BrooklynFoodLibrary

Homemade Noodles

2012-01-18T17:16:00.001-05:00

I've been talking about getting a pasta maker for a few years now. I think I have some kind of pasta maker commitment phobia because I just can't decide which one I want to get. There are heated online debates about the pros and cons of each one as well as friends' varying opinions. Rather than make a decision, I made some noodles without a pasta maker for some chicken noodle soup (next post). I spent a good portion of both Saturday and Sunday getting covered in flour as I tried to improve on the first batch of noodles. It was worth it.

My first attempt, I followed a homemade pasta recipe from The Pioneer Woman website. It was easy, but the noodles weren't exactly what I wanted, which was mostly my fault because I cut them too thick.

The second time around, I used tips from various recipes as well as from people who commanded their authority on the matter because of Italian ancestry: olive oil in the dough, using 00 flour, rolling the dough out very thin, and cutting the noodles very thin. This recipe is what I came up with. It's a basic noodle recipe that you can turn into any kind of dish that you like.

Note: For increasing or decreasing measurements; it's 2 eggs per 1 1/3 cup of flour. One egg will generally feed one person; so if you're cooking for 2, it would be 2 eggs and 1 1/3 cup of flour; for 4 people; 4 eggs and 2 2/3 cups of flour, and so on... That's about as much math as I'm willing to do here. These measurements may also vary depending on how much your company tends to eat ...

Homemade Pasta Noodles

4 eggs
2 2/3 cups "00" flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of salt

1. In a bowl or on a cutting board, make a well in the center of a mound of flour. Crack the eggs into the well. Add a pinch of salt and the olive oil into the well.

2. Using your hands, combine the egg mixture into the flour until a dough forms and you can roll everything together into a ball.

3. Break the dough into smaller pieces (it makes it easier to knead) and use your hands to move the dough around in any way you can until it's smooth inside and out (punch it, roll it, knead it, squeeze it, etc). Repeat with each piece of dough.

4. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin (also lightly floured) to roll out each piece of dough as thinly as you possibly can. Use a pizza cutter, a sharp knife, or a bread cutter to cut the noodles into thin lines.

5. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil, with some added olive oil. Cook the noodles for about 4 minutes and drain.

6. Add the noodles to any kind of pasta sauce or soup!

Egg well:

Dough:

Kneaded dough:

Broken into smaller pieces:

Rolled very thinly:

Cut into thin noodles:

These noodles are from the first batch I made, which were too thick ... they also came out stiff and gooey. I think cutting the noodles thinner, the 00 flour, and the olive oil in the mixture and in the boiling water all helped to make the second batch much better.

White Bean, Pasta, and Kale Soup

2012-01-11T10:53:00.000-05:00

After a strict holiday diet of cake pops, ham, and various foods filled or covered with some kind of melted cheese, something lighter was in order. This won't last very long ...

Notes: For leftovers, you might need to add some more water or stock; the pasta and beans start to soak up the broth. Lastly, I didn't toast the bread because my toaster oven has a tendency to catch on fire lately, but the bread was fine un-toasted.

White Bean, Pasta, and Kale Soup
Adapted from: Martha Stewart

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound kale, stems removed and cut into 1/2 inch strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or smashed (with a garlic press)
1 14oz can cannellini beans
1 14oz can navy beans (or you can use 2 cans of either one of these beans)
1/8 (or a tad under 1/4) cup ditalini pasta (or other small pasta)
4 cups water
4 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons sriracha sauce (optional, or more for added spiciness)
4 thick slices country bread
Grated parmesan cheese, toasted or un-toasted
Salt and pepper

1. In a medium-large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add half of the beans to the pot and lightly mash with a fork (a potato masher worked well here). Add water and stock and bring to a boil. Stir in kale, remaining beans, dried pasta, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Reduce heat and partially cover pot; simmer until kale is tender, about 20 minutes.

3. Stir in sriracha sauce and pour soup into bowls. Add a slice of bread to each bowl and top with grated parmesan cheese.

These photos are from the first time I made the soup, when I carelessly threw in almost half a box of pasta:

I have a visitor this week. Chubs has been doing his best to discreetly torment Gracie:

Vodka Sauce, Take Two

2011-12-31T13:22:00.000-05:00

Vodka sauce on pasta is probably one of my top five favorite foods. I've made it once before but wasn't crazy about the results. This recipe was really good; the crushed red pepper gave it a nice kick. I made a few changes because the sauce was still really thin after only 30 minutes of simmering. I ended up simmering it for 2 hours, until it was nice and thick. This reduces the quantity of sauce a bit, so if you do this and are making sauce for a pound of pasta, I would double the recipe.

Next time I'll probably separately sauté more pancetta and add it in at the end. It gave the sauce a great taste, but was fairly undetectable by the time the sauce was ready.

Vodka Sauce
Adapted from: Food and Wine

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
2 ounces pancetta, diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup vodka
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 35-ounce can whole peeled Italian tomatoes with their juices, crushed by hand
Pinch of sugar
2 basil leaves
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta, garlic (leave them whole), and crushed red pepper and stir occasionally, about 5 minutes, until golden.

2. Deglaze the mixture with vodka and then add the tomato paste, stirring for about a minute. Add the crushed tomatoes with their juices, stir in the sugar and basil leaves, and bring to a boil. Then use the extra vodka to make yourself a bloody mary while you wait for the sauce to simmer (optional, but recommended).

3. Reduce heat and simmer the sauce until it reaches your preferred consistency. Remove basil and garlic and stir in heavy cream. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

The photos aren't spectacular but the sauce was! My sister and I share an obsession for adding broccoli to pasta with vodka sauce, hence the broccoli in the photo above.

Taste Williamsburg Greenpoint

2011-11-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

A few of my friends and I volunteered at Taste Williamsburg/Greenpoint a few months ago. We got some delicious tastes! I am super late in posting this because I was trying to figure out which vendor had the bacon wrapped sausages as their taste ... I can't remember! But it was all delicious.

I would definitely recommend going next year. I think $75 or so gets you unlimited tastes and a few free drinks. Or you can volunteer and get 6+ tastes for free!

A mini lobster roll from Walter Foods:

A brisket slider from Fette Sau:

Sopecitos de Carnitas and Sopecitos de Mushroom and Huitlacoche from Mesa Coyoacan:

Sausages wrapped in bacon:

Lamb tongue from Masten Lake:

My favorite taste, Cafe Colette's pork belly and lady apple tarte tatin:

A few more photos:

Roasted Chicken with Honey, Orange, and Cumin

2011-11-26T11:47:00.001-05:00

There are these ridiculous commercials on TV about a housewife who is "roaster-phobic" being confronted in an intervention by her entire family - I forget exactly what the product being advertised is - and however ridiculous, I've always felt a little roaster-phobic myself. This roasted chicken was my first.

Despite hesitation, and Bittman's statement that making this chicken takes a certain "boldness of spirit," everything went just fine. The chicken appears as if it's going to burn in spots, but you can leave it be (because the burny spots are crispy and delicious), or if you're really concerned, you can always lower the heat in the oven.

This is definitely a different tasting roasted chicken - it is on the sweet side, and despite the high oven temperature, it was nice and moist. I hate that word, but it had to be said.

Roasted Chicken with Cumin, Honey, and Orange
From: Mark Bittman

Ingredients

1 3-pound whole chicken (mine was closer to 4 pounds)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place chicken in a non-stick roasting pan, or line a roasting pan with 2 layers of aluminum foil (I used a 13x9 glass dish lined with foil).

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, honey, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cover chicken as evenly as possible with all but 1/4 cup of reserved juice mixture.

4. Place the chicken in the oven, legs first, and roast for 10 minutes. Baste the chicken with the juices and reverse the pan back to front; return the chicken to the oven and repeat 4 times, basting the chicken every 10 minutes and reversing the position of the pan. If the chicken really looks like it might be getting scorched, lower the oven heat a little bit. Use reserved liquid if the liquid in the pan dries up. After 50 minutes of roasting, insert an instant-read meat thermometer into the chicken thigh; when it reads between 155-165 degrees, remove the chicken from the oven and baste one more time. Let sit for 5 minutes before carving.

This delicious chicken came from The Meat Hook in Williamsburg:

I finally bought a baster and a meat thermometer:

Sliced:

I think my favorite part of this whole process was the resulting chicken salad:

Pumpkin Pie, Take 2

2011-11-03T13:31:00.000-04:00

I wanted to make a pumpkin pie to try to improve upon this disaster from last year, and I liked the sound of Simply Recipes' old fashioned pumpkin pie. I used my standard flaky pie crust from Mark Bittman, though I really need to find a pie crust that doesn't fall apart so easily.

Also, for Brookly-ners, there is a vendor at Saturday's McCarren Park Greenmarket that sells slices of cheese pumpkins so that you don't have to buy the whole pumpkin or cut it open yourself. It makes the whole process a bit simpler. I bought 2 slices, and just barely was able to get 2 cups of pumpkin puree, so I'd recommend getting 3 slices.

I typically see pumpkin pie recipes that call for sugar pumpkins (also called pie pumpkins), but I preferred this year's cheese pumpkin pie over last year's sugar pumpkin pie. Thoughts?

Pumpkin Pie
Adapted from: Simply Recipes

Ingredients

1 pie crust (or one of your choosing)
2 cups of pumpkin puree from a cheese pumpkin
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, plus an egg yolk from a 3rd egg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1. To make pumpkin puree, cut a small-medium cheese pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds/ stringy insides. Lay the pumpkin halves cut side down in a rimmed baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour to an hour and a half, until you can easily stick a fork into the pumpkin meat.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the brown and white sugars, salt, spices, and lemon zest. Beat the eggs in a separate small bowl and add to the sugar mixture. Stir in the pumpkin puree and evaporated milk. Stir everything until well combined.

4. Pour the mixture into the pie shell (crust does not have to be pre-baked) and bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees. After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean. Cool for about 2 hours.

(Optional): to make roasted pumpkin seeds for topping: stir together 1/4 cup of seeds with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roasted at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cheese pumpkin slices from the greenmarket:

Pumpkin puree:

Pie!

Supervising:

Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Snow Peas

2011-10-05T14:53:00.001-04:00

I had a lot of rice vermicelli noodles leftover from this soup, so I took another stab at creating a peanut sauce that I like a lot, and this one came out pretty nicely! Sugar snap peas also work for this.

I think I'll try to spice it up a little next time by adding a little chili sauce or crushed red pepper.

Serves 6. Serve warm or cold.

Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Snow Peas

Ingredients

1 16oz package rice vermicelli noodles
3 cups snow peas, trimmed
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

For the peanut sauce

3/4 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
1 14oz can coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 limes, juiced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Peanuts, roughly chopped, for topping
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the snow peas for about 20 seconds then remove them with a slotted spoon and run cold water over them. Bring the water back to a boil and cook the rice vermicelli noodles according to package.

2. Meanwhile, make the peanut sauce by stirring all of the ingredients together over medium heat until combined. Simmer for a few minutes until thick.

3. Drain the rice vermicelli and mix well with the peanut sauce. Mix in the cilantro and green onions and top with chopped peanuts.

Gettin' saucy:

Spicy Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato

2011-09-28T16:44:00.001-04:00

This was the cover recipe from a Taste of the World booklet that Bon Appetit sent me for buying my mom a gift subscription last Christmas. I've been gradually collecting the ingredients for this since then.

This recipe involves a lot of prep time, chopping and whatnot, but it's totally worth it. A note: I just realized that I used regular chili paste, not chili paste designated as "hot," so this might be why the soup didn't have as much zing/spiciness as I would have liked. I also could not find the Thai bird chiles, so I left those out, so it was perfect if you prefer mild spiciness.

I think the soup base was really great, and I want to play around with the rest of the ingredients - maybe using broccoli or another vegetable in place of the sweet potato, omitting the chicken, etc. If you're a vegetarian, you can definitely use vegetable broth and omit the chicken and still have a really good soup.

Spicy Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato
From: Bon Appetit

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons minced lemongrass (discard tough outer leaves first)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced and peeled
2 tablespoons Thai yellow curry paste
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon hot chili paste (such as Sambal Oelek)
2 13.5-13oz cans unsweetened coconut milk, divided
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
2 teaspoons sugar
3 cups snow peas, trimmed
2 cups sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 pound dried rice vermicelli noodles or rice stick noodles
3/4 pound skinless, bonless chicken thighs, thinly sliced
1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 red Thai bird chiles or 2 red jalapeñochiles, thinly sliced with seeds
1 lime, cut into wedges

1. Heat oil in a heavy large saucepan/pot over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, lemongrass and ginger and stir for about a minute. Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in the curry paste, curry powder, and chili paste. Add 1/2 cup of the coconut milk (scoop out the thick stuff on the top of the can) and stir until the mixture is thick, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining coconut milk, chicken broth, fish sauce, and sugar; bring the broth to a boil. (This can be done a day ahead; refrigerate in the meantime).

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the snow peas and boil for about 20 seconds. Remove from pot using a slotted spoon (or if you have one of those pots you can fit a strainer into before boiling - use that) and run the snow peas under cold water to cool. Bring the same pot of water back to a boil and add the sweet potato. Cook until tender, about 7 minutes, then remove from water with the slotted spoon or strainer. Again, bring the water back to a boil and add the noodles; cook until tender but still firm to bite, about 6 minutes. Drain in a strainer and transfer to a bowl.

3. Bring the broth to a simmer. Add the chicken and simmer until it is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

4. Add the sweet potatoes to the broth and simmer for about another minute. Divide the noodles*, snow peas, and hot soup among bowls. Scatter red and green onion slices, chopped cilantro, and chiles over the soup. Serve each bowl with a lime wedge.

* Unless you have enormous soup bowls, which I didn't, you will have a lot of noodles left over. Use them for another meal!

So this is what lemongrass looks like!

And this is what the yellow curry paste looked like. Interesting.

Thinly sliced chicken thighs:

Broth:

Zucchini Cheddar Biscuits

2011-09-21T10:41:00.001-04:00

These are tasty and satisfying when you're suddenly really hungry on a camping trip.

Notes: Shred a little over one cup of zucchini because the zucchini loses some mass when you squeeze out the moisture. Also, this recipe makes about 15 biscuits.

Zucchini Cheddar Biscuits
Adapted from: A Cozy Kitchen

Ingredients

1 cup zucchini, shredded (from a medium sized zucchini)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 stick cold butter, cubed
1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Use your hands to squeeze as much moisture as possible out of the shredded zucchini (or cover with a cheese cloth and squeeze). Transfer zucchini to a strainer and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a dash of flour. Let sit for 10 minutes, then squeeze out any excess water.

3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and remaining salt. Add the cubed butter and use your hands to break/mix the butter into the flour mixture until small, pea-sized clumps form.

4. Add the buttermilk, zucchini and cheddar and mix with a wooden spoon. Use two tablespoons to drop batter onto the baking sheet.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.

Biscuits!

This is why we can't have nice things.

Grilled Shrimp with Pesto Vinaigrette and Chive Polenta Cakes

2011-09-09T15:37:00.003-04:00

This recipe is a win, but I think just about every Serious Eats recipe is a win. I added the pesto vinaigrette from another recipe for some added kick.

Notes: The polenta cake needs to cool for 3 hours; you can make it the day before. You can also leave out the pesto vinaigrette if you like, but it's a nice addition. Also: Serves 4.

Grilled Shrimp and Pesto Vinaigrette with Chive Polenta Cakes
Adapted from: Serious Eats

Ingredients

For the Chive Polenta Cakes:

1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing pan
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup fresh chives, chopped

For the Shrimp Skewers:

1 1/2 pounds shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 tablespoon basil, chopped
3-4 green onions, white and light green parts only, chopped
Skewers

For the Pesto Vinaigrette:
From: Bon Appetit

3 tablespoons homemade (or purchased) basil pesto
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1. Butter an 8x8 inch glass dish. In a saucepan, over medium-high heat, combine milk, butter, and cornmeal and stir constantly until mixture begins to simmer. Add the sugar, salt and chives and continue stirring for about 10 minutes, when mixture thickens. Pour into glass pan and cool for about 3 hours.

2. Meanwhile, make the pesto vinaigrette by combining all of the ingredients together. (For homemade basil pesto: In a food processor, combine 2 cups of fresh basil, 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup olive oil and salt and pepper to taste).

3. Prepare shrimp by tossing shrimp in a large bowl with salt and pepper, chopped oregano and basil. Thread about 4-5 shrimp onto each skewer. Keep in fridge until polenta has set.

4. When polenta has set, cut into 4 square pieces. Preheat grill or oiled grill pan to medium-high heat and gently grill polenta cakes until grill marks form, about 8 minutes. Remove from grill and add shrimp skewers (and more olive oil if needed/using a grill pan). Grill shrimp for about 3 minutes per side, until pink.

5. Serve shrimp skewers with polenta cakes and top with pesto vinaigrette and chopped scallions.

Polenta cake, cooling:

Marinated shrimp skewers:

Grilling:

Grilled. They may fall apart a little bit if you turn them over while grilling. It's ok.

Grilled shrimpies:

Served with Meghan's delicious tomato, corn and feta salad:

Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

2011-09-06T19:15:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned this before, but I'm a great target for marketing companies and the like because when something is advertised as "the best," I am all ears. Or eyes. The blog The Bitten Word claimed that these blueberry muffins were the best, so I had to find out for myself.

Conclusion: delicious; however I guess I can't say they're the best I've ever made because these were the first homemade blueberry muffins I've ever made. They are gooey and sweet. If your blueberries are on the tart side, add a little more sugar.

Note: This recipe makes about 12 large muffins. You can make them smaller to make about 18; just decrease the baking time to about 14 minutes. I burned mine the second time I made them when I went for 18 muffins.

Blueberry Muffins
From: The Bitten Word

Ingredients

2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/8 cups sugar, plus one teaspoon
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the streusel topping

3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup, plus 3 tablespoons, flour
5 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and either fill a muffin tin with 12 baking cups, spray with non-stick cooking spray, or grease with butter.

2. Over medium heat, bring 1 cup of blueberries and 1 teaspoon of sugar to a simmer, stirring constantly, until berries have become mushy (you can mash them with a wooden spoon), and the mixture has reduced to about 1/4 cup. Transfer mix to a small bowl and let cool.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

4. In medium-sized bowl (or in a mixer), whisk (or beat) the remaining sugar and the eggs until the mixture turns thick. Add the butter and vegetable oil and combine.

5. Fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture and add the remaining cup of blueberries. Stir until combined, it's okay to leave some clumps of flour.

6. Divide the batter into the muffin tins. Spoon about a teaspoon of the cooked berry mixture onto the top of each mound of batter, and swirl the mixture into the batter using a chopstick or skewer (use a figure eight motion).

7. Make the streusel topping by combining the sugar, dark brown sugar, salt, flour and melted butter; stir until clumps form.

8. Top each uncooked muffin with the streusel mixture and bake until muffin tops are golden and firm, about 17-19 minutes. Decrease the time to about 14 minutes if you're making smaller muffins.

Cooked berry mix:

Batter up:

Topped with berry mix:

Swirled:

Streusel:

Goo!

Chickpea Burgers

2011-08-23T17:24:00.000-04:00

My friend Lauren made these chickpea burgers recently and they were so good that I wanted to make them myself. They're good to have on hand for lunch or dinner.

These have spices in them that give them an Indian style kick. They taste great with some toppings: tomatoes, feta, tzatziki and cucumbers - and are good in pitas.

Chickpea Burgers

Ingredients

2 15oz cans chickpeas
4 eggs
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil (for onions, plus more to fry burgers)
1 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)
1/4 cup rolled outs
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or 1 teaspoon for an extra kick)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. Drain chickpeas and add them to a food processor with the eggs. Pulse to combine, but don't puree - let the mixture remain a little chunky.

2. Sauté the chopped onion in olive oil over medium-high heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and spices and mix together well, cooking for about another minute.

3. Let the spice mixture cool briefly, then add to the chickpea/egg mixture. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, oats, bread crumbs and parsley. Let the mixture stand for about 10-15 minutes.

4. Form the mix into 10-12 "burger" patties. Cook in olive oil over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through.

Sautéing onions with spices:

Mash up:

Patties:

I love those sandwich thins:

Roasted Salmon with Curried Peach Sauce

2011-08-17T10:08:00.003-04:00

This recipe is so simple and tasty, and peaches are in season right now so go get some delicious peaches from the farmers' market!

I roasted the salmon instead of grilling it, because I don't have a grill, and because the last time I tried to "grill" salmon on my grill pan, everything fell apart. I served the salmon on top of quinoa, but couscous or something similar would work well too.

Roasted Salmon with Curried Peach Sauce
Adapted from: Epicurious

Ingredients

2 salmon fillets
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 fresh peaches, peeled and diced
Kosher salt and pepper
Olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Coat the bottom of an oven safe roasting/baking dish with olive oil. Season both sides of the salmon fillets with Kosher salt and pepper then place in the pan. Brush more olive oil onto the tops and sides of the fillets. Roast for 20 minutes.

3. While the salmon is roasting, stir together the peaches, honey and curry powder in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens (about 10 minutes).

4. Top the salmon fillets with the peach sauce.

Wild King salmon from The Lobster Place. Recommended.

Seasoned:

Roasted:

Peach sauce in the making:

Cake Pops

2011-08-08T09:37:00.005-04:00

I'm jumping on the cake pop train a little late, but it's a delicious train to be on and I'm never looking back.

A few notes: All but four of my cake pops had chocolate icing. I melted white chocolate chips as well, but they hardened very quickly after they melted, making it time consuming and difficult. The original recipe suggests using white chocolate bark, but I haven't tried this yet. Also - it is best to let the cake cool overnight before making the actual cake pops. You can also refrigerate/freeze the cake mix for up to three days before making the pops.

Cake Pops
(makes about 60 pops)

From: The Kitchn

Dark Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

2. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients, then add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. (I just mixed this with a spoon and it was fine). Stir in the boiling water. The mixture will be very thin.

3. Pour batter equally into the two cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool completely before decorating.

Making the Cake Pops
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon milk
60+ lollipop sticks
12 ounces chocolate chips
12 ounces white chocolate bark
Sprinkles, sugars and other decorative candies

1. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, butter and milk.

2. Crumble the two cakes into crumbs and add into the cream cheese mixture. Use a spoon and your hands to fully incorporate the crumbs into the cream cheese mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.

3. Once the cake mixture is firm, roll the cake mix into balls and set on a baking sheet covered with wax or parchment paper. (Important: keep the cake balls in the freezer so that they stay very firm while you make the icing. You also will want to keep the majority of the cake balls in the freezer while you decorate a few at a time. Otherwise they start to soften and will fall apart/fall off the lollipop stick while you ice/decorate them).

4. Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate chips on the stove. Press the lollipop stick into each cake ball and dip into the icing. (I found that using a rubber spatula to ice each cake ball worked best for me). Add any kind of sprinkle or topping to the icing and place back on wax/parchment paper with the lollipop stick standing straight up. Let cool so that the icing hardens.

Dark chocolate cake. This was also a really great cake recipe in general.

Adding into the cream cheese mixture:

Cake ball mix:

Rolled into balls:

Homemade double boiler:

Decorations. These all came from Whisk in Williamsburg, they have a great selection of reasonably priced cake decorations:

Pops!

Mediterranean Style Pizza

2011-07-19T14:30:00.004-04:00

This was my first time making pizza and it came together pretty well! My parents had an extra pizza stone lying around and gave it to me ages ago, and of course a sweltering 95 degree day seemed the perfect time to turn my oven up to 500 degrees. I'm excited to start making more pizza with different toppings. Now I just need to find the pizza cutter that I thought I had.

I'm making spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow, so I made the sauce from this recipe to cover the pizza and the pasta, but you can use your own sauce, or store bought sauce, as well as store bought pizza dough, to quicken things up. I made the pizza dough as well ... it was super easy, but you do need to let it rise for a bit, so it's not exactly the quickest option. I'll include the pizza dough recipe below.

Pizza Dough
From: Smitten Kitchen
* This recipe is for a small-sized, thin crust pizza. I made a medium sized pizza, so I doubled the recipe - and I have some dough leftover. You can always 1 1/2 or double the recipe for a thicker crust or a larger pizza.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (and up to 2 tablespoons more)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cooking spray
Cornmeal

1. Stir the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and then stir in water and olive oil. Add the little bit of extra water if the mixture seems to try to come together.

2. Empty the crumbly mixture onto a lightly floured surface and knead everything into a ball. If this is hard to do, leave the dough under the bowl for a few minutes and come back; the dough will come together more easily.

3. Knead the dough for a minute or two. Spray the same bowl with cooking spray and roll the ball of dough around in the bowl until it is coated on all sides. Cover the ball in plastic wrap and let sit for 1-2 hours, until it has doubled in size.

4. Next, press the air pockets out of the dough with your palms and let it sit in the plastic wrap for another 20 minutes.

5. Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and preheat your oven to its highest temperature. Roll the dough out onto the pizza stone or baking sheet and add a layer of sauce and then toppings. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the crust starts slightly bubbling. (I found I needed to keep my pizza in the oven for a few more minutes, 500 degrees is my oven's highest temperature).

Smushing the crumbly mixture into a ball:

Doubled in size with air pockets:

Roll it on out:

Mediterranean Style Pizza
From: For the Love of Cooking

Ingredients
*For toppings - use however much of each that you prefer

Pizza dough
Tomato sauce
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Baby spinach
Kalamata olives, sliced
Black olives, sliced
Sundried tomatoes
Feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash of oregano

1. Spread sauce evenly over pizza dough and add toppings. Bake on oven's highest temperature for 10-14 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbling. Let cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Ready to go:

Sliced:

Strawberry and Cream Paletas

2011-07-12T16:58:00.001-04:00

Paletas are Latin American ice pops made with fresh fruit and they are delicious. Unfortunately, I could not get the ice pops out of the cheap plastic molds that I bought, so my friend and I had to eat them with spoons. They were still eaten, so c'est la vie.

The recipe said to pour warm water over the base of the molds to release the ice pops, but that didn't work. Does anyone know a better way to do this?

Strawberry and Cream Ice Pops
(Paletas de Fresas y Crema)
From: Saveur

Ingredients

1 pound strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Purée strawberries in a blender or food processor. Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and push the mixture through the strainer with a flat spatula, leaving any solid strawberry pieces behind. Pour the mixture into four 3-ounce ice pop molds.

2. Freeze ice pops for at least an hour, until slushy, then put the popsicle stick into the mold. Freeze for about 3 hours more, then remove ice pops from molds by running warm water at the base of each mold.

You don't really need to see a photo of strawberries, but the color looked nice:

Mixture:

Strainer over bowl:

Blasted molds:

Delicious.

Key Lime Tart

2011-06-23T15:16:00.000-04:00

What better way to show your diabetic dad that you love him on Father's Day than by making him a homemade, sugar-packed key lime tart?

Seriously though, I lost count of how many key limes I had to squeeze to get the 3/4 cup of key lime juice needed to make this tart. It was almost 2 bags full from C-town, so it might have been about 20-25 key limes. If you want to cheat (however, my sore squeezing hands and I will quietly judge you), you can instead use the juice from far fewer regular limes, or buy bottled key lime juice.

Key Lime Tart
From: Martha Stewart

Ingredients

10 full size graham crackers
2 tablespoons, plus 1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 fresh key lime (20+ key limes) or lime juice (from about 4-6 regular limes)
4 large egg yolks
Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a food processor (or you can mash together by hand), mix together graham crackers and 2 tablespoons of sugar until crumbs form. Add melted butter and mix again. Press mixture into a 9 inch tart pan (Martha says to use one with a removable bottom so that it looks nicer later, but you don't need one), pushing the mixture partly up the sides of the pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, mix together the key lime juice, condensed milk, egg yolks, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and a pinch of salt. Whisk together until smooth. Poor the mixture into the crust and bake for 20-25 minutes until the filling is set (it might be a little wobbly in the middle, but the sides should be fully set).

4. Cool at room temperature and chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Key limes are hard to squeeze and there were many more than these (a rhyme! and almost a haiku):

The carnage. I squeezed the key limes over a strainer because dealing with pits is the pits:

Making graham cracker crusts sometimes feels like cheating, but they taste so good!

Filling:

All set! Get it?

Kitties do not like the smell of citrus. Chubs was not happy with me for capturing this photo op. Someone call PETA.

Meanwhile ...

Noodle Kugel with Cottage Cheese

2011-06-23T14:36:00.001-04:00

The timeliness of this recipe is a little off, being that Passover has long since passed over us, but who says you can't eat noodle kugel all year 'round?

I had the hardest time finding full-fat, large-curd cottage cheese, so I ended up using 2% fat/large curd cottage cheese. Being that there are two whole sticks of butter in this recipe, I think it was probably for the best.

Noodle Kugel
From: Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

1 pound wide egg noodles
8 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, melted
2 pounds large curd, full-fat cottage cheese (two 16oz containers ... math!)
2 teaspoons vanilla
Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and boil the noodles for about 5-7 minutes. Drain.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl or in an electric mixer, beat together eggs until fluffy. Gradually add in the sugar, cottage cheese, butter, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

4. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 oven safe dish. Bake the kugel for 1.5 hours (start checking it after an hour or so), until the kugel is set. The noodles on top will get pretty crispy!

Mixing up all those heart attack inducing ingredients:

Wide egg noodles:

Kugel goop:

Barley with Cucumber and Yogurt-Dill Dressing

2011-06-13T21:04:00.000-04:00

I like Mark Bittman's simple dishes, but this one didn't do it for me. I may have liked it better as a side dish, with fish or chicken or something, but I didn't love it by itself. The yogurt kind of ruined it for me, but that is my own issue; you might like it! It was definitely refreshing, but in the future I might substitute more olive oil for the yogurt.

Barley with Cucumber and Yogurt-Dill Dressing
From: Mark Bittman

Ingredients

1 cup pearled barley
1 English cucumber, 6 Kirby (pickling) cucumbers or 2-3 medium/regular cucumbers
3-4 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup fresh dill
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a saucepan, cover the barley with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the barley is tender. Drain and let cool, or rinse with cold water.

2. Peel and cut the cucumbers into bite sized pieces. (Bittman says to remove any seeds, but it was fine with seeds).

3. Make the dressing: whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and yogurt. Toss the dressing together with barley, cucumbers, and scallions. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tilapia with Tomatillo Guacamole, Corn Salsa and Couscous

2011-05-26T16:49:00.001-04:00

My mom's recent surgery (she's fine!) required her to eat mostly natural ingredients and no dairy for a few weeks beforehand so it was a stretch finding something that everyone liked for mother's day dinner. Last year, I made this recipe as written with scallops, but this time substituted tilapia because both of my parents hate scallops like I hate mayonnaise. I cooked the tilapia in foil packets with couscous and everything came together pretty well.

Note: I've written the recipe to serve 4, but you can just cut down the number of tilapia fillets and corresponding 1/4 cup of couscous if you are serving less than 4. If you end up with leftover guacamole and corn salsa, it can be put to good use for other meals!

Also: Squeeze a little lemon or lime on top of everything when you're finished if you feel so inclined.

Tilapia with Tomatillo Guacamole, Corn Salsa and Couscous
Adapted from: The Kitchn

Ingredients

4 tilapia fillets (depending on how many people you're serving)
1 cup couscous (divided into 1/4 cup servings)

For the tomatillo guacamole:

1 avocado, halved
1/2 pound tomatillos, husked and chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1 garlic clove, chopped or smashed
1/2 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt to taste

For the corn salsa:

3 ears of corn, shucked and kernels cut off
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Make the guacamole by combining all of the guacamole ingredients in a food processor or mashing ingredients together very well.

3. In another bowl, combine the corn salsa ingredients.

4. Cut 4 pieces of aluminum foil, about 10 inches long each. Curve up all sides of each foil piece so that no liquid can escape from the packet. Add 1/4 cup of couscous to each piece of foil. Place a tilapia fillet on top of the couscous in each packet, then add 1/3 cup of water into each packet. Loosely close the foil packet, leaving a little bit of space between the fish and the top of the packet so that steam can rise inside.

5. Place foil packets on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with a fork and the couscous is cooked. Top tilapia fillets with guacamole and corn salsa.

Tilapia. You can make these fish packets with just about any fish:

Tomatillo guacamole:

Corn salsa:

We bought the tilapia and also these king crab legs from the White Cap Fish Market out in Bay Shore. Holy moly. Delicious. (The crab legs).

Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Dip

2011-05-15T19:24:00.001-04:00

Aside from the time it takes to caramelize the onions, this dip is pretty simple to make. If there is some left over, it's also very tasty as a sandwich topper.

Goat cheese and caramelized onion dip
Adapted from: We Are Not Martha

Ingredients

12oz goat cheese
6oz cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
3 large sweet onions (Vidalia or other sweet onion), chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup cane sugar (or brown sugar), plus more to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a large saute pan and add chopped onions and sugar, mix together. Over low-medium heat, stir the onions frequently so they don't burn and add a little more sugar until the onions start to turn golden. It takes about 20+ minutes for the onions to caramelize. If the pan gets watery from the onions, you can drain it out and put it back on the stove.

3. In a bowl, mix together the cheeses and the balsamic vinegar. Spread the cheese on the bottom of a baking pan (I used a deep dish pie plate). When onions are caramelized, pour them on top of the cheese.

4. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until warmed.

Cheese layer:

Gettin' caramely:

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas, and Ricotta

2011-04-13T16:02:00.000-04:00

This recipe was easy, and a win, as is. I'd recommend either making your own ricotta (which I did not do) or getting a good ricotta. I used Organic Valley's. I don't think I can go for Polly-O anymore after that. Making it is the next step, but I've heard that once you start making ricotta, it's hard to stop eating it.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas, and Ricotta
From: Serious Eats

Ingredients
1 pound pasta shells
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 can chickpeas (15 oz)
2 cups cubed crusty bread
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bag, toss cauliflower and chickpeas with half of the olive oil (add a little more if it looks dry) and 1 teaspoon of salt. Spread the mix onto a baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 25-35 minutes, when the chickpeas turn golden. Turn everything over once halfway through cooking.

2. Place the bread cubes on another baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the bread is crispy but not burning. (You can put these in during the last 10 minutes that the cauliflower mixture is cooking).

3. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water when draining.

4. To the pasta, add the remaining olive oil, the cauliflower mixture, and a little pasta water. Add croutons and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Top each serving with some ricotta cheese.

Chubs

2011-03-14T22:25:00.000-04:00

I need me some kitties, not food, right now.

Yesterday was Chubs's 7th birthday. Party hat compliments of today's birthday boy, Matthew K. Chubs is so over birthdays:

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Avocado, Parmesan Cheese, and Basil

2011-03-09T11:30:00.003-05:00

This is one of my favorite vegetarian dishes, and it's quick and easy to make... and even a bit healthy! I didn't specify measurements for a few of the ingredients because it's really a matter of preference.

Note: Serves 2 for a main course, 4 as a smaller dish

Spaghetti Squash with Avocado and Parmesan
Adapted slightly from: The Kitchn

Ingredients

1 medium spaghetti squash
1-2 avocados, diced
1 lemon, juiced
1-2 garlic cloves, mashed
4 basil leaves, sliced or chopped
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise (be careful! it's hard) and scrape out the seeds. Lay the halves cut side down in a rimmed oven safe dish and add about a 1/4 inch of water to the pan. Roast for 40-45 minutes, until tender.

3. When the squash is almost finished roasting, heat some olive oil in a pan and add the garlic. Cook for just a minute, until fragrant.

4. When the squash is finished, scrape out the stringy insides and separate into bowls for serving. Top each with some drizzled olive oil, lemon juice, avocado, basil and parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spaghetti squash:

Roasted:

The insides:

Zucchini Fritters

2011-03-02T17:44:00.000-05:00

These zucchini fritters (they're a lot like latkes) are fast and easy to make. Make sure to squeeze as much moisture out of the shredded zucchini as possible; I found the easiest way to do this was to use my hands.

This recipe makes about 7-8 fritters - so if you're making them for a party or whatnot - be sure to double or triple the recipe. Also - the originial recipe suggests serving these with sour cream or yogurt on the side - I'm not a huge fan of either, but I thought apple sauce might be nice. However, they were fine by themselves.

Zucchini Fritters
From: Simply Recipes

2 medium zucchinis, grated (the peel can stay on)
1 large egg
2-3 scallions, minced
1/2 cup flour
Olive oil
Salt, pepper

1. Add a teaspoon of salt to the grated zucchini, then squeeze out excess moisture.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg, then add zucchini, scallions, flour and about a 1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper.

3. Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet, then add dough into mounds of about 2 tablespoons each (don't put more than 6 into the pan at once). Flatten each mound with a spatula and cook for 4-6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Lay fritters onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with salt and serve!

Shredded zucchini:

Dough:

Frying:

Coconut Crusted Tilapia with Lime

2011-02-21T09:30:00.005-05:00

Another easy, tasty fish dish. I really liked the crunchy coconut/lime flavors. I made this dish alongside the potato salad recipe I posted about yesterday, and the honey mustard vinaigrette gave the fish some added tangy/sweet flavor. It's not a must - but it was a nice bonus.

I forgot to do so - but this dish might be nice over some couscous or quinoa.

Coconut Crusted Tilapia with Lime
Adapted from: Judy's Kitchen

Ingredients

2 tilapia fillets
1 cup panko bread crumbs, or fresh bread crumbs made from crusty Italian bread
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch red pepper
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil, plus a little more for drizzling
Lime wedges
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, coconut, sugar, nutmeg, and red pepper.

3. In another bowl, whisk an egg. Mix the tilapia fillets in with the egg and then dredge each fillet in the bread crumb mixture.

4. In an oven safe dish, place the butter and canola oil and melt them together by placing in the oven for a few minutes.

5. Spread the melted butter/oil around the bottom of the dish and place the fish on top. If there is not enough butter/oil to scoop over the top of the fish, drizzle a little more oil over the tops of the fish. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes, until fish flakes with a fork.

6. Squeeze lime over the fish and add salt and pepper to taste.

The guy at the market gave me very large tilapia fillets:

I tried turning the fillet over to coat both sides with the butter/oil mixture, but the coconut/bread crumb mixture fell off onto the tongs, so you can just drizzle a little more oil on top.

Potato Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette and Bacon

2011-02-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for recipes that claim to be the best, and this is Bittman's "best (and simplest)" potato salad. I'm also a sucker for mayo-less potato salads, and this one is pretty good. I added some crunchy bacon pieces to it because no recipe should be called the best without bacon in it.

Another note: I made a fish recipe to go along with this, which I'm going to post next, and the honey mustard vinaigrette tasted really good with the fish. I imagine it would be a good salad dressing as well.

Potato Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Adapted with bacon from: Mark Bittman

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup (or more) mustard vinaigrette (see below)
3-4 slices bacon, cooked until crispy

1. In a medium sized pot, cover potatoes with water, add a little salt, and bring water to a boil. When water starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook the potatoes for about 12 minutes, or until tender but not mushy. Drain.

2. In a skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Cut (or rip) into small pieces.

3. Toss the potatoes with the parsley, onion, and bacon and add as much honey mustard vinaigrette as you'd like (I used the whole mixture, which was just a little too much). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons wine vinegar (I used red)
1 heaping teaspoon of Dijon mustard or other good mustard
1-2 tablespoons honey

1. In a blender, mix together all ingredients until creamy (takes 2 seconds).

There are only so many pictures of potato salad that you can take. Here's Keeper trying to yank me away from the computer:

Chubs on a bike:

Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms in a Cream(ish) Sauce

2011-02-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

There were a lot of inspirations for this concoction, namely: this Kitchen Illiterate post, my friend Kate, and the fact that I couldn't use cream for my dairy challenged dinner guest. Kate made the Kitchen Illiterate dish as well and had the genius idea of using panko breadcrumbs for some crunch. I pretty much want to add those to every pasta dish now.

This recipe is a bit sloppy at the moment, but I'll try to fix it up the next time I make it.

Ingredients

8oz penne pasta
1/4 cup reserved pasta water
1-2 chicken breasts (I used 2, but 1 should be fine)
1 10oz package cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
1 cup almond milk (or, if you're not lactose challenged - you can use heavy cream or whole milk)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/3 cup white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Panko breadcrumbs to top (optional)
Parmesan cheese to top

1. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat and add the chicken breast. Cook for a few minutes on each side (about 3-4 minutes) until cooked through, then shred with a fork. Cover with foil to keep warm.

2. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions.

3. Meanwhile, in the same pan used for the chicken, heat another tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until soft and/or starting to brown, then add mushrooms and stir occasionally until mushrooms are cooked through. Add a little more oil if needed.

4. To the mix, add the white wine and bring to a boil until most of the liquid is evaporated. Add the milk, garlic, Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes and butter and cook on medium until the sauce starts to thicken (if you're using almond milk like I did - it won't get too thick).

5. Add the pasta, pasta water, and shredded chicken into the pan and mix everything together. Top with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

Chickens:

Sauce:

With all the toppings:

Braised Chicken with Shallots

2011-02-09T16:52:00.002-05:00

I cooked for my picky eater grandparents last week while visiting them in Florida, and between the both of them, there are about two foods that they seem to agree on. One of them is chicken. Rumor had it that if my grandpa doesn't know what he's eating, he'll eat anything, so this chicken dish worked nicely because it looks like a standard gravy and you can't entirely tell what's in it. When he pointed to the parsley while I was cooking and asked "what's that?" I politely told him to move right along.

One last anecdote ... my snarky southern uncle made some comment about this dish looking like something a bird regurgitated, and though there may be some truth in that, it's a pretty delicious dish that I've made several times after it was a ladies night collaborative effort a couple of years ago. If Martha Stewart will eat it, it can't be all that bad.

Notes: Serves 4; good over rice. Definitely needs to be over rice or another grain, and/or have an accompanying side dish. Also - I used boneless thighs and it's fine.

Braised Chicken with Shallots
From: Martha Stewart

Ingredients

8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds total)
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound small shallots (about 12), peeled and halved
5 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 cups water

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper and coat with flour. Shake off excess flour.

2. In a medium-large heavy pot with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in one or two batches until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove chicken and set aside.

3. Scrape up any bits sticking to the pan (but leave them in there) and add shallots and garlic, cooking them until they are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add wine and cook until evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil.

4. Return the chicken to a pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 30-35 minutes.

5. Remove chicken from pot (you can throw some foil over them to keep them warm) and add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Raise heat to high and cook until the sauce thickens, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and return chicken to the pot. Mix everything together well and reheat briefly.

Naked chickens!

So many shallots, so many tears. Get your significant other to chop these:

Shallots/garlic:

Makin' gravy:

It really does taste good ...

Pesto of the Week! Broccoli and Feta Pesto with Pasta

2011-02-08T12:50:00.000-05:00

I've made this pesto a few times over the past year ... it's kind of a summery dish, but I was hankering for it anyway. It's got a nice tang to it. My only note is don't get overzealous and add a bunch more feta into the pesto. It seems like a good idea at first but then it's a bit too much cheese. Imagine! Use the 1/4 cup and then just crumble some extra feta on top. I added diced tomatoes for some added zing.

Broccoli and Feta Pesto with Pasta
From: The Kitchn

Ingredients

1 pound pasta (squiggly pastas work nicely - rotini, gemelli, shells, etc)
1 pound broccoli
Olive oil
1/2 small onion or two shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup feta
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper

1. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions.

2. Cut the broccoli into small florets and steam over water until you can easily stick a fork through it.

3. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until they begin to soften. Add the broccoli and cook for a few more minutes, then add the parsley and continue cooking until its wilted. Add the lemon juice and simmer for about two minutes.

4. Transfer the broccoli mixture to a food processor and add a 1/4 cup of feta cheese and 1/4 cup of water. Puree until smooth, add more olive oil to make it thinner if you like. Add salt and pepper to taste and toss with pasta. Top with crumbled feta cheese.

Broccoli/shallots:

Pesto!

Windowsill lighting:

Roasted Cod with Potatoes, Onions, and Olives

2011-02-02T14:40:00.004-05:00

I'm clearly on an olive kick. Oh well, so good and salty. This recipe was really simple and delicious ... I added some lemon zest to it for a little more flavor. The cod was from the Greenpoint farmer's market ($17/pound - which was actually way more fish than I expected). I tweaked this recipe a little bit and this is what I got:

(Serves 3-4 for dinner, with a side)

Note: I heard that my adjustments on this recipe made it come out a little oily (sorry!) so I reduced the oil from 1/3 to 1/4 cup.

Roasted cod with onions, potatoes, and olives
Adapted from: Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1 pound cod fillet - bones removed
1.5 onions, thinly sliced
4-5 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they start to soften, then add the potatoes and garlic. Cook the potatoes until they start to turn pale golden and/or are soft.

3. Remove the skillet from heat and add to the mixture the rosemary, parsley, olives, salt and pepper.

4. In a rimmed oven safe dish, place the uncooked cod in the center and season both sides with salt and pepper and cover with lemon zest. Add the potato/onion mixture to the dish, arranging it around the cod. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the fish starts to flake when you push it with a fork.

5. Cut the dish into servings and squeeze lemon juice over each dish.

There's something about potatoes and onions with oil...

I cod have eaten this dish all day long... hehe.

Dish arrangement in case you need a visual:

Someone in the comments section of the original recipe said the dish looked really nice and "rustic." I thought so too when it came out. Wish I had a fireplace!

Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

2011-01-26T15:34:00.002-05:00

There isn't a story behind this ... just ... why not caesar salad with homemade croutons? I guess there's a short story - this was my first experience with anchovies (or - anchovy - they have teeny tiny bones!) and I used a raw egg instead of mayo because ... gross. I'd rather risk salmonella. I think.

I usually like the unhealthy, creamy kind of Caesar salad dressing, but this one is a lot more like a vinaigrette, and is still good.

Ingredients (for salad/dressing)
From: Smitten Kitchen

Romaine lettuce
1 raw egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced (or left whole if you're going to combine in the food processor)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, or a little more, to taste
1 oil pack anchovy fillet (optional)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. In a food processor, pulse together all ingredients until well combined, adding the olive oil as you go. Season with salt and pepper and toss with lettuce. If you don't have a food processor, you can finely chop the anchovy and whisk together all ingredients.

Anchovies:

Dressing:

... Then add croutons.

Ingredients (for the croutons)
From: The Food Network

1 baguette
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon pepper

1. Cut the baguette into small cubes.

2. Melt butter in a skillet and mix in the spices, then add the bread cubes. Saute until the bread starts to brown.

Pesto of the Week! Kale Pesto.

2011-01-20T17:12:00.000-05:00

I do/did not have enough money/time/energy to follow Bon Appetit's post new year's two week "food lover's cleanse," but I did look through their section on nutritional foods that are good to focus on. One is kale, and kale is a leafy vegetable that I had not yet pesto-ed. There is no better way to eat a healthy food than to load it up with nuts, cheese, and oil. After pesto-ing a lot of other veggies, I used pretty much the same formula.

Ingredients

1 pound kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus more to top
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook kale, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and use the water to cook the pasta in (if you're going to cook pasta). If not, then you can just drain the kale/water. Run kale under cold water and then squeeze out as much moisture as possible.

2. In a food processor, pulse together all ingredients, pouring in the olive oil as it chops. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Kale:

Food processor-ed:

I have a thing for pesto with angel hair pasta:

The kale pesto was really tasty with some sauted portobello mushrooms and chopped tomatoes:

Bulgur with Olives, Sundried Tomatoes, Avocado, and Feta

2011-01-18T09:30:00.004-05:00

This is by no means a health food blog, as you can probably tell from some of the recipes, but I do think that finding delicious dishes that use grains has helped me edge out my long standing pasta addiction. And I do find that I feel better after eating these dishes than I do when I gorge on pasta. However, pasta won't be going anywhere any time soon for me.

This dish is flavorful, tangy, and filling, and is the first recipe I've made using bulgur. I've found bulgur all over, from C-Town to the Garden, so it's not hard to find. It's nutty and slightly crunchy and like other grains, you can pretty much add whatever you want to it.

Also, the blog where I found the recipe mine is based on - Feelgood Eats - I don't think it's in operation anymore, but there are a lot of great looking recipes on there - worth checking out.

Bulgur with Olives, Sundried Tomatoes, and Feta
Adapted from: Feelgood Eats

Ingredients

1 cup bulgur
1 avocado, chopped
1 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced/smashed
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 lemon, zested (is that a word?) and juiced
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook bulgur according to instructions on package. Typically, it's 2 - 2.5 cups of water per cup of bulgur, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.

2. Mix bulgur with all other ingredients until well coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves about 2 for dinner, and about 5 for side dishes.

"Stuff" mixture:

Bulgur and stuff:

A Collaborative Ladies Night Effort: Sausage, Apple, and Cheese Pie

2011-01-17T10:10:00.001-05:00

Too many cooks in the kitchen? Yes please. My kitchen, though pretty functional, is narrow and small, but my favorite way to cook is with my lady friends, glasses of red wine in one hand, knives in the other. Seems precarious, but we seem to have it down.

So much for eating lighter meals after the new year, but sometimes after the stress of the holidays, you need to eat things such as this sausage/cheese pie that Kate, Meghan and I made the other week. But hey, it has apples in it! The photos are kind of crappy, but eating it was the higher priority here.

We used a deep dish pie dish, so Meghan increased the amount of pie dough a bit, and we used a whole onion instead of half and a pound of sausage instead of 3/4 pound. I think deep dish may be the way to go, since you end up with a lot of filling.

Sausage, Apple, and Cheese Pie
From: Simply Recipes

Ingredients

1 basic pie dough recipe, such as this one, or one of your choosing
2 large green apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups shredded fontina, provalone, and or asiago cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a fork, poke holes all over your pie crust, creating vents. Pre-bake the crust for about 12-15 minutes, or until dough is just beginning to brown. Reduce heat to 350 degrees.

2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the apples, onions, and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples and onions are tender (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook briefly, until fragrant. Transfer mixture to a bowl.

3. In the same skillet, add the sausage. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until sausage is browned and cooked through. Remove sausages with a slotted spoon to separate from remaining fat, and pat with paper towels to remove excess juices.

4. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the cheeses and eggs.

5. In the pre-baked pie crust, add sausages, topped with the apple/onion mixture. Pour the cheese mixture on top, spreading it evenly over the pie. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Assembled:

Roasted brussels sprouts were a nice side for the pie:

Grilled Portabello Mushrooms with Garlic Balsamic Reduction Glaze

2011-01-05T09:30:00.002-05:00

The name of this recipe sounds really fancy, but it's not. It's very easy and delicious. I browsed around different ways of making it and combined some of the things I learned into this recipe.

Balsamic reduction sauce works well for meat glazes or to add flavor to vegetables like tomatoes and mushrooms.

Ingredients

2-4 portabello mushroom caps, sliced thickly
Olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 medium sized garlic cloved, smashed or pressed
Salt and pepper

For the mushrooms:

1. Remove stems from mushroom caps and wash. Coat with olive oil and set on a grill pan over medium heat. Cook until the caps soften. Season with salt and pepper.

For the balsamic glaze:

2. Combine balsamic vinegar and sugar and whisk together until sugar dissolves. Add a whole sprig of thyme and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and sticky. Remove thyme.

3. Add smashed/pressed garlic into the mixture and stir. Drizzle the glaze over the mushrooms.

"Grilling" mushrooms:

You can see the reflection of my kitchen cabinets in there!

Looks interesting:

Random New York Deliciousness, Part 2

2011-01-04T12:32:00.000-05:00

Here's another compilation of stuff I've eaten (or witnessed being eaten) over the past few months around NYC. I hope it will motivate you to go out and try some of these amazing places. I've left out Greenpoint food stops because I am doing a separate post for those soon.

My favorite stop from the following bunch was probably Totto Ramen. It was listed in the New York Times article Roaming for Ramen as one of the city's best ramen. I've only tried a few NYC ramens so far, but this one is my favorite as of now.

This was the rice ball appetizer with shredded pork inside. I can't seem to find it on their menu now:

This is the Totto Miso Ramen, with pork and ground pork. The noodles are buttery and delicious and the broth is amazing:

Totto Ramen
366 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 582-0052

The next stop was the Lobster Place in the Chelsea Market. This is the scallop and bacon chowder (you can't get much better than that combination) ...

... and the shrimp roll. A bit too mayo-y for me (because I hate mayo, it's probably fine for everyone else), but the shrimp was super fresh:

The Lobster Place
75 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
(212) 255-5672

Another favorite ... Azuri Cafe. I had a lot of falafel in Israel last year, and I didn't find any as delicious as Azuri Cafe's falafel pita. The pickles and sauce really make the falafel:

This is the spinach boreca appetizer. They have potato borecas too.

Azuri Cafe
465 West 51st Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 262-2920

These photos didn't come out too great, but these are from Caracas Arepa Bar, the Williamsburg location (there's another in the East Village). Their food is so good and afforable. This is the yoyos appetizer: sweet plantain with white cheese:

And this is the La del Gato arepa: cheese, plantain, and avocado. It's very sweet, but I keep ordering it because it's so good. I tried my friend's pork arepa and I think I'll be getting one of those next time.

Caracas Arepa Bar
291 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 218-6050

A driving adventure out to the Target in Flushing, Queens, led to a Yelp search of ramen in Queens. I ended up at Cafe Noodle in nearby Elmhurst. The place is super cheap and these shrimp/pork gyoza were amazing:

The ramen was decent, but I think I have high standards now after eating at Totto and a few other places that I liked more.

Cafe Noodle
83-29 Broadway
Elmhurst, NY 11373
(718) 393-0888

This is a very random one, but I happened upon this little cafe/diner in Williamsburg called Willburg Cafe. It seems like just a little coffee shop but they have a pretty big menu with a lot of diner-y type options. Worth stopping in if you're looking for a simple brunch in the neighborhood. This was the breakfast burrito. The side of dipping salsa was a good touch:

Willburg Cafe
623 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 963-0219

After a failed post-snowpocalypse attempt to try the ramen at Ippudo, I ended up at Kambi. Its sister ramen place, Minca, was also in the NYTimes article, but Kambi was closer. Totto still comes in first place for me, but I really enjoyed Kambi.

This teriyaki chicken was an appetizer included in the lunch special. Really good.

Another appetizer, the salmon rice salad. There is a lot of Wasabi in there:

This is the Wahoo ramen in chicken broth:

And the miso ramen. Corn was an interesting addition:

Kambi
351 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-1366

Another Queens adventure. Taste Good is also in Elmhurst, Queens, just a few blocks from Cafe Noodle, and I heard about this place by reading Grub Street's article New York's 38 Best Soups. If you're at work and hungry, it's probably not a good idea to click through that soup slide show. They all look so good. This Malaysian place was an amazing suggestion.

This is the roti canai, a "crispy Indian pancake with curry chicken sauce." Definitely recommended.

This was the soup recommended by Grub Street, the Singapore Kari Laksa. It has shrimp, egg, fish cakes, tofu, and chicken in a spicy broth. I can't stop thinking about this soup. And it was only $6! I had to avoid the tofu, but the soup was filling without it. The broth is really really amazing ... slightly thicker than regular broth and just the right amount of spicy. I will drive you to Queens to eat this soup again.

My fellow food/Queens adventurer had the Ipoh Hor Fun, chicken and shrimp in a clear broth with chives. He liked it, I found it kind of boring ... maybe just compared to my soup.

Taste Good
8218 45th Avenue
Elmhurst, NY 11373
(718) 898-8001

After quite a few ethnic food choices, back to the good ol' meat and cheese, literally. This is the meat board from The Counting Room in Williamsburg, $22 worth of prosciutto, soppressata, Virginia ham, pepperoni, and parmesan. The bar has two levels; I believe the top level is a wine bar and downstairs you can get some beers and eats. I've only been here once, but the place had a nice, mellow vibe.

The Counting Room
44 Berry Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 599-1860

The next few are some eats from a family holiday dinner at Bar Americain. This place is very good, but unaffordable to me as a regular spot.

This was the butternut squash, mushroom, and ricotta crepes with brown butter. Really good, a little too heavy on the salt though:

Two sides, the cauliflower and goat cheese gratin (left) and griddled mushrooms and onions (right):

On to (my dad's) dessert: the granny smith apple tart:

And the German chocolate cake:

Bar Americain
152 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 265-9700

Another family favorite, and therefore a holiday stop, was Norma's. It's in the Parker Meridien hotel and they have all sorts of delicious dishes. They serve only brunch every day and so they seem to have mastered it. There is even a $1,000 lobster frittata on the menu with (I guess) crazy fancy caviar.

One of us always gets the "lox & lox of bagel," which is a bagel with cream cheese piled really high with lox:

I had the eggs Florentine this time around. My only complaint is that the fingerling potatoes could use some spicing up:

My mom had this Waz-Za waffle and couldn't stop bragging that her food was better than everyone else's.

Fruit bowl:

Normas
119 West 56th Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 245-5000

Last but not least, the Christmas Eve dinner stop, Blue Water Grill in Union Square. I will not be eating this well for a while. Obviously, these are some clams, not mine:

My dinner, the "roasted day boat cod," with wild mushrooms and ricotta gnocchi. Really tasty.

Appetizer, shrimp dumplings with a coconut sauce:

And dessert: apple crumble:

Blue Water Grill
31 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003
(212) 675-9500

Israeli Cous Cous with Olives and Roasted Tomatoes

2011-01-04T10:18:00.000-05:00

Like a lot of other people, I have been looking for some lighter recipes to start the new year. Which was true for about the first two days of January because my lady friends came over last night to make something cheese/sausage-tastic. Whoops.

During that ambitious two day attempt, I found this recipe. It was light but tasty, and I grilled some portabello mushrooms to make a bigger meal of it. I took out the fresh mint, because I don't like mint, but add it on in if you like it!

Pearl Cous Cous with Olives and Roasted Tomatoes
From: SmittenKitchen

Ingredients

To roast tomatoes and make dressing:

2 pt red grape or cherry tomatoes (1 1/2 lb)
3 large garlic cloves, left unpeeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the cous cous:

2 3/4 cups chicken broth
2 1/4 cups pearl or Israeli couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (optional)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1. To roast tomatoes: Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Halve tomatoes lengthwise and place in a rimmed baking dish cut sides up. Add garlic (unpeeled) to pan and roast for one hour. Let cool.

2. In a food processor, puree garlic (peel it first), olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and half of the roasted tomatoes until mixture is very smooth.

For the cous cous:

3. In a medium sized pot, bring broth to a boil and add cous cous. Simmer, uncovered, for about 6 minutes. Cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand for about 10 minutes.

4. In a bowl, mix together cous cous, dressing, remaining roasted tomatoes, olives, parsley, thyme, (optional mint), and olive oil.

Roasted tomatoes:

Dressing stuff:

The whole shebang:

Cranberry Bars with a Walnut Crust

2010-12-29T16:46:00.000-05:00

'Twas the season for dessert squares apparently! For me anyway. These take a little bit of time to make, but they're well worth it. The walnut crust is pretty awesome. They came out fairly sweet, but still have that cranberry tartness... if I make them again I will probably cut the sugar in the filling down to 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup to make them a little more tart and a bit less sweet.

I recommend keeping these in the fridge after you make them, they get mushy very fast.

Ingredients
From: The Kitchn

Crust

1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup flour
1/2 cup confectioner sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened slightly and cut into pieces

1. Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Pulse the walnuts in a food processor for about 15 pulses, then add remaining crust ingredients. Pulse ingredients for another 20-25 one second pulses.

3. Press crust into pan as evenly as possible. Freeze for 30-60 minutes.

4. After freezing, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

While baking the crust... prepare the filling ...

Ingredients

Filling

3 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (one stick), slightly softened and cut into pieces
Confectioner sugar for sprinkling

1. Place the cranberries and water in a medium sized sauce pan over medium-high heat and stir until the cranberries pop open and become mushy, about 5 minute.

2. Set a fine meshed strainer over a mixing bowl and smash cranberries through the strainer so that the cranberry puree goes into the bowl, leaving the cranberry skins behind. (I found a spatula helpful in smushing the cranberries as well as removing the puree that sticks to the bottom of the strainer). Allow the puree to cool and clean the strainer for later use.

3. To the cranberry puree, mix in the sugar, eggs, egg yolks, lemon juice and salt.

4. Return the cranberry puree to the saucepan oven medium heat and stir constantly, scraping the sides of the pan. Cook until the curd starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, about 12 minutes.

5. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the butter until melted. Pour the cranberry mixture into a clean bowl through the fine meshed strainer again (it leaves some mysterious gritty residue behind).

6. Pour the cranberry mixture on top of the walnut crust and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, until the center is set but possibly still a little wiggly. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Sprinkle confectioner sugar over squares.

Walnut crust:

Popped and getting mushy:

Strainer over a bowl technique:

The more you smush, the more puree you'll get...

Cranberry mixture:

Butter added:

Re-strained:

Ready to go:

I cut them before they cooled completely. No major catastrophes.

100th Post, Snowpocalypse Breakfast, Kitties, Helicopters, etc.

2010-12-28T15:17:00.001-05:00

This is apparently my 100th post, according to Blogger. I haven't made anything outrageous or deserving of a 100th post celebration, so here's a little randomness from the past week.

I'll start with food since this is a food blog afterall...

Mom sent me home with some extra bagels and cream cheese, which is a Christmas morning breakfast tradition, even though mom made some kickass crème brûlée French toast as well. I trekked through the beginnings of the blizzard to get some lox to go with it, since I am still a half-Jew at heart. Those are some eggs over hard ala Adrian and some home fries to go with 'em:

(Here's the crème brûlée French toast):

Now onto the cat-lady business... Chubs and Keeper hold tightly onto their new holiday catnip pouches:

Chubs investigates the new remote control helicopter. This is shortly before he smacked it to the ground.

Revenge of the helicopter:

India Street during the blizzard:

And after...

Lemon Bars

2010-12-22T10:00:00.001-05:00

Another Bon Appetit recipe, and then I swear I'll try to move on...

These are the lemon bars I mentioned in a previous post. My classmates seemed a bit hesitant to try them at first, but once the professor ate one and liked it, they were gone by the end of class. Not too sweet, not too sour, was the consensus. They are also very easy to make.

Ingredients

Shortbread base:

1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup), cut into small pieces
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a food processor, pulse all ingredients together until small lumps begin to form.

3. Put mixture into a 9x13 pan and flatten/press evenly into dish, using a spatula or your hands. Bake in middle of oven for 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, make lemon topping...

Ingredients

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 8-9 lemons, squeezed through a mesh strainer)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
Confectioners sugar, for sprinkling

1. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until well combined, then mix in lemon juice and flour.

2. When shortbread crust is finished, pour lemon mixture onto the crust (it will be very liquidy, but it will cook!) Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees and bake for 30 minutes, until center is set. Cool completely before cutting, and sprinkle confectioners sugar on top.

Crust stuff:

Before pressing:

Baked crust:

Lemon mixture:

Topping on crust:

Baked:

Voila:

Butternut Squash, Kale, and Cheddar Bread Pudding

2010-12-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

I guess I'm on a Bon Appetit recipe kick right now, so bear with me. It's just that their recipes seem to never fail, and around the holidays, you may want something that promises to be a sure thing. I made this one for Thanksgiving ... Meghan made it with some slightly different ingredients for a potluck last year and it was amazing, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I think its incredibly tasty, but if you have picky eaters at your table, it might not be for them...

This recipe is great for a potluck dish or as a dinner side. Yum.

Butternut Squash and Cheddar Bread Pudding
From: Bon Appetit

Ingredients

2 pounds peeled seeded butternut squash, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt plus additional for sprinkling
7 large eggs
2 1/4 cups half and half
6 tablespoons dry white whine
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 baguette (with crust), torn into small pieces (about 10 cups)
1 cup chopped shallots (about 4 large)
2 bunches kale, ribs removed and coarsely chopped
8 ounces extra sharp cheddar, grated

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a rimmed baking dish, toss butternut squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil and some salt. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until squash is tender.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, wine, mustard, and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt. Fold baguette pieces into mixture and let soak for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over high heat and add chopped shallots. Saute for about 5 minutes, or until shallots are soft. Add kale and cover for 2 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook for a few minutes, until kale is mostly wilted but still bright green. It will still be a bit crunchy/fluffy looking, and just not wilt down entirely like spinach.

4. When squash is finished, reduce oven heat to 350 degrees. Butter a 13x9 baking dish and transfer half of the bread mixture to the dish**, spreading it evenly over the pan. Over the bread, spread half of the kale, half of the butternut squash, and sprinkle half of the grated cheese. Repeat.

5. Cover dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Preheat the broiler and broil dish for a few minutes (2-3) or until cheese browns lightly (the cheese never really browned for mine, and I took it out after about 6 minutes so it wouldn't overcook. It was fine).

**The original recipe says to transfer the bread mixture to the dish using a slotted spoon, which leaves behind the eggy part of the mixture (to later pour over the top of the dish). Maybe because I let the bread soak for a little longer than 30 minutes, but all of my egg mixture had soaked into the bread, leaving none behind. This didn't really change anything.

Roasted butternut squash:

Egg/bread mixture:

Sauteing kale:

Layered up:

Close up!

Voila:

Chocolate Pecan Pie Squares

2010-12-20T13:04:00.000-05:00

Last week was finals week, and the policy for professors is: If you don't hold a final exam, then you have to have some kind of "culminating experience." Two of these culminating experiences were potlucks. For the first potluck, I made lemon bars because a girl in my class was allergic to nuts. I didn't dislike this girl because she has nut allergies, but this was the same girl who insisted we have class the last week of school. When she didn't touch any of the food anyway, despite everyone's precautions, I decided to make these for the next potluck... although I don't think she was in that class anyway.

Anywho. These are good for potlucks because you can cut them into whatever size you like, so you can size them to meet the number of people to be fed. They're also delicious and super easy.

The original recipe says to use parchment paper or foil to line the pan so that the bars don't stick. I didn't use either and it was fine. There is enough butter in the crust to keep it from sticking and it makes it easier to press to crust dough into the pan. Last note: if you buy a bag of already "chopped pecans" from the store, chop them just a bit more so the pecan pieces are more spread out.

Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
From: Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1/2 cups (1 stick) unsalted butter (at room temp), plus 2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a food processor, or with an electric mixer, beat together butter, brown sugar, flour, and salt until coarse crumbs form.

3. Press mixture into a 9x13 oven safe pan, flattening out the dough from the middle until it lines the inside of the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

4. While the dough bakes: In a large bowl, mix together eggs, corn syrup, sugar, and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix in chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Spread over crust and bake for 25-30 minutes, until center is set (not to wobbly). Cool completely before cutting.

Flattening the crust into the pan:

Pecan mixture:

Ready to go:

Baked:

I got a really nice, sharp knife for my birthday, and this was the first time I was happy with the way I was able to cut something like this into decent-looking pieces. Using a pie server to lift them out was also helpful.

Brooklyn Outfitters Trip to HIckory BBQ Smokehouse

2010-12-13T10:00:00.002-05:00

What better way to reward yourself for an 8 mile hike that brings you to the top of a mountain? Lots and lots of barbecued meat.

This weekend, I went on a hiking trip with Brooklyn Outfitters to the summit of Mt. Wittenberg in the Catskills. I read a couple young adult books this semester about Mount Everest climbing experiences and I had some kind of hiking up a mountain fever ... so the boy signed us up for a mountain climbing trip this weekend. Good thing for me, since Mt. Everest is not in this asthmatic's future. It was an amazingly fun time, and they have a lot of other awesome looking trips planned, so check them out! I am very sore today...

Back to the food ... when we were done hiking, we all went to the nearby Hickory BBQ Smokehouse, and between the 6 of us ordered 2 of their Hickory's Barbecue Feasts, $50 worth of any kind of meat you could possibly want: homemade smoked sausage, pulled pork, ribs, chicken, turkey, brisket, etc.... with 4 sides per feast (mac n cheese, collard greens, baked beans, fries, etc). Amazing.

This is just one of the feasts:

Plus an obligatory order of bacon cheese fries. Bacon. Cheese. Fries.

And here's a pic of the view from Mt. Wittenberg:

Lasagna with Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Spinach

2010-12-12T16:46:00.000-05:00

Note: I took this picture really fast because I was starving. The layers actually came out much better and put together than it looks; I am terrible with serving utensils.

This was my first lasagna... I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to do it, but I had very specific ingredients in mind before making it. Namely, spinach, mushrooms, and zucchini. And lots of cheese. I got a few good tips from my mom about sauteing the spinach before hand, squeezing the moisture out of it, and mixing it in with the ricotta. Otherwise, I kept track of what I put in it because I started throwing some random stuff in. I liked how the red pepper flakes added a little kick to it.

Ingredients

9-12 lasagna noodles (depending on how many you can get in each layer)
15oz ricotta cheese
2 15oz jars tomato sauce or equivalent homemade sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 6oz packages of fresh spinach
3 zucchinis, sliced
3 cups sliced mushrooms
3-4 cloves garlic, mashed or minced
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook lasagna noodles according to instructions. Remove from water and set aside.

2. Saute spinach in olive oil until wilted and squeeze dry until as much moisture as possible is gone. Saute zucchini and mushrooms in olive oil until cooked through but not mushy. Pat dry with paper towels and mix with some salt.

3. In a medium sized bowl, mix together: ricotta cheese, garlic, spinach, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, Italian seasonings, egg, basil, and one cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.

4. In a 9x13 rimmed baking dish: spread one jar of sauce as the first layer, lay the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, spread half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, spread half of the zucchini and mushrooms over the ricotta, and repeat (except for the sauce, which goes on top of the last noodle layer). On top of the 3rd layer of noodles, add the next jar of sauce, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Zucchini and mushrooms. I actually used 2 cups of sliced mushrooms, but they shrink like crazy, so 3 cups might be better:

Sauteing spinach:

Ricotta mixture:

First inside layer complete:

Top that with noodles:

Repeat:

Top layer of sauce and cheese:

Meanwhile ... 'What other cat?'

Turkey Meatballs

2010-12-09T11:32:00.000-05:00

I've been hiding in final paper/project land lately, but things are finally starting to wind down. I've still been cooking, but making some easier things using sauce from a jar (!!!) and store bought bread crumbs (gasp!) to make my life a bit easier. I'm just kidding, I'm really not too snobby to use these things on a regular basis. Martha Stewart does!

I forgot how fun it is to make meatballs and how you can pretty much add anything (except mayonnaise) and they'll be delicious. They are also so great cold the next day for lunch. I saw one recipe that used crushed pine nuts in the meatballs, but since pine nuts are out of my budget, I used walnuts. I actually kept them coarsely ground and I liked the crunch it gave the meatballs, but you can always fully puree them to avoid this.

Ingredients

1.25 pounds ground turkey
3/4 cup fresh (or not) breadcrumbs
1/4 cup coarsely ground walnuts
2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
About 4 tablespoons olive oil

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together well. Form mixture into meatballs by rolling with your hands, making each meatball about 1 inch around.

2. Add 2 tablespoons olive to a sautee pan over medium heat. Add half of the meatballs and turns over as they cook until they are fully cooked through. Repeat process for 2nd half of meatballs.

Ground turkey:

All the ingredients:

Meatball "dough"?

Browning:

I could have made this recipe a "spaghetti and meatball" recipe, but I know you all know how to make spaghetti and add sauce to it. Top with meatballs. Voila.

Pasta with Kale and Butternut Squash

2010-12-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

I had some leftover kale and butternut squash, so I came up with this concoction the other night. Not too shabby, cheese is definitely a must. For me anyway. I suppose you could just add a bunch more salt to make up for it.

Ingredients

1 pound kale, removed from ribs and coarsely chopped
2 1/4 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 pound short pasta (I used campanelle)
2 medium sized shallots
4 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic (depending on how garlick-y you like stuff, I used 4)
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese to taste
1/2 cup reserved pasta water

1. Cook pasta according to directions. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water.

2. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add shallots and saute for about 2-3 minutes. Add butternut squash and cover for about 8 minutes, or until the squash is tender.

3. Add kale and garlic to pan and cover for another 5 minutes until kale is slightly wilted but still bright green. Remove from heat.

4. Add drained pasta to pan and mix with kale and butternut squash. Add pasta water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese (or other hard cheese).

Kale + butternut squash:

+ Pasta:

Farro Risotto with Mushrooms

2010-11-30T09:27:00.000-05:00

I was having mushroom cravings the other night, so this happened. The original recipe called for homemade mushroom stock, which was a whole other recipe in itself, so I just used chicken broth. Vegetable broth would work fine too.

I found dried mushrooms at the Garden ... they are kind of pricey and come out very chewy so I'm not too sure why they're necessary, especially since they are rehydrated beforehand. For some reason though, a lot of mushroom risotto recipes called for dried mushrooms so who knows. I'll print the recipe with the dried mushrooms included, but if you don't want to get them, I have a feeling you can just increase the amount of sliced cremini mushrooms instead.

Farro Risotto with Mushrooms
Adapted from: MyRecipes

Ingredients

1 cup dried wild mushroom blend
5 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock/broth
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups uncooked farro
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups sliced cremini mushrooms (about 1 pound)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more to top
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Cover dried mushrooms with boiling water and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain.

2. Keep chicken/veggie broth simmering on the stove to keep warm; do not boil.

3. Add oil to a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and farro and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, cook for another minute, then add re-hydrated mushrooms, sliced mushrooms, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook until mushrooms are tender, then add wine and thyme. Cook until wine almost evaporates.

4. Add stock to farro mixture 1/2 cup at a time and wait until each 1/2 cup is absorbed before adding the next. When farro is tender, add cheese and parsley, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

Dehydrated mushrooms:

Rehydrated mushrooms:

Cooking:

My sous chef has been very lazy lately:

Bittman's Baked Curried Rice with Apples and Coconut

2010-11-29T14:58:00.003-05:00

This Bittman recipe was a win. I'm glad he's come out with some recipes that aren't so minimal because I like to throw a bunch of stuff together in one dish. The coconut/green apple mix was darn good.

For my Greenpoint-ing friends - the Garden has unsweetened coconut and brown basmati rice for cheap in their bulk section.

One note: I doubled the measurements to make a lot of rice for weeknight dinners. It gets really dry in the fridge, so the dish doesn't work too well for leftovers.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 cup brown basmati rice
Salt and black pepper
One 14-ounce can coconut milk
1⁄4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
2 tart apples, cored and chopped
1⁄2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat, then add the curry powder and ginger and stir until mixed well. Add the rice, some salt and pepper, and stir for about 2 minutes.

2. Stir 1 3/4 cup coconut milk into the rice. Bring to a boil, then transfer until an oven safe casserole dish. Cover tightly with a lid or with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, toast coconut in a skillet, stirring often, until it begins to brown.

4. Remove the rice from the oven and stir in apples, coconut, and cilantro. Add salt/pepper to taste and let flavors sit together for about 10 minutes before serving.

Rice mixture:

This will all get absorbed in the oven:

Toasting coconut:

It'll look really spongy when it gets out of the oven, so just fluff it with a fork:

Good stuff:

Home Fries

2010-11-23T13:41:00.001-05:00

I'm having this problem lately where I buy a five pound bag of potatoes because they are on sale, and then I feel like I have about two days to eat all of them before they go bad. Consequently, lots of mashed potatoes and home fries have been made, and I've just about tweaked my own home fries recipe to the way I like 'em.

Ingredients

6 medium-sized potatoes, diced
1 small onion, chopped (shallots work too)
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1-2 teaspoons salt (depending on how salty you want them)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon fresh thyme

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a saute pan over medium heat until hot. Add chopped onion and cook until translucent. Add potatoes and remaining peanut oil and cover for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.

2. Uncover potatoes and add salt and paprika. Increase the heat to medium-high until potatoes and stir occasionally until potatoes are golden brown/crispy. Add thyme and mix together; cook for another minute or two.

Mmm potatoes:

Gettin crispy:

Quinoa with Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, and Green Onions

2010-11-18T11:00:00.001-05:00

I've been tinkering around with this concoction all week because it's salty and filling and works as both a side (good with chicken cutlets) or a main dish that's easy to pack for school. I didn't bring dinner to school last night and I almost chewed my arm off, so I'll probably be coming up with more of these.

The proportions below make enough side dishes for 2-3 people and a main dish for 1-2 portable dinners or lunches.

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa
1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives
1/3 cup diced grape tomatoes
4 green onions, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 lemon, juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Bring quinoa to a boil in 2 cups of water, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

2. Add ingredients and mix together. Done! You can add more or less tomatoes/olives according to what you're feeling like.

If you have an avocado, might as well add that too:

Pork Loin/Chops with Cranberry Sauce

2010-11-17T12:39:00.001-05:00

Holy crap, this recipe was delicious. And easy. Meghan and I made this last week and then I made it again by myself a few days later. I'm thinking it'll be a good recipe to make, yet again, for my mom's birthday this weekend.

The original recipe from Gourmet magazine tells you to make the pork chops with red swiss chard, but I'm going to focus on the pork chops with cranberry sauce here and let you decide what you'd like to make to go along with it. Meghan and I used sauteed spinach with garlic instead, so it's pretty flexible. We also used pork loin instead of pork chops, and I think this was a good decision. I used pork chops the next time and there was way too much fat on it.

The recipe is for 4 servings, but if you're only cooking for 2, leave the sauce proportions as is because you'll have just enough sauce. If you are cooking for 4, I'd suggest doubling the sauce. The soury/sweetness of the cranberry sauce is so so good, you'll want more of it.

Ingredients

Pork (Loin or Chops)

4 (1 1/4 inch thick) pork loin pieces or pork chops
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Cranberry Sauce:

1 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup minced shallots (about 2 medium-large shallots)
1/2 cup dry red wine
3/4 chicken stock or broth
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pat pork loin pieces dry and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking. Brown pork in the pan, about 3-4 minutes per side.

3. Transfer pork to an oven safe dish (leave the remaining fat in the skillet) and roast in oven for about 9-12 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, to make the sauce: Saute shallots in the skillet with the pork fat until golden brown. Add wine, stirring it in with the shallots, and boil until the mixture is reduced by half. Add the cranberries and stock and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries begin to burst (about 3-4 minutes, they will pop and look like they are split on one side). Stir in brown sugar and thyme and simmer until the cranberries all collapse. Remove from heat and stir in butter until incorporated and season with salt and pepper.

These are the pork loins (from Eataly!) we used when Meghan and I made it:

The next time, I bought pork chops from The Meat Hook. Their store is amazing, but this piece had too much fat on it for my taste. I probably should have asked for pork loin, but I didn't see any, and the original recipe does call for pork chops. It still worked, there was just less of it that I wanted to bite into.

Simmering cranberries:

The second time around, I accidentally bought white wine instead of red. It definitely still worked, but the red wine had given it a little more oomph and color.

Pesto Shrimp Packets

2010-11-10T15:14:00.000-05:00

New favorite recipe alert! This recipe from The Simple Skillet. Easy and delicious. The shrimp came from The Lobster Place at the Chelsea Market at $11.95/lb, which is more expensive than the $8 or $9/lb at the Metropolitan Fish Market, which sadly is closed on Sundays, but less expensive than Tops on the Waterfront. Anyhow...

I love pesto, so I used more of it to make this, but the original measurements seemed kind of skimpy anyway. So this is the modified version of the original recipe, using my own pesto recipe. You can obviously also used pre-made pesto.

Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups basil leaves
3 tablespoons walnuts
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt to taste

1. Combine ingredients in a food processor and voila! Pesto. Makes about 3/4 cup to 1 cup.

Pesto!

Mixed with green onions and even more garlic:

Pesto Shrimp Packets

Ingredients

1 pound peeled and deveined shrimps (I also removed the tails)
4 tablespoons pesto
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
6 green onions, chopped (white and light green parts only)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup couscous
1 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2-4 cups fresh spinach

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix the pesto, green onions, garlic, and olive oil in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Rinse shrimp and pat dry with a paper towel.

4. Cut four pieces of foil, about 10 inches long each. Curve up the sides on the foil so that no liquid will escape out when the time comes. Place 1/4 cup of couscous into each piece of foil, spreading the couscous horizontally across the foil. Evenly distribute the shrimp into each packet, laying them on top of the couscous. Spread pesto on top of the shrimp in each packet and pour equal amounts of broth (about 1/3 cup) over each package. Bring together the sides of the foil, forming a packet, leaving room in the middle of each one for steam to rise.

5. Place packets on a baking sheet and cook for about 12 minutes. Place shrimp/couscous contents from each packet on top of a handful of spinach and add more pesto and a little olive oil, if needed. Add salt to taste.

This picture may definitely help illustrate my long-winded explanation of how to assemble this:

These were my very large packets. I made 2 servings instead of 4 because I was only feeding 2 people. And that's the only reason...

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

2010-11-06T17:38:00.001-04:00

I'm going to justify the influx of pumpkin-based recipes by showing you a photo that shows just how long I've been this enthusiastic about pumpkins. That's me (or was me) on the left, my lovely sister on the right.

I found this recipe from a blog called Slim Shoppin' by googling pumpkin cranberry muffins, because I had all of the ingredients to make them. They came out great and are reasonably healthy. I've made them twice already; the second time I used slightly less sugar, which is the 3/4 cup you see below. I liked them a little less sweet, but if you want them to be sweeter, use a full cup of sugar.

After I commented on the recipe, the blogger was nice enough to send me a bunch of delicious looking muffin recipes, so check out her site. Muffins are a great portable breakfast!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 TB. canola oil
1 large egg
2/3 cup chopped cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

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

3. Beat together: sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, brown sugar, oil, and egg and gradually add in the flour mixture until well combined.

4. Stir in cranberries and pour into a muffin pan (makes 12). Cook for about 25 minutes.

Chopped cranberries:

Muffin mix:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

2010-11-05T11:40:00.000-04:00

These have been made several times over the past year, but never blogged. Yes, I've been going a little crazy with the pumpkin stuff lately, and there's more to come. Part brownie, part pumpkin cheesecake - how can you go wrong?

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies
From: Beantown Baker

Ingredients (Brownie mix)

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients (Cheesecake Batter)

8oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons flour
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a square (I only had a round cake pan, but it worked, just a little more difficult to cut) 8x8 pan.

2. Beat together: melted butter, sugar and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time.

3. Whisk together dry brownie mix ingredients in a separate bowl, then mix into wet ingredients. Reserve a little bit of brownie mix and pour the rest into the pan.

4. In another bowl, mix together all the cheesecake batter ingredients and pour into pan over the brownie mix. Drop remaining brownie mix onto the top; use a knife to swirl it into the cheesecake mix as best you can.

5. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is set. Let cool before cutting.

Brownie mix:

Cheesecake Batter:

I didn't read that you should swirl in the chocolate with a knife, so mine came out a little funny looking:

Tada:

I've been a little jealous that my sister in Manhattan gets cardinals at her bird feeder, then I looked outside yesterday and there were two! I went to grab my camera and when I came back, this guy was at my window all checking me out in the kitchen:

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

2010-11-04T20:25:00.001-04:00

This pumpkin (below) is a sugar pumpkin from the Greenpoint farmer's market, the kind of pumpkin that is good for pie making. I still want to take another stab at pumpkin pie, but there are so many other delicious things to make with fresh pumpkin! I used this pumpkin to make pumpkin-cranberry muffins, which I'll post later, and this macaroni and cheese.

It was good, but not as outrageously delicious as I thought it would be. Maybe canned pumpkin would have worked better with this because it's thicker, and the original recipe did call for canned pumpkin after all.

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese
From: BrokeAss Gourmet

Ingredients

8oz of some kind of squiggly pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 milk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree or unsweetened canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
Dash nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and cook pasta according to instructions.

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts to brown. Add flour and whisk together until the mixture thickens into a doughy-like substance. Add more flour if needed. Whisk in the milk, then add the pumpkin and 1/2 of the cheddar (3/4 cup). Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

3. When pasta is finished, mix pasta and sauce well in an oven safe dish. Top with remaining cheddar, more salt and pepper, and bake for 20-22 minutes or until the top of the dish is lightly browned.

Pumpkin puree:

Pumpkin/cheese sauce:

Don't Forget the Pasta Water

2010-11-03T23:10:00.000-04:00

I made this for Meghan's birthday while watching Law and Order (the italics are me practicing APA style for school) for about 6 hours. I think I need to make a reminder for myself because I keep forgetting to save pasta water.

Pear and Cranberry Crisp

2010-10-28T11:55:00.003-04:00

Martha, Martha, Martha.... she confused me by instructing to discard any unripe cranberries that floated to the top of a bowl of water when you rinse the cranberries. I thought this meant to discard any that floated, but all of mine floated, but they all float on those cranberry juice commercials when the guys are knee high in cranberries, so I just used them all anyway. I think she just meant to discard any unripe ones in general. Unnecessary anxiety, Martha.

Anyway... this was easy and tasty. I used 8 pears, not the suggested 4-6, to get 6 cups of chopped pears because I am not yet an expert pear corer. I also bought vanilla ice cream to go with this, but forgot to bring it out at my potluck. Sorry friends!

Pear and Cranberry Tart
From: Martha Stewart

Ingredients

4 to 6 firm pears (6 cups), cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chilled (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Peel and cut 6-8 firm pears into small pieces, 6 cups total. In a large bowl, toss pears with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Add cranberries and 1/3 cup sugar and mix together.

3. To make the crisp topping: In a food processor, pulse 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter until clumps form. Add 1/4 cup each granulated and light-brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup rolled oats, and a pinch of salt. Pulse again until large, moist clumps form.

4. Transfer to a baking dish (I used a 13x9) and sprinkle with topping (you can also use ramekins to make individual servings). The topping will be moist, so spread it out over the fruit as best you can. Bake until fruit is tender and topping is golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.

Crans! Man, they are tart:

Crans + Pears:

While I was making this, this guy showed up at my bird feeder! A parakeet! What! Someone's pet must have gotten away, but this little guy seems to be doing fine; he was showing those sparrows who was boss.

Random New York Deliciousness

2010-10-27T14:11:00.000-04:00

I've had some good food at various places over the past few months so I decided to post them all together. I try to be discreet when taking photos in restaurants, so these camera phone pics are the best I could do:

From this summer - these grilled clams were from Houser's Bar in Ocean Beach, Fire Island.

Houser's Bar
781 Evergreen Walk
Ocean Beach, NY 11770

From the Malaysian restaurant Nyona, one of my restaurants in NYC, this is the amazingly delicious roti telur appetizer, which is an Indian style pancake filled with egg, onion and spices, served with a curry sauce.

Nyona
199 Grand Street (b/w Mulberry and Mott Streets)
New York, NY 10013

From this year's San Gennaro festival: a sausage and peppers sandwich that was too big to capture in its entirety:

The croque madame from Artisanal. My parents love this place, so sometimes I get lucky when they come visit and want to go. They have really good cheese fondue.

Artisanal
2 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016

I really regret that I was not a very adventurous eater when I visited Japan in 2007. So, this is the first time I had takoyaki (octopus dumplings), even though they had them everywhere in Osaka. They are from Naruto Ramen in Park Slope and they were awesome. Minus the mayo I wiped off the top.

Naruto Ramen
276 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Also a shameful first, and also at Naruto Ramen, I finally had some ramen. Delicious. The NYTimes just came out with this article Roaming for Ramen, and I'm excited to check one of those places out this weekend. This is the pork ramen:

From Collegetown Bagels in Ithaca, NY, I took this picture to make some of my Ithaca friends jealous (sorry), but it has really only served to make me want to go back every morning so I can order it again. So here it is, the vegetarian bagel sandwich with avocado.

Collegetown Bagels
203 N. Aurora Street
Ithaca, NY 14850

The Reader's Digest version of the story behind these cheese fries w/gravy is that I went to a sleep-away camp in Middletown, NY, when I was 11 or 12, and I discovered that cheese fries with gravy existed because all of the veteran campers would order them takeout from the nearby Quickway Diner. I haven't been able to stop ordering them elsewhere since. I finally paid tribute to this diner on the way back from Ithaca a few weeks ago. It just happens to be located right on the way home from Ithaca off of Route 17. They were just as good as I remembered them and were a perfect end to a road trip.

Quickway Diner
68 New York 17
Bloomingburg, NY 12721

Last but not least, I checked out Vamos al Tequila in Greenpoint last week and it was great! These are the cheese enchiladas with rice and beans. You also get very friendly service and free chips and salsa. Just sayin'.

Vamos al Tequila
162 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222

Pumpkin Pie from Scratch!

2010-10-21T10:33:00.002-04:00

Besides a few mishaps, making this pumpkin pie from scratch was not all that difficult or time intensive. A few things I got wrong: apparently smaller pumpkins of the milk, sugar or cheese varieties are the best for making pumpkin pies. I did use a smaller pumpkin, but it may have been more intended for carving. Either way, a pumpkin is a pumpkin, but next time I'll use a better "cooking pumpkin."

Second, I forgot to add in the molasses until I had already poured the filling into the crust, so when I mixed it in, I spilled a bunch of filling over the side and onto the floor. Oops.

Third, I used a deep dish pie pan because that is all I have, which is fine for fruit filled pies, but the large amount of liquidy filling (because the recipe did yield enough to fill the deep dish) made the pie take wayyyy longer to cooker and I kept worrying I would burn it.

Despite all, the pie turned out okay. It tasted much better once it had chilled in the fridge, but I didn't totally love the spices in this recipe. I'm not sure what the culprit was but I'm thinking maybe I didn't like the ginger in it.

Pumpkin Pie
From: The New York Times

Ingredients

2 cups pumpkin puree
3 eggs
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated (or 1 teaspoon powdered ginger)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pie crust (I used this one, but you have to halve the recipe to make a single crust for this pie)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff. Place pumpkin halves face down in an oven safe dish over an inch of water. Roast for 40-50 minutes.

2. When the pumpkin has cooled, scoop the flesh out of the shell and puree in a food processor until, well, pureed.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together all the above ingredients. Pour into pie crust (use a regular pie dish, not a deep dish. You'll probably have leftover filling, which you can cook into a custard or something).

4. Bake the pie at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 35 minutes or so. The filling might be wobbly up to about an inch from the center, this will set while cooling. If it's wobbly for a bit more than an inch, bake a little longer.

Step 1, stab that pumpkin:

Save the seeds and roast em!

Looks like a pumpkin butt:

Pumpkin puree:

Too much filling:

Pie!

Butternut Squash Risotto

2010-10-20T11:27:00.000-04:00

So much for cutting down on the butter. And now I am totally screwed because this was so delicious that now I want to make risotto every day. So I'm trying to come up with ways to make it equally delicious, but a bit healthier...possibly by using olive oil instead of butter or just cutting the butter in half ... or something.

I almost went crazy adding a bunch of other veggies to this, but I'm glad I didn't, because the butternut squash alone was perfect. I didn't have chives so I chopped up some green onions instead. Also, a half of one butternut squash yielded 2 cups, so there's still another full half of delicious butternut squash to work with. Possibly to just make it again because it turns out that rice dishes are fairly inconspicuous to eat during night classes. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Risotto:
from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

6-8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
5 tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted), divided
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced into small pieces
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped chives or green onions

1. Heat broth in a pot over low heat to warm up.

2. Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large saute pan, then add onion and squash. Cook until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the rice to the onion and squash and mix in. Cook for about 2 minutes then add the wine. Cook, stirring constantly, until the rice absorbs the wine or the wine evaporates. Add enough broth to just cover the rice and cook over medium heat until the broth has been absorbed. Continue alternating with adding broth and letting it cook out, while stirring constantly, for about 15-20 or until the rice is tender.

4. Add the last tablespoon of butter, chives/green onions, and the cheese. Add salt to taste and top with more parmesan.

2 cups!

Squash + Onion:

Pasta with Chicken, Broccoli, and Kalamata Olives

2010-10-15T12:26:00.000-04:00

It's always kind of embarrassing to be reading a book that has the Oprah's Book Club logo stamped on it, but in all honesty, she does have some pretty good books in her collection. So, that is why, with only minor hesitation, I decided to try this recipe from Oprah.com though the recipe was actually created by Cat Cora. I found it when I was searching for recipes that had both chicken and olives. I have weird cravings.

So, this was really good! It wasn't exactly creamy, at all. Maybe because I used skim milk, and not whole, but I don't even see how whole milk by itself would make this recipe creamy. I was tempted to add some butter to make it really creamy, but I've been over doing it on the butter lately, so a mild "cream" it was.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound chicken (cutlets/breasts) , cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 -3 cloves minced garlic
1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets and roasted (or you can use steamed or frozen broccoli)
1/4 - 1/2 cup kalamata olives
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. red chili flakes (optional)
1 tsp. dried Italian herb seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to directions.

2. In a large sauté/ frying pan, cook the chicken in olive oil over medium heat until the pieces begin to brown. Toss in the garlic and cook for about another 2 minutes.

3. Add the roasted broccoli and sauté for another 3-4 minutes.

4. When the pasta is finished, add it to the pan and mix everything together. Add the olives and sauté for 1 more minute, then add the milk, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and mix.

Meanwhile, Keeper's tries on my black flats:

Apple Pie

2010-10-12T10:45:00.001-04:00

Looking for an apple pie recipe was a little overwhelming because there are so many of them! I settled on this one from a blog called Moms who Think because moms and apple pies just seem to fit somehow. I used Bittman's pie crust with it and it was great!

Ingredients

1 double crust flaky pie crust
8 cups sliced, peeled assorted baking apples - about 3 lbs. (Granny Smith, Cortland, Jonathan... I used Cortland)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon milk

1. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice.

2. Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to apples and toss well to coat.

3. Fill bottom crust with apple mixture. Dot with butter.

4. Place second crust on top of pie filling, cut slits in top of crust to vent. Seal the edges of the crust with a fork or by hand.

5. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and milk. Brush mixture over top crust.

6. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

7. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 40-45 minutes more or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.

Coated apples:

We all ate the pie so fast, I didn't get any pictures of the inside.

Flaky Pie Crust

2010-10-06T14:38:00.001-04:00

I am finally finally getting better at making pie crusts. I made my first double crust when I was at my parents' house last week and had a much larger kitchen than mine to cover with flour. I've posted this recipe before as a single crust, but I'm going to post it again, by itself, mostly to use as a linked reference when I post about pies. Like the apple pie I'll be posting about right after this. So basically, this is a selfish post so that I never have to copy and paste the recipe for this again.

This is Mark Bittman's flaky pie crust recipe from his book How to Cook Everything (though I modified the steps a bit). I used to curse and whine while making it, but it must really just take a little practice. The stand mixer makes it way easier as well, but it does make the dough more moist, so I found that I didn't need to add as much ice water to get it all to stick together.

Flaky Pie Crust - double crust

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons sugar
20 tablespoons butter (2 stick + 4 tablespoons), cut into pieces
6-8 tablespoons ice water, divided between 2 discs of dough

1. Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Add the butter and process until the butter and flour are blended and look like cornmeal.... As an alternative...whisk together the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix in the butter until the dough comes together.

2. Place the mixture in a bowl and sprinkle ice water over it. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to gather the mixture into a ball. If it seems dry, add a little more water. When you can wrap the mixture into a ball, divide the dough in two and cover each ball with plastic wrap. Flatten each ball of dough into a disc and freeze the for 10 minutes.

3. Sprinkle a large work surface with flour. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. If the dough is hard, let it sit for a while until you can press your fingers into it.

4. Roll the first disc of dough from the center out. Add flour if it's too sticky. Rotate the dough occasionally and turn it over once or twice while rolling. Use ragged edges of dough to repair any tears, adding a drop of water while you press the patch into place. When the dough is about 10 inches in diameter and less than 1/4 inch thick, place dough into your pie plate.

5. Press dough firmly into the bottom of the pie plate and trim excess dough to about 1/2 inch all around, then tuck it under itself around the edge of the plate

6. Freeze the bottom crust for 10 minutes and prick all over with a fork before adding the filling.

7. Roll the next disc of dough out in the same way and place on top of pie filling. Seal the edge together with the bottom pie crust (you can use a fork to decorate while doing so) and brush a bit of milk over the top crust. With a sharp knife, cut about 4 long slits into the top crust for ventilation.

8. Refrigerate pie for about 10-30 minutes before baking.

Cheddar and Chive Biscuits

2010-10-01T17:56:00.000-04:00

Biscuits are so crazy easy to make! And so is soup! Winning combo. I think I'll be eating biscuits and soup for the rest of the winter. The only thing that disappoints me about cheesy biscuits is that they're never oozing cheese in the way I hope they will. Sad.

This comes from a recipe from the blog In Praise of Leftovers ... a retake on a Gourmet recipe using chives instead of scallions. I'm a huge fan of both chives and scallions ... but chives won out this time. Chi've never known an herb I like more.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 oz sharp white (or other) Cheddar, coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
Handful of chives, finely chopped
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

3. Blend in butter (cut into small pieces) in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or with a fork until the mixture looks like coarse meal.

4. Stir in cheddar and chives, then stir in the buttermilk.

5. Bake on a buttered cookie sheet for about 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Mixture:

Ready to go:

Butternut Squash Soup with Pears and Shallots

2010-09-30T10:51:00.003-04:00

When I was telling someone about how I was making this, I accidentally said I was making "buttnut squash soup," and now I laugh stupidly every time I think about the soup.

I can't take any credit for this soup other than following directions because it is a BrokeAss Gourmet recipe that I didn't take any creative license with, other than to decrease the amount of sage because I think it tastes like a Christmas tree.

The soup was still tasty without adding the half and half at the end, but I must say that it really made the soup go from great to awesome.

I doubled this recipe to make enough for a few days, and they went really well with these cheddar and chive biscuits. I guess my dad didn't think biscuits, soup and salad were enough for a dinner because after we ate it all he asked "so, what's next?"

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, halved
2 Bosc pears, cored, seeded and diced
2 shallots, sliced
2-3 fresh sage leaves, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut butternut squash in half, lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Roast, uncovered, in a baking dish for 45-55 minutes or until tender.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a soup pot and saute the shallots for about 10 minutes until caramelized. Add the chopped pear, keeping a few pieces to top the soup with later. Cook the shallots and pear together for another 5 minutes, or until the pear softens.

4. When squash is cooled, spoon the inside into the soup pot. Add the sage and maple syrup and just enough water to cover everything. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

5. Puree soup using an immersion blender in the pot or by taking it out in batches and pureeing with a blender. Season with salt and pepper and stir in half and half. Heat for another 2-3 minutes.

Butternut squash:

Halved:

If I'm feeling fancy some time, it would be fun to make the soup and serve it in these carved out bowls of fresh butternut squash:

Pears and shallots:

Roasted:

Something to do while waiting for the soup to simmer: make sure the dog still remembers the tricks you taught her when you were unemployed and living at home:

Smashing Coconuts

2010-09-23T11:35:00.000-04:00

The Malaysian restaurant Nyonya down in the Soho/Little Italy/Chinatown area has these coconut drinks as a dessert on their menu:

They stick a straw in the coconut, and poof! Delicious coconut juice/water (on a side note, this is one of my favorite places to eat ... and it's inexpensive!) I was hesitant to try it because I recently tried that Vita Coco coconut water and didn't like it at all. It says it's 100% coconut water, but who knows ... Nyonya's coconut water tasted good to me and theirs didn't.

After this small culinary adventure (for me anyway), Adrian got it into his head to find something comparable in the Greenpoint area and he swore he remembered seeing pre-cut/strawed coconuts in just about every bodega/veggie and fruit shop in the area. He doesn't often get food obsessions, so I went with it. We ended up finding regular old coconuts at C-town.

This How to Open a Coconut site detailed the logistics. Basically, drain the coconut water out by nailing in about 3 nails and pulling them out. We used screws and a screwdriver to make this easier:

Drain out the juice and strain it a bunch of times to get the weird little bits of stuff out. (Ithaca represent):

Then, cover the coconut with a towel on a hard surface and go to town with a hammer:

Carefully use a knife to peel away the "meat" from the shell. A veggie peeler works well for getting rid of any extra shell still hanging on for dear life.

Final tip: Put the coconut pieces in the fridge or your fruit fly roommates will destroy this delicious treat.

C'lamity or ... Pasta with Clam Sauce

2010-09-22T10:57:00.000-04:00

I adapted this recipe from one I found on a blog called the Arugula Files and used some tips that came along with my steamer pot to switch it up a bit. Instead of bringing the clams to a boil with the white wine, butter and olive oil, I used the steamer pot to steam them above white wine, water, and parsley.

I read everywhere that it is important to remove the clams as they pop open, and to discard any clams that don't open after 10 minutes. Nowhere though did it say just how "open" the clams are supposed to be. After 10 minutes of steaming, I removed all of the damn clams from heat. A bunch of them had popped open ever so slightly, and about 5 remained entirely clamped shut.

I was nervous about eating them, and rightfully so. While it didn't turn out to be the worst night of my life, and definitely didn't stop me from eating an enormous sausage and peppers sandwich at the San Gennaro festival the next evening, I felt pretty awful about 2 hours after eating the clams. The boy ate them, and was fine, so who really knows exactly what the culprit was. Regardless, the recipe was delicious and I'd consider giving it another go... some time down the road.

**The clams came from The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market, 49 cents each. This place is amazing if you ever have time to wander over there. I blame only myself for my ill-fated clam cooking.

Ingredients

For the steaming liquid:

1 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup water
5 sprigs parsley
2 shallots, chopped

30 littleneck clams
1/4 cup dry white wine, plus more to taste
3/4 pound angel hair pasta
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook angel hair pasta according to instructions.

2. In a steamer pot ... or in a pot with a steaming basket ... bring 1 cup white wine, 3/4 cup water, chopped shallots and parsley sprigs to a boil.

3. Place clams in steaming basket and cover over medium-high heat. Begin checking clams after 5 minutes and remove clams as they pop open. After 10 minutes of steaming, discard any clams that do not open and remove all clams that have opened.

4. Drain pasta and add parsley, basil, garlic, olive oil, white wine, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Add clams either in the shell, or remove from shell and add to pasta.

5. You can also add some of the steaming liquid, which will contain some juices from the clams.

Alright, which one of you suckers made me sick?

See how they only popped open a little bit? Can someone please tell me what was really supposed to happen?

Steaming liquid:

Meanwhile ... Keeper dabbles in women's fashion:

And Chubs attempts to be inconspicuous: