grilled smokey ribeye with lemony cucumber & carrot salad

i was really in the mood for something uncomplicated in flavor last sunday after recovering from a too-much-fun bachelorette party i had attended the night before. i won’t divulge a single detail on the party itself, but i will say this: my judgment was impaired, and i ate a bag of cheddar & onion potato chips on the way home. -a family size bag.. and there were chips stuck in my dress the next morning… uggghhh….

the name of the game after such a crazy food night was eating healthy. -clean food. simple food.

the temperature was a pleasant 82f, and brian and i craved steak. we had a roasted chicken planned, which is our normal sunday tradition, but we could NOT resist getting the grill out to kick off the season.

steak. must have steak.

we made our emergency stop to churchill’s with our sunglasses on and purchased a big niman ranch ribeye, which is the only large farm we trust. our teenage meat kid behind the counter with messy hair and hip, thick glasses recommended a ribeye, said it was his favorite cut. he promised it to be perfectly marbled, and awesome to grill. it was. thanks, teen. you are always right when you tell us what to eat. seriously, you know whats up.

whence recovering from a hardy-party, you must consume vegetables. it is the rules. especially when one consumed an entire bag of chips before bed.. family size.. so i came up with a really crunchy and refreshing salad. i guess it was more of a slaw than a salad, but if 2 vegetables join the same bowl, i tend to call it salad.

what a delightful meal this was! i must compliment myself on following my primal urge to chow some juicy, healthy steak and satisfying salad. this was the perfect spring meal, and truly repaired my body after a full night of stern abuse. the rub for the steak is a classic combination of flavors we stole somewhere along the line from our righteous grillin’ hero, steve reichlen. the flavors from the charcoal grill really stand out here, but the dry spices are just enough to make this taste smoky, vibrant, and well, excellent.

the salad made enough to compliment 2 meals later on in the week., and the steak yielded no leftovers.

make the salad first so as to let it soak up its own tasty juices. i made mine an hour or so before serving, and it seemed only to improve in flavor later in the week as leftovers.

crunchy carrot salad

1 cucumber, diced

2 cups shredded carrots

1/4 cup fine chopped red onion

1/2 cup crumbled feta

few leaves of basil

1/2 lemons juice, zest reserved

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

method: whisk last 3 ingredients to make a dressing. toss with veggies and basil. zest with some lemon, while you’re at it. let it sit for bit, chilled, to allow flavors to mingle and what-not.

grilled steak

1 big ribeye

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp dried garlic

1 tsp dried onion powder

method: make a paste out of all the ingredients and rub onto steak. let it marinate for one hour. pull steak out of the refrigerator half an hour before grilling to come to room temperature.

start grill. oil grill grates and get it piping hot before you throw the steak on. as a general rule, we flip steak only 2 times as to not tear the char off of the outside and to prevent it from getting tough.

let it rest 10 minutes before digging in. serve with a crunchy salad. trust me.

broiled cod and cauliflower rice with romesco and black olive sauces

its friday, fishes!

i am catholic, so i observe the absence of eating land animals on fridays. for me, this a welcome change from our normal menu. fish is such a light, delicious ingredient to cook with, so i like to keep it really simple. -minimal seasoning for the fish, but i go nuts with sauces to have with the fish. the sauces keep in the refrigerator for several weeks, so if you make a batch you can spread it out and use the sauces up here and there to spice things up for a kabillion different meals.

this is last week’s meal, broiled lemon cod with romesco, black olive sauce, and basil cauliflower rice.  i added some carmelized onions that we had leftover from another meal to use them up. these 2 sauces were a beautiful way to accompany light flavors of cod and cauliflower. i have been really loving cauliflower rice lately. i find that i may prefer it to grain rice, as it has lots of flavor and reheats flawlessly.

this was a super delicious & easy meal to prepare. obviously, this would be a really quick dinner to make if you are on your own for a friday and need something to put on a “table for one”, like i will tomorrow night!

don’t skip making the sauces. they are so simple to make and will last for several meals.

this recipe makes enough rice for 4 servings, and lots of sauces. make the sauces first to give them time to develop their respective flavors. then make the cauliflower, then the fish.

for romesco:

1 cup almonds

1 cup roasted red peppers

1 roasted ancho chile

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp salt

3 or 4 raw cloves of garlic

zest of a lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

method: in food processor, puree all ingredients until they form a sauce. let stand at room temp for a bit. serve with anything that you want to taste delicious.

for black olive sauce:

1/2 cup pitted black olives

1 tbsp capers

1/2 cup good quality olive oil

half clove garlic

method: combine all ingredients in food processor or mini food processor. let set for a little bit at room temp before serving.

broiled cod with cauliflower rice

2 fillets of fresh cod

1 lemon

black pepper

salt

few leaves fresh basil

good tasting olive oil

1 head cauliflower, cleaned and cut into large trees

method:

for cauliflower rice, shred cauliflower in food processor. add chopped basil, salt, juice from half a lemon, and whatever dry spices you wish, such as dried garlic or onion.

in deep skillet, warm up a little olive oil over low-medium heat. add cauliflower rice to skillet once it is warm and cook, covered, until tender. mine took roughly 10 minutes. be sure to stir pretty constantly so it doesn’t burn.

for the cod: an hour before broiling, juice your lemon over the fish and sprinkle black pepper over it. do not salt until just before putting fish into broiler or the fish will get rubbery. let fish marinate for an hour.

preheat broiler. place fish on broiler pan, well oiled, and cover fish in olive oil and dusting of salt. broil for 5 minutes or so, just until edges get slightly brown. serve over cauliflower rice. with romesco and black olive sauce.

morels

 

speaking of spring, it is mushroom season in michigan.

usually, shrooming season in that zone is later in april. however, with the warmer temperatures a few weeks ago, the little buggers have popped up a little early.

fine by me.

if you happen upon a patch of morels and would like to forage them, simply cut them at dirt level. never pull them from the ground as this poses risk of damaging the mycelium, which is their “root” which will come again year after year. the mycelium grows in a circle, and spreads year after year, widening its radius.

i hunted these suckers down at my local grocery store. they are coming in from just an hour and a half north of me, in michigan. they cost $60 a pound. -no, i’m totally serious. but since we only bought enough for brian and i to savor slowly in a single meal, i spent only $10 on our portion.

did i blow our weekly budget because of it?

yeah. i did.

did i feel badly?

gosh no.

this is a seasonal treat. the rolls-royce of mushrooms, and they are only available for a limited time.

also, you live only once.

 

i didn’t have to debate at all with how i wanted to prepare these. i have been planning it carefully in my head for weeks:

sautee in butter.

lemon to cut the meatiness

thyme to accentuate its earthiness

romano to balance the tartness of the lemon

the rest of the meal was just as simple to plan. i wanted to keep the flavors pretty simple to give the shrooms a chance to shine, so i made thyme poached chicken. the added bonus was that chicken thighs are one of the cheapest meats i can get my hands on, so i wouldn’t feel too badly about spending so much on the shrooms.

cheese and zest covered morels

this turned out amazingly. decadent but light, earthy but bright, tender and savory.

if you are able to get your hands on this ground gold, snatch some up. morels are a delicacy and a wonderful treat to throw into an omelette, use as a side dish, or sautee for a bowl of pasta (if you’re into that sort of thing…)

don’t skip the sauce. it really makes the whole dish taste special.

here is what i did:

for the chicken:

6 chicken thighs

2 cups broth

1 tsp roasted garlic

handful of fresh thyme

salt & pepper

for the sauce:

juice from half a lemon

1/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup broth

salt & pepper

to serve:

some zest from lemon

good amount of romano cheese, shaved

some chopped walnuts

method: start with the chicken. get a cast iron skillet nice and hot. put in a little bacon grease or oil. let it get thin and hot. put in the chicken thighs and let cook without moving for 4 minutes or so. flip. cook for 3 minutes.

pour broth, thyme, and garlic into pan. place lid over pan and turn heat down to low. cook for 15 minutes. season with salt and pepper.

for the sauce, combine all ingredients into heavy bottomed sauce pan and cook over low heat, until it begins to bubble. after first few bubbles appear, move away from heat and cover while it cools and thickens. serve over chicken.

cook mushrooms after giving them a good dunk in cold water then gently tossling them about over a clean towel to dry. over medium heat, get butter sizzling hot in cast iron skillet. put mushrooms into skillet and keep them moving until they turn brown and tender. serve with chicken and sauce. top with lemon zest and romano cheese.

simple soft-boiled egg

yes the yolk is real. the eggs we buy are from pasture raised chickens. -chickens that are allowed to eat grubs freely from the ground, walk around a yard as they please, and soak up plenty of sunlight. these factors yield an orange yolk, packed with nutrition beyond a grocery store variety. i will not forget to mention the superior flavor of these eggs, too. if you’ve ever eaten eggs beyond grocery store eggs, you know what i mean. they yolk actually has flavor. -i’m not sure people know that eggs are not naturally neutral in flavor, the flavor being a victim of modern day factory farming.

i’m getting to appreciate simple foods more and more every day. these are the whole foods that we can do so many things with. the foods we can easily eat on their own, or transform into a complicated cake. keep them as a single ingredient, or throw them into an intricate list of decadent ingredients. for me, the simple foods list includes things as nuts, chocolate, cheese, fruit, meat, and eggs.

methods for cooking this perfect food are countless. i fry mine over medium for breakfast. both frying and soft-boiling produce a soft, runny yolk with plenty of flavor.

soft-boiled eggs are amazing over a salad, maybe a salad with asparagus and salty cheeses and walnuts. and maybe a little bacon.

i like to eat them on their own, to fill me up for lunch.

crack some black pepper and salt over them.

soft-boiled egg

eggs

big pot of water

1 tsp salt per 2 cups water

bowl of ice and water

method:

bring a few cups of salted water per egg to a raging boil. gently drop eggs in, no more than 6 eggs at a time. set timer for 6 minutes.

when timer tells you 6 minutes have passed, use a slotted spoon to take eggs out and plunge them quickly into the ice water. the ice water will stop the cooking, keeping the yolks from getting hard and the yolk membrane from turning green. remember from your childhood those green yolks? those days are over.

keep the egg in the iced water until it is completely cooled, maybe an hour or so. store the egg in the refrigerator.

garbanzo battered and fried cauliflower with romesco

 

did you know that you can bread things with chickpea flour?

india knows it, and they call it gram or besan.

the french know it, and it is called socca.

spain knows it, and it is called garbanzo.

i’m sure other places know it, too.

i just found out.

last night, i used garbanzo flour to make battered and fried cauliflower for a tapas dinner brian and i hosted. i was inspired by a recipe i saw on tastespotting with awesome variations for different regions. unfortunately, i can’t quite find the link to this guy’s original recipe, so i’ll give him anonymous props.

we had our parents over. the menu was pretty awesome, but i gotta say: the star of the show was first and foremost the cauliflower. the crispy batter was full of rich flavor, unlike flavorless wheat flour batters. the batter held up really nicely, both in the pan and after frying. i have experienced many wheat based batters that scatter in the pan, or cook off of the food, or simply pull apart from the food when you try to bite into it. not this stuff. the batter was thick enough to stick to the cauliflower, and fried up really evenly. the cauliflower plays a somewhat neutral role in this recipe, so feel free to substitute carrots, mushrooms, whatever you desire. i think this may even work well for a fish batter.

to follow our “spanish tapas” theme last night, i made a smoky romesco sauce to dip the cauliflower into. i can think of nothing that would accompany the cauliflower than this perfect sauce. a little sweet, a little smoky, a little salty,… just perfect. the almonds are a must, by the way. some make romesco with crusty bread crumbled into the puree, but i prefer the tradition of almonds. they add buttery depth and texture to the sauce.

i am thrilled about this recipe. it has been years since i have had anything battered. i feel like i’ve been let in on a little secret! lucky this is lower in sugar and quite healthier than traditional breading. this opens up a whole new world of breading everything to me. think of the possibilities… breaded meats! breaded veggies! breaded cheese cubes! yyeeeeesssssss!

the batter

for the batter:

1 cup garbanzo flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

tbsp fresh thyme

pinch of dried chilis

1/2 cup greek yogurt or sour cream

1/4 cup milk

1 head cauliflower, cut into quarters, then 1/2″ thick slices

method:

in a huge bowl, combine all dry ingredients together (except for the cauliflower, duh). separately, combine all wet ingredients. pour wet ingredients into dry. stir stir stir. if batter seems rather thick, thin it out with more milk. taste the batter, and season as you wish. i found myself adding more salt.

throw a few pieces of cauliflower into batter. be sure they are evenly coated. i gave mine a few dips and stirs to ensure even coating.

to fry:

pour about a cup of sunflower oil, or other high heat tolerant oil into deep cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed fry pan. allow oil to heat up quite a bit, about 310f. if you don’t have a thermometer, the oil will bite back when you splash water into it.

a few pieces at a time, carefully drop coated cauliflower into hot oil. fry for one minute or so, then flip. when pieces are golden brown, drain on paper towels and serve right away. no one likes soggy batter.

for romesco:

1 cup almonds

1 cup roasted red peppers

1 roasted ancho chile

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp salt

3 or 4 raw cloves of garlic

zest of a lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

method: in food processor, puree all ingredients until they form a sauce. serve with anything that you want to taste delicious.

 

Quinoa is Versatile

 

 

 

i’ve been going crazy for quinoa lately. i’ve written a recipe for quinoa breakfast cereal in the past and i am making it weekly. i’ve also been using quinoa in place of rice in my dinner meals to soak up tasty sauces.

quinoa is way easier to cook than rice and much faster. it absorbs all of the water it is cooked in like rice does, and i have seen that you can even cook it in a rice cooker. i don’t know about that. it has a slightly crunchy texture and is very mild in flavor. compared with rice, i think it is a little more of a blank canvas even than rice. nutritionally speaking, quinoa beats rice hands down, with 6 grams protein compared with rice’s 3, a few less carbs, 6g fiber compared with 0, and just 20 additional calories per serving. it is super pretty and colorful. i almost count this as a vegetable in a meal. i am excited to try this aside some south american dish next week or so, letting it shine in its indigenous origin.

this time brian and i used it along with a curry dish we made. we have been on a super strict grocery budget this year, and i’m proud to report that this meal cost next to nothing. we roast a chicken on sundays and use it in other meals throughout the week. we had squash and green beans leftover from another meal that week and decided to throw it all together. viola. we had awesome leftovers from this.

chicken curry in a hurry

(enough for 4 or more)

1 cup red quinoa

1 cup cooked & cubed butternut or other squash

1 cup green beans, cooked

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

pinch of fresh chopped ginger

few garlic cloves chopped

half a chicken breast, cut into chunks

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup coconut milk

spices

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp brown sugar

method:

first cook quinoa. in a medium pan, bring 2 cups water to a boil. stir in quinoa, place lid on, and turn heat to low. cook for 15 minutes stirring a few times so quinoa doesn’t burn on the bottom. turn off heat and leave lid on.

in a small bowl, combine chicken broth and coconut milk with all of the dry spices. stir in garlic and ginger. let it sit for a bit in the bowl.

in a large oiled fry-pan or wok, cook onions on medium/hot until just soft. turn heat a little lower and stir in liquid ingredients. stir stir stir. dump in all the other stuff except for quinoa. simmer on low for a bit, maybe 20 minutes or so, until everything is nice and hot. if sauce thickens too much, add more broth and coconut milk in even proportions. taste to be sure it doesn’t need anything else, i like to add a little salt and sugar. we also threw in a tiny pinch of saffron to be fancy. serve over quinoa with a little sriracha sauce.

 

chicky soup

the corner grill in bowling green is not only known for the food that kills a hangover, but also for the amazing staff. grumpy and honest by night (to fend off the angry drunks), smiling and friendly and chatty by day. most servers will get to know you, the cooks will gladly make you a pancake shaped like pac-man upon request, and some might sit with you while you eat it. most go to eat their food and talk politics, mostly locals that are angry with the new parking laws or things more or less important. old men gather in the morning around 7am and get their coffee and complain about their wives or gossip about their lives. lawyers come on their lunch break for a quick grilled cheese and slice of pie. back in my younger and wilder days, i frequented this little greasy spoon nightly (yes, nightly) for dinner. i got off of work late and didn’t have time to make dinner. plus, all of my friends worked there. this diner i loved so much had cheap fried egg sandwiches, pancakes, burgers, burnt coffee, and soups. the typical diner fare.

what was not typical diner food was a favorite soup of mine which appeared on the menu only thursday nights. this was by far the most exotic and well-tended item on the menu.”chicky” was the american way of saying “chicken avgolemono”, a greek soup consisting of shredded leftover chicken, salty and slow cooked broth, sour lemon, tempered eggs, and aborio rice. this soup is super filling and the flavors are simple and satisfying. eggs in the broth are simply a way to thicken the soup and add richness without adding cream.

we made ours without the aborio, but if you wish to use it, simply sautee the rice in a little butter before adding to the stock and cooking for recommended time. continue with the rest of the recipe after rice is completely cooked.

this recipe serves 4

chicky soup

2 roasted chicken breasts or other leftover chicken meat, shredded finely

4 cups chicken stock (i made mine, you could use pre-packaged)

juice from 1 lemon

2 eggs

pinch of salt

method: over med/high heat, get stock to a boil. here is where you would add the aborio if using, cooking until just tender. throw in chicken and let boil for 5 minutes or so with the lid off. this will steam the water out leaving a very flavorful liquid. allow to slightly thicken and liquid to absorb into chicken. if you really like a thick soup, use immersion blender to puree chicken into soup.

in separate large bowl, whisk eggs and lemon juice together.

carefully ladle hot soup one ladle at a time into egg mixture, whisking eggs very quickly. this will slowly bring the eggs up to the temp of the soup without scrambling them. continue until eggs are good and hot. add mixture back into pot and let everything cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or so.

serve with fancy bread, or a grilled cheese on wonder bread. whatever.

challah

 

this post obviously has nothing to do with my grain-restricted diet or belief that wheat is evil.

i simply longed to labor over a very traditional food and serve it to my family.

challah is a slight labor of love. you have to really want to make it to have any success with the bread, especially when it comes to the braiding. challah is a pain, but it is sweet, beautiful, and symbolic.

i sought out an explanation of the tradition and history of challah, but none seemed worthy to reference. get a good book on food history and look for the story on this tasty bread.

brian and i made this 3 times before we had success. maybe it had something to do with reading directions. -that was a sarcastic implication. of course it had something to do with reading directions. it had to do with forgetting half a cup of sugar. and the salt. we waited for the bread to raise. it wouldn’t. the bread was dead. it was useless. what happened the second time is indescribable, and finally the third time was perfect. -oh, except for when the kitten found the covered dough, raising in a warm place… “what a nice bed”, she must have been thinking as she lay down to take her cute little nap on our bread. -this is why i cover everything with plastic wrap. the loaves continue to grow in the oven. the egg lacquer on the top makes them appear to stretch beyond their means, threatening to explode at the next degree of heat.

this recipe seems to be a very common one. i found it at smitten kitten and in the new york times.

i don’t have many tips for this one. just read the ingredients and instructions carefully before you even get the flour out of the pantry. take your rings off before you start this so you can quickly knead as soon as you are inclined. do not overwork the dough or it will result a dense and dusty loaf. add too much flour and your dough will be flaky and dry. too little flour and your dough will melt into itself, rendering the braiding task impossible. make it in the morning and plan on eating a fluffy chunk of warm, sweet bread with your dinner.

send half of a loaf with dinner guests, and put the other huge loaf in the freezer to use as a thank you gift later on in the week. -don’t forget that this makes an excellent french toast with a little jam and cream cheese to top!

this sweet, pillowy loaf was enough to tempt me into grabbing a hand sized chunk and slowly enjoying something i rarely get to do. this alone could have been my meal, and i would have been satisfied by the silky texture and the light sugar taste that the salt brings out.

mom, you can do this one.

this recipe makes 2 huge loaves

ingredients:

1 1/2 tbsp active dry yeast

1 tbsp + 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

5 large eggs

1 tbsp salt

8-8 1/2 cups flour

method: in a large bowl, combine yeast and 1 tbsp sugar with 1 3/4 cup lukewarm water. stir gently and allow yeast to dissolve bloom for a 2 or 3 minutes. now is a good time to prepare and pre-measure the rest of your ingredients.

whisk oil into yeast, stirring quickly, then whisk eggs in one at a time, and finally whisk in the salt and remaining half cup of sugar.

gradually sift in flour, maybe a cup or so at a time. once dough begins to hold shape (after 7 or so cups of flour are added), turn out on a clean floured surface to work with your hands and continue to add flour. knead until a firm ball of dough is formed. dough should be firm and bounce back whence poked with a finger. if outside of the ball is sticky, knead in a little more flour. do not overwork it, though. you don’t want a tough or dusty loaf. you want to keep things stretchy and gooey in there.

place ball of dough into a clean, oiled large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. stick it somewhere kinda warm. might i suggest on top of the dryer, in a water bath, and in front of a heater. let it rise for an hour or so. it will double in size in this time.

after raising for an hour, punch air out of dough. just give it a few good squishes and twists for 2 minutes or so. place cover back on and allow to rise for another half an hour or so. *this second raising can also be done slowly in the refrigerator overnight.

after second raising, prepare to braid loaves by lightly flouring clean counter top and tearing off a large sheet of parchment to place braided loaves onto.

to form loaves, remove half the dough from the bowl and gently squish out any major bubbles. separate dough into 6 similarly sized balls. roll dough balls into strands about a foot long. try keeping them at even width. place the strands in a row and gently pinch the tops together.

to braid, take the far right strand and place it two spaces to the left of it. now take the second strand from the left and move it all the way to the far right. take the outside left strand and move it 2 over. move second strand from right to the far left. start over with the far right strand and continue until loaf is braided.

or you can do what i did. use my improvisational skills and wing it. yeah, maybe that is why my loaves look a little wonky, but no one knew. i truly used some free-form weaving technique that i made up and it worked really well.

 

try to braid quickly so dough doesn’t stick to counter top. once loaf is braided, gently move to parchment paper and braid other loaf. place it 3 inches or so from other loaf.

brush both loaves with a well whisked egg. save this egg wash to use once more before baking. allow to rise for an hour or so. they are gonna grow.

preheat oven to 375f. place racks in center of oven.

brush loaves with egg once more before you gently move loaves to oven, keeping them on parchment.

bake for half an hour.

remove from oven and cool for half an hour before serving. my husband noted that this bread is best torn right off the loaf instead of being cut. this bread is so moist that it does not require butter or oil for serving, however a good dip into oil and sprinkling of salt makes this unbeatable.

minestrone soup

 

warm comfort

now begins the fall cooking extravaganza! everyone knows that warm, slowly cooked soups with big punches of flavor warm the body and soul. and tastes real good. one of my favorite things about making a huge pot of soup is the way it stretches through the week, and choosing your portion size. want a huge bowl of soup? take it. want a little cup? that’s fine, leave the rest for lunch tomorrow. soup is easy and really cheap. the minestrone soup i made last week was particularly comforting, as i made it on a cold, crisp day when the clouds imparted a grey overtone all over the skies. the day before was yellow and comfortable, but autumn settled in, and that was a cold reminder that it was time to put my sandals away! another reminder that it was time to put my sandals away? i was stirring hot soup while wearing them, and felt a burning “drip, drop” on my big toe. i now have a blister under my nail bed. lesson: learned.

this soup is full of goodies, both in the tasting and nutritional sense. i feel that this might be something i crave on a sick day, being made up mostly of broth and healthy veggies. not to mention, i made it a little spicy, which always clears my head when i am feeling stuffy. we picked at this soup all week, and i’d say it made about 6-8 generous servings. give this soup some real love and time to simmer. the key to a good soup is cooking it, letting it cool for an hour or so, and reheating it. this allows the veggies time to soak up all of the flavors and soften before you serve. the broth will thicken somewhat when cooled because of the pectin in the tomatoes. trust me, this soup, like most, is good a few hours or even a full day after it is cooked! another trick of this soup is the cheese rind. the cream from the cheese really brings all of the flavors together. it is well worth a trip to the store to buy a block of cheese for the added salty, nutty creaminess this will sneak into the soup. use the rest of the cheese to top your hot bowl of soup.

minestrone soup

2 carrots, scrubbed & chopped

2 stalks of celery, ends retained, cleaned and chopped

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 can fire roasted tomatoes in sauce

1 tbsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp or more red pepper flakes

pecorino or parmesan cheese rind, wrapped in cheese cloth

1 bunch of basil, stems trimmed

salt and pepper

4 small italian sausages, sliced and browned

method:

cut sausages into bite sizes. brown in a skillet and set aside.

 

browned sausages

in a large pot or dutch oven, saute the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes in a splash of oil until just brown and fragrant. quickly pour in the broth and cook over medium heat for half an hour or so.

before you puree

 

using an immersion blender, puree the soup until the veggies are tiny shreds floating in the broth.

 

after you puree

throw in the tomatoes and cheese rind. cook for an additional hour over low heat. stir and poke the cheese rind with a spoon every 10 minutes or so to squish out some of the cream. throw in the cooked sausage and cook for another half an hour.

cheese in a cloth

 

taste soup and add salt and pepper as desired. be sure you wait until just before serving to salt and pepper this soup and the flavors change quite progressively while cooking.

stir in basil just before serving. top with cheese.

 

the basil makes this soup italian!

i also boiled up some rice noodles to throw into brian’s share, which he really loved. i ate some of the noodles too and they were really tasty in this soup. -hey, you only live once.

oh, and here is a bonus pic of the spider that made brian scream something fierce when it crawled out of his lawn chair while i was cooking this soup. this spider was as big as my thumb. it was horrible and scary! no wonder brian screamed! he only has 7 legs, i think he got into a battle with sparky! sparky likes to pull the legs off of crickets, spiders, and any critter that comes into the garage.

 

don't sit down, brian!

emma apple orchard and 3 recipes

 

 

my bestie emma was in town from san francisco last week. what a dream. she was around for about 2 weeks, and it felt like 2 hours. i can’t explain the pure grief i went through when it was time for her to go back to san francisco. it was a real loss for me. she brings such bright light and sweet joy to everyone’s life that she passes into. thanks for all of the time you spent with me, emma!

to make the most of our time together, the awesome friend trio, erin, emma, and myself, made a visit to the local apple orchard. in my mind, i’ll forever associate autumn with trips to the apple orchard or pumpkin patch with emily. it’s sort of her “thing”. it’s not officially autumn until you make a trip to pick apples, you know. we stuffed ourselves on apples. we bought half a bushel, and that is a lot of apples. we climbed trees, threw apples at each other, and taste tested any apple we could get our hands on.

we had a great dinner party afterward, to get rid of a few apples. we had apple and spinach stuffed pork tenderloin, which was super tasty. i love pork and apples. serious love. pork tenderloin is particularly easy to entertain with. (since we were cooking for so many, i made 3 tenderloins. i will reduce the recipe to 4 servings for practicality.) i pounded them out flat, stuffed them, tied ‘em up, and let them marinate for a few hours. brian threw them on the grill for me, and they were finished in about 30 minutes. we also had butternut squash with apple smoked bacon and toasted walnuts. i am madly in love with this combination. i will make it our official fall side dish. for desert, we gobbled up an apple upside down cake, which turned out pretty great.

we had a truth or dare bonfire after dinner, so the rest of the night was a little foggy. i just know that there was wine. lots and lots of wine.

here are the recipes!

 

apples and rosemary

 

spinach and apple stuffed pork tenderloin

serves 4

ingredients

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 lb

1 apple, thinly sliced

1 cup spinach

few sprigs of trimmed rosemary, chopped (maybe a tablespoon or more)

1/4 cup or so apple cider vinegar

pepper

salt (after the pork is finished cooking!)

poultry string, 4 pieces cut into 6″ strands, to tie up the porkie

meat mallet

method:

on a clean counter top or cutting board, pound the tenderloin until it is about half an inch thick. it may take 10 minutes or so of a good beating, but it is possible. try to get the entire piece of meat uniform in thickness.

 

all rolled up

 

careful you don’t pound through anywhere.

pour half the vinegar over the meat. sprinkle the rosemary and pepper over the meat. *don’t salt it yet. salting before you cook meat is a good way to lose juice and flavor, or make the meat really tough, unless you are brining.

spread the apple slices onto the meat, then the spinach on top of that.

roll the tenderloin long way, so you have a long tube of meat, securing with string as you go along. tuck in all of the spinach and apples that sneak out.

pour the rest of the vinegar over the pork and set aside to marinate for an hour. pork should be at room temp for half an hour before cooking. throw onto the grill, indirect heat, for half an hour or so. let it rest for 10 minutes before sprinkling with salt and pepper. cut string off and serve.

butternut squash with toasted walnuts and crisped bacon

serves 8

ingredients

1 medium butternut squash

few sprigs rosemary, trimmed and chopped

knob of butter

salt and pepper

1/4 cup whole milk (or heavy cream for a special treat)

2 tbsp brown sugar

5 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

1 cup walnuts, chopped

method: preheat oven to 450f. rinse the outer skin of the squash and dry. with a sharp knife, cut down the squash lengthwise. smear the flesh with butter. sprinkle with rosemary, salt, and pepper. place onto greased cookiesheet, flesh side down, and roast for 40 minutes or so. you’ll know it’s done when the skin is brown and papery. you should be able to pierce it easily with a dull knife. don’t be alarmed if the flesh is black around the edges. this is a special treat. the starches in the squash cook into a nice, deeply flavored sugary crust. try to include this into the puree.

while squash is cooling, over low heat, toast the walnuts until they become just fragrant. these burn easily, watch it.

set nuts aside to cool.

once squash is done, set aside to cool for half an hour or so. now scoop the flesh out from the skin into a large bowl or kitchen aid bowl. the papery skin may try to cling onto the flesh, so you should use care in doing this.

pour milk or cream over squash and add brown sugar. whip with mixer until well mixed and smooth. taste it. -here is where you can add some more cream, salt, pepper, or brown sugar.

scoop into a pretty bowl and sprinkle bacon and nuts over top. a little butter melting on top doesn’t hurt, either.

i’ll now include my recipe for apple upside down cake, though i’ve posted it before on this blog. i’ve adjusted the recipe slightly, as has the author of the original recipe over at comfy belly. the previous cake contained a lot of liquid, so i’ve cut out the butter from the cake batter and used thicker yogurt to further reduce the water content. i really like this mildly sweet cake, and it’s become a seasonal regular in our house. use tart apples for maximum flavor. i served it with maple whipped cream, but it would be great with vanilla ice cream, or maybe a small glass of bourbon. what? don’t be a square.

 

apples upside down

 

apple upside down cake

2 cups almond flour, packed

pinch of salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup honey

3 tart apples, cored & sliced

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp brown sugar

method:

preheat oven to 300f. prep spring form or regular 9″ cake pan with butter and round of parchment.

in large skillet, saute thinly sliced apples in a little butter and cinnamon for 5 minutes or so, until they are just tender. -you don’t want to over cook them, remember they will cook a little while baking, too. remove from heat and place in a pretty pattern on parchment. i did spirals patterns, trying to close the gaps so the batter wouldn’t seep through much. don’t pour the tasty syrup into the pan, you’ll only have a soggy cake. sprinkle brown sugar over the apples and stick pan into the freezer while you prep the cake.

meanwhile, combine dry ingredients, breaking clumps from the almond meal.

separately, mix wet ingredients. be sure the eggs are well beaten into the batter to ensure an even and smooth batter.

combine wet and dry together.

pour the batter over the apples.

bake for 40 minutes on middle rack of oven.

you’ll know when it is done by using toothpick test, and cake is not jiggly when you give it a tap.

let it cool in the pan for at least an hour. i usually let it cool for a few hours so the syrup from the fruit sets up before i invert it.