Cooking and Eating in the Windy City

Julia's Broiled Chicken

2009-12-29T08:56:00.008-06:00

Ever since I became interested in cooking, it has been a given that I'll get some foodie gifts for Christmas. This year was no exception, and Joe got me the perfect set of gifts that I hadn't even asked for! As I've written about before, I really enjoyed the book My Life in France, and the movie Julie & Julia. I have cooked a few Julia Child recipes that I've found online or in magazines, but I didn't own a copy of the cookbook that started it all. Joe surprised my with the combination of the book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and the movie Julie & Julia! I am married to the most thoughtful guy (as of today we've been married 3 years! Yeah, it's our anniversary today!).

Cute movie, classic book, happy cook named Erin :)

Being the cheesy person that I am, I knew I needed to make dinner from the cookbook the same night that I watched the movie. My recipe of choice was Poulets Grilles a la Diable (Chicken Broiled with Mustard, Herbs, and Bread Crumbs). I did kind of change the recipe to suit our tastes and to be a little healthier, but for the most part I did what Julia said. The chicken was tender and flavorful, and just buttery enough to pair nicely with the movie. I also made the Brussels sprouts from Thanksgiving, and boiled some small potatoes to serve on the side. This ended up being a better dinner then I planned, although the work I put into it was evident when Joe went into the kitchen to do the dishes!

I'll type the recipe pretty much how it appears in the book. My changes were pretty simple. First, I used chicken legs (thighs & drumsticks, still in one big piece). I cut most of the skin off before cooking, because I knew we wouldn't eat the skin, and I didn't want all the mustard sauce to come off with the skin. Julia would probably shake her head at this slightly healthier adjustment, but I know I'll never use this cookbook if I make the recipes exactly how she wrote them! I used dried thyme, because it is what I had at home already, but I think fresh herbs would be really nice. For the breadcrumbs, I toasted some french bread cubes that I was going to put in the food processor, but then I was talking to my sister on the phone and burned the crap out of the bread. So, I used store bought from the can bread crumbs, because I really didn't feel like toasting more bread. I think fresh bread crumbs would be way better, so next time I'll try to pay more attention!

Poulets Grilles a la Diable
from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

2 ready-to-cook, 2 1/2 lb broiler chickens, halved or quartered
6 Tbsbsp butter, 2 TB oil, melted in a saucepan
6 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp finely minced shallots
1/2 tsp thyme, basil, or tarragon
1/8 tsp pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
4 cups fresh bread crumbs

Preheat oven broiler to moderately hot. Dry the chicken thoroughly, paint it with the butter and oil, and arrange it skin-side down on the broiling pan. Place it about 5 to 6 inches from the broiling element, and broil 10 minutes on each side, basting every 5 minutes. The chicken should be lightly browned. Salt it lightly.

Blend the mustard with the shallots, herbs, and seasoning in a bowl. Drop by drop, beat in half the basting fat to make a mayonnaise-like cream. Reserve the rest of the basting fat for later. Paint the chicken pieces with the mustard mixture. Pour the bread crumbs into a big plate, then roll the chicken in the crumbs, patting them on so they will adhere. (I only painted the mustard on the top of the pieces of chicken, then sprinkled the bread crumbs on top. Partially because the bottom of the pieces of chicken was mostly bones, and partially because I was feeling lazy and didn't see the need to dirty another dish for the crumbs!)

Arrange the chicken pieces skin-side down on the rack in the broiling pan and dribble half the remaining fat over them. Brown slowly for 10 minutes under a moderately hot broiler. Turn, baste with the last of the fat, and brown 10 minutes more on the other side. The chicken is done when the thickest part of the drumstick is tender, and when the juices run clear. (Since I only did mustard & bread crumbs on the top of the chicken, I finished it by only broiling it with the mustard side up, for about 15 minutes. And yes, I did pour the extra fat over the chicken! Made it extra crispy. And tasty.)

Seasons Greetings!

2009-12-22T18:12:00.007-06:00

Hello everyone! I think this might have been my longest absence from this blog since I started writing it. School was CRAZY busy the last couple weeks of the semester, and as much as I wanted to blog, I had to force myself to study and do final projects instead. And, really, I didn't have much to blog about. My kitchen was sorely neglected the month or two, between working evenings, having a night class, and just being too darn busy. I've been eating too much junk from my freezer and dining out more than I'd like, and I can't wait to get back to planning meals like before!

Next semester I'm only taking one class, and I've quit one of my part time jobs. I hope to start substitute teaching this spring, to help my job prospects for next year. My schedule will still be sporadic, but at least I know I'll be home (and less stressed) more often than this semester. And what better time to get back to cooking and blogging than this time of year? I LOVE CHRISTMAS! I think it's my favorite holiday because of the fact it is spread out over a month, and everyone seems to get more friendly and easy going as they run around more crazily than usual. I know, it's not quite that perfect, but don't you find yourself with an extra spring in your step come December? Great example- I went to lunch with a friend at the huge Macys on State Street today, and even thought it was a total zoo, I just smiled and enjoyed the whole experience. Typically, I can get totally bitchy in these crowded store/slow tourist situations, but somehow at Christmas I just deal with it a lot better. Anyone else feel this way?

I also love the traditions that surround Christmas. Every family has them, and it is so fun to compare notes with friends. In the last three years of marriage, Joe and I have worked some of our old family traditions into the holidays, and have also started trying to incorporate some of our own. One non-negotiable tradition I've taken from my mother is baking and sharing TONS of Christmas cookies. Last year I told you about the three recipes I have that my mom has baked for as long as I can remember. They showed up in my kitchen again this year, but I also decided to mix things up and add a couple recipes of my own.

The first recipe I made was Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkles, which I found on epicurious.com. They had kind of mixed reviews, but I found the recipe to be a total success. They were chewy and had a rich chocolate flavor, and the hazelnuts really added a special holiday flavor. I loved the way they looked, too, with the powered sugar and cracked appearance. Most likely I will make these again next year, and I might not reserve them just for Christmas!

I also made sugar cookies, which is nothing new, but I challenged myself by decorating them with royal icing. What a fun project it was! I used a box of sugar cookie mix, because someone had given me a cookie making gift, but next time I will try Annie's recipe. I used the Royal Icing recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book, which I borrowed from a friend. I think royal icing is pretty standard, though, so I'll probably just try Annie's recipe for that next time, too! No matter what recipes you use, check out her tutori al before you decorate, because it's amazingly helpful. Thanks Annie for all your great ideas! I put off royal icing for a long time, but now I'm brainstorming all the reasons I might have to make decorated cookies in the future. So much fun (and yes, Joe thought I was a little crazy... but cute, too!).

Gel food coloring is important, so you don't thin out your icing.

First we outlined the cookies, with thicker icing.

Then, we thinned out the icing, and filled in the shapes.

The finished product! Not bad for a first attempt, right?

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and that 2010 is a year to remember!

Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies
from epicurious.com

* 2/3 cup hazelnuts
* 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
* 6 oz fine-quality bittersweet
* chocolate (no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1/4 cup whole milk
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

* Special equipment: parchment paper

Directions

Make dough:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan in oven until skins split and nuts are pale golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven (turn oven off), then wrap hazelnuts in a kitchen towel and rub to remove any loose skins. Cool nuts completely. Pulse nuts with granulated sugar in a food processor until finely chopped.

Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water or in top of a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and set aside.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in melted chocolate until combined. Add milk and vanilla, beating to incorporate. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in nut mixture. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough until firm, 2 to 3 hours.

Form and bake cookies:
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift confectioners sugar into a bowl. Halve dough and chill 1 half, wrapped in plastic wrap. Roll remaining half into 1-inch balls, placing them on a sheet of wax paper as rolled. Roll balls, 3 or 4 at a time, in confectioners sugar to coat generously and arrange 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets.

Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are puffed and cracked and edges feel dry (but centers are still slightly soft), 12 to 18 minutes total. Transfer cookies (still on parchment) to racks to cool completely.

While first batch is baking, roll remaining dough into balls. Line cooled cookie sheets with fresh parchment, then coat balls with confectioners sugar and bake in same manner.

And so it begins!

2009-11-29T17:12:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that another holiday season is already begun! The last year has flown by, and I'm looking forward to a wonderful holiday season this year. It was off to a great start this past week, when Joe and I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family for the first time since 2003. My family moved overseas while I was in college, so I spent the last handful of Thanksgivings either with extended family or with Joe's family. I have yet to have a bad Turkey Day, but nothing compares to spending the day with my parents and siblings.

The master chef prepares the table.

I think Thanksgiving is a lot of foodies favorite holidays, and I can see why. My mom, sister, and I had been discussing menu ideas for weeks, and we ended up cooking quite a feast. My future brother in law is a vegetarian, so his dietary restrictions added a fun challenge to planning our meal. I planned two dishes to contribute-- a savory bread pudding (like stuffing on steroids), and maple glazed Brussels sprouts. The bread pudding was vegetarian and everyone seemed to love it. I couldn't resist making Brussels sprouts with bacon, because I really believe there is no veggie friendly alternative to bacon. They were amazing, and I think these will be a side dish that could fit in with any fall or winter meal. We also had 3 kinds of home brewed beer-- an E.S.B. from Dan, a Pumpkin Ale from Joe, and a Grand Cru from my dad. They are a talented bunch of brewers!

My Savory Bread Pudding is in the top right corner of the picture, and the Brussels sprouts are in the middle on the left.

Our after dinner tradition is a nice long walk around the neighborhood, and this year the weather in St. Louis was perfect. It wasn't warm, but the brisk temperature was the definition of great Thanksgiving weather. We finally invested in a copy of the movie Elf this year, and enjoyed that while eating apple and pumpkin pie. It was a relaxing day, full of fun family bonding, and I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving! I hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend!

These recipes are all from Thanksgiving classes at The Chopping Block.

Sweet Corn and Gouda Bread Pudding with Gravy
Yield: 6-8 servings

1 sourdough loaf, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 8 cups)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, sliced thin
1 pound Tuscan kale, torn into 1 inch pieces
4 cups frozen corn, defrosted
Salt and pepper to taste
7 eggs
2 1/4 cups half and half
6 tablespoons dry white wine
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon thyme, rough chopped
3/4 pound Gouda cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Mushroom Gravy (recipe below)

1. Lay the cut up bread out to dry for about 2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350° and butter a large baking dish.
3. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Sauté the red onion, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized. Add the kale and cook until wilted. Fold in the corn and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, white wine, Dijon mustard and thyme.
5. Fold in the bread, kale mixture and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow this mixture to soak for 30 minutes.
6. Pour into the buttered baking dish and bake on a parchment-lined sheet tray until the center is set and the top is golden brown, about 40 minutes.
7. Allow to rest for 10 minutes and then serve with the Mushroom Gravy.

Mushroom Gravy
Yield: 3 cups

1/2 stick butter
1/2 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon parsley, rough chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the butter. Sauté the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized, about 8-10 minutes.
2. Stir in the flour. The mixture will look very pasty. Cook the roux for about 2 minutes.
3. Whisk in the stock, wine and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 10 minutes.
4. Whisk in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Glazed Brussels Sprouts
Yield: 4-6 servings

1/4 lb bacon, cut into matchsticks
1 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed & cut in half
3 Tbsp walnut mustard
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup chicken stock
salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat a heavy, wide pan over medium-low heat and add the bacon pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, until just crisp.

2. Toss in the Brussels sprouts, and saute until lightly caramelized.

3. Add the mustard, maple syrup, and chicken stock, and mix well. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced to a glaze and the sprouts are just tender, about 5-7 minutes.

Ready for the feast to begin!

Lounging around, recovering from far too much good food.

I wish I remembered what was so upsetting ... either Elf of the black Friday deals!

A perk of my family living in St. Louis is that I get to see awesome friends like Danielle when I go back for the holidays! We had dinner and drinks in Lafayette Square, a really cute area near downtown. Miss you Dani!

A New Kind of Fajita

2009-11-11T18:10:00.004-06:00

You know you've found a good recipe when you make the same exact thing for dinner two nights in a row. This is totally different from leftovers... I literally went back to the store and bought more of the ingredients to make the same exact dish again a day after trying it the first time. I can say this happened for a few reasons. First, it was stinking good! This taco filling was a twist on typical fajitas, with red onions, baby bella mushrooms, and poblano peppers. The flavors blended but still held their own, and the cumin sprinkled over top tied it all together. Adding slices of avocado and fresh pico de gallo put it over the top. I have to admit the other reason I made this was because the ingredient list is short and simple, and I was just not inspired to create anything that involved actual thinking. This recipe will be showing up in my kitchen again, I promise. Black beans on the side add protein and make it a well rounded meal, and I also think cut up grilled chicken would be amazing.

I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit when it first came out, but I have to give props to my friend The Kitchen Witch for inspiring me to actually try it. I owe you girl, because these were awesome!

Here's the full recipe, and if you're like me you can just make the filling and put it into plain soft tacos, or even make bigger burritos. Do follow the Kitchen Witch's advice to add avocado, and other yummy taco toppings you have around. Sky's the limit here! Also, I discovered that the leftovers are quite tasty over some brown rice, topped with cheese of course :)

Poblano and Mushroom Tacos
Makes 4
from Bon Appetit Magazine

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 fresh poblano chile, halved, seeded, thinly sliced into long strips
1/2 small red onion, sliced
3 ounces crimini(baby bella) mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 corn tortillas
4 thin slices Monterrey Jack cheese
chopped fresh cilantro
crumbled feta or Cojita cheese
Assorted toppings (such as shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and hot sauce or salsa)

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add poblano chile, red onion and mushrooms; saute mixture until brown, about 5 minutes. Mix in ground cumin. Season to taste with salt. Transfer mixture to medium bowl.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add tortillas in a single layer, draping up the sides of skillet to fit. Divide mushroom mixture among tortillas, mounding on only 1 side. Place slice of Monterrey Jack cheese atop filling in each tortilla. Fold plain tortilla halves over filling and press firmly. Cook until tortillas are brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer tacos to plates. Open tacos; sprinkle with chopped cilantro, crumbled feta or Cojita cheese, and toppings.

A Revolution Worth Joining!

2009-11-03T19:40:00.004-06:00

After drooling over the new Jamie Oliver cookbook, Jamie's Food Revolution, for about a week, I broke down and bought a copy of my own. I really like Jamie's overall approach to food... for one thing, he's all about seasonal, local, and natural food and cooking. His recipes aren't overly fussy, and he really seems to practice what he preaches. This cookbook is a bit different from his others, though, because it's got a huge (maybe revolutionary?) message behind it. If you read much in the online food world, maybe you've already heard about it. Jamie's twittered about his project, and I've read about it on Tasting Table last week. His goal: by having people "pass on" recipes and cooking advice to friends, family, coworks, or other people they know, maybe we can get huge portions of our population into their kitchens to start cooking for themselves and their families.

The recipes in this book are based around the idea that everybody can cook. They're simple, with tons of beautiful photographs, but Jamie has mastered the idea of keeping flavor and some sophistication even in simple recipes. I strongly agree with Jamie's point of view, and I love the idea of sharing recipes and inspiring other people to cook. Both of my part time foodie jobs are related to this mentality-- assisting with classes at The Chopping Block and working as a chef instructor for Common Threads. Jamie is actually a member of the Chef Advisory Board for Common Threads! So, overall, I love this book not only for the yummy recipes and adorable Britishness, but I also really support the message Jamie is trying to spread. He's actually taping a TV show about the Food Revolution in America right now, which will be airing on ABC in early 2010. If you want to know more, you can check out this New York Times article.

Also, if you are my friends and family that have been inspired by my blog, know how much it means to me! Every time one of you mentions trying a recipe I posted, I get so excited. I guess I see this blog as my version of the food revolution :) If you ever want any more recipes, or if you want to come over to my house and cook together some time, just let me know! Ask my friend Christie... we made homemade pasta a couple weeks ago, and it was so fun!

And now, how about a recipe? This is the first recipe I have made from Jamie's Food Revolution, and it was awesome! Joe and I were blown away by this version of meatloaf. Take everything you've ever thought about meatloaf and throw it out the window, because this one is totally different and a fantastic departure. The original recipe was for ground beef, but as you know by now I don't eat beef, and the ground turkey in our fridge made a great substitution. The tomato-chickpea sauce is what really made this dish, and Joe and I talked about potentially just making the sauce and spooning it over rice sometime. We did skip the bacon, to be slightly healthier, but obviously it would be delicious with some pieces of bacon to top it off!

There was enough sauce to drown our meatloaf, so we cooked some of it in a separate container.

Pot-Roast Meatloaf
by Jamie Oliver, in Jamie's Food Revolution

2 medium onions
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
12 plain crackers, such as saltines
2 tsp dried oragano
2 heaped tsp dijon mustard
1 lb good quality ground beef or turkey
1 large egg
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 to 1 fresh red chili, to taste
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans
2 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
12 slices of smoked bacon (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 475. Peel and finely chop on of the onions. Place in a large frying pan on medium high heat with 2 lugs of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the ground cumin and coriander, and fry, stirring every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes. When the onions are softened and lightly golden, put them into a large bowl to cool. Put the crackers into a plastic baggie or kitchen towel and smash until fine. Add the crackers to the bowl of onions with the oregano, mustard, and ground meat. Crack in the egg and add another good pinch of pepper and salt.

With clean hands, scrunch and mix the meat up well. Shape into an oval shape, rub with a little oil, and place the meatloaf into a dutch oven or baking dish. Put into the preheated oven and turn the temperature down immediately to 400 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.

To make the sauce, first peel the other onion and chop into 1/4 inch pieces. Peel and slice the garlic, and finely dice the red chili. Place these three ingredients into a large pan on medium high heat with 2 lugs of olive oil, the paprika, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for around 7 minutes, stirring often, until softened and lightly golden. Add the Worcestershire sauce, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and slowly simmer for 10 minutes. Taste the sauce, and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Pick the rosemary leaves off the stalks and put them into a little bowl (next time I'll mince them first). Remove the meatloaf from the oven and pour all the fat from the pan over the rosemary leaves and mix well (not much fat from Turkey, so I mixed the rosemary with olive oil). Spoon your sauce around the meatloaf, and lay the bacon over the top of the meatloaf and sauce. Scatter the rosemary leaves over the top. Put the meatloaf back into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until the bacon turns golden and the sauce is bubbling and delicious.

This was great served with Liz's Twice Baked Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes, which you can read about here. They were really good, especially if you add some cheese like she recommends!

Butternut Squash Baked Pasta

2009-10-30T17:58:00.000-05:00

I have been dying to tell you all about this dish for at least a week and a half, but school was more busy than usual and kept me away from blogging more. But this baked pasta is so good I considered blowing off my homework to tell you about it... or maybe blowing off my homework in order to go make more! I was able to talk myself out of it, but I hope you now understand how good this pasta is! It is creamy and silky, almost reminiscent of mac and cheese, but other than the carb overload it's pretty darn healthy. If you like pasta and butternut squash, you will love this.

I added a couple things in order to make this a complete meal. First, I crumbled up tempeh, and added it in as I was finishing up the onions. It added protein, and also a nice nutty flavor. If I haven't' convinced you yet, maybe this will be the dish that inspires you to try tempeh. I also added some spinach, for extra nutrients. It had good flavor, and I wished I had added even more spinach (I happened to have some in my fridge, so it initially went in as part of a fridge cleaning). Also, I didn't feel like going to the grocery store just for three slices of crusty baguette, so I just sliced up some regular wheat sandwich bread. Just as good, and maybe even healthier! This is a satisfying dinner and perfect cold weather comfort food.

Baked Shells with Winter Squash
From Everyday Food by Martha Stewart Living
Serves 4

Butter, for baking dish
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 8 oz package of tempeh, crumbled
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 pound small pasta shells
1 package (12 ounces) frozen winter squash puree, thawed**
4 cups of baby spinach leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 slices crusty baguette, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions; season with salt and pepper. Cover; cook until onions are soft and release liquid, 15 minutes. Uncover; raise heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until onions are browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Add the crumbled tempeh with about 10 minutes of cooking time left for the onions. Stir in 1 teaspoon rosemary.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes less than package instructions suggest. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups cooking water. Return pasta to pot.

Stir squash and reserved pasta water into onions; simmer 2 minutes. Toss squash mixture, the spinach, and 1/2 cup Parmesan with pasta. Transfer to prepared dish.

Combine bread cubes with remaining Parmesan, rosemary, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Top pasta with bread cubes; bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

** Want to make your own squash puree? Take a whole butternut squash, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast in the oven. I sprinkled a little salt and pepper on top, and roasted for about 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven. When the squash is very soft, remove from the oven and let cool. Scoop out the squash, and puree in a food processor or blender. It's easy, but make sure you plan the extra time for it to roast!

Weekend Breakfast Treat!

2009-10-23T14:45:00.000-05:00

I mastered the art of pumpkin pancakes a few weeks ago, and have been dying to tell you about the recipe I officially adore. But I wanted to be strategic, and hopefully inspire you a little! That's why I couldn't do this post any old day... if you heard about pumpkin pancakes on Tuesday, you might forget all about them by the time the weekend rolled around. And this is a recipe you don't want to forget. You want to grab a post it, jot down ingredients you might need, and head to the store on your way home tonight. If your weekend is going to be as rainy and mellow as mine, then it is perfect timing to cook some of these babies for breakfast.

While you're at it, check out the awesome blog I got the recipe from. It's Pinch My Salt, and I don't know how I hadn't run across it before. It's great! I am kind of in awe of Nicole's pictures... maybe some day I'll try to learn more about taking great pictures and editing them to look like hers. For now, I'll just admire other people's pictures and work on my cooking skills. One thing at a time, right? My friend Katie gave me the excellent suggestion to try this recipe when I had leftover pumpkin, and now in the last month I've made pumpkin pancakes on multiple occasions.

Before I share the recipe, let me give you a pancake tip if you're like me and only cooking for one or two people. Pancake batter can make a lot, right? And while you could scale down the recipe, that is a lot of dishes and effort for only 4 or 5 pancakes. I like to put in the effort once, and eat the results on multiple occasions! But pancakes are only good in the fridge for a couple more days before you have to throw them out. So... why not freeze them? The trick is to freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then put them into a ziplock freezer bag once they're already frozen. They go from frozen to delish about about 45 seconds in the microwave, and can be a great way to get yourself moving on a weekday morning that's really dragging. And while I'm on the subject of freezing stuff, it turns out canned pumpkin also freezes well. Put 1 cup portions into baggies to freeze, then grab a bag and thaw in the sink when you're craving these pancakes!

And in case you guys think my fridge is out of control, here's proof that I'm not crazy :

See, look at all that space! I have some frozen meat, ice cream, pasta sauce... all normal stuff, and not too much of it! And Matt, I'm glad to hear you're freezing bananas at your house, too :)

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
From Pinch My Salt

1 C. whole wheat flour

1/2 C. cake flour

1 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1 C. buttermilk

1 C. canned pumpkin puree

2 eggs

2 T. oil

1 t. vanilla

2 T. dark brown sugar

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the first eight ingredients (whole wheat flour through nutmeg). In a separate bowl, whisk together the last six ingredients (buttermilk through brown sugar).

2. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and blend together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Lumps are ok, just make sure all the flour on the bottom of the bowl is mixed in. If batter seems too thick to pour, you can gently stir in a little more buttermilk.

3. Drop pancakes by ladleful onto a medium-hot griddle. Pancakes are ready to turn when the edges start to look a little dry and you can see small bubbles forming on the surface.

If you really want to enjoy these pancakes, splurge on real maple syrup. It is so worth it on these pancakes!

The best quiche I've ever made...

2009-10-20T18:55:00.005-05:00

Working at the Chopping Block, I see a lot of great recipes that I'd like to try at home. But there are not enough meals in the day, especially when I'm only cooking dinner a couple nights a week lately! So I try to be really selective about which recipes I see in class and want to make at home. This quiche recipe jumped out to me as soon as I saw it. I didn't even get to taste it, because the people in the class took their leftovers home, but I knew I needed a copy of the recipe. I made it within a day or two, which is a quick turn around for me. Boy was I glad I did make it quickly, because it was amazing!! The flavors blended together perfectly, and I felt like it was a great balance of protein, dairy, and veggies. Ever since we started consciously trying to eat less meat, quiche has been one of my favorite things to cook. It's not the healthiest option out there, with a buttery crust and cheese on top, but I do think quiche is a great way to get a well balanced meal out of one dish. Add a salad on the side, and this makes the perfect lunch. I also loved a little slice for breakfast, with yogurt or fruit on the side.

Sun Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Quiche
from "The Breakfast Club" class at The Chopping Block

2 tbsp butter
2 shallots, sliced thin
4 cups baby spinach
1 cup sun dried tomatoes
2 Tbsp parsley, rough chopped
4 eggs
2/3 cups half and half
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
blind baked tart/pie crust (see note below)
3/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add the butter. Gently saute the shallots until lightly caramelized, about 3-4 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted. Fold in the oven dried tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper.

Whisk together the eggs, half and half, milk, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Stir the spinach mixture into the eggs and pour into the blind baked crust. Dot the top of the quiche with th egoat cheese and bake until puffed and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes and then cut into wedges.

** My Note: With my busy schedule I've been looking for shortcuts to help me maximize the time that I'm in the kitchen. One shortcut I've been loving is buying pre-made pie crusts. I've made a couple quiche recipes using these crusts, and I think they are worth the time I save! The pre-made crusts that come in their own pan are smaller than a regular pie dish, though, so you'll need to scale back your liquids accordingly. I did about 2/3 cup total of heavy cream and skim milk (the dairy I had on hand already- worked perfectly), and I used only 3 eggs. I kept the spinach the same, and did about 3/4 cup of tomatoes. I also did a little less cheese on top, to keep it from being too rich. Don't be afraid to experiment!

Masa Bread is the new Cornbread!

2009-10-11T20:40:00.000-05:00

Quick, when I say "chili", what is the first accompaniment that comes to mind? It's cornbread, right? That's been my answer every since I started making chili a few years ago. I love inventing new types of chili based on my mood, but the side dish never varies. And even though I usually like trying new things, this corn bread requirement never really bothered me.

Last week I planned to make a big pot of chili, and for whatever reason I stopped myself before I gathered the ingredients for cornbread. I had finally reached my limit, and determined that I needed something else to fill the "yummy carb" food category of this meal. That lead me to pull out a few cookbooks, and when I stumbled across a bread recipe from my mom I knew I had found my answer. Masa bread is something she used to make all the time when I was younger, and I loved it. I can't tell you what it is about this bread, but it's amazing! Maybe it's the texture... it's pretty dense but not tough or doughy. Maybe it's the flavor... it tastes like corn, but only subtly. Whatever it is, this bread is a wonderful alternative to cornbread, especially with chili or any type of mexican stew (like my Mexican Chili or Chile Verde).

Masa Bread
from Breads of the Southwest, by Beth Hensperger

-3 3/4 to 4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
-1 1/4 cups masa harina para tortillas (the masa I found said "instant for tamales" and it worked great!)
-1 Tbsp/package active dry yeast
-3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
-2 tsp salt
-2 cups warm water (about 115 degrees)
- cornmeal, for sprinkling
- 2 Tbsp corn oil, for brushing

In a mixer with a paddle, mix 1 cup all purpose flour with the masa, yeast, sugar, and salt. Add hot water and beat until smooth- about 1 minute. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix on low until dough just clears the sides of the bowl.

Switch to a dough hook, and knead until soft and springy- about 1-2 minutes for the machine. Dust with flour 1 Tbsp at a time to prevent sticking. The dough should be smooth and springy, not dry. Put the kneaded dough into a greased bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1-1/12 hours at room temperature.

Turn the dough out onto the counter to deflate, and form into two loaves. Place the loaves onto a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal, at least four inches apart. Brush the loaves with corn oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until double, about 45 minutes.

About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the over to 375 degrees.

Brush the tops of the loaves again with corn oil. Bake on the center oven rack for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown and hallow sounding. Place the loaves onto a cooking rack immediately. Bread is best warm or at room temperature on the day its baked.

My Notes-- since it makes two loaves, I slice one and put it in the freezer. Then I can easily grab a slice or two without defrosting the whole loaf. This bread is fantastic for breakfast, toasted with butter and honey on top.

Julia's Ratatouille

2009-10-06T15:14:00.000-05:00

If you're like me, you probably had not idea what exactly ratatouille was when that cute animated film by the same name came out a couple years back. I saw the movie, actually, I insisted on purchasing the movie, yet I still had no clue what the actual French dish was. I'd heard reference to it being some kind of vegetable casserole, but couldn't have picked it out if someone set a dish right in front of me.

Thankfully, that all changed when Julie and Julia came out this summer, and recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking started popping up all over the place! I found the recipe for Julia Child's Ratatouille in Bon Appetit, and knew I had to try it. Basically, I would describe it as a mix of stewed vegetables, including peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes. While the ingredients are mostly summer vegetables, the method of cooking makes it so that you could use sub-par out of season veggies and still pull off a good dish. I think it would be great this time of year, when you still have some veggies around, but also want a warm and satisfying dish. You'll be amazed at the great flavor you get from such simple ingredients!

Ratatouille
by Julia Child, reprinted in Bon Appetit

1/2 pound eggplant
1/2 pound zucchini, trimmed
1 tsp salt
7 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 8-oz onion, thinly sliced
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 pound firm but ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/4 inch thick strips
3 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

Peel eggplant; cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices, then cut into 3-inch-long, 1-inch-side strips. Cut zucchini into same size strips. Place vegetables in large bowl, sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain; dry with paper towels.

Heat 4 Tbsp oil in large skilled over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add eggplant and zucchini to skillet; saute until light golden, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to plate; reserve. Add 3 Tbsp oil to skillet; heat over medium heat. Add onion and peppers; saute until just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Place tomato strips atop onion-pepper mixture in skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover skillet; cook over low heat until tomatoes begin to juice, about 5 minutes. Uncover; baste vegetables in skillet with juices. Boil until juices are almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfew 1/3 of onion-pepper-tomato mixture to 2 1/2 quart pot; sprinkle with 1 tbsp parsley. Top with half of eggplant and half of zucchini, then remaining onion mixture; sprinkle with 1 Tbsp parsley. Cover; simmer over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover; tilt pot and baste with accumulated juices. Increase heat to medium; simmer uncovered, basting several times with pan juices until only 2 to 3 Tbsp juices remain in pot, watching closely to avoid scorching, 10 to 15 minutes loger. Season with salt and pepper, and serve warm or at room temperature.

I served the Ratatouille with chicken flavored by a simple
lemon and herb marinade and oven roasted potatoes.

Banana Muffins with a Seasonal Twist

2009-09-23T09:48:00.004-05:00

What do you do with bananas when they get a little too brown for eating? Do you stick them in the freezer to use for baking? That was always my mom's strategy, and ever since I've lived on my own I've done the same thing. That way, whenever I get the urge to make banana muffins, I have the main ingredient waiting in the freezer. I've had some roommates in the past who thought I was weird for freezing too many random things (Chris, Matt, are you reading this?), but it's so convenient to have softened bananas on hand for baking!

Sometimes, however, the blackened bananas start taking over the freezer. This weekend I noticed that was starting to be the case, so I decided it was time to make some banana muffins. I was headed straight towards my regular muffin recipe, from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, but something caused me to pick up my binder full of handwritten recipe cards. As I flipped through my old recipes, one from last year caught my attention: Pumpkin Banana Muffins. Perfect! This recipe allowed me to use up a couple of the bananas that were taking up precious freezer real estate, and also gave me a chance to make my first pumpkin recipe of the season. These muffins were as good as I remembered from last year, and were the perfect breakfast to usher in this fall-like weather.

I do have a problem that I might need your help with. I had to buy a big can of pumpkin, since that was all my little local grocery store had. This recipe only calls for 1/2 cup of pumpkin, which means I have at least two cups of pumpkin puree sitting in my fridge. What's your favorite pumpkin recipe that you think I should try?

Pumpkin Banana Muffins
I wrote down this was from allrecipes.com, but can't find the recipe on the site any more

1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt

topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oats/nuts
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix the wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, make a well in the center, and add the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Spoon into greased muffin tin, and top each muffin with 1 Tbsp of topping. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Notes: Since we don't eat a dozen muffins very quickly at my house, I tend to freeze at least half of them. They microwave well in about 20 to 30 seconds. The topping on these was kind of a pain, and didn't stick very well. Any suggestions?

Something's brewing in our kitchen...

2009-09-17T07:52:00.005-05:00

As you can imagine, I haven't been making very good use of my kitchen recently! I'm still cooking, since 2 of my part time jobs involve cooking lessons, but have had very few chances to actually get into my own kitchen. For example, the next two nights I work at the Chopping Block until late, then Saturday I'm in a food safety class all day, then I babysit Saturday night and work all day Sunday. I've eaten more Turkey sandwiches in the last month than I'd eaten in the last couple years, and granola bars or goldfish crackers have become essential parts of my diet. I'm eating like a six year old a lot of the time, which is kind of sad.

But the kitchen has been getting some use from Joe. He's made a couple dinners on nights when I've been working all day while he's at home. He made a fantastic butternut squash soup from Jamie at Home on Sunday, which I'm bugging him to blog about. He's cooked other dishes here and there, but that's not what I want to tell you about today. What I want to tell you about is his new hobby... brewing beer!

The brew master takes over the kitchen!

I'm not sure if I've emphasized enough that Joe and I are big beer fans. We've been known to choose a craft brew over wine even at a fancy restaurant, and would be content hanging out at a beer-centric bar in Chicago any night of the week. We used to live only a block or two from the Hopleaf, one of the best beer bars in the city, and would walk there on a random weeknight to enjoy one of the over 100 beers they had on hand. We've toured a few breweries together, and have spent many evenings talking with my beer obsessed father about different brews that we enjoy. My dad has been brewing his own beer for years, and finally inspired Joe to try his hand at the art of home brewing.

Last summer we visited Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee,
which I would highly recommend if you're ever in the area.

A few weeks ago my dad and I visited the Schlafly Bottleworks in St. Louis.

One of the things I love about Joe brewing is that he's as obsessed with it as I am with cooking. He's started hanging out on the message boards of homebrewtalk.com, and more than once apologized for talking about brewing too much. He didn't want to use a pre-packaged kit, and ambitiously used a recipe his first time. His first batch of wheat beer was a success, and we enjoyed sharing it with friends and family. Like cooking, brewing gives you a sense of pride for creating something for people to enjoy.

The first day of brewing... this is when the kitchen is a bit of a mess! After this day it goes into a huge jug to ferment. At that point we store it in the basement, to keep it in a cool environment and also to get it out of the way!

Two to three weeks later it's time to bottle. Once the beer is in bottles and caps have been securely attached, it has to condition for another couple weeks. It gets bubbly during this part of the process.

Our first batch made around 45 bottles, which went pretty quickly when we started sharing it with everyone.

Sharing the fruits of his labor is probably Joe's favorite part... and everyone has enjoyed the brew so far!

Right now we have a Pumpkin Ale fermenting, and I think Joe will be bottling it this weekend. It should be prime for drinking in October, just in time for the change in season. If you want to know more details about the specifics of brewing, let me know and I'll put you in touch with Joe. And maybe I can convince him to do a guest post one of these days to tell you more about the process. If you have a second, I'd love to hear a comment about your favorite brew! I think Magic Hat #9 is one of my favorites... but I also really love the Goose Island reserve brew called Sophie, which I think you can only buy in Illinois. Cheers!

A Breakthrough: Tempeh Tacos!

2009-09-10T15:04:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Remember me? Classes started two weeks ago, and as I expected life has become pretty much insane! Not too much cooking, and even less time for recording my cooking stories on here. But I'm not giving up! I've cut out time-sensitive blog commitments (like Daring Bakers), but I am still going to push myself to update my blog whenever I do have a chance. So if you promise not to give up on me, I'll do my best to share my food adventures whenever I have some free time!

This recipe is one I discovered earlier this summer, when Joe and I took a vegetarian cooking class at the Chopping Block. I had experimented with tempeh before, and felt like it was a better texture and flavor then tofu. But I had only though of one main way to use it... cut up cubes, marinate (any flavor works here- asian, italian, bbq), then stir fry it. The tempeh soaks up marinade flavors really well, but I was getting sick of only cooking it one way.

The revelation at our cooking class came when we discovered that tempeh could be crumbled. For some reason I had not though of using it that way, and as soon as I heard the idea I was off and running. Basically, crumbling the tempeh means you could sub it most places where you would use ground meat, adding protein and bulk without using an animal product. AND, for you meat eaters out there, think how easily you could use this knowledge to make a vegetarian friendly meal when you're inviting tree huggers over for dinner. The recipe below is using tempeh in tacos, and think how fun it would be to have a taco bar that included tempeh, ground beef, and shreaded chicken.

The original recipe called for making peach salsa to put on top.
We didn't plan ahead enough to make peach salsa, but that didn't
stop me from chopping up a regular peach to top the tacos. The
sweet fruit was a great complement to the spicy tacos.

And don't worry, I'm not turning into some holier-than-thou veggie eater... I've eaten meat most days this week, mostly because I keep eating leftovers from work and that means lots of varieties of meat! But I have lowered my grocery bill by minimizing the meat we buy, and I hope that our reduction has a teeny, tiny, slight impact on our environment. Not to mention the meat area at my nearby grocery store can smell kind of questionable, and since I don't have a car during the day it's my easiest grocery shopping option!

Public Service Announcement: Wondering where to buy tempeh? They sell it at Whole Foods, and also at Trader Joe's for almost $1 cheaper per package. You'll find it near the tofu and other meat alternatives, usually near the produce department or the cheese & dairy. Give it a try!

Spiced Tempeh Tacos
from The Chopping Block cooking school in Chicago

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, sliced thin
1 red pepper, sliced thin
8 ounces tempeh, crumbled
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp of your favorite Mexican spice blend (I did some cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and a touch of paprika)
2 roma tomatoes, cut in a small dice
1/4 cup cilantro, rough chopped
juice of one lime
salt and pepper, to taste
corn tortillas

Heat a saute pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Saute the onion, red pepper and tempeh, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized. Add the garlic and spices and continue cooking for an additional minute. Add the tomatoes and cook until they start to break down, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and fold in the lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper.

Toast the tortillas over an open flame or in a skillet. Fill with the tempeh mixture, and garnish with peach salsa, sour cream, etc.

Layers of Celebration

2009-09-02T16:57:00.000-05:00

Nothing says birthday like layer cake, right? Joe recently had his birthday, and I knew I needed to make him something special. He made me a cherry upside down cake from scratch for my birthday, so not just any cake would do. His request was that it be a cake with chocolate, and my vision was to make it a layer cake. When I was browsing Smitten Kitchen and saw Deb's cake for her husband's birthday, I knew I'd found the perfect birthday cake. Espresso Chiffon Cake with Fudge Icing
The recipes and comments below are all from Smitten Kitchen. If you've never checked our her blog, you MUST, because it's full of amazing things that I want to cook now, if not sooner! I will add a couple notes of my own, though, because I wouldn't want to leave you without some insight from your favorite Chicago foodie ;)

I made this as a six inch cake, because Joe and I enjoy being relatively healthy people and didn't need a giant cake around. Plus, I only had one six inch pan, that was just made for cakes like this. The sides on the cake are about 3 or 4 inches high, so I made a half recipe of the cake, and just baked one taller cake. I let it cool completely, then released it from the pan and sliced it into three layers. It held the shape really well, and my serrated bread knife went right through. I also did half recipes on the icing and espresso syrup, and it worked just about perfectly. Also, check out the fudge frosting recipe, because it's made in the food processor and it is brilliant!

Espresso Chiffon Cake
Adapted from (what else?) Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Despite picking one, I actually have all sorts of biases against chiffon cakes; mostly, that they’re lovely and fluffy but dry, namely because they have just smidgens of oil or butter in them. But this one called to me. I was hoping that the lightness of the chiffon cake layers would allow the strong espresso taste to come through, and that it did, though it didn’t hurt that it was brushed with a 1:1:1 ratio syrup of sugar, rum and straight espresso [or in other words, I think I briefly forgot that I was pregnant or something. Officially the most caffeine and booze I've had in 34 weeks and completely worth it.] that made the cake so ridiculously moist, I will never talk smack about chiffon cakes again.

Makes an 8- or 9-inch triple-layer cake

1/4 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as soybean, canola or vegetable blend
6 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons freshly brewed espresso, cooled to room temperature (Huntsman recommends freshly-brewed over hydrating espresso powder, which she feels can be too bitter)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottoms of three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with rounds of parchment or waxed paper, but do not grease.

In a medium bowl, combine the oil, egg yolks, espresso and vanilla; whisk lightly to blend. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.

In a large mixer bowl with an electric mixture, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium-low speed until frothy. Raising the mixer speed to medium-high and gradually add the remaining half cup of sugar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form; do not whip until stiff or the cake will shirk excessively upon cooling.

Add the espresso-egg yolk mixture to the dry ingredients and fold together just enough to combine. Add one-fourth of the beaten egg whites and fold them in to lighten the batter. Fold in the remainder of the whites just until no streaks remain. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.

Bake the cakes for about 18 minutes each, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pans. When cooled, run a blunt knife around the edge of the pans to release the cakes. Invert onto wire racks and remove the paper liners.

To assemble the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Soak the cake with 1/3 cup of the Espresso Syrup (below). Spread about 1 1/3 cups of the Instant Fudge Frosting (below) evenly over the top of the layer. Repeat with the next layer, more syrup and more frosting. Finally, top with the third layer. Soak it with the remaining syrup and frost the tops and sides with the remaining frosting.

Espresso Syrup

Makes one cup

1/3 cup hot, freshly brewed espresso
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup dark rum, such as Meyer’s

In a bowl, stir together the espresso and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add the rum and let cool to room temperature.

Don’t want to use rum? (I know someone will ask.) I’d swap it with water, perhaps flavored with some vanilla extract. Worried about the caffeine? Use decaf espresso.

Instant Fudge Frosting
Adapted, barely, from a Sky High recipe

Now, this is, to be honest, a fancy name for a quick buttercream but it’s got two things going for it that are worth mentioning: One, the frosting isn’t flavored with cocoa (too mild) or even good semisweet chocolate, but unsweetened chocolate. Brilliant, I tell you. I find most quick buttercreams way too sweet, and although this one still is quite sugary, the super-bitter chocolate goes a long way to mitigating it. The second thing worth mentioning is this: Did you know you can make quick buttercreams in the food processor? I had no idea, I hadn’t even considered it before. But there I was whirling everything together in ten seconds flat and I will make it no other way from now on.

Makes about 5 cups

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (no need to sift)
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to incorporate, then process until the frosting is smooth.

4 Ingredients, amazing results

2009-08-30T11:02:00.001-05:00

I'm starting school this week, and also my new job. This means 10 hours of class and three part time jobs. As you can imagine, I'm anticipating being quite busy this fall! But the last few weeks have been scattered through with days of doing nothing around the house, and I've worked hard to soak up that calm feeling. I made this pasta for lunch one day, which was a luxury I won't have with my new busy schedule.

Honestly, this recipe came about as I was working on cleaning out my fridge and pantry. I had two partial boxes of short pasta, some green beans that were starting to turn a little less green, a potato that was growing sprouts, and some pesto Joe made last week. I was flipping through my Everyday Food cookbook looking for dinner ideas for the week, and I happened upon a recipe that called for all the ingredients I wanted to use up. Perfect!

Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green Beans
from Everyday Food

serves 4

2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes (peeled if you want, I skipped it)
salt
8 ounces short pasta
8 ounces green beans, trimmed and halved
1/2 cup pesto
pepper

Place the potatoes into a large pot of boiling water, bring to a boil. Add one tsp of salt and the pasta, return to a boil, and cook two more minutes. Add the green beans, return to a boil, and cook until the vegetables are tender and the pasta in al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain, toss with the pesto, and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Summer Corn Chowder

2009-08-28T10:05:00.002-05:00

While I was in St Louis, Joe went out to the outskirts of Chicago to visit his parents. As you might know, outskirts of Chicago = farms and lots of open space. He drove by a farmer selling corn at a roadside stand, and bought a bunch of ears for us to enjoy at home. I never liked corn as a kid, unless it was on the cob. As I got older I realized that this meant I only liked fresh corn... none of that canned or frozen stuff. When it is fresh corn, I could it it in just about anything... salads, pastas, soups, anything!

This batch of fresh corn came right around the time I was craving chowder. I looked up recipes online, but a lot of them called for gross stuff like creamed corn in the soup. That was NOT the refreshing summer chowder I was dreaming of! I also wanted some potatoes in my chowder, so I went off searching for "corn and potato chowder". This recipe came from the Whole Foods website , and added cheese into the mix. What that meant was corn chowder perfection. I used my fresh corn instead of frozen junk, and I mixed a little half and half in with my milk for extra creaminess. Joe and I agreed that this was the perfect way to highlight the crunchy, sweet corn. The soup was indulgent without being too rich, and the potatoes added enough bulk to make this really fill you up. We had BLT sandwiches on the side, and thought this was the epitome of a late summer dinner.

Cheddar, Corn, and Potato Chowder
from www.wholefoods.com

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
32 ounces vegetable broth
2 1/2 cup diced Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 large)
2 cups frozen yellow corn
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper (garnish)
Chopped parsley (garnish)

In a large saucepan over medium high heat, melt butter and sauté onion about 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in flour, coating the onion. Add broth and bring to a boil, whisking constantly until smooth. Reduce heat, add potatoes and simmer 20 minutes until tender. Slightly mash potatoes in soup, then stir in corn and milk. Cook another 5 minutes, remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish, if desired.

A Summertime Feast

2009-08-26T08:51:00.004-05:00

Can you believe it's already the end of summer? Kids are headed back to school, and we're starting to feel some cooler temperatures here in Chicago. I'm headed back to school soon, too. If you missed it before, I'm going back to school for certification to teach high school mathematics. I used to teach elementary school, and have decided it would be a better fit for me to teach my favorite subject to older students. I'm so excited about the opportunities I'll have this next year, between school and my multiple part time jobs. It is going to be busy, though, and I'm sure cooking will have to take a back seat at some points during the year. During this lull before classes start, I've been cooking like crazy to get it all out of my system. Too bad I know I can't resist cooking no matter how busy I get, so I'm sure I'll still be putting my kitchen to good use either way. This blog, however, might get a little neglected in the next few months... just warning you :)

For a refreshing summer drink, mix equal parts of pureed
watermelon with lemonade. You could strain the watermelon
if you want to avoid chunks of fruit, or leave a little texture in it for
something different. Either way, this will quench your thirst!
I have a feeling a little vodka would mix nicely, too.

Last week I was with my sister in St Louis, and I took some time out on Friday afternoon to make a nice summer meal for us to enjoy on the back porch. I took some inspiration from the Kirkwood Farmers Market, where I found beautiful heirloom tomatoes, juicy watermelon, farm fresh green beans, and little red potatoes.

I got the tomatoes from the CJ's stand, and I was so pleased with the whole experience. The girls working at the stand were friendly and knowledgeable, and they seemed to really take pride in the local products they were selling. If you're in the St. Louis area, look out for this seller at Kirkwood Market. I'd go back to them anytime! The tomatoes are (clockwise from the top) German Striped, Brandywine, and Cherokee Purple.

I wanted to serve the tomatoes simply, so we would focus on their flavor. I sliced them up, added some blanched green beans in the middle, and drizzled a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper over the whole platter. They were amazing! So sweet and juicy, we couldn't get enough of them. Between me, my sister, and my dad, we finished off the whole platter! We did agree that we had a hard time tasting the difference between the three types, but also said we would tell the difference between these babies and store bought tomatoes any day.

I also kept it simple on the potatoes. I quartered them, and tossed with minced fresh thyme and some salt and pepper. I roasted them in an incredible non-stick casserole pan my mom bought when they lived in Europe. It browns potatoes better than anything I've used in my kitchen. I tossed in some halved cloves of garlic when the potatoes were starting to brown, and the bits of garlic browned nicely without getting burned. Yummy!

The final part of our meal was a goat cheese and herb tart inspired by David Lebovitz. He posted an Herbed Ricotta Tart on his blog about a week before, and I stumbled across it when I was catching up on blogs while stuck at my parents house with no keys. It looked too good to resist, so I decided the tart would complement my farmer's market finds. I pretty much followed his recipe, but used scallions and goat cheese in my version. It was quite delish, although I realized as we were eating that I'd made a different goat cheese tart before, and I wish I'd tried this one with ricotta. The crust was the Chocolate and Zucchini recipe for Olive Oil Tart Crust, and I didn't love it. I was so happy when it didn't shrink when I blind baked, but it ended up pretty hard and not at all flaky. I don't know if it was over baked, or if it had to do with the whole wheat flour. I might try it again, though, because I really did like the ease and ingredients in this tart crust.

Cooking from the Pantry

2009-08-19T15:40:00.005-05:00

I've been in Saint Louis for the last couple days, hanging out with my younger sister while my parents were both out of town. My sister is just starting her senior year at a brand new high school, and since she doesn't have a driver's license or many local contacts, my parents asked if I could come down and stay with her while they were gone.

I was expecting a few relaxing days of hanging out around their house, and of course one of my plans for this time was to cook like crazy while I was home all day. I specifically directed my mom to not buy any extra groceries, because I was going to plan the shopping list around whatever recipes I picked out. Sounded like a pretty easy plan, right? That's what I thought... until my mom and brother left for their drive to Colorado with BOTH SETS OF KEYS. This left me stranded in the suburbs of Saint Louis with zero keys for the car that was sitting the in garage, and you can imagine what this did to my grand grocery shopping plans!

So plan B was born. First, I would entertain myself all day by catching up on reading people's blogs (I have about 10 unread posts left... not bad, huh?). I also spent waaaay too much time on Facebook, and checked my email about 10 times an hour. I wish I was joking! The other part of plan B was to still cook, but using only ingredients on hand. Boy did I miss my city condo with a grocery store around the corner and public transportation all over the place! Luckily, my mom is a great cook, so even without planning she had left me with plenty of ingredients to work with.

The first thing I made was bread, which I'll tell you about in a later post. I can already tell this post is getting long enough that someone like me would have gotten bored and given up on reading! :) I found a whole chicken in the freezer that had been pre-cut by the butcher, so I set about defrosting that to make a chicken dish that has been on my to-cook list forever. I spotted a mostly full bag of carrots in the fridge, and determined the 101 Cookbooks Carrot Soup would be a great way to round out the meal. My sister and I cooked together, which was a lot of fun. I taught her some basic knife skills, and taught her how mise en place would make her cooking go much smoother. The chicken was AMAZING, and now I can't wait to go home and make it for Joe. We did more like "Chicken with 30ish Cloves" because of the lack of car keys, but it was still great. I would love even more garlic, though, because the cloves become like butter and are so amazing spread onto bread. All in all, I think we pulled together a pretty damn good dinner using what we had around!

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

From Annie's Eats, who got it from The Way the Cookie Crumbles, who got it from Cook's Illustrated...

Ingredients

Table salt

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces

Ground black pepper

3 large heads garlic, with medium-sized cloves if possible

2 medium shallots, peeled and quartered pole to pole

3 tsp. olive oil, divided

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 bay leaf

¾ cup dry vermouth or dry white wine

¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions

Adjust an oven rack to middle position. Preheat the oven to 400° F. In a large container or bowl combine ¼ cup salt in 2 quarts of cold tap water; stir until the salt is dissolved. Submerge the chicken pieces in the brine and refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 30 minutes. Rinse the chicken pieces off and pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken pieces on both sides with freshly ground pepper.

Remove the outer paper skins of the heads of garlic. Separate the cloves but keep the peels on. In a 9-inch pie plate combine the garlic cloves and quartered shallots. Toss with 2 teaspoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover tightly with foil and roast until softened and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes, shaking the pan once to toss the contents after 15 minutes (leave the foil on to toss). After 3o minutes, remove the foil and return the pan to the oven to bake uncovered for 10 more minutes, so the cloves are fully browned and tender. Remove from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 450° F.

Using kitchen twine, tie together the fresh thyme, rosemary and the bay leaf; set aside. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil in a 12-inch skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke; swirl to coat the pan with oil. Brown the chicken pieces skin side down until deep golden, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces with tongs and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a large plate and discard the fat. Off the heat, add the vermouth or white wine, chicken broth, and herb bundle, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned bits. Set the skillet over medium heat, add the garlic-shallot mixture to the pan. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, skin side up, and nestle them on top of and between the garlic cloves.

Place the pan in the oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 160° F, about 10-12 minutes (mine took about 18 minutes). If desired, increase the heat to broil and broil to crisp the skin, about 3-5 minutes more. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the chicken to a serving dish. Reserve 10-12 cloves of garlic and place them in a mesh sieve. Using a slotted spoon, scatter the remaining garlic cloves and shallots around the chicken and discard the herbs. Push the reserved garlic cloves through the mesh sieve into a bowl; discard the skins. Add the garlic paste to the pan and bring the liquid to a simmer over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally to incorporate the garlic. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in the butter. Transfer to a sauce dish and serve with chicken pieces.

Carrot Soup

from 101 Cookbooks

(My Note: I didn't take any pictures of this soup, but I can't say enough about how great it is for an easy soup straight from the pantry. As long as you have carrots, this is all basic ingredients that you most likely have on hand. My parents only have an immersion blender for a European plug, so we ended up mashing up the carrots in the soup with a potato masher. It was chunkier than when I've made it before, but we ended up liking that texture. Each time I've made this I have added some kind of Indian seasoning, which takes it up a notch. Try 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder or garam masala.)

Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds carrots

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or clarified butter)

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 cups+ vegetable stock or water

juice of 1/2 a lemon

fine grain sea salt (as much as you need)
olive oil, toasted sesame oil, or red chile oil for a finishing drizzle

Directions
Take the tops off the carrots (if they have tops) and give them a good scrub. Cut them into 1-inch segments and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and saute for a few minutes or until the onions start to get translucent. Add the stock and carrots and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes or until the carrots are tender - longer if your carrot pieces ended up larger. But try not to overcook. Remove from heat and cool for a few minutes.

Puree with a hand blender (sometimes I leave the soup a bit chunky, other times I go completely smooth) - then stir in the lemon juice. Now salt to taste. If you used a salty veggie stock, you might just need a little salt. If you used water, you'll need quite a bit more. Keep adding a few pinches at a time until the carrot flavor really pops. If it tastes flat or dull, keep adding. Finish with a drizzle of great extra-virgin olive oil, one of the other drizzles I mention up above, or whatever twist you come up with.

Better Late Than Never... NYT No Knead Bread

2009-08-19T13:51:00.003-05:00

If you're into food and spend some time on the internet, chances are you've seen this recipe before. I know I have, but bread is something I just don't make often enough. The recipe for No Knead Bread was introduced by Mark Bittman in the New York Times food section in November of 2006. Here's the link. I had heard mention of it before, but didn't look at the recipe until sometime last week. Amazing! Only 4 ingredients (including the cornmeal for dusting), and most of the time spent on this recipe was watching TV or reading blogs while the dough just does its own thing. It does take a little bit of planning ahead, since it's a recipe that takes two days to prepare. Lucky for me, I had the right amount of time off work to ensure we would have fresh baked bread for dinner the next night. And really, if you have a normal 9-5 type job, you could still easily plan ahead and make this on a week night.

I think the fact I ate about 4 slices with our pasta that night was a sign of how I felt about this bread! It was really moist with a great crusty outside. Simple flavor, and was nice and chewy. I ate it sliced and plain, and also toasted it. It was great for dinner, and for caprese inspired sandwiches the night night, and for a couple mornings worth of toast. I will be making this again, and most likely soon! Once the weather turns fall-like this will be great with soup. As soon as I bit into this I knew where all the hype came from. If it weren't for the "Beard on Bread" recipe that is rising in my kitchen right now, I think I'd be craving more of this loaf right now!

New York Times No Knead Bread
Published: November 8, 2006
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery

Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting

¼ teaspoon instant yeast

1¼ teaspoons salt

Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Green Chili with Pork

2009-08-15T13:26:00.005-05:00

Anyone who blogs about food would probably agree with me when I say I plan some meals specifically so that I can post about them. There are probably one or two recipes per week that I pick out and plan specifically because they sound like something I'd like to share on this site. But pulling out the camera can get a little old, and I sometimes just want to eat my dinner without thinking about how I would describe the taste to someone else! Does anyone feel me on this?

This Chile Verde was a dinner I made when the blog was far from my mind. I actually made it the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight, because the recipe recommended letting the flavors marry. Also, I was going to be working until 7:00 the next evening, so I thought it would be really nice to have dinner 95% ready to go when I got home. So I got home from work, threw the dutch oven back on the stovetop, and patiently waited for the chile to reheat. Not thinking too much, I grabbed a couple bowls, ladled in full scoops, and sat down on the couch with Joe. Being an example of what's wrong with dinner in America, I had my eyes on the TV as I went to take the first bite. WOW! I was amazed with what was going on in the chile. The pork was fall apart tender, and the tomatillos had melted into sauce. The chunks of poblano peppers added the perfect amount of spice, and as the recipe predicted, the flavors really did marry nicely. I forced myself to stop eating long enough to tell Joe to grab the camera, and after a few shoddy pictures I settled back into the couch to really savor this fantastic stew. If you wanted to make this yourself, I would really recommend making it the night before, then putting it in the fridge until the next day's dinner. I think it would also be nice to freeze some of this, then have it on hand for a busy night. Once it gets cooler in Chicago I can promise you I'll be making this again!

Chile Verde
from Cooking Light (2005ish?)

1 Tbsp canola oil
2 (1 lb) pork tenderloins, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup all purpose flour
4 cups chopped onion
2 lbs small tomatillos, husks and stems removed and quartered
1 lb Anaheim or poblano chiles, cut into 1 inch pieces (I charred and peeled the skin, too)
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups water
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Heat canola oil in a stockpot over medium high heat. Sprinkle pork evenly with salt and pepper. Place flour in a large zip top plastic bag, add pork to bag, seal, and shake to coat. Add pork to pan and saute for 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove pork from the pan.

Add onion, tomatillos, chiles, and garlic to the pan. Saute about 8 minutes, or until tender. Add pork, water, and remaining ingredients to pan. (It will seem very chunky, but that's ok) Bring to a simmer, cook for 2 hours until pork is tender, stirring occasionally. If saving for the next day, allow the chile to cool to room temperature and then put in the fridge overnight.

Summer in the City: Picnic Time!

2009-08-12T11:07:00.002-05:00

Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, let me be clear: I LOVE living in Chicago! To me it is just about the perfect city... full of culture, amazing food, shopping, tall buildings, and there is always something to do! Yes, I will admit the weather is not perfect. But that is why summer is the best season here, because everyone has to get outside to enjoy the nice weather! From street festivals to picnics to movies in the park, there are tons of options for how to get your outdoor fix once the temperature warms up.

This is me and my little sister on the bridge leading to
the Art Insitiute's new Modern Wing. If you've never
been to the Art Institute, I would highly recommend
it next time you're in town!

One of my favorite places to enjoy a weekend afternoon is at Millennium Park, located in the heart of the city. While it can be quite the tourist destination, I love that this park is really a hang out spot for all types of locals as well. On the weekends you can spread a blanket on the grass at Pritzker Pavilion, and enjoy a picnic while listening to performers rehearsing on the stage. Even on a beautiful weekend it isn't too crazy crowded, so you can throw a frisbee or football to balance out all the cheese eating you might be doing.

The day of our picnic, there was a tap dancing troupe practicing.
They were fun to listen to AND to watch.

If you really want to treat yourself, you should get your picnic supplies from Fox and Obel, a fantastic gourmet market in Streeterville. The French boule with herbes had a soft interior with a chewy crust, and was the perfect vehicle for shoveling cheese into our mouths. It was huge, too, so I brought some home and used it for breadcrumbs a couple nights later. We had three types of cheese, which the friendly and knowledgeable cheese monger helped us select. We told him our picnic plan, and he picked a balanced spread which he cut into perfectly portioned pieces.
The top cheese (next to the turkey) is Taleggio, a soft cow's milk cheese from Italy. It was stinky in the way that makes cheese so tasty! The one next to it was Mona, a hard cheese made of sheep and cow milk. This cheese from Wisconsin had a texture that reminded me of asiago, and was salty and almost buttery. The third cheese, on the bottom of the picture below, was our favorite. It's Bethmale de Chevre, a washed rind goat's milk cheese from France. It was creamy and rich, and had a hint of goat cheese flavor without being as zingy and overpowering as some chevre can be. All three cheeses were quite enjoyable!

This is our idea of the great outdoors. Can you tell how happy it makes Joe?

Another trick for a kick butt picnic... wine in juice box form!
These cute little sangria boxes came from Target, and I would highly
recommend picking some up before your next visit to the park!

If you want to be an authentic Chicago 20-something, after the park you should head to a street festival. Listen to cover bands and people watch while drinking a ridiculous yet awesome pina colada in a pineapple. Also, the chicken gyro in his other hand was quite delish... I ate mine before I could document it!

Dinner and a Movie: Julie & Julia

2009-08-09T11:11:00.003-05:00

As you all know by now, I like cooking. A LOT. So when I heard about the movie Julie & Julia, I started counting down until it came out. I read both books a while back, and fell in love with Julia Childs after reading My Life in France. She was such a character, and I was fascinated by her life story. I also read Julie & Julia, about Julie Powell's blogging project. She cooked all the recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year, and blogged about the whole adventure. I liked the idea of the book, but thought Julie was kind of a jerk. Honestly, I didn't finish the book, but I still thought the project was a fun concept.

The movie Julie & Julia came out last Friday. I wasn't sure what to expect, because there had been tons of publicity before the movie and that is not always a sign of a good film. But I was excited, and insisted on seeing the movie on opening night. Aside from the fact we had to sit in the front row (full house!), I adored the move! The actresses did a great job with their characters, and I thought they did a great job combining the two stories in a way that really flowed. The movie made me want to cook, blog, eat, and live in Paris... so really it was all my usual emotions captured on film! I would recommend gathering your foodie friends to check out this movie, and have a French food feast planned for before the movie. But plan your cooking times carefully, to avoid arriving late and sitting in the front row :)

I made a broccoli and mushroom quiche for our dinner, with potato gratin and roasted green beans. Not the most summery meal, but it was a cool and rainy day in Chicago. I wanted to make the ratatouille from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but we'd had a busier day than I expected and I decided roasting green beans would be much more manageable. The quiche recipe was inspired by a recipe in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Here's my version.

Savory Herb Pie Crust

5 ounces all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp herbes de Provence
8 Tbsp cold butter (1 stick), cut into about 8 pieces
3 Tbsp ice water, plus more if necessary

Combine flour, salt, and herbes de Provence in a food processor and pulse once or twice. Add the butter and turn the machine on; process until the butter and flour are blended and the mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.

Add the three tablespoons of ice water, and process again until the dough comes together. Add more water if it's too dry, or a little flour if it's overly sticky. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form into a disc, and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to one day. Proceed with quiche recipe below.

Mushroom and Broccoli Quiche

1 recipe Savory Pie Crust
4 Tbsp butter or olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onions
2 cups fresh broccoli florets, in bite sized pieces
2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
1/2 tsp dried thyme
6 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups cream, half and half, or milk, heated until just warm

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the chilled pie crust and place into a pie dish. Bake the crust for about 12 minutes, until it begins to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool while you prepare the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Boil or steam the broccoli for about two minutes, so it's tender crisp and not fully cooked.

Put the butter or oil into a large skillet that has been warmed over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute for 3 or 4 minutes, until starting to soften. Add the sliced mushrooms and saute for an additional 5 minutes, until mushrooms and onions are softened. Add the thyme and broccoli, stir, and take off the heat.

Combine the eggs and creme in a bowl, then add to the mushroom mixture. Place the partially cooked shell onto a baking sheet, and pour in the egg mixture. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the quiche is almost firm and lightly brown on top. It should still jiggle a little in the middle. Cool on a wire rack, and serve either warm or at room temperature.

I baked my quiche in the Gien tart dish I got for my birthday this year. Apparently it's a popular brand of earthenware in France, so I thought it was appropriate for this dinner!

Testing Dried Mushrooms

2009-08-09T10:07:00.006-05:00

After testing Palm Leaf Plates from Marxfood.com a while back, I emailed them to thank them for the opportunity to try a new product. I really liked the plates as an earth friendly and stylish alternative to paper plates. Justin emailed me back saying he was glad I liked them, and he asked if I would like to test out any other new products that they're offering. He offered to send me some new dried chilies that they had just started carrying, but I admitted that I am a wimp when it comes to spicy food. Then he offered one of my favorite things to cook with... mushrooms! Not just any mushrooms, either. Dried mushrooms in a ton of varieties.

I have had mixed experiences with dried mushrooms, so I was eager to see what the Marx ones were like. We've used dried shiitake mushrooms from the Asian grocery stores before, and I haven't been too impressed with their texture and flavor when reconstituted. The Marx dried mushrooms seemed to be better quality when they arrived, and they were different types that would be fun to compare.

After soaking them in hot water, the mushrooms looked and tasted close to fresh.

I went for the porcini ones first, because they're used frequently in Italian food, and it's a cuisine I'm comfortable playing around with. I had brought some basic marinara sauce home from work, and I thought mushrooms would be a great way to enhance this basic sauce. I put the porcini and lobster mushrooms into a bowl, covered them with boiling water, and let the mushrooms soak while I started on the rest of dinner. I had a couple links of Trader Joe's chicken Italian sausage in my fridge, so I took it out of the casings and browned the sausage in a saucepan. When the mushrooms were soft, I removed them from the water. Save that water, though, because it has tons of yummy mushroom flavor at this point! I chopped the mushrooms and added them in with the sausage, then poured in the marinara sauce and about a cup of the water from the mushrooms. I simmered this sauce for 20 or 30 minutes, until most of the water was gone. Mixing this sauce with whole wheat pasta made for a quick and healthy dinner, and the dried mushrooms helped elevate this basic sauce to another level.

Sun Dried Tomato Paste is another trick to add extra flavor to a basic tomato sauce.

The finished pasta, with a fresh salad to round out the meal.

I was really pleased with the texture and flavor of the porcini and lobster mushrooms-- easy to bite, not watery tasting, almost like the real thing. I'm not going to lie... I have a feeling fresh lobster or porcini mushrooms would be better, but these are really not bad and soooo convenient! I like that you could have your favorite dried mushrooms on hand in your pantry, ready to use at any point. I'm going to keep testing the different varieties they sent me, and I plan to order a bag of my favorite type to keep in my kitchen. I've also tried the Oyster and Maitake in a soy sesame stir fry with tempeh, and they were a nice addition. So far porcini is my top pick, but I will keep you posted if I fall in love with any of the others I still get to try!

I mixed Oyster and Maitake mushrooms into this stir fry, with broccoli, snap peas, and marinated tempeh.

The finished stir fry... yum!

Check out http://www.blogger.com/www.marxfood.com/mushrooms to learn more about what they have to offer, and let me know if you try any that you really like!

Farmer's Market Find: Stuffed Round Zucchinis

2009-08-02T20:05:00.006-05:00

There is a cute farmers market in my neighborhood every Tuesday during the summer, and my work schedule has been lax enough to allow me a couple visits in recent weeks. It's getting to be the prime of summer, and the produce options have been abundant! There are beautiful tomatoes in a rainbow of colors, tons of summer squash, and multiple varieties of stone fruit. One thing I always look out for at the farmers market is round zucchini, because they're hard to find at the regular grocery store. They are ideal to stuff with all kinds of filling, and when I saw some this past week I picked up three to fill and bake.

I'm still on a mostly vegetarian kick, so I immediately gravitated towards a grain with some kind of beans for protein. I had regular and red quinoa which I cooked on the stovetop, and in the oven I roasted some chickpeas that I'd tossed with olive oil, herbes de provence, and salt and pepper. I sauteed quartered crimini mushrooms with a little garlic, then added some sun dried tomatoes that I'd chopped up. I mixed these components together, added some dried thyme and seasoned with salt and pepper. I knew it was a good sign when I decided I could eat this quiona mix on its own!

For the zucchini I started by slicing off the tops. I cut them in half lengthwise, and used a spoon to scoop out the seeds on the inside. Once the zucchini shells were ready, I microwaved them for about 3 minutes, to soften them up. I should have seasoned them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper at this point, but didn't think of that until we were already eating. Hindsight is 20/20, right? When the zucchini were pre-cooked I filled them with the quinoa mixture, and baked them in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Pita bread and hummus rounded out this farmers market treat. Can you think of all the great combinations you could stuff inside a round zucchini? Keep an eye out for them at a farmer's market near you!

Look at this mix of cherry tomatoes I found!

I added the tomatoes to a pasta salad I'd made the night before.

Tuscan Tuna & White Bean Sandwiches

2009-07-29T15:20:00.003-05:00

There are many things I crave around dinner time, but sandwiches are not one of those things. Don't get me wrong, I like a good sandwich, I just tend to classify them in the lunch category. But I saw this recipe on the Love and Olive Oil blog, and I just had to try them out. I adore cannellini beans in any form, and had recently bought some tuna packed in oil (from Trader Joe's, in case you want some too!). These sandwiches were perfect on a hot night when you don't want to heat up your house. I did Grilled Potato Salad, too, which only had one step of stove top cooking. This was a quick, satisfying, cool meal for a hot summer night.

Tuscan Tuna and Bean Sandwiches
Recipe from epicurious

Ingredients
For beans
1 (14- to 15-oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For tuna salad
2 (6-oz) cans Italian tuna in oil, drained
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

For sandwiches
8 (1/3-inch-thick) slices rustic Italian bread (from a round crusty loaf) or 4 (4-inch-long) oval panini rolls
1 cup loosely packed trimmed watercress sprigs

Directions
Coarsely mash beans with a fork in a bowl, then stir in garlic, lemon juice, oil, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Flake tuna in a bowl with a fork, then stir in basil, olives, celery, onion, oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until combined.

Spoon one fourth of bean mixture on 1 slice of bread, then top with one fourth of tuna salad, some watercress, and a slice of bread. Make 3 more sandwiches in same manner.