Cacio e Pepe

While I was less than thrilled with Rome when we visited last year (too many people, too much hype), I did come back with a new pasta love, Cacio e Pepe. I hadn't had it before in the states. When reading, however, about what to eat when in Rome (the answer is that everything is geared towards tourists and particularly amazing), I did take note that Anthony Bourdain said to just eat Cacio e Pepe anywhere in Rome. So, I took his advice and was very pleased that I did as it was delicious. I was sad to not see it on many restaurant menus here in the states, though, so I was happy when I found this recipe by Mark Bittman on the New York Times' website. The comments I think are quite helpful, though. Here's how I made it for a single portion for myself. 

Cacio e Pepe  

Ingredients

1/3 cup pasta 

~1 cup of grated cheese (see below), equal parts pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Regiano (important that this is real brick cheese to start and not pre-grated cheese that is commonly available)

pepper, freshly ground


Directions 

1. In a large pot, fill about half way with water and salt well (1-2Tbsps). When boiling add the pasta. 

2. Meanwhile, in a food processor (or you can do this by hand with a grater), grate the cheese until quite fine. 

3. Begin to watch the pasta closely and when it is about 1-2 minutes from being done (you'll have to check it carefully), transfer the pasta only to another saucier type of pan. Then, add ~1 cup of the pasta water to the new pan. Turn the heat on medium-low. Slowly, sprinkle in the cheese, turning the pasta over until it forms a nice sauce that clings to the pasta. Once you have enough cheese to do this, stop and don't add too much cheese or it gets too thick and sticky. 

4. Add freshly ground pepper to taste and so it has the nice look with all the black specks evenly dispersed. 

5. Enjoy! 

Seriously Good and Seriously Easy Tomato Sauce

For a long time, I made my own tomato sauce. It was never anything like what the little Italian ladies in my hometown ever made, but it was better than the sugared-up stuff that comes out of a jar from the store. My go-to recipe generally consisted of heating onions and garlic in olive oil, adding quality crushed canned tomatoes plus some seasonings, heating until warm, and then dumping it on pasta.

I was about half-way there, but there were some errors in my ways. First off, I've found that while canned tomatoes are okay to use - especially Italian ones - they have to be canned whole tomatoes, not crushed. Homemade canned tomatoes are the best alternative to ones in the stores, while fresh in-season tomatoes set the gold standard for making great sauce.



Additionally, I hadn't yet found this genius recipe that adds butter to tomato sauce. Olive oil, sure. But butter? I was skeptical until I tried it, but I found it to be supremely delicious.

This will probably be my go-to sauce for awhile - at least until I have to cook for my vegan hubby again. I'm excited to try it as a base with other veggies for a fabulous pasta primavera!


Seriously Good Tomato Sauce
My version of Marcella Hazan's genius recipe - the most popular tomato sauce recipe on the internet

1 1/2 cups homemade canned tomatoes
3 large in season tomatoes (about 1 pound)
(or you could use entirely canned whole Italian tomatoes, about 2 cups worth, instead of homemade or fresh tomatoes)
1 yellow onion, halved
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 + teaspoon salt

1.) Cut the stems off of the fresh tomatoes. Fill a medium saucepan 2/3 with water and bring to a boil. Plunge the fresh tomatoes into the water and allow them to boil for about 5 minutes or until their skins start to separate from their flesh. Strain the tomatoes then and rinse with cool water. Remove and discard the skins.
2.) In another (or the same now) medium saucepan, place the onion, butter, canned tomatoes, and tomatoes with their recently removed skins. Allow it to come to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes, breaking up the fresh tomatoes every once in awhile with some stirring and mashing with the back of the spoon. Cook down until the sauce is your desired consistency. Remove the onion before enjoying.

You-Can't-Believe-It's-This-Good-Kale-Salad

I hate kale. Or, at least I thought I did until my husband made me this salad. I also thought that I'd never be able to eat salad without salad dressing, but his simplified tossing with lemon juice and olive oil really allows you to fall in love with all the veggie flavors. The key to this salad is having homegrown - or close to it - veggies. Marginal produce is going to result in a marginal salad.

Hubby's Kale Salad

4-6 leaves of kale, cut into strips.
1 artisan carrot, cut into narrow rounds
10-12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/5 of a red onion, cut into fine/thin smiles
1/4 cup walnuts
juice of 1/2 a lemon (fresh!)
3-4 Tablespoons quality olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fine salt (more if you're a salt lover)
pinch of finishing salt to garnish

1.) Mix all together in a big bowl!

Butternut Squash Risotto

It has been an absolutely beautiful Autumn in Minnesota! The leaves are gorgeous, turning yellow, orange, and red. I love the smell of their decay as I walk over them with a crunch. The weather, though, seems anything but Fall: 70s/80s with bright blue skies lacking any clouds. It's more like summertime. So, I'm torn between wanting to make strawberry yogurt popsicles (a new discovery that I just can't live without) and more fall harvest foods. Since the hubs was a prolific gardener this summer - which if you stop over at his place you will see as he has harvest food and gardening things everywhere - I decided to use some of his "squmpkins" (i.e. butternut squash that is shaped like a pumpkin) to make this delicious risotto. Since the hubs is vegan, I made it vegan, but I'm sure that it will taste even better with butter, chicken broth, and a nice handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.


Butternut Squash Risotto
My own rendition

1 large butternut squash
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon rosemary
1/3 cup white wine of your liking
2 cups arborio rice
6 cups of vegetable or chicken broth
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (omit if making vegan)
salt and pepper to taste

1.) Bake the butternut squash: Turn the oven to 450 degrees. Slice the butternut squash down the length of it and pry open. Scoop out the 'guts' and seeds and discard them. Place the squash on a baking sheet, cut side down, and put into the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the skins on the outside are slightly browned and a fork can be easily inserted into the squash through the skins. Once cooked, remove from oven and set aside to cool.
2.) In a saucepan, pour the vegetable or chicken broth and bring it to a simmer. Maintain the simmer while cooking the risotto.
3.) In a large pot, heat the oil and onions over medium heat. Cook the onions until they soften some and then add in the garlic and rosemary. Heat the garlic until it's fragrant. Then, add in the risotto rice, stirring for a minute or two as it absorbs the excess oil. Then, add in the white wine, stirring constantly as the wine sizzles. Once the rice has absorbed all of the wine, add in a ladle or two of the broth, stirring intermittently. Once the rice seems to have absorbed almost all of the liquid, add another ladle or two full of broth to the rice, again stirring. Keep repeating this until all the broth has been added or the rice is soft and creamy but not mushy.
4.) Once the rice is of the right consistency, scoop out pieces of the butternut squash flesh (leaving the skins) and add it to the rice. You can also add the Parmesan cheese at this time if you're using that. Stir gently to break up the pieces of the squash and incorporate them into the risotto.
5.) Garnish with freshly cracked pepper and fresh cheese.

Quinoa Tostadas

This quick and easy recipe was inspired by a fabulous lunch at the Chicago Diner, an award winning vegetarian restaurant that hubby, CD, and I have visited twice now during our visits to Chicago. It's a fun atmosphere with many vegan friendly foods. I'd definitely recommend it if you heart vegetarian fare, but be prepared for a wait if you hit peak dinner times.

Quinoa Toastadas
My own interpretation of the Chicago Diner's meal

1 package corn tostadas or if you want make it more of a fajita salad, use broken-up tortilla chips
1 cup of vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you're not going vegan/vegetarian)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4-1/2 of a lime, freshly squeezed
3/4 cup quinoa
1 tomato, chopped/diced
1/8 of an onion, minutely chopped
guacamole (see recipe below)
sour cream (if you're not going vegan)

1.) In a medium sized saucepan, combine the broth, cumin, granulated garlic, lime juice, and quinoa. Bring to a boil and then let simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes until the quinoa is cooked through and its germ has poked out.
2.) Assemble guacamole (see below)
3.) Chop the veggies.
4.) Assemble the toastada: corn toastada followed by quinoa, tomato, onion, guacamole, sour cream, and any other toppings that you'd like.
5.) Enjoy!!


My favorite guacamole

1 avocado
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped
1/8-1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 of a lemon, juiced

1.) Split the avocado in half, remove the pit, and peel away the skin. Place the creamy flesh in a medium bowl. Add the garlic, salt, and lemon juice. With a fork, smush the avocado, garlic, salt, and lemon juice together until creamy. Use/serve immediately.

Zucchini Fritters

Hello blogging world! I know that I've been terrible about putting up my recipes recently. Life's been pretty hectic, but that's no real excuse. Plus, it's not like I haven't been trying new recipes and tweaking them to my liking. I should be sharing all of my creations with you! For all of you prolific gardeners out there, I have a great recipe here to help you use up all that zucchini! Keep reading!

My hubby came to visit me in New York this weekend - where I'm living for the year during my internship - and brought me two huge (!) zucchini from his (our) garden. (I hesitantly put our as a descriptor for the garden as I generally have zero interest in gardening, despise weeding, and would much rather just spend the day at the farmers' market than manually harvesting anything. However, I did let those little plants sit in my guest bedroom as they grew from seeds in pots, and I did do a teeny bit of weeding before I left for New York. So, I feel that I am almost justified in qualifying the garden as ours, despite the fact that my husband does 99% of the work.)

While I have a great recipe for zucchini bread and definitely enjoy zucchini curry, I just wanted o try something different with these zucchinis. I saw a picture for delicious looking zucchini fritters, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to give them a try. The result was definitely worth it: Crispy outsides with warm more meaty insides filled with veggie goodness! The only negative to this recipe is that you have to let the grated zucchini drain in a colander for an hour for the vegetable's natural water to drain so that the batter is not overly moist/watery. Otherwise, they are very easy to make - even if you don't have a food processor. I thought grating a whole HUGE zucchini would take forever, but in fact, they're quite easy to grate, which was a relief to both my busy schedule and my arms. The results are delicious, especially when paired with your favorite toppings, which for me was surprisingly a mango-tomato salsa. Delish! This recipe makes enough to feed 2-4.



Zucchini Fritters
My version of a recipe found in Organic Kitchen: Making the most of fresh and seasonal produce

1 huge zucchini or a few smaller ones (1.5-2 lbs), grated
2 scant cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 eggs, separated
1/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
salt

canola oil for frying

1.) Grate the zucchini either in a food processor or by hand with a grater. Place the zucchini in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon of salt. Allow the zucchini to sit in the colander for an hour and drain away their water. Mix/press on the grated zucchini to help the water out if you'd like. After an hour, pat the zucchini dry to the best of your ability with paper towels and set it aside.
2.) Put the flour in a separate clear large bowl and make a well in the center of the flour. In the well place the egg yolks, olive oil, water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Start to mix the egg yolks, water, and olive oil together, slowly incorporating the flour into the mix until a softish ball has formed of 'dough'. Don't overmix.
3.) Add the zucchini and mix all together. You should have a fairly thick batter.
4.) In cast iron pan or another type of flat bottomed pan with steep sides, place 1/2 inch of canola oil over medium-high heat. You want the oil to heat up so you can fry the zucchini fritters, but not so hot that it's smoking. Smoking oil is baaaad. So, don't ever let the oil get that hot. You can know the oil is at approximately the right temperature when a.) it's not smoking, b.) when you put a little water on your fingers and flick the water off your fingers into the oil, that the oil sizzles, c.) the oil doesn't sound crazy mad sizzling when you flick in the water (if this happens, turn the heat down).
5.) Once the oil is at the right temperature, take 3/4 cup of the batter and pour it into the oil. Pat the batter into a fritter shape with a fork. Fry it up for about 2-3 minutes, until it's golden brown but not burnt.
6.) Remove the cooked fritter from the pan with a slotted spoon/spatula and place it on a plate covered in papertowels (which will soak up any extra oil). Continue frying the rest of the batter as described starting in step 5.
7.) Enjoy the fritters with a topping of your choice!

Carmelized Onion Dal and Fabulous and Delicious Indian Rice Recipes

I've been experimenting with many new savory dishes lately, although I've been very bad about posting them onto the blog. I think part of it stems from the fact that my photography skills are not-so-hot, and I'm much more invested in the food than in the photography. But, I also know that when I look at other people's blogs, the photographs are what I adore. So, I will try harder. I've often been tempted to just post the recipes without any pictures, but really, who wants that?

Otherwise, Spring has sprung here in Minnesota, and the hubby and I are excited to see all the fresh produce at the farmers' marker. This week we picked up some wild onions, wild watercress, and fresh chocolate mint, which I popped into my french press this morning for some lovely mint coffee.

We're still figuring out how exactly we want to use the watercress and wild onions. So, in the meantime, we decided to make dal for a late lunch / early dinner. Dal, a red lentil dish, is one of our favorite Indian meals. It's a great because it's not only easy to make, but is also super healthy while still full of flavor. You can eat as much of it as you want practically guilt free!

This is my own personal recipe for dal. I love the mixture of savory spices and caramelized onions that give the dish such a wonderful flavor. I keep it light on the hot spices, though. You of course, can add more or less spice to your liking. I hope that you enjoy!


Caramelized Onion Dal
Created by me!

1.5 cups red lentils
3 cups vegetable broth
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 small onion sliced into smiles
1 large carrot cut in half lengthwise and then cut into chunks
3 Tablespoons red wine
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon red hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground corriander
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon garam malasa
2 Tablespoons lime juice (or lemon juice)
1/2 cup frozen peas (optional)

1. In a medium stock pot, cook the lentils in the vegetable broth over medium heat until they are mushy. About 20 minutes.
2. In a larger pot or dutch oven place the oil, onions, and carrots. Cook slowly over low/medium heat until the onions start to brown/caramelize.
3. Add the garlic and red hot chile flakes and allow them to cook until the garlic becomes fragrant. Then, add the red wine to deglaze the pan. Add the spices and stir for a minute or so until they become fragrant but aren't burning.
4. Add the mushy lentils and lime juice to the onion mixture and stir. Add the peas and stir.
5. Once the peas are no longer frozen, the dal is ready to eat. If it looks like it's drying out a bit, just add 1/8 cup of water or so and stir.
6. Serve with my fabulous and delicious Indian rice. (Recipe below).


Fabulous and Delicious Indian Rice

1.5 cups basmati or jasmine rice
3 cups vegetable broth
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Place all ingredients in a medium stock pot and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low, and allow to cook for 20 minutes. Once done, fluff the rice with a fork.

Mandy's Mexican Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are my ultimate comfort cookies. I love their texture: They lie in the crossroads between soft, crispy, and gooey. I love their flavor: The cinnamon and black pepper add complexity while making my taste buds buzz with delight. I love the memories they give me.

Whenever I make these cookies, I'm immediately taken back to my senior year of college. I was living in the attic of a run-down house with my best friend and our apartment-mate, Mandy. (And a huge cat, Charlie). Mandy had recently returned from a semester abroad in Chile, where she had tasted a dessert with chocolate and black pepper. We were always cooking and baking in our micro-kitchen, and one evening Mandy decided to re-invent the flavors she had tasted. What resulted from her experiment were these amazing cookies. We ate them immediately and made a batch almost weekly. They're lovely warm when the temperature heat can enhance the peppery heat in the cookies, and the cinnamon in the dough makes me always think of Mexican Hot Chocolate. mmm.

I hope that you'll enjoy this recipe and will make your own memories surrounding these delicious cookies!


Mandy's Mexican Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Original Recipe by my lovely friend, Mandy

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more for your liking)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper (optional)
1/4 pound, coarsely chopped good quality dark chocolate
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Pre-heat oven to 335 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl set over simmering water (or double boiler), melt the chocolate and butter together. Let cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter/chocolate mixture with the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then, add in the vanilla extract.
5. Reduce speed and gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Roll the dough into balls just a little larger than a golf ball. Place on the parchment paper, with 2-3 inches between the cookies.
7. Bake the cookies in the oven for 17 minutes. It is important to not over cook. Remove the cookies from the oven (they will be very soft), and slide the parchment paper (with cookies on it) onto a towel on the counter/table. Allow the cookies to slowly cool on the parchment for 10 minutes before attempting to remove them.
8. While the first batch of cookies are cooling, you can place another piece of parchment on the cookie sheet and put a second batch in the oven.

PS - Check out this awesome set up my best friend - and fellow Mexican Double Chocolate Chip Cookie lover - got me for Christmas! Now I can try to take more professional photos for the blog. :)

Homemade Corn Tortillas

Yay! The first post in a long while!! It's sad how long it's been since my last post, but life has been busy and I've been basically away from my own kitchen since August. That's not to say that I haven't been cooking delicious things, but I didn't quite have the time to photo (even though I know my photo skills are lacking) and then write up a proper post. No more of that, though!! Time to get back into discovering new foods and cooking skills and putting them up on the web!

The hubby and I have been working hard to make as many things from scratch. We're having fun exploring new techniques and foods, and finding that in general our homemade goods taste better than the store bought versions. They do take a little more time, but the results are definitely worth it!

A few months ago we started making homemade flour tortillas (will post recipe soon). We had thought about making corn tortillas, but learned that you really need a proper tortilla press for that. I did a little searching and learned that there's a few different kinds of tortilla presses: Cast iron, aluminum coated cast iron, wooden, and high tech. I decided to go with the cast iron since it had good reviews, and I thought the weight of it would help press out the tortillas. I bought it for Valentine's Day for the hubby, and he was very excited to try it. It worked like a charm, and I definitely have no complaints. Just make sure that you line it with parchment paper so that the tortillas are easy to remove once they've been pressed.

These tortillas go great with my Beer Braised Turkey Tacos, guacamole, a little yellow onion, and a dollop of sour cream. Mmm.


Homemade Corn Tortillas
Based on cookingmexicanrecipes.com - great pictures here!

2 cups masa harina (corn flour NOT corn meal)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups boiling water plus a few Tablespoons
1 teaspoon coconut oil

In a large bowl, combine the masa and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix the coconut oil and boiling water, stirring until the coconut oil is dissolved. Then, pour the water mixture into the flour mixture, stirring with a fork until combined. When it's cool enough to handle, knead the dough until to comes together. It should be moist but not sticky or wet.

Take a golf ball sized amount, roll it into a ball in your hands, and place the ball between two sheets of parchment paper lining the tortilla press. Press the tortilla in a tortilla press or, alternatively, roll out the tortilla between two sheets of parchment with a rolling pin.

Heat a cast iron skillet and lightly oil it (just a teaspoon or so of oil). Place the tortilla on the skillet and cook each side for about 45 seconds or until it becomes slightly golden in spots and the edges seem dry. I didn't not re-oil the pan between tortillas. I just oiled it a little in the beginning.

Keep the tortillas covered so they'll stay warm until serving.

It's important to keep the pre-cooked dough moist between the pressing, so make sure you wrap the dough bowl with plastic so it doesn't dry out.

Brushetta - by my sister!

It's been forever since I've been able to post!! I've been travelling a ton and for the most part not cooking anything exciting. Although, I'm back in y hometown for a few weeks and have been experimenting on my parents. So, I'll have a few exciting recipes soon to share.

This is my sister's recipe for brushetta, which she has mastered. It's got the right balance of onion, basil, vinegar, and garlic. We inhaled this and I had to beg them to stop eating so I could take a few pictures of it for the blog. Seriously, this is so good.

As with all things, using the freshest, ripest, tastiest ingredients is key. Any 'substitutions' will give an inferior result. This is a healthy, raw alternative to classic chips and dip, and really doesn't take much time to whip together. Think about it as an appetizer for your next dinner party. You could also serve it over roasted chicken, put it in paninis, toss it on some pasta

Bruschetta

By my sister, Lynnie

6 small-medium sized tomatoes (she used on the vine tomatoes since those are generally fresher out-of-season)

1 thick slice of a large yellow onion

2 - 2.5 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (must be fresh)

1/2 teaspoon of dried basil

1 teaspoon garlic infused oil (alternatively you could use 3 large cloves of fresh garlic)

1 1/2 Tablespoons quality olive oil

3 Tablespoons balsalmic vinegar (buy the good stuff)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper, feshly ground

1.) Chop the tomatoes up as small as possible. Place them in a medium sized bowl.

2.) Take the onion slice and place it in a small chopper or food processer and pulse until the pieces are milimeters in size. Add the fresh basil and pulse a few more times. (If you're using fresh garlic, add that in now).

3.) Add the onion/basil mixture and all the other ingredients to the tomatoes. Mix well. Adjust the flavors as necessary. Serve with baguette slices or crackers.

Homemade Barbeque Sauce

One evening recently, I was listening to NPR's "The Story" and became enthralled during a segment about a woman who had taken over the family tradition of competing in barbeque contests (generally a male-dominated type of cooking contest). I was especially fascinated by the super secret sauce recipe, which had been passed down through the generations and had won many a competition. I wondered what exactly went into an award winning recipe - or into barbeque sauce in general - and so I started to do a little internet searching.

The internet search yielded some good tips on how to make general barbeque sauce, but nothing along the lines of coveted family secrets. Interestingly, I did learn that there are many different varieties of barbeque sauce. North Carolina is known for a more vinegar based sauce, South Carolina for a mustard-based sauce, Texas for spicy recipes, and Kansas City for tomato-based sauce recipes. Alabama even has a mayonnaise version. I found a website that had basic recipes for three of the main sauce types. I decided that since I'm more of a tomato lover, I'd focus on creating my own version of a Kansas City style sauce.

Lucky for me, soon after deciding that I wanted to try to make my own barbeque sauce, the hubby and I actually visited Kansas City, Missouri. I was amazed when we visited a grocery store and I saw just how many different types of barbeque sauce were available. Our selection in the North is pitiful by comparison. I looked at many ingredient lists and was somewhat shocked and saddened that for many the second ingredient was high fructose corn syrup. Boo to that. Others were a little more wholesome, though; some even hinted at special ingredients like pineapple juice. So, I took some mental notes to try in my own sauce.

This past week I finally got the time to settle in and work on the recipe. We decided to have friends over for Barbeque Beef Sandwiches, and I wanted to use my own sauce for the beef. I dabbled around and finally got the flavorings to come together nicely. This recipe is somewhat sweet, somewhat zesty, somewhat spicy. It has that nice tomato based flavor, but many subtleties to it as well. I really like this version and hope that you will, too!

Kansas City Style Barbeque Sauce

A Fabulous and Delicious Original!

1 yellow onion, sliced

5 cloves garlic, sliced

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup hot water

2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon raw sugar or brown sugar

3 dried chipotle chiles, chopped into small pieces

2 Tablespoons dark molasses

20 ounces organic ketchup

1 can tomato paste

1 1/2 cup tomato puree (fresh tomatoes blended or from a can)

3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon balsalmic vinegar

1 teaspoon tumeric

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon ginger powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon freshly ground pepper

3-4 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 Tablespoon chili powder

2 Tablespoon paprika

2 Tablespoons dry mustard or fresh mustard

1/4 cup dark beer

1.) In a large pot, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil over low heat until the onions are cooked (translucent but not brown). Meanwhile, in a small bowl, dissolve the sugar in the hot water.

2.) When the onions are done, put in the chipotle chiles and allow them to cook a little in the oil - no more than a minute. Then, pour in the sugar water mixture. Stir. Then, add all the other ingredients, stirring as you add them.

3.) Allow all the ingredients to simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes. If you'd like, you can then use an immersion blender or place the sauce in a regular blender to smooth out the consistency. Use immediately in cooking or store in your fridge for up to 7 to 10 days.

Gaspacho

Hello blog readers! Fear not; I haven't forgotten about you. Life has just been busy in our household. Last week we moved into a super cute house - with a real sized kitchen! Our first evening was spent unpacking all of our kitchen supplies. Boy, do we have a lot of them! We've taken over every cupboard, our hutch, and then had to put up a bookshelf to house the actual food! We have not-so-often used kitchen gadgets (e.g. the waffle maker and slow cooker) in the coat closet; cookbooks are currently housed in the den. I guess that's what happens when you have a husband and wife pair that like to cook and bake. :)

In addition to our lovely new kitchen, our garden is thriving. We have so many cherry tomatoes ripening every day, cucumbers constantly begging to be picked, and beautiful peppers lounging from their branches. So, what does this all this mean? That it's *finally* gaspacho season!!!!!! I started craving gaspacho in April, but alas it is one of those foods that you can enjoy only when the vegetables are seasonally ripe. Otherwise, the soup just a pitiful mirage of its former self. Similarly, using poor quality olive oils or vinegar will not yield the same exceptional taste.

If you're not familiar with gaspacho, it is a cold summer soup that originated in Spain. Personal recipes vary, but basically it tastes like the soup form of a perfect tomato sandwich. (Quite literally as the recipe includes bread.) If you're familiar with gaspacho and hate it, well, then you haven't tried *this* gaspacho, which is delicious!!!

Similar to all perfect summer recipes, it doesn't require turning on your oven (unless you're going to use that to make bread). We've been eating it at least twice a week while we can. My hope is to eat so much of it that I'm satisfied until next Spring when I'll start to crave gaspacho again! Enjoy!

Gaspacho

The hubby's recipe, adapted from a segment heard on NPR

1 thick slice of fresh homemade bread (the Wonder Bread varieties really won't work...)

1 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes from the garden

1/4 large sweet yellow onion

1/4 large cucumber

1 green bell pepper

1/4 cup Spanish olive oil (or high quality version of your liking. We use a brand from California)

scant Tablespoon raspberry wine vinegar (or high quality balsalmic if you're desperate)

salt and pepper to taste

1.) Wash and rinse all veggies.

2.) Put everything into a hearty blender. (We use a Vitamix.)

3.) Turn on the blender to medium-high and blend until there is a creamy texture and everything is pink. Salt and pepper to taste.

4.) Serve immediately and enjoy.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Semi-Sweet Chocolate Frosting

I cannot believe that I only got one post accomplished in all of July. It's just been such a busy summer. We travelled, worked, and now are in the process of moving - to a house - with a real kitchen! It's a galley kitchen, which isn't as ideal as a kitchen set up for true entertaining, but it's better than the corner of a room that houses our current straight-out-of-1940s kitchen. I'll have more windows to try out new photography techniques, too.

The idea of moving into a bigger place is so exciting, but packing up everything is awful. My husband has so many memories of our current apartment, too, that it's hard to say goodbye -even though we really do need a bigger place. Even our small kitchen is filled with memories. I remember making brownies for our friends who lived down the hall when I would come and visit from New York. It's where Chris and I mastered Indian Samosas, along with many other delightful dishes. We've created delicious meals - whole Easter feasts - all from a tiny tiny kitchen with literally no counter space. It's taught us to be efficient in our cooking / baking, and it's definitely taught me to clean as I cook, but I'm excited to have a dishwasher in which to plop all those dirty dishes after entertaining!

A good friend had a belated birthday BBQ tonight, and I offered to bring dessert. I deliberated a lot about what to make, and I was somewhat limited because 99% of my cooking supplies are in boxes. So, when I was searching through the recipes I collected from magazines, and came across a huge delicious-looking piece of chocolate cake with the words "one bowl cake" as the title, I was sold. It was delightfully easy. The frosting only required one bowl, too, but I unfortunately had packed my hand-mixer. So, I whipped up this frosting using my immersion blender, and it turned out just great.

This all just goes to show you that no matter what your limitations - small kitchen, poor counter space, limited utensils - you can still make fabulous desserts.

One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart Living Magazine

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup warm water

3 Tablespoons canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together (or sift if you're into that) cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until combined. Add in eggs, buttermilk, water, oil, and vanilla, and stir until smooth (about 3-4 minutes).

2.) Line cupcake pan with paper liners. Fill the paper liners with cake batter until about two-thirds full. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven. Let them cool slightly for 10 minutes, then remove them from the pan and place them on a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely before frosting.

(You can also make cake by buttering 8-inch round cake pans (2 inches deep) and then coating with cocoa. Cook cake for 35 minutes. Allow it to cool for 15 minutes before attempting to remove it from the pan.)

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Frosting

Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart Living Magazine

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

6 ounces dark chocolate (I bought my favorite chocolate bar), melted and cooled slightly (I just put it in a pan over the lowest heat possible and let it melt)

3/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

1.) In a small bowl, sift together sugar, cocoa and salt.

2.) In a separate large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer (or immersion blender!!) at a medium-high speed until smooth and well incorporated. Add the cocoa/sugar/salt mixture slowly, beating after each addition. Pour in chocolate and add creme fraiche or sour cream. Mix until well combined.

3.) Frost cooled cupcakes.

Green Beans with Shallots and Homemade Breadcrumbs

Life is plugging along here in Minnesota. The summer weather has been perfect: warm temperatures without being too hot, light breezes, and sunshine. There have been so many thunderstorms at night, though. I'm slowly getting used to the Midwest thunderstorms; they are very different from the Northeast. Firstly, they seem to be much more dangerous with really damaging winds (blowing away all sorts of outdoor furniture and bringing down tree branches), un-ending dramatic lightening, and more frequently than I'm comfortable with, tornadoes. I'm starting to not go into panic mode every time the radio breaks to say that there is a tornado warning for a part of Minnesota, but I still do close a lot of the doors to keep the cat near me in case I hear that the warning has spread to our county. That way, I figure I can grab the cat and head down to the basement. Thunderstorms in the Northeast were much louder, though. I miss the thunder that makes the windows shake. Here, there seems to be more lightening, less thunder.

Since coming back from vacation, the hubby and I have been trying to eat as many vegetables from our garden as possible. This week the green beans and shallots were ready. I found this recipe online almost a year ago on Martha Stewart for green beans, shallots, and bread crumbs. I had wanted to make it for Thanksgiving, but ended up not and opting instead for the classic Campbell's green bean casserole. The Martha Stewart recipe has many of the fabulous flavors of the Campbell's recipe, but without the creaminess (and calories) from the cream of mushroom soup. The Martha recipe is overall nicer because it's healthier, hightling olive oil instead of cream, and easier to make. Plus, you don't have to turn on your oven - which, if you're like me and don't own an air conditioner, is a big plus in the summertime.


So, we'll continue to enjoy this recipe until our green beans stop producing, which will all this nice daytime sunshine and nighttime rain, will hopefully be months away!



Green Beans with Shallots and Homemade Breadcrumbs
Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 pounds green beans
1/4 cup olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup homemade or store-bought breadcrumbs (see below for homemade ingredients)
salt and pepper to taste

For homemade breadcrumbs
3 medium slices of homemade bread (your recipe of choice - I use a bread machine)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning (combination of oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, and sweet basil)

1.) To make breadcrumbs, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In the meantime, take the 3 slices of bread and toast them in a toaster or toaster oven until golden (medium). Then, cut them into 1/2 inch squares. Place the breadcrumbs on a baking sheet. Drizzle lightly the olive oil and add the garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Once the oven is heated, place the breadcrumbs in the oven for about 5 minutes (to dry them out further). Avoid letting them burn in the oven.
2.) Blanch the beans: Rinse the beans well. Fill a medium-sized pot halfway with water, place it on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the water is boiling, toss in the beans and cook for 2 minutes (no more than 2.5 minutes). The beans should be bright green. Immediately, drain the beans and run them under cold water. The cold water stops the beans from cooking and prevents them from becoming mushy. (Alternatively, you could prepare an ice bath and then place the drained beans in that instead of running them under cold water). Drain again and pat the beans dry.
3.) Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occassionally, until they are golden (about 5 minutes). Add in the green beans and breadcrumbs. Stir. Cook a couple minutes more just to heat the green beans a little.
4.) Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Serve.

Blueberry Smush

Hello blog readers! Sorry for the long dry spell! I've been traveling extensively all over the east coast visiting family and eating my little heart out. (Hello potato chips and Hoffman hot dogs - how I missed you!!). There were lots of delicious drinks enjoyed, including pomegranate martinis (and margaritas), lemon drop martinis, mojitos, monarchs, and copious wine. It was lovely.

I couldn't completely take a break from cooking, though. One morning on the lake, I baked up some Pannekoekens to everyone's delight. Also, one night I opted to provide dessert for a family dinner. After a day of hiking in the sun through water-filled gorges and a dinner filled with tender grilled steaks, I thought we could use something light(ish) for dessert. I wanted something summery, but didn't want to go the classic Strawberry Shortcake route. So, settled on my grandmother's Blueberry Smush.

My mom said that my grandmother used to make Blueberry Smush all the time when she was a kid. They would often camp in the Adirondacks during the summer, where there were bushes filled with wild blueberries. My grandmother would cook them with some water and sugar in a pot over a campfire. Once the blueberries burst and a sauce was created, she would drop in the biscuits, let them cook, and voila! Delicious camp dessert. My mom has many happy memories of having her face and teeth stained from eating blueberry smush.

Despite these happy memories, my mom never made us this dessert until about two years ago!! My sister and I ate every bite and couldn't believe that she hadn't made it for us sooner.

In any case, I thought with blueberries being ripe in the northeast, it was fitting to highlight them for dessert and introduce my dad's family to this deliciousness. The soft drop biscuits smothered in a sweet blueberry sauce are just to die for.

Oh, and another plus of this summer dessert: it doesn't involve turning on the oven! It's all done on the stove top.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Smush

From Grandma (via Mom)

For blueberry sauce:

1 quart fresh blueberries

1 cup sugar (more if you'd like)

2 cups water

2-3 Tablespoons cornstarch

For biscuits:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup rice milk (or for non-vegan, buttermilk)

4 Tablespoons coconut oil (or for non-vegan, butter)

1 Tablespoon sugar

1.) In a large, wide pan, cook (without rapidly boiling) the blueberries, water, and sugar over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally. Continue to cook until the blueberries burst and you have a thin sauce. Turn heat to medium-low. Add the cornstarch and stir until the sauce thickens to coat a spoon (not quite to the thickness of a gravy).

2.) While the blueberries are cooking, in a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the biscuits.

3.) Once the sauce is ready, drop the biscuit batter in Tablespoon amounts into the sauce. Once all the biscuit batter has been added, cover the pan and allow the biscuits to cook for roughly 10 minutes.

4.) Plate the biscuits and cover in blueberry sauce. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Zucchini Curry and Basmati Rice

Sunday was an Indian food day here in our household. We had promised a friend that we would have him over for dinner, and he could pick the menu theme. He settled on Indian, which we were delighted about.

Indian food is probably one of our favorite foods to make. It was challenging in the beginning because the combinations of spices are so different from what we are used to in Western cooking. Fortunately, the hubby found a classic Indian cookbook for $1 at a garage sale a few years back, and that has been a great guide to the foundations of Indian cooking. Luckily, my husband has an amazing palatte and sense for spices, so he can adjust recipes to mimic those we've had in restaurants. I love it.

The internet is also an amazing source of delicious (and free!) recipes. In addition to our fabulous and delicious samosas, we decided to highlight the zucchini we've been harvesting from the garden farmette everyday, and decided to try to make a zucchini curry. We found an awesome tutorial on YouTube by Currysutra on how to make Ghiya (zucchini curry), and copied it almost exactly. The tutorial is really easy to follow and would be great for beginner Indian home chefs. I've included all the ingredients and directions (with our changes) below, but definitely check out the tutorial as well. Enjoy!

Ghiya - Zucchini Curry

Adapted from Currysutra

Yield: Feeds roughly 4 people

2 medium to large zucchini, cubed

1 Tablespoon canola or sunflower oil

1 small can tomato paste (6 ounces)

1 1/4 cup potato water*

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

6 cloves garlic, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 cube salted veggie bouillon (we use the Rapunzel brand)

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 Tablespoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon corriander

1/2 teaspoon ground chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1.) Heat oil in a pressure cooker over medium-low heat, add cumin, garlic, and onion and saute until the onions begin to cook (look translucent). Try to avoid having the veggies brown by keeping the heat low.

2.) Add in 1/4 cup of potato water* and spices: veggie bouillon, tumeric, ground cumin, curry powder, corriander, chili powder, garam masala, crushed red pepper.

3.) Add in tomato paste. Stir.

4.) Add in zucchini & stir. You may taste now to see if spices are alright. Then, add 1 cup of potato water*

5.) Put lid on pressure cooker and being to cook, according to your pressure cooker's directions, to max pressure (about 5-8 minutes).

6.) Then turn off heat and let the pressure cooker slowly let go to room pressure (about 20 minutes).

7.) Carefully, open pressure cooker (read manufacturer's instructions), and the curry is ready to serve over basmati rice (see rice recipe below).

* Potato water refers to the leftover water from boiling potatoes. Because we were also making samosas, we had boiled potatoes on the stove, and therefore saved the water to use in this dish. The potato water adds a bit more flavor and also can help thicken with the starch. If you're not making potatoes, just substitute regular water.

Basmati Rice

Yield: 4-6 cups rice

4 cups water

2 cups basmati rice

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns

1/4 teaspoon whole cloves

1.) Place water, olive oil, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cloves in a medium sized pot on the stove over high heat. Bring to a boil.

2.) Place rice in the boiling water, stir a bit. Cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Allow rice to cook for 15-20 minutes until soft.

3.) Stir rice and serve.

4.) Note that rice will double to triple in amount. So, if place one cup of dried rice in a pot, you'll end up with 2-3 cups of cooked rice. Therefore, adjust the recipe above to your needs by halving (or doubling!) it if necessary.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I've been in a funk today, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because after months of practicing yoga, my little 'bird' poses still will not 'fly.' Probably has to something do with my chicken arms, and everyone knows that despite everything delicious chickens offer us, they are flightless birds. Or maybe it's the fact that a vast number of unknowns that are swiftly approaching, mostly related to where the hubster is going to get a job and my upcoming residency applications. Ah, change - it's scary one of the only guaranteed things in life. And, as my yoga teacher is constantly reminding us, life does not come with a set instruction manual, so I should embrace all the fun possibilities that lay ahead!

So, today to de-stress, I decided to tackle one of my baking quests: to find the perfect red velvet cake recipe. I actually only tasted my first red velvet cake a few months ago during a visit to Buffalo, but I was instantly hooked. It was moist, delicious, not overly chocolately. I'm not a huge intensely sweet frosting person, either, and this cake was refreshingly served with a tangier cream cheese frosting. Anyway, after that, I decided to do some research and create that lovely cake for myself. I read dozens of recipes online, and decided to settle with one that used canola oil instead of butter, since I personally find that oil makes a moister cake crumble. The first batch I tried were waaaaay to oily and sank in the middle as soon as I took them out of the oven. (Fail...). So, I found a second recipe that used more eggs and flour and decided to adapt that. I kicked up the amount of cocoa powder from 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup, and halved the amount of red food coloring - my cupcakes turned out just as red and without that chemical taste that you can get from coloring.

The overall results is awesome. A super moist, flavorful red cake that bakes up to a perfect dome. The cake is not overly sweet or chocolately, but is so delicious that I ate a whole cupcake before even making the frosting. I cannot wait to make this cake again. You can add on the cream cheese frosting or your favorite frosting of choice! Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Adapted from Leslie Sarna: The Dainty Vegetarian

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature

1 Tablespoon red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled or apple cider vinegar

Classic Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, softened

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pound confectioners' (powdered) sugar

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake/muffin tins with paper liners.

2.) If you need to make your own buttermilk, do that now.

3.) In a large bowl (or stand mixer with whisk attachment), whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, soda, salt, cocoa powder.

4.) Add vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract to dry ingredients. Stir. Then, add in buttermilk. Stir again.

5.) Carefully, measure and add the red food coloring. Be careful not to stir/whisk/mix too vigorously or you can end up whipping food coloring all over your kitchen and self!! Then, add in the vinegar and stir a few more times.

7.) Pour batter into prepared pans, filling the cupcake liners roughly 2/3 full.

8.) Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

9.) Remove cupcakes from pan and allow them to cool on a wire rack.

Frosting directions:

1.) In a large bowl, beat (preferably with an electric stand or hand mixer) the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Then, add in the sugar and beat until fluffy.

2.) Frost cupcakes when cool.

P.S. - I used my KitchenAid Mixer for this whole recipe, which made it super easy. I also tried out my birthday gift, the beater blade, for the first time, and it is AMAZING!!! It scrapes the side of my mixing bowl while it's mixing. So, no need to stop the mixer and scrapes the sides down myself anymore. I'm a convert. Seriously. Thanks, BFF!!

Zucchini Bread

After traveling all last week, the hubby and I returned to Minnesota to see that our community garden (a.k.a. The Farmette) was overflowing with produce! Finally weeks of lugging water out there and weeding have turned into thick rows of sweet lettuce, peapods, and monster zucchini. We're going to have to zucchini having coming out of our ears! I'm really not much of a gardener, but my husband is really into it, and it's not quite as bad as I thought it would be. He does most of the work, and I go out and do what I can when he's out of town. It is a nice excuse to be outside during the lovely summer weather.

Last night, I took some of the bigger zucchinis and decided to make zucchini bread for breakfast and for the hubs to bring into work. I'm going to try to tackle another one of our large zucchini today and make it into bread and then place that in the freezer for later in the season when our zucchini aren't as proliferative.

This recipe I found awhile ago on Cooking Friend, which I really like and have used many times. It's super moist, not overly sweet, and on the healthier end of the spectrum (as far as sweet breads go). You can add nuts or seeds to the batter if you wish, although I'm not a fan of hard chunks in my baked goods, but that's me. Adapt this recipe to your own liking!

Zucchini Bread

From Cooking Friend

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

3 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

2 cups coarsely grated zucchini

1.) Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two loaf pans, size of your choosing. (Smaller pans will yield a higher loaf, larger pans will give you a shorter loaf - or try to make mini loafs and adjust the baking time accordingly).

2.) In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

3.) In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, water, and yogurt. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.

4.) Slowly, add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Then, mix in the grated zucchini.

5.) Pour your batter into the prepared pans. Place both loaf pans in the oven and cook for 55-60 minutes, or until a tooth pick placed in the center of the bread comes out clean.

6.) Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack for 20 minutes before attempting to remove the bread from the loaf pans.