Our Fourth of July weekend was relatively quiet. We spent an afternoon lingering at the Getty, then stayed home on the big day and made this steak. It's been a couple of weeks now, and Andrew is still talking about it. When we started preparing dinner, my expectations were not especially high for this dish. I assumed it would be acceptable fare for a summer holiday, but was unprepared for how my taste buds reacted.
Andrew and I have started exercising again! We finally agreed on the days of the week to get outside after work, and for the past three weeks we've been sticking to it. I try to be optomistic, generally, but because we've stopped and started in the past, I'm not sure how long this will last.
On the days we exercise, my routine is to prep a few things for dinner before we run so we aren't waiting too long to eat after we get back. My favorite dish is the kind I can pop in the oven while we're out, and these peppers fit the bill. They're hearty and filling, which is great for refueling after a workout, and not even a carnivore will miss the meat in this dish.
There is a relatively well-known chain of French-inspired cafe's called Le Pain Quotidien that makes irresistible bread, tarts, tartines, and other rustic fare. It's one of the few places I don't mind eating out, because it's the kind of food I love to eat. They also serve iced tea lemonade in your own carafe. My meal is usually something I can recreate at home, which is ok with me because I dine there to be inspired. I eat consciously, always walking away feeling satisfied and refreshed.
Back in May I made a raw asparagus salad, but I never thought to throw it on top of pizza. Deb did, and I'm so glad, because it makes a wonderful dinner and gets me out of the mozzarella and tomato sauce pattern that sometimes takes over.
During the course of making this pizza, I found myself pulling a few asparagus ribbons out of the bowl and snacking on them while I waited for the dough to rise. Then I left the kitchen to avoid eating the majority of our pizza topping. Takeaway: More asparagus is always better, if you have it.
There are many things you can use a food processor for, but my favorite has always been pesto. It’s the first thing I made after we got married and opened the large Cuisinart box from one of our wedding guests. At the time we had space for a large basil plant on the patio, and I, not surprisingly, became slightly obsessed and made pesto every chance I could.
Since then, I’ve branched out. I still make basil pesto, but I’ve used kale, arugula and now, spinach. Pesto makes for a hearty pasta, and is extra healthy if you use whole wheat pasta as well.
I’ve made a few treats recently, including strawberry ice cream and a raspberry buckle, but I was secretly itching for chocolate cake. Do you ever feel that way? That you’re just feeling the need to soften some butter and cream it with sugar and pull a cake out of the oven? I was starting to become desperate.
Sometimes cake can be overwhelming. There are layers. And fondant. And Swiss buttercream. Layer cakes are showpieces, always impressive and festive, but I wasn’t in the mood for one of those. Instead, I craved the beauty of a single layer. And chocolate. I was also looking for the recipe I could make again and again, for any occasion.
Can you believe it’s been five weeks since I’ve posted a pasta recipe? I’ll give you a moment while you catch your breath. While I have absolutely no explanation for this oversight, I can assure you there will be no shortage of pasta moving forward, because that would just be a tragedy.
This recipe from Bon Appetit combines a few of my favorite things: roasted cauliflower, breadcrumbs, and pasta. It's similar to the Sicilian Spaghetti I love so much, but with larger, cooked-to-toasty-perfection breadcrumbs that play a big role adding texture to the dish.
In case you haven't noticed, I'm very fond of muffins. I especially love them in the car, and make a habit of baking a batch whenever a long stretch of highway is in my foreseeable future. This time, my nephew was graduating from high school, and although the drive was a mere two hours, muffins were still very much appropriate. Road trips aside, muffins also make great afternoon snacks at work, or a light breakfast (unless you have an addictive cereal habit like me).
Can someone please tell me how it became June so quickly? It seems like just yesterday I was blending warm soups and baking macaroni and cheese, when suddenly it became summer. Oh my. Now that my lamenting is out of the way, let's focus on one of my new favorite dishes.
I love quinoa for it’s health benefits and quick cooking powers, but lately it’s been salad after salad. And while there’s nothing wrong with finding new ingredients to toss it with for a simple dinner, I did a little investigating and came across a fresh and satisfying way to prepare it.
I love the way a lime smells, and for this reason am drawn to find ways to use them more in my kitchen. So when I decided to make a big pot of simmered black beans to eat with homemade flour tortillas (recipes here), the table needed a little something extra.
I stumbled upon this recipe on my Epicurious iPhone app when I was searching for a way to use the sweet potatoes that were delivered in my vegetable box. With lime and cilantro as the key ingredients, I knew it would be perfect to go alongside the beans.
Sometimes there are nights when I don’t feel like cooking, and I know I’m not alone. For all the fun I have meal planning, flipping through my glossy magazines, and cooking new things, I have days when I'm just not interested in spending a lot of time in the kitchen. But I’m still interested in eating well, so you can see the dilemma.
For a lazy night, tuna melts are life-savers. They take almost no time to make, and are satisfying with just a few simple ingredients. I’ve made these twice for dinner in the last week, which is reaching my quota for repeat recipes, but I love having this sandwich in my recipe box now. You know, for whenever I need something really, really simple (yet delicious).
Around my birthday, I inevitably start thinking about strawberries. Shortly after May begins I debate which dessert to make for myself, sometimes believing I'll stray from tradition and choose chocolate cake or pecan bars. But in my life, strawberries have always been one of my first food loves, and there's no sense in changing things now.
Everything tastes better fresh from the ground, don't you think? Arugula, I learned this month, has the most vivid pepper taste when it’s wild, and I’m only privy to this information thanks to my mother. Recently, with the assistance of my brother, my parents have planted a garden in their backyard this spring, and the vegetables are already starting to sprout.
During a recent visit, I arrived home with green onions, which I spread on my cutting board, admiring the fresh dirt. Yes, dirt from the earth! I couldn’t have been more excited to wash them off. Also present were a head of lettuce greens, and a bunch of arugula. All the salad needed was a little goat cheese to be the perfect weeknight meal.
GARDEN SALAD WITH WARM GOAT CHEESE + GREEN ONION VINAIGRETTE
The best way to slice goat cheese without it crumbling is with dental floss, so raid your medicine cabinet before heading to the kitchen.
Serves 2
For Salad
6 cups lettuce
Chives, for garnish
4 ounces goat cheese
¾ cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten and thinned with a bit of milk or water
Salt and pepper
Olive oil, for grilling
For Vinaigrette
4 green onions
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil
Directions
Place breadcrumbs and the egg into separate, small bowls. On a cutting board, slice the goat cheese with dental floss into ¼ inch slices, about 8 to 10 pieces. One at a time, dredge goat cheese rounds into the egg, then cover with breadcrumbs and set on a small platter. Place the goat cheese into the fridge and chill for 15 minutes.
While the goat cheese chills, wash and dry the lettuce, and keep it in the fridge until ready to plate.
Make the vinaigrette. In a food processor, combine green onions, mustard, salt and pepper, and pulse to combine. Add oil in a slow stream, about half a cup, until the dressing is emulsified and the desire consistency is reached.
Heat a nonstick sauté pan to medium heat and add a turn of olive oil to coat the pan. Add three or four of the goat cheese slices and cook two minutes per side, or until golden brown and heated through. Set aside on a paper towel to sop up any excess oil.
Serve the salad scattered with a few goat cheese rounds and a sprinkling of chives on each plate.
Time flies. Two years ago I was becoming disenchanted with a job I was over qualified for, and started to spend more time in the kitchen as a way to release some creativity. Then, over dinner one night, a friend suggested I start a food blog. Since it combined my interests in writing, cooking, design, and photography, blogging was a natural fit and I've been hooked ever since. My job has changed (for the better), we've moved, and life has taken it's twists and turns, but there's no denying the force of food in my life.
In the charming town of Yountville, just north of Napa, is a garden. The garden is at the base of the mountains, with vineyards running up the side and wildflowers springing up in the grass, directly across the street from Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry. It has rows of carrots, chives, garlic, fingerling potatoes, rainbow chard, and some empty plots I imagine will soon be planted with tomatoes.
Andrew came into the kitchen one evening and said bluntly, “We’ve been having a lot of soup.” Although this isn’t entirely true (we’d had soup once a week for about a month, hardly what I consider a lot), but I took heed. I started browsing for something new and exciting, and the search ended when I ran into Saveur’s Korean Fried Chicken.
{4.22.06 around 7:30 pm.} We've said I do, my dad gave a toast that made us all laugh and cry, and we've even managed to nibble at our salad of dark, leafy greens, avocado and a citrus dressing. That's us with my very Italian Uncle Nick, at our wedding reception four years ago. Where are we now? Somewhere just north of downtown Napa, winding our way through the vineyards. In my absence, I leave you with risotto, a dish I think is quite romantic, perfect for a day like this.
I hope you're not bored with all the pizza on this blog lately. It wasn't intentional, but happens to be the product of my latest obsession. I actually blame Peter Reinhart, and you can too, because his crust is just too good to be true.
For a little variety, I used white sauce instead of red and infused it with garlic and basil. Next, caramelized onions, and while the pizza is still hot, it's scattered with arugula. I also drizzled on some balsamic syrup for a little sweetness.
