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Archive for the ‘recipe’ Category
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
I am sick of all the energy-protein-insta-food bars being sweet! Clif Bar used to have a curry-cashew Mojo bar and they stopped making it. I was sad. I decided to try to make something like it myself.
Preheat oven to 350°.
All the measurements are by weight:
4oz barley flakes
4oz wheat flakes
Toast on a 1/2 cookie sheet for 15 minutes.
While toasting mix together:
4oz pecans, chopped
4oz curried cashews, chopped (my natural food store had these in bulk, they’re awesome!)
3oz pistachios, chopped
Over medium heat, melt together:
7 3/4 oz brown rice syrup
2oz butter
1t salt
When things are toasted and melted, mix everything together and press it all into a 9×9 inch baking dish.
Lower the oven temp to 300° and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool completely and cut into bars.
So good! I also bought pretzels to go in the bars but forgot about them. If you can’t get curried cashews, you could just put regular cashews and add curry spices to the syrup-butter mixture.
Posted in amateur, recipe | No Comments »
Monday, April 9th, 2012
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a bit of a braising kick. Maybe it’s because my Le Creuset French Oven doesn’t fit in my cabinet so it’s always staring at me from the stove top, beckoning to be filled with something yummy.
I didn’t have hours to let something braise so I cut up a chicken. I dug through the fridge and found enough to make a meal.
Cut the chicken into 8 pieces. I left the bones in the breast pieces. Brown chicken in a large, heavy, (oven-ready and lidded pot, like a dutch or french oven). Remove and set aside.
Add 1/2 c. mirin and and onion sliced into 1/2 moons, scrape up brown bits from the chicken to get all the flavor.
Let onion soften.
Add:
2 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. mirin
1 c peanut butter
3 chopped garlic cloves
2T honey
Bring to boil.
Add chicken back to pot.
Cover and bake at 325 for 45 min.
Remove chicken and reduce the sauce by about half. Stir in arugula off the heat, the sauce is plenty hot to wilt the greens. Stir in juice of 2 limes.
Serve over rice.
I was in a huge hurry plating and eating this though so no pictures this time! I’ll have to photograph it next time I make it which I’ll have to do pretty soon since my son LOVED the peanut sauce.
Posted in amateur, arugula, chicken, dinner, flavor, food, recipe, self pleasuring | No Comments »
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
I made this soup a couple of month ago for a Soup Night gathering at my house. I had vegetarian friends coming so I simmered veggies in water all morning to make really flavorful stock for the soup. I had some dried cranberry beans from the farmers market in the pantry just screaming to be used. I had also seen a cranberry bean soup recipe in Eric Ripert’s A Return to Cooking that ultimately inspired this one.
Today I’m taking soup to friends who just had a baby last week and they’re vegan. I thought this would be good to take them since it’s packed with protein and it’s freezable. But when I came onto the site to find my recipe, I hadn’t ever posted it! Hopefully I got all the ingredients right and this will be just as tasty as last time.
—–
Soak 3 cups dried cranberry beans for at least 4 hours.
Sweat until soft:
1 onion, diced
1 fennel bulb, diced
2 medium leeks, chopped
Add:
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Cook on medium-low with the lid on for about 15 minutes (don’t let it brown, just soften)
Add 3 cups cranberry beans and 6 cups stock. I have used homemade veggie stock both times I’ve made this since it’s been for vegetarian or vegan friends but chicken stock would work just as well.
Bring it to a simmer and let it simmer for at least 2 hours or until the beans are soft.
Puree it all up into a lovely, creamy (without cream) soup.
Finish with a dollop of parsley-lemon puree and a drizzle of lemon oil and some crusty french bread.
Posted in amateur, flavor, food, leeks, organic, recipe, recipes, self pleasuring | No Comments »
Saturday, March 10th, 2012
My CSA farm this year is Fogline Farm. We went there last year for an Outstanding in the Field dinner, had the honor of sitting with the farmers at dinner and decided we’d join their CSA next. I’ve been hopping from farm to farm each year, trying out all the variety in our county. One of the beautiful things about Fogline is they also raise Berkshire pigs. The CSA hasn’t started up yet but they are at the farmers’ market with beautiful cuts of pork. This week I picked up a nice 2lb-ish pork shoulder and tried cooking that for the first time. Man, did it work out. It was so amazingly good….and easy.
The only thing you need is time. This cooked for about 3 1/2 hours.
First, generously salt and brown the pork, on both sides over high heat, in a heavy bottomed pan that has a cover and can go in the oven.
Remove the pork and add a sliced onion, a good amount of herbs…I, of course, used marjoram and thyme…6 roughly chopped cloves of garlic. Stir that around a bit but it doesn’t need to soften or anything.
Put the pork back in atop the onion mixture.
Add 2 cups red wine (something good enough to drink, this will be your sauce too) and 2 cups chicken stock.
Cover and put in a 350° oven for 3 hours or more. I checked the meat at 2 1/2 hours, added a touch more wine and stock and turned the meat over. Then let it roast another hour.
After the pork is to a fall-apart tender stage, take it out of the pan and cover it with foil.
Carefully strain the liquid out of the pan into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce it to almost half. Stir in fresh parsley.
I put this over israeli couscous…I wanted orzo but didn’t have any…and I do think it’s disturbing to serve pork over israeli couscous–so sorry. It’s what I had!
Anyway, choose your grain or starch you prefer. Spoon some of the wine reduction over it. Shred the pork and put that on top.
Serve with either the wine you braised the pork in or another good, hearty, rustic wine.
- 2 – 2 1/2 lb pork shoulder
- 1 onion, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- handful of herbs
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 cups chicken stock
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 3 hour(s) 30 minute(s)
Tags: pork
Posted in amateur, dinner, farmers market, flavor, food, recipe, self pleasuring, wine | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
After writing this up, I discovered I already put this recipe up but I’d used fish! Well, I changed it very slightly but I guess that means I really like this one!
4 rehydrated ancho chiles (save the liquid)
1 small yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
2 T white wine vinegar
salt
Blend everything in the list together in the blender along with some of the rehydrating liquid to thin it out and make it into a saucy marinade.
Cut chicken breasts up into 1-2″ pieces and put them into the ancho paste. Leave it in there as long as you have. I had about an hour.
In the meantime, make some rice, heat up some black beans, make some guacamole (avocado, grated onion, lots of lemon juice, a dash of cayenne and salt).
Cook the chicken in a pan over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through.
To serve, warm some tortillas, and put the chicken, guacamole, some salsa and a bit of cilantro in them. Beans and rice on the side.
Don’t forget the margaritas!!
Posted in amateur, ancho chiles, avocado, dinner, food, guacamole, mexican meal, recipe, recipes, self pleasuring | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
Japan met Italy in my kitchen tonight. I got black cod from my CSS (Community Supported Seafood), my weekly seafood CSA. I was in the mood for something japanese-y.
I found this recipe for miso-glazed cod. I used the marinade (1/4 c mirin, 1/4 c sake, 3t sugar, 4T miso) and let my cod marinate in that for about an hour.
In the meantime I dug around my kitchen to see what I should serve with the fish. I decided to make some sushi rice and make arancini out of that. Once the rice was cooked, I added seasoned rice vinegar, a little soy sauce, some minced green onion and some parsley…mostly because I have a cubic yard of parsley from my dad’s garden right now. I shaped the rice into balls and fried them in 300° grapeseed oil until they were brown.
I also have a 1/2 cubic yard of arugula from my dad so I wilted that in a pan with some garlic and olive oil.
I grilled the cod on the barbecue for about 5 minutes on one side then about 2 minutes on the other.
To serve I put the arugula, then three of the rice balls, balanced the cod on top and put some grated daikon on top of the fish.
For a complete experiment, I’d say this was a huge win.
Tags: arancini, cod, daikon, fish
Posted in amateur, arugula, dinner, flavor, food, italian, recipe, recipes, rice | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
When we were at the Cayman Cookout we had a really yummy Green Curry Ceviche made by Laurent Gras. It was light and refreshing, a little spicy, tangy and just perfect.
Today I got Ono (aka Wahoo) from my Seafood CSA and immediately wanted to make something that would take me back to the Caymans. This dish was the first to my mind. I didn’t really remember what went into it though so, as usual, I improvised and it really worked!
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 small shallot
- 1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 jalapeno or similar chile
- 2 t cumin
- 1 t coriander
- handful of cilantro
- salt
- 1 lb wahoo/ono
- 1 avocado
- 1 japanese cucumber
- Blend everything (except fish, avocado and cucumber) in a blender until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
- Dice fish. Dice avocado. Dice cucumber.
- Put the diced everything in a bowl and pour the coconut green curry liquid over the fish mixture. Finish with a good salt. Since I was being nostalgic, I used the Cayman Island salt we brought home!
- Enjoy!
Preparation time: 10 minutes
I served this with some thinly sliced, toasted pugliese and sake. It wasn’t Laurent Gras’ but I will sure make this again!
Posted in amateur, avocado, cumin, dinner, flavor, food, recipe, recipes, sake, salt, self pleasuring | No Comments »
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
If she weighed the same as a duck… she’s made of wood. And therefore… A witch!
My first duck attempt was, well, it was edible. I overcooked it a bit. I tried whole roasted duck. I just went for it. It could have been witch…nearly wood…ok, not that bad. But not what I was going for. My son liked it, my husband and I ate it. I was ready to try that again.
For some reason, I followed an online recipe for my first attempt rather than going with my inspiration for this whole project, Eric Ripert. I know, I seem to be obsessed at this point, but he really cooks how I want to cook and the recipes work!
So, I didn’t make the sauce or any of the accompaniments. I just wanted the duck preparation from him. It was like making a steak: pan sear then finish in the oven. So simple. So perfectly cooked.
I cut the wings and legs off the duck and put them in the freezer for another time. I cut the breast off, leaving the bones attached. I seared the breasts skin-side down in a hot pan, on high heat, for about 6 minutes. I drained off the fat, turned the breasts over and put it in a 400° oven for 9 minutes. Took it out, let it rest for 8 minutes. Carved it off the bone, sliced it and served it over israeli couscous with pine nuts and parsley.
Now, full disclosure here…I have a cold. I can’t taste a damn thing. This is killing me. However, texture is everything right now. The texture of the duck was *PERFECT*. I will do this again when my sense of taste and smell returns (god, I hope that’s soon!). I do need to figure out how to render out the fat though, there was too much between the perfectly crispy skin and the meat. This duck challenge is fun.
Posted in eric ripert, recipe, recipes, self pleasuring | No Comments »
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Fresh off the heels of the Cayman Cookout, I went to the Farmer’s Market completely inspired. I picked up various ingredients: lemongrass, cilantro, shallots, salmon. I had no plan though until I got home and started flipping through Eric Ripert’s A Return to Cooking. I didn’t follow any of the recipes but saw one that was for shrimp with cilantro and another that was a chicken pot a feu with ginger-cilantro vermicelli. That got my brain movin’.
I simmered lemongrass, ginger, shallots, garlic, lime rind and chicken (I didn’t have any chicken stock made but I had a couple of drumsticks in the freezer so I tossed those in). I let that simmer for about an hour. It would have been better if I had much longer but I didn’t and it was quite flavorful even after such a short time.
Next I skinned the salmon and put it in a dish with garlic, cilantro, a little oil and a splash of white wine. I turned it a few times while I was working on everything else.
 
I didn’t have any vermicelli but I did have spaghetti so I broke a handful of that into thirds and boiled it up. When it was done I tossed it with cilantro, shallots, lime juice and a little olive oil.
I removed the salmon from the marinade and dried it off. I wanted the flavor but since I was going to be searing it on high heat, I need to get the garlic off as much as I could so it wouldn’t burn. I heated canola oil until it was almost smoking and added the fish. I let it cook on the first side for 3-4 minutes, until it had a nice brown crust starting to happen. Then I flipped it an only kept it about another minute on that side.
To serve I put a small pile of sugar snap peas, cut into 1/2 inch pieces. I placed the pasta on top of that. Scattered some sunflower sprouts from our wonderful microgreen and mushroom folks at the farmer’s market around the pasta. Topped that with the salmon.
I strained the simmering broth and ladeled that over the pasta. To add some crunch I added a few more sprouts to the top, not in the broth. Then a generous squeeze of lime juice over the whole thing.
Posted in amateur, dinner, eric ripert, pasta, recipe, recipes, Salmon, santa cruz, self pleasuring | No Comments »
Friday, January 6th, 2012
This dish was so easy and so rich and warming. I do think I was photo’d out from Christmas though because I didn’t take a single picture of this meal.
1/2 lb italian sausage
1 chicken cut into 8 pieces
1/2 a yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 1/2 cups white wine
8 oz orzo
I used my oval dutch oven for this…you need something big enough to nestle the chicken down in in one layer and it’s all done on the stovetop.
First, brown your sausage. Let it leave the fatty, cruchy bits in the pan. Remove the sausage w/ a slotted spoon. Then brown your chicken in the sausage fat. See, it’s good already! Once the chicken is browned, remove that too.
Add your onions, celery and fennel and leave it the heck alone for as long as you can stand it on medium heat. Don’t let them burn, per se, but get all that flavor toasting in the pan. Once the bottom of the pan is so browned you can’t stand it, add just enough wine to deglaze (abot 1/2 a cup). Let that simmer just a few minutes.
Nestle your chicken pieces down into the fennel-onion-celery goodness, add your sausage back in, add your garlic then pour the rest of the white wine into the pan. Depending on the size of the chicken and the pot, you may need more than 2 cups. You want it to come about 1/2 way up the chicken pieces. Cover and let it simmer on low or medium-low for about 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Serve over orzo tossed with some butter and olive oil.
It’s warming, filling, delicious and perfect for a cold night.
Tags: fennel, sausage
Posted in amateur, chicken, dinner, food, recipe, self pleasuring, wine | No Comments »
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