Everyday Chef

Beef Stew

2011-09-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

There are many things to enjoy about fall weather. My personal favorite is the return to comfort food. You know what I'm talking about. No one makes a steaming bowl of soup when it's 95 degrees, and no one cranks up the oven to make mac and cheese or lasagna. But when the weather changes, my stomach starts growling and I start craving me some stick to your ribs kind of food. This past weekend, we had our first "Fall Weather Weekend." I dug around in my freezer and found a top round roast from Gartners. Perfect for making stew. Add in some of Jenny's scratch made Spatzle, and BAM! We're kicking of the fall food season with a bang.

Inspiration: Pacific NW Fall Weather
Time: 75 Minutes
Difficulty: Fairly Easy
Special equipment: Heavy duty cast iron pot
Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup flour
Top Round Roast, cut up into bit sized pieces (can use Venison, buffalo or elk too)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
olive oil
1 onion, diced small
3 medium carrots, cut into bit sized pieces
1 red or orange pepper, cut into bit sized pieces
5 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried mustard powder
12 oz. Stout (beer)
16 oz diced tomatoes (preferably fresh)
2 ears of corn, steamed and cut from the cobb
1-2 cups beef broth
1/2 pound dried egg noodles - cooked (or make your own Spaetzle)

1. In a dry pan cook flour over medium heat until brown (stirring with a whisk very frequently). Remove flour from the pot.

2. Toss meat with salt and pepper. Coat bottom of pot with oil and saute meat until browned. Remove from pot.

3. Coat bottom of pot with oil again and saute onion, carrots, bell pepper, garlic and herbs until onions are translucent. Add mustard and flour and stir until well coated. Some will stick to bottom of pan...that's okay.

4. Add 4 oz of stoud and stir so that nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add another 4 oz and stir until foaming subsides. Add remaining stout along with tomatoes, corn and 1 cup of broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add in remaining broth when stew starts to get too thick for your taste.

5. Serve over cooked egg noodles (or again, make your own Spaetzle)

Jambalaya

2011-07-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

I really like having a food moment where I see something and think, "I can make that...no problem." The most recent occurance of this happened upon a post vacation trip to Freddy's. Jenny and I had eaten our cubboard and fridge bare in preparation for a week on Vancouver Island, and we were wandering the store to be able to eat for the week. As I walked down an aisle, I saw a box mix for making Jambalya. "No way," I thought, " could it be THAT difficult" I had in my cart brown rice, stir-fry veggies, some chicken breasts, chicken apple sausage. CHECK MATE!

Inspiration: Post Vacation Pick Me Up
Time: 60 Minutes
Difficulty: Fairly Easy
Special equipment: Rice Cooker, Heavy duty cast iron dutch oven
Servings: 6 Servings

1 chicken breast, diced
1 tablespoon Tony's Creole seasoning (There is no other brand)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 Carrots, chopped
3 heads of garlic, chopped
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes (I used 2 cups roasted tomatoes I froze last summer)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce (Wooster)
1 teaspoon Tobasco sauce
3/4 cup rice
3 cups chicken stock
2 chicken apple sausages, sliced
Salt and pepper

1. Toss chicken with Creole seasoning and set aside.

2. Heat cast iron dutch oven over medium heat. Saute raw veggies in oil until onions are translucent. Add Tomatoes, Wooster, Tabasco and stock. Bring to a simmer.

3. Add your rice and simmer in your Jambalaya sauce until rice is mostly done. Depending on the variety rice, this could take from 15-45 minutes.

4. Add chicken and chicken apple sausage. Cook until chicken is done - another 10 minutes or so.Season with Salt and Pepper to taste.

Note: I used my rice cooker to make the rice and then spooned the sauce over my rice. This is cheating and the rice isn't as flavorful as if it were cooked in the suace...but I can never cook rice correctly, so I did what I needed to do.

Another Note: You could add shrimp if you wanted when 5 minutes from serving. Shrimp cooks much faster than chicken, and is easy to over cook to a rubber like state. Be careful.

One last note: My Apologies to Ash for a nearly 7 month wait between posts.

Opa's Booze...err...Eggnog

2011-01-03T16:43:00.001-08:00

Opa, my great grandfather, was well known during the holiday season for his eggnog. And deservedly so. It's very tasty. Honestly, it is no different that other home-made eggnogs: Separate eggs, beat cream and sugar with yolks. Add cream milk and alcohol. Fold in whipped whites, top with nutmeg etc. Where most recipes would have you add whisky, or brandy, Opa's has you add both, and rum for good measure. That's why I call it boozenog.

For perspective Alton Brown has you add 3oz of bourbon to his recipe. Emeril suggests 2 cups bourbon and a cup of brandy. Opa? A fifth of bourbon, a pint of rum and a half pint of brandy does just dandy.

If he were here today, and we were drinking nog together, I would undoubtedly stumble over to him, throw an arm around his shoulders and begin singing loudly. I hope he would take it as a compliment.

Inspiration:
Time: 10 minutes prep
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: A large bowl with air tight lid
Servings: depends how large the mug is

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
10 eggs (separated)
2.5 quarts milk (whole preferably)
3/4 quart of cream
1 fifth bourbon
1 pint rum
1/2 pint brandy

Beat egg yolks and sugar until it is thick and pale yellow. Add milk and cream and beat until smooth. Add liquor slowly and continuously while beating. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into the egg/cream/booze mixture.

Rest in a coll place at least 4 days to blend.

Alton Brown's Sugar Cookies

2010-12-22T21:54:00.000-08:00

Everyone has heroes. People they look up to. Mimic themselves after. Try to emulate. When I'm in the kitchen, my heroes are who you'd guess. My mom, my sister...and of course Alton Brown.

Growing up, my Mom always made cooking dinner look easy. It wasn't always fancy, but it was nutritious, balanced and on the table piping hot by Seven. Now that I breadwin, I have a true appreciation for what she did and how hard it was. We had for dinner every night what most people had for dinner only on weekends when time permitted. She taught me to always plan ahead, to keep a well stocked pantry, and roll with the punches when you screw up.

I think my sister had a similar revelation shortly after college when she moved to Kentucky. Being two thousand miles away from a home cooked meal in the cultural wasteland that is Kentucky, she had no choice but to do it herself. And like anything that my sister does, she did it better than anyone else around her. Her style differed vastly from my mothers. It was more daring and more experimental. Where my mother specialized in comfort food, my sister explored flavors and recipes. She was not being dissuaded for an instant by a recipe that took more than a day to make. She taught me how to blend flavors, to complement consistencies and to think big.

And then there's Alton Brown. I think I've watched his entire Good Eats series seventeen times. What I loved about those shows he that he explains how things work. He provides a ground level understanding of Kitchen basics in terms of physics, chemistry, and math. You wouldn't think that that level of understanding is essential, but it helped turn my light bulb on.

I owe a lot to my heroes. Most notably, my growing Buddha belly and addiction to combined sweet AND savory flavors. By mostly, in learning from them, I was able to discover my own style of cooking. I understand the concept of how to prepare food. I understand how flavors work together. And I have the courage to try to make it happen, regardless of the possible outcome.

The lone exception is when baking. You can't screw around with chemical reactions and expect to get perfect sugar cookies. And that's the other reason I heart Alton Brown.

Inspiration: Holiday Open House Cookie Backing
Time: 20 minutes prep, 9 minutes bake time
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Stand Mixer
Servings: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Recipe found on http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sugar-cookies-recipe/index.html

Soy GInger Dressing

2010-05-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Even though I have been horrible about blogging (reasons include work, Frisbee, dog, work, etc.), it doesn't mean I haven't been keeping up with the new years resolution of trying new food outside of the standard repit...repat...menu of food I make all the time.

This past week I made soy ginger dressing for an oriental salad, Greek honeyed apricots to go with a Greek marinated pork loin and then the soy ginger dressing again for dinner tonight. Moral of the story, when you find something good...add it to the your repit...repat...menu of food you make all the time.

Inspiration: Left over chicken, curried cashews, Mandarin oranges and oriental salad fixins
Time: 10 minutes prep
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment:
Servings: 1 large salad

Ingredients
4 cloves garlic
1/2 square inch ginger, grated super fine
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic chili paste
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. sesame oil
3 drips of fish sauce (optional)

1. Mash to a paste garlic and salt. Mix in ginger and garlic chili paste.

2. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Let sit for at least 5 minutes.

3. Toss with salad fixins, roasted veggies or noodles.

Note: In theory, this would also be a good marinade for chicken or pork...but I haven't tried that yet.

Scheuzwan Chicken

2010-01-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

It appears that my son has forgotten the vast resource for Chinese recipes that resides in his mother's and sister's hands: Snookie's cookbooks! Next time you are at either house, you should peruse what is out there! In the meantime, here is one of the recipe's out of her "little black book".

1 pound raw chicken breast, cut into 1 " pieces
1 1/2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs water
4 garlic cloves
2 green onions, cut 1" pieces
1 green pepper, cut in 1" pieces
10 pieces dried red pepper, seeded and cut into 1" pieces

Sauce:
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tbs soyu sauce
1 1/2 tbs vinegar
2 tbs chicken broth
1 tbs sherry
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp sesame oil

4 tbs peanut oil

Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients & set aside.

Mix the chicken with soy, cornstarch and water. Marinate for 30 minutes or longer. Heat oil in wok. Add chicken, saute 1 minute. Set aside. Drain oil & save.

Add back 1 tbs oil to wok. Saute vegetables 1 minute on high heat. Set aside w/ chicken.

Add 3 tbs oil back to wok and saute red pepper until dark. Add sauce, stir quickly. Fold in chicken and vegetables. Cook 30 seconds or until heated through.

Serve with white rice.

Note: you can use any combination of vegies with this. Also, I've used precooked chicken, marinating it in the soy/cornstarch/water mix and adding it at the end with the vegetables.

Chicken Stock

2010-01-07T12:07:00.000-08:00

Whenever I roast a chicken, or Turkey, the next day I make a stock. This way, when I make soup or curry or risotto out of the left overs, I have a wonderful home made broth to use instead of the store bought stuff. Plus, it has the added benefit of allowing me to use the entire bird. Nothing goes to waste. What's not to love about that.

There are many different methods to make stock. My personal favorite is to take a carcass to my sister's house and...voila...two days later I pick up stock. But if you don't have a sister who is as willing/able to make you stock as mine is, you can easily make it yourself.

Inspiration: Monday's Roasted Chicken
Time: 10 minutes prep and 3-8 hours to cook
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: 12 quart pot, cheese cloth
Servings: 8 cups or so of stock

Ingredients
1 carcass (chicken or turkey) including all the bones from the drumsticks, wings and thighs
5-8 carrots, cut in half
4-8 stalks of celery, cut in half
2 onions, quartered, skins left on (they darken the broth)
3 cloves of garlic - smashed by the side of a chef knife, skins are okay
3-4 sprigs of thyme
3-4 sprigs of rosemary
8-12 pepper corns
1-2 bay leaves
Cold water to fill the pot

1. Trim any meat from the carcass that you still want to eat. But leave meat on the carcass as it helps flavor the stock

2. Dump all ingredients into the pot. Fill with water.

3. Over high heat, bring pot to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to maintain a low, gentle simmer. If you see scum floating to the top, skim it off with a spoon or a fine mesh strainer. Let simmer uncovered for 3-8 hours (the longer the better). Add hot water to the pot to keep the carcass and bones covered.

4. After done simmering, let cool, and then pour through a strainer lined with cheese cloth into a large container with a lid or pot. Discard the carcass and veggies. Cover and refrigerate stock over night. In the morning skim off the solidified fat from the top.

5. Store in refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Five Spice Rubbed Roast Chicken with Orange Sesame Glaze

2010-01-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

Jenny and I have been in a food rut lately. I don't know if the busy holiday season, the increasingly shorter and colder nights or what exactly caused the rut. But there it was, all rutty with the same types of food over and over. Thankfully Jenny recognized it for what it was (in all of its ruttiness) and mandated that we branch out. We came up with the idea of trying new cuisines every month culminating in a small dinner party to show off what we learned.

This month is Chinese. I don't know why. I don't really even know that much about traditional Chinese food. But I had a chicken to roast and I figured that was something that could be done in Beijing as well as Portland, so I had at it. I looked up a couple recipes online, but didn't really find what I wanted. Orange Sesame Glazed Roast Chicken. I had to make it up. Turned out all right. But like I said, it's probably not that Chinese. I guess we'll have to settle for Pan American for January and work our way to Chinese by April.

Inspiration: Chicken in the freezer
Time: 20 minutes prep and 2 hours to cook
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Roasting Pan
Servings: Depends on the size of the chicken

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh Orange Juice (or OJ not from concentrate
1 whole star anise
2 cloves garlic
1" cube of fresh ginger
1 teaspoon garlic chili paste
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Whole Fryer Chicken
2 Tablespoons Chinese Five Spice
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper

1. Bring OJ to a boil with star anise over medium-high heat and reduce to 1/2 a cup. Discard anise.

2. Mash to past the garlic and ginger with a pinch of salt. Mix in the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and reduced OJ. Baste chicken when you reduce your oven temperature to 375 degrees, and every 20 minutes there after. If the skin darkens too much, cover with a sheet of foil.

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry chicken. Drizzle a little olive oil over the bottom of the roasting pan.

4. Mix together Five Spice, Cayenne Pepper, Salt and Pepper. Sprinkle over all sides of the chicken. Truss the chicken so that the legs and wings are firmly pressed to the body of the chicken. (If you don't know how, check this video out.) Place the trussed chicken in the roasting pan, breast side up. Place in the center of the oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and cook until a thermometer reaches 155 degrees.

Curried Lentils

2009-10-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, Mark & I spent a decadent weekend at Cannon Beach, compliments of my sister as a thank you for taking care of Tippy, her dog. We had one dinner at EVOO, the cooking school in the middle of downtown Cannon Beach. It was a lot of fun and the dinner was excellent. The chef even gave us his recipes to take home. Oh Boy! However, when I tried to make the curried lentils he served with a nice piece of halibut, crusted with hazelnuts, I realized that there were several main ingredients missing. So, with a little help from the Internet, I came up with the following.

Inspiration: A fabulous weekend at the coast
Time: 15 minutes prep and 45 to cook
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Green lentils (ok, so lentils aren't equipment, but you need these because they don't turn to mush when you cook them)
Servings: 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, cleaned and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cup Umbrian or green lentils, picked clean and rinsed
3 cups stock (any kind)

Saute the vegetables in a heavy pot with the olive oil until aromatic and golden. Add the garlic and saute for 5 minutes more. Add the curry powder and saute until fragrant. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the lentils are cooked, about 1/2 hour.

Since we had just had halibut several nights earlier, I marinated raw shrimp in oil, mashed garlic and salt for 30 minutes, grilled them and placed them over the lentils, finishing off with chopped cilantro.

Cream of Tomato Soup

2009-10-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

I'm embarrassed. No posts in a month. Ridiculous. Especially given that I have been razzing my sister for not posting. I'll try to do better I promise.

So our garden has runnith over with tomatoes. Not particularly surprising given that we raised 70 starts and planted 23 of them. And no amount of tomato sandwiches, caprese salads, or dried tomatoes can make a dent. So on a chilly fall night, I tried (and failed) to make a dent by making a cream of tomato soup, complete with grilled cheese sammiches. Perfect accompany to GLEE night.

Inspiration: Too many tomatoes
Time: 75 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Immersion Blender
Servings: 8

Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 tbs olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme and oregano leaves, chopped
1/2 cup red wine
12-15 large heirloom tomatoes, peels removed and quatered (DO NOT REMOVE SEEDS OR DRAIN) (if tomatoes are not in season, use 3-4 cans of unseasoned diced tomatoes)
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half and half (option substitute: Whole milk...or cream if you are decadent)
10 leaves of basil, sliced thin as possible

1. Saute onion, carrots and celery in oil until onions are translucent. Add garlic, herbs, salt and pepper to taste and saute until carrots are tender. Delgaze pan with wine.

2. Add Tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Using immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Add in half and half and return to boil. If you do not have an immersion blender, get one...Just kidding. You can use a standar blender or food processor...just remember boiling liquid is VERY HOT. So please be careful. And remember, I warned you to get an immersion blender.

4. Ladle into bowls to serve, and top with basil.

Note: Goes great with grilled cheese sammiches. Can top with a bit of reduced balsamic vinegar to cut the sweetness of the tomatoes, or a small dollop of creme fraiche

Spanish Tortilla

2009-08-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

So. A big change in our lives between my last post on the 4th and this one, which is why I haven't been posting. Jenny and I got a dog. Her name is Izzy, and she's great. However, now instead of starting dinner right when we get home, Iz insists we take her for a walk. By the time we're home and ready to start dinner, it's already after 7 o'clock. Now most of what we make and post on the blog is fairly quick and easy, but it's been hard to pull my attention away from Iz long enough to post a new recipe. I'm really sorry about that, but it's our honeymoon phase. Do you really expect anything different?

So on Tuesday night, post run around Peninsula Park, Iz and I made a Spanish Tortilla. Or more accurately, she ate the sausage and cheese that accidentally hit the floor. It was an accident, honest. I love my dog, but I'm not going to waste cheese and sausage. A Spanish Tortilla is a perfect left over meal, and the ingredients, other than the eggs are free game to play around with.

Inspiration: Growling stomach post Walkies
Time: 25 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Oven safe frying pan
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
1 potato, diced
1 tbs olive oil
3 chicken apple sausages (pre cooked), diced
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cut into cubes
5 eggs
Salt and pepper

1. In an oven safe fry pan, saute onion and potato in olive oil over medium-low heat until tender. Add sausage and cook until warm.
2. Lightly beat eggs with salt and pepper. Pour over onions, potatoes and sausage. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Let sit until eggs have firmed up. Do not stir (this isn't a scramble...it's a Tortilla!)
3. Once eggs have set up, place pan under broiler in oven to brown the top. Please remember that your pan will be very, very hot when you go to remove it. Sounds simple, but it's easy to forget.
4. Let sit for 5 minutes to cool. (it comes out of the pan better this way)

Banh' Mi' Grilled Vietnamese Sandwich

2009-08-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'm sure we've all had the experience where we have a meal at a restaurant and think to ourselves, "Shoot. I can do that." Well I finally got off my kiester last night, and recreated a simple Vietnamese sandwich that I get for lunch occasionally. The sandwich I have at lunch has honey glazed pork, pickled carrots, jalapenos and cilantro on a french baguette. What I came up with isn't too different, and just as tasty, especially when served with Sea Salt and Vinegar Kettle chips to help cut the heat.

Inspiration: Friday lunches with the girls
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: A BBQ
Servings: 4

Ingredients
1 cup Spicy Soy Sauce
4 thin cut, off the bone, pork chops
1 long french baguette, cut into quarters, and sliced in half
olive oil
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper
1 carrots, cut into strips with a peeler
1 cucumber, slice as thinly as you can
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and cut into circles
butter
garlic chili paste
fresh cilantro
fresh basil

1. Wash and pat dry pork chops. Marinate in spicy soy sauce for 15 minutes.

2. While pork is marinating, slice your baguette segments in half, and brush each side with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little bit of garlic powder and Cayenne pepper.

3. Grill meat on both sides until cooked (about 4 minutes total...if that...thin cut pork cooks quickly). Let rest 5-10 minutes and then slice into bite sized pieces.

4. After you pull your meat off the grill, place your baguettes on the grill inside down so that they grill while absorbing the left over meat juices. Toast until bread is golden brown.

5. To assemble the sandwich, spread butter on one side warm baguette. Spread chili paste to taste on the other. Build each sandwich to taste with carrots, cucumbers, jalapenos, cilantro stems, basil, and pork.

Note: I've also seen Banh'Mi' made with pork pate, lemon grass beef, or teriaki chicken. The beauty of this sandwich is the fresh baguette and the combination of fresh herbs and spicey flavors. Feel free to mix and match. In fact, share what you mix and match in the comment section.

Fish Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

2009-07-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

What to do when you invite your son and his girlfriend over for dinner and he insists on a dish that isn't in your repertoir much less your recipe file? Thank heavens for the Net! Joe requested fish tacos for dinner when invited over for Sunday supper last week. Every time I suggested something else, he had a quick come back that included "fish tacos". So off to Costco I went & found a nice piece of halibut and after finding about 5 different recipes by "googling" fish tacos, and after adding a few ideas of my own, came up with the attached. I list most of the condiments as optional. Needless to say, I served them all. I must say, I was very pleased with the results.

Inspiration: Not able to say "No"
Time: 1 hour to prep, 2 hours to marinade & 30 minutes to cook
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: A BBQ grilling screen (not necessary, but makes life easier)
Servings: 4

For the fish tacos:

1/3 cup lime juice
1/4 cup tequila
1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
3 cloves garlic, mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 pound halibut, cut into 4 pieces
taco shells (or fresh corn tortillas if you want soft tacos)
Grilled Pineapple Salsa (recipe follows)
Cojita cheese, shredded (can substitute cheddar)
Sliced avocados (or guacamole) - (opt)
Pickled Onions (opt - recipe for another time!)
Pico de Gallo (opt)
Sour cream (opt)
Chipotle Tobascco Sauce (opt)

Mix the first 8 ingredients together and put in a sealable plastic bag along with the fish. Let marinate for 30 minutes or up to two hours. (I let it sit for the two hours). Heat your BBQ & grill the fish until opaque. Place each piece on a plate and serve with the remaining condiments.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

1/2 whole pineapple, with the skin cut off and cut in eights
1 teaspoon aleppo chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup red onion diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped fine
Lemon (or lime) juice to taste

Mix the chili powder, salt & sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle all sides of the pineapple with this mixture. Place on grilling screen on hot BBQ and grill on all sides until hot & grill marks show, but not soft. Remove from grill & cool. Cut into small pieces and mix with the red onion, cilantro, jalapeno and lemon juice. Let sit for 1 hour to let flavors meld. (Note: I had leftover salsa & served it with grilled pork chops the next night.)

Boysenberry Frozen Yogurt

2009-07-15T13:07:00.001-07:00

Monday night, while waiting for Jenny to return from her Trip to Nanimo, I finally did something that I have been wanting to do for months, but never gotten around to it. That's right. I made yogurt. Okay so maybe my life isn't the most exciting in the world, but at least it now comes with home-made yogurt.

While I would love to write up the recipe for yogurt on here, I don't want to infringe on any copyright laws. I mean, as meaningful as it would be to receive a letter from Food Network or Alton Brown, the threat of a lawsuit is really not the way I'd like to go about it. So you'll have to go to here for Alton Brown's yogurt recipe which I am using for the base of my fro-yo.

Inspiration: A Good Eats Episode
Time: Over night for draining, 3o minutes for making, 2 hours for freezing
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: Cheese cloth, 8 cups of Alton Brown's yogurt, ice cream maker
Servings: 2 quarts fro-yo

Ingredients:
8 cups yogurt
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
rind from half a lemon (yellow part only), minced
1 pint fresh boysenberries, washed and dried.

1. Place a colander in a bowl and line with cheese cloth. Place yogurt into lined colander and drain yogurt in refrigerator overnight.

2. In the morning, discard yogurt juice, and remove yogurt solids into a mixing bowl. Stir in corn syrup, sugar, lemon rind and berries.

3. Freeze in ice cream maker to the manufacturer's directions.

4. Turn out into a container that can be sealed air tight and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Note: you could use any seasonal berry, but if it's a firm berry (like strawberries) you might want to mash the berry before adding to the yogurt.

Spicy Soy Sauce

2009-07-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

An interesting sidebar that has come from my moving in with Jenny 6 months ago is discovering our condiment choices. Well...it's interesting to me at the very least. We have a wide range of sweet, tangy, tart and spicy. So if you were to look through the different items located on our refrigerator door (which I pray you never will) you will see everything from Miracle whip, to Garlic and herb hummus to Banana sweet and sour sauce to Cock sauce (garlic chili paste). You'll even find two kinds of Soy Sauce. I mean, why use soy sauce when you can use spicy soy sauce?

Inspiration: Making Soy Sauce Saucier
Time: 10 minutes to throw together
Difficulty: ridiculously easy
Special equipment: 2 cup mason Jar with lid
Servings: Depends how much you use soy sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons chili garlic paste (or to taste. I like mine spicy, so I use 3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil

1. Place all ingredients in a 2 cup mason jar. Seal with lid, and shake well.

That's it.

Note: This is a great marinade for chicken, flank steak and even salmon. You can put it over grilled or sauteed veggies, steamed rice or anywhere else you might use soy sauce.

Banana Bread

2009-06-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Over-ripe bananas. They smell, they are squishy & they look terrible. Mark always eats bananas for breakfast (I personally can't stand them), but invariably we end up with left over ones that get too ripe. Because I'm not overly fond of banana bread either, Mark always makes it. This recipe came from my grandmother and was found in one of those small town, everyone shares a recipe, cookbook. We have gone way beyond the basic recipe, adding cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and what ever fruit (blueberries, cherries, etc) and nuts we happen to have on hand.

Inspiration: Left-over, over-ripe bananas
Time: 10 minutes to throw together, 1 hour to bake
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: bread loaf pan
Servings: 1 loaf

2 cups flour -- sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup walnuts -- chopped
1/4 cup salad oil
1 cup bananas -- mashed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 whole egg -- lightly beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Sift together the dry ingredients, add the nuts, combine the remaining ingredients and mix all together. Stir only until the flour is moistened.
Use 5 x 9 loaf pan. Sprinkle cinnamon & sugar mixture over the top of loaf.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Pacific Pie Co.

2009-06-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

We all have nights when we don't want to cook. That used to mean that I would end up going out to eat, or bringing home take out. While it's convenient, and saves time and energy, it's not good for me, it's expensive and it doesn't taste as good as home made comfort food.

Fortunately, I met Chris and Sarah, who just moved to Portland and started a Aussie Meat Pie company called Pacific Pie Co. They hand make individual meat (or meatless) pies with all natural and organic ingredients that I can just throw in the oven and have a piping hot, home cooked meal in 20 short minutes later.

You have two options for these pies. One, you can visit Chris or Sarah at one of the many farmers markets they sell at and pick up a cooked and ready to eat. Or, pick up frozen pies and take them home. I usually visit their website, pacificpieco.com, to see what pies they are featuring that week, and pre-order them for pick up.

Balsalmic Potato Salad

2009-06-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a tough couple of months for Everyday Chef. I've been working almost nonstop at work on a project that has had me writing specifications and copy, laying out pages and then editing said specs and copy and pages for the most minute of minute details for nearly 4 months. This has drained of almost any energy to think or cook creatively. You may be wondering what I've been eating over this time, and I think you'll find most of your answers in the previous 68 posts. Now that I'm almost done with the project, and after one healthy serving of guilt from the one and only Ashish, the idea of sitting down with my computer to write an entry doesn't make me nearly as nauseous as it did a month ago.

One of the few things that I did come up with over the past couple of months was a new grilled potato salad that is even easier than the one I posted on June 26th, 2008. HOLY COW. That was a year ago. Happy belated birthday Everyday Chef!

Inspiration: Brand new grill
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: Grill + Veggie pan
Serving Size: 4-6 side dishes

3 large Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 sweet onion cubed
1/4 C olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1. In a large pot of water, par boil potatoes for 8-10 minutes (if using small potatoes, you can reduce the time by 2-3 minutes. You don't want to cook them entirely). If skins are falling off, your potatoes are over cooked. If they are mushy, then make mashed potatoes instead. If the potatoes are still firm, you can cube and grilled...but it may be messy.

2. Cube them into bite sized pieces. Toss with onion, oil and salt and pepper. Using a grilling basket, cook potatoes and onions on a grill over medium-high heat until potatoes are cooked through. Remove into a serving bowl

3. While potatoes are cooking, reduce balsamic vinegar to 1/4 of a cup in a small sauce pan over medium low heat on your stove. The reduction should be syrupy. Toss the grilled potatoes with the veggies and serve.

Guacamole

2009-05-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

It's cinco de mayo. A holiday, I have come to learn, that is primarily celebrated in the United States (not Mexico) for a guilt free excuse to enjoy as much guacamole and tequila as the body can handle (presumably not to the point of excess). So when it was announced that my office was having a Cinco potluck, I knew I had to do my best to help my coworkers in their consumption. Sadly, there was no tequila involved.

Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special Equipment: None
Servings: 4-6 people

Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 habenaro, seeds removed and diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lime

1. Mash garlic cloves to a paste with salt and cumin
2. Mash avocados, and mix with the garlic paste
3. Stir in remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Note: the longer you let it sit, the spicier it will get. But it will also want to brown. I recommend keeping the Avocado pit in the guac until you're ready to serve.

Carbonara (aka Bacon Pasta)

2009-03-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

It shouldn't have been a big deal. Whoa. That makes it sound way more dramatic than I meant it to. It wasn't a big deal. To me at least. I hope it wasn't a big deal for Jenny either. As far as I had it figured, it was just another Saturday night dinner.

For my mother on the other hand, it was a big deal. Partly because Jenny and I have been dating for a year and a half. Partly because of our new living sintuation. Mostly it was because my dad already met Jenny's folks and she had not...that and the fact that he regularly rubbed it in ("They're such nice people!")

So, after months of subtle hints, heavy sighs and not so subtle hints, we finally made it happen. Jenny and I had my folks and her folks over for dinner so they could meet. Secretly, my mom rejoiced.

Now, most people would probably think this event would be cause for massive planning. But I've been so insanely busy lately that I don't have time to plan dinner for tonight let alone a week ahead. I wanted something that would be easy to cook in case I needed to facilitate conversation. I wanted something that would be tasty because I don't miss opportunities to be showered in praise. And I wanted something baconny, because who doesn't like bacon? So I settled on Carbonara, a creamy, baconny pasta dish. And I am happy to report that it was a success as was the entire evening.

Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special Equipment: some really good bacon
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
1 lb of penne pasta
12 slices of really good bacon, cut into thick lardons
3 zuccini, quartered lengthwise and then cut into 1 inch lengths
3 yellow squash, quartered lengthwise and then cut into 1 inch lengths
5-6 springs of thyme, leaves removed from branches
2 cups of heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1 1/2 C of grated parmesasn

1. In a large pot, cook pasta in salted water.
2. Meanwhile, Saute bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Drain all but 3 tbs of bacon grease.
3. In reserved bacon grease, saute the zuccini, yellow squash and thyme until squash is al-dente. Remove from heat.
4. Stir cream, egg yolks and half of the parmesan into the squash and bacon . Stir until smooth cream sauce is smooth. If sauce is too thick, add 1/4 cup of pasta water.
5. Drain cooked pasta and toss with cream sauce and the rest of the parmesan.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Pancetta Sage Butter Roast Turkey

2009-03-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

I have come to discover that life is full of unintended consequences. Take for instance my moving in with Jenny over the weekend. When all was said and done, I had to roast a turkey. Pretty crazy right? It wasn't as if she said, "make me a turkey buster, or you're out of here." That statement came from her refrigerator.

Jenny's fridge was already stuffed to the gills prior to me showing up with my cooler full of frozen meat, including one 14lb frozen turkey complements of my work place. After dutifully rearranging all of the food, and playing freezer Tetrus, I had two options. Put the turkey in the freezer and eat 4lb of pork chops, 2 lbs of ground beer, 2lbs of flank steak, 3.5 lbs of chuck roast, and 1 fryer chicken...or roast the turkey. I thought the decision was obvious. Here's to a thanksgiving dinner on Monday night in March!

Time: 3 hours of active time, 24 hours for brine
Difficulty: moderate
Special Equipment: food processor, roasting pan, 5 gallon and clean/sterile bucket (or other non-reactive pot of equivalent size)
Servings: 8

Ingredients:
1 12-14 lb Turkey, thawed, neck and innards removed, and then rinsed.

Brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water
Pancetta-Sage Butter:
4 garlic cloves, peeled
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

1. Prepare panchette-sage butter up to 2 days ahead of time. With food processor running, drop garlic down feed tube of processor and chop. Add pancetta. Pulse to chop finely. Add all remaining ingredients. Pulse blending to coarse paste. Transfer to small bowl. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.

2. Brine the Turkey. Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. The the night before cooking combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) overnight. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

3. Prepare turkey for Roasting. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Bring Pancetta Butter to room temperature. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

4. Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine. Pat the bird dry with paper towels and then place on a cutting board. Using your hands, gently separate the skin of the bird from the breast and thighs as much as you can without tearing the skin. Stuff the skin with pancetta butter. Do your best to evenly coat breast and thighs with the pancetta butter.

5.Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil. Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and return bird to oven. Cook until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast or thigh reaches 154 degrees (A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting.) Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

Note: This Turkey was derived from Alton Brown's Good Eats Roast Turkey, and a Pancetta Sage Butter Roast turkey found on epicurious.com

Sweet and Spicy Bacon

2009-02-25T21:24:00.000-08:00

This year's winner for best bacon appetizer was Chris' sweet and spicy bacon. It was very nearly unanimous. It's funny how simple things are often the best, in this case, spicy glazed bacon strips.

Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special Equipment: some really good bacon
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 lb thick-cut bacon slices

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Stir together brown sugar, cayenne, and black pepper in a small bowl.

3. Arrange bacon slices in 1 layer (not overlapping) on rack of a large broiler pan. Bake 20 minutes. Turn slices over and sprinkle evenly with spiced sugar. Continue baking until bacon is crisp and deep golden, 20 to 35 minutes more (check bacon every 5 minutes). Transfer to paper towels to drain.

NOTE: This recipe came from Gourmet Magazine, November of 2001

Nippy Brussel Sprouts

2009-02-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

When my paternal grandmother passed away, I was sent a box of her recipes. In this box, I found a small cut out from some long-forgotten newspaper that had a recipe for Nippy Greenbeans. I tried it out on my family and it quickly became a favorite. Last Saturday night, I was searching the web for something to do with some wonderfully smokey and salty bacon that Shannon had made and given me. I had brussel sprouts in the fridge & was searching the web for something new and exciting. Every time I suggested a recipe, my husband would counter with "Nippy Brussel Sprouts". So I finally gave in and the result is a new twist on an old favorite. Oh, and this works well with green beans too!

Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special Equipment: some really good bacon
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
1/2 pound brussel sprouts, trimmed & halved
3 slices of thick-cut bacon
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons cidar vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine
1/2 teaspoon dill
1/4 teaspoon savory

1. Cook the brussel sprouts in boiling, salted water until just cooked. Drain and set aside.
2. Cook the bacon until crisp. Remove from grease & drain.
3. Pour off all but 1-2 tablespoons of the bacon fat. Saute the shallot in the bacon fat until golden. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping up the brown bits. Add the vinegar, dill, savory and salt & pepper to taste.
4. Re-heat the pan that the brussel sprouts were cooked in. Add the brussel sprouts & shake to make sure they are dried. Add the dressing and toss to coat.

Bacon Avocado Milkshakes

2009-02-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

The first of hopefully many bacon recipes that was unleashed at the bacon party is Colin's Bacon Avocado Milkshakes. When pressed as to where he got his inspiration, he calmly responded, "What goes better with avocado than bacon?" Hard to argue with that logic.

Inspiration: Bacon Party
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: Blender

Ingredients
3 avocados, peeled and pitted.
1/2 cup of ice
2 tbs sugar
1 cup milk (plus or minus, depending on the consistency you prefer)
Crispy bacon strips for garnish

1. Put all ingredients in a blender and puree.
2. Serve with a sprig bacon (Or you may blend bacon directly into shake)
3. Drink near AED or with phone pre-dialed to 911.

Note: I think I must prefer milk shakes a little more milky and a little sweeter than Colin. So I would add more milk and more sugar.

Sausage Cabbage Soup

2009-02-11T14:12:00.000-08:00

The other day when I was at Gartner's (my most favorite meat store in all of Portland), I noticed they had some specialty beer brats made up for the super bowl. While I had no immediate use for them, I couldn't pass up the chance to buy special brats for consumption down the road. So I bought a four banger, and threw them in my freezer for future use.

Flash forward to Tuesday night. I had a hankering for those brats, but I didn't feel like the same old-same old (as much as I love brats, mustard and kraut!). While I was digging in my freezer for the brats, I came across the turkey stock my sister made this past year. Then it hit me. Sausage-cabbage soup would be a perfect alternative way to enjoy the brats. Besides which, special brats and special turkey stock would make one hell of a special soup. And darn if it wasn't one of the tastier ways to eat a brat.

Inspiration: Special brats and special broth
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: very large soup pot + a super nice sister that shares her turkey stock with you.

Ingredients:

4 bratwurst sausages (poked with fork or knife a couple of times on all sides)
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced
2-3 small carrots, diced
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 cup white wine
3 Yukon gold potatoes, cubed into bite sized pieces
8 cups turkey stock (chick broth can substitute)

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add in whole bratwurst and brown on all sides. Remove and let cool. Once cool, cut into 1/2 rounds, and then again in half.
2. In remaining oil and sausage fat, saute onions and carrots and cabbage. After a couple of minutes add herbs and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent.
3. When onions are cooked, deglaze the pan with the white wine. Make sure to do your best to scrape up all of the sausagey goodness on the bottom.
4. Add in potatoes and stock. Bring to a boil and then turn down heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve with crusty french baguette

Bacon Party Review

2009-02-02T13:09:00.001-08:00

Every year, I co-host a bacon party. It all started when a friend of mine and I thought that given how much people love bacon, we should create a party dedicated to it. So we devised a potluck where everything had to have bacon in it (in some form or another). And because we were naturally competitive people, we felt a competition to see who could make the best bacon dish was in order (complete with bacon prizes).

The first year people were just getting their feet wet. We had mainstays like bacon twice baked potatoes and devils-on-horseback, and we had some creative leaning dishes like bacon apple crisp and bacon bloody marys.

Last year, people were a little more adventuresome. Maple bacon creme brulee, Bacon Baklava and Bacon Pistachio Brittle were all winners. We had nearly 25 bacon dishes in all, and as a result I had a week long bacon hangover. (Coincidentally, this is when the national bacon trend/craze started gaining popularity. I'm sure we started it)

This year, in an effort to direct people's creativity, we provided 5 categories (each with a 5 dish cap) for people to enter. It was amazing what people came up with, and how well the dishes were executed. We even had a couple that are remodeling their kitchen compete (and all they had to make their Bacon Cheddar Soup was a hot plate!). I'm going to see if I can get some of the recipes and I'll import them onto the blog. Until then, I'm happy to take a little hiatus on the bacon (at least until tomorrow night).

Bacon Appetizers:
-Nut filled, bacon topped dried apricots
-Sweet and Spicy Glazed Bacon (WINNER)
-Buffalo Bacon
-Bacon Pierogi
-Bacon Guacamole (two entries)

Bacon Side Dish
-Bacon Dinner Rolls (WINNER)
-Bacon Cheddar Soup
-Bacon Mac and Cheese

Bacon Veggie
-Bacon and Grilled Asparagus Salad (WINNER)
-Bacon Ratatouille
-Bacon Jalapeno Poppers

Bacon Main Dish
-Bacon Wrapped Grilled Shrimp
-Bacon Braised Beef Wellies (WINNER)
-Bacon Explosion

Bacon Desserts:
-Bacon Ice Cream Sandwiches
-Bacon, Chocolate Bread Pudding with a Bacon Creme Anglaise
-Bacon Caramels (WINNER)
-Bacon Sugar Cookies
-Bacon Avocado Milk Shake
-Bacon Caramel Corn

Canadian Bacon, Leek and Gouda Quiche

2009-01-30T09:11:00.001-08:00

Real mean don't eat quiche. At least that's what I hear. I don't understand where that came from. As far as I see it, quiche is basically pie. Breakfast pie to be exact. And what real man doesn't like pie for breakfast? Frankly, I might have to personally revoke man cards for men who don't like pie, especially eggy pie with bacon in it. Oh well. More for the rest of us, I guess.

Inspiration: Feeding 15 people for breakfast at the PUFF board retreat
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: Pie plate

Ingredients:

1 store bought, uncooked pie shell (If you have time to make your own, then feel free. But this everyday chef picks his battles)
3 large eggs (If you like an eggier custard, then use 4 eggs)
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 leek, cut in half length wise, and then into 1/2" rounds
3-4 slices of thick cut Canadian bacon, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbs of butter
1 cup Gouda, grated

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper together until frothy.

3. Oven medium heat, saute leeks and Canadian bacon until the leeks are tender.

3. Layer fillings in crust. Veggies and meat on bottom. Cheese on top.

4. Pour custard into pie shell. Bake in center of oven for 45-60 minutes until the crust is golden brown, the custard has set and the cheese is browned on top.

Note: You can change up the fillings anyway you like it. I always recommend a cheese on top though. You can also make ahead of time, freeze the cooled quiche and then reheat in oven just before serving.

Curry Chicken Noodle Soup

2009-01-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

My last year in college, I had a hard time finding anyone to live with. I was only going to school October through March and could not find anyone to live with that was willing to let me off the hook for the last 3 months of rent during the school year. So I ended up finding a studio apartment about a mile from campus where I lived alone for 6 months.

It seemed like a great idea at the time, but in hindsight, I am too social a person to live alone. It drove me crazy. At least a couple nights a week, I would find myself at home, around supper time, too tired to be social, too poor to go out and yet needing to find something to do with my time that wouldn't lead to reclusive behavior. Given that I was always hungry, the answer seemed obvious.

On these nights, I would go through my pantry and fuse together pieces of care packages I had received from my mother (pasta, canned tomatoes, curry), my sister (sake, wasabi peas, dried wild mushrooms) and my aunt (chocolate, creole spices, and pecans). I started to learn what flavors heightened others, what techniques produced what results and, very often what didn't work.

One of the few things that I make now that dates back to that time is a curried chicken noodle soup which I developed on a cold, fall night during midterms. It was actually my first success in the kitchen.

Inspiration: Cold, windy winter night
Time: 90 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: Soup pot

Ingredients

2 large Chicken breasts or 8 thighs, washed dried, cubed and seasoned with salt and pepper
Olive Oil
3 large carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 Tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp. Thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
6 cups chicken broth/stock
2 yukon gold potatoes, cubed
1/2 lb egg noodles
1 cup spinach, chiffonaded

1. In 2 tbs olive oil, brown chicken pieces until cooked. Remove chicken from pot leaving chicken juices in pot. Cook down until it is thick

2. Sauté carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs and curry powder in the chicken remains. (add a little olive oil if necessary). Cook until onions are translucent.

3. Slowly add 4 cups of stock while scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze pan. Add potatoes and simmer uncovered until potatoes are cooked.

4. Add remaining stock, chicken and egg noodles.Cook noodles until they are al dente.

To serve, place small handful of spinach at bottom of bowl and pour soup over to wilt spinach. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Beet Salad

2009-01-15T11:31:00.001-08:00

My mom doesn't like beets. I don't know why. I find them to be sweet, earthy and go great with a pleasantly smooth texture. My mom thinks they taste like dirt. So I was a little surprised when she agreed to my request to make a roasted beet salad to go with Christmas Eve paella.

Given that I wanted to convert her to the wiser way of eating, I thought I would make a similar dish to the first first beet dish I always enjoyed: oven roasted tossed with goat cheese and drizzled with olive oil. The difference in my dish is that I add fennel to my roasting pan which adds a subtle licorice flavor, and toasted pecans for a bit of texture. While I don't think I've changed her opinion of beets, she did at least finish her plate and feigned the enjoyment of eating them.

Inspiration: Christmas Paella
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: flat baking sheet with sides

Ingredients:
4-5 medium sized beets, washed, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
2 heads of fennel, tops removed and cubed into bite sized pieces
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp. brown mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
2 oz chevre
1/2 cup, toasted pecans
1/2 cup spinach, sliced thinly

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place baking sheet into oven to warm up with the oven.
2. Mash garlic to a paste with salt, stir in mustard. With a whisk, slowly beat in oil to incorporate.
3. Toss beets and fennel with the garlic-mustard-olive oil mixture and spread on the baking pan that was preheating in the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, tossing once or twice, until beets and fennel is tender. (note, this might take longer depending on your oven)
4. Place the thinly sliced spinach into serving bowl. Remove the beets and fennel onto the spinach, and let cool slightly. Drop in almond sized bits of chevre and the toasted pecans. Toss and serve.

Banana Cream Shanny Face Pie

2009-01-06T16:02:00.000-08:00

My what a holiday season. 9 days off from work, 8 inches of snow, 6 cases of beer, 3 cases of wine, 2 relatives in town from over seas and one banana cream Shanny face pie. Whew. No wonder my blog suffered.

I'm going to do my best to make up for my slacking by updating the blog with some of the fantastic things we ate last month. I'm going to start with a dessert that inspired what was one of my favorite moments of holidays and changed the way I will forever look at banana cream pie.

It all started when my sister insisted that I make a banana cream pie to go along with our traditional mince meat pie for Christmas Eve Dessert. I was thinking more in the line of a pecan pie, but she insisted because it is her favorite.

Being the nice brother that I am, I made what she wanted. After a fantastic Paella dinner, I brought out the two beautiful pies and began serving everyone. When it came time to serve my sister, I began to cut a healthy slice. She stopped me and said she only wanted the smallest of slices. Needless to say I was stunned and hurt by this drastic change in events.

My aunt vaulted to my defense, telling me, you know what I would do with that pie if someone said that to me after making such a fuss . On this cue, I pick up the pie and mocked like I was going to shove it into my sister's face. My aunt jumped up and said, "No, WAIT! Let me get my camera first," and dashed out of the room. Seconds later, camera in hand and ready to fire. "Okay. Go ahead," she said.

In hindsight, it wasn't a very nice thing to do, and ultimately it led to the pie being unceremoniously tossed into the trash, but clearly I had no choice. My aunt had thrust me into a precarious corner. I had the pie in my hand, inches away from my sister's face, and a camera poised to capture the event for posterity. I could either put it back on the table and be seen as the nice, albeit cowardly brother, or I could follow through with my promise be recognized as a man of my word. In the end, I buckled under pressure. While I didn't smash the pie into her face, I did gently ease it nose deep onto her shocked face. It wasn't a nice thing to do, but I do feel better about myself having done it.

Inspiration: My ("Everything is about ME") sister
Time: 20 minutes or so to make, 1 hour to chill custard, and overnight for pie to set up
Difficulty: Easy, once you get the hang of making custard
Special Equipment: Medium sized, heavy sauce pan

Ingredients:

Prepared Pie Crust: Either a graham cracker crust or a traditional butter crust
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 large egg yolks
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 pounds total), peeled, cut crosswise in half

1. Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt in heavy medium sauce pan to blend. Gradually whisk in whipping cream and whole milk, then egg yolks. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add vanilla bean.
2. Whisk over medium-high heat until custard thickens and boils, about 6 minutes.
3. Remove from heat. Whisk in unsalted butter and vanilla extract. Discard vanilla bean.
4. Transfer custard to large bowl; cool completely, whisking occasionally, about 1 hour.
5. Stir custard to loosen, if necessary. Spread 1 cup custard over bottom of prepared crust. Top with half of sliced bananas, then 1 cup custard, covering bananas completely. Repeat layering with remaining bananas and remaining custard. Chill banana cream pie until filling is set and crust softens slightly, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Cut pie into wedges and serve.

Winter Spiced Coffee

2009-01-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

Amy says she loves every little thing about me with the possible exception of my willingness to tolerate bad coffee. I can live with that. This is about a coffee that even Amy likes and she is p-i-c-k-y. Trader Joe's has a coffee called Wintery Blend. After sampling it at the store, I loved it and I bought a can of it. When I went back to stock up on more, it wasn't on the shelves, so I set about trying to figure out how to make it myself. To be honest, I found the recipe online. So what. It's delicious.

Inspiration: Knocking off TJ Wintery Blend coffee
Time: While the pie heats up
Difficulty: Super Easy
Special Equipment: Bean Grinder

Ingredients:
Whole bean coffee
whole cloves
ground cinnamon
red and/or white peppercorns

The exact amount of spice you’ll need depends not only on your personal tastes, but on how much coffee you brew at a time. I suggest starting with about 3 cloves, 3 or 4 peppercorns and a good sized pinch of cinnamon for 1/2 cup of beans, grinding it all in your coffee grinder and adjusting as necessary. You can make it by the pot or by the pound.

Scalloped Potatoes

2008-12-17T15:03:00.000-08:00

"And don't forget the flour." That's what my mother said to me when I asked her how she makes her scalloped potatoes. "Layers of potato, onion powder, pepper, butter and flour and topped off with whole milk. And don't forget the flour." 3 guesses what I did.

It all started when I got a hankering for scalloped potatoes on our third consecutive day of below freezing weather. It just sounded warm and comforting. Having never made them, I briefly confirmed with mother goose the basics and then set to work. I used my food processor to uniformly (and quickly) slice the potatoes wafer thin. I had my roommates pick up three thick slices of ham from the store which I then cut up into chunks. And then I went to work. Potatoes, salt, pepper, onion powder, ham, butter. Potatoes, salt, pepper, onion powder, ham, butter. Potatoes, salt, pepper, onion powder, ham, butter until my baking dish wash full. As I poured the milk over the top, and all my roommates admired the pretty dish, it hit me. !@#$%. I forgot the flour.

It turned out tasty, but very liquidy. It definitely needs the flour.

Inspiration: It's Frickin' Freezing Out Side
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Food processor with slicing tool, deep baking dish
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients
4-5 Yukon Gold potatoes, washed and dried
2 slices 1/4" thick cut ham, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 stick of butter, cubed small
onion powder
black pepper
FLOUR
1 pint whole milk

1. Using a food processor, slice the potatoes as thin as possible. If you don't have a slice mechanism (or a food processor for that matter), you will have to hand cut the potatoes, as thinly and uniformly as possible.
2. Grease the bottom and sides of a deep baking dish. (I used olive oil)
3. Create a layer of potatoes on the bottom, over lapping the edges so that the bottom of the pan is covered. Sprinkle with 1/8th tsp onion powder, 1/8th tsp. black pepper and 1/2-1 tsp flour. Spread a small portion of the ham across the bottom and butter. Repeat this until you have either exhausted space in your baking dish or have run out of potatoes.
4. Pour milk over the top of the potatoes until it reaches the 2nd before the top layer.
5. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 for 40-45 minutes. It should be golden brown on the top, and a knife should easily pierce the potatoes.

Winter Stew

2008-12-15T13:00:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, my roommates, our friends Shiv and Ra, their dogs and I piled into the hippie van and drove out to Beaver Creek to find a couple of Christmas Trees. The forecast called for snow at about 1000 feet and boy did it ever. For the better part of an hour we ran around the tree farm, throwing snowballs at each other, chasing the dogs, and eventually cutting down a couple of trees, all the while it flurried around us. It wasn't until we got back into the van that we realized how cold we were. We figured the best thing to do was to make a big pot of buffalo stew to warm us back up.

Inspiration: Tree Hunting
Time: 3 hours
Difficulty: Super easy
Special equipment: Cast Iron top dutch oven (enamel coated a plus)
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients
2 lbs stew meat (beef, buffalo, or venison)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbs flour
3 tbs olive oil
4 cups beef broth
1 pint dark beer (such as porter or stout)
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh oregano
2-3 bay leaves
3 medium carrots, peeled and chunked up - bite sized
3 celery stalks, chunked up - bite sized
3 Yukon gold potatoes, chunked up - bite sized

1. Toss the stew meat with the flour and salt and pepper until coated. Over medium high heat, cook the stew meat in the dutch oven with oil in batches until browned on all sides.

2. Once browned, add all stew meat back into the dutch oven. Add in broth and beer and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Using butchers string, tie the herb sprigs together and add to the simmering pot (this makes it way easier to remove the sprigs later). Add in the bay leaves. Cover and let simmer for 2 hours. (check on this occasionally to make sure that it's simmering and not a rolling boil.)

3. About 20 minutes before you're ready to eat, add the potatoes, carrots and celery into the pot and continue to simmer. As soon as the carrots and potatoes are soft, remove the bay leaves and the sprigs from the stew. Serve hot.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2008-12-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, while visiting my Mom's Aunt Jan and Uncle Red at their property on Snag Lake in the Warner Mountains, Jan taught me the art of making biscuits while camping. I thought she was nuts. It actually turned out to be a super simple technique involving a cast iron dutch oven, some charcoal and Bisquick biscuit dough. While making the biscuit dough, I was telling Jan about my failed attempt to make a sourdough for bread and biscuits and the like when Red said to me, "Now Joe, Do you believe there is a better recipe for biscuits that is as easy to make as Bisquick?" It was not a question. You have to understand that, even in his 70's, Red was an imposing man. He stood over six feed, was still muscular from his days as a forest ranger, spoke very loudly and he had a complete disregard for personal space. So I took his question as a challenge to find him a recipe for biscuits from scratch that are as good as Bisquick and just as easy. Red, wherever you may be, I am happy to say, I've done it.

Inspiration: Red's Biscuit Challenge
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Super easy
Special equipment: Cheese grater
Servings: 8-10

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, grated using a cheese grater
3/4 cup buttermilk
Milk, for brushing the biscuits

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Into a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and blend in the butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal.

3. Add the buttermilk, stir the mixture until it just forms a dough, and gather it into a ball. On a lightly floured surface knead the dough gently 6 times and pat it out into a rectangle, roughly 1/2-inch thick.

4. Using a knife, divide the dough into 12 even-sized squares. Separate the squares and invert the squares onto a lightly greased baking sheet.

5. Brush the tops of the squares with the milk, bake the biscuits in the middle of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are pale golden, and transfer them on to a rack. Serve the biscuits at room temperature.

Simple Vinaigrette

2008-12-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

Last night I had a potluck board meeting and was fortunately assigned salad duty. I say "fortunately" because salad is easy and my free time has been scarce this past week due to catching-up-at-work-post-vacation (I know, big sob story). The holidays are also in full swing, which hit me over the head when I went shopping for the fixings. Runny-nose kids were jumping on toy displays, ladies clad with coupons were racing through the aisles (and taking out elbows with their carts), men with perplexed faces were picking apart the bric-a-brac on 2-day-sale tables, and I was fighting for my life (and the last fennel bulb) in the produce department. I survived the checkout lines and fled the store, only to realize that I had forgotten salad dressing. I refused to go back into the hell mouth that was Fred Meyers and wait in line again, so I raided the cupboards at home and whipped up this simple vinaigrette. It's not half bad...

Inspiration: Jingle-bell meltdown
Time: Under 5 minutes
Difficulty: What difficulty?

Ingredients:

1/4 cup quality vinegar (I mixed apple cider with balsamic)
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon finely-chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3/4 cup olive oil

Add first six ingredients and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Continue whisking and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Or, you can just pour all ingredients into a bottle with tight-fitting lid and shake it (and I mean shake it. Shake, shake, shake, shake it. Like a Polaroid picture.)

What to dress? For the salad, I caramelized red onion and fennel root and tossed it with 1/2 spinach, 1/2 field greens, fresh tomato, cucumber, carrots, pears and pecans. Yum. Goat cheese is also a great addition... but alas, another ingredient that I forgot to get at the store!

Pineapple Salsa over Grilled White Fish

2008-12-01T20:41:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite things to do is cook using local ingredients. Rarely is that more exciting than when you're visiting someplace exotic, like Maui for example. Known for many things (from beaches to Bikinis) Maui is probably best known for Maui gold. That is, its island grown Pineapple which are so incredibly flavorful and so incredibly sweet that you'll be hard pressed to eat a mainland pineapple ever again. They are that good.

Now, Maui pineapples can be found all over the island (although oddly not at the Safeway...go figure). Jenny and I were fortunately to have a local surf bum give us the low down on where to find the freshest fruit and the freshest fish, which just happened to be a 10 minute drive from our condo. We win!

Inspiration: When in Rome...err...Maui...
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Super easy
Special equipment: Grill or grill pan
Servings: 8 Adults and 2 munchkins

Ingredients:
6 fillets of fresh white fish (we had Mahi Mahi and Mon Clava caught earlier that morning)
1 large pineapple, chunked into bitesized pieces
1/2 papaya, seeded and chunked into bite sized pieces
1 medium Maui sweet onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and diced
1 tsp salt
1 lime, juiced
Fresh ground pepper to taste
(optional, 1 avocado, diced)

1. Season fresh fish with salt and pepper to taste on both sides. Let sit for 10 minutes
2. Meanwhile, toss together pineapple, papaya, onion, ginger in a medium sized bowl. Mash garlic to a paste with the salt, and stir in lime juice. Toss mixed fruit in garlic lime juice paste. Season with ground pepper to taste and set aside. (Let sit at least 20 minutes...the longer it sits the better. Like over night)
3. On a hot grill, cook fish briefly until done. Fresh fish fillets don't take long to cook. Maybe 4-5 minutes on either side)
4. Serve fish with salsa over the top of the fish.

CrockPot Stuffing

2008-11-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

While SOME people are off cavorting in the sun & sea, the rest of us get to cook this Thanksgiving. I'd like to share a secret I discovered years ago when I had only one small oven, a medium sized turkey and 12 hungry people coming over for dinner: my crockpot! It is simple, healthy, leaves oven space and makes perfect stuffing every time. And the best part is that you get to use what ever stuffing recipe you like! The hard part is keeping people from lifting the lid to take a taste.

Inspiration: Not enough room in the oven for extra stuffing.
Time: 4-6 hours
Difficulty: easy
Special Equipement: CrockPot
Servings: whatever your recipe says

Make your stuffing as if you were going to stuff the bird. Put it in the crockpot and cook on high for 45 minutes. Turn to low and cook for 4-6 hours.

Grilled Minty Lamb

2008-11-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

Last night I made Spanikopita. It was fantastic. Sauteed mushrooms, shallots and spinach all inside a crispy and buttery, triangular filo dough crust. So why am I not writing about it? I'll tell you why. I hate filo dough. It's such a pain in the butt. You have to move fast or it will dry out. If it's not perfectly thawed, it cracks. If it's too well thawed it sticks together. Pain Pain PAIN! So, before I add up the spanikopita recipe (it was too tasty not to), I want to get my technique down for working with filo dough so I can, in turn, make useful suggestions (instead of just using more butter, which is what I did). In the mean time, I think you should definitely try this simple recipe I used to grill a boneless leg of lamb to go along with the spanikopita.

Inspiration: My Big Fat Greek Wedding ("What do you mean you don't eat meat? That's okay I make lamb")
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Super easy
Special equipment: Grill or grill pan
Servings: 2 legs of lamb.

Ingredients:
2 one inch thick lamb steaks, washed and patted dry
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed (or 1 tsp ground coriander)
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup olive oil.

1. Mash garlic to a paste with salt. Mix in ground pepper and ground coriander.
2. Mince mint leaves until they are very finely chopped. Add to garlic paste with oil and mix thoroughly.
3. In a one gallon ziplock bag, pour garlic mint mixture over lamb steaks so that it coates the steaks evenly. Remove air from bag and seal. Let sit for 30 minutes.
4. On a hot grill, or on hot grill pan, cook lamb heat by searing on both sides for 4-5 minutes. You want lamb to be medium rare (NO EXCEPTIONS!), so it should still feel tender when you poke it (like if you press your index finger to your lips). Let steaks sit for 10 minutes before cutting into.

Note: You can make paste in a mini food processor if you have one.

Baked Goat Cheese

2008-11-13T18:39:00.000-08:00

I am extravagantly generous when it comes to most things. Even in these woeful economically down-turned times I’m still willing to spend lavishly on food, on friends and on myself. Money should not be an object when it comes to these all-important necessities. But there is one thing that I am stubbornly opposed to… and that is turning on the heater. My California born and bred husband can be blue to his toenails, huddled in a fetal position while his breath steams out of his silently screaming mouth, and I will still refuse to turn on the heat. Yes, I may be cruel. But it’s only 45 degrees outside right now. Put on some socks and suck it up.

And it is because of my attitude about turning on the heater, and because (I’ll never admit this to my husband) I’m kind of cold right now, that I am going to be defiantly contrary and post a recipe that should really only be eaten in the summer, at the height of tomato season.

Of course, this recipe can be enjoyed even in the dead of winter, while the remnants of our homegrown tomatoes are rotting on the vine because we’re too lazy to pull them out of the ground (I’ll get to them by Christmas, I swear.) But everything is better with freshly picked still-warm-from-the-sun tomatoes. Sigh. I’m feeling toastier already.

Cheap goat cheese works great in this recipe. I’m thinking of that massive tube you can get at Trader Joe’s for like four bucks. The good stuff is, of course, even better. But save the good stuff for when you’ve got the good tomatoes. This makes an excellent appetizer for parties or potlucks. But I must admit, we eat it for dinner quite often.

Inspiration: I’m not turning on the heater, damn it!
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Super easy
Special equipment: An oven-proof dish
Servings: 2 as dinner (yes, we’re pigs) or a crowd as an app.

Ingredients:
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 handful of fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded’ed
1 T balsamic vinegar (especially important if you’re using winter tomatoes)
2 T fruity extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (11 oz) goat cheese log
¼ cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped
1 good quality baguette, toasted until crispy and sliced thin

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.
1. Mash the garlic with a pinch of salt until a paste is formed. Add the balsamic vinegar and then the oil, whisking briskly to form an emulsion. Toss the dressing with the tomatoes and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the tomatoes into a soup plate or other serving dish.

2. Form the goat cheese into a disc approximately 1 ½" thick. Press the walnuts into the goat cheese to form an even coating. If you have extra walnuts, sprinkle them into the bottom of your baking dish and place the goat cheese on top.

3. Put the goat cheese in an ovenproof dish and bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is very soft when pressed with your finger.

4. Using a flat spatula, gently place the goat cheese on top of the tomato salad, sprinkle any loose walnuts over everything. Serve immediately with the baguette slices… A little dab of cheese, a topping of yummy tomato… Damn that’s good.

Note: The goat cheese can be prepped and stored in the fridge for up to 3 hours (any longer and the walnuts start to get soggy). Make sure you bring the goat cheese to room temperature before baking. The tomatoes can sit for about an hour at room temp before the basil starts to turn black.

Beef Gravy

2008-11-13T10:52:00.002-08:00

My mom and I have an agreement. When a meal calls for it, she makes the gravy. It doesn’t matter what the function may be, or if some one wants to make it because they claim to make the best gravy. If my mother is involved with making dinner, she makes the gravy. From turkey gravy to gravy for roast beast and Yorkshire pudding, it is always perfectly flavorful, perfectly spiced and perfectly velvety. It doesn’t matter. My mom makes the gravy.

So why in the world would I post a gravy recipe to a blog in which my mother not only reads but also contributes to? The simple answer is that I want to teach you to make gravy so that I can post a number of my favorite wintertime comfort meals that would be lost without gravy. But let’s be clear. Although I make my gravy using the same ingredients she does. And although I have spent the last 26 years dutifully watching her make gravy, my gravy really does not compare. But it will get you to where you need to go, a winter of comfort food, slathered in the wonderfulness that is GRAVY.

Inspiration: Cold and rainy nights
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate (only because gravy can be tricky until you get the hang of it)
Special equipment: Heavy bottomed, mid sized pot
Servings: 8 hungry people

Ingredients:
4 Tbs. Flour
4 Tbs. Bacon fat (What? You don’t keep a jar in your fridge? Then fry up 1 lb of bacon and reserve the juices…I mean fat)
2-3 cups Beef Broth
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
¼ cup red wine
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Over medium heat, brown the flour in a heavy bottomed, medium sized pot, stirring constantly with a gravy whisk. Once flour is a golden brown, remove to a bowl or a plate (Note: you can do this ahead of time and store in your pantry).
2. Melt bacon fat in same pot, turning heat down to medium low. When liquefied, stir in flour with gravy whisk until flour has dissolved and made a paste.
3. Add ¼-½ cup of beef stock and stir rigorously. Paste will separate and come back together as you stir. Once it has come back together, continue adding the stock in ½ cup intervals, continually stirring and working out any lumps. Add enough of the stock so that you have the consistency you would like.
4. Reduce heat to it’s lowest setting. Add in onion powder, garlic powder, and wine. Salt and pepper to taste. As the gravy continues to cook, it will thicken further. You can always add more stock to thin it back out to desired consistency.

Note: You make poultry gravy the same way, but substitute rendered chicken fat for the bacon fat, and turkey or chicken stock for the beef stock.

Chicken Curry

2008-11-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday night meals were always my favorite when I was a kid. We would break from routine meals during the week, and enjoy something that my mother could afford a little more time to make for us. Once of my favorites was my mother's version of Yellow Indian Curry. A Complexly flavorful dish with a surprising comfort food appeal. She would make up a huge steaming pot of it, and we would spoon it out plentifully over rice and then top it with coconut flakes, hard boiled egg whites and yolks, raisins, peanuts and bacon. I always remember noticing that when we were eating curry, the dinner table was quiet while we ate.

Inspiration: Sat night dinner at the blue house
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: Heavy duty pot
Servings: 4 hungry people

Ingredients:
1/2 lb bacon, cut into bits
2 chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/4 cup curry powder (Madras Preferred)
4 cups chicken stock (can substitute veggie broth)
2 hard boiled eggs, yolk and white separated, and then shredded
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup peanuts shelled
3 cups prepared rice (Sorry, I can't cook rice for the life of me, so I won't try to tell you how)

1. In heavy bottomed pot, and over medium low heat. fry up bacon until crispy. Remove to a plate with paper town. Pour our all but 2 tbs of bacon fat.
2. Over medium low heat, cook the chicken in the reserved bacon fat. Remove to a plate with a paper towel.
3. Over medium heat, Saute onions, and carrots in bacon fat (if you need to add 1 tbs of olive oil to keep from sticking, that's fine). After 2 minutes, add in curry powder and stir. The curry powder will stick to bottom, and that's OK.
4. When curried onions and carrots start to turn a dark caramel color, deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of the stock. When the bottom is cleared, add another 1 cup of the stock and begin to simmer. Thicken until sauce coats the back of a spoon. (note, if you want to add green beans, this is an excellent time to do it) Add your remaining stock and bring back to a simmer.
5. When ready to serve, spoon over prepared rice and top with coconut flakes, raisins, egg, bacon and peanuts.

Note: I often add green peppers while sauteing the onions and green beans while simmering before adding remaining liquid. I also like adding shredded colored greens in at the very end before serving. This can be made vegetarian by using very stock and omitting the chicken.

Sloppy Joe the Plumbers

2008-11-05T15:59:00.001-08:00

It's been just over 20 hours since Obama was projected as our next President. In those 20 hours, I can't help but notice the excitement level of those I'm around has spiked through the roof. Friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, complete strangers on the streets have an collective aire of hope pouring out of them, the likes of which I have never seen before. I can honestly say it is the most remarkable experiences of community I can remember.

Last night, my roommates and I hosted a Barack Obama election party with around 30 of our nearest and dearest friends. Each time a new state was called for Obama we raised a glass to the people of that state. The nervous energy mounted as we cried, "PENNSYLVANIA!" "OHIO!" "VIRGINIA!" It was really happening. No one could believe it. At ten seconds to 8 we started counting down to the close of the Oregon polls and the chance to raise a glass to our state. At the count of zero and the stroke of 8:00, we erupted as it was announced Barack Obama had been elected as our President. Cheers became fits of joy became hugs and became dancing for no reason. We poured onto the porch where our neighbors next door, and around Portland, were joining in the celebration. All for the hope of something better than what we've suffered through for the last 8 years. 20 hours later I'm still abuzz. I still have goose bumps.

Inspiration: Joe the Plumber
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: Cast iron skillet
Servings: 10-15 sliders

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 tbs olive oil
1 Medium onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs yellow mustard
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
12 slider buns

1. In a heavy skillet, over medium heat, brown ground beef. Remove from skillet and let drain.

2. In same skillet, saute onion, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent. Stir in brown sugar until it dissolves. Add mustard, tomato sauce, browned meat and stir. Reduce heat to low and cover. Let cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Preheat oven on broil. Turn slider buns onto a cookie sheet insides facing up, and slide into oven on top rack. Toast buns until golden brown (WATCH LIKE A HAWK!)

4. Spoon even amounts of sloppy joe mix onto slider buns and serve while hot.

Country Chicken

2008-10-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

The first time I had this, I had just arrived, with my husband and daughter, in Phoenix, Arizona from Missoula, Montana after a harrowing 2 day drive through winter weather & multiple pee stops (I was pregnant at the time). My mother had this waiting for us and it was like heaven - the ultimate in comfort food. I don't know where she got the recipe, but I imagine it was from either Ladies Home Journal or Good Houskeeping, both magazines she subscribed to until the day she died. It's a great one dish dinner and is easily adabtable to any vegies you have in the house (I used red peppers and threw in chunked green tomatoes at the very end last night). The leftovers (if there are any) are great as a chicken pot pie!

Inspiration: a great weekend at the beach & nothing for dinner when we got home
Time: about 1 hour
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: a large roasting pan
Servings: 6

4 medium potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks
1 pound hot Italian Sausage links cut into 1 1/2" pieces (or regular sausage plus 1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 frying chicken, cut into pieces
4 medium green peppers, cut into bite-size pieces
1 large onion, quartered & separated
1/2 cup water (I use chicken broth)
1/2 teaspoon salt (opt)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 pound mushrooms, quartered
1 10oz package frozen whole green beans

Mix the potatoes, sausage & oil in a large roasting pan. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Add chicken and next 5 ingredients. Bake 15 minutes. Thaw beans enough to separate. Add to the pan w/ the mushrooms. Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until done, stirring occasionally.

Jerk Pork Chops

2008-10-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, I made Jerk Pork chops for House night, and had every intention of putting the recipe up on the blog since then. Sadly, weeks later, I'm only now getting around to it. But the important thing is that I'm sharing a recipe which my roommate Sarah said, "Whoa! That really smells like fall!."

Inspiration: Pork Chops from Gartners
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: Food Processor
Servings: 4 Pork Chops

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
2 thick cut pork chops, washed and patted dry.

1. Preheat grill to be very hot. Brush clean and spray with olive oil.
2. In a food processor, combine all ingredients (but the pork chops of course) and created coarse paste by pulsing the blade. Rub chops with jerk paste and let sit for 15-20 minutes.
3. Grill pork over the very high heat for approx 5 minutes. Flip and cook on other side until tender.

(Note: Pork does not need to be cooked through until it is a dry coarse chunk of meat. You can cook pork to medium and it's perfectly safe to eat, and better yet, it's moist and delicious.)

Smoked Brie and Chanterelle Crepes

2008-10-22T16:33:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Jenny and I spent our anniversary at the coast. Two days of wandering a quiet little beach town, petting the world's smelliest dog, interrupting a pelican convention, sampling local micro brews and of course eating more than our fair share of bread and cheese (we went to Cape Mears, which is just outside of Tillamook).

Baked Brie with roasted garlic in a sourdough loaf (Prosser Style) for dinner on Friday. Artichoke/cheese dip and bread at the Pelican Brewery Saturday afternoon. Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup for dinner on Sat. Caprese Paninis at the Blue Heron Cheese Factory for lunch on Sunday. Smoked Brie and bread with Cabbage soup for dinner on Sunday night (by the way, you should implore Mother Goose to add that recipe onto the blog, it was AWESOME!).

While I am not ready to trade in my US passport for a buree and a cigarette yet, after three straight days of a Frenchman's diet, my mind seemed reluctant to return to bacon laudened existence that is my life in Portland. So when Jenny's sister pushed a bag of fresh Chanterelles into our unsuspecting arms, naturally and instinctively my mind turned to the French for inspiration. I sauteed an onion, garlic, rosemary and the sliced mushrooms in butter, delgazed with Sherry, and then, with the left over smoked brie, wrapped in a freshly made crepe. Thus creating yet another satisfying bread and cheese meal. Bon Appetit!

Inspiration: A weekend as a pseudo Frenchman
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate
Special Equipment: Small nonstick pan, fresh chanterelles,
Servings: 4 crepes

Ingredients:
Crepes (I use Alton Brown's Recipe, but if you're lazy you can make a really watered down pancake batter):
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter
Butter, for coating the pan

Filling:
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs butter
1/2 tsp dried rosemary (1 sprig of fresh rosemary), chopped
2-3 hand fulls of fresh chanterrelles (or other wild mushroom) scrubbed clean, and diced into large bite sized pieces
1/4 Cup cooking Sherry (Note: My sister taught me that you should always buy Sherry in the wine section of a grocery store)
2-3 oz. brie (I used the smoked brie we purchased at the Blue Heron Cheese Company), cut up as best you can

1.To make the crepes, combine all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

2. Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone. You can wrap in a damp towel and place on a cookie sheet into a 150 degree oven to keep warm while you make the filling. Of if you want to make crepes ahead of time, you can stack them (once cooled) and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months.

3. To make the filling, melt butter in medium pan and saute onions, garlic, rosemary until the onions is transparent. Add mushrooms and saute for 1-2 minutes, but not until mushroom is dry. Delgaze pan with sherry and simmer until sherry has cooked completely off.

4. Place a bit of the filling and cheese in a crepe. Wrap and Serve.

Note: Crepes are actually really easy to make. I highly recommend watching the Good Eats: Crepe Expectations, episode EA1E09.

Potato Leek Soup

2008-10-14T16:21:00.001-07:00

I remember when my mom first made potato leek soup. She found the recipe in a Williams-Sonoma catalog, and made it for dinner on a cold fall night to warm me up after football practice. My first impression was that it looked to me what I imagined gruel would look like: A vaguely green substance of unknown origin blended to a smooth, uniform texture. Frankly, it's a statement of how much I trusted my mother's cooking as a forth grader that I even tried it. But upon the first spoon full I was hooked on the gentle sweetness of the five ingredient soup, and quickly insisted that it became a staple in the household.

I'm not certain when she decided to deviate from the recipe for the first time, but at some point she decided to add small chunks of ham. (Her philosophy was then, and is today to some degree, it's not a meal if it doesn't have meat.) This was the first step of evolving this recipe from the traditional form of a French Potato Leek soup that it once was into the hearty, rib sticking, soul warming recipe that it's been developed into. This is, by the way, my favorite soup.

Inspiration: 7lbs of potatoes and one GIANT leek in the crop share this week
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: enamel coated, cast iron pot (really, you just need a large pot with a thick bottom, but I like using the enamel coated caste iron because soup cooks better in it)
Servings: 6-8 bowls

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian sausage
2tbs + 2 tbs butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2-3 medium carrots, diced
2-3 stalks of celery, diced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried sweet basil
2 medium leeks (or 1 GIANT LEEK), washed well, split in half and cut into 1/2", half rings
1 small-medium celery root, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
6-7 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes, washed well, and cubed into bite sized pieces
4 cups chicken broth or chicken stock (or Turkey stock)
1 cup whole milk

1. over medium low heat, brown Italian Sausage in large enamel coated cast iron pot. Remove from pan and drain, reserve 2 tbs of sausage fat in bottom of pot.
2. Add 2 tbs butter to sausage fat and melt. Add in onions, carrots, celery and herbs. Saute until carrots are tender and onions are transparent.
3. Add leeks to pot, turn heat to low and cover. Let steam for 10-15 minutes until leeks are tender (they turn bright green)
4. Add 1/4 of the chicken stock and deglaze pan. Add potatoes and celery root and stir. Add enough of the remaining stock until potatoes are covered (this could very easy take the rest of the stock). Turn heat up to medium and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are cooked.
5. Add milk, butter and any remaining stock that you have. Bring back to a boil. Then, being very, VERY careful NOT to burn yourself, use a potato masher to mash the potatoes and celery root so that only about 1/4 of the potato cubes remain.
6. Add sausage and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

This soup is best served with some thinly cut spinach in the bottom of the bowl and topped off with some fresh Parmesan cheese. Also, fresh bread, such as Challah, goes very well to mop up the bottom of the bowl.

Italian Wedding Soup

2008-10-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

Soup. I LOVE soup. It's warm. It's filling. And it tastes great on a cold day or night. In fact, I don't know a single person that doesn't like soup. Over the next few cold months, I will undoubtedly be uploading a number of soup recipes like Potato Leek, Curried Chicken Noodle, White Chili, Chipotle Chili...the list could go on. However, my favorite fall soup.) is Italian Wedding Soup. Essentially, it's veggie soup with meat balls. What makes it great in the fall is the abundance of fall veggies to throw into the soup. And best of all it's really easy to make.

Inspiration: Monica's overflowing tomato basket
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: mini muffin pan
Servings: 6-8 bowls

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (or 1/2 lb ground pork and 1/2 lb ground beef)
1 small onion, grated
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 large egg
1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Panko (or whatever breadcrumbs you have in the pantry)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbs butter or olive oil
1 onion, diced
3-4 medium carrots, diced
3-4 sticks of celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
2-3 potatoes, cubed, bite sized
1 zucchini, diced
5-6 large tomatoes (2 lbs), diced and juices saved (if out of tomato season, use 2 12 oz cans of diced, unsalted tomatoes)
32oz of chicken stock or broth (can substitute veggie broth)

To make the meatballs:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blend ground meat, grated onion, parsley, egg, wooster, garlic, salt, panko, parmesan and pepper in a large bowl using your hands (seriously, this is the only way to do it).
3. Using 1 1/2 tablespoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place in mini muffin pan so that the meatball is elevated off the bottom. You may need to make larger or smaller meatballs to accomplish this. If you do not have a mini muffin pan, you can use a baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, rotating meatballs once to ensure they cook evenly. Remove from oven and let sit.

To make soup:
1. In a large sauce pan, melt butter or heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Saute until onion is transparent. Add Peppers, thyme and oregano. Cook until peppers are tender.
2. Add 1/2 of stock and bring to a boil. Turn down to low, and add potatoes. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes until potatoes are tender but not soft.
3. Add Tomatoes (including any juice that came from the tomatoes,) zucchini, remaining stock and bring back to a simmer.
4. Add meatballs, and continue to simmer until meatballs have come to temperature with the soup.

Notes: This soup is served best while hot. I also like to add 1/4 spinach leaves that have been sliced thinly to the bowl before I pour in the soup, and then sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Hollandaise Sauce

2008-10-06T12:24:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time, when I was still thinking that I wanted to open a restaurant, I spent many a drive home daydreaming about what I would serve. As weekend brunch is one of my favorite meals, I developed an elaborate plan that would differentiate my brunch from all of the other amazing brunches in Portland. My favorite ideas was a "Build Your Own Benedict" menu. I mean think about it. Everyone has a traditional eggs benedict: Canadian bacon, poached egg, english muffin, hollandaise sauce. Very boring...although that doesn't stop me from ordering it. I was imaginging having a choice of breads: English muffin (of course), crumpets, toasted biscuit, fresh baked rye bread and so on and so forth. A plethora of meats: Canadian Bacon (of course), smoked salmon, pate, etc. etc. etc. And veggies...oh the veggies. Tomato, avacado, asparagus, artichoke hearts, spinach. Slather the combo in hollandaise sauce and YAHTZEE!

The only thing that keeps most people from doing this at home is the hollandaise. It's seems like it's a really hard thing to make, but rest assured, it's super simple, and it makes for a great homemade breakfast on a lazy Sunday morning.

Inspiration: A wild hair to make an atypical sat morning breakfast (Usually, I put PB on toast)
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: Double boiler
Servings: 4-5 benedicts

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1 teapsoon water
1/4 teaspoon sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Pour 1-inch of water into the base of a double boiler; over medium heat, bring to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low.

2. Place egg yolks and 1 teaspoon water in the top half of a double boiler and whisk until mixture lightens in color, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sugar and whisk for another 30 seconds.

3. Place the top half of the double boiler on top of the other half that has the simmering water and whisk constantly for 3 to 5 minutes, or until there is a clear line that is drawn in the mixture when you pull your whisk through, or the mixture coats the back of a spoon.

4. Remove the top half of the double boiler and gradually add the butter, 1 piece at a time, and whisk until all of the butter is incorporated. Place it back over the simmering water occasionally so that it will be warm enough the melt the butter. Add the salt, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Serve immediately.

Note: if you don't have a douple boiler, a metal or glass mixing bowl over a pot of water works just as well.

Grilled Zucchini, Red Peppers & Mushrooms

2008-09-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

So what to do with grilled vegies when you get tired of the same-old? Add different ingredients!

Inspiration: Wanting something different to go w/ grilled lamb
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: BBQ or broiler
Servings: 2

1 medium zucchini, slice lenghtwise into 1/4 inch strips
1 small red pepper seeded & sliced into strips
4-6 mushrooms sliced
Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
Olive oil
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Powdered sumac (or other Mediterranean spices)

Toss the vegetables in the oil and add salt & pepper to taste. Grill until done to your liking. Toss with lemon juice, feta & sumac. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sweet Potato Hash

2008-09-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

Sweet potato hash was the first thing I remember creating on the fly. Adding a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Up until that point, I was an ardent follower of recipes. I mean I would alter them here and there, but I wasn't confident in my ability to straight up wing it. Needless to say, this recipe changed my life.

In the three years I have been making this, I have made some important modifications. I have discovered roasting the potatoes before frying them up cuts the time into about half. I don't rely on maple country breakfast sausage entirely for a maple kick, and have converted to be a proponent of runny egg yolks, which really make this hash.

So here you have my first ever unique recipe. I made this for Christmas brunch last year to rave reviews from my family, and again this past week to stave off the first chilly fall night. I think I have a winner.

Inspiration: Sweet Potatoes from this week's shopping
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: 9x13 metal baking pan 1 large pan
Servings: 3-4

Ingredients:
2 lbs sweet potatoes or yams, washed, peeled and cut into bit sized cubes
2 tbs olive oil
8 country maple breakfast sausages
1 small yellow onion or 1/2 walla walla sweet onion, diced
2 tbs butter
3 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs maple syrup (the real deal only)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 cup orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees with roasting pan in oven
2. Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. When oven has come to temperature, place potatoes on pan and spread to form 1 layer. Roast for 15-20 minutes (until tender but not cooked through), tossing once or twice to cook evenly on all sides. Remove from oven and let rest uncovered.
3. Over medium-low heat, brown sausage in large pan, ensuring they cook all the way through. Remove and let drain on a paper towel. When cool, slice into small, bite sized rounds.
4. Drain all but 1 tbs. of sausage fat from pan. Add butter and onions, and cook onions until transparent. Add the roasted sweet potatoes, brown sugar, maple syrup and spices. Stir until everything has mixed completely and sugar has dissolved.
5. Add the orange juice to deglaze pan. Stir in sausage rounds.
6. Serve with an egg, either fried or poached easy.

Roasted Tomatos and Rice

2008-09-23T12:07:00.001-07:00

I guess it's just been one of those years. We waited breathlessly for the tomatoes to finally ripen on the vine until the very end of August. When they did first start to turn, they did so slowly and only here and there. Then all of a sudden (while I was on vacation, I might add), BAM! Tomatoes. Ripe and ready to be eaten. SO MANY...and SO SUDDENLY...that I have tomatoes up to my eyeballs. What a great problem to have! That's been the story of the past three weeks. So, when Jenny brought over 3 pounds of little cherry and yellow pear tomatoes for dinner, we had to think creatively to find something new to do with them.

Inspiration: 3 pounds of cherry and yellow pear tomatoes, picked off the vine that very
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: 9x13 metal baking pan with at least a 1" lip, 3 medium bowls, 1 large bowl
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:
2 cups of basmati rice, well rinsed
4 cups of low sodium chicken broth
3 pounds, cherry and yellow pear tomatoes, stemmed and cut into quarters (do not drain seeds)
1/4 Sweet onion, diced
3 medium carrots, chopped into bite sided pieces,
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
1 hand full of fresh green beans, stemmed and snapped into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook rice to desired chewiness by bringing chicken broth to a boil. Add rice and cover. Simmer over low heat. After 10-15 minutes the rice should have absorbed all the liquid. Remove from heat and let rest while you prepare the roasted veggies.
2. Turn oven to 450 degrees, and place rack in center of oven. Put a 9x13 metal pan in oven while preheating.
3. In first bowl, toss carrots in enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle with a little bit of salt and pepper.
4. In second bowl, toss green beans and garlic in enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle with a little bit of salt and pepper.
5. In third bowl, toss tomatoes and onions in enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle with a little bit of salt and pepper.
6. When oven has preheated, dump carrots onto metal pan (it will sizzle) and space so that carrots are in one even layer.
7. 6-7 minutes later, add green beans and garlic to carrots and toss so that the carrots cook on both sides.
8. 6-7 minutes later, add tomatoes and toss again making sure carrots, green beans and garlic are cooking evenly on all sides. Cook for an additional 10 minutes until juices have run out of tomatoes and all veggies are tender.
9. In a large bowl, mix together rice, roasted veggies and toasted pecans. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Optional: Top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.)

Note: Spicy Italian sausage rounds would be excellent in this.

Ramen Soup

2008-09-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

I'm sure when most people think of Ramen, they think of the 90 cent dried noodle pack that is full of sodium at the store. Ramen to me is the amazing noodle soup at Biwa, a Japanese restaurant in SE Portland. The story goes that ramen broth is a highly secretive family recipe in Japan, and that true ramen broth takes days to make. I don't know if Biwa's broth takes that long to make, but sure tastes like they've taken that kind of care. It flavor bold and perfectly salty, and the home made ramen noodles and an absolutely perfect texture. The best part is when I look around and see every one else slurping their noodles. It's the best thing to warm your soul on a cold night. My preferred way to eat it is with an egg (a smokey hard boiled egg that is floating in the soup) and wakame (a delicious seaweed that I'm sure is good for you). I am inspired to figure out how to recreate their broth, and when I do I might even post it on the blog...

Inspiration: Ramen Soup - Biwa
Time: 20-30 minutes (Sit at the bar for Happy Hour Prices)
Difficulty: Depends on your ability to use chopsticks
Special Equipment: transportation, debit card
Servings: 1 order feeds two person. (seriously, share a bowl of ramen)

Devils on Horseback

2008-09-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to make desert for my grandmother's dinner party Saturday night. I was supposed to make something light...something that would be good on a warm fall night. That's what I was supposed to do. However, after a little cajoling and not near enough bribery, my sister talked me into bringing a fruit platter so she could make lemon verbena ice cream (she said she'd post the recipe soon).

It hardly seemed fair that I could go from having such an important role in dinner to a mere side note. So I was determined to go for the gusto. If I were to make a fruit platter, then it would be a fruit platter for the ages. So I promised my grandmother a fruit plate that would knock her socks off.

Being only a few days removed from fry night, my first thought was to deep fry bananas, peaches, apples, and grapes in a sweet corn batter, but a hearty, "Are you sure you want to transport fried fruit?" from my girlfriend...I had a change of heart. But I still had the problem of promising a fruit plate of epic proportions and no plan to bring it to fruitition.

And so it was, after much consideration and one dick cheney/pig with lipstick joke, the thought occurred to me, "What would bacon do?" Would it sizzle under pressure? No! Would it raise your cholesterol...NO! Would it stuff dates with goat cheese and hazelnuts and then wrap itself around it. HELL YES! Bacon saves the day! God bless bacon!

Inspiration: Everything tastes better with bacon
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: cookie sheet, tooth pick
Servings: 16 bites of heavenly goodness

Ingredients:
16 fresh dates (not dried)
8oz goat cheese
16 hazelnuts
8 slices of bacon, cut in half

1. Move oven rack to upper third of oven. Preheat to 500 degrees
2. Pit dates by slicing in half (but not through) length wise and pinching on edges.
3. Fill date cavity with 1/2 ounce goat cheese, and then stuff with hazelnut.
4. Wrap 1/2 slice of bacon around stuffed date, and skewer with a toothpick to hold into place. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dates.
5. Back for 10-15 minutes, turning dates every 5 minutes to ensure even cooking.

Note: When dates are in the oven, keep a close eye because bacon can cook quickly.

Confetti Beans

2008-09-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

This came from a family reunion at my husband's family farm in North Dakota and is a great way to use all kinds of goodies from your garden.

Inspiration: Lots of different vegies in the fridge
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special Equipment: frying pan or wok
Servings: 4

1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 pound green beans cut in bite-sized pieces
1 whole red, yellow or green pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
freshly grated parmesan cheese

Saute the onion in the olive oil until soft. add the Italian seasoning and saute for a few seconds. Add the beans and pepper and saute until beans are crisp-tender. (Add a little water & cover, if you need to). Just before serving, stir in the tomatoes & salt & pepper to taste. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Mini Corn Dogs

2008-09-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night, my roommates and I decided to celebrate our "family meeting" by making a fry night out of it. I picked up 4 different types of house made sausages at New Seasons (chicken and basil, chicken, red pepper and feta, pork kielbasa, and something else) and made a quick batter while Matt got 3/4 of a gallon of peanut oil heating in the fry daddy. Being a poor judge of how much batter it takes to fry a corn dog, I ended up making way more batter than we needed. In an effort to minimize wasted batter, Matt and I began searching the kitchen for things to fry. First up, Pickle halves, then salami slices followed by bananas and finally peach slices. The ladies were not keen on the idea of "wasting a peach," but it worked out.

We gorged ourselves on platters of fried food, each one of us ignoring the little voice inside of us that said that we should stop. Instead we all ended up holding our bellies uttering phrases like "I ate way too much," and "I shouldn't have had that last corn dog, but it was SO GOOD!"

The corn dogs were amazing, as were the the pickles, but the real star of the night were the fried bananas which only missed a perfection due to the lack of ice cream and chocolate sauce to accompany...which I will do for sure next time. And the fried peaches? They were like like individual peach pies seasoned with cayenne and chipotle pepper. I think next time I fry fruit I will make a sweet batter instead of a savory one.

Inspiration: Fry Daddy
Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: medium
Special equipment: Deep Fryer, slotted spoon, splatter screen (optional)
Servings: More fried food than 4 adults can eat

Ingredients:
8 sausages of your choice, steamed, dried and cut into bite sized segments
3/4 gallon peanut oil
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
2 tablespoons (approximately 1 large) jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced
1 (8.5-ounce) can cream-style corn
1/3 cup finely grated onion
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons cornstarch, for dredging

1. Pour oil into a deep fryer and heat to 375 degrees F.

2.In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, combine the jalapeno, corn, onion, and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once, and stir only enough times to bring the batter together; there should be lumps. Set batter aside and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

3. Scatter the cornstarch into a dry pie pan. Roll each sausage segment in the cornstarch and tap well to remove any excess.

4. Using tongs, quickly dip sausage segments in and out of the batter. Immediately and carefully place each batter covered sausage into the oil, and cook until coating is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. (Note: Use slotted spoon to turn corn dogs to ensure they brown evenly.) With spoon, remove to cooling rack, and allow to drain for 3 to 5 minutes (I put newspaper under the rack to catch the oil).

5. Serve warm while corn dog is still crispy.

Pasties

2008-09-09T14:56:00.001-07:00

Some foods in life were made to go together. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Pizza and beer. Chocolate and anything. One of the combinations I loved most as a kid was meat and pastry. I'm not talking about the nasty steak and kidney pies the Brits made famous. I'm talking about individual, hand held, meat pies called Pasties. Someone told me recently that the Pastie first originated back when heavy metal miners would take them into the mines for lunch. Because they couldn't wash the metal particulates from their hands, they would hold on to the thick folds of the crust and eat the center meaty part from around them, and then discard the crust. I don't know if this is true, but it makes for a good story. It's also an awful waste of crust, especially given Pastie crust and Mother Goose's gravy is a new favorite combo.

Inspiration: Monday Night Football Dinner
Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: medium
Special equipment: Pasty Brush, Cookie Sheets
Servings: 12 Pasties

Ingredients:
1 lb very lean ground beef
2 tbs olive oil
3-4 shakes Worcestershire Sauce
3 carrots, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic
Hand full of fresh parsley, Chopped
Salt and Pepper
A good amount of plain yogurt (honest to god, this is straight from my grandmother's recipe...I usually use about 1/4-1/3 of a cup)
6 rounds frozen pie dough (or you can make your own using a standard savory pie dough recipe)
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp of water

1. On medium heat, brown ground beef in 1 tbs olive oil. Remove from pan, Drain and reserve juices.
2. Over medium heat, saute carrots, onions, celery and garlic over medium heat. When carrots are nearly tender and onions are translucent, add parsley to briefly cook, then remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, combine meat, and veggies and salt and pepper to taste. At this point you can refrigerate overnight to meld flavors.
4. When ready to assemble pasties, separate fat from reserved juices and discard fat. Mix the remaining meat juice and the yogurt with the meat to finish the filling. It will be wet, but that's okay.
5. Cut your all pie crusts into quarters. Spoon the filling equally among 12 quarter pieces of dough. Then, one at a time, dampen the edges of the pie dough around the filling with a little bit of water on your fingers, and pat down one of the remaining, unfilled pie dough quaters so that the edges meet around the filling. Use a fork to press the edges all the way around the pastie to seal the moisture. Transfer completed pastie onto a baking sheet, and repeat this step with the remaining pasties.
6. When all the pasties are on the baking sheet(s), brush the egg yolk over the pasties top . This will help the pastie to brown nicely.
7. In a preheated 350 degree oven, bake pasties for 45 minutes to an hour until golden brown.
8. Serve with Mother Goose's gravey (You'll have to ask her for it...I don't make gravey quite like she does)

Brandied Apple Sauce

2008-09-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

This time of year, I always seem to be asking myself..."What do I do with all of the apples?" It's an excellent problem to have. One of the best things about living in the Pacific NW is that from now until Thanksgiving, there is an abundance of cheap apples in every form of tartness and sweetness. Good for pies, crisps, salads, strussel and of course apples slices with sharp cheddar cheese. However, despite all the crisp, yummy apples you find, it is inevitable to come across mushy, meal apples. The only way I now to make mushy apples palatable is to make applesauce. Specifically, Brandied apple sauce.

Inspiration: APPLE SEASON!!!
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: None
Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
1 lb of mush apples (the tarter the better)
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 brandy (Calvados is prefered, but any brandy will work)

1. Core and slice apples. Add all ingrediants but brandy into a medium sauce pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered until liquid thickens (about ten minutes), stirring occassionally.
3. Add brandy and stir. With a potato masher, mash the apples to a chunky mush.
4. Will keep in the refridgerator for up to a week...but I doubt you'll let it.

Quick Pizza Dough

2008-09-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

I feel like I need to apologize to this blog. It was largely ignored during what was a very busy August. I promise, I didn't meet a prettier, younger blog, and I didn't cheat with an older more experienced blog. Between my roommates' wedding and a 10 day vacation I was unable to make time for this blog. I'm sure that doesn't make me a very committed blogger. I guess I'll have to live with that.

Now that it's September, I'm ready to transition from Summertime dishes to Fall inspired, which is exactly what my roommate Sara and I did for dinner last night. We took squash, broccoli, tomatoes and basil from our garden and farm share and made a garden pizza. Thankfully my sister had a quick and easy pizza dough recipe that made up for our last minute inspiration.

Inspiration: Too Many Fall Veggies
Time: 90 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Food Processor, Baking Stone
Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
1/2 C + 1 C flour
1 1/4 tsp. quick active yeast
1/2 C Hot Water (130 degrees)
1 Tbs Olive oil
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Combine 1/2 C flour and yeast in a food processor. Turn on. Add in water and mix until combined. Turn off.
2. Add remaining flour, oil, salt and sugar and blend until a ball forms.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 8-10 times and then let sit as you gather the toppings.
4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
5. Roll out the dough (or toss it if you know how) and place on a baking stone (a regular cookie sheet will work too). Build your pizza with your toppings.
6. Bake on the lowest rack in the oven until golden brown. 20-25 minutes.

Pasta w/ Morels and Brown Butter Sage Sauce

2008-08-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

I love going to the Farmer's Market. There are always so many yummy fruits and vegetables to buy. And I am always excited when the Mushroom Man is there because I get to buy all different kinds of mushrooms that I can't get at the store. And sometimes I get lucky & he has morels! I like to do dishes that are simple & let the flavor of the morels shine. I think I have come up with a winner!

Inspiration: Fresh morels at the Vancouver Farmer's Market & an overgrown sage plant
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: none
Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
1/4 pound fresh morels
1 small shallot minced
2 cloves garlic minced
6 tablespoons butter
8 sage leaves
Penne pasta

Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain and place in steamer pan back over boiling water.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a small saute pan. Cook on low until the butter just starts to turn to amber. Add the sage leaves and cook, turning occasionally until the butter is nicely browned (be careful not to burn it). Remove the sage leaves and chop.

Slice the morels in thin strips. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saute pan and cook the onions and garlic until golden. Add the morels and cook until just done. Pour the browned butter over and mix thoroughly. Add the sage and season to taste with salt & pepper.

Reheat the pasta by quickly dipping it in the boiling water. Drain. Toss with the morel-butter sauce. Serve with freshly grated grated parmesan.

Cherry Rhubarb Pie

2008-08-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I'm at war with a giant weed in my yard. I chop it down and it grows back two fold (and I swear I hear it cackling at me). Much like Batman and the Joker, I can't bring myself to kill this nuisance completely... sure it threatens my dahlias, cucumbers and lettuce, but somehow the world wouldn't be the same without it: my arch-nemesis Rhubarb. Unfortunately, it only gives me a break five months out of the year; the other seven are spent concocting new ways to chop, boil and bake it's flesh, like in this pie!

Anyone who wants to make this recipe but not pay the ever-exploding price for store-bought Rhubarb... I live on Albina and Farragut. It hides in the back. Bring your machete.

Inspiration: An over-grown plant and the sweet taste of revenge.
Time: 20 minutes prep, plus 50 for baking
Difficulty: Fairly Easy
Special Equipment: Pie pan
Servings: 8, 6, or 2... sometimes you just can't stop eating, especially when it's a la mode.

Ingredients:

Pie dough (See below for recipe. New Season's has a good organic pie crust in the freezer section if you want to skip this step.)

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups rhubarb stalks, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups pitted sweet cherries (can get canned pie cherries too- Oregon brand isn't bad if you buy the tart, pie variety)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tbs. cornstarch and 1/4 tsp. salt. Add rhubarb stalks and cherries and toss to coat (note: if the rhubarb seems particularly stringy, like celery, take off the outside layer with a knife or vegetable peeler). Add cinnamon and toss again.

Prepare pie crust in a 9 inch pan (see below... or make sure that you've purchased 2 at the store: one for the top and bottom). Pour the rhubarb-cherry mixture into the crust, making sure to spatula out any remaining juices from the bowl. Cut the 2 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and scatter about the top of the mixture. Place second crust on top and pinch the sides. Cut ventilation holes into the top of the crust so that steam can escape (in any decorative pattern you like). If you have time, go ahead and do the lattice, Betty Crocker.

Place in preheated oven and cook for 25 minutes. At this point reduce the heat to 350 degrees and sprinkle the top of the pie with remaining tablespoon of sugar (I like to use raw turbino sugar). Bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Crust: (this recipe is for one pie-plate, so you'll need to double to make enough for a top and bottom)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced
1/4 cup ice water

In a bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut cold butter into small cubes and toss into the flour mixture (prevents cubes from sticking together for this next step...). Using a pastry cutter or large fork, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles small granules. Add ice water slowly and mix to bring the granules to a dough (only use as much water as you need to make the dough consistency). Be careful not to overwork the mixture; those superfine butter granules are what melt in and make the pie crust flaky. If making a double batch, divide the dough into 2. Roll out the dough between waxed paper to create a circular disk- large enough to fill the base and sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Carefully lay into an ungreased pie plate.

Side note: I usually put a cookie sheet on the rack underneath the pie in the oven. It catches the drippings from the pie as it cooks and prevents a nasty clean-up.

BBQ Sauce

2008-08-05T09:58:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid, my mom never bought BBQ sauce. She always made Bert's, a recipe that originally came from The Good Housekeeping Cook Book in 1955. She made her tweaks to it (adding curry powder and garlic) and I have mine (adding chipotle powder for a smokey kick) Either way, the pungent smell of simmering vinegar takes me back to walking into the kitchen on sunny summer evenings. These days, I find that Bert's is perfect for any "lack of any better ideas" grillable. It's great on chicken, on pork, on veggies or on grilled bbq beef quesadillas, like I made last night.

Inspiration: Lack of a better thing to do
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Pretty Simple
Special equipment: None
Servings: Depends how much sauce you like on your meat

1/4 C Butter
3 Tbs. Curry Powder
1 Onion Chopped
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1/4 C Cider Vinegar
1/2 C Water
2 Tbs. Sugar
1Tbs. mustard
1 thick lemon slice
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chipotle powder
3/4 C ketchup
2 tsp. Wooster

1. Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Add curry powder and stir until fragrant.

2. Stir in half of the vinegar, scraping the bottom to dissolve the curry powder. Then add the remaining vinegar, water, sugar mustard, lemon slice, salt, pepper and chipotle powder. Simmer for 20 minutes

3. Remove the lemon slice, and add ketchup and wooster. Bring back to boil. then remove from heat and let cool.

Note: Bert's stores in a mason jar for up to a month.

Lucky Fried Rice

2008-07-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

Lately, while I've been making dinner I've been thinking about my blog. I've been keeping in mind how much of what I add and when. If I'm evening thinking about it, I grab my camera and take pictures of the process. But the other night when I made fried rice, I didn't bother. I suck at making fried rice. I'm not just saying, either...through many a trial and error, I KNOW I suck at making fried rice. For whatever reason, it NEVER turns out as well as my mom used to make. Assured of mediocrity, I just kinda threw stuff together, rice, carrots, old broccoli crowns, chicken, 2 tbs of bacon fat. Poof. Amazingly good fried rice. If only I had been paying enough attention to replicate it! Well...here goes my best recollection...

Inspiration: Dumb Luck
Time: 30-45 minutes
Difficulty: Everyone but me should find this easy
Special equipment: Very large skillet (Preferably cast iron)
Servings: 4

2 cups dried basmati rice, and left out to dry for 1-4 hours
2 Tbs. bacon fat (or 1 lb of bacon, cut into bits and fried crispy, drained with 2 tbs of fat reserved)
3 medium to small carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 large head of broccoli, cut into crowns
3-5 green onions, sliced into 1/4" rounds
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 tbs. garlic chili paste
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup shelled peanuts
1-2 cups cooked meat diced into bite sized pieces (a great use for leftovers)

1. Over medium heat, fry rice and veggies in bacon fat until they start to brown. Stir with a flat metal spatula every minute or so so rice and veggies brown evenly.
2. Add spices and continue to fry and mix until rice is very fragrant. Spices will begin to stick to pan (and that's okay).
3. Add chili paste and soy sauce and mix well as the pan sizzles (the liquid at this point will mix with the spices stuck to the bottom of the pan and thicken into a little bit of a sauce)
4. Drizzle the beaten egg over the rice so that it fries in little dropped bits.
5. Add meat and continue to stir until meat is warm
6. Remove from heat and toss in peanuts (you can do this over heat too if you want to soften your peanuts)

Note: I usually eat mine drizzled in a spicy soy sauce, or with more chili paste to give it an extra kick. Cayenne works too.

Sunday Mac and Cheese

2008-07-28T11:13:00.001-07:00

Contrary to popular belief, I don't stay out until 3am very often. The same can be said about sleeping until noon. However when I do the former, I do the later. Such was the case Sunday morning on into Sunday afternoon after a late night of ro-sham and rock band. When I did make my way out of bed Sunday I was HUNGRY. I didn't have any of the typical breakfast makings (things like bacon, eggs, or bacon), so instead I made vat of Mac and Cheese that was spicy and delicious, and easy like Sunday morning.

Inspiration: No Eggs
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: Flat Whisk
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta (mini penne or shells are my favorite)
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1.5 C milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. chipotle powder
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 C sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 C parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 large handful spinach, chiffonade-ed

1. Bring 6 cups or so of water to a boil in medium to large pot. Add a good hefty pinch of salt, and then noodles. Cook until pasta is done. Drain, and set aside
2. In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add flower and stir continuously with a flat whisk until flour butter paste is a golden brown color. (If you don't have a flat whisk, your next best option is a fork, or normal whisk. I don't recommend using a spoon.) Add milk 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly in between until milk is incorporated and paste comes back together. When all your milk has been added, you'll have a nice velvety white sauce.
3. Add spices and cheese. Stir until cheese has melted in. If the sauce is too thick for your taste, you can add more milk. If it is too thin, continue to cook over low head stirring occasionally.
4. In a large bowl combine pasta, sauce, tomatoes and spinach.
5. Optional: Some people choose to put the mac and cheese into a lightly greased 9x13 pan, cover with breadcrumbs, lightly dust with grated cheese and bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. But I wouldn't recommend that. It's hard to wait another half hour to eat.

Note: You can mix almost any combination of stuff into this and it's great: veggies (mushrooms, broccoli, squash work very well), cheese (cheddar, bleu, gruyere), meat (I like bacon, sausage, left over turkey or chicken breast, pork, roast beast, or bacon), and toasted nuts (like hazelnuts or pecans) also add a nice variation. You should play with spices too. Curry is especially good with a yellow cheddar sauce and chicken.

2008-07-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

Grilled Chicken w/ Tomatoes and Feta

So. What does one do with mounds of tomatoes from one's garden? I wouldn't know. This year my tomatoe plants are PATHETIC! That being said, when I do have lots of tomatoes, here is a quick and easy recipe.

Inspiration: a recipe from Gourmet (I think) and lots of fresh tomatoes
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: grill
Servings: 2

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt & pepper
2 whole tomatoes chopped & drained
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced thin (opt)
Extra virgin olive oil

Rub the chicken with salt & pepper. Cook on grill until done. Mix together the tomatoes, feta and basil. Drizzle oil over it & mix in. Serve w/ chicken.

NOTE: The original recipe called for marinating the chicken in white wine with chopped fresh herbs and salsa was just tomatoes & feta. It is very good that way too. I will sometimes rub a mixture of fresh herbs, garlic & salt and pepper & omit the basil. Actually you could do any combination of the above!

Grilled Portobello Sandwiches

2008-07-24T14:26:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday night, I made grilled portobello sandwiches for my friends Eric and Robyn while Eric told stories of his thrilling (and in some cases, death defying) sailing voyage across the Atlantic with his father.

I decided to make the grilled portobello sandwiches based on the rave reviews from some friends I made them for the year before. I figured that if I were to hearing stories of glory, the least I could do is reciprocate by providing amazing food. Sadly, my recreation of the sandwiches did not go to plan. Don't get me wrong. They were good. Just not as good as they were the last time I made them for people, and I can't remember what I did. However, this is a great starting point, and I highly recommend suggestions for how to make it better.

Inspiration: unknown food restrictions of friends (no dairy apparently)
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: grill, grill screenServings: 4

Ingredients:
3 large Portobello Mushrooms, stems removed
4 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp salt
2 springs fresh rosemary, removed from stem and chopped
1 tsp mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 red onion, peeled and sliced into 1/2" rings
1/2 tsp cumin
4 thin slices of pancetta, fried crispy
1 ripe avacado, slide thinly
1 tomato, sliced
4 slices parrano cheese
4 ciabatta rolls, sliced in half

1. Mash Garlic to a paste with salt. Divide paste in half. To one half, add rosemary, mustard, and 1/8th cup of olive oil, and mix very well. Pour over the underside of the mushrooms so that the comb absorbs the oil mixture. Use a little oil to coat the smooth side of the mushroom

2. To the other half of garlic paste mix cumin, pepper to taste and 1/8th cup olive oil and mix very well. Toss with onions

3. Over medium heat, grill onions on grill screen until tender. Remove and let sit until you build your sandwiches.

4. Place mushrooms on the grill, smooth side down. Grill for 10 minutes and flip. Grill for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from grill and slice into 1/2 slices.

5. Toast ciabatta rolls on grill, cut side down. (note: I find it's tastiest to brush the cut side lightly with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt)

6. Assemble sandwiches including avocado, tomato, onions, pancetta, cheese, and grilled portobello slices.

Baked-Fried Chicken

2008-07-22T10:50:00.001-07:00

Baked-Fried Chicken isn't as gross as it sounds. You don't bake chicken that's already been fried. You baking breaded chicken instead of frying it. Tres Healthy, no? And it's nearly as good as the real thing (well...kinda), and way better than the overly salty Shake and Bake. This is a great winter dish when it's too rainy/cold to grill outside.

Inspiration: A childhood Staple
Time: 45 min
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: three shallow bowls (soup plates)Servings: 2

Ingredients:
2 chicken Breasts, washed and patted dry
1/4 cup flour
1 egg beaten
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 tbs dried Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground paprika
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 pinch salt
1/2 lemon, juiced

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Add flour to first shallow bowl. Add egg to second shallow bowl. Add remaining dry ingredients to third shallow bowl, and mix.
3. Dredge chicken breast in flour coating entire breast. Then dredge in egg, coating entire breast. Finally, dredge in breadcrumb mixture and place on baking sheet. Repeat with second breast. Sprinkle top of breaded chicken with lemon juice.
4. Bake until chicken is done, but not over cooked 20-25 minutes.

Note: I mix up the spices I add to the panko depending on my mood. I like it spicy, so I usually add ground chipotle powder. I also regularly add ground mustard and sometimes ground cumin and coriander.

Leftover Pasta

2008-07-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

So....as promised in my earlier post:
Inspiration: Leftover Acini di Pepe Pasta
Time: 20 min
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: none
Servings: 2

Ingredients:

Leftover Acini di Pepe Pasta (or any other leftover pasta)
1/2 cup artichoke hearts, drained & quartered
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 Italian sausages, casings removed (I used leftover I had in the freezer)
1 small onion
Parmesan cheese

Saute the sausage, breaking into crumbles, until browned. Drain. In a little olive oil (or sausage grease if you want to be really bad), saute the onion until cooked. Add the left over pasta and sausage and cook until heated through. Add the artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes & heat through. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

NOTE: my pasta already had garlic, kalamata olives and feta cheese in it or I would have added those as well.

Triple Berry Crisp

2008-07-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

I have three best friends that I've had since Kindergarten, two of which live in Portland and one that lives in Manhattan. We don't know why our dear Jessie would choose to live in such a dismal, dirty, rat-race of a metropolis; something about culture, good job opportunities, thousands of fantastic restaurants at your disposal (many of which deliver in under three minutes)... bah. Fortunately, she still comes to visit us twice a year and we do our darndest to lure her back: bring her to new PDX hot spots, go on long drives to the Oregon coast (kicks the Jersey Shore's butt), and cook for her, as we determined in sixth grade - when she made "sugar" cookies with 2 cups of salt - that she cannot do it for herself. She'll be in town soon, so I'm excitedly planning trips, cleaning up the house, and dusting off my recipe card for berry crisp, her favorite. Since the berry season is now in full swing, I thought I would pass this along to everyone...

Triple Berry Crisp

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups fresh blackberries
1 ½ cups fresh raspberries
1 ½ cups fresh blueberries
4 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons instant tapioca

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, gently toss together blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, white sugar and instant tapioca beads; set aside. In a separate large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half of mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Cover with berries. Sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over the berries. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown.

I bet this would go really well with home-made chocolate raspberry swirl ice cream... anyone have a recipe for that??? ;-)

Antipasti Pan-Bagnat

2008-07-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

So. Since last Saturday, I have been living in a dusty, tenuous environment rife with stress, unexpected destruction and tearful recriminations. No, I've not joined the Army and been deployed. I've been remodelling my house. It'll look fabulous. Really. It will. When it's done. Sigh.

Anyway. Since I've been without a stove/oven for the past 6 days, I've had to be very organized in planning my meals. Everything had to be cheap (since we'll soon have fabulous new bamboo floors, we're now dirt floor poor) and everything had to grillable (Grill-able. That's probably not a word, huh?)

We had grilled veggie sandwiches one night, then dumped the left-over veggies onto pizza crusts and grilled those the next night. And I made a surprisingly successful grilled taco salad. Luckily, my dear brother Goose had offered to cook me dinner one night, so I only had to plan 5 meals (ok, 4 meals - we went out to eat once. You would too.) But now, dear brother Goose has ditched me, bailed, tossed me over for the Portland Ultimate Frisbee Freaks (PUFF. Heh.) I have nothing fresh in the fridge. No stove upon which to cook. Oh woe is me.

But not being one for too much self-pity (it's bad for the complexion) I got over myself and my brother's betrayal and concentrated on what I had going for me: a well stocked pantry. Pan-Bagnat means "wet bread" and is a sandwich that is traditionally stuffed with Salade Niçoise. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I HATE wet bread. But this sandwich doesn't get soggy. If you use a really good bagette, the crumb becomes infused with the antipasti's oils so that the bread becomes soft and unctious, but the crust stays crispy-crunchy. It was pretty damn good for a total fluke.

Inspiration: A bailing brother
Time: 20 minutes active, 120 minutes total
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: Plastic Wrap and something long and flat and heavy... like a cutting board!
Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1 really good quality baguette - you should always keep a couple of these in the freezer
1/4 cup pepperoni, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (I prefer the the fresh sundried tomatoes, not packed in oil. But you can use those too in a pinch.)
1 8 oz jar marinated artichokes, cut into quarters - reserve the marinade
1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and corsely chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chiffonade (chiffonad'ed? - cripes, just slice it thin)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (balls of fresh mozzarella or diced provolone would also be really good in this.)
2 T really fruity extra virgin olive oil or to taste. This amount depends on what type of sundried tomatoes you use and how oily your artichoke marinade is.
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

You could also add roasted red peppers, pickled asparagus spears, or omit the meat and go veg.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Toast the baguette for about 1o minutes, until golden and crispy.

While the baguette is toasting, make your antipasti stuffing. Toss all the above ingredients, save the oil, in a small bowl. Add about half of the artichoke marinade to the mixture and stir until well combined. Now, consider your oil options. You want to add enough oil to create a cohesive mass without drowning the veggies; if things start to float - you've gone too far. Add a bit of cracked black pepper to this and set aside. What? you want to add salt too? Well sure you can - if you're on one of those wacky dehydration diets. Otherwise, the pickled and brined veggies in this are plenty salty on their own.

While the baguette is still warm, slice in half, then lengthwise, leaving a hinge. Stuff the two halves equally with the antipasti filling. Place one sandwich half on a sheet of plastic wrap. Tightly wrap the sandwich like you would a sushi roll. Repeat with the other sandwich. Lay your heaviest cutting board on top of the sandwiches and press down firmly for a few seconds. Let the sandwiches sit for 1 hour at room temperature (so that the bread gets all oily and delicious). Eat!Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Slaw

2008-07-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

In the summer between high school and college, I had a job as a produce clerk at a local Albertsons. I hated it so much that I created an alter ego to help me survive my shifts. From 2-11pm M, W, F, Sat, Sun, I was Super Produce Boy and it was my duty to keep the Northern Vancouver area safe from moldy fruits and vegetables. Last night, in need of veggies for dinner at my folks' place, I did the unthinkable...I went back.

Like Superman returning to Metropolis years later, I was dismayed by all the little uglies that had taken over in my absence. All the good work I had once done was forgotten. I did what I could to rescue these few bits of life that remained(a half a head of purple cabbage, a lone carrot, a misshapen cucumber and a handful of green onions,) and sadly turned my back on a store that I can help no longer.

Inspiration: No Veggies in Fridge
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: A really big bowl
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:
1/2 head of red cabbage, cored and shredded
1 Carrot, outer peel removed, and shredded using peeler
3-4 Green Onions, sliced thin
1/2 Cucumber, sliced thing (I cut the slices in half too)
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs tangy mustard (I like to use European mustard if I have it)
1/4 Tsp. thyme (dried or fresh, chopped finely)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbs blue cheese crumbles
2-4 Tbs. Olive Oil

1. Mash garlic to a paste with the salt. Add mustard and thyme and mix well. Add vinegar and mix well. With a fork, mash 2 tbs blue cheese crumbles into the vinegar mixture until incorporated. Then slowly add 2 tbs olive oil using a whisk or a fork to incorporate the oil into the mixture. Taste the dressing. Some people like to mask the stark vinegar flavor by adding more oil...but I don't recommend that
2. Toss slaw ingredients with dressing.

Grilled Pesto Toasts

2008-07-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

I think it's funny that all winter long, I dream about the warmth of summer. I imagine myself sitting on my back deck in shorts and a shirt, enjoying a warm summer breeze and sipping on a margarita, gnashing on pork and pineapple kabobs. It's like I forget that it's going to be HOT in the summer, and that if I spend too much time in direct sunlight I burst into flame. Such was the case last night. It was darn hot in our house, and I was hungry (muddled mint of mojitoes does not a salad make.) All I got out of my freezer, aside from 5 minutes in a cold place, was a bag of frozen pesto cubes I made last summer. I figured they would be perfect as a variation on garlic bread to go along with a Pork chop smothered in bbq sauce.

Inspiration: Frozen Pesto
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: Frozen Pesto, Foil
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:
1 loaf of French bread, sliced
2 cubes of pesto
2 Tbs. olive oil
(Note: you can substitute 1/2 Cup fresh pesto instead of the frozen pesto and olive oil)

1. Spread pesto evenly on one side of bread slices
2. Wrap in tin foil
3. Cook on grill on in oven for 10-15 minutes

Planked Salmon Panini

2008-07-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

So. What does one do with leftover cedar planked salmon with lemon viniagrette? I had that and leftover acini di pepe pasta with garlic and olives (Gourmet, June, 2008) in the fridge. We also had a very nice young man come over to give us an estimate to paint our house that took until 8:00. What to do???? (Not what you'd expect.)

Inspiration: Leftovers in the fridge, late getting started and one very hungry husband
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment; Panini or grill pan
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
3 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons capers chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh dill (or dried to taste)
1 teaspoon fresh parsley
3 tablespoons cream cheese
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste
several drops of lemon juice (if you have it)
1/2 cup cooked salmon
1/2 avocado, sliced
sliced bread
olive oil

Mix the first 9 ingredients. Brush one side of each slice of bread with olive oil. Spread the salmon mixture on the unoiled side. Place several slices of avocado on top. Top with another slice of bread, oiled side out. Place on hot grill pan & grill til golden. Flip & grill other side until golden. Serve with a side salad.

Stay tuned for what I do with the leftover Acini di Pepe Pasta!

Steak Salad

2008-07-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

"You've got to be fracking kidding me!" That was my reaction when the sour butcher at Whole Foods said that his flank steak was selling at $14/lb. I couldn't believe it. The Flank used to be the budget cut of meat. When I asked about skirt steak, he huffed and told me it was an inferior cut of meat, and that they didn't carry it for their consumers benefit. Little did he know that a skirt steak would have made my belly very happy. Instead, I was left peering into the meat locker looking for a cut of meat I could grill up for my steak salad that wasn't going to cost me more than a gallon of gas. I settled on a 1/2 pound cut of London Broil for $3.93 and decided that, from now on, instead of walking to the Whole Foods 7 blocks from my house, I will ride my bike the the New Seasons up the street. At least at there I get my meat handled the way I want it with a smile.

Inspiration: Antonia's Rice Salad from Season 4 Top Chef
Time: About 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: Grill/Grill pan
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1/2 lb skirt or flank steak (substitute what steak you or your butcher has available)
1/2 tsp. Ground Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp. Ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp. Ground Coriander seeds
1 head red leaf lettuce (Mine was out of my garden) - Washed and ripped into bite sized pieces
1 heaping handful baby spinach leaves (Mine was out of my crop share)
1 heaping handful of sugar snap peas (Again, straight out of my garden) -
1/4 cup Kalamata Olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1 tomato diced
Blue cheese to desired amount (I used lots because I like blue cheese
Your favorite balsamic vinaigrette -or-
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs tangy mustard (I like to use European mustard if I have it)
1/4 Tsp. thyme (dried or fresh, chopped finely)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2-4 Tbs. Olive Oil

1. Wash steak and pat dry with a paper towel. Mix cayenne, garlic powder, pepper, salt, cumin and coriander together in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over all sides of the steak and rub into meat. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. Heat grill on high. When you put meat on grill turn down to medium, and cook to desired doneness. I cooked mine medium rare so that it was still very pink in the middle. Pull off the grill and let sit while you pull together the rest of the salad.

2. If you are making your own balsamic vinaigrette, mash garlic to a paste with the salt. Add mustard and thyme and mix well. Add vinegar and mix well. Then slowly add 2 tbs olive oil using a whisk or a fork to incorporate the oil into the mixture. Taste the dressing. Some people like to mask the stark vinegar flavor by adding more oil...but I don't recommend that.

3. Thinly slice your meat. I usually cut each slice into bite sized pieces, because I don't like to use a knife to eat my salad.

4. Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl, but do not toss in tomatoes and dressing in until ready to serve, or you'll wilt your lettuce and spinach.

Healthy Sailor Colombian Salad

2008-07-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

I add the "Healthy Sailor" to this title not because the vitamin-rich fruit and veggies ward off scurvy, but rather in homage to the originator of this recipe: my dear Colombian friend Maria... and her "colorful" language. When I met Maria, she spoke little English and I spoke little Spanish, but I soon learned the hard way that every other word out of her mouth was dirty (Hey guys, what does ___ mean?). Her sailor language may have turned people off, but her delicious summer salad always brought them back. Here is my interpretation. Spice it up with 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro and some expletives and you'll have Maria's original recipe.

Healthy Sailor Colombian Salad
Inspiration: A hot sunny day in Portland (this salad is really refreshing)
Time: 10 minutes, let salad sit in fridge if you want the flavors to marinate more
Difficulty: Oh so easy
Requirements: Chef's knife (according to Anthony Bourdain, this is all you'll EVER need)
Serving Size: 6-?

Ingredients:

1/2 head green cabbage
1 tart green apple
1 crisp, sweeter apple (I like Fuji)
1 mango
1 can mandarin oranges
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbs. olive oil

Chop the cabbage and apples into bite-sized pieces... but don't "slaw" the cabbage. Sometimes I peel the green apple if the skin is particularly tough or waxy (as granny smiths tend to be). Peel and cube the mango. Mix all of these chopped ingredients together and add the mandarin oranges (drained). Dress the salad with the lemon juice and olive oil.

You can play around with the citrus fruit ingredients here, but I find that the crisp apples are a must-have. Sometimes I add avocado... sometimes I substitute fresh nectarines for the mandarin oranges... it always turns out refreshing.

Falafel Sandwhiches

2008-07-08T13:36:00.001-07:00

When making dinner, there are some things you don't want to do. You don't want the preparation to take you until bedtime before you can sit down and eat. You don't want the meal to fall apart and make a mess in your lap. And you don't want it to make you sick. I miss fired on all three accounts last night. But let's not focus on that, because the concept was good even if the execution was not stellar (and by not stellar, I mean dreadful)

Last night, my girlfriend and I decided to make falafel sandwiches based on a really fantastic grilled falafel sandwich at the Aladdin Cafe in NE Portland. Their sandwich has light and flavorful falafel, yummy tsatsiki sauce, and amazing fresh pita. Apparently this is not so easy to recreate. I undercooked my falafel which absorbed the not-hot-enough oil it was fried in and put it in store bought pita that fell apart in our hands. If Jenny hadn't made the tsatiki sauce the meal would have been a complete failure, especially given all the oil in the falafel gave us both stomach aches.

But hey, with failure comes education. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make falafel again. I'm going to pan fry rather than deep fry and I'm going to go to a Greek store (or let's be honest, the Aladdin Cafe) and buy real pita. Then, I'm going to post the recipe so you too can make your own falafel sandwiches. In the mean time, go to the Aladdin Cafe to have a little bit of heaven. Just don't order the Lebanese beer. It's gross.

Inspiration: Grilled Falafel Sandwich at the Aladdin Cafe ( 6316 NE 33rd Ave, PDX 97211)
Time: 20-30 minutes (this includes sit down, order and eating)
Difficulty: Far easier than making it yourself
Special Equipment: transportation, debit card
Servings: 1 order feeds one person. (plus every meal comes with fresh pita and humus!)

Recipe to come...

Quick and Dirty Noodles

2008-07-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

My son recently ordered custom window coverings for me and called me yesterday to tell me that they were ready. He said that if I made him dinner, he would come over and hang them for me. My answer? "What do you want?" He requested Korean Shortribs, Quick & Dirty Noodles and sugar snap peas. So, the meat is marinating and while I don't have the peas, I do have some killer green beans from the Farmer's Market, that I will toss with olive oil and sea salt and throw on the grill with the beef. Which leaves the noodles. I came up with this recipe years ago when I didn't have a pot to pee in (but I did have one to cook in).

QUICK & DIRTY NOODLES

Inspiration: Dried ramen noodles at 10 cents a pack and little money in the bank.
Time: 15 minutes (that's the "quick" part)
Difficulty: Easy (can you open a bag of noodles and a can of broth?)
Special Equipment: 1 pot and 1 pan
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
2 packages dried ramen noodles (any flavor...it won't matter)
3 tablespoons butter
a few drops of sesame oil
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (that's the "dirty" part)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/8th teaspoon hot pepper flakes (optional)
1 can low sodium chicken broth

Pour the chicken broth into a sauce pan and add about 1/2 can water. Heat until boiling. Open the packages of noodles and throw away the little spice packet (now you know why any flavor works.) Crush the noodles if you want. Melt the butter in a small frying pan with the sesame oil. Add garlic and saute until golden. Add the sesame seeds and hot pepper flakes and fry a little longer. Add the soy sauce and about 1/4 cup of the chicken broth (be careful....it will splatter all over your stove and your shirt...which is why all my shirts have splatter stains on them.) Set aside. When the broth is boiling, add the noodles and take off the heat. Let sit for a few minutes until done to your liking and most of the liquid is absorbed. Drain and put back into your pan. Pour the soy mixture over the noodles and toss to coat.

Note: I use black sesame seeds for a little contrast.

Stuffed Bakers

2008-07-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last week in foodie bliss, enjoying the unrivaled culinary glories of the Bay Area and Napa Valley, California. I have eaten Xiao Long Bao so delicate and gingery, the taste lingered for hours on my tongue and I didn't care. (No. That's not gross.) I drank rich, nectar-y wines in the valley and got amazing deals because my mother-in-law, (who should NOT be allowed to drive in San Francisco. Ever.) works for a winery. And I enjoyed a mind-blowing and completely meat-free meal at Ubuntu and saved the smuggled bacon bits (just in case!) for the plane ride home. It was glorious, magical and totally satisfying.

May I just say, neener-neener-neener?

And now I have returned home to find the contents of my refrigerator resemble those surrealist paintings of the early 20th century that I recently viewed with avid delight at the SFMOMA -so colorful, so textured and so completely unidentifiable.

The fridge is now clean and sanitized (I had to bribe my husband) and I'm left with a handful of slightly wilted items and a grumbly belly. All that's left for dinner is the following:

4 large russet potatoes (sprouting eyes removed with the tip of my fingernail - you could use a serrated spoon too, I suppose.)

1 large onion, diced (leafy green center removed to the compost, post-haste)

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

2 medium heads of broccoli, florets chopped into 1/2" pieces (a surprisingly long-lived vegetable, although I ditched the stalks as they were rather... limp.)

1/2 lb bacon (yes!) pulled from the freezer

1 Tbs butter, also pulled from the freezer

Splashes of my all-time favorite pantry staples dry sherry (NOT the cooking kind - don't make me slap you) and Wooster Sauce (Worcestershire for those who can pronounce it). Add these splashes to 1/4 cup water (you can use all Sherry if you like - I know I do!)

Whole nutmeg - another pantry staple, of which I am now out. Dammit. (can we swear on this blog?)

Salt and Pepper to taste.

1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (that's right, Tillamook.)

This is not a quick meal, but it's super easy and totally comforting and yummy, which of course means it's also not very healthy. You got a problem with that? Go back to your carrot sticks then (mine were pretty slimy and also went into the compost.) The leftovers cube nicely and fry up with eggs (that are only 4 days past their sell-by date, fingers crossed against salmonella) for a very easy breakfast.

Stuffed Bakers

Inspiration: The only edible things left in my fridge

Time: 2 hours, including prep

Difficulty: Easy

Special Equipment: Not really. Well - a potato masher. But if you haven't got one of those, you're probably a communist.

Servings: 4

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Scrub potatoes thoroughly and pierce all over with a fork. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with course sea salt if you like - this makes the potato skins crispy and the sea salt gives an added crunch that is divine. Bake for 1 hour, or until the potatoes are done. Attention! If you coat your potatoes in olive oil - put them on a baking sheet, for goodness' sake. Trust me. Portland fire-fighters are not that cute and they have no sense of humor.

3. While the potatoes bake, chop the bacon into 1/4" pieces and fry over medium low-heat in a large pan - I prefer cast iron. When the bacon is crisp (drain fat if necessary, you freaky health-nut commie) add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent. Turn up the heat to medium high and add the broccoli, tossing until everything is well coated. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. When you can smell that lovely garlic-y, bacon-y aroma that I personally believe was the actual cause of the Trojan War, deglaze the pan with the Sherry/Wooster mix, scraping up those dark brown bacon bits. Continue to stir the mixture until all the liquid has evaporated. The broccoli should be just crisp-tender - it will finish cooking in the oven. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

4. When the potatoes are done, pull them from the oven and reduce the heat to 350. You can let them cool before handling, but I'm usually so damn hungry by then, I just fold a kitchen towel in half and use it to protect my delicate skin from the searing heat of the hot potato. Cut a window out of the top of the potato and using a spoon, scoop the flesh into a large bowl, leaving a 1/4" shell. Put the potato shells in a baking dish and set aside.

5. Add the 1 Tbs butter to the potato innards (What's that? Can you add more butter? Of course you can! Just remember, you're adding bacon fat as well, so I'd hold off for a moment if I were you. No - I am not turning into a health-nut. Back off). Then add about 9 or 10 gratings of the nutmeg (don't skip this - I think it's key to the recipe) and salt and pepper to taste - (remembering that we put salt in the broccoli mixture too). Now use your potato masher until everything is combined and fluffy. Stir in the broccoli mixture and incorporate thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and add more butter if you feel the mixture is too dry.

6. Stuff the potatoes using a large spoon. The filling will more than exceed the volume of the skins, so happily mound them up - they’ll look gorgeous. Top the potatoes with the cheese and bake for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is brown and bubbly. Let them cool a bit before eating... If you can.

Whew. I know - it seems like a lot of work. But try it! You’ll like it!

Hurricane "Chili"

2008-07-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

When I lived in Miami, I always had a surplus of canned food (all of that paranoid purchasing during hurricane season). One evening, I had invited two friends over for dinner and - as it often happened in our neighborhood - six showed up. So, I rolled with the punches, cleaned out the cupboard, and created this "chili" of sorts. It's quick and dirty, works great as a burrito base (add guac, sour cream, and salsa: oh my), or just served in a bowl with grated (Tillamook sharp!) cheddar cheese. I always recommend a side of corn bread... if you don't want to make it from scratch, use the Trader Joe's cornbread mix; it's the best!

Inspiration: The dark recesses of my cupboard
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: Shallow pot or sautee pan
Serving Size: 4 (Adjust proportions accordingly for those uninvited, but always welcome, guests)

Ingredients:

1 small onion (yellow or white), chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbs. olive oil
1 15oz. can black beans, drained
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
4 oz. can mild green chilies, drained and diced (can substitute chipotle)
15oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
15oz. can whole kernel corn
1 tsp. honey (optional)

In a shallow pot or sautee pan (I prefer the latter), sautee chopped onions in olive oil on medium heat until almost translucent. Add chopped garlic and cook for another minute. Mix in black beans, tomatoes, diced chilies, cumin and chili powder and let simmer for five minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally. Add corn and cook for another five minutes with the lid off. If you're tomatoes are particularly acidic, add one teaspoon of honey. If the mixture is thin, let it sit for a couple of minutes before serving: it thickens up fast.

Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, guacamole... also makes a good dip for chips.

¡Buen provecho!

Grilled Flat bread Pizza

2008-07-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

Boy do I heart me some summer time bbq's. Last night, my roommate Sara was kind enough to have a birthday to give us reason to grill. Given that I had a bit more warning than the last bbq, I planned ahead this time. That is to say, I stopped at the store on my way home. As i entered New Seasons, I didn't know what I wanted to grill. Most logical people would start at the butcher to help spark inspiration...Last night, I headed to the cheese department first. Humbolt fog, fresh mozzerella, dubliner. So many options. I settled on a quarter pound wedge of manchego, hoping it's mild yet nutty flavor would blend would lead to something good. On my way to the butcher, I saw some very interesting triangular flat bread. And there I had it. Add some caramelized onions, chorizon and spinich, and I would have a very tasty grilled flat bread pizza.

Inspiration: Triangular Norwegian potato flat bread
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: A really really big spatula
Servings: 14-18 mini pizzas

1 Onion, sliced thinly
1 tbs butter
1/2 lb bulk pork chorizo
1 small handfull of spinich leaves, chiffonade
1/4 lb manchego cheese, shreaded
10 pieces of flatbread, lightly brushed with olive oil

Saute onion in butter (if onion isn't very juicy, you may need to add more butter). When onion is golden and transparent, remove from pan and let sit. Saute chorizo until cooked through. To assemble pizzas, spread spinach evenly between flat bread, followed by chorizo, onions and topped with cheese. Heat grill, and over medium heat grill flat bread until chrispy on the bottom and cheese is melted. This does not take long. Do not wander far from the grill.

Breakfast Smoothie

2008-06-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

Some people say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day...no doubt they are the same people that say you should chew your food 32 times before swallowing or only take bites of food the size of walnuts. They sound like wonderfully idealistic. Leisurely weekend mornings aside, who has time for breakfast? I manage to make it out of bed with just enough time to shower, get dressed and make lunch before it's time to head out the door.

I spent a fortune before I realized the smoothies I would buy 2-3 days a week never seemed to get the fruit combination I wanted and that I could probably do a better job myself. Now I drink a liter of smoothie every morning, and get all the vitamins and proteins a healthy boy needs to be...erm...healthy.

Mixed berry Smoothie
Inspiration: $5 smoothies from Coffee carts
Time: 5 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: Blender
Serving Size: 1 liter

1 banana broken into smallish pieces
4-5 dallops of lowfat organic vanilla yogurt
1 pkg Emergen-C (either cranberry or lemon lime flavored.
3 small handfuls of frozen fruit (Strawberries, rasp berries, blackberries, mangos, pineapple, etc)
Juice to the 1000ml line on the blender (OJ, Apple J, Pineapple J, etc)

Blend ingredients until smooth.

Everything's frozen

2008-06-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

While I don't advocate using a lot of pre-packaged foods, I like to keep a few things (like ravioli & tamales) in my freezer for the odd days I dash out of the house late & forget to take something out of the freezer. Costco has some great items that keep well in the freezer. Last night was one of those nights, but with some tamales steaming, I chopped lettuce, tomatoes and avocado. When the tamales were done, I topped the salad & added a dollup of salsa & sour cream and voila! A very tasty dinner was served.
-Mother Goose

Grilled Potato Salad with balsamic vinegrette

2008-06-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Last night, upon returning home from a long day and a harried commute, I remembered that my friend Ra was having a BBQ to celebrate her birthday. And I was already late. After a quick survey of the fridge, I found 3 potatoes, a head of fennel, a red pepper, a head of broccoli and a couple of tomatoes. Needing to find a way to cook the potatoes quickly, I decided to hammer out an nontraditional grilled potato salad. 45 minutes later, I was on my way.

Grilled Potato Salad
Inspiration: Summer BBQ + Three potatoes
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: Grill + Veggie pan -or-grill pan
Serving Size: 4-6 side dishes

3 Yukon Gold Potatoes, cubed
1 red pepper, cubed
1 head of fennel, cubed
1 head of broccoli, crowned, (you can cube the stem too)
2 tomatoes cubed
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4-5 springs of thyme chopped (remove stem first)
2 springs of rosemary chopped (remove stem first)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Mash garlic and salt together to a paste, mix well with mustard, and herbs. Slowly add oil mixing well to keep from separating. Toss 3/4 of paste with potatoes, red peppers, fennel, and broccoli, let sit for 5-10 minutes. If the paste is not spreading evenly over veggies, toss with more olive oil. Grill until veggies and potatoes are all cooked to your liking. Whisk balsamic vinegar into reserved garlic/mustard mix, and pour over warm veggies.

Grilled Halibut Tostadas with Fresh Mango Salsa

2008-06-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

Over a fantastic happy hour of avocado daiquiris and fried calamari, my good friend Beverly and I discussed finding inspiration for dinner. We agreed that it is ridiculously difficult to find new recipes for dinner (epicurious.com and foodtv.com don't count, they're too snobby). This often results repetitiously making the same things for dinner. Way too boring for people like us. We wanted the excitement of something new for dinner. We wanted easy. We wanted healthy. Secretly, we wanted our friends and family, whom we cook for, to jump to their feet with a chorus of praise and applause. Ultimately, we decided that we should share recipes since we have the same desire to eat well and healthy, but may not a lot of time to do so creatively.

Over a week has passed since that conversation. I have yet to send her any recipes, despite making grilled chicken fajitas, chilpotle pork skewers and grilled halibut tostadas. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't rescue her from yet another night of chicken and rice!

So, after little thought and many failed attempts at blogging, I am starting a new blog with the intention to keep a list of weeknight dinners that are good, healthy and easy to make. We'll see how long it lasts. Luckily, even if I don't make it out of next week, Beverly will still have a great recipe for fish tostadas in her arsenal.

Grilled Halibut Tostadas with Fresh Mango Salsa
Inspiration: Eric Collins' fajitas with mango salsa in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
Time: less than 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: Grill/grill pan
Serving Size: 3 tostadas
Cost:

Grilled Halibut Tostadas

1 6oz fillet of fresh halibut, rinsed and patted dry.
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground coriander seeds
1/4 tsp cumin
1 dash of ground cinnamon
1 tbs olive oil
High quality corn tortillas
refried black beans (I had left overs in the fridge)
small handful of cilantro leaves
small handful of cojita cheese

Mix salt, pepper, garlic, coriander, cumin and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle over halibut. Let sit for 30 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil and sear one side hot grill. Turn down heat to medium low and cook until flaky, but still moist. Remove from grill and let sit 5 minutes. Flake into little bits.

Spray tortillas with a little olive oil on both sides, and as fish is nearly done, toss them onto the grill and grill until they are gold brown on both sides.

Spread black beans onto tortilla, followed by the flaked halibut, and a good helping of mango salsa. Sprinkle the top with cojita cheese and cilantro leaves.

Fresh Mango Salsa

1 ripe but firm mango, cubed
1 ripe but firm avocado, cubed
½ cucumber, sliced very thinly (paper thinly)
1 ripe but firm tomato, cubed (if tomatoes are small, use 2)
1 large jalapeño, pith and seeds removed, then diced
1 lime, juiced
¼ cup red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp ground cumin
pinch of cinnamon

Mash garlic to paste with salt, then mix in pepper, cumin and cinnamon. Dilute with lime juice and red wine vinegar, and toss in a medium bowl with remaining ingredients. The longer it sits, the spicier it will be.