before we move, plus I've been trying to use as many coupons as I can. This week my goal is a $50 grocery bill. Can I do it? Tune in, and I'll share my savings.

Sunday - Chili and cornbread
*I'll need to buy all the fresh ingredients for this
Monday - Pork chops and roasted acorn squash, salad
*I have an acorn squash on hand, so pork and lettuce go on the list
Tuesday - Beef enchiladas, zucchini ribbons
*I have corn tortillas on hand, and meat and sauce in the freezer from the last time I made this. A tip I love is making double batches of things when cooking for two...freeze half, and you have an easy dinner for "free" the next time you want it.
Wednesday - Broccoli-chicken quiche, salad
*I have frozen chicken thighs and eggs on hand. Broccoli goes on the list.
Thursday - Tomato-basil soup with Italian turkey sausage meatballs
*I'll just need an onion, chicken broth, and tomato sauce for this. Italian sausage on hand in the freezer.

The Sweet 100

2008-10-07T07:57:00.000-05:00

So even though I'm not really a sweets person, I thought this was too fun to pass up. Remember the Omnivore's Hundred? Well, this one speaks to my sweet tooth...and from the looks of some of these that I've never tried, I'm going to be spending some time baking!

Red Velvet Cake
Princess Torte
Whoopie Pie
Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
Beignet
Baklava
Black and white cookie
Seven Layer Bar
Fried Fruit pie
Kringle
Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
Scone with clotted cream
Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
Halvah
Macarons
Banana pudding with nilla wafers
Bubble tea
Dixie Cup (*Can someone fill me in on what this is, exactly?)
Rice Krispie treats
Alfajores
Blondies
Croquembouche
Girl Scout cookies
Mooncake
Candied Apple
Baked Alaska
Brooklyn Egg Cream
Nanaimo bar
Baba au rhum
King Cake (find the baby!)
Sachertorte
Pavlova
Tres Leches Cake
Trifle
Shoofly Pie
Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
Panna Cotta
New York Cheesecake
Napoleon / mille-feuille
Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cookies
Anzac biscuits
Pizzelle
Kolache
Buckeyes
Malasadas
Moon Pie
Dutch baby
Boston Cream Pie
Homemade chocolate chip cookies
Pralines
Gooey butter cake
Rusks
Daifuku
Green tea cake or cookies
Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
Crème brûlée
Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
Jelly Roll
Pop Tarts
Charlotte Russe
An "upside down" dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
Hummingbird Cake
Jell-O from a mold
Black forest cake
Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
Kulfi
Linzer torte
Churro
Stollen
Angel Food Cake
Mincemeat pie
Concha
Opera Cake
Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
Pain au chocolat
A piece of Gingerbread House
Cassata
Cannoli
Rainbow cookies
Religieuse (French cream puffs)
Petits fours
Chocolate Souffle
Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
Rugelach
Hamenstashen (A Purim dessert)
Homemade marshmallows
Rigo Janci (Hungarian chocolate mousse/cake)
Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
Divinity
Coke or Cola cake
Gateau Basque
S'mores
Figgy Pudding
Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
Joe Froggers
Sables
Millionaire's Shortbread
Animal crackers
Basbousa

Easy Peasy Week

2008-10-05T12:25:00.000-05:00

Sunday - Cookout with friends
Monday - Eat out (work dinner)
Tuesday - Italian sausage, peppers & onions, salad
Wednesday - Whole trout on the grill, Mom's Green Beans,
Thursday - Cocktail party after work...grab something out

An Old Favorite, Revisited

2008-10-05T11:37:00.000-05:00

When I was in high school, I decided for about a year that I was a vegetarian. In fact, for a while, I was vegan. Then I realized that my 100-pounds-soaking-wet self didn't do so well without any animal protein at all. So I put the milk and eggs back in rotation. Then one day, I missed chicken, and I indulged in a PF Chang's chicken lettuce wrap. After that, I realized that food was just more delicious when you eat meat.

Anyhow, my wonderful parents, while secretly knowing this was just a phase, made my eating preferences a priority in the house. We had this cookbook and leaned heavily on the dishes listed in it, especially the Eggplant Parmesan. Unlike many Italian-American dishes, it was super light and fairly healthy save for the layers of melty, gooey mozzarella cheese. I still enjoy making this dish when I have time to let it bubble away in the oven...on weeknights, though, that's not always possible. So I did a little eggplant parm remix, and turned it into a pasta sauce. It was perfect with whole-wheat pasta, which I find a little too hearty for lighter sauces. Unfortch, not the most photogenic of dishes, but you get the idea...

Eggplant-Tomato Sauce with Whole-Wheat Pasta
serves 2 with leftovers

Olive oil nonstick cooking spray
1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
Handful fresh basil, torn
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 box whole-wheat rotini, penne, or other short-cut pasta
Garnish: 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 450. Generously coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray. Place eggplant on the baking sheet in one layer, and spray again with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, tossing halfway through.

Meanwhile, cook pasta per package direction. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring often, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried oregano, and salt and pepper. Gently simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove eggplant from oven, and add to tomato sauce; stir to combine. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking water. Add pasta to sauce, and add pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, until the consistency of the sauce is to your liking. Stir in fresh basil and Parmesan. Serve, topped with mozzarella cheese, if desired.

Souper!

2008-10-02T20:17:00.000-05:00

I made two soups recently that were pretty great. Especially now that it's beginning to cool off, soup just seems like the coziest meal to come home to. Both of these soups are fairly light—filling and hearty, but not heavy or rich.

The first one was inspired by this amazing aioli/dip at The Ravenous Pig, an awesome restaurant in my hometown, Winter Park, Florida. They have this fried okra that's pretty much heavenly, and the creamy tomato-dill condiment they serve alongside it is addictive. I always think tomato-basil...rarely tomato-dill. But dill is my all-time favorite herb, and though it's usually associated with summery foods, it's a great way to freshen anything year-round. This soup is lovely in its simplicity. It was so good I ate two bowls.

Tomato-Dill Chicken Soup
serves 2 with leftovers for lunch

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cups chicken broth
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh, diced
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
Garnish: chopped fresh dill

In a stockpot or large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add water or more oil as needed if the pan looks dry. Add garlic, and cook, stirring often, until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute.

Lower heat to medium; add tomato sauce, sugar, broth, and dill, and stir to combine. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Add chicken, and cook, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Garnish with fresh dill, if desired.

Soup number two was inspired by a conversation I had weeks ago when my friend Jessica at work told me her mom made white chicken chili. This sounded intriguing to me—white chili? There's this strange thing here in Birmingham called white barbeque sauce...have you heard of this? I've never had it, because it just sounds wrong. But white chili...well that sounded delicious. Of course it wouldn't be real chili, I knew, but it just seemed like something Jason and I would like.

So I looked for a white chicken chili recipe to see what this was all about, and the best-looking one I found was from Cooking Light. I used to cook from CL all the time, and haven't in a good long while. But now I'll be looking to its recipes a lot more. This was great and low-fat, low-cal...and just yummy! I made a lot of changes, but the general recipe is pretty solidly based upon Cooking Light's version, so I will link the original recipe and then give you my edited verion below.

White Chicken Chili
serves 2 with leftovers for lunch

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
1 (15.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

In a stockpot over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the onion, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add some liquid from the can of green chiles to moisten pan. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute. Add cumin, coriander, and chipotle powder, and stir to combine. Add more liquid from the chopped green chiles to moisten pan as needed. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes more.

Lower heat to medium; add the chiles and any remaining liquid, beans, and broth, and simmer for 8 minutes. Add chicken, and stir. Cook for 8 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Turn off heat and let cool for 2 minutes. Add cheese, and stir well to melt and incorporate thoroughly into soup. Add cilantro, and serve.

Close...but no CPK

2008-10-02T19:18:00.001-05:00

Have you ever had the miso salad at California Pizza Kitchen? I have to admit, I have had some pretty terrible experiences at the chain restaurant, but the past few times I've gone, I've ordered the miso salad and been more than happy with my selection. The veggies are crunchy and the dressing is really yummy.

So I decided I should try my hand at this salad...I mean, why pay $7 for something I could make for less? Well...I tried to find one of those "restaurant secrets" web sites...the ones where they share recipes from restaurants, or at least close-enough knockoffs. But this dressing recipe was nowhere! Those sneaky CPK people, trying to keep me coming back.

Well, anyway, I made a miso dressing. It's not the same as the one at CPK, but it is delicious. And something tells me it's healthier because it doesn't have the creaminess of the aforementioned dressing. And I also didn't include the deadly-good but dangerous fried wonton strips. This is fairly low-carb, too, especially if you eliminate the edamame (which apparently contains quite a bit of carbs). Oh, and a side note: my camera battery died right when I went to take a photo. Sorry for the picture-less post!

Chopped Asian Salad with Miso Vinaigrette
serves 2 with leftovers for lunch
Depending on how much you like miso, start with 2 tablespoons of miso paste, taste, and add more if desired.

1 medium-large head napa cabbage, sliced thinly
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced into matchsticks
1/2 small bag frozen edamame, shelled
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin matchsticks
2 to 3 tablespoons white miso
2 to 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil, or to taste
1 to 2 chicken breasts, grilled

Combine the vegetables in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine the miso, vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Whisk well, and then slowly whisk in the vegetable oil, adding more if you think it tastes too tangy. Taste, and adjust seasoning; add soy sauce, vinegar, or oil if needed. Toss veggies with dressing, and top with grilled chicken.

Ersters

2008-09-30T21:20:00.000-05:00

Jason and I had grilled oysters a few Friday nights ago. Yummm...we decided we'd do 3 dozen next time.

This shot is the result of the 1 dozen I polished off without a pause. Saltines, hot sauce, and lemon...and a few piping-hot off the grill, slurped right from the shell.

A Few Random Things...

2008-09-30T21:12:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to write for the past two nights, but both evenings have gotten by me, and before I know it, it's past 9 and I'm exhausted. So I do have two recipes to share, the Chopped Asian Salad with Miso Vinaigrette (just for you, Kristin!) and Whole-Wheat Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato sauce. But they're not coming tonight...just a few pictures (this one is Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps) until I get a chance to make my brain work fully!

This Week

2008-09-28T15:39:00.000-05:00

Monday - Chopped Asian salad with miso dressing
Tuesday - Pork chops, mashed cauliflower, sauteed spinach
Wednesday - Whole wheat pasta with eggplant-tomato sauce
Thursday - White chicken chili

What We're Having

2008-09-21T12:24:00.000-05:00

Low-carb meals again...

Sunday - Mexican Chicken Chili *UPDATE: the base of this chili was much too spicy to have as a soup. It was great as sauce, so I froze it (sans chicken) to have on hand the next time I make enchiladas. Maybe next time I will use milder peppers (apparently guajillos pack a serious punch!)
Monday - Asian-style bunless burgers, Heston Blumenthal's broccoli (p.s. try this broccoli immediately--it's amazing!)
Tuesday - Tomato-dill chicken soup, salad
Wednesday - Flank steak with chimichurri, spaghetti squash
Thursday - Grilled shrimp and zucchini skewers, grilled romaine with homemade ranch dressing

Just a Little Tangent

2008-09-15T21:42:00.001-05:00

Allow me to step up on my soapbox. Or, more accurately, my salt box. You see, I think I know why a lot of people say their cooking just doesn't taste right. It's salt. Or, rather, a lack thereof. Our family friend Annette, an amazing chef, has always said that salt is the most underused spice in the American kitchen. (Yes, I said spice.) People are so afraid that salt will make food taste salty, but that's just not true. Salt makes food taste like food...like really delicious food. If you've ever eaten a meal with me, you know I love salt. Pickles, olives, salt & vinegar chips...but when I cook for anyone but myself, I use restraint...I don't subject people to my crazy love of tart and salty.

Still, I use more salt than the average person. Some people have watched me cook, noted my heavy hand with salt, and then commented that my food doesn't taste salty. They always wonder why. The answer: using salt is like turning up the volume on food's flavor. Unless you go majorly overboard, salt shouldn't be a flavor in and of itself.

Usually in the recipes I write, I don't give exact amounts of salt (or pepper), and it's because to learn to feel confident in the kitchen, you should get to know what the right amount of salt feels and tastes like. I say feels like, because I always (always!) use my fingers to distribute salt in a recipe. Kosher salt is the easiest to dispense by hand. It also evenly seasons things. It's the only salt I cook with. For salting things like French fries or popcorn, a fine-grain sea salt is my buddy.

There are all kinds of fancy salts...unrefined gray salt, smoked salt, pink salt, black salt, fleur de sel...which are all kind of like garnishes, in that they're not really for cooking, but for finishing dishes. This is a good resource for finding out more.

So, in conclusion, be bold with the salt. Use your fingers. Sprinkle it in the pan, taste, add some more, taste...and keep adding until it tastes amazing. Trust me, and trust yourself. You might be surprised to see how much you use, especially if you're not accustomed to using much salt at all. I promise you'll notice a difference.

Let Me Begin with the Beginning

2008-09-14T20:43:00.000-05:00

Recently someone asked me if I've always been good in the kitchen. I had to admit: it wasn't until college that I really started looking at food as more than sustenance. Yes, there were favorite dishes when I was younger, and sure, some of my fondest memories of childhood involve food. But mostly because the food was cooked by someone I loved, or eaten with people I loved.

When I cooked for myself as a kid, I made pasta with butter and cheese, scrambled eggs, canned soup, "Chinese noodles" (a concoction of ramen noodles, butter, and soy sauce...high-brow, I know!), and occasionally, bagel bites.

When I left for college, my sweet freshman-year roommates and I decided to have what we called family dinners...and somehow I got voted to cook the first one. I called my mom asking what I could make that was delicious and easy. Her reply: chicken piccata. It was one of my favorites in high school, and mom claimed it was easy. I wrote her recipe down over the phone, rolled my sleeves up, and dived in.

I burned the butter on my first attempt, but otherwise it was pretty good—and shockingly easy. That did it...I was hooked. It was a slow road to my current obsession with all things edible, but that one dish, that feeling of accomplishment and the look of appreciation from my friends, well...that's all it took.

chicken, after searing

So, for someone who isn't 100% confident in the kitchen, I highly recommend this dish. I mean, what's not to love about lemon and butter? It's impressive and delicious, and couldn't be easier.

Chicken Piccata
serves 4
Sometimes I can't find chicken breast halves, so I just pound out two regular breasts to be super thin, and cut each one in half widthwise. It takes a little more pounding, but it's just fine.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons softened butter, divided
Additional all-purpose flour
Extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons capers, drained

Place chicken between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. With a rolling pin, mallet, or even a bottle of wine (be careful!), lightly pound each breast half to about 1/4-inch thickness. Sprinkle chicken with salt. (Don't be sjy about it.) Thoroughly mix together 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon butter; set aside. On a plate or shallow baking pan, add additional flour, and coat each breast in flour; shake off excess.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When oil shimmers, add chicken in 1 layer. If the all 4 breasts don't fit, cook in 2 batches. Cook until chicken is golden brown and mostly cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, and set aside.

In the same skillet over medium-high heat, add the stock, lemon juice, and butter-flour mixture, and whisk to get all the good brown bits (fond in fancy cook-speak) from the bottom of the pan. (If you want to sound impressive, tell someone you're deglazing the pan.) Simmer until the sauce is reduced and thickened, about 3 or 4 minutes. If it looks too thick, add a little more stock. Too thin? Keep simmering. Add capers and remaining butter, stir, and taste. Adjust seasoning.

With tongs, place each breast, one at a time, in the sauce to coat, then place on a platter. Pour remaining sauce over top. Serve with couscous or pasta to soak up extra sauce.

Like Making Lemons Out of Lemonade...

2008-09-14T18:48:00.000-05:00

Usually I am a very confident cook. I don't claim to be an expert in the kitchen, but I'm comfortable there, and if something doesn't taste quite right, I'll add a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and generally it turns out well.

So I'm writing to admit a kitchen mishap: apparently, I can't poach eggs. Well, I bet I could if I practiced enough times, but my first try was a big fat disaster. Maybe the water wasn't hot enough, or maybe I just got overly confident, but my water was full of stringy whites that barely set up. I couldn't even salvage the yolks. Sigh.

My original intent was to serve the poached egg over a spring-greens salad with seared scallops and pancetta...so when the poaching didn't happen, I just made a vinaigrette with another egg yolk to maintain the creamy richness a poached egg would have added to the salad. It was very yummy, even though it wasn't my original plan...

Seared Scallop Salad
serves 2
12 medium scallops
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
4 to 6 thin slices pancetta
4 thick slices ciabatta bread
1 clove garlic
1 lemon, juiced (need about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
1 bag spring greens

Rinse scallops, and and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 to 3 teaspoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add scallops and sear until golden and opaque, about 2 minutes per side, depending on size. Be careful not to overcook.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, cook the pancetta until crisp, then drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Break into smaller pieces, and set aside. Toast the bread, in a toaster oven, toaster, or 450-degree oven, until golden brown. While bread is still hot, rub each piece with the garlic clove, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with a touch of salt. Cut into bite-size pieces, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine lemon juice, Dijon, and egg yolk. Add a pinch of salt. Using a whisk, whisk in olive oil (about 1/4 cup) until the dressing comes together. Taste, and adjust seasoning. In a large, shallow bowl, toss the lettuce with some dressing (add a little bit to start, toss, and keep adding dressing until the greens are dressed to your liking). Add the pancetta and croutons, and toss again. Top with scallops, and serve.

Dinners for the Week

2008-09-14T15:50:00.000-05:00

We're going low-carb for a few weeks...

Sunday - Roast chicken, broccoli, salad
Monday - Out for Rebecca's birthday
Tuesday - Asian chicken lettuce wraps
Wednesday - Taco salad
Thursday - Pork & veggie stir-fry

Summer, How do I Love Thee...

2008-09-09T21:37:00.000-05:00

Last summer, I had a delicious pasta dish at a restaurant in Winter Park called Luma. It had fresh house-made pasta, corn, dill, and maybe shrimp or crab, but I don’t recall exactly. It was the crisp pop of the corn against the silky fresh pasta that I remember the most. I’m not sure that corn with pasta is a pairing that is visited very often, but it is one of my favorites. I’ve done my own spin on that Luma pasta before…here’s the sequel.

As I mentioned in my last post, Jason being out of town gives me an excuse to eat the bad stuff he doesn’t like, such as creamy pasta sauces, fatty steaks, and stinky foods like olives and anchovies. Yeah, yeah, he probably keeps my arteries clean simply by not liking butter and cheese, but I can’t help that I love the bad stuff!

So in a compromise, I decided to fill my pasta dish with lots of veggies…and toss it all in goat cheese, melting it on the stove so it was creamy and lush. (I didn't make a huge effort to get a pretty picture—it just looked too tasty!) If you’re watching calories or you just don’t do goat cheese, this would be perfectly delicious without it. A lovely ode to the last days of summer.

Ode to Summer Pasta
serves 2
The intent of this dish is to showcase the veggies; the pasta is kind of a backdrop. If you want more carbs or just a bigger portion, increase the pasta to 1/2 pound.

2 to 3 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 medium zucchini, cut into matchstick-size pieces
1/3 pound angel hair or thin spaghetti
1 good-size ear of corn, kernels cut off and reserved
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 container crumbled goat cheese
Scant 1/4 cup pasta cooking water or chicken stock
8 to 10 leaves fresh basil, torn or chopped

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat (closer to medium). Add the onions, a pinch of salt, and a little pepper, and toss to combine. When onions begin to soften, add zucchini. Add a little bit of chicken stock or more oil if the skillet looks dry. At this point, drop the pasta, and everything should finish up about the same time. When zucchini just starts to soften, add corn kernels, and toss everything frequently until veggies are soft. Add tomatoes, and continue to cook, stirring, until tomatoes are wilted. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed. Reduce heat to low.

Drain pasta, reserving some water if using, and add pasta to the skillet. Toss with the veggies, and add the reserved cooking water or chicken stock a bit at a time, and toss until everything is combined. Let sit for 30 seconds to allow the cheese to melt, and then thoroughly stir or toss to coat everything with the cheese. Add more water or stock, if needed. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, add basil, and serve.

Gone, Baby, Gone

2008-09-09T21:28:00.000-05:00

Woe is me. I am single for the week. Jason has been gone since last week, actually, and I’ve become a lazy cook. Somehow when I’m just cooking for me, I’m a little less enthusiastic about jumping in the kitchen and firing up the stove. I miss sharing a meal with my guy at the end of the day…food, to me, is much more than sustenance. It’s a way to share my love and a way to reconnect with friends and family. Call me a sap, I don’t care. Food is part of me.

The one good thing about being solo for meals is that I can branch out and eat all the stuff that I love and Jason won’t touch. These things include olives, creamy sauces, marbled steaks, tofu, and cheese. Bless his soul, the boy won’t eat cheese. {Except in various processed versions like queso dip, pizza, cheez-its, and the like.} Jason’s eating preferences {aside from the aversion to tofu} probably keep me from having coronary artery disease at the tender age of 26. I mean, really…I am the girl who would sneak pats of butter and eat them—plain!—when I was young. I love the bad, greasy, creamy, cheesy, buttery stuff. Love it.

Anyway…I don’t have recipes to share, per se, but I do have some pictures of a few of my solo meals. First, a lovely, perfectly rare-medium-rare ribeye {pictured above}, marbled and oh-so tender. I have to have acid with fatty steaks for balance, so I just sliced an Alabama tomato, paired it with some baby greens, and doused it all in lemon juice and olive oil. And lots of salt.

Next, a meal Jason surely would have loved…I’ll make it again, J, promise! Craving something totally unfancy, I fried a corn tortilla to golden-crisp perfection, topped it with lettuce, spicy refried beans and ground beef that I cooked with cumin, chili powder, garlic, and salt. I took a cue from the nachos on Last Night's Dinner and made a cheese sauce with Monterey Jack and Cheddar. Oh, and I added some sour cream {but that came after the picture}. Yum!

More to come…

Hey, Nie Auction winners!!

2008-09-01T19:46:00.000-05:00

Note to auction winners, please donate directly to the Nielson fund. (nieniefund@gmail.com is the email attached to the acct)

thanks!

Nie Nie Auction Winners

2008-09-01T16:00:00.000-05:00

A big congratulations to Roxanne, Lindsey, Debbie, Stacy, Shawnee, and "Anonymous*" who all bid generously for a copy of Culinary Confessions of the PTA Divas! We originally had 5 to give, but since 6 people were generous, we wanted to spread the love even farther. Please donate to the Nielson PayPal fund and forward me the receipt.

With all six bids, our total raised for Christian and Nie is $145! Hooray! I'm so touched, and I can't wait to see how much the grand total is.

*Anonymous, please send contact info asap!

More love

2008-08-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

(See below for more info on this post)

My wonderful mom, a foodie, cookbook writer extraordinaire, and generally all-around amazing woman, has lovingly donated FIVE signed copies of her delightful (and super-useful) cookbook, Culinary Confessions of the PTA Divas! I think it seems like something Nie would like.

I will borrow Gabrielle's bidding protocol:

How this silent auction works:
1) Please place your bid by leaving a comment with your bid amount in the comments section. Check the comments to see the most recent High Bid. Bidding starts at $10. The FIVE highest bidders will get their cookbooks.

2) Following the close of the auction, I will contact the winners (make sure your comment bid includes an email address or link to your blog or some way to contact you). The winner will pay the amount of their winning bid to the Stephanie and Christian PayPal account. The winner will then forward the PayPal receipt to katiebrandon@gmail.com and I will send you your book!

3) Please bid in increments of whole dollars. The auction will end at Midnight CST on Sunday, August 31, 2008.

4) Thank you for participating!

For a Great Cause

2008-08-28T09:05:00.000-05:00

It's funny how this blogging thing works...you become connected to perfect strangers, and there is an amazing bond between people who just like to talk to cyberspace and hope someone is listening (or, reading, I guess).

From one lovely blog, I found out about a woman named Stephanie Nielson who has another darling blog called the NieNie dialogues (how clever is she? her nickname is the last 3 letters of her 1st name and the 1st 3 letters of her last name). She and her husband have four beautiful children, and Nie would write about their sweet little life in Utah.

Last week, Nie and her husband, Christian, were in a terrible small-plane crash. The pilot was killed, but gracefully, Nie and Christian survived. They both suffered terrible 3rd-degree burns and are doing OK, but are going through the struggle of their lives.

Nie's blogger sister, Jane, has been keeping the rest of the blogging community abreast of the situation with daily updates. Through her wonderful sisterly love and kindness, Jane and her husband have taken in three of Nie's kids (the fourth is staying with another sister, I gather). The whole story has really touched me, even though (as I said above) these people are perfect strangers.

All this to say that today is officially (in the blog world) NieNie day. Design Mom came up with the idea to host a silent auction—a lovely way to help raise money for the long and difficult recovery the Nielsons will be going through. I'm amazed at the kindness that spread...165+ blogs are also hosting auctions! Everything from signed BYU football gear (the whole family are big BYU fans) to a signed Maroon5 guitar, to beautiful jewelry, edible goodies, art, and photography packages...

If you feel so inclined, head over to Design Mom, find something you might like to have, and maybe make a bid. I've got my eye on a few things, myself. You'll be getting something fabulous AND helping a perfect stranger who lights up the blogging world, and has touched a lot of other people with her story. It's totally random, yes, but that's how this blog thing works, and I have to say, I love it.

It's me...

2008-08-28T07:38:00.000-05:00

...your long-lost blogging friend. I've had a kind-of off week, and no recipes for now, but I do have something to share. A few years ago, I read in the NY Times about cold-brewed iced coffee, and I was intrigued. I am an iced-coffee lover from way back (I have this memory of drinking an iced Barnie's coffee and running into some kids from school who thought it was so weird that I liked coffee. But I digress...)

I have been meaning to try to cold-brewed coffee (which is apparently a staple in New Orleans), but I just hadn't done it. Then yesterday I saw a post on the fabulous Smitten Kitchen about the process, and I was inspired. It's so simple, really. Here's the original recipe.

And now, I am a convert. There is no comparison between hot-brewed coffee chilled and poured over ice, and the rich, smooth, chocolatey stuff that is the result of cold-brewing. I really didn't think there'd be much difference, but trust me on this one. Try it, just once, and I have a feeling you'll be a believer, too. I'll be making this again (and again, and again...).

2008-08-24T15:42:00.000-05:00

Sunday - Tom Kha Gai my way
Monday - Spring greens with seared scallops, pancetta, croutons, and a poached egg
Tuesday - Chicken piccata, broccoli, salad
Wednesday - jason's out of town...so probably pasta
Thursday - ditto...

Spice and Easy

2008-08-21T18:25:00.000-05:00

What could be easier than mixing a bunch of dried spices, rubbing it on some chicken, and grilling it to perfection? It's the perfect summer supper. Spice rub mixtures are about as varied and different as the number of spices that exist, but when you find just the right one, you know it. Just pick spices that go together, adjust the amounts depending on your preference, and you've got your own blend. (This one is almost identical to what I put in my chili.)

I paired our chicken with a side dish my wonderful friend Maggie showed me a long time ago. When she came home after spending a college semester in Spain, she had our friend Lytle and me over for dinner, and she cooked us a dish she had eaten in Spain. Since then, this dish (I think it's served in tapas bars) has been one of my favorites. The mineral flavor of spinach and the creamy/nuttiness of the chick peas is a flawless combination. It's even great as a light lunch...

Smoky-Spicy Chicken
serves 2
This rub makes more than you will use, but it will keep a long time in the pantry.

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder*
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne

With a mallet or rolling pin, pound chicken lightly between two sheets of wax paper until the thickness is mostly even. In a small bowl, combine all the spices. Generously sprinkle some of mixture on first side of chicken, then use fingers to rub the mixture to cover completely. Flip and repeat on other side. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 30 minutes.

Preheat grill. Place chicken breasts on well-oiled grates, and cook for about 5 minutes per side, depending on thickness. When it feels firm but still springy, remove from grill. Let side a few minutes before serving.

*Ancho chile powder is my go-to chile powder. It's slightly sweet and smoky without tasting like smoke. It has more depth than regular chili powder. You can certainly substitute regular, but give ancho a try—you won't regret it.

Spinach & Chickpeas
serves 2
You can add in some chopped garlic if you like, but if you're feeling lazy (like I was tonight), it's fine to just toss it all in the skillet and let it go.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 (10-ounce bag spinach)
3/4 (15-ounce) can chick peas, drained but not rinsed
kosher salt and ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and chick peas, salt, and pepper. Cook until spinach is wilted. Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. Serve.

(How pretty is the fire? I love grilling!)

The Omnivore's Hundred

2008-08-21T14:47:00.000-05:00

Fellow food blogger Andrew at Very Good Taste came up with a super fun meme for food-loving people (such as me.) If you want to play, too...

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out (or italicize in my case since I can't figure out how to cross out things) any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (I second Jennifer Hess's question: does Alligator count?)
6. Black Pudding (I'm pretty game to everything, but coagulated blood turns my stomach.)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (not a cross-out, but maybe just a taste)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (thanks to dad's garden)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (I've had it unsalted, but salted sounds even yummier!)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly (do Jell-o shots count? What, I went to the #1 party school!)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (maybe if they were teensy, cooked, and covered in lime juice and salt...)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu (Not worth it)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (I haven't done the meal, just the Mac...)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (thank you, Delerium Tremens)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (yep, it's edible)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (This is iffy)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (I've had them all!)
68. Haggis (I find offal...awful. Pardon the semi-pun.)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (see 68)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (yeah, it's as nasty as it looks)
75. Roadkill (seriously?)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (I have been to a 3-M place but didn't do the tasting menu. I was also 7, so...)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (rabbit)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (this is bordering on a cross-out, but i might eat it if i just had one taste)
90. Criollo chocolate (a fancy, extra-good kind of chocolate)
91. Spam
92. Soft-shell crab
93. Rose harissa (I've just had harissa, there was no rose in it...)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (see 89)

Veggie-ful

2008-08-20T18:14:00.001-05:00

It's been one of those weeks where I just feel like we haven't had our fill of veggies. As I've said before, I never met a vegetable I didn't like, but sometimes it's just not the easiest (or, let's face it, tastiest) to eat a ton of good-for-you stuff in one meal. When I was in college, my quick remedy to this issue was to throw a bunch of seasonal veggies into a pot with pasta and cook them pretty much all at once. I finished it with salt, olive oil, and a handful of mozzarella cheese. I'd eat it for days. It was easy and tasty, albeit really plain.

So tonight I decided to take that idea and give it a little nudge in a more creative direction. I roasted the veggies, tossed them with cooked pasta, some tomato sauce, fresh basil, and a bit of cheese, and then baked it to bring it all together. I used Barilla Plus pasta (have you tried it?) it's got lots of fiber, protein, and even omega-3. Definitely better than regular pasta, and the texture is great, too.

Baked Pasta with Roasted Vegetables
serves 2 with leftovers
For the sauce, you can use plain canned tomato sauce or marinara

1 small bunch broccoli, about the size of 2 fists
2 yellow squash
3/4 pint grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1/2 lb short-cut pasta (penne, macaroni, rigatoni...)
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
8-10 basil leaves, chopped
1 big clove garlic, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 450. Cut the broccoli and squash into bite-sized pieces, and place on a baking sheet. Add the tomatoes, and toss with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until everything is tender and brown in spots.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in well-salted water until just under-done. Drain, and then add roasted vegetables, tomato sauce, basil, and garlic. Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste. Lightly oil the bottom and sides of a small baking dish. Add about half of the pasta-veggie mixture, then top with 1/2 cup cheese. Add the remaining pasta-veggie mixture, then top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Raise oven temperature to broil; broil until the cheese is bubbling and brown in spots. Let cool 3 minutes before serving.

(the veggies looked great even before they were cooked!)

Good Eats For the Week

2008-08-18T11:22:00.000-05:00

Monday - Tostadas, cucumber-tomato salad
Tuesday - Thai-style chicken fried rice
Wednesday - Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables, salad
Thursday - Spice-Rubbed Grilled Chicken, Spinach-and-Chick-Pea Sauté, grilled bread

Pasti per la Settimana

2008-08-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

Sunday - Good ol' burgers on the grill, garlic oven fries, salad
Monday - Shrimp and Bread Bowls, tomato-watermelon salad
Tuesday - Dijon-herb pork chops, Orange-Scented Couscous with Almonds
Wednesday - Italian meatball soup, salad
Thursday - Scott's birthday cookout!

Under the Provencal Sun

2008-08-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

Soup just has a way of making you feel good. With minimal work and maximum payoff, soup is my go-to meal when I just don't really feel like doing much, but when I want something warm and soul-satisfying.

I found this Ina Garten recipe for Soupe au Pistou on Food Network's web site, and decided it looked like a nice, light summer soup. Well, it was one of the best soups I've ever tasted. In fact, the broth was kind of addictive. Fragrant with saffron and perfectly flavored with every ingredient, I could have had bowlfuls of just broth and been happy. But the creamy potatoes, crisp-tender haricots verts, and the combination of two onions (I used green onions in lieu of leeks, which cost almost three times as much at Publix) made the soup spectacular.

Last summer, my parents brought me a little glass vial of deep orange-red saffron. I saved it for the longest time, and recently cracked the bottle's little wax seal. Now I'm obsessed. In the somewhat unlikely event that you have saffron on hand, this is the place to use it. If you don't, I'd seriously consider "investing" in some (it's not cheap!) because it was the single best flavor in the whole bowl.

As a side note, I made the pistou, but the garlic was SO overwhelming that we left it out of the soup completely. It tasted grassy and spicy, and just not right for the delicate, flowery soup. If I were to make it again, I'd cut wayyy back on the garlic...

Late summer is the perfect time to drink rosé, a Provençal specialty. Lightly fruity, with just a whisper of tannin, it's not to be confused with that awful other pink wine. Anyway, with this soup, we thoroughly enjoyed Paul Jaboulet Aine Côtes du Rhône Parallèle 45 Rosé 2007. It was on sale at our local market for $8.99...but the regular price was $10.99, which is still pretty budget-friendly. It's delicious and oh-so pretty. I couldn't resist a picture...

An Evening in Marrakesh

2008-08-04T20:03:00.000-05:00

The first night of our staycation was in Marrakesh, Morocco. Much like the food of India, north African cuisine is abundant in spices. Smoky, warm, complex, and robust, the foods of Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt often include more spices than any other cuisine, making the food of this region vibrant and full-flavored. One of the most quintessential dishes in Moroccan cooking is the tagine. Tagine is the word both for the cooking vessel and the resulting dish that comes out of it—food is slowly braised in the base while the tall conical lid collects and redistributes the steam. It's often made with beef, lamb, even pigeon; cumin, paprika, cinnamon, coriander, and cayenne are the main spices that give tagine its oopmph.

Since I don't have an actual tagine, and since foods cooked in tagines are often stewed for hours, I decided to go with the traditional flavors, but I did a quick roast in the oven. This was—as Paula Deen often says—stupid easy. A quick do-ahead marinade, superfast prep, less than an hour in the oven, and that's it. I have to tell you--Jason said it was the best meal he'd had in a long time. And if I may say so myself, I agreed.

The flavors were clean and defined. The earthy cumin, warm cinnamon, sweet coriander and paprika, and the slight spice of the cayenne all worked together in perfect harmony. The tomato sauce cooks down and marries with the spices into a brick-red, aromatic gravy that coats everything with a perfect slickness. The accompanying couscous, which soaks up every drip of the rich sauce, is definitely the best recipe for couscous I've ever done (again, if I do say so myself). It would be delicious with just about anything. Fudul! (That's Arabic for "bon appetit.")

Moroccan Chicken "Tagine"
serves 2 with leftovers
I had leftover tomato soup I had made last week, so I used that to pour over the chicken. If you have some tomato soup, or even leftover marinara, as long as it's pretty plain, it will be just fine as the base to your sauce and will bring a little extra flavor to the party. If you don't have those things on hand, just use plain crushed tomatoes from a can—there are so many spices in here, you don't need to worry about it being bland.

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
3/4 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, depending on heat preference
6 skinless chicken drumsticks or skinless chicken thighs
1 lemon, 1/2 thinly sliced, 1/2 zested and juiced
1/2 small onion, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup green olives, chopped (optional)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste

In a roasting pan, whisk together the oil, vinegar, paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, salt, sugar, and cayenne. Add the drumsticks and turn to coat. Cover with aluminum foil, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 6.

Preheat oven to 375°. Remove chicken from refrigerator and turn chicken to fully coat in the marinade. Tuck lemon slices in between and on top of meaty end of drumsticks. Sprinkle on the lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic; evenly distribute onions on top, and then pour the tomato sauce over everything. Give the pan a shimmy to make sure the sauce is distributed. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, for good measure.

Re-cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until chicken is completely done. Serve with couscous to soak up the sauce.

Orange-Scented Couscous with Almonds
serves 2 with leftovers

1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup couscous
3 large green onions
1/2 cup almonds, toasted and crushed*
2 generous tablespoons orange juice, fresh or store bought

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine garlic and oil. Heat until garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add salt and water, stir to combine, and cover pan. When water boils, add couscous, turn off heat, and set aside for 5 minutes.

Use a fork to fluff the couscous. Add green onions, almonds, and orange juice, and use the fork to combine everything. Taste and add salt, if needed. Serve immediately.

(my leftovers...it was yummy as lunch the next day!)

Our Staycation Menu

2008-08-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of this new thing called a staycation? With the economy the way it is, a lot of people are forgoing the summer vacation, but still doing little things to make it seem like they're getting a break from the everyday. I decided this week I'd do some meals that remind me of the places I love, and the places I'd love to visit one day...

Monday - Chicken yakitori, sesame soba noodles, garlicky spinach (Japan)
Tuesday - Soupe au Pistou, crusty bread, salad (Provence)
Wednesday - Pizza Margherita, chopped salad (Naples)
Thursday - Lemon chicken "tagine," orange-scallion couscous (Morocco)

In the Kitchen This Week

2008-07-27T09:37:00.000-05:00

Monday - Tomato soup, squash and spinach fritatta
Tuesday - Santa Fe Enchiladas, salad
Wednesday - Spicy pork chops, curried cauliflower, salad
Thursday - Grilled chicken, saffron couscous, salad

Ohhhh, Mexico

2008-07-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

Some of my best travel memories are of the food I've eaten on the trip. I can honestly still taste the chocolat chaud and croissants from my first trip to Paris when I was 7. The hot dogs and mashed potatoes we ate on my second trip to France when I was 12. {My brother was 3 and that was all he wanted. But something about those French weiners and potatoes were mouthwatering. Truly.} The shwarma I had from a roadside stand in Israel. The espresso and pizzas from Tuscany.

As you may know, we went to Mexico for a week in May for my best friend Lainie's wedding. Everything about that week was incredible, from the people we met, to the time we all spent together, to the romantic fairy-tale wedding at sunset on a clifftop with a crashing-waves-and-mariachi-band soundtrack.

But, oh...the food. Aside from the people memories, the food memories will stay with me forever. A favorite restaurant in Sayulita is the eponymous Sayulita Fish Taco. Fresh, crispy fried fish, crunchy cabbage, and creamy, dreamy sauce--it was a party in my mouth. I could have eaten it every day. In fact, we did have it no less than three times that week.

Well, I've been missing that place, those flavors...so I decided to make some of my own fish tacos. For a little extra something, I made a slaw to go on the tacos instead of plain cabbage. {It turned out to be great--we even had it on its own with burgers.} While these tacos aren't quite the same as the ones we had in Sayulita, they hit the spot. Light, fresh, and yummy...a simple midweek taste vacation.

Dreaming of Sayulita Fish Tacos
serves 2

2 medium-size fillets of cod, mahi, snapper, or any mild fish
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Pinch kosher salt
4 corn tortillas
Creamy Lime Slaw (recipe follows)
1/2 jalapeno, sliced very thinly
Cilantro
Sour cream
1 avocado, sliced
1/2 small white onion, finely diced
1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Pat fish fillets dry. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish on both sides with salt, and add it to the pan. Sear until fish is firm and opaque, about 3 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the fillet).

When the fish is cooked, transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Wipe out skillet, and put it back over medium heat. Place tortillas, one at a time, in the skillet to warm, being careful not to burn them.

Cut or tear fish into bite-size pieces, and then divide into 4 portions. Fill each tortilla with some fish, then garnish with a bit of the slaw, a few slices of jalapeno, cilantro, sour cream, avocado, and onion. Serve with lime wedges.

Creamy Lime Slaw
serves 2 as a side

Juice 1/2 lime
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Scant tablespoon mayonnaise
Pinch kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1/2 head green cabbage, sliced thinly

In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice and oil. Whisk in mayonnaise, then stir in salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning as you see fit. Add cabbage to bowl, and toss to combine. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or up to overnight before serving.

All Up in My Grill

2008-07-22T20:23:00.000-05:00

So I told you I got a new grill, right? Well it took us a few tries to get it just right, but it's been a wonderful addition to our summer kitchen, especially now when Birmingham has decided to whop us with 100-degree days. But...I have a feeling that we'll be out there, checking the coals and flipping burgers even when it's 40 degrees outside.

Our first meal on the grill was mixed-herb chimichurri-marinated pork chops (and a chicken breast for Rebecca). It was an Emeril recipe, and was just OK...I tweaked it a good deal, which made it delicious, but I won't link the recipe. Going forward I would certainly use chimichurri as a marinade again. This one employed a mix of basil, cilantro, and parsley...but the classic is still my favorite. Just making it is fun and fresh, as evidenced on my colorful, herb-strewn cutting board.

Anyway, the dinner didn't turn out to be very photogenic (beigey brown chops, yellow saffron couscous and bright yellow corn on the cob--monochromatic, but yummy). The corn, simply wrapped in foil with a smattering of butter and a sprinkling of salt, looked like pretty little treasures just waiting to be unwrapped.
Finally, for dessert, we had a lovely strawberry and peach shortcake. The recipe was from epicurious, and while it was good, it wasn't great. So I won't link to that one, either. It was your basic flour-butter-sugar mixture with a touch of whole milk to bring it all together. I'd try another recipe before I went back to this one. But the summer-sweet fruit and cream (which I whipped by hand, thankyouverymuch) were delicious.

What I'm making...

2008-07-20T20:19:00.000-05:00

Monday - Bunless burgers, charred onions and eggplant, salad
Tuesday - Heidi's Lively Up Yourself Lentil Soup, salad, crusty bread
Wednesday - Dreaming of Sayulita Fish Tacos, black beans, creamy lime slaw

A Solo Birthday Meal

2008-07-16T06:41:00.000-05:00

This year on my birthday, I was alone for dinner. Before you think I’m complaining, I must say, I was really tired from a crazy weekend, so the solo time was actually appreciated. Plus I’d had a totally indulgent Belgian waffle and a side of sausage-cheese grits. (Yes, that’s right. And it was amazing.)

However, it was my birthday, so I did want to treat myself to something delicious for dinner. I chose some beautiful salmon from Whole Foods, a bundle of soba noodles, a package of nori, some veggies, and a bottle of Asian-style dressing. (I was feeling indulgent, but also too lazy to make my own dressing.) The salmon seared quickly, the veggies didn’t require much besides a little bit of chopping, and the noodles cooked in a lightning-fast dunk in boiling water—this is my kind of fast, easy, but totally delicious birthday dinner. I call it a sushi bowl because all the sushi flavors are represented. You could definitely substitute sticky white rice for the noodles for an even more sushi-like concoction.

Sushi Bowls with Soba Noodles
serves 1 birthday girl with leftovers for lunch (though it would easily double)
This was great the night of, and actually even better the following day, cold. You could make this ahead, chill it, and serve it cold for an easy, satisfying summer dinner when it’s just too hot to cook.

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 (8- to 10-ounce) salmon fillet (make sure you ask for the thickest piece available)
Pinch of salt
6 ounces soba noodles
3 to 4 tablespoons store-bought Asian soy ginger sauce*
1/2 cucumber, peeled, and chopped into matchstick pieces
1 ripe avocado, peeled, and chopped into bite-size pieces
2 green onions, cut thinly on the bias
3 sheets nori (look for it in the Asian section of the grocery store)
1 to 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Rinse and pat dry salmon fillet, and sprinkle with salt. When oil is very hot and shimmering, carefully place salmon in pan. Sear for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn and continue cooking until salmon is just cooked through, about 3 minutes more.**

Meanwhile, add soba noodles to a medium saucepan of boiling, salted water, stir gently, and cook for 4 minutes, or until al dente. Drain noodles, and rinse well with lukewarm water.***

In a small dry skillet, toast nori sheets until they are warm and crisp to the touch, about 2 minutes.

In a wide serving bowl, toss together the cooked noodles and the dressing, to taste. Toss in the veggies, then top with the salmon. Crumble the toasted nori on top, sprinkle on sesame seeds, and drizzle with additional dressing, if desired.

*I used 365 Organic Soy Ginger Sauce
**I like my salmon on the just-barely-cooked side. If you like yours more done, cook 1 to 2 minutes longer, but don’t let it go too long or it will be dry.
***Rinsing the noodles is very important; otherwise they will stick together and lose their delicious texture.

Fiber? I barely know her!

2008-07-15T19:32:00.000-05:00

We hear it all the stinkin’ time—fiber is an uber-important part of maintaining good health. But seriously, sometimes fiber is just not tasty. Though Jason and I do enjoy the new(ish) Fiber One bars (check out the oats and chocolate kind), it’s not always the easiest task to cook a high-fiber meal that doesn’t taste like a bucketful of horse feed.

Recently, though, I discovered medium-grain bulgur, which is coarser and chewier than the fine-grain kind used in tabouleh. It’s seriously delicious. It’s kind of like brown rice’s way better looking and more impressive cousin. Bulgur has more than twice the fiber, less fat, fewer calories, and nearly four times the folate as brown rice. Plus it cooks in half the time. It’s nutty, pleasantly chewy, and inexpensive, too. Oh, and topped with roasted veggies, this dish packs a ton of vitamins and fiber—a superstar of a meal.

Bulgur Bowls with Roasted Veggies
serves 2
Toss in some prepared rotisserie chicken or sautéed tofu (if you’re into that kind of thing) for some protein, if desired.

1 cup bulgur
2 cups chicken broth or water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 lb broccoli, chopped into small florets
1 large zucchini, chopped into bite-size chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-size chunks
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Sauce
1 (1-inch) piece of ginger, grated
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice or rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the bulgur and the broth. If using water, add 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir and cover, and bring to a boil. When bulgur boils, lower heat to medium-low, and let cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and bulgur is tender.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°. Place vegetables on a large rimmed baking sheet, and toss with pepper, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and olive oil. Roast for 10 to 12 minutes, tossing about halfway through cooking, until vegetables are tender and caramelized in places. Remove from oven and set aside.

To make the sauce, whisk together ingredients in a medium bowl, adding vegetable oil to reach desired taste and consistency. When bulgur is cooked, spoon an even amount into each serving bowl. Top with roasted vegetables, and drizzle with about 1 tablespoon sauce, or to taste.

The Menu

2008-07-13T13:06:00.000-05:00

I got a grill for my birthday, and I can't tell you how excited I am to have my very own black robot-like little charcoal buddy. I've been wanting one for a long time, so I'm looking forward to my first on-the-grill dinner tonight. We're doing grilled pork chops with chimichurri and grilled corn on the cob. Yummm. I can't wait.

The rest of the week...
M - Roasted broccoli and zucchini with bulgur
T - Chicken enchiladas with green salsa
W - Big salads with grilled chicken (yup--on the new grill!)
Th - Soba noodle "sushi" bowls with fish, nori, and cucumber

Healthy Week Ahead

2008-06-29T15:53:00.000-05:00

We're going low-cal this week...

Sunday - Asian shrimp noodle bowls
Monday - Spicy roasted veggies and chicken with bulgur
Tuesday - Split pea soup, salad
Wednesday - Creamy pasta "risotto" with broccoli and chicken

The rest of the week we'll be floatin' down the Ichnetucknee River. Happy birthday, America.

What's for Dinner?

2008-06-22T08:41:00.000-05:00

Sunday - Lemon-Basil Shrimp with Angel Hair, Traditional Bruschetta, simple salad
Monday - Grilled Herbed Chicken, Sauteed Summer Squash with Fresh Breadcrumbs & Parmesan, simple salad
Tuesday - Pork with Orange-Soy-Ginger Glaze, Tomato-Spinach Couscous
Wednesday - Patty Melts, Sweet Potato Fries, sauteed spinach
Thursday - ???

Swoon

2008-06-20T22:41:00.000-05:00

Would you think I was crazy if I told you I found my restaurant soulmate? Because I think I may have. There are two restaurants in northern California that I feel a deep affinity for. The only thing is, I've never been to either one. (OK, now you really think I'm crazy.) I can't even remember how I found out about sister restaurants Zazu and Bovolo, but I think they are places where I could go again and again and never get bored. I subscribed to their email lists just so I could read about their monthly specials and imagine I'm not thousands of miles away from there.

If I were to list everything I love about these places, you'd be reading this for 45 minutes. So I'll just touch on the best points. Chef/owners John Stewart and Duskie Estes grow much of what they cook and serve and are considered pioneers of the slow food movement. They use local artisinal cheese and local wine (they're in the Napa Valley), and they make their own salumi (which may be my favorite part). The food at both looks uncomplicated and fresh. But really, I think the best part about these restaurants is that they just seem friendly. Bovolo holds family-style dinners once a month. They offer reasonably priced bottles of wine (many under $30, and always a
$5 glass of red and white). And they make their own salumi! (I know I already said it, but I can't hide my passion for cured pork.)

I mean, how can you not fall head-over-heels for a place that serves stuff like this...
zazu cured duck prosciutto - charentais melon, hand torn basil
grilled sweet corn, cascabel chili butter
j.b.'s slow roasted balsamic pork shoulder - melting onions, mashed potatoes
apple fritters, maple crème fraiche
grilled tiny octopus on a fat slice of grilled bread, preserved lemon
pork cheek sandwich

And almost every delicious morsel comes from somewhere within a 50-mile radius of the place. It just doesn't get much better than this. Sigh. I must make it to nothern California sooner rather than later to eat at Zazu and Bovolo. I may buy a house around the corner. There's no telling.

(all photos from zazurestaurant.com and bovolorestaurant.com)

Breakfast, To Go

2008-06-15T18:03:00.000-05:00

There might be three words that seem to be the key to maintaining a healthy weight, having energy in the morning, and starting your day off right. Don't. Skip. Breakfast. Even Jason, who used to claim he "just wasn't a breakfast person" has noticed a difference since he started eating a regular morning meal.

Though it can take an extra few minutes in your morning routine, breakfast is something everyone should make time for. And making something portable for breakfast is always a good idea—either something that you can eat at your desk, or even better, as you walk out the door/in your car/on the train.

Breakfast sandwiches are nothing new. Actually, some of the absolute worst-for-you breakfasts are contained in sandwiches. But the concept is, well, pretty brilliant. While most of us are familiar with the savory bacon-egg-and-cheese bagels or sausage biscuits, I bet you haven't seen many sandwiches that lean toward the sweet side of things.

I made this recipe to accomplish a laundry list of ideal breakfast goals. Filling but not heavy, check. Nutritious, check. Protein-plus-grain, check. It also hits the all-important mobile breakfast quality—you can eat it with one hand. Good morning!

Peanut-Butter Waffle Breakfast Sammy
makes 1 sandwich

2 whole-grain waffles (such as Van’s)
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 banana, sliced or 6 thin apple slices
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Toast waffles and top each half with one tablespoon of peanut butter. Top one half with banana or apple slices, sprinkle with cinnamon, and top with other waffle.

Le Menu

2008-06-15T17:54:00.001-05:00

Sunday – Pizza Margherita, simple green salad
Monday – Summery Grilled Shrimp, sautéed corn, green salad with Lime-Garlic Vinaigrette
Tuesday – Southwestern-spiced burgers, Guacamole Salad
Wednesday – Sweet and smoky pork paillards, creamy slaw, whole-wheat couscous
Thursday – Chicken Provençal, roasted potatoes & broccoli