Potato and Green Bean Salad September 4, 2009

I adjusted this recipe just a bit as I didn’t have any arugula around and I ended up burning two rounds of walnuts so switched to pine nuts. Another gem from smitten kitchen.

• 1 ounce walnuts/pine nuts (about 1/3cup)
• 1 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 6 ounces haricots, verts, or other green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch segments
• 2 tablespoons white wine or other mild vinegar
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons walnut oil
• 3 ounces baby arugula (or sliced up napa cabbage, which is what I used)

Preheat oven to 375°. Place walnuts (pine nuts) on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, about 8 minutes. Let cool slightly, then coarsely chop and set aside.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to a colander to drain and cool. Set aside.

Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Return pan of water to a boil. Add green beans, and cook until tender and bright green, about 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice-water bath to stop the cooking. Drain.

Whisk together vinegar, yogurt, mustard and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl; season with pepper. Add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until emulsified. Set dressing aside.

Arrange arugula, potatoes, and green beans on a platter. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with toasted walnuts; toss to coat.

Zucchini Bread September 3, 2009

Zucchini bread! Thank you Smitten Kitchen!

I had two lovely zucchinis just waiting for a recipe. I decided to splurge and make this decadent zucchini bread from Smitten Kitchen. Oh, the sugar! The oil! And it tasted so good. I made half with chocolate chips & walnuts and half with just walnuts.

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup olive or vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
• 1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips or a combination thereof (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans, liberally. (See those pictures of the cakes inside their non-stick pans? Yup, they’re pretty much hanging out in there for the time being.) Alternately, line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.

Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Black Bean and Feta Tacos August 25, 2009

I made this (from Smitten Kitchen)! It was good and fast and vegetarian. The side of green beans, sauted with a little olive oil and red pepper flakes, was a perfect match. The meal was a bit spicy, but in a good way! I followed the recipe exactly, except for the homemade tortillas. Enjoy!

Blueberry French Toast August 11, 2009

This is the perfect brunch entree! I can make it the night before, toss it in the fridge and just bake for 30-40 minutes the next morning. The blue berries are perfectly in season and fresh from Michigan. Add a little mascarpone cheese to the mix and it’s filling, decadent and perfect for guests.

• 1 large loaf of Italian bread (better if it’s a couple days old, more stale and soaks up the eggs better)
• 14 large eggs
• 1/2  or so milk
• splash of vanilla and pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• pint of blueberries
• 1/2 container of mascarpone cheese

Butter a rectangle baking dish first. Slice the bread into medium thick slices (you need enough for one layer on the bottom of the pan and another for the top). In a large bowl, mix all the eggs with the milk and seasonings.

Layer the bread onto the bottom of the pan. Spread a layer of mascarpone cheese onto the bread and toss the blueberries on top. For the next layer of bread, spread a little bit more mascaropne cheese onto the bottom sides first. Finally, pour the egg mixture slowly and evenly over the bread, trying to cover all the bread. Use a fork or spatula to smoosh the bread down a little bit. Cover and put into the fridge over night to bake in the morning! Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Notes: This is decadent! Server with a little syrup on top.

Servings: 6 + big brunch servings

Marshmallows! August 6, 2009

Let me start this by saying I saw this post from Smitten Kitchen and couldn’t get these things out of my head. I talked to people about them. “Hey, did you know you can make marshmallows!?” They were like this mystery puff that could never be made at home, but lo! Smitten Kitchen did it and they looked beautiful. So, I gave it a try…

First you start by boiling sugar, water and corn syrup. Mmm! Please note the lack of candy thermometer… (This was my first try.)

Then you mix that boiled sugar with gelatin and water and mix. This is our new mixer. It’s pretty. Please note the dark brown color on the side of the bowl.

Pour it in a pan and it should look light and fluffy and, um, white! This does not look like any of those things.

After a couple hours in the fridge, they get cut into pieces and tossed in powdered sugar. At this point, they should be pillows of sweet fluffy goodness! But these were flat, with chunks of hard candy in the middle. Gross. So! I tried again!

This is after I used a CANDY THERMOMETER while heating the sugar so I didn’t end up over cooking and burning it. Then it mixed up lovely! This shows the whipped sugar/gelatin and the egg white and vanilla.

Oooo! Pretty! Light and white and fluffy!

TA DA!

• About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup cold water, divided
• 2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
• 1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.

In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. (Some reviewers felt this took even longer with a hand mixer, but still eventually whipped up nicely.)

In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out (learning from my mess of a first round). Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.

Do ahead: Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week.

Notes: As long as you use a thermometer, these are hard to screw up! We will be enjoying them on some smores up at our friend’s cabin in Wisconsin. Smores with homemade marshmallows.

Grilled Flank Steak August 5, 2009

My parents came to visit a couple weekends ago and we thought it would be nice to grill out and enjoy our little backyard. But of course, it ended up being chilly and rained, so we stayed inside and I cooked this flank steak on my grill pan and a cast iron pan instead. I’ve never cooked flank steak before, but I’d seen it done many times at the Chopping Block when I worked there. Let me tell you, this is a recipe I will definitely make again, especially for company as it’s certain to please (as long as everyone enjoys meat). This is the recipe I used. I followed very closely!

Marinade Ingredients

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Other ingredients

• 2 pounds flank steak
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper

1. Combine the marinade ingredients. Place steak and marinade ingredients in a large freezer bag. Coat the steak well with the marinade. Seal the bag and place in a bowl. Chill and marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

2 Using olive oil soaked onto a paper towel, coat the grill rack of your grill with olive oil. Preheat the grill with high, direct heat. The grill is hot enough when you hold your hand about an inch over it and you can only hold it there for about a second.

3 Take the steak out of the marinade bag and sprinkle generously on all sides with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. The salt and pepper will help form a savory crust on the steak. Place steak on the hot grill. If you are using a gas grill, cover the grill. Grill for 4-6 minutes on each side. Half way through grilling on each side, turn the steak 90° so that you get more grill marks. (This can all be done on a grill pan or cast iron skillet indoors too!)

4 Flank steak is best eaten medium rare; well done will make it too tough. When the steak has cooked to your preferred level of doneness, remove from the grill and place on a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil to hold in the heat and to keep the steak from drying out, and let rest for 10 minutes.

5 Make very thin slices, against the grain, and at a slight diagonal so that the slices are wide.

If you want, you can take the excess marinade and bring it to a boil, simmer for several minutes, and serve with the flank steak.

Notes: We enjoyed the steak on quinoa with arugula and halved cherry tomatoes mixed in, pour a little of that heated up marinade on top and BAM. Yum. Also had some roasted (would have been grilled!) sliced portobello mushrooms tossed with oil and balsamic.

Servings: 6 servings

Iced Latte July 23, 2009

Oooo! Coffee! I drink it every morning and in the summer I hate having to drink the hot brewed coffee. I borrowed my sister-in-law’s brother’s Toddy Coffee Maker. I drank amazing iced lattes all week! This thing makes super condensed cold-brewed coffee that I then just mixed with ice and milk and BAM. Iced latte that didn’t cost $4!

Curried Sweet Potato and Lentils July 22, 2009

So I made this dish. It has sweet potatoes and lentils, that I know. Definitely a lot of spices too… I cooked this weeks ago people. I used this recipe! You should save this and make it this fall, or maybe on some bizarrely cold summer evening.  That’s all I’ve got. I’m not even posting the recipe (beyond the link) because I have no idea how I changed it. Oops!

Plum and Apple Crisp July 6, 2009

My favorite desserts tend to be fruit based and easy to through together. Not a lot of measuring or planning ahead. Fruit crisps fit this description perfectly. I got 10 plums for 1 dollar at the store and got tired of just eating them as a snack. I figured the plums would be over powering if I made a crisp with just them, so I added in some apple to mellow it out. Turned out very well and made 6 individual sized desserts!

• 6 small plums – diced
• 2 apples – peeled and diced
• 1/2 C. flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1/2 C. oats
• 4 T. brown sugar
• Salt
• butter (I used about half a stick, but you could probably use more)

Dice up the apples and plums and portion off into the dishes. Mix in a pint or two of brown sugar into the fruit and a little bit of salt as well. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, oats, sugar and salt (1 tsp.). Then use a fork to mash in the butter. Top each dish with this mixture and put a little extra butter right on top if you want to make it more crispy. Bake in an over at 350 for about 15 minutes, or a toaster oven at 350 for a bit longer (maybe 20 or so). Enjoy with ice cream!

Notes: I never use a recipe for this. It changes everytime based on what fruit I have. I also don’t actually measure the oats or flour. Ooops. I’m not a baker.

Servings: 6 dishes.

Mahi Mahi with Pesto June 26, 2009

I’ve made many kinds of pesto before, always with whatever herb or green I’ve got on hand. Broccoli (after a quick parboil), parsley, basil, spinach, it doesn’t really matter to me. As long as it’s got a bit of parmesan, a hand full of walnuts or pine nuts, and a healthy glug or two of olive oil, it’s perfect.

I found a bag of mixed greens in the fridge, just on the verge of being too old. Into the food processor they went, along with some nicely toasted pine nuts. It made for the perfect topping for some Trader Joe’s Mahi Mahi. Served with a bit of broccoli and we had a very delicious and pretty healthy meal. I found the original recipe that I modified here.

• 1 T. paprika
• 1 t. ground cumin
• 1 t. brown sugar
• 1/2 t. cayenne powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. black pepper

Mix these together in a small bowl to us as a rub for the fish.

• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 T. toasted pine nuts
• 1.5 C. saute greens
• 2 T. grated Parmesan
• 1/4 C. olive oil
• salt and pepper

• 2 pieced of Mahi Mahi and a bit of oil

1. Combine all the ingredients for the rub and set aside.

2. Roast the red pepper underneath the broiler (or on a gas burner) for a few minutes on each side until blackened all over. Wrap up in a plastic bag and let steam for 15 minutes. Then remove the skin, stem, and seeds. Chop haphazardly into 1-inch pieces and then toss in a food processor along with the garlic, pine nuts, and greens. Process until smooth. Then, with the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. When all of it is incorporated, turn the processor off and stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper

3. Preheat the grill pan. Rub each fillet 1/2 teaspoon of the olive oil. Sprinkle a tablespoon of the rub onto each side of the fillet. Grill fish for about 2-3 minutes per side. Serve with the pesto.

Notes: A nice change for us as we normally have fish with some sort of soy sauce base. Pesto is perfect for using up summertime greens too.

Servings: 2 main entrees