arugulove

Moving Day

2009-02-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

After six months or so of blogging, I've decided to move over to Wordpress. My new web address is: http://arugulove.wordpress.com. Please update your bookmarks and readers because I would hate to lose you now!

My first post is already up, so come on over and check out my very special Valentine's Day cookie: Hibiscus Meringues with Pomegranate and Blood Orange.

Thanks for reading!

Beet and Beet Greens Salad with Oranges and Feta

2009-02-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

I had never cooked a beet before, so I was really excited to find them in my CSA box on Friday. I also don't think I've ever eaten beet greens before, so I really wanted to find a way to use those.

This salad turned out fantastic. The original recipe from Epicurious didn't call for feta, but I think it makes it even more delicious. I think goat cheese would work well too. I skipped the onion and the garlic, and just used a large shallot instead. I thought garlic would be too strong, and I really liked the way the shallot tasted.

Ingredients

6 medium beets with beet greens attached
2 large oranges
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 large shallot, minced
Feta cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Trim greens from beets. Cut off and discard stems. Coarsely chop leaves and reserve. Wrap each beet in foil. Place beets directly on oven rack and roast until tender when pierced with fork, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Cool. Peel beets, then cut each into 8 wedges. Place beets in medium bowl.

Cook beet greens in large saucepan of boiling water just until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Cool. Squeeze greens to remove excess moisture. Add greens to bowl with beets.

Cut peel and white pith from oranges. Working over another bowl and using small sharp knife, cut between membranes to release segments. Add orange segments and onion to bowl with beet mixture.

Whisk vinegar, oil, garlic, and orange peel in small bowl to blend; add to beet mixture and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Sprinkle with feta just before serving.

Warm Winter Greens and Farro Salad

2009-02-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to try farro for a while now. I see it occassionally in magazines or on cooking shows, so last week, I finally just decided to buy a bag and see what all the fuss is about.

Oh my god, it is so good. It tastes like a cross between bulgar and arborio (risotto) rice. It's nutty, and both chewy and creamy tasting. It's really good. It's expensive, but a little goes a long way. It's also incredibly good for you, with lots of fiber and protein. Definitely check it out.

I stumbled upon this recipe by googling "farro recipes" and going for the first thing that involved items from my Friday CSA delivery. I made a couple changes because I wanted to serve the dish warm, though I think it would work cold too.

This recipe is pretty flexible, so feel free to adjust it based on what you've got at home. It makes a ton. I served it as a side dish for dinner, but reheated leftovers the next day for lunch without anything thing else. I've still got some leftover, so next time, I'll probably just halve the recipe.

Finally, the original recipe notes that it is great with a Neanderthal diet, so serve this to your cavemen friends.

Warm Winter Greens and Farro Salad

Ingredients

6 Handfuls mixed salad greens, washed and dried (I used spinach and arugula)
2 Cups farro, rinsed and drained
5 Cups water (or stock)
2 Teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
1 orange, zest and juice
1 shallot, chopped
1/3 Cup Parmesan, freshly shredded
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 Cup good quality olive oil
2 Pinchs salt
1/2 Cup Spanish almonds, or toasted regular almonds (I used walnuts)
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Directions

Combine the farro, salt, and water in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the farro is tender, 45 minutes to an hour, or about half the time if you are using semi-pearled farro. Taste often as it is cooking, you want it to be toothsome and retain structure.

While the grains are simmering make the dressing. Whisk together the orange juice, orange zest, shallot, Parmesan cheese, white wine vinegar, and olive oil. Salt to taste and set aside.

Just before serving, in a large bowl, toss the salad greens with a bit of the dressing. Add the goat cheese and nuts.

Remove the farro from the stove and drain any excess water. While it is still very warm, add it to the greens mixture, and add another splash of the dressing. Toss again, and add more dressing or salt if needed.

That's it. The final dish was delicious. If you wanted to serve it cold, I'd recommend holding off on adding the goat cheese until after everything was mixed up. I just put it in before adding the warm farro because I knew it would melt anyway.

I wish I had a better picture of this, but this is what I've got. It's really, really good. I may become a farro addict now.

Almond Clementine Cupcakes

2009-01-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

I first found this recipe on the food blog Smitten Kitten and was so intrigued, I had to try it. It uses the entire clementine - rind, pith, and flesh - and it uses no butter or flour. So, you can make this for your gluten-free friends.

The original recipe is by Nigella Lawson of the Food Network, and is supposed to be a cake, but I thought cupcakes would be fun for my book club meeting. The comments on the Food Network site were a little all over the map on this one, but I managed to get some good advice from them.

First, keep in mind that this is not a particularly sweet cake. The rind makes it somewhat bitter, so it doesn't taste like a typical dessert. A five year old is not going to want this for their birthday. Second, the fruit you choose is very important. If the rind or pith are too thick, it will be too bitter. Clementines are really the ideal fruit to use, since the rind is so thin. Nigella suggests doing this with regular oranges and lemons, but increasing the sugar. You can always taste the batter before you pop it in to the oven to add a little more sugar if you need to. Finally, while the original recipe does not call for vanilla, I think it adds a nice flavor to the cupcakes, and I'd recommend using it.

I also made a little orange-vanilla glaze for them, though the recipe says you can eat the cake without it (and would be delicious plain, particuarly as a nice cake for a brunch).

This recipe makes 1 8 inch cake or about 20 cupcakes.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes
4 to 5 clementines (about 1 pound total weight)
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/3 cups ground almonds
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1/2 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

For the glaze
One orange, zested and juiced
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 pod from the vanilla bean (optional)

Directions

Put the clementines in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to the boil, and cook for 2 hours. I had to add extra water at about the one hour mark, since a lot had boiled off.

If you are using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the pod, and pulse in a food processor with the sugar.

If you are planning on making a glaze, put the pod in with a cup of confectioner's sugar, and let sit until you are ready to make the glaze.

Drain and cool the clementines. Cut each clementine in half and remove the seeds.

Puree the skins, pith, and fruit in the processor until very smooth.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line the cupcake tins with cupcake wrappers, or butter and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.

Mix the sugar, ground almonds, and baking powder.

Beat the eggs. Stir in the pureed clementines. If you are using vanilla extract instead of a bean, I would add it here.

Slowly pour the dry mix into the wet mix and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan or tin. I baked the cupcakes for 20 minutes. If you are making a cake, Nigella says to bake for 1 hour, covering with foil after about 40 minutes.

Let the finished cupcakes or cake cool on a rack. The cakes will keep for at least several days, and in fact, the flavor will improve over a day or two, so feel free to make in advance.

To make the glaze

Take the powdered sugar and slowly add in the orange juice, a teaspoon or so at a time. Add a pinch or two of finely zested peel. Whisk until incorporated, and add more juice as necessary. You want the glaze to be thick, about the consistency of glue. If you put a drop on the cake and it runs too much, just add a bit more sugar to thicken it up and try again.

Do not add the glaze until you are ready to eat the cake. After it's been on the cake for 12 hours or so, it will start to absorb into the cake. While it'll still taste good, it will look weird.

To frost, just take a small spoonful and drop it on each cupcake. It should spread out a little without too much running or dripping.

And that's it.

Saffron-Scented Pear Upside-Down Cake

2008-12-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

Pears + Saffron + Ginger = Heaven

And, this cake is really easy to make.

Ingredients

Vegetable oil cooking spray
Pinch of saffron threads
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 Comice pears, (6 to 7 ounces each)
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

Note: I couldn't find nonfat buttermilk, so I used low fat. It worked fine.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-inch square or round cake pan with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment paper, and set aside.

Pulse saffron and 1/4 cup sugar in a spice grinder until well combined. Put butter and saffron sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Spread the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. The recipe suggests using a rubber spatula, but I found a spoon to be easier to spread it.

Whisk together flour, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, ground ginger, and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in another bowl.

Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking. Stir in crystallized ginger.

Peel pears; halve lengthwise, and core. Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, cut pears lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange pears decoratively in pan over saffron-butter mixture. Only the first layer has to be laid down decoratively. You won't even see the pears underneath the top layer, so I just piled them in.

Spread batter over pears. Bake until set and a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.

Place a serving platter upside down over pan; flip to unmold cake. Peel off parchment.

The butter and sugar and saffron seep into the cake, making a delicious glaze on the top.

And voila! The finished cake. It's absolutely delicious.

Collard Greens with Walnuts and Pickled Apples

2008-12-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

This is a belated post on a dish I made a couple weeks ago, when my CSA box contained collard greens and apples. I had never tried collard greens before, and found this recipe on Epicurious and thought I would give it a try.

The recipe was essentially a salad, and the collard greens were raw. I didn't realize this until halfway through my preparation, at which point, I tried a nibble of raw collard greens and realized that they really don't taste good raw. Maybe some people like them, but I don't. So, I decided to try wilting them a bit, but keeping the basic flavors of the recipe. That worked, and my husband really liked it, but if I were to do it again, I'd cook them down a little more than I did because they were just too raw tasting for me.

The flavors are excellent though, and really unique. So, I recommend trying this, but adjusting the cooking time based on your personal preference for the green. I think this would be really good with chard or even spinach as well.

Ingredients

2 red apples such as Gala or Idared
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pickling spice
1/2 cup walnut halves (3 ounces)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bunch collard greens (1 pound)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 shallot, finely diced (this is my own addition)

Note: I didn't have any pickling spice so I used a half a teaspoon mustard seeds, a bay leaf, a pinch of cinnamon, a couple of cloves, and salt & pepper. There's a bunch of different suggestions for pickling spice combos online, so if you don't feel like buying a jar of it, you can google for ideas.

Directions

Pickled Apples

Quarter and core apples, then cut each quarter lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Boil vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pickling spice in a saucepan, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Add apples and return to a boil. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and cool. Chill, uncovered, until cold, about 1 hour.

Walnuts

Coarsely chop 1 tablespoon nuts and finely chop remaining nuts. Toast walnuts in olive oil in a small skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until a shade darker. Cool nuts in oil.

Collard Greens

Halve each collard leaf lengthwise with kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cutting out and discarding center ribs. Stack leaves and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips.

To Assemble

Here's the part I made up. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of the walnut infused oil in a large saute pan. Add the finely chopped shallot and saute for a couple minutes, until the shallot is soft and starts to brown.

Add the remainder of the oil and the walnuts, then add in all of the collard greens. Add water...about a quarter of a cup to help braise the greens. Cook for a few minutes, until the greens are soft enough for your liking.

Strain the pickled apples. When the collard greens are just about done, add the apples. Stir together and add salt and pepper, if needed.

Cranberry Vanilla Coffee Cake

2008-12-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

This delicious little cake from Gourmet, via Epicurious, has been all the rage on the food blogs lately, it seems. It sounded so good, and I thought it would be a wonderful Christmas morning breakfast. Unfortunately, as I discovered earlier this fall, cranberries are in short supply out on the west coast. After checking at several stores, all of whom said that they stop carrying cranberries in November, I found a small, overpriced pint of them at the fabulous Ferry Building on Christmas Eve. They were $6, but I didn't care. Cranberry vanilla coffee cake would be mine.

The recipe is easy and absolutely delicious. It's not too sweet and it smells heavenly.

Ingredients

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (6 ounces)
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, divided
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk

Note: I actually used an addition splash of milk...probably about 2 tablespoons worth. The batter seemed incredibly sticky and it just wasnt' absorbing all the dry mixture. You may find you need to do the same. Also, while the recipe calls for a 9 by 2 cake pan, I think I will do this in a spring form pan the next time I make it. It would probably make the cake easier to remove.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan. Line bottom with a round of parchment paper and butter parchment.

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a food processor with tip of a paring knife (reserve pod for another use if desired). Add sugar and pulse to combine. Transfer to a bowl.

Pulse cranberries with 1/2 cup vanilla sugar in processor until finely chopped (do not purée).

Whisk together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat together 1 stick butter and 1 cup vanilla sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down side and bottom of bowl. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour, until just combined.

Spread half of batter in pan, then spoon cranberries over it, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edge. Top with remaining batter and smooth top. This was the trickiest part because the batter is thick and hard to spread. I just dollopped it on in small spoonfuls all over the cranberries and gently spread the dollops together with a spoon.

Blend remaining 1/4 cup vanilla sugar with remaining tablespoon each of butter and flour using your fingertips. Crumble over top of cake.

Bake until a wooden pick inserted into cake (not into cranberry filling) comes out clean and side begins to pull away from pan, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely, crumb side up.

The most bizarre combination of ingredients ever

2008-12-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

When I lived in Washington, there was this local chain, Lebanese Taverna, that had this one amazing dish...consisting of either chicken, lamb, or eggplant, served with yogurt, chickpeas, pomegranates, and tons of garlic. It was to die for.

There is no Lebanese Taverna in Berkeley, and I had a craving. Through the magic of the internets, I was able to hunt down a recipe for this dish. The recipe I used was posted by a poster on the Chowhound boards. I improvised a little, so I'll try to describe it the way I did it. And while I used a whole chicken as the recipe suggested, next time I will just use boneless chicken pieces, which will make preparing this a lot easier. Or perhaps I'll try lamb or a vegetarian version with eggplant.

While not exactly like Lebanese Taverna's, this version was still really, really good. I'll definitely make this again.

Fatteh Bel Djaje

For chicken and broth:

1 chicken, quartered (or 2-2.5 pounds or so of boneless chicken pieces)

1/2 lemon, cut into quarters (I used half an orange)

1 Tb ground cinnamon

1 tb salt

2 cups water (I needed a little more water to cover everything in the pot)

1 onion with 3 cloves stuck in it

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 stick cinnamon

2 bay leaves

1 large can chickpeas

For serving

1 quart plain yogurt (i use labneh or the thick greek yogurt, they work best)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup mints leaves, torn
1 cup pine nuts
3 Tb butter
2 pita breads cut into 1 inch squares
1/2 a pomegranate (if available)

Rice or couscous, for serving, if you want.

First, mix the yogurt with garlic and a pinch of salt and let it sit for at least 15 minutes. I'd keep it out of the fridge so it can come to room temperature.

Brown the chicken in a large large dutch oven or stockpot. Add lemon or orange, ground cinnamon, salt, water, onion with cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. If you are using boneless chicken in small chunks, you can probably just leave it on the stove to to simmer. If you are using bigger pieces with the bone in, bring the water to a boil and put it in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on how big the pieces are.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the broth. Let it cool if you need to debone it. Strain and skim broth, pour over chickpeas and cook for 15-20 minutes. I reserved a little bit of broth and poured it back over the deboned chicken, covered it, and simmered on very low heat to keep it warm.

Cook the rice or couscous, if you are using it. (I used basmati rice, which works well with this.)

Fry pine nuts in 1 tb butter until brown.

Set them aside and fry the pita cubes in remaining butter until crisp.

To serve

Put rice or couscous in a shallow bowl. Top with chicken, chickpeas and a couple tablespoons of broth, and the yogurt mixture. Sprinkle the pine nuts, pita, mint, and pomegranate on top.

And convince people that despite the odd ingredient list, it is actually an incredibly delicious meal. The pomegranate seeds add sweetness, the pine nuts and pita are crunchy, the mint makes it fresh and bright, and all of them compliment the spicy chicken and garlicky yogurt beautifully.

I embark on a labor of love

2008-12-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

Good god.

I had a holiday party to go to and wanted to make Christmas cookies for it. I was torn, however, between making really delicious cookies and making really beautiful cookies.

Then, this piece about Zimtsterne, the German meringue-like Christmas cookie,popped up on my blog reader, prompted me to seek out a recipe, and I realized I could have the best of both worlds.

While the end result does indeed live up to that goal, it did not happen without a lot of hard work, patience, and cursing.

Thankfully, they taste amazing and while not flawless, still pretty damn beautiful. They taste unlike any Christmas cookie I've ever had. They are both crunchy and soft, and have such a wonderful flavor. Once I got the hang of it, they got a little easier, but they do take a long time (particularly if you want the Martha-esque frosting and almond topping). If you are patient and ambitious, I highly recommend attempting these things. Or if you really want to make a gluten-free holiday dessert and are a glutton for pain.

Inspiration from these recipes comes from David Lebovitz, and the recipe used comes from the Food Network. I've changed the directions significantly, based on other information I read online before embarking on this project (many from the Food Network commenters) and my own trial and error attempts to make these cookies.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
Lots of granulated sugar for rolling
15 ounces sliced almonds, with skin (about 4 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

The one nice thing about this recipe is that it's very forgiving, flexible dough. I could see using other spices or other nuts in the mixture, so I think you could adapt this based on preferences and what you have in the cupboard.

While the recipe calls for lemon zest, I used orange zest. It seemed more holiday-like to me. This was a good choice. The cookies are more cinnamon-orange flavored than almond flavored, so I think if there were lemon there, they might taste a little strange. A couple other recipes online used either Kirsch or brandy in place of the zest. I think those would be good too, particularly because it would be good to have alcohol on hand for when you are ready to throw the dough out the window. Vanilla extract would probably work well too, though you'd lose the nerve-soothing qualities of something more alcoholic.

Also, the Food Network recipe called for confectioners' sugar for rolling. Don't even think about it. Use granulated. Other recipes online were split between the two sugars and when the confectioner's sugar was giving me trouble, I switched to granulated and this became much, much easier.

Directions

The first thing I did, since I'm OCD, is sort through the almonds to find nicely shaped ones to use for decorating the cookies. I don't know if all sliced almonds are as broken and chipped as mine were, but I wanted perfect cookies, so I painstakingly combed through my almonds to make sure I had enough perfectly shaped ones to use for the tops. Skip this step if you aren't insane.

Ugly Almonds for grinding

Pretty almonds for decorating

Sift the confectioners' sugar. Put 1/2 cup of the sifted confectioners' sugar, 10 ounces (3 heaping cups) of the almonds and all the cinnamon in a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely ground, with just a few larger pieces.

Whip the egg whites in a large, clean bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until they hold soft peaks, about 1 minute. Gradually add the remaining confectioners' sugar while whipping, until the whites are thick, creamy and somewhat stiff, about 2 minutes more. Set aside 2/3 cup of this meringue for topping the cookies.

Fold the ground almond mixture and the lemon zest into the remaining meringue to make a stiff dough. The dough is going to look chunky and weird. Don't worry.

Divide in into two portions, wrap it in plastic wrap, and stick it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, though longer won't hurt it.

Now the easy part is over.

The recipe recommends laying parchment or wax paper down to roll the dough out. I didn't have any, and frankly, I'm not sure it would make a difference. Instead, dump a handful of granulated sugar down on the counter (or the paper, if you want to use it), and spread it out, like it was flour and you were making normal, sane people cookies.

Take one of the dough balls out of the freezer and put it down on the work surface. Keep the plastic wrap and put that over the dough to roll out (actually, here I think wax paper probably would be helpful). Roll the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick. I found it helpful to keep turning and lifting the dough, and adding more sugar beneath it whenever I thought it was sticking to the counter. As I said before, it's forgiving, so if you tear it, you can just roll it back together.
Cut cookies with a 3-inch star cutter and place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Cutting the cookies is also a pain. Don't do this:

You will never be able to get them off the counter.

Instead, cut one star, use a butter knife to get underneath it, and carefully move it to the cookie sheet (greased or lined with parchment) and poke it through the cookie cutter onto the cookie sheet.

Keep a bowl of lukewarm water handy and rinse your cookie cutter off every couple of stars.

The saving grace in all of this is that excess dough can be rerolled, over and over again. I just would put it back in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before doing it because it does make things much easier.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, or just grease them.

At this point, I stopped taking pictures because I was covered with sugar and getting kind of cranky.

Use a small spoon, brush or offset spatula to spread the reserved meringue over the top of each cookie, taking care not to let the meringue drip over the sides. I used that weird-shaped butter knife thing that comes in most cutlerly sets. That worked well, since it has a little point to it, making it easy to spread the frosting on the star points. It still takes forever though, and then you get to painstakingly press remaining sliced almonds in a decorative pattern into the meringue.

See? Total labor of love.

You could also just grind up more almonds and sprinkle those on the meringue. Or save yourself the headache, and leave the meringue plain.

Bake cookies until bottoms are light golden brown and meringue is set and crisp, about 30 minutes. (Adjust this time based on the size of the cookie cutter. Food Network recommended 30 minutes for a 3 inch cutter. I did it for 20 minutes with my 2 inch cutter.) I think this is an area where you can use your judgment. Cook them the maximum time if you want them crispy, cook them for less if you want them chewy. I'd just keep an eye on them. When they are done, turn off the oven and open the oven door to release heat and dry cookies out in the oven for 10 more minutes.
And there you have it.

Parmesan-Black Pepper Biscotti

2008-12-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

I love these.

They are savory, salty, crunchy, and perfect with wine. Being that they are biscotti, they last for a while, so they'd be great for gift giving. The recipe also makes a lot...about 5 dozen or so. I've made them a few times, and they are usually a hit.

They are pretty easy to make, but you do need to stay near your oven and set the timer numerous times.

The recipe comes from Epicurious.

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (2 1/4 cups)
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk

Directions

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
The recipe suggests putting the peppercorns in a coffee or spice grinder and grinding until coarse. I don't have a spice grinder, and I didn't feel like finding peppercorns in my coffee the next morning, so I just put them all in a plastic sandwich bag and banged the hell out of them with a hammer. You wind up with something a little chunkier than "coarse" but I prefer it that way. I love pepper, and I like being able to see the peppercorns in the biscotti.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 2 cups cheese, and 1 tablespoon ground black pepper in a large bowl. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk 3 eggs with milk and add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and quarter dough. Using well-floured hands, form each piece into a slightly flattened 12-inch-long log (about 2 inches wide and 3/4 inch high).

Transfer logs to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging logs about 3 inches apart.

Whisk remaining egg and brush some over logs, then sprinkle tops of logs evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and 1/2 tablespoon ground pepper.

Bake, rotating sheets 180 degrees and switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until logs are pale golden and firm, about 30 minutes total.

Cool logs to warm on sheets on a rack, about 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

Carefully transfer 1 warm log to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut sides down, in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining logs, transferring slices to sheets.

Bake, turning over once, until golden and crisp, 35 to 45 minutes total. Cool biscotti on baking sheets on racks, about 15 minutes.

And that's it. They'll stay fresh in an airtight container for a couple weeks.

A very belated note on my Thanksgiving

2008-12-12T12:49:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to make this post for a while, but haven't had a chance. Better late than never.

My Thanksgiving was wonderful, but I wanted to highlight one recipe in particular. Martha Stewart's bay-leaf infused champagne cocktail was absolutely wonderful. They were incredibly easy to do, and a good way to make very cheap wine special and delicious.

Ingredients
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
2 dried bay leaves
2 bottles sparkling rose, preferably cava
4 blood oranges, cut into segments

I didn't add the oranges because I forgot about them. For wine, I used a $6 bottle of rose cava from Trader Joe's.

Directions
Bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, add bay leaves.

The recipe suggests leaving the bay leaves in for 20 minutes. The syrup didn't really have much of a bay taste or scent at that point, so I just left the bay leaves in overnight. I figured I could always redo it the next day if it was too strong. It wasn't - it was perfect. So, I suggest leaving it in as long as you'd like.

Pour 2 teaspoons syrup and 1/2 cup rose into each of 16 glasses, and stir. Garnish with orange segments.

And that's it. Really easy and really festive.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

Since I probably won't be doing much food photography while preparing Thanksgiving dinner, I thought I'd just share my menu.

My husband and I are hosting a small Thanksgiving dinner - just his mom and a family friend. On the menu:

Cheese, crackers, and sliced persimmon from our farm share

Brined Turkey
A friend of ours made this for us last year and it was incredible. The recipe comes from Emeril Lagasse of the Food Network. We've never brined a turkey before, so this ought to be interesting.

New England Sausage, Apple, and Dried Cranberry Stuffing
From Epicurious. We've made this a few times now for Thanksgiving. It's wonderful.

Mashed Potatoes with Parsnips
Another item served up to us by friends. They made it with 3 potatoes and 6 parsnips, plus butter and a bit of half and half.

Green Beans
We'll keep those simple.

Candied Cranberry Sauce
It's from Food and Wine. The cranberries get cooked in a skillet with minimal water, so they stay whole. I've never made it, but it sounds good.

Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust, whipped cream, and candied pepitas
The pumpkin pie and pepitas come courtesy of Martha Stewart. The gingersnap crust idea came from the blog Martha Stewart Baking at Home. I love anything ginger, and the pepitas just look like a fun addition.

To drink, I'll be serving up some of these cocktails from Martha Stewart, made with rose cava and bay-infused simple syrup. We'll probably pop open a nice bottle of white from one of our recent trips to Napa.

And that's dinner. Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Amazing Fall Gnocchi

2008-11-25T22:29:00.000-08:00

I randomly stumbled upon Liz's Cooking Blog, where she had a divine looking recipe consisting of gnocchi, butternut squash, sage, and pine nuts. I had all these ingredients on hand the other night, plus I had bacon that I needed to use up. I decided to toss that in too. The result was to die for. Really. I want to make this weekly, it was that good.

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash
4 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh sage leaves
1 package gnocchi
3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
Grated Parmesan

The original recipe called for an onion, which I didn't bother with, but I did up the garlic a bit. I probably used fewer pine nuts too.

Directions

Heat the oven to 375°. Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the strings and seeds the middle cavity. Flip the squash halves upside down and peel them. Cut the squash into 1-inch cubes. Toss with the garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt and pepper. Mince about half of the fresh sage leaves and also toss with the squash.

Spread the squash mixture in a thin layer on a large baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes or until the squash is soft.

As the squash finishes roasting, chop the bacon into one inch strips and fry in a deep skillet. Once the bacon starts getting crispy, push it to one side of the pan and toss whole sage leaves into the oil. Fry for about a minute, then turn the heat down to low and mix into the bacon. If there is too much oil in the pan at this point, drain off a couple tablespoons.

Remove the butternut squash from the oven and add to the bacon and sage mixture.

Heat salted pasta water to boiling and cook the gnocchi. Before draining the gnocchi, spoon a couple tablespoons of the water into the bacon and squash mixture and stir it, deglazing the pan.

Drain the gnocchi and set aside.

With the heat still on low, add the gnocchi to the bacon and squash mixture. Mix together and add the pine nuts. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Apple Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream

2008-11-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

Yum.

These cupcakes were so good. They are pure Martha Magic. They are not too sweet and incredibly moist. They taste like apple cider. The buttercream works perfectly with them, though they would probably be good on their own with just a dusting of powdered sugar.

To Make the Cupcakes

Makes 2 Dozen

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups coarsely shredded apples, such as Macintosh (about 1 3/4 pounds)

I highly recommend shredding the apples first, then cleaning up before you do anything else. I shredded them while the butter and sugar were mixing and my kitchen looked like an orchard threw up on it. Even though I shredded the apples in my Cuisinart, the sticky juice and stray apple shreds got everywhere. While it won't affect the cupcakes, its better for your sanity.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; mix in apples.

Add flour mixture; mix, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until just combined.

Divide batter among lined cups, filling halfway; bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes. Actually, I filled mine more than halfway, but they still came out normal height. Maybe my muffin pans are smaller than Martha's. I'm not really sure.

Remove cupcakes from tins; transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

To Make the Buttercream

Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients
4 large egg whites
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons

In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, whisk together egg whites, sugar, and salt. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch.

Transfer to the clean bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy and cooled, about 15 minutes. Raise speed to high; beat until stiff peaks form.

Reduce speed to medium-low; add butter, 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, until fully incorporated.

This is where I started having problems. I've never made buttercream before, so I didn't realize how tempermental it could be. I learned after the fact that you can overwhip it, causing it to overheat and separate. Apparently if this happens, you can chill it and try rewhipping it. I didn't do this, because it tasted fine. It just was slightly lumpy and not as smooth and pretty as Martha's.

See?

If you see lumps, it is not butter that hasn't been fully incorporated. So stop whipping.

In any event, it still tasted fine, so I frosted the cupcakes. And to try to disguise the lumpy frosting, I sprinkled some pretty fall colored sugar on them. I definitely recommend storing these in the fridge because the frosting won't really hold up otherwise. You can let them come to room temperature before eating them though.

Marbelized Lemon Tart with Sage Cornmeal Crust

2008-11-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

As you know by now, I'm obsessed with putting herbs in desserts. And who doesn't love lemon tarts? Sage makes it seasonal. Though I'm sure this recipe would be equally good with rosemary or thyme.

The recipe comes from Martha Stewart. It's somewhat involved, so if you want to make it, plan ahead. I'll definitely make it again, but with two changes. First, I would not use coarse ground cornmeal, but something more finely ground. The crust had a nice flavor, but it was too grainy with the larger cornmeal flecks in it. Second, I would add a bit more sage. The flavor was there, but it wasn't very pronounced. Another teaspoon or two would do the trick.

Sage Cornmeal Crust

Makes enough for two 9-inch tarts

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
3/4 cup coarse yellow cornmeal (Don't do it! Use medium or finely ground.)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage (more if you'd like a stronger sage taste)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons ice water

Directions

Pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, sage, salt, and lemon zest in a food processor until combined. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Whisk egg yolks and ice water in a small bowl. With machine running, add to flour mixture through feed tube; process until dough just holds together.

Turn out dough onto a work surface. Divide in half, and shape each portion into a disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 disk to a 10-inch round.

Fit into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom; trim edges flush with rim. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 1 day). Reserve remaining dough for another use (it can be frozen up to 3 months).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prick bottom of tart shell with a fork. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
6 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

Directions

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a small bowl, and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.

Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large heatproof bowl. Gradually whisk in lemon juice. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and whisk constantly until mixture has thickened and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Whisk in gelatin mixture.

Remove from heat, and whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time, until smooth. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Prepare an ice-water bath. Place bowl of yolk mixture over bath, and stir until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Assembling the Tart

Spread curd into crust; smooth top.

Dollop 3 tablespoons of creme fraiche in small drops on top. Using a wooden skewer or the tip of a knife, swirl creme fraiche into curd to create a marbleized effect. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours (or up to overnight).

Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese

2008-11-14T21:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, I realize this has become the cranberry and squash blog lately. I promise more variety soon. But there were two butternut squashes in my CSA box last week and this recipe looked really good.

The recipe comes from Martha Stewart. As far as macaroni and cheese goes, this one is fairly light - there's no butter involved and it uses skim milk. The squash flavor is subtle, but it gives it a nice, creamy sweet taste. I didn't have the right pan, so mine was a little dry, though still very good. If you don't have a deep 9 inch square pan or some other medium size casserole dish, I'd recommend keeping the foil on top longer to keep the moisture in, using a little less pasta, or making more of the sauce.

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound) , peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
1 cup homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock, skimmed of fat
1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound elbow macaroni
4 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup)
4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated (1 ounce)
2 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon olive oil
Olive-oil cooking spray
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine squash, stock, and milk in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Mash contents of saucepan; stir in nutmeg, cayenne, and salt, and season with black pepper. Stir to combine.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles; cook until al dente according to package instructions, about 8 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl; stir in squash mixture, cheddar, ricotta, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan.

Lightly coat a 9-inch square baking dish (4 inches deep) with cooking spray. Transfer noodle mixture to dish. In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and oil; sprinkle evenly over noodle mixture.

I didn't have any bread crumbs, so I just sprinkled the Parmesan and a little bit more cheddar on top.

Cover with foil, and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil, and continue baking until lightly browned and crisp on top, 30 to 40 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Cranberry Sorbet

2008-11-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

This sorbet is wonderful, though it didn't taste how I expected. The recipe on Epicurious said it was "Cranberry and Orange Thyme Sorbet." You know how obsessed I am with putting herbs in my desserts, so I was really excited to try this. Unfortunately, it has no thyme flavor whatsoever. I used lemon thyme, which may have been the problem. I'll definitely make it again, but next time I'll either omit the thyme completely, or use a woodier, stronger tasting thyme. It still tastes delicious and would probably be a nice alternative to heavy Thanksgiving desserts.

Ingredients

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
Thinly sliced zest of 2 oranges (removed with a zester)
8 to 12 3-inch springs fresh thyme, such as orange balsam, lemon, or English thyme(1/2 ounce)
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

I wasn't paying attention to the recipe closely enough and didn't have thin orange zests, but rather just removed the peel in a large chunk. So, my sorbet wasn't really orange-y tasting, but I liked it that way anyway. And, as I said above, I recommend using English thyme if you want the ice cream to pick up the herbal flavor, since the lemon thyme just isn't flavorful enough.

Directions

Bring the cranberries, sugar, water, and orange zest to a boil in a medium (3-quart) saucepan.

Partially cover the pan and boil until most of the cranberries pop, about 5 minutes. Stir in the thyme sprigs, remove from the heat, cover tightly, and steep for 30 minutes.

Pour the fruit mixture into a fine sieve set on top of a deep bowl. Stir and press down on the fruit with the back of a large spoon to extract as much juice and pulp as you can, leaving the skins and thyme behind in the sieve.

Refrigerate the strained mixture until thoroughly chilled. I actually just put the bowl in the fridge with the sieve right over it to let it chill, then pressed again. A fair amount more liquid came out after just letting it sit for a while.

Stir in the orange juice and then pour into an ice cream maker for 30-40 minutes. Freeze for a few more hours and there you have it. Cranberry (and orange and thyme) sorbet.

Warm Roasted Butternut Squash Salsa

2008-11-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

I made this last week for my elections party, and named it "October Surprise." While the official recipe name is a salsa, it really is more like a bean dip, and it was so delicious that I would probably just eat a bowl of it, like chili.

The recipe comes from the Washington Post. (No, I won't give up east coast newspapers ever. The San Francisco Chronicle sucks.)

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch chunks (may substitute 3/4 pound prepped butternut squash cubes)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, cut into small dice
1 medium red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 small jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced
14 to 15 ounces canned, diced no-sodium tomatoes, drained
15 to 19 ounces canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds, toasted

The recipe also called for a zucchini, diced up, but that sounded disgusting to me, so I left it out. Who wants slimy, watered down zucchini in their salsa/chili? Not me.

The recipe is a labor intensive one, as it involves a lot of chopping, so I highly recommend buying the pre-diced squash, as it will really cut down on prep time. You'll still have to chop it even smaller, but it does save time.

Directions
Position a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking oil spray.

Spread the squash cubes in a single layer on the baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and toss to coat evenly. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes, until slightly browned and fork-tender.

When the squash has about 15 minutes of roasting time to go, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapeño; cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is golden.

Add the tomatoes, beans, and cilantro (plus the zucchini if you are using it); cook for about 5 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Add the roasted squash and stir to incorporate; cook for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

At this point, the salsa can be transferred to a slow cooker to keep warm, or it can be cooled completely, covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Just before serving, sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top of the salsa.

I am the love child of Martha Stewart and Chuck Todd

2008-11-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

For my elections return party tomorrow night, I embraced my inner political nerd by baking cookies in the shape of swing states. I found the cookie cutters for sale online, and followed Martha's sugar cookie recipe, which The Good Wife used a few weeks ago for her gorgeous fall sugar cookies.

The recipe was fairly straight forward and I had a lot of fun baking these. Since it's a basic cookie recipe, I'll spare you the baking details and skip ahead to the finished product.

The Bellweather State

Is that a Florida cookie, or are you just happy to see me?

Real and Fake Virginia

So many undecided voters...

Later this week, I'll post a few other recipes from my party. In the mean time: GO OBAMA! And NO ON PROP 8!

Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

2008-10-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

The one produce item that seems in short supply here on the west coast is cranberries. Being a Massachusetts native, I love me some cranberry sauce, so this has been distressing. I've been searching for these things for a month now, since they are widely available on the east coast in late September. They finally appeared in my neighborhood grocery store this morning, much to my relief. They were a little banged up from their cross country journey, but they worked. I'm amazed that cranberries don't seem to be grown out here. Don't they have bogs in California?

Pomegranates, however, do seem to be particularly plentiful around here. Two were included in our farm share box last week, so I set out looking for fun ways to use them. I think that I once saw pomegranate cranberry sauce in a magazine - probably Food and Wine or maybe Martha - but I can't remember where, and pretty much just made this one up. It turned out delicious, and, like all cranberry sauce recipes, it is incredibly easy to make.

Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

1 bag of cranberries (about a pound)

Seeds from 1/2 of a pomegranate

Juice from 1 orange + enough water to make 1 cup of liquid

2/3 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses

I found the molasses at a speciality Spanish and mediterrean grocery store. If you can't track any down, I'd substitute pomegranate juice for the water, and possibly reduce the sugar to a half cup or so. Honestly, it's kind of hard to screw up cranberry sauce, once you know the basic recipe is 1 bag of cranberries, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of sugar, so just work with what you've got and just adjust the amount of sugar based on what liquid you use and your own personal preference.

Directions

Put the cranberries, juice, water, sugar, and pomegranate molasses in a pot and bring to a boil.

Simmer for 8 minutes or so, then add the pomegranate seeds.

Simmer for an additional 2 minutes, then let the sauce completely cool to thicken.

That's it. That is how easy it is to make homemade cranberry sauce. Yum.

Chickpea and Spinach Stew

2008-10-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Nothing in this recipe comes from my farm box, but it just looked so delicious I had to try it. It is pretty simple to prepare, though it does involve a fair amount of spices, including saffron. I recommend the investment, as the dish really is delicious.

Again, another recipe from Food and Wine.

Ingredients

1 cup water
10 ounces baby spinach
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
Kosher salt
Pinch of saffron threads
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of freshly ground pepper
Two 15-ounce cans chickpeas with their liquid
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato—peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped (I skipped the peeling and seeding, it was fine)
1/4 cup golden raisins

Directions

Pour the water into a large deep skillet and bring to a boil. Add the spinach leaves and cook over high heat, tossing frequently, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Drain the spinach in a colander, pressing hard on the leaves to extract the liquid. Coarsely chop the spinach.

I did this step, though I don't know if you need too. There's enough liquid in the recipe to add the spinach in at the end, if you'd prefer. You'd have to chop it first though.

Using the flat side of a large knife, mash the garlic to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the saffron.

Transfer the garlic paste to a small bowl. Add the paprika, cumin, cloves and black pepper and mash until combined. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chickpea liquid.

Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the onion and tomato and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until they are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the spiced garlic sauce to the onion and tomato in the skillet and cook for 1 minute.

Add the chickpeas and the remaining liquid to the skillet. Add the raisins and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Add the spinach, reduce the heat to moderate, and simmer for 15 minutes.

I ended up simmering it for about 5 extra minutes to make it slightly thicker, and served it over couscous. The recipe suggests drizzling each bowl with olive oil before serving, which I skipped and it was still delicious.

The Best Guacamole Ever

2008-10-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

Last week, our CSA box had tomatoes, cilantro, and serrano peppers in it. So, we made guacamole. Not just any guacamole though. This is the best guacamole you will ever eat. Trust me.

First things first. The equiment. If you really love guacamole, treat yourself to the amazing William Sonoma Molcajete. Your wallet might say "ouch," but your tacos will say "yum yum."

I first witnessed the magic molcajete at Rosa Mexicano's, the semi-posh Mexican chain restaurant that makes the most amazing guacamole ever. A wedding gift registry and a google search for the recipe were all I needed to be able to recreate it at home. If you don't have the molcajete, this would probably work with a regular mortar and pestle.

So, I present to you, the best guacamole ever. Recipe courtesy of people on the internet who ripped off Rosa Mexicano's.

Ingredients

2 Haas avocadoes

3 Tablespoon chopped onion

1 teaspoon chopped, seeded jalapeno chile

1 ½ teaspoon chopped cilantro

2 tablespoon chopped tomato

salt

I used serrano peppers. You can leave in or remove the seeds, depending on how spicy you like it.

Directions

Combine 1 tablespoon of the chopped onions, ½ teaspoon of the chopped jalapeno and ½ teaspoon of the cilantro with ½ teaspoon of salt in the molcajete. Mash these ingredients into a paste. This releases all their oils and juices.

Roughly chop the avocadoes in large chunks and add it to the paste in the molcajete and fold to combine thoroughly.

Add the other ingredients, folding gently, taking care not to mash it too much.

And there you have it. Best guacamole ever.

Red Wine Risotto with Mushroom Marmalade

2008-10-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

This is, without a doubt, the best thing I have ever made. It is so amazing that I don't even know where to start. It tastes like a restaurant dish. It is sophisticated and comforting at the same time, and it is just absolutely delicious.

The recipe is a little tricky, but the marmalade can be made in advance, so I recommend doing that so you can focus. But, I'll try to break down the steps as simply as possible. If you take your time and don't do two things at once, you will be fine.

The recipe also suggests making the marmalade to spread on bread or serve over polenta, which I think would be wonderful.

Like almost all of my recipes, this one comes from Food and Wine (best foodie magazine ever).

Red Wine Risotto with Mushroom "Marmalade"

Ingredients

Marmalade
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 pound fresh porcini or stemmed shiitake mushrooms—1/2 pound cut into 1/2 -inch dice, 1/4 pound sliced 1/4 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup dry red wine, such as Amarone
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Risotto

5 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 cup arborio rice (6 ounces)
1/2 cup dry red wine, such as Amarone
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
One 2-ounce piece Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for shaving
2 teaspoons chopped mixed herbs, such as chives, mint and tarragon

I used cremini mushrooms instead and it worked out fine. I have read that you are not supposed to wash mushrooms before cooking them as it throws their water content off, so I didn't. I just wiped the dirt off with paper towels, which took forever, but I think it made a difference. They didn't give off as much water and retained their shape a little better.

I think if you were planning this as a main course, I would recommend using a meatier mushroom like cremini or portabella (or a mix of them with the more delicate kind), and perhaps doubling the amount of marmalade.

For the wine, I used a zinfandel blend. Apparently Amarone is a peppery, fruity wine, so I figured zinfandel would be a good bet. I found a lovely bottle from one of my favorite Napa vineyards at Trader Joes for $15. If you can find this wine, I highly recommend it - for cooking, drinking, bathing in, whatever. It is fantastic and at $15, a total steal.

Marmalade Directions

In a large, nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Add the diced mushrooms; season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over moderate heat until tender, 5 minutes.

Uncover and cook, stirring, until browned. I took them off the stove after about a minute. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate.

In the same skillet, heat another 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the shallot and garlic and cook over low heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked mushrooms.

In a small saucepan, simmer the sugar and water over moderate heat, washing down the side of the pan with a wet pastry brush, until amber, 6 minutes.

Add the wine and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Add the vinegar and boil over high heat until reduced by half. The recipe says this will take about 12 minutes, but I found it took only about 8. Just keep an eye on it. It will turn from liquid to syrup fast and you want to catch it right when it turns to syrup. The consistency was very thick and when it cooled, it stuck to my wooden spoon like candy. So, work quickly.

Stir the mixture into the skillet and cook over moderate heat until the mushrooms are glazed, 3 minutes. Season with salt. Take it off the heat and cover.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. The recipe says to use a clean skillet, but I didn't feel like washing another pot, so I just used the pan that the wine syrup was in. I figured this way I could soak up the last of the wine syrup goodness. I didn't have an problems doing this.

Add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and cook over moderate heat until tender and lightly browned, about 8 minutes.

Stir the mushrooms into the marmalade, and swirl in the butter. There is a lot of liquid in the pan at this point, but some will evaporate out, and some will re-absorb into the mushrooms.

And voila! Mushroom marmalade! At this point, I covered the pan, removed it from the heat and placed it on a rack. I started cooking the risotto an hour or so later. As soon as the risotto was done, I put the mushrooms back on the stove over medium heat and slowly warmed them up. It took about 2 minutes.

Risotto Directions

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a simmer; cover and keep warm over low heat.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated.

Pour in about 1 cup of the hot stock, or enough to cover the rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until the stock has been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Repeat, adding 1 cup of stock at a time and stirring until all of the stock has been absorbed. The risotto is done when the rice is just cooked and suspended in the creamy sauce, about 25 minutes. You may not need all 5 cups of liquid. Once you've got 4 cups in, start tasting it. You want the rice soft, but not mushy. I only used about 4 and a half cups of liquid, so add that last cup very, very slowly.

Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper.

The recipe suggests shaving parmigiano-reggiano over the top of the risotto, but I went with the traditional route of mixing the grated cheese into the risotto right after adding the butter.

Garnish with the herbs (which I forgot to do) and enjoy your amazing restaurant quality dish.

Yum.

Party Foods

2008-10-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

We had a few friends over last week and I prepared a few quick little munchies for the event. These two dishes were quick and elegant and incredibly tasty. Both come from old issues of Food and Wine.

Cashews with Crispy Sage and Garlic

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, sliced
Olive oil
12 sage leaves plus 1 tablespoon chopped sage
2 cups raw cashews

Directions

In a medium skillet, fry sliced garlic cloves in olive oil until lightly golden. Add sage leaves and chopped sage to the skillet and cook until crisp; drain on paper towels. Add raw cashews to the skillet and cook, stirring, until golden; drain on paper towels. Toss with the garlic, sage and salt. Let cool, then serve.

The best part about this was the little crispy whole sage leaves. When I do this again, I will definitely be increasing the amount of sage - doubling or tripling it. The sage shrinks up during the frying process and the intense flavor really mellows, so I think you can get away with as much sage as you'd like.

Herbed Creme Fraiche Dip

Ingredients

1 cup crème fraîche
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons snipped chives
2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt

Directions

In a bowl, whisk the crème fraîche with the parsley, chives and tarragon. Whisk in the lemon juice and season well with salt.

The recipe recommends serving it with radishes and blanched asparagus, though I subbed raw baby carrots for the asparagus. The carrots were fine, though the dip was perfect with the radishes. It's a very cool, creamy dip and it is a perfect compliment to the peppery radishes.

Bacon Braised Chard

2008-09-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

Does something still count as a green vegetable if it is coated with bacony goodness? Probably not, but this is an incredibly delicious way to cook chard, fat content be damned. It also uses the stems, unlike so many other ways of preparing chard, so the dish ends up looking very pretty and colorful, in addition to being so tasty.

This recipe comes from Food and Wine was created by Stephanie Izard, winner of the 4th season of Top Chef. If you drooled over her amazing cooking, here is your chance to try some without having to fly to Chicago.

The original recipe calls for it to be served with scallops, but my husband is allergic to them, so I served it with another part of the pig - pork chops.

Ingredients

2 thick slices of bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1 3/4 pounds rainbow chard—stems sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick, leaves cut into 1-inch strips
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

The bacon I used did not give up enough fat, so I ended up adding some. If the bacon you are using doesn't look particularly fatty, you may want to use an additional strip or just keep some butter or oil around to add if you need to. I also didn't bother seeding my tomato and I don't think it made a difference. Finally, I ended up using a couple tablespoons of chicken broth, which you may or may not need, depending on your pan and your stove.

Directions

In a large, deep skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat until crisp, 4 minutes. Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until tender but not browned, 2 minutes.

At this point, some of the fat was sticking to the pan, so I added a splash of chicken broth to deglaze it a bit. I think everything would have burned if I didn't, so use your judgment here. If it looks like it's drying up and sticking, add a tablespoon or two of liquid.

Add the tomato and cook until it begins to break down, 2 minutes. Even when the tomato broke down, I found I needed another small splash of broth to keep it from sticking and to remove the fatty bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the chard stems and cook until crisp-tender, 4 minutes. Add the chard leaves and cook over moderately high heat, tossing, until wilted, 5 minutes; drain off any liquid. Add the soy sauce and cook until the leaves are tender, 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

I really wish I didn't have camera issues this time around because the dish really did look colorful and pretty, but this is the best I got.

Rose Geranium Cookies

2008-09-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

This week's CSA box contained lots of fun fall produce...sweet potatoes, chard, a pumpkin, and something called rose geranium. I assumed it was a flower, but it's actually a very floral smelling herb. Imagine a cross between rose and sage.
I wasn't sure what to do with it, but Google came through. I found a recipe for cookies that looked intriguing. It seems about 15 or 20 different sites print the same recipe, so I have no idea where it originated, so I'll just credit the internets for this one and hope the copyright police don't come after me.

The recipe says it makes 4 dozen, though I made my cookies much too big, so I wound up with only 24. That said, they are spongy and light and remind me more of a scone than a cookie. So, if that appeals to you, I suggest making them big.

Rose Geranium Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 c Butter (room temperature)
1 c Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 c Milk
1 ts Rosewater
2 ts Rose geranium leaves finely chopped
2 1/2 c Flour
1 1/2 ts Baking powder
4 Dozen small rose geranium leaves for garnish

I've never used rosewater before, but for whatever reason, my grocery store had it in the liquor section next to the grenadine. So, if you can't find it, maybe check a liquor store. I think it's common in Middle Eastern cooking, so a specialty store would probably carry it as well.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg milk and rose water.

Sift together dry ingredients and add them together with the chopped leaves to the creamed mixture stirring until well mixed.

Drop heaping teaspoons onto lightly greased cookie sheet and press a single rose geranium leaf deep into each cookie.

Bake for eight to ten minutes. They didn't look as pretty as I had hoped, but they taste wonderful. Lightly sweet and very floral. And, they make your kitchen smell like roses.

In Honor of the First Week of Fall...Butternut Squash Soup!

2008-09-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Tis the season for yummy soups.

This week's box had apples in it, and Trader Joes had butternut squash on sale, so I took that as an omen that I needed to make a nice fall soup. This recipe from Food and Wine is amazing.

Butternut Squash Soup with Apple and Smoked Cheddar

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
3/4 cup apple cider
One 1 3/4-pound butternut squash—peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice (5 1/4 cups)
4 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 McIntosh apple, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/3 cup coarsely shredded smoked cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
One-inch pieces of chives or thinly sliced sage leaves, for garnish

My grocery store didn't have any decent cider, so I just used high quality, fresh apple juice instead. As for the apples, I think next time, I will peel them first because the skin just created texture issues that I didn't really like. And, even if you don't like smoked cheeses, I really recommend trying this with the smoked cheddar and not swapping it out for something more mild. It has a very pungent smell and taste on its own, but it mellows out in the soup and compliments the sweetness of the apples and squash beautifully.

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the apple cider and cook until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Add the butternut squash and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until the squash is very tender, about 40 minutes.

In a blender, puree the soup in batches. Return the soup to the saucepan and stir in the cream. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

Heat a medium skillet. Add the butter and diced apple and cook over high heat until the apple is tender and golden around the edges, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and garnish with the smoked cheddar and sautéed apples. The recipe suggests garnishing with fresh thyme or sage. Instead, I made homemade croutons by roughly chopping some crusty bread, tossing with a bit of olive oil, sea salt, and pepper, and baking at 350 for 20 minutes.

Yum. This really is the perfect fall soup.

Roasted Tomato Tabbouleh

2008-09-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

I found a new use for tomatoes and basil that does not involve pesto, cheese, or pasta. We got more of them in our box last Friday and I was determined to try something different with them this time. I pulled this recipe for roasted tomato tabbouleh out of a Martha Stewart magazine ages ago and it seemed like a good way to put these ingredients to use.

It's a little labor intensive to chop all the herbs and wait for everything to cook and cool down, but it's definitely worth it. The result was a light, fresh salad and the roasted tomatoes definitely make it more interesting than traditional tabbouleh.

Ingredients

1 cup bulgur wheat
1 cup boiling water
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped, plus whole leaves for garnish
1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped, plus whole leaves for garnish
1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped, plus whole leaves for garnish
4 plum tomatoes (10 ounces total), cut into wedges
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 scallions, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

I didn't use roma tomatoes, but instead used a bunch of heirloom cherry tomatoes from my box. I just cut the big ones in half and left the smaller ones whole.

A note on the bulgur: I don't think I've ever seen pre-packaged bulgar except for the kind that come in those prepackaged Near East instant side dishes. If you are having trouble finding it, check out the bulk food aisle at Whole Foods or your nearest hippie grocery store.

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Place bulgur in a heatproof bowl, add boiling water, and stir. Cover tightly, and refrigerate until liquid has been absorbed, about 1 hour.
Combine chopped herbs. Toss tomatoes with garlic, vinegar, 1 teaspoon oil, and 2 tablespoons chopped herbs on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast until tomatoes begin to soften, about 12 minutes. Let cool.

Add roasted-tomato mixture, remaining chopped herbs, scallions, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and remaining 2 teaspoons oil to bulgur, and gently toss. Garnish with whole herb leaves.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

2008-09-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Friday's farm share box contained a bag of tomatillos. I'm not really sure what one does with tomatillos besides make salsa verde or gazpacho. Not being a fan of cold soup, salsa it was. It helped that the farm share box also contained a few onions, making this a very easy recipe to shop for.

I found a fabulous recipe on Epicurious and the salsa turned out fantastic. And my two months of California living has turned me into a bona fide Mexican food snob, so I am qualified to make that call.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb fresh tomatillos

3 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons coarse salt

5 fresh serrano chiles

Yes, 5 serrano chiles. Apparently the people at Epicurious have tongues of steel. Not wanting to set fire to the mouths of people who would be eating this, I used 3 serranos. As it turned out, it was a good call. The salsa was very spicy - probably about as spicy as most people would want.

Based on that, I would use:

1 if you want it mild

2 for medium heat

3 for very spicy

4 for your friends that dump Texas Pete hot sauce on everything and constantly complain about weak American palates

5 for Fear Factor style party games

Directions

Preheat the broiler.

Remove husks on the tomatillos and rinse under warm water to remove stickiness.

Broil chiles, garlic, and fresh tomatillos on rack of a broiler pan 1 to 2 inches from heat, turning once, until tomatillos are softened and slightly charred, about 7 minutes.

Peel garlic and pull off tops of chiles. Purée all ingredients in a blender. Serve at your next fiesta.

Curry and Yogurt Braised Chicken

2008-09-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

Curry dishes have always frightened me for some reason. The strange spices and herbs, a fear of making them too spicy or not spicy enough, and the fact that they tend to involve a large number of ingredients.

This recipe from Food and Wine, however, seemed simple enough. As it turned out, I had to make some changes as I went along to it to get it to work, but it all worked out deliciously.

Ingredients

1/4 cup grapeseed or canola oil

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Salt and freshly ground pepper
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 serrano chile, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper—cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
1 pound tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (from 1 ear)

1/4 cup Greek-style plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup water
Cilantro leaves, for garnish

My changes

The recipe called for what seemed to be a lot of oil, so I used about 2 tablespoons, and that was fine. I used 6 bone-in chicken thighs, with the skin, and the skin may have added extra fat that was lost when I cut out the oil, so if you go with skinless, you might need more oil.

I skipped the corn and instead, added a very finely minced green bell pepper. My farm share brought peppers and not corn this week, and this seemed like a good place to use it. What this meant was, that the final dish was quite spicy. So, I had to add about a tablespoon or so of brown sugar into the dish towards the end as it was simmering.

Finally, 1/4 cup of yogurt is not a lot at all. I wanted a lot of sauce to pour over rice. So I used about 3/4 cup, and doubled the amount of curry.

The resulting dish was still very spicy, but very good. I recommend just adding the spices and sugar slowly, tasting as you go. Well, don't taste too soon or you'll find yourself with a nice bout of salmonella, but you know what I mean.

Directions

In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and lightly dust with flour, tapping off the excess. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook over high heat, turning once, until lightly browned, 6 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add the ginger, garlic, chile and bell pepper to the skillet and cook over high heat until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, corn, yogurt and water; stir until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over very low heat until the chicken is tender and the juices are slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the chicken with cilantro and serve.

Sundried Tomato-Pistachio Pesto

2008-09-03T13:12:00.001-07:00

I think I may actually be getting a handle on this photo thing.

See what I mean? I'm not going to quit my day job, but I think this is an improvement.

So, on to the dish. We've gotten basil in every CSA box this summer and have made pesto a few times, but this time I wanted to try something different. Pesto is one of those things that is pretty hard to screw up, so I figured I could just throw some stuff in a food processor and cross my fingers.

Thankfully, my plan worked. So, here's my new spin on pesto.

Ingredients

* All measurements are approximate

2 cups of basil - I used leaves and stems. Jaime Oliver says stems are fine, and I trust him.

1/4 cup parmegian cheese

1/4 cup shelled pistachios (if they are salted, just be careful when you actually do add salt)

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

1/3 cup of olive oil (or some of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

- Toss the basil, parmesian, and half of the pistachios and sun dried tomatoes in to a food processer and pulse until coarsely chopped. (If you want very smooth pesto, add all the pistachios and sun dried tomatoes.)

- Slowly add the olive oil, salt and pepper, and the extra pistachios and sun dried tomatoes. You may need to stop the food processor to scrap down the sides once or twice.

- Puree until you have reached your desired consistency.

To serve, I tossed a few spoonfuls over some pasta, chopped fresh cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzerella. Yum.

Summer Vegetable Couscous or How To Use Up All That Zucchini That You Are Sick Of

2008-08-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

So, my camera sucks.

Until I learn how to take lovely pictures of food, I will have to resort to posting my mediocre pictures. I apologize in advance, but I am practicing and hopefully things will get better.

Now, on to my couscous.

We've gotten tomatoes, zucchini, and basil in every CSA box so far this summer, and here's a recipe I invented to use some of them up. It actually makes zucchini taste interesting. The measurements aren't exact, and really, if you don't have an ingredient, you can probably skip it (except, obviously, the couscous). Just use what you've got.

Ingredients

Zucchini - two small, or one large, diced

Tomatoes - any kind...1 big one, two small, a handful of cherry tomotoes, whatever

Couscous - I love the pearl kind (also called Israeli)... I used two cups

Broth and/or water - however much the package calls for, minus a little bit, like 1/4 cup since the vegetables give off a lot

Olive oil - 1 -2 tablespoons

Red pepper flakes - a tiny pinch or so

Pine nuts

Basil, other herbs, or a spoonful of pesto

Garlic - as much or as little as you like

Salt and pepper

Parmigian cheese

Directions

- Heat olive oil in a heavy pan. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes and the chopped garlic. Saute for a minute or two.

- Add the pine nuts and stir until they are lightly toasted.

- Add the diced zucchini and some salt and pepper. Saute for a few minutes until the zucchini starts to soften. Don't cook it too long or it will be soggy when the dish is finally done.

- Add the water or broth, and bring to a boil.

- When the water starts boiling, stir in the fresh chopped tomatoes and the herbs, then add the couscous.

- Cover the pot and cook according to the package's directions.

- When it's all cooked, stir in some parmigian cheese, and some extra basil, if you'd like.

And there you have it.

Arugula and Fig Salad

2008-08-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

I adore arugula. It is crunchy and peppery, good for you, and way more interesting than lettuce. So, any time I see it on a menu, I instantly gravitate towards it.

This salad was inspired by what was probably the tastiest salad I've ever eaten, at a wonderful little restaurant in Sonoma, the girl & the fig. The exact salad had arugula, figs, goat cheese, candied pecans, and pancetta, but I simplified it somewhat for an easy dinner side dish, and added some radichio because it was in my fridge. It had the added bonus of giving it some pretty color, so I think it's worth tossing in if you can find it.

Ingredients

Arugula

Radicchio

Figs

Goat cheese

Dressing

Olive oil

Cider Vinegar

Honey

Salt & Pepper

I didn't really measure anything out, so just eyeball it.

The arugula I used was mostly small leaves, so I didn't chop it. I just tossed it straight into a large bowl. I then chopped up a bit of radicchio and 4 or 5 large fresh figs, and added those.

I made a dressing with approximately two tablespoons of olive oil, a splash of cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and a bit of honey. Wisked that up, and poured it over the salad, and tossed it. Finally, I added a couple tablespoons of crumbled goat cheese. Whenever I use cheese in salad, I always add the salad dressing before the cheese - with the leaves all oiled up, the cheese doesn't clump together as much when you start to toss it, and it's much more likely to stay its white-ish color and not get stained by the dressing.

And voila - easy, gourmet salad.

Desserts with Herbs

2008-08-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that right.

A couple years ago, I became intrigued by the wonders of herbs in desserts when I made Martha Stewart's Pine Nut Cookies with Rosemary. They are pretty amazing, and always a hit at parties. So, I like trying to find ways to use herbs in desserts. According to Food and Wine, this is also all the rage among pastry chefs these days, so clearly I am on the cutting edge of desserts.

So, here are two recipes that worked for me.

Lemon-Herb Sorbet

Two weeks ago, we received lemon verbena in our farm share. I had never even seen this herb, let alone cooked with it, so I had to do a bit of internet research to figure out what to do with it. I found a few lemon verbena desserts online, and this sorbet was born. The inspiration for this dish came from two different recipes, but it is mostly an arugulove original.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar

a few strips of lemon zest

3 or 4 sprigs of lemon verbena

1 or 2 sprigs of rosemary

1-2 tablespoons of some kind of alcohol

* This is to keep the sorbet from freezing into a solid block of ice. The more you add, the longer it will take to freeze, and the softer it will be. I'd put 1 tablespoon if you want to eat it in the next day or two, more if you'll hold on to it longer. I used dry white wine, but vodka, limoncello, grappa, or whatever you've got on hand that will taste good will work.

Directions

Bring water, lemon juice, and sugar to a boil, and cook until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the alcohol, lemon zest, and herbs. Cover and let it cool completely.

Once it has cooled, strain the herbs and zest out.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker for 20-25 minutes. Pour into a container and freeze for at least 6 hours.

The resulting sorbet will be more mild and interesting than traditional lemon sorbet. It is not distinctively herbal, but the herbs definitely elevate it into something a little more sophisticated. If you were really ambitious, you could make a batch of those Pine Nut Rosemary cookies to serve with the sorbet for a very elegant dessert.

Olive Oil Thyme Cake with Figs and Black Pepper

I recently saw this in Food and Wine and thought it would be a good contribution to a dinner party. Thankfully, my gut instinct was a good one, as the dessert was a success. It's a mildly flavored, fruity cake, with very interesting flavors. It really doesn't taste like anything I've ever had before. But it looks and sounds very restaurant-ish, so I definitely recommend this if you want to impress.

Before I moved to the west coast, I didn't realize that one could buy fresh figs, but apparently they are in season out here...who knew?

Ingredients

CAKE
3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons pastry flour
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons bread flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
5 large egg whites

FIGS
1 pound fresh figs, quartered or sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped thyme, plus 12 thyme sprigs for garnish
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup crème fraîche

Directions

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper and coat lightly with nonstick vegetable oil spray. (I didn't use parchment paper, and it came out fine.)

In a medium bowl, stir the pastry flour with the bread flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, mix the egg yolks with the olive oil, water, thyme, salt and vanilla and 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of the sugar. With a handheld electric mixer, beat the egg yolk mixture at medium speed until very frothy, about 3 minutes. I guess you could probably use a stand mixer, but since you need so many bowls, the electric mixer worked out well.

Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed until the flour is fully incorporated.

In a clean bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy.

Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until the egg whites are thick and glossy, about 4 minutes. Scoop a cup of the beaten egg whites into the batter and stir until combined.

Fold the remaining egg whites into the batter until no streaks remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes, until the cake is golden and starts to pull away from the side. Set the pan on a rack and let the cake cool completely, about 1 hour.

To make the figs, cut them in quarters or halves and put them in a medium size bowl.

Toss them with the sugar, olive oil, chopped thyme, black pepper and salt. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, until the figs begin to soften and release their juices.

I had fig issues. I had envisioned something more syrupy, and after they sat for an hour, they were still pretty dry, you could still see the grains of sugar, and there was not a lot of liquid in the bowl.

See what I mean?

So I added a couple tablespoons of water, stirred, and let it sit for another half an hour. It still wasn't right, so I added two more tablespoons of water, another teaspoon of sugar, and another pinch of salt and pepper. Much better. By the time we ate the dessert about four hours later, it had just the right amount of liquid. So experiement here to get the right consistency.

To serve, cut the cake into 12 rectangles and transfer to plates. Spoon the figs and their juices over the cake slices, top each slice with a dollop of crème fraîche and a thyme sprig.

I admit, I omitted the thyme spring, but I still think the finished product looks pretty good. Well, better looking than this photo. I have camera issues. This is the only finished product picture I have, so you will just have to trust me that looked good in real life.

And it tasted divine.

Tomatoes!

2008-08-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

On Friday, our farm share box contained a ton of beautiful heirloom tomatoes. Some of them were really ripe, so I wanted to use them quickly. Food and Wine had a good looking recipe in their July issue, which focused on local produce, so it seemed like a fitting way to use them up.

The recipe comes from Brian McBride of the Blue Duck Tavern in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to try it while I was living there, but I may have to try to put it on my agenda for my next visit back.

Pickled Farm Stand Tomatoes with Jalapenos

Ingredients
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

* this seemed like a lot of liquid, so I reduced them each to 3/4 cup

1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper
6 tomatoes (1 1/2 pounds), each cut into 6 wedges

* I used the six tomatoes shown, plus a handful of the cherry tomatoes cut in half
4 scallions, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
2 jalapeños, thinly sliced into rings and seeded

Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring the vinegar, brown sugar and salt to a boil, stirring. Remove from the heat.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil. Add the garlic, grated ginger, mustard seeds, black pepper, turmeric, ground cumin and cayenne pepper and cook over low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

At this point, your kitchen will smell amazing.

Carefully pour the hot oil into the vinegar mixture. Tumeric can stain, so you want to be careful when you pour to avoid splatters staining your clothes.

In a large heatproof bowl, combine the tomatoes, scallions and jalapeños. I didn't follow directions and diced my jalapeno instead of slicing it.

Stir in the hot pickling liquid and let stand at room temperature for 4 hours or refrigerate for 8 hours, then serve.

The magazine suggests serving it with fish or steak, but I ate it with a simple lunch of bread, cheese, and olives. Absolutely wonderful!

And, even with my reducing the liquid, it created a lot. I wound up chopping additional tomatoes and throwing it into the mix after eating some.