lemon & thyme roasted vegetables

my mother-in-law, cindy, has a great abundance of herbs growing on her ever hip rooftop garden. every time we see her, she’s handing us bags and bags of basil, oregano, thyme, etc. i would never ever turn down fresh herbs. i will always be able to find some way to “get rid” of these herbs for cindy. i’ve posted my recipe for lemon & thyme chicken on the grill before, and i wanted to share my recipe for the mushrooms and carrots that so well accompany this wonderful summer dish. (yes, we do have 3 days left of summer, so i can still be posting summer recipes!) thanks again for the freebies, cindy!

lemon & thyme roasted vegetables

1 lb carrots

1 lb mushrooms (i love crimini for this recipe)

1/2 lemon for juice

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp fresh thyme cleaned from the stem

1 tbsp oil

S&P to taste

method: preheat oven to 475f. oil a large metal broiler pan.

put thyme and salt into large glass bowl. mash the salt into the leaves of the thyme. this will release their flavor in a similar way that bruising basil to make pesto works. let it set for a minute or 2 before adding the lemon juice. add the pepper and zest and stir well. let this sit for 10 minutes or so before using.

clean and chop carrots to desired size. i never peel my carrots, i scrub them with a brush to remove dirt. the “peel” retains a lot of flavor. halve or quarter mushrooms, depending on size.

throw veggies into lemon mixture and toss well. i like to let this sit for an hour or so before roasting.

pour olive oil onto veggies to coat liberally. don’t be afraid of using too much, olive oil is delicious. roast for 20 minutes or so, until veggies begin to brown. serve with more lemon zest if desired.

vanilla cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting

we had a birthday party for me a few weeks ago.- a cookout, actually. we had wieners and baked beans. dear lord, what a wonderful meal. *josh, your beans are the bees knees.*

brian was in charge of my birthday treats, and i had chosen coconut milk ice cream with a toppings bar (i had coconut, chocolate chips, almonds, and strawberries on mine!) and vanilla cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting. this is a really amazing recipe that i adapted from elana’s pantry. the cupcakes are really versatile. in fact, it’s the recipe i used for margarita cupcakes a few months back. the frosting is very rich and decadent, and makes enough to frost a whole cake or a dozen high-hat cupcakes. we’ve used it for many cake recipes, but i think it’s my favorite on these vanilla cupcakes. though i couldn’t call it complicated to make, there are a few steps in making this frosting. but it’ll come to ya!

the cupcakes are really fluffy and moist. my friends complimented us on the texture numerous times. i’ve heard along the way that this can be made into a cake, but haven’t tried it myself. if you attempt this, please let us know if it works in cake form! this recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

vanilla cupcakes

ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

6 eggs

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbsp vanilla

method:

preheat oven to 350f. put racks in center of oven. place papers into cupcake tin.

whisk all dry ingredients together.

whisk all wet ingredients together.

with hand mixer or by hand, blend wet and dry ingredients together.

spoon batter evenly into paper-lined cupcake tin. batter will be very thin.

bake for 20 minutes, until center is no longer wet and jiggly. *cupcakes will have a little shine on top of them, tricking you into thinking they are not done. they probably are done, so pull ‘em out! these are easy to over bake!

cool completely before frosting.

dark chocolate frosting

ingredients

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

method:

over low heat (i used double-boiler method), melt chocolate and oil, stirring frequently. once melted, stir in remaining ingredients.

place mixture into freezer for 15 minutes to thicken.

remove from freezer. using hand blender, whip mixture into thick, whippy frosting. it must be cold to do this, so if it’s not whipping up properly, place back into freezer for 10 minute increments until it is cold enough. i blended mine for 5-10 minutes. it was very fluffy and light.

scoop into pastry bag and pipe onto cupcakes, or simply smear onto cupcakes with spatula.

this frosting is also quite delicious when licking the bowl clean before placing into the dishwasher.

THANK YOU FOR AN AMAZING BIRTHDAY, FRIENDS!

loaded mushrooms

cheesy, meaty, & saucy

i am wayyy into easy meals lately. i think it’s because it is summer, and i’m not wanting to spend a lot of time indoors. this was a quick and easy thing to stack together and stick under the broiler a few times, and chow down. it seriously takes about 10 minutes to whip together, and is a pretty well-rounded meal. this would also make a great side or appetizer.

brian and i love sausage, and this was the perfect facilitator for it. this would be easy to modify to exclude or include any ingredient as you see fit. subbing tempeh for the sausage would be a wonderful way to make it veg.

loaded mushrooms

4 big portabellas, stems snapped off and caps cleaned

1/2 lb cooked sausage or tempeh

1/4 cup mozzarella, provolone, or any lovely cheese you have

1/4 cup of your favorite marinara sauce

roasted bell peppers, cooked onion, black olives, cooked spinach, or any other veg you like and happen to have in the fridge

few leafs torn fresh basil

4 tbsp ricotta cheese

1/4 tsp garlic powder

s & p

method: turn on broiler. prep cookie sheet by slicking it with olive oil. mix ricotta cheese with garlic, salt, and pepper.

place mushrooms on cookie sheet and broil for a minute, just until they release their liquid. tilt the shrooms to pour out excess juice.

divide cooked sausage among 4 caps. top with veggies, then ricotta. stick under the broiler for 1 minute or less, just until the ricotta begins to bubble.

pull out cookie sheet. divide marinara among caps, top with basil, and stick under broiler for 1 more minute or less. just until sauce bubbles.

pull out cookie sheet. finally, sprinkle cheese on the mushrooms and stick under the broiler for 1 minute, until cheese browns and bubbles.

let them cool for a few minutes before digging in. enjoy your lazy, fast, delicious meal with 2 glasses of wine, followed by a chocolate bar and a long walk by the river. i love summer.

zingers

zinger

we had brian’s parents over last weekend for dinner, mostly as a thank you for all they’ve done to help us move in. my parents had their turn the weekend before, so don’t feel badly for them! we have a grill now, which has already proven itself to be worth it’s weight in gold. we got a simple weber charcoal grill. we love the flavor of charcoal, and i can’t wait to get a smoking box for it. brian’s mom gifted us with a few toys for the grill: a vegetable basket and some nice long-handled grilling tools. so of course we had to grill their “thank you dinner”.

~a side note~ i wanted to give one last big thank you to brian’s and my parents for the ridiculously huge amount of help they’ve given us with moving into our new home. we couldn’t do it without you guys!

i made bacon-wrapped scallops, which brian and his dad grilled to perfection. the bacon was crispy, and the outer crust of the scallops were lightly charred while the inside was still soft and buttery. we had roasted fingerling potatoes with lemon zest and a salad of green beans and yellow zucchini with caesar dressing and pecorino. last week i discovered my hidden talent of whipping up a caesar dressing with no recipe, though i can roughly estimate the ingredient amounts:

roasted potatoes and warm caesar salad

caesar dressing:

1 egg yolk

1/8 cup olive oil

1/8 cup lemon juice

3 anchovy fillets

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

s & p to taste

method: with immersion blender, puree all ingredients until completely liquid. pour over everything.

for desert, i made a clean version of hostess “zingers”. i’m not sure if you’ve ever had one of these (i haven’t had one in probably 20 years, or ever…) but they are a vanilla cake base filled with strawberry, and topped with marshmallow fluff and coconut. they are packed with horrible things that don’t even qualify as food, and the ingredient list scares the hell out of me. compared to the hostess brand, my zingers were spotless..

this version was obviously grain free. i used a recipe for jelly donut cupcakes from elana’s pantry, and the rest i winged. i filled them with strawberry jam instead of raspberry, topped them with strawberry jam and a thick dollop of whipped cream, and sprinkled them with coconut.

did they taste like zingers? i don’t know. like i said, it’s been a while. but they were amazing. so fluffy and light. they certainly rekindled my love affair with novelty desserts like this. these may look involved, but were fairly simple to make.

HINT: these would make a great father’s day treat.

zingers

fluffy, strawberry filled snowballs

ingredients for the cupcake batter:

3 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce (no sugar or crap added)

1/2 cup oil (i used olive)

1/2 cup honey

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup coconut flour (sift it, please)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

strawberry filling ingredients:

1/2 cup seedless strawberry jam

1 tbsp arrowroot powder

method: combine jam and arrowroot powder until completely dissolved. be sure there are no lumps or dusties lingering. set aside.

preheat oven to 350f and place racks in center of oven. prep muffin tin with paper liners- i use unbleached, non-stick papers. i’m sure whatever you use will be fine.

combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. i do this by sifting together. in a food processor, combine all wet ingredients until combined. be sure to scrape the bottom just in case any honey is sticking around down there on it’s own.

pour dry ingredients into processor with the wet and pulse until just combined. let it sit for 5 minutes or so.

spoon 2 tbsp batter into each cupcake paper, then 1 heaping tsp strawberry filling on top of the batter.

spoon one heaping tbsp batter on top of filling, being sure jam is completely covered. you don’t want any seepage.

bake for 30 minutes or so, until tops are golden brown. now, since you can’t test them with the toothpick test due to the filling, you’re going to think to yourself, “are these completely done?”. there is no easy answer to that question. just know that these suckers burn easily, and that they will set up a little after coming out of the oven.

once done, pull ‘em out of the tins (GENTLY) and cool on a wire rack completely before topping, maybe 2 hours to be safe.

i topped them with another dollop of jam, then a huge thud of whipped cream, which i made, then sprinkling of coconut.

top these just before serving. they will not keep well frosted with whipped cream.

honey whipped cream

tasty mess

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tbsp or so honey

1 tsp vanilla

method: whip with blender or by hand until fluffy. don’t overdo it or you’ll make butter. (delicious butter….) eat out of the bowl or use as frosting. this kept for 4 days in the fridge before i ate it all.

sour lemon bars

my parents came to our new home for dinner last weekend. it was the first time we had entertained since moving in, and it went quite well! the plan was to keep food simple so we could focus on the visit. brian and dad had some yard work to do because we had a huge branch snap off of a peach tree. it was sad seeing a hundred or so peaches go to waste like that. it appears as though there will be plenty more later on this summer, though. the tiny grape sized fruits are already starting to blush from bright green to light yellow.

shrimp, asparagus, mushrooms, and potatoes

after the dudes were done playing with the saw in the back yard, we got on with the dinner. i made sautéed giant shrimp, mushrooms, and asparagus and  with a lemon pecorino sauce served over crispy roasted potatoes and bacon. it was delicious. in fact, it was so delicious i wish i were eating it right now.

for dessert i wanted to make something equally seasonal and fresh flavored, so i went with lemon bars. the recipe is based on one i found a few months ago on this website, which i visit daily. it had been on my mind for a few months now, but i knew i wanted to wait until spring for this fruity, sour treat. they were amazing, and super easy to make. the cookie crust was slightly lemony with a sweet, just nutty crunch. the lemon curd was perfect, and i can not brag enough about how well it turned out. all of the feedback i got was more than positive, except for my friend josh who announced that they were “lemony beyond lemony”, which could actually be a compliment by his standards.

this recipe is based on the one on nourishing gourmet. i did alter it, and the recipe shown below reflects my changes.

these are very user-friendly, so don’t let the curd scare you off. i would think anyone would have all of these ingredients on hand, and i’m certain the recipe could be toyed around with for fun and fancy versions.. i’m thinking strawberry curd? crumb topping? roll with it, people.

the curd should be made after the base is cooling, otherwise the curd will soak into the base.

sour lemon curd on a sweet cookie base

sour lemon bars

ingredients for the bars:

1 cup almonds

1 cup cashews

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup melted  coconut oil (butter could be used)

2 eggs

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp lemon zest

method:

preheat oven to 400f. place racks in center of oven. prep 9 x 9 glass baking dish by coating with butter or oil.

combine melted coconut oil, honey, eggs, and zest in a large bowl with a whisk until well combined.

in food processor, combine nuts and salt together until they form a dry, crunchy flour. not too long, or you will form a nut butter.

add in liquid ingredients and pulse a few times until it is just combined. don’t forget to scrape the bottom of the processor bowl to blend in any ingredients that may cling to it.

pour batter into baking dish, bake for 12-18 minutes. -until edges become golden brown. i like to use clear glass when baking so i can watch the bottom for burning, too. a toothpick inserted into the center should come out fairly clean with a few crumbs sticking to it.

cool for at least a few hours before pouring in curd.

ingredients for the curd:

3 eggs

1/3 cup honey

zest of one organic lemon

1/2 cup of lemon juice

6 tbsp coconut oil or butter

method:

whisk first 3 ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat, until light in color. remember, you don’t want to be making scrambled eggs here, so low and slow is the key here.

add coconut oil, whisk for a few seconds until melted, then whisk in lemon juice.

cook over medium heat whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and a few bubbles rise from the mixture.

remove from heat immediately after you see your first few bubbles, and pour through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, pushing mixture through. discard pulp in sieve.

stir the curd that is now in the bowl. allow it to cool for just a few minutes before pouring over cooled lemon bars.

let it all sit in the fridge for a few hours to set up. cut into bars. you can make many, or a few. i served them huge for my family, then cut the leftovers into itsy-bitsies to serve them at a party the next day.

curd will get stiff in the cold, but will gel pretty soon after sitting at room temp for a while. -so be careful with how you store them. they taste best straight out of the refrigerator, but are amazing any way you serve them. i declare that they would make an excellent, healthy breakfast choice.

cooking simply for moving purposes-oh yeah, and lent.

flaky flounder broiled for a fast friday dinner

since we’re moving, the objective of eating for the past few weeks has been “the freezer clean-out”. a few weeks back, flounder was on a super sale at wholey’s fish in the strip district. so i bought a lot… a lot of pounds… i bought 4 pounds. who buys 4 pounds of fish for 2 people?! what was i thinking? needless to say, i have been eating lots of fish. -thank goodness it’s lent, too! i have to get rid of all this fish on my own!

some may think fish is tricky to prepare. i, on the other hand, find it a go-to main ingredient when looking for something simple and quick to prepare. flounder has a particularly stiff flake to it, which means it can get tough pretty quickly. i find it difficult to cook over the stove-top or grill without falling apart, so i almost always stick it in the oven. lately, my favorite way to prepare it is by bringing it to room temperature for an hour or so, marinating it in lemon juice, brushing with oil and sticking it in the broiler until it is no longer translucent. the flounder in the picture was soaked in soy sauce, pineapple juice, and fresh ginger just before sticking under the broiler for an asian marriage, and topped it with sautéed red onions and peppers. i then poured a nice teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds atop and devoured it.

alternatively, i have also been using lemon and butter to marinate, and topping with lemon and sage butter with black pepper and capers for a french flavor. roasted asparagus is the perfect mate to fish with lemon and sage butter. believe me.

you really don’t need to cook it for any longer than 3 minutes or so in there, it could dry out if you over do it. the beauty of broiling the fish is that you can crisp the outside of the fish while keeping the flesh inside juicy and flaky.

fish, flounder more specifically, is such a delicious, easy main dish to prepare, especially on those fridays when you almost forget that you’re not supposed to eat land creatures for 6 weeks. eat up!

valentine’s day

 

i hung decorations from every corner!

a week and a half into the aftermath, all valentine’s decorations are still up.

we had a dinner party for valentine’s day last weekend. -wait, let me rephrase that with the honest truth: brian and i had a going away/valentine’s day dinner party last weekend. yes, sad as it is, brian and i must pack up and leave the city that we have so grown to love. pittsburgh has served as nothing short of a true home for he and i. this is the city where we spent the first year of our marriage, where he earned a master’s degree,  where he was in 2 bike accidents (ugh), where we learned and practiced fine foods and spirits, where brian learned of making and i learned of drinking real coffee.. yes, we will miss pittsburgh. but we are now venturing on a new and exciting life out in the country, where things move more slowly and we have the chance of having a yard!

onto the party. we wanted to show a few close friends that we loved sharing our past few years with them, so invited them to share a dinner with us the day before valentine’s day. brian and i really relish in cheesy holiday novelty. i love decorationg for it, and i love making it into a real event. i took this opportunity to gift a few confections: truffles! i made chocolate and hazelnut filled truffles rolled in hazelnuts, and dark chocolate mousse filled truffles dipped in white chocolate and pistachios. they were easy and tasty. i bundled them up into little boxes and tied treats to the exterior of the boxes.

i also rooted cuttings from my prized houseplant that i’ve had for as long as i can remember. i potted them into mason jars, and again gifted them to my friends to *hopefully* not kill.

also, to remember our friends by, we set up a photo-booth for everyone to have their pictures taken in. it only verified that our friends are really silly, attractive, and creative. i wish i could share the pictures, but out of respect for privacy, i’m only posting one.

for the food portion of the evening, i made chicken florentine roulades with fire roasted tomatoes, and roasted veggies as a side. my friends all made some really amazing dishes. brian and i were totally impressed at the talent showcased in this potluck. good job guys. i put myself in charge of dessert, though i wavered on what to make until the second the whisk hit the bowl. literally. i wanted chocolate to be involved, because it’s valentines day and (duh) my friends would be miffed if chocolate didn’t make an appearance. BUT i sometimes feel that chocolate can overshadow the many other lovely and delicate flavors out there that make such a lovely last course. (you know i’m about to say almonds, right?) what i really, deep deep down, wanted to make, was an almond cake. -an almond layer cake to be exact. a linzer. yes yes yes. perfect. i can have chocolate, almonds, and strawberry jam, so many of the flavors that i love, all in one slice. it was nothing short of delicious and perfect. i’ve said before that i love the flavor of almonds. -combine that with dark chocolate mousse frosting and tart jam, and i melt. not to out-do the cake base, this frosting is my favorite. it is soft and whippy, moist, and has the perfect balance of dark chocolate and sweetness. with its airy and fluffy texture, it isn’t too rich to sneak in for seconds.

this recipe makes 2 round 8″ layer cakes. cut the recipe in half for a snack cake.

almond layer cake with chocolate frosting

ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/3 cup room temperature butter

4 cups almond flour

1 cup coconut flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp baking powder

8 eggs at room temp

1 cup milk (i used whole)

2 tbsp vanilla

optional 1/4 tsp almond extract

method:

preheat oven to 350f, position racks in center of oven. prep 2 round 8″ cake pans with parchment rounds and nice coating of butter.

begin by creaming butter and sugar with electric mixer. once combined and fluffy, add milk, vanilla, and almond extract (if using it) at a low-speed, until it is all wet and combined. add eggs, a few at a time, and let it slowly mix.

combine all dry ingredients together.

add dry ingredients into wet ingredients. a fragrant, irresistable batter will form, and your fingers will find themselves into the bowl, scraping sugar and almond from the sides, and before you know it, you’re eating the raw batter! stop yourself.

pour violated batter evenly into 2 cake pans, and bake for 35 minutes or so. watch carefully as nuts burn quickly.

let them cool for a bit before loosening edges from pans and inverting onto cooling racks. these cakes are best served the day after, as the lovely flavors meld nicely with time. -like booze does.

i spread (thickly, may i add) some fancy, expensive strawberry preserves between the layers as a filling. i layed it on thick, spread it evenly, and then stuck the un-frosted cake into the refrigerator so the filling would stiffen up a little before icing it.

pistachio and hazelnut truffles made with leftover frosting

chocolate frosting

(adapted, courtesy of elana’s pantry)

ingredients:

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbsp honey (or agave nectar)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

method:

slowly melt olive oil and chocolate in saucepan over very low heat. (seriously, no hurry here, burnt chocolate is a sin of gastronomical proportions). stir, stir, stir. when chips are melted, add honey, vanilla, and salt. once smooth and well combined, remove from heat.

stick pan into freezer for 15 minutes. if it still looks shiny and drizzly and runny, stick it back into freezer for 10 minute increments until it no longer looks glossy. it should look dull and somewhat firm, but not hard. *if it gets hard, let it sit at room temp for a few minutes before you continue.

with mixer (hand blender works best here), fluff it. yes, it will turn into frosting, just have faith. it took a good 15 minutes or so of whipping with the hand mixer for this to turn into frosting for me. -rest assured, it will happen suddenly and magically. if it has been 15 minutes and the mixture is turning warm, stick into the freezer for a few minutes and try again.

you will have a nice fluffy mousse-like frosting on your hands (hopefully not literally). spread onto stacked layers, and impress your friends with your uncanny ability to create chocolate for any occasion.

i tripled this frosting recipe to create truffles. try it. once the frosting is well fluffed, stick into the refrigerator for quite a few hours, until stiff enough to hand-roll. dip it in melted chocolate, nuts, coconut, whatever., it’s chocolate, ain’t it?

red beets

baithing beauties

i think that red beets appear to be difficult to prepare. they look funny. they have papery, dirty skin and long stalks that are just daunting. what the heck are you supposed to do with all of that stuff? is there really food in there under that nasty peel? yes there is. ruby, sweet, buttery root vegetable. i love beets in a salad with a little blue cheese and citrus dressing. lately, we’ve been having beets on a salad with dried apricots and apricot jam honey mustard. what a tasty meal! root vegetables are in abundance this time of year, so stock up. my mom cooks a bunch of them in the fall, then puts them in the freezer to keep through the winter. she’s so smart! i remember eating lots and lots of beets as a child, i’ve always loved them. i also remember my dad hating them. without exception, every time i would eat buttered beets in front of him, he would proclaim “eeeewwww, beets”. which meant mom, sister and i were alone in our beet loving dinners.

not only delicious, but healthy too: beets have proven in studies to be effective in protecting against colon cancer, heart disease, and birth defects. they are really cheap, too. we bought a big fat bunch of them at the farmer’s market for $3.

beets will stain anything they touch. anything. a gross but essential bit of knowledge: they will also stain your *ahem* insides, if you know what i mean, especially if you have been consuming them for several days. no need to be alarmed, beeturia is a harmless condition that will pass after a few days.

a tip for keeping your hands skin colored when prepping beets: cover them in olive oil before you peel and cut them.

there are probably a kabillion ways to prepare them, but my favorite is roasted. some will tell you to scrub the skins before you cook them, but i know that there are precious minerals stored in the skin that will be washed down the drain if you do that. plus, you risk scraping and bruising the beet under the skin, and when you roast them, that part of the vegetable will be dry and gnarly.

how to prepare then roast beets:

chop off the hair so you have about 2″ of stalk remaining.

submerge in clean, cold water for a minute or two. change water and repeat.

preheat oven to 400f.
make a big pouch out of foil. drizzle a little oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. fold it all together inside the pouch so the steam doesn’t come out of the loose ends.
roast for 45 minutes. check it to make sure they are “fork tender”. let them cool on the counter top for a few minutes before peeling and cutting so they are easier to handle. use a paper towel to scrub the skins off of the beets, and carefully pull the tops off. cut into chunks to do what you wish with them.

this is what we did:

roasted beets with green beans

cut roasted beets into manageable chunks.

toss with prepared green beans (i steam them), and a glaze made of equal parts apricot jam, apple cider vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.

we liked it served with some rosemary chicken, which has become our sunday favorite lately. like i said, beets are an essential ingredient in autumn salads, along with a little blue cheese, apples, and sunflower seeds. -and bacon.

look at how pretty they are!

i know that you can make sweet dishes with beets, too. i’ve heard of red beet cakes and cupcakes, but have not yet attempted them. i would love to find a recipe for a dessert beet dish.

you can also pickle them and put them in martinis. yum!

beef short ribs

this meal turned out exactly how i wanted it to. my first time braising short ribs was too easy, and too delicious. the cravings for this dish began with our visit to nyc, when we ate at an amazing restaurant called northeast territory. we had beer braised short ribs with seasonal vegetables, and i coveted and craved the recipe ever since. after doing a ton of research about braising beef ribs and scouring books for the perfect recipe, i decided to combine all of my favorite parts of a bunch of recipes.

i started with the free range organic grass beef short ribs at right by nature, a natural foods market here in pittsburgh that boasts the city’s best meat. i then chose any seasonal vegetable that looked good at the farmer’s market that day. finally, i bought a bottle of red wine after talking with the “wine guy” at the state booze store, and he recommended an $8 bottle of spanish wine that was excellent, though i don’t remember what it is called.

the meal was perfect, and i would love to make it again for a crowd. there was an amazing gravy that resulted from the many times i deglazed the skillet with the red wine, which i spooned over both the meat and the veggies before serving.

yes, it does look like a long and daunting process. but it’s something everyone should do once to get it out-of-the-way. once you do it, the process makes sense and you will find it easier to do again. it is worth the time and effort involved for the delicious result. life life skills here, people, life skills!

to serve aside the beef, chose the veggies that are in season and look good, and roast them during the last 30-40 minutes in a separate roasting pan from the beef. i used pattypan squash, green beans, carrots, and redskin potatoes. don’t be confused, these are not the veggies that will make the broth for the ribs. they need to be cooked independently of the ribs.

wine braised beef short ribs:

4 beef short ribs, on the bone

1 bottle of red wine

huge handful rosemary

handful of thyme

5 cloves garlic, whole

3 carrots

3 stalks celery

1 huge white or yellow onion

salt

pepper

preheat oven to 250f. chop onions, carrots, and celery into small pieces, and the garlic into large chunks.

sprinkle rib meat with salt and pepper.

heat up a large skillet with a little canola or grapeseed oil. wait until skillet is nice and hot to add meat. place meat, 2 ribs at a time, onto skillet and let it sear for 2-5 minutes. -just until seared. you don’t want them to cook, just to brown and for the fat to caramelize. do this on all 3 sides of the meat. set aside and prepare the other 2 ribs similarly. set all ribs aside, bone side down, in the casserole or roaster that you will be cooking them in.

the skillet will still be quite hot, so you can throw in your chopped veg, pour in 1/4 bottle of the wine, and immediately turn heat down to a medium temp. the veggies will be cooking in this sauce for 5 minutes or so before they begin to soften. a lot of liquid will be gone after 5 minutes, so you could add a little more, just a splash, and cook until veggies are completely cooked.

place the veggies in a cheesecloth along with the fresh herbs, and tie up. reserve any liquid that they have produced. pour the liquid over the meat, and place loaded cheesecloth into casserole dish with ribs. place loose fitting lid or tin foil over the top.

stick it all in the oven, and let the magic happen. bake for a few hours.

have a few glasses of wine, then go for a walk. not too long, don’t forget you have food in the oven.

be sure to check the meat if your walk took a while. i knew it was done when i stuck a fork in it and it fell off of the bone. the meat should be very tender.

when you know it is done, pull it from the oven, and let the meat rest for 10 minutes or so before serving.

sauce:

there will be quite a bit of liquid from the dish now, and you want to save it. pour it into a warm/hot skillet with a big splash of red wine. squeeze any broth from your cheesecloth in, as well. discard the solid vegetables. if there isn’t much liquid from the veg, you can use another stock or broth that you may have. after it bubbles for a few minutes, keep it on a low simmer. i wouldn’t salt and pepper this. wait until you taste it first. after it thickens, turn heat off and let it cool for a few minutes, using a spoon to skim the fat from the top after cooling. after fat is skimmed, you can get the gravy nice and hot again if it needs thickened.

spoon over short ribs, your roasted veg, and dig in!

it will turn out beautifully. enjoy the fruit of your labor. eat it slowly. savor with friends.

dinner with nathan and brandon

brian, me, nathan, brandon

a few weeks ago, nathan was kind enough to host us for dinner. we’d been trying to for several months… maybe even 3 months. we bump into brandon pretty constantly because we live in the same neighborhood. sometimes, i can see him waiting for his bus at the stop in front of my house and i yell out my kitchen window at him. brian also works with him at a coffee shop in the east end. but that doesn’t really count as spending time with friends.. yelling out a window at them and seeing them at work. it always feels special when you get to chat over a glass of wine while you’re pouring chocolate chips into a mixing bowl. i secretly love it when dinner takes a little longer than you planned to finish. it gives you lots more time to sip on said wine and be merry with friends. this was one of those. we ended up robbing the refrigerator as i promised “just 5 or 10 more minutes, ok? let’s have another of glass of wine and some carrots with humus.” it was good catching up.

anyhow, brandon was in charge of the veg, i was in charge of main course and dessert. brandon has been honing his “dressing skills” lately, so i’m pleased to say that his salad was funky fresh.

brandon’s salad dressing:

“so, i use half of a small lime, about 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1-1.5 tablespoons of olive oil, a liberal dash of cayenne pepper. Black pepper and salt to taste. I’ve also been adding a small bloop of honey lately, to add a hint of sweetness.”

even though he uses 2 acids here (the vinegar and the lime), his dressing was great because of the added flavor of the cayenne. in the salad itself was red pepper, spinach, cranberries, goat cheese, carrot, and cucumber. quite summery.

the salad

i made spicy peanut chicken breast with a sauce that i bought at the market square farmer’s market (which is moving next week). i will have to find the name of this sauce and it’s maker, because it is delicious! i marinated boneless skinless chicken breast in the sauce for 3 hours or so, and i seasoned it with salt and pepper. i then roasted it in the oven for half an hour or so, and voila! it was delicious!

brandon is a vegetarian, so i made extra firm tofu for him in the same style as the chicken. i first pressed and drained 1 block of firm tofu for 3 hours or so. i am very particular about the manner in which i make tofu, and i believe that draining water out of it is the only way to ensure proper flavor absorption. otherwise, it will not soak up any flavoring at all, resembling the flavorless food it has a bad rep for. i rubbed this magical sauce all over the block, salt, and peppered it. i then threw it into a giant baggie and left it room temp for 3 hours.

i baked the tofu and the chicken at 375f. i’ve been reading a lot about conflicting oven temps for chicken breast, and here is what i’ve found thus far: i prefer them cooked slowly at a lower temperature. it seems as though they retain the actual flavors of the seasoning rather than the seasoning just scorching up on the flesh. -especially when you’re dealing with herbs. i mean, salt and pepper you can burn the crap out of and you come out with a brilliant flavor. but some things, like peanut sauces, bbq sauces, anything with sugars or the sort, you want to take it slow. that way, it tastes like the stuff you put on it.

tofu is fun in the oven because it always looks like it’s gonna pop. it gets poofy like a cake top does when it rises. i baked it for a slightly shorter time than the chicken. they both turned out beautiful and flavorful.

tofu and chicken, on the same plate for one time only.

desert was amazing. nathan and i made a recipe from elana’s pantry. any time i use one of her recipes, i have no doubt that it will yield a perfect result. i’ve been following her blog even before i was avoiding grains. now that i can’t have them at all, this is the perfect site for inspiration. when i first found i couldn’t have grains, i thought baking was over for me. really it forced me to get deeper into it.

i’ve had my eye on this particular recipe for what seems like a year. why didn’t i just make it when i wanted it the first time?! it was so easy! too easy. 6 ingredients! and when the stirring was over, i was licking every bowl and spoon that touched the batter. i can’t wait to make this again. i’m also looking forward to playing around with it a little. lots of possibilities with different nut butters here.

ingredients:

1 (16oz) jar creamy roasted almond butter

1 cup of agave nectar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup dark chocolate chips

preheat oven to 325f. grease 9×13 glass baking dish.

in large bowl, mix almond butter until creamy. mix in agave and eggs. mix in salt and baking soda until well combined.

add half of the chocolate chips until evenly distributed into batter. pour into pyrex dish and bake for 35 minutes.

let ‘em cool for a bit before slicing. if you can wait.

just look at all that chocolate!!

if you are a normal person, this should serve 24. if you are a hog like me, it will serve 8. i’m not exaggerating. these things are so chocolaty! look at that picture! chocolate is practically bleeding from the center of that thing. and you can taste the almonds quite a bit. -good thing, too, because chocolate and almonds is one of my all time favorite combos. these bars are very moist and fudgy. i was expecting something a little tougher, but they were like a big cookie with a soft chew. the ingredient list is pretty impressive, too. healthy stuff in there.

i added a little vanilla extract, though it didn’t really need it. i’ve seen people using maple syrup in place of agave nectar and i guess it turned out fine. next time i make it, i will use 3/4 cup agave nectar. i really like the sweetness to come from the chocolate.

i really liked having this meal with those guys. having a fresh meal together is something friends should try to do often. i find it so relaxing to be in good company such as brandon and nathan. you dudes are the bees knees.