City Share

Haddock with Herb, Lemon and Butter Sauce

2012-02-08T19:52:00.005-05:00

Something we have noticed upon moving to the Boston area is that there is a bounty of locally caught fish. There are fish CSAs advertising at the various farmers' markets and Whole Foods has fish out of Gloucester, MA. All these fresh, local options are making us enjoy fish a little more frequently. This week we had some haddock. We both like the firm, meaty texture. In the past we have prepared it with panko bread crumbs, but now that we are avoiding grains we decided to just pan fry it and serve it with an herb, lemon and butter sauce. It was superb! The only downside was that there weren't any leftovers and I actually had to make our lunches the next morning.

We enjoyed our haddock with spinach salad and mashed butternut squash. Please notice the lovely gray plates...we thought we'd give the ugly yellow ones a night off.

Haddock with Herb, Lemon and Butter Sauce
4 T butter
1 lb haddock (or other firm fish)
2 T olive oil
1/4 C chicken broth (or fish or vegetable broth)
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 t lemon zest
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 T fresh herbs, finely chopped (we used chervil, dill, parsley and tarragon)

Melt 2 T of butter in a skillet, and add the fish fillets. Cook for about 3 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the fish). Place the cooked fish on a serving platter. In the same pan, add the chicken broth. Deglaze the pan and cook until the broth slightly reduces. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn off the heat. Let sit for a couple of minutes and then drizzle over the fish.

Enjoy!

This post is part of Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday, Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Friday Food Flicks.

Curry Chicken Salad

2012-02-08T15:18:00.005-05:00

We have been making lots of chicken stock lately, and that has been leaving us with a fair bit of leftover boiled chicken. Something I have been making on a regular basis is chicken salad. Curry Chicken Salad is my new favorite lunch. It's quick and easy, but it's far from boring. I made some for a lunch gathering last weekend and everyone was excited about it. Homemade mayonnaise really takes it over the top. I have used this recipe from A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa.

Curry Chicken Salad
2 1/2 C Chicken, chopped
3/4 C Mayonnaise
1 1/2 T Curry Powder
2 ribs of Celery, chopped
Dried Fruit - optional (golden raisins or dried cranberries)
Nuts - optional (sliced almonds, walnuts or pecans)

Combine all ingredients. I use about a handful of the fruit and nuts. Serve over salad greens, or on a bread of your choice.

What's your favorite use for leftover chicken?

This post is part of Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, and Works for Me Wednesday.

Ditching the Sugar and Grain (at least for now)

2012-02-07T09:03:00.007-05:00

Our cake and cupcake pans all have a new use...holding water on top of the radiators to help humidify the air.

I have mentioned in previous posts that we are taking a break from sugar and grains. Here is a little background info to explain why:

We have a 7 month baby girl. I was very determined to breast feed her, but it was not an easy road. We had problem after problem.* Just when things were starting to get a little bit more tolerable, white patches appeared in baby girl's mouth. It was the dreaded thrush! (For the uninitiated, it is a yeast overgrowth in the baby's mouth and it is passed between baby and the nursing mother.) We first tried some home remedies, but they didn't work, so we went to the pediatrician and started our first round of Nystatin. I cut out sugar and most starchy foods, took probiotics and ate fermented food. The thrush seemed to clear up, but as soon as we stopped the medicine it came right back. After our third round of medicine, I promised myself we weren't going to use the medicine again. There had to be another way...

Right about that time we moved to the Boston area, and I met a naturopathic nutritionist. I described our ongoing saga with thrush and asked if she had any advice. She suggested we both continue our courses of probiotics and that I go "Paleo" and cut out grains and sugars entirely. I already knew that would be a good idea, but she gave me the extra push to really commit. She also suggested that I take one tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar before each meal (to make the system more basic and less conducive to the yeast) and to eat two tablespoons of freshly ground flax seed each day (this would help sweep out the yeast and provide a base for the good bacteria). She also approved of my plan to start giving baby girl some homemade chicken stock every day to start helping heal her digestive track (more on feeding babies in a future post). After 3 weeks on this plan, the thrush disappeared and stayed gone. This was over Christmas, so it was hard to avoid all the seasonal treats, but totally worth the sacrifice after 3 months of battling thrush.

Well, the story doesn't end there. After the thrush had been gone for a month or so, I started to slip. Sometimes I would forget to take the vinegar, probiotics or flax seed. I stayed pretty true to the food at meal time, but I started to sneak an illicit snack in the afternoons. I started a little ritual of a pastry and a decaf coffee in the late afternoon. It gave me something to look forward to, and seemed to help ground me in this new, unfamiliar landscape. It was my secret little treat. To top it all off, I devoured a box of homemade peppermint bark sent to us by NYC friends in just two days. Of course, my body was on to my secret. I started to develop dry, itchy red patches of skin at my hairline and behind my ears (I'm sure a doctor would diagnose it as either eczema or psoriasis). I have had a lifelong battle with dandruff and itchy scalp, but this was much worse. I knew the pastries had to go, and I had to become more serious about ditching the sugar and the grain. A couple of weeks back on the wagon, and the patches are gone.

I'm not exactly sure what the long term solution is. I'm still nursing and my first priority is to provide excellent nutrition to baby girl. I need to do more research into GAPS and other diets focused on eliminating candida that will not be too harsh for nursing mothers. I have read of issues with yeast die-off and the potential for toxins released into the mother's milk with some diets.

Have you had experiences with thrush or yeast overgrowth? How did you deal with it? Have you been pleased with the results?

*If you are a new mom, and having trouble nursing please feel free to contact me. I am not an official expert, but have felt your pain and can commiserate and offer our experiences. Although, when I was having trouble nursing, I was not reading food blogs because I was consumed with looking for solutions to my breastfeeding issues in books and on-line, so I'm not expecting my inbox to start overflowing with breastfeeding related messages. Just in case, I found Mothering and La Leche League to be helpful.

The First Family Farm Visit

2012-02-06T08:37:00.006-05:00

Our baby girl has begun saying, "Fffffff," and we always find ourselves responding with lots of words that begin with F (food, fun, etc). Yesterday we made a trip out to Eastleigh Farm in Framingham, Ma for our first family visit to a farm. (lots of new F words to add to our rotation - first, family, farm, Framingham) In Massachusetts, individuals are able to buy raw milk only from a store on the farm. So, we made the trip to get some raw milk, eggs and butter. We had lots of fun wandering around the farm, seeing the milking cows, the young cows (pictured above), meeting the farmer and enjoying the sunshine.

We are already enjoying the sweet, fresh milk and looking forward to some homemade yogurt. Here are some other things we plan to eat this week:

Monday - Chipotle Burgers over Spinach Salad
Tuesday - Pan fried Local Haddock with an herb, lemon and butter sauce with squash and broccoli
Wednesday - Spicy Sausage, Kale and Bean Soup
Thursday - Chicken, sauteed spinach and squash
Friday - Vegetable Curry

(Only sqush 2 out of 5 nights. That's a little better)

What are your menu plans for the week?

This post is part of Menu Plan Monday and Monday Mania.

Dinner Inspiration

2012-02-04T06:17:00.006-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we have been trying to avoid sugar, flour and grains (more on why in a future post). These limitations have put us in a definite dinner rut of meat, winter squash and kale/chard. So I set out to find some inspiration that looked tasty, healthy and affordable. Here's what I found:

10 Grain-Free Dinners on a Budget from Holistic Kid

A delicious looking/sounding Taco Salad at Riddle Love. Also planning to check out her weekly meal plans too.

One of my favorite blogs, Nourished Kitchen, is always inspiring, but this Chipotle Chile, Chicken and Black Bean Soup looked especially appealing to me.

Do you have any recipes to recommend for an affordable grain-free dinner? Please share your dinner inspiration.

Last night we enjoyed a roasted lemon garlic chicken with baked butternut squash and sauteed red chard with garlic. Still part of our basic pattern, but it was tasty. We drizzled the pan drippings over the squash, and I highly recommend it.

Lemon Garlic Chicken
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
zest of 1-2 lemons
1 pasture raised chicken
1/2 C Chicken Stock
2 T butter

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix the garlic and lemon zest together. Gently loosen the chicken skin and push the garlic and lemon under the skin. Try to evenly distribute over the whole chicken. Place the chicken into a dutch oven and add the chicken stock. Rub the butter over the chicken. Cook the chicken for 1-2 hours (until a leg wiggles easily). Remove the lid, and turn up the heat to 400 degrees and cook for another 20 minutes or until the skin is golden.

No-Noodle Lasagna

2012-02-01T21:15:00.008-05:00

We moved and we are now writing to you from the Boston area. (Will have to rework the blog a bit.) It's been a big adjustment - for starters we now have a car! Moving to Boston during winter isn't ideal. One - it's a little grey and cold to get out and walk around to explore our new neighborhood. Two - local food is hard to come by making it extra difficult for us newbies to find all the locally sourced milk, eggs, veggies and meat we love. Apparently, we took all those wonderful greenmarkets of NYC for granted. Boston does have winter greenmarkets, but they are farther from home and have fewer vendors. Our next plan is to head out to some of the farms to try out their farm stores. Might as well take advantage of having a car, right?

We are working on not eating sugar, flour and grains for a few weeks. This has left us eating a lot of dinners of meat, winter squash and kale. It was time to mix it up a bit, so I headed down to the neighborhood grocery store to see what organic veggies I could scrounge up. I came up with zucchini and eggplant (out of season in Boston, but you do the best you can). I decided to make some lasagna using slices of zucchini and eggplant as the noodles.

In this recipe, I used a jar of organic spaghetti sauce. I have read about canned tomatoes leaching BPA out of the can lining, and I haven't been able to find tomatoes in jars. So, I have resorted to using jars of spaghetti sauce instead. Do you know where to find tomatoes in jars?

No-Noodles Lasagna
2 T olive oil
2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise
1 medium eggplant, sliced lengthwise
1 lb grass fed ground beef
28 oz spaghetti sauce
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 t dried parsley
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried oregano
8 oz mozzarella cheese, grated

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Oil two baking sheets and place the the slices of zucchini and eggplant on the sheets. Bake until softened - about 15-20 minutes. While those are in the oven, brown the ground beef, and mix in the spaghetti sauce. In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, eggs and spices. Layer the ingredients into a casserole pan. I put a bit of sauce in the bottom of the pan, eggplant, sauce, ricotta mixture, mozzarella, zucchini, sauce, ricotta mixture and mozzarella. Bake for 45 minutes to warm it through.

*I like pre-baking the veggies because I think there is nothing worse than under cooked zucchini and eggplant. Years ago, I made this for a party but didn't pre-bake the veggies. I baked it for more than 2 hours and they were still not quite done.

This post is part of Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday, Jenny's Alphabe-Thursdays, Frugal Food Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Make Ahead Monday.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-11-26T07:24:00.014-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends.

We had planned on visiting family in upstate New York for the weekend. We expected to enjoy a lunch with one part of the family and dinner with another part of the family (our routine for the last several years). This is baby girl's first Thanksgiving and we were excited for her to get to see so many family members. Unfortunately our transportation fell through at the last minute, and we realized we would be spending Thanksgiving on our own in New York City.

I was really sad about not getting to spend the holiday with family, but we decided to embrace this change of plans. As we get ready to move to Boston, it became a nice opportunity to have a few more New York experiences before we leave.

In the morning, we went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We had never been, and it was lots of fun. Some people arrive at 6:30 am to stake out a spot. We let the baby have a nap at home, and then headed out. So we didn't arrive until after the parade had started. We were in the back, but we still enjoyed all the balloons and listening to the marching bands. Our little one loved watching all the people.

After the parade, we decided to get a light lunch before getting on the subway back to Brooklyn. We found Fine and Schapiro, a Kosher deli, and enjoyed some latkes, pierogies and half a corned beef sandwich.

We got a few last minute invites to local dinners, but we decided to cook at home. Neither one of us has ever prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner. We have only made a couple of dishes to take to family dinners. We set our menu and did some last minute shopping the night before.

I love Thanksgiving food, so it was hard not to make a million side dishes, but we were pretty good at keeping the menu at a reasonable size. My husband found a 9 pound young turkey that was delicious. We also made a cranberry orange relish, sweet potatoes with pecans, cinnamon and cloves, brussels sprouts with red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese, creamed onions with bacon, and a leek, cranberry and apple stuffing.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

How time flies!

2011-11-18T14:33:00.003-05:00

We had a beautiful baby girl at the end of June. The doctors suspicions were correct-she was a big baby weighing in at 9.5 pounds. Luckily, I was still able to have the natural birth I was hoping for. I believe that eating right, prenatal yoga, and lots of walking gave me the strength to tough it out (along with my husband's support of course).

We have settled into family life here in Brooklyn. We enjoyed the bounty of the season's CSA vegetables, fruit, eggs and meat. I have been cooking less, and my husband has been taking the lead in keeping this nursing mama well nourished. I am amazed at how so many of you can prepare beautiful feasts night after night with a houseful of children. The meals I have made have been quick and simple which has not provided much fodder for new blog posts. But I have missed writing and being part of the blogging community, so I am planning on getting back into it.

There is a big change on the horizon for us. We are saying farewell to NYC and heading to Boston for a new exciting job for my husband. Stay tuned to hear more about the upcoming move and our efforts to create healthful meals in the midst of the chaos.

Salmon and Lentil Salad with Lemon Caper Dressing

2011-06-17T06:14:00.007-04:00

The doctors have been warning me for a while now that we are going to have a big baby. I don't have gestational diabetes, but I think it's just in my genes that everything I eat goes straight to the baby.(Some people will roll their eyes when I complain about this.) I was almost 10 pounds when I was born, but my mom hadn't gained much weight. Her wedding rings were actually loose when she went into the hospital. Sugar, fruit and refined white stuff especially beef up the baby, so I have been trying to stick with a fairly high fiber and protein diet and to stay active with lots of walking and yoga.

One meal we especially enjoyed was a Salmon and Lentil Salad with Lemon Caper Dressing. It was nice and refreshing on a hot night. We simply layered some salad greens, cold lentils (but they could be served hot too), pan-fried salmon and topped it off with a delicious, tangy lemon caper dressing. It's a great low carb meal - whatever your reason. For an extra short cut, Trader Joes has some tasty pre-cooked lentils that are pre-seasoned. They keep for quite a while in the fridge, and are great to keep on hand for a quick meal. We like the seasoning they use, and used them as our flavor inspiration.

French Lentils
1/2 lb French lentils
1/2 T thyme
1/2 T oregano
1 t garlic powder
1/4 t salt and pepper
2 bay leaves

Spread the lentils out on a cookie sheet to check for pebbles. Place in a strainer and rinse. Place in a stockpot and add water to cover by an inch. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender but still firm.

Lemon Caper Dressing
2 T olive oil
1 t spicy brown mustard
dash of salt and pepper
1 T apple cider vinegar
2 T water
1 t capers
1/4 lemon, juiced
Extra capers for garnish

Whisk ingredients together to combine.

We enjoyed some extra capers sprinkled over the top of our salad.

This post is part of Ekat's Kitchen Friday Potluck, Designs by Gollum Foodie Friday, Fat Camp Friday, Susie QT Pies Friday Follow, and Ann Kroeker's Food on Friday.

Delicious Pulled Pork

2011-06-15T19:11:00.009-04:00

Well, more time has passed than I intended since my last post. Pregnancy has just been more of a game changer than I expected. Luckily I am healthy and feeling well, but the doctor appointments, childbirth classes, prenatal yoga, etc really eat into blogging time. I know that this is only a taste of what is to come once the baby actually arrives. My due date is a week and a half away, so I thought it was a good time to check back-in with City Share.

Several weeks ago, before the spring vegetables were really showing up at the farmers' market, we had a great dinner that took advantage of some of the vegetables that store well over the winter. We got an acorn squash from the market and some spinach out of our freezer, and made some favorite dishes. We simply baked the squash and served it with some butter, and made some creamed spinach with some leftover cream cheese and half and half. As good as the vegetables were, the piece de resistance was some pulled pork inspired by a recipe in our Dinosaur BBQ cookbook. The meat was melt-in-your mouth tender and the sauce was a great combination of tangy, sweet and spicy. It was a delicious feast.

Pulled Pork inspired by Dinosaur BBQ

4.5 lb pork shoulder
1/2 can of tomato paste
10 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C water
2 T ketchup
1 T spicy brown mustard
4 T maple syrup
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 t cayenne
1/4 t allspice
1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Sear pork shoulder in a Dutch oven over high heat on each side. Remove the meat from the pan, and combine the rest of the ingredients in the pan. Add the meat back in and spoon the sauce over the pork shoulder. Place in the oven and cook for 2.5 to 3 hours. Flip over every hour or so. The meat is done when it is falling off the bone.

This post is part of Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday, Turning the Table Thursday, Jenny's Alphabe-Thursdays, Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life As Mom, Frugal Food Thursday, Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story, and Simple Lives Thursday.

Update

2011-04-20T12:25:00.007-04:00

Here's an update from us here at City Share:

I came down with a horrible cold and cough accompanied by a fever the day before my birthday. Not only was I sick for five days and feeling miserable, but we had company for three days in the middle of it. Nothing like plodding around in my giant grey sweatpants and fleece with uncombed hair to get to know someone better. Being pregnant and sick is the worst combination.

Luckily, I recuperated in time for our babymoon to Baltimore. I wasn't up to full speed, but good enough to be able to walk around and enjoy some good food. I highly recommend Baltimore for a weekend getaway. Don't let The Wire scare you off. There are some lovely historic neighborhoods. We had fun taking the water taxi around the harbor, visiting the American Visionary Art Museum, visiting The Walters Art Museum and just walking around checking out the different neighborhoods. Of course we had to eat while we were there too. My husband has a friend from high school who lives in Baltimore, and he was kind enough to come up with a whole list of restaurants in a variety of neighborhoods for us to try. I'm allergic to shellfish, but my husband indulged in the requisite crab cakes (he actually thinks they are kind of boring, but the raw oysters were right up his alley). We sampled some delicious Afghan food in the Mount Vernon neighborhood at The Helmand, and some solid pub fare at Alexander's Tavern in Fells Point. It was a great getaway and only a 2.5 hour train ride from New York City.

We will be away this weekend for Easter, but then we will be settling in for the duration until the baby comes. Our new addition is due to arrive at the end of June. I'm looking forward to being home after a couple of weekends with guests and a couple of weekends away. We hope to be preparing lots of healthy treats, and maybe even putting some up for when the baby comes.

This post is part of Alphabe-thursdays.

The Chip Shop

2011-03-29T06:52:00.005-04:00

My dad was in town for a visit this last weekend. This was his first time visiting us since we moved to Brooklyn, and we had a great time walking around exploring our new surrounds and eating lots of delicious food. On Saturday he requested fish and chips for lunch. We knew that The Chip Shop would be a good spot to satisfy his craving and it was right on the way for our walk to Prospect Park. His visit conveniently coincided with restaurant week here in Brooklyn, and once we arrived at the Chip Shop we learned that they were participating in Dine In Brooklyn. The special at The Chip Shop was for 2 three course lunches for $20.11. Dad and I ordered twin lunches. We each got the salad, fish and chips and the rhubarb crumble with custard sauce. My husband ordered the deep fried haggis with salad.

Dad and I were very pleased with our lunches. The salad was simple with nicely dressed greens; the fish had a crispy shell of batter with tender, flaky cod; and the chips were full of potato flavor. The portion was quite large and I couldn't finish mine. I think they could make it smaller for the three course special. Because we were already so full, we decided to ask to take one dessert to go. The rhubarb crumble was good. I could have gone for even more custard sauce and less crumble, but that's just my personal preference.

My husband was a bit disappointed with his lunch. We had visited The Chip Shop once before about a year ago and he ordered the haggis that time too. He thought it wasn't as good this time around. Last time we visited their Atlantic Avenue location. Maybe the haggis is just better there, but he decided he would order something different next time.

Dine In Brooklyn continues until March 31st. It's a great opportunity to try some local restaurants.

This post is part of Works-for-me-Wednesday, Let's Do Brunch, and Welcome Wednesday.

A Versatile Mustard Sauce

2011-03-24T06:24:00.007-04:00

We have fallen into a dinner rut since we moved to Brooklyn last October. I think there are a few factors that have contributed. Our move coincided with the time our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share came to an end. The CSA delivery each week forced us to get creative to find new and delicious ways to eat up all of the vegetables. We also found out right before we moved that we were expecting our first child. Soon after, the fatigue and nausea of the first trimester set in and ruined most plans for dinner preparation. Finally, our commutes both got a little longer. It's amazing how getting home 30 minutes later can make such a difference. We arrive home tired and starving and it's hard to get motivated to make anything exciting for dinner. I keep telling myself that a meal plan and some slow cooker dinners will help, but I haven't been very good about following through on either front.

What to do? Well, we do have a very easy sauce that helps dress up our standard meat, vegetable and starch dinner. It's a delicious mustard sauce with only two ingredients. We tend to serve it over pork, but it would be great on chicken too.

We cooked our pork chops with some onions in a cast iron pan. Once they were done, we removed them from the pan and prepared the sauce in the same pan with the pork juices. We served it over some orzo with a side of broccoli and salad.

Mustard Sauce
2 T butter
1 T Dijon mustard
1/4 C white wine (optional - we left this out)

Melt the butter over medium low heat and stir in the mustard (and wine if using it). Whisk until combined and then serve.

This post is part of Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Alphabe-Thursday, Tip Day Thursday Carnival, Frugal Fridays, Creative Girls Blog Hop, Foodie Friday, and I'm Lovin' It.

Tandoori Chicken with Lemon Rice

2011-03-22T06:19:00.006-04:00

My husband and I both really enjoy Indian food. Our old apartment was within walking distance of curry row, and we loved walking over to try all of the different regional specialties. Those dining experiences inspired us to try many of the dishes at home including Tandoori Chicken. It requires just a bit of hands-on time and planning ahead, and the results are full of flavor and spice. It does require quite a few spices. I recommend looking for them at an ethnic market where spices tend to be more affordable than at the grocery store and you can often purchase smaller quantities.

We served the chicken with some lemon rice. The the tartness of the lemon in the rice is balanced by the cashews, and it's always a big hit. Marinating the chicken in the yogurt and lemon spice mixture keeps it nice and moist and tender. We served this to company so we adjusted the quantities to make sure there would be enough for our guest and some leftovers. Both recipes can easily be adjusted up or down to accommodate your numbers.

Tandoori Chicken
serves 6

2 lbs cut up chicken (we just used chicken legs)
2 T garlic, roughly chopped
2 T ginger, peeled and chopped
2 T cumin seeds, or ground cumin
2 t ground coriander
1 t cayenne
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t pepper
2 t salt
1 C yogurt
4 T lemon juice (juice of one lemon)
2 T coconut oil
1-2 onions, cut into thick slices
cilantro, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the skin from the chicken, rinse and place in a bowl. Combine the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cayenne, cardamom, cloves and pepper in a food processor or blender. Pulse the spice mixture until the garlic and ginger are integrated. Add the yogurt and lemon, and pulse to combine. Pour the yogurt spice mixture over the chicken. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least an hour, but up to 24 hours. Coat the bottom of a casserole pan with the oil, and place the sliced onions and chicken in a single layer. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

Lemon Rice
inspired by The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi

1 1/2 C rice
3 C water
1 t salt
3 T butter
1/2 C raw cashews
1 T mustard seeds
1/3 t turmeric
1/3 C lemon (juice of 2 lemons)
3 T cilantro

Add the rice, water, salt and 1 T butter to a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Follow the cooking directions for your rice. While the rice is cooking, melt the remaining butter in a small skillet and add the cashews. Cook until they are starting to turn golden. Add the mustard seeds and cook 2 more minutes. Once the rice is finished cooking, add the mustard seed, cashew and butter combination plus the lemon juice, turmeric and cilantro and fold together. Garnish with some extra cilantro.

This post is part of Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Delectable Tuesday Blog Hop, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tasty Tuesdays, Works-for-me Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Let's Do Brunch, Welcomne Wednesday, and Real Food Wednesdays.

Anniversary Desserts

2011-03-21T06:46:00.013-04:00

When we went out for our anniversary dinner at L'Ecole, the desserts were really over the top. We went into a bit of sugar coma after all the delicious sweet treats.

Here is a photo tour of all of the treats (for some reason the photos turned out really gray - sorry):

The first dessert we ordered was the Chocolate Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce and Chestnut Ice Cream. Although when it came out, we both thought the ice cream tasted more like banana than chestnuts. We are not big on banana flavor, so this wasn't a positive development for us. But even with the banana ice cream, this dessert was delicious. The rich chocolate flavor of the bread pudding was really decadent.

The second dessert we ordered was the waffle with pomegranate gelato and Thai basil and grapefruit sauces. This was a bit disappointing. The waffle was a bit blah. I always like waffles with a crispy edge, and these were just bready. The pomegranate ice cream and sauces were delicious. Nice and tangy and not too sweet.

This was an extra little plate of treats that came out. My husband popped the chocolate in his mouth and declared that they tasted like miniature lava cakes. I think they were macaroons with a chocolate and raspberry filling. They were accompanied by miniature lemon cupcakes with whipped cream and raspberries.

We were already in dessert overload when the waiter brought us an extra dessert with the beautiful "Happy Anniversary" inscription. This Apple Brown Butter Cake with Apple Compote and Pomegranate Ice Cream was actually my favorite. Not too sweet, really buttery and full of apple and pomegranate flavor. This would be my recommendation for the dessert to order.

To top it all off they sent us home with brownies from the baking program in cute little mylar bags.

We really enjoyed our experience at L'Ecole and highly recommend it for a special occasion. While it is not cheap, it is good value for a prix fixe menu in New York City.

This post is part of Meatless Mondays, Mouthwatering Mondays, and Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays.

Anniversary Dinner

2011-03-16T06:24:00.010-04:00

We generally are pretty low key about meals. Lately we have been focusing more on quality ingredients than fancy cooking techniques or exotic flavor combinations. When we go out to eat, we usually frequent locally owned neighbor joints, but we decided to step away from the ordinary to celebrate our anniversary. We went to L'ecole last night for their four course prix fixe menu. It's the restaurant of the French Culinary Institute, but we learned it was actually professional chefs preparing the meals for our dinner seating. The meal was fabulous and we highly recommend it for your next special occasion.

Here is a photographic tour of our meal:

An Amuse-Bouche of Spanish Tortilla with Fresh Salsa.

Charcuterie Plate with Foie Gras, Pâté, Fromage de Tête and Duck Rillette. I didn't really care for the head cheese, but everything else was delicious.

Grilled Fig-Glazed Pork Belly with Butternut Squash Purée and Crispy Shallots

Broiled Lamb T-Bone Steak with Seasonal Vegetables, Goat Cheese Polenta and Fig-Merlot Lamb Jus. The lamb was so tender and perfectly cooked.

Miso-Glazed Beef Short Ribs with Celery Root-Potato Purée, Warm Brussels Sprout Salad and Pomegranate-Lime Vinaigrette. This entree had really great flavor combinations playing off one another.

I will share dessert photos tomorrow. They really deserve their own post.

This post is part of Works-for-me-Wednesday, Real Food Wednesdays, and Welcome Wednesday.

The Perfect Eggs

2011-03-14T06:13:00.004-04:00

I have been trying to eat eggs on a regular basis because they are chock full of such a wonderful combination of nutrients and protein, but it's been tough getting them down while I have been pregnant. My fall back method for including them in my diet has been French Toast. I could eat French Toast every day and not get sick of it. I know that eggs are better for you when the yolks are still runny, so yesterday I ventured out of my comfort zone to try some soft cooked eggs. They were fabulous! In the past, I have often ended up with yolks that are mostly cooked, but I think I have found the key to the perfect soft cooked eggs. I didn't add the eggs until the water was already boiling, cooked them for five minutes, and plunged them in ice cold water. The yolks had a delicious, creamy texture, and tasted great on some toast.

Soft-Boiled Eggs

4 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Bring water to a boil. Add the eggs and bring back to a boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce it to a simmer. Cook for a total of five minutes for large eggs. Remove eggs from the pot and add to ice cold water. Once the eggs are cool enough to hold, crack open with a knife, and scoop the egg out of the shell. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Unfortunately, we were too hungry and didn't take a photo of the perfect eggs. You will have to use your imagination to see the runny orange yolks and firm egg white over some toast. Delicious!

Our Meal Plan for the week:

Monday - Chicken, sausage and bean stew
Tuesday - Anniversary dinner at L'Ecole
Wednesday - Dinner out while running errands
Thursday - Leftover Indian style vegetables and lentils
Friday - Homemade pizza

This post is part of Meatless Mondays, Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist, Mouthwatering Mondays, Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays, and Menu Plan Monday.

Babymoon

2011-03-09T20:18:00.005-05:00

Have you heard the term "babymoon?" I think it's a relatively new term to describe a trip you take before the baby comes. I know that some people head out to luxurious tropical location, but we are sticking a little closer to home. We are wanting to save our vacation time and just go away for a weekend, so we were looking for a place within 3 hours of New York City, a bit warmer than home and affordable. Just to further complicate things - we don't have a car. We landed on Baltimore. It's not exotic, but it is a change of scenery, and I have never stayed there before.

Here is my question: Do you have any suggestions for restaurants in Baltimore? We will probably hit at least one crab place for my husband, but I'm allergic to shellfish, so other suggestions would be great. Breakfast places? Local food?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

This post is part of Alphabe-Thursday, Tip Day Thursday, Pennywise PlatterThursday, and Frugal Food Thursday.

Salmon Orzo Salad

2011-03-07T06:10:00.010-05:00

We have a few favorite dishes that we have made repeatedly. Each one of them gets adjusted each time to account for what we have on hand and the season. Salmon Orzo Salad is one of these dishes. Here is a version I made last summer. This time around we were cleaning out the freezer and used salmon, peas, and dried cranberries we had on hand. It's a nice combination of the salmon, the creamy, tangy goat cheese, the sweetness of the dried cranberries and the vinegar and mustard dressing. I think the traditional version with asparagus and scallions is even better, and once spring arrives we will have to make it again. The leftovers are easy to pack and great to take for lunch.

Salmon Orzo Salad
serves 6

8 oz orzo, uncooked
1 lb salmon
8 oz peas
4 oz goat cheese crumbles
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
1 T spicy brown mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar
1/4 C cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the orzo according to the package directions. Place the salmon fillets in an oven proof pan and cook for 20 minutes (or until the fish flakes easily with a fork). When the pasta is almost done, add the peas and drain it all together. Rinse with cold water to prevent over cooking and sticking. Add the flaked salmon, orzo, peas, goat cheese and garlic to a mixing bowl. Mix the olive oil, mustard and cider vinegar in a cup and drizzle over the mixture. Sprinle the cranberries over the top. Stir to combine. Cover and place in the fridge to let the flavors combine.

This post is part of Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist, Mouthwatering Mondays, and Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Delectable Tuesday Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesday, Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Night Supper Club, and Works-for-Me-Wednesday.

Mushroom Stuffed Turkey Breast

2011-03-03T05:56:00.012-05:00

This last weekend we picked up a turkey breast at the farmers' market. We had never made just a turkey breast before, so we asked the farmer for some suggestions on how to prepare it. He recommended butterflying it and filling it with a stuffing of our choice. We decided to follow his advice and chose to make some mushroom stuffing.

We got half way through stuffing the turkey breast and realized that we were going to need something to hold it together. I should really invest in some kitchen twine for these types of situations, but we didn't have any handy, so we started hunting down something that could do the job. I have been working on a small rag rug out of some old cotton curtains, and decided to sacrifice a narrow strip of fabric to hold together our dinner. (I swear it's clean!) It worked like a charm.

Besides the hunt for a kitchen twine substitute, the stuffed turkey breast was really easy to prepare. I always feel that anything stuffed seems a little special, and this made for a mid-week treat dinner. The mushroom stuffing is full of flavor and quick to prepare. We served ours with quinoa and broccoli.

Butterfly the turkey breast. Because it is so much meat, we put half aside in the freezer to use later. Half the breast will still comfortably serve 4 people.

After placing the stuffing in the center of the butterflied breast, roll up the meat and fasten with twine.

We enjoyed our stuffed turkey breast with broccoli and quinoa.

Mushroom Stuffed Turkey Breast
serves 4

Half a turkey breast
2 T butter
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 t ground thyme
1/4 t garlic powder
a few shakes of oregano
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 C chicken stock
kitchen twine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Butterfly the turkey breast. (We set aside half and put it in the freezer.) In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter and add the mushrooms and onions. Cook until the mushrooms are beginning to brown and the onions soften. Remove from the heat and add the thyme, garlic, oregano and Parmesan cheese. Place the stuffing in the center of the turkey breast. Roll it up and fasten with twine. Place the rolled turkey breast in the cast iron pan over high heat. Brown on each side, add the chicken stock, and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes (or until it is cooked through). Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes and slice. Spoon some of the juice over the turkey.

This post is part of Alphabe-Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Full Plate Thursdays, Simple Lives Thursday, The Ultimate Recipe Swap, Tip Day Thursday, Fresh, Clean and Pure Friday, Foodie Friday, Fun with Food with Food, Fresh Bites Friday, and I'm Lovin' It.

CSA Time

2011-03-01T06:32:00.006-05:00

A sample haul from our CSA last summer.

I am really missing having a CSA (Community Supported Agricultural) Share. It's so nice getting a big delivery of fresh, local vegetables each week to guide our eating. I had intended to find a Winter CSA, but we were in England for a couple of weeks and then my first trimester nausea set in, so I missed the sign-up. We had a couple of warmer days last week, and it had me starting to think about Spring and CSA sign-up. We really enjoyed our Foodstockings CSA last summer, but we have since moved to Brooklyn and its Lower East Side location is too inconvenient. I went over to the trusty Local Harvest website to find some CSAs in our Brooklyn neighborhood. Can you believe that some of the groups already have a waiting list? The deliveries don't start until June here in NYC. I thought I was planning ahead, but I guess I'm not alone.

So this is my PSA: If you are thinking of joining a CSA, start researching your options.

Happy Eating!

This post is part of Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Delectable Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, and Works-For-Me-Wednesday.

Pasta Primavera

2011-02-28T06:14:00.008-05:00

We had an event at work on Friday, and we had tons of vegetables left from the crudite platters. I couldn't stand to see them go to waste, so I brought home a bag of veggies. Yesterday, we had beautiful sunny, warm weather that felt like Spring, and the weather inspired us to make a pasta primavera with the veggies.

Because we acquired the vegetables already cut up, this was a really quick meal. My husband even declared that is was "the simplest dinner ever." It was delicious too. The rich sauce balances nicely with the fresh vegetables, and a pinch of red pepper flakes adds just a big of heat.

We placed our bamboo steamer over the pasta pot, and loaded it up with the vegetables.

The whole dinner was ready in 15-20 minutes and was ready to enjoy. We chose farfalle pasta (bow ties) which seemed appropriate for Oscar night.

Pasta Primavera
serves 4

1 lb farfalle pasta
1 T butter
6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
4 C vegetables, cut into bite size pieces
1 pint half and half
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Start the pasta water. Prepare vegetables. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed skillet and add the garlic. Cook the garlic until soft. Add the pasta to the boiling water, and place bamboo steamer over the pot. Add vegetables and cover. Cook the vegetables until they are crisp but tender (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and place in a mixing bowl. Once the garlic is tender, lower the heat and add cream, red pepper and Parmesan cheese. Cook over low heat, whisking regularly (to ensure the sauce doesn't break) until it thickens. The sauce and pasta should be done about the same time. Add everything to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. It's ready to serve.

Some other easy variations include adding artichoke hearts, pesto, or pureed roasted red pepper.

This week's menu:
Monday - out to eat after a prenatal appointment
Tuesday - Turkey breast stuffed with mushrooms, quinoa and broccoli
Wednesday - Fire chicken with salad
Thursday - Salmon with mustard glaze
Friday - leftovers

This post is part of My Meatless Mondays, Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist, Meatless Mondays at Midnight Maniac, and Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.

Steak, Rosemary Potatoes and Salad

2011-02-25T06:51:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in more than a week - already falling short of my goal to post at least three times per week. There are two reasons for my absence: I have been craving lots of raw foods and salad, so we have resorted to eating more out-of-season foods. I figure raw vegetables is a pregnancy craving I should listen to, but it doesn't make for interesting posts. I also have been reading the Steig Larsson books. Have you read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series? I got the series as a Christmas present, but just got around to starting it last week. It is hard to put the books down, and it is good that I'm on third (and last) book because it is interfering a bit with the rest of my life.

A couple of weeks ago at the farmers' market, one of the farmers was providing cooking advice to another customer on how to cook steak. His advice turned everything I knew on its head. He suggested first cooking the steak in a cast iron pan in the oven and then searing it. He gave a convincing explanation as to why this would cook the steak more evenly and keep more juices inside. I can't remember the details now.

We had a big thick 2 pound sirloin steak, and I tried cooking it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. When I checked it, it looked gray and hardly cooked it, so I put it in the oven for another 15 minutes. I seared it for 3 minutes on each side, and it looked nicely browned. After letting it rest, we started to slice it and found that it was well done (instead of the medium I was hoping for), but it was still nice and juicy. I would try using this method again, but cooking it only for 15 minutes in the oven. My husband thinks its crazy, but I think I'll give it one more shot and see if I can convince him.

Have you ever tried cooking a steak in the oven first followed by searing? How did it turn out?

This post is part of SuzieQTPies Scraps of Life Link-up, and...

A Second Chance for Liver and Onions

2011-02-16T06:10:00.007-05:00

Liver and onions is one of those dishes that many people remember as something their parents MADE them eat when they were children, but I think it has really gotten a bad rap. With proper preparation and an open mind, I think you will find that it is really tasty.

I don't remember my parents ever making liver and onions when I was a child which might help me accept it as a delicacy now. I don't associate it with sitting at the table by myself until I ate three more bites. For me, that special honor was saved for any yellow squash. I hated the mushy, stringy texture (I have learned to embrace squash as an adult). But I digress, I'm writing to convince you to try liver.

I have two important tips to share with you on preparing liver that will ensure it's success. First, soak it in milk for at least 30 minutes. Second, it cooks quickly so only cook it for 2-4 minutes per side (depending on thickness). Follow those two rules and it will not be bitter or resemble old shoe leather, but a succulent treat with a rich flavor. Please see the recipe below or check out this other post for another take on it.

The liver filters toxins out of our bodies, so it's really important that it comes from an animal that is properly raised. I would suggest that you only buy liver from a farmer you are certain only pasture raises their animals.

A large plate of liver on a bed of sauteed onions.

We served our liver and onions with some salad and quinoa.

Liver and Onions

1/4- 1 C milk
1 lb beef liver, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 T coconut oil
2 T butter
2 onions, sliced
1/4 C flour
salt and pepper

Rinse the liver and place it in a shallow bowl. Add enough milk to cover it and let soak while preparing the rest of the dinner (at least 30 minutes). Heat a cast iron skillet and add 1 T of coconut oil and the onions. Cook until they are soft and add 1 T butter. Once the butter is melted, remove the onions to a plate.

Mix the flour and salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or plate. Remove a piece of liver from the milk and shake dry. Dredge the slices of liver in the flour mixture. Place the cast iron pan over medium heat, add the coconut oil, and add the slices of liver. Cook only 2-4 minutes per side (we like it still pink in the middle). Remove to a platter and serve.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Works-for-me-Wednesday, Let's Do Brunch, Full Plate Thursdays, Pennywise Platter Thursdays, Alphabe-Thursdays, and...

Valentine's Day Smashed Potatoes

2011-02-14T06:30:00.010-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day.

We usually don't go out to dinner on Valentine's Day. In New York City, Valentine's dinners are an expensive affair. Most restaurants offer a special prix fixe menu that is significantly more expensive than their regular menu, and reservations need to be made weeks in advance. We avoid all the hype by choosing to go out for a special breakfast instead and make a nice dinner at home.

We went out for our special Valentine's Day breakfast yesterday at Prime Meats. It's close to home and they use produce, meats and dairy from local farms, so it's a treat we can feel good about.

For dinner, we continued our efforts to clean out the freezer. We enjoyed some pork tenderloin encrusted with rosemary, garlic and kosher salt, caramelized onions, smashed potatoes and coleslaw. I liked the coleslaw so much last week. I just couldn't resist requesting another batch this week. Last week we used the food processor, and this week it was just roughly chopped up by hand - either way it is delicious. But I thought the real star of the meal were the smashed potatoes. See below for directions.

Smashed Potatoes
New Potatoes
Olive Oil
Coarse Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake the potatoes until softened (40-60 minutes). Place each potato on a cutting board or large plate and use a small plate to smash them flat. Place the smashed potatoes on lightly oiled baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake until they are beginning to crisp around the edges (about 15 minutes per side).

The potatoes are crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. They are delicious the next day too. Mmm, enjoy.

Plan for the week:
Monday - Leftovers and a special dessert
Tuesday - Liver and Onions
Wednesday - Salmon and Acorn Squash
Thursday - Out to eat
Friday - Homemade pizza

This post is part of Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist, Mouthwatering Mondays, Menu Plan Monday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday Twister, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday at For the Love of Blogs, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Delectable Tuesday, and Hearth and Soul Hop Recipe Exchange.

A Simple Supper of Salmon and Brussels Sprouts

2011-02-10T19:27:00.009-05:00

I got home from work to find a lovely surprise - dinner was minutes away from being ready. We are still in the midst of cleaning out the freezer, so we had some salmon from the freezer and some brussels sprouts from the farmers' market. My husband went for something simple - put a little coconut oil in a 11 x 13 glass pan and added the salmon and brussels sprouts and cooked them for about 25 minutes. I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the salmon was a little dry. I didn't dare bring this up, but when he mentioned it - I had to agree.

With a small adjustment, this is a great easy meal perfect for the end of a busy day.

Salmon and Brussels Sprouts
1 T coconut oil
2 pieces of salmon
1 lb brussels sprouts, cut in half
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Coat the bottom of an 11 x 13 pan with coconut oil, and add the brussels sprouts. Cook for 10 minutes. Stir the brussels sprouts and add the salmon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 15 more minutes or until done.

This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursdays, Foodie Friday, Mom Trends, I'm Lovin It Friday, Suzie QT Pies, Food on Fridays, Frugal Friday, and ...

Jambalaya

2011-02-07T19:53:00.012-05:00

I was inspired by Laura over at Cooking in Kenzo and her efforts to eat entirely out of her freezer, fridge and pantry. I decided it was time for us to undertake a similar effort. Now she has an enviable situation of being the proud owner of a chest freezer, and I can only dream of such food storage capacity, but it's still time to clean out some leftovers before they become freezer burned.

My husband made up a delicious batch of jambalaya out of our leftovers. We have both worked at restaurants in the past while we looked for "real" jobs- I usually worked in the front of house and he usually worked in the kitchen. At one restaurant, he made big batches of jambalaya in a convection oven. They threw all the ingredients in raw and cooked it all together. This time around he made it in a dutch oven. We didn't really have enough rice in the cupboard, so he supplemented it with some wild rice we had on hand. It turned out really well, but think of this recipe more as inspiration for cleaning out your own fridge.

Jambalaya
2 T coconut oil
1/2 lb andouille sausage, sliced
1 lb chicken, cut into chunks
1 red, yellow, and green pepper, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
pinch of saffron
1 t salt
1 t garlic powder
1 t black pepper
1/2 t cayenne
1 t oregano
1 t thyme
1 C Basmati rice
1 C wild rice
2 C water

Combine the oil, sausage, chicken, vegetables and spices and cook until the vegetables soften. Add the rice and cook for a few minutes. Add the water and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

This post is part of Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tuesdays at the Table, Tasty Tuesday, Made from Scratch Tuesdays, Works-for-me-Wednesday, Frugal Fridays, and...

Pulled Beef Sandwiches and Coleslaw

2011-02-07T06:55:00.004-05:00

When the weather began to cool off here in New York City, we embraced all the dishes we avoided during our hot summer weather. We began baking, roasting and generally using our oven. We decided it would be great to make a nice big roast, and settled on a beef roast. We made a mixture of vinegar, maple syrup, seasonings, cilantro, garlic and onions. Right before we dumped it over the roast, my husband happened to taste it and found out that it was screaming hot. I guess some extra cayenne slipped in while he was measuring a spoonful. Luckily we caught this because I think it was hot enough to ruin our 8 lb. roast. We didn't want to waste the vegetables, so we drained off the liquid, rinsed the vegetables, and began again.

The first night we ate the meat over egg noodles with vegetables. The next day we pulled the meat apart, and made open faced sandwiches. The meat was definitely more flavorful the second day. We still had lots left over, so we stuck it in the freezer. This week we are embarking on a eat-up the fridge and freezer week and decided to start with the pulled beef. We served it with some coleslaw and Bubbies pickles in honor of the Super Bowl. The pickles are delicious fermented pickles and taste just like homemade.

We had some shredded cheddar cheese and sliced pickles on the pulled beef sandwiches. They were the tasty, but the coleslaw really hit the spot. I could have just eaten coleslaw for dinner.

Coleslaw
1/2 head of cabbage
1/8 of onion
2 carrots
2 ribs of celery
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 t Dijon mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 t salt
pepper

Shred the cabbage, onions, carrots and celery (we used a food processor to do this). Add to a large mixing bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour to let flavors combine.

Most coleslaw recipes call for celery salt, but I never have that on-hand, so we use actual celery instead.

Meal plan for the week:
The goal this week is to eat up the freezer and fridge contents supplemented with just a few farmers market staples.
Monday - Jambalaya
Tuesday - Hamburgers and coleslaw
Wednesday- Salmon and brussel sprouts
Thursday - Pork tenderloin rubbed with rosemary and mustard, sauerkraut and squash
Friday - Homemade pizza
Saturday - out to dinner with friends.

This post is part of Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist and Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Weekend Breakfasts

2011-02-05T08:19:00.007-05:00

I have fond memories of weekend breakfasts growing up. During the week we would generally eat some cold cereal with milk, but on weekends we would go all out. Without the pressure of having to get out the door to catch the school bus, we would spend time making all sorts of breakfast treats. My brother and I were in charge of the cooking, and if we were lucky Mom and Dad were in charge of clean-up. We made waffles, crepes, pancakes or French toast most weekends. We would top these with maple syrup or yogurt and fruit, and often have a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice on the side.

Fast forward to married life, and I still love weekend breakfasts. My husband doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, so now we tend to have egg based dishes such as frittatas or omelettes with a side of potatoes or bacon. Recently I have been craving French toast, but my husband will not eat it, so last weekend we decided to each make our own breakfasts.

I chose French toast served with blueberries and whipped cream and a glass of orange juice with seltzer. The blueberries were picked by my mother-in-law last summer and have been waiting in the freezer for a winter day to shine. I let them defrost and simply mashed them a bit with a fork. It was a delicious treat.

My husband chose scrambled eggs with ketchup, fried mashed potatoes, andouille sausage, and bread and butter.

As I write this, I'm realizing just how many of my pregnancy cravings are linked to foods with fond childhood memories. I wonder if that is a general phenomenon?

What are your family favorite breakfast traditions?

A Tasty Treat at Bedouin Tent

2011-01-30T09:23:00.008-05:00

Friends have been really curious to learn about any new cravings or eating habits since I have been pregnant. Up until recently, I would respond that I didn't really have any cravings, but aversions to foods I traditionally enjoyed. I am a long-time coffee lover/addict, but once I became pregnant the smell of coffee was revolting. I've had trouble eating spinach, and several other things.

I am entering a new phase, not just food aversions anymore, but food cravings too. The first thing was Orangina. I could drink Orangina all day (but I don't). I have started making my own by combing a bit of orange juice and seltzer water. Then came the French toast, and tomato sauce (lasagna, pasta, etc). I normally like to eat new and different things each day, but now I definitely seem to lock in on a few tried and true dishes and want to eat them over and over. Very interesting to see how your body changes.

The latest craving is anything with chickpeas - humus, falafel, salad with chickpeas, etc. So when we were out and about the other day, I was on the lookout for a falafel sandwich for lunch. I was very pleased when we stumbled across Bedouin Tent, Mideastern Stuffed Pita. We peeked through the window to see someone making pita bread to order, and I was sold.

Inside the front door, the restaurant looks just like a take-out place, but if you walk past the kitchen you discover a charming dining room decorated to feel like a Bedouin tent. I guess they also have a charming outdoor dining section during good weather, but right now it is under a large pile of snow.

I ordered the falafel plate which came with humus (mostly outside the photo), a salad of lettuce, tomatoes, onions and green peppers lightly dressed in olive oil and vinegar, and freshly made pita. It hit the spot.

My husband ordered Lambajin which is described in the menu as a Mideastern Pitza with lamb, onion, tomato, parsley and spices. I was expecting pieces of lamb and vegetables, but was pleased with the savory ground mixture too. The crust was similar to an extra thick pita bread. The topping had a selection of spices we couldn't identify. It was a new flavor palette for us, and it took a bit of getting used to, but it was really tasty.

All in all we were pleased with our meal. It satisfied my craving for chickpeas, and it was really affordable. I think we will be back again. My husband says that he would recommend it to anyone.

Chicken and Dumplings for a Snow Day

2011-01-27T21:32:00.020-05:00

Today we woke up to find a winter wonderland. We got a total of 19 inches of snow which was enough for the Department of Education to call a snow day. I think a snow day is the perfect day to spend inside cooking and enjoying a nice hot bowl of comfort food.

The view out our kitchen window.

Commuters trudging down a nearby side street.

While I was sick, I made a couple of batches of homemade chicken soup. By the time my husband came down with the cold, he couldn't be convinced that he needed some chicken soup too. I did convince him that some chicken and dumplings could be satisfying. The thick, hearty texture is much more his style.

Prepare a chicken stew.

Cook the dumplings in batches to prevent over crowding.

A great hearty meal for a snow day or a day inside with a cold.

Chicken and Dumplings
inspired by Tyler Florence and good memories of my grandfather's chicken and dumplings

Chicken stock

3 lb chicken
2-3 bay leaves
1 t thyme
4 cloves of garlic
2 T apple cider vinegar
3 small carrots, cut into 3 inch pieces
2 stalks of celery, cut into 3 inch pieces

Chicken Stew

2 T butter
2 T coconut oil
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1/4 C flour
6 C chicken stock
1 C frozen peas

Dumplings

2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 eggs
3/4 - 1 C milk

Place all of the ingredients for the chicken stock into a stock pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 2-3 hours. Remove the chicken. Let cool enough to be comfortable to touch. Remove the meat, and return the carcass to the water. Cook for another 1-2 hours. Pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer to remove all the bits. Chill and remove excess fat.

Melt butter and coconut oil, and add the carrots, celery, garlic and onions. Cook until the onions begin to soften. Slowly add flour while stirring. Cook until the flour is integrated and turns golden (about 2-3 minutes). Slowly add the chicken stock, and cook until the stew begins to thicken (about 15 minutes). Add the peas and bring to a gentle boil.

While the stew is cooking, prepare the dumpling batter. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a measuring cup, beat eggs and add milk. Add to the dry ingredients, and gently stir to combine. Use two tablespoons, to drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot stew. Leave some space between the dumplings. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove the cooked dumplings with a slotted spoon to a platter. Continue cooking the batter in batches until all of the dumplings are prepared.

Serve the chicken stew with a few dumplings on top.

Onion Soup

2011-01-25T20:32:00.008-05:00

I came down with a terrible cold and cough a couple of weeks ago. My weakened pregnant immune system has taken a long time to get back to 100%. I tried every home remedy in the book including inhaling steam, hot water with lemoon and honey, the wet sock treatment and more. My mom suggested making some onion soup. She swears by it for helping loosen up the congestions. I wouldn't say it was a miraculous cure, but I think it helped. The best thing is that it is easy to make which is perfect for when you are feeling under the weather.

Heat a dutch over or heavy bottomed pot, and add butter and oil. Once melted add the sliced onions.

Cook the onions until tender, and add beef broth, thyme and bay leaf.

Simmer the soup until it reaches the desired texture. Serve with buttered toast points.

Onion Soup
2 T butter
2 T coconut oil
2 lbs. onions, sliced
4 C beef broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 t. of thyme

Heat up a cast iron dutch oven or heavy bottom pot and add the butter and oil. Once melted, add the onions and cook until soft (about 15 minutes). Add the broth, bay leaf and thyme and simmer until the soup reaches the desired consistancy (about 30-60 minutes). Serve with buttered toast points.

This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday.

News to Share

2011-01-23T13:17:00.004-05:00

I haven't written a post in several months. I had the best of intentions, but I just couldn't do it. You see my husband and I learned right after we got back from our trip to England that we were going to have a baby. By the beginning of November, I had "morning sickness" around the clock and couldn't bring myself to smell food cooking, prepare food, read about food and definitely couldn't blog about any food.

I have to confess that I have been known previously to be judgmental of pregnant women I have seen eating x, y or z. I have thought to myself, "How can they feed that to their baby?" I told myself that I would eat only grass-fed meat, local vegetables and every other honorable, nourishing food for myself and the baby, but despite my best intentions I could only manage to keep ginger ale and saltine crackers down for weeks on end. I know this is the first of many expectations that will have to be adjusted. You know how people without children see children in public misbehaving and tell themselves that their children will never behave like that... I'm trying to start preparing myself now for the temper tantrums in the grocery store line.

We missed the boat on a winter CSA for both meat and vegetables, so upcoming posts will feature our efforts to eat nourishing seasonal meals that feature local foods. My energy is not up to pre-pregnancy levels yet, so I'm aiming to post two to three times per week.

Bánh mì Inspired Sandwiches

2010-11-07T17:32:00.009-05:00

It is time to end the posting drought. We have been in our new apartment for about 2 weeks, and the boxes are slowly getting unpacked and making their way down to the recycling bin. I can finally sit down to write a post without too much guilt about all the other things needing to get done.

There was a Vietnamese sandwich shop around the corner from our old apartment. The Bánh mì sandwiches were delicious. They were on this great crusty French bread, and included a meat of your choosing topped with cilantro, hot sauce, and strips of pickled carrots and cucumbers. The one down side to the sandwiches was that the meat was of dubious quality. I usually ordered the number one which had spicy ground meat and "pâté". What kind of meat? I'm not sure. I just closed my eyes, and enjoyed the great flavor. I figured it was ok for the occasional treat.

We no longer have a Vietnamese sandwich shop around the corner, so we decided to create Bánh mì inspired sandwiches at home with superior quality ingredients. We started with pasture raised ground lamb and seasoned it with chopped garlic, cilantro and celery. After letting it rest, I cooked some as oblong patties and the rest as meatballs. We were really pleased with the results. Here is our recipe:

Vietnamese Inspired Sandwiches
1 lb ground lamb
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small bunch of cilantro, stems removed
1 rib of celery, chopped
oil
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
hot sauce
mayonnaise
French Bread

Combine the lamb, garlic, 1/2 the cilantro and celery. Let stand for at least an hour in the fridge to let flavors combine. Shape the meat into patties or meatballs. Heat a skillet and coat the pan with a small amount of oil. Cook patties or meatballs until browned on all sides. Serve on French bread with the rest of the cilantro, carrots, hot sauce and mayo.

We served ours with some oven roasted acorn squash and brussels sprouts.

An England Report

2010-10-28T20:43:00.006-04:00

We are back from merry old England. We had marvelous time. It was a true vacation where we got away from it all. I won't bore you with a slide show with five hours of narration with all the minutiae, but I will share the highlight reel. We had the opportunity to visit London, Salisbury and a small picturesque seaside village in Cornwall.

Our favorite market we saw was the Borough Market down in the Southwark neighborhood of London. If you are interested in local food, this is the place to visit. The stalls just keep going and going. We were sad we didn't have a kitchen available so that we could purchase all sorts of delicious treats.

After spending a few days in London, we visited Salisbury. While there we saw Stonehenge, Old Sarum and the Salisbury Cathedral. We ate some great food at the Old Mill Inn where we stayed, but I didn't get any photos. After Salisbury, we headed further south to Cornwall. One of the famous regional traditions is Cream Tea. We enjoyed a couple of cream teas, but this photo captured the best one. Cream tea includes tea (of course) with scones, clotted cream and jam. Clotted Cream tastes like whipped butter crossed with creme fraiche, and it makes a decadent topping for some flaky scones.

The other regional specialty is pasties. Historically, Cornwall was a tin mining region, and pasties were a portable lunch for the miners. The story goes that the crust used to be tough enough that it could be dropped down the mine shaft without falling apart, and within the crust there was a mixture of beef, potatoes and turnips on one end and a sweet filling on the other end (dessert). The rolled crust served as a handle. The miners' dirty hands would only touch the "handle" leaving the rest of the pasty clean to eat it. Once they were finished with lunch, they would drop the dirty crust handle down the mine shaft.

Pasties still make great portable lunches. We purchased some from the local little market and enjoyed them out on our hikes along the Cornish Coastal Path.

While in Cornwall, we stayed at my Aunt and Uncle's house. They were away, so we had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed visiting the tiny village market each day to see what was available to prepare for dinner. We were amazed by the selection of local foods available: eggs, fresh bacon, sausages, tomatoes, potatoes, chicken and more.

It was a great trip! We have been actually been back for more than a week now. It's taken a while to get a post up because we had a bad case of jet lag and woke up at 4:00 AM each day last week. Five days after we returned to New York City, we moved to our new apartment in Brooklyn. We still have a lot of unpacking to do, but life is starting to return to normal.

This post is part of Things I Love Thursday.

Fried Rice and then off to England

2010-10-06T20:23:00.008-04:00

We are off to England tomorrow bright and early. We decided to travel light, both taking one backpack small enough to carry on the plane. Because of this, we are going low tech and leaving the laptops at home. Our cell phones won't work there either, so this is our chance to disconnect and really get away from it all. I'll be sure to share some highlights when we return in two weeks.

We enjoyed a quick meal to eat up the last of our vegetables before leaving: Fried Rice. This is a great way to eat up whatever you have on hand.

Chop your vegetables and stir-fry until they are tender.

If desired, add the greens and cook until wilted.

Add cooked rice and cook until heated through. Add seasonings and cooked eggs.

I chose to garnish mine with a little extra Tamari and Srirachi Sauce.

I have to admit that I was wrong about fried rice. I thought I should pour the beaten eggs over the rice and vegetable mixture and cook it together, but my husband thought I should cook the scrambled eggs separately. I cooked it my way and the results were less than stellar. I swear that it has turned out in the past, but not this time around. The rice seemed to soak up the egg and the results were pretty gummy. (My husband thought it was fine, but I knew it could be better.)He is right. Cook the eggs separately.

You will hear from us again in two weeks. Cheers!

Chicken Scampi

2010-10-05T20:09:00.007-04:00

We were so busy with the apartment hunt and planning our trip to England that we got behind eating up the vegetables the past couple weeks. By this last weekend, we had 2 tomatoes and 3 ears of corn that were past saving. In our 18 weeks of CSA farm share, it was the first food we were going to "throw out." To make ourselves feel better we didn't actually throw it out, but took it to the community garden to compost it. When we got to the garden the host suggested that we feed it to the chickens. She promised it would be a sight that we had never seen before, and she was right. She held the mushy tomatoes out, and the chickens jumped up to eat them out of her hand. I had never seen chickens jump before, and I have spent some time with chickens. We were happy to pass the tomatoes along for another creature to eat.

We had chicken scampi for dinner. This is one of my husband's specialty dishes. It's usually served with shrimp, but I'm allergic to shell fish so at our house it's made with chicken. It's a quick meal and always a crowd pleaser. I already wrote about it once here, but here is another take on it.

Chicken Scampi
2 large chicken breasts, cut into strips
6 cloves of garlic
2 lemons, juiced
1/2 t oregano
1 T butter
oil
salt and pepper

Heat up a skillet and add some oil to coat the bottom. Add the chicken, and cook until done. Add the garlic and cook one more minute. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice, oregano and butter. Serve over pasta or rice.

Lemon juice looses lots of flavor when cooked, so always add it right at the end of the recipe.

This post is part of Works-for-me-Wendesday and Real Food Wednesday.

Cottage Pie and a Plan

2010-10-04T06:07:00.009-04:00

We are heading to England on Thursday. This is our first international trip in our 2.5 years of marriage, and we are really excited. In honor of our upcoming trip, my husband came up with the idea of some shepherd's pie for dinner. I looked up a a recipe in Joy of Cooking, and learned that traditional shepherd's pie is made with chopped lamb. When you substitute beef, the name changes to cottage pie. The traditional recipe includes 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 celery stalk, 1 lb of ground beef, some beef stock, rosemary, thyme and several potatoes mashed up for a topping. That sounds delicious for a cool fall day, doesn't it? We had to make a couple changes for what we had on hand (our recipe is below). For example, I looked through the cabinet to discover we were out of rosemary and thyme.

Our plan for the rest of the week is:

Monday- Chicken Scampi

Tuesday- Leftover Cottage Pie

Wednesday - Fried Rice with vegetables

Thursday - Off to England

Cottage Pie inspired by Joy of Cooking
2 potatoes, chopped
3 small salad turnips, chopped
2 leeks, whites sliced in half, and cut in thin slices
1 carrot, chopped
6 medium radishes, chopped
1 lb ground beef
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 T flour
2 t Old Bay
1 C Cheddar cheese, grated
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add the potatoes and turnips to a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. Meanwhile, chop the other vegetables and add the leek, carrot, and radishes to a hot frying pan with oil. Cook until tender. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the ground beef to the pan. When it is almost cooked through, add the tomatoes, flour, and Old Bay. Cook until the tomatoes are softened. Add the leek, carrot, and radishes back in, and stir to combine. Mash up the potatoes and turnips, if necessary add a bit of liquid. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish, and top with the potatoes and turnips. Bake for about 15 minutes. Add the cheese to the top and cook for 15 more minutes.

The traditional recipe does not call for turnips, radishes, leeks or tomatoes. I think this is a very flexible dish that allows you to substitute any vegetables you have on hand.

Joy of Cooking suggested baking it in a pie plate, but I didn't think our pie plate was deep enough to fit everything. We cooked ours in a 9 x 11 pan, so I guess ours was less like Cottage Pie and more like Cottage Cake.

This post is part of Monday Mania and Menu Plan Monday.

Lentils with Beets and Goat Cheese

2010-09-30T19:41:00.008-04:00

There are lots of things I love about participating in a CSA farm share: it arrives each week encouraging us to eat lots of vegetables, pushes us to try new and different things, and makes us get creative to find new ways to prepare vegetable overload. One down side is that I don't know the names of all of our loot. For example, we have gotten several beets each week for the last several weeks. When we pick them out of the bin (simply labeled beets)they are all lightly coated in dirt, and it is hard to tell what color they are. It is not until you are at home scrubbing them clean that their color is revealed. Are yellow beets simply called "yellow beets" or do they have another name? Are red beets just called "beets"? I did a quick internet search that was not very fruitful. I know the stripped ones are chioggia, but my knowledge ends there.

We made a simple dinner from lentils, carrot tops, goat cheese and yellow and red beets. I have made this before, and it is always satisfying. Here is the recipe from last time. This time we used some carrot tops we had on-hand. I had never really eaten carrot tops until recently. I always felt bad throwing them out, but I wasn't sure what to do with them. When I read about carrot top pesto over at Not Eating Out in New York it inspired me to change my ways. Carrot tops have a taste that are somewhere between parsley and carrots, and they add a nice fresh flavor to the peppery lentils, tangy sauce, sweet beets and creamy cheese.

Lentils with Beets and Goat Cheese

3 C chicken stock
1 c lentils
4 beets
3 T balsamic vinegar
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 t Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
handful of carrot tops, chopped
goat cheese

Check the lentils for stones, rinse, and add to the chicken stock. Bring it to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cook until the lentils are tender (15 - 60 minutes depending on the type of lentils). Meanwhile, scrub the beets. Place them in a sauce pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil, and cook until a fork can easily pierce the beets. Remove from water and let cool. Add the vinegars, mustard, garlic and carrot tops to the lentils. Once the beets are cool, use a spoon to peel the beets. Cut into bit size slices, and add to the lentil mixture. Serve them with goat cheese crumbled on the top.

I found that the yellow beets cooked much faster than the red ones, so check on them periodically to prevent over cooking.

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade, Grocery Cart Challenge, Frugal Friday, and Finer Things Friday.

100th Post

2010-09-28T20:01:00.011-04:00

This is the 100th post on City Share. This mile marker comes at an appropriate time because we are approaching a time of transition. All the posts thus far have been shaped by cooking and eating our way through our CSA share, but our summer share will end in a month. We are now researching some winter vegetable and meat shares (if you have any suggestions for NYC please let me know). Another change is that I have become motivated to not just keep eating local food, but to begin to incorporate more traditional foods into our diets. I have been inspired by Jenny at Nourished Kitchen and Ann Marie at Cheeseslave and many more. On top of these changes in our diets, we are going to move to Brooklyn next month. We are very excited to have found a lovely apartment with double the space of our current place.

To help me incorporate more traditional foods, I will be participating in Kelly the Kitchen Kop's e-class on Real Food for Rookies. The class has actually already started, but we have been busy lately so I'm just getting ready to begin on my own now. I will be sure to share my new found knowledge from her class.

In celebration of the 100th post, we have a delicious dinner to share with you. We had a flavorful grass-fed steak with sauteed leeks and mushrooms, a beet salad with yogurt dressing and green salad. Ahh, it was a fabulous treat dinner. The steak was delicious, the leeks and mushrooms were so good that we just kept eating them by the forkful before they even made it to the table, and the beet salad made my husband declare that "Beets are dirt candy."

Mushrooms and Leeks

1 T butter
2 leeks, the whites cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
3/4 lbs mushrooms, chopped (we used shitake and oyster)
1 T sage, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat and add butter. Once the butter is melted, add leeks and cook until translucent. Add mushrooms and sage and cook until the mushroom are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Delicious eaten straight or over chicken, beef, rice, or pretty much anything else.

Look at this beautiful selection of beets.

After they are fork tender, peel the beets with a spoon.

Combine the ingredients for a dressing.

We added the beets and some chopped up carrot tops (parsley would also work) to the dressing, and mixed to combine.

Beet Salad with Yogurt Dressing

5 beets, scrubbed
1 t dry dill
tops of 2 carrots, chopped
1/4 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 C yogurt
salt and pepper

Bring a small pot of water to a boil, and add the beets. Cook until a fork can easily pierce the beets. Remove from the water and let cool. Use a spoon to remove the skin (we sliced ours in half first for the photo). Chop into bite sized pieces. In a bowl, combine dill, carrot tops, onion, garlic and yogurt. Add the beets and stir to coat the beets with dressing. Chill for 30 minutes to let the flavors combine. Salt and pepper to taste.

Thanks to all of you for reading. I appreciate your feedback and comments.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Works-for-Me-Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Ultimate Recipe Swap, Pennywise Platter Thursday, and Tasty Traditions.

Pork Chop and Mushroom Salad

2010-09-27T19:41:00.007-04:00

I remember seeing a TV show several years ago where a chef visits an unsuspecting household and prepares a dinner for the family. I think he had an hour to prepare the meal, and he could only use the food in their pantry and fridge. The family always seemed to have a really well stocked kitchen: shrimp in the freezer, some fresh herbs in the fridge, at least a couple of vegetables, beans, rice, etc. I was not that impressed with the chef's results. I thought that anyone would be able to come up with the idea of shrimp and asparagus risotto with a side of sauteed vegetables if you had the same resources he was working with.

At the time, I was single, living by myself and working lots of hours. I did cook at home, but I had a routine where I would spend Sundays planning, shopping and cooking my meals for the week. I usually tried to freeze half of what I made, so that I would always have a variety of meals to chose from. I was really organized (much more than I am now). I never had much food just hanging around in the house waiting to be prepared. I wanted to see what the chef could make with what I had in my cabinets and fridge: some frozen blueberries and broccoli, a little yogurt, dry beans, milk, coffee, Kosher salt and some spices.

These days I frequently feel like the chef in the challenge. I come home from work and try to figure out how to form a meal from the vegetables in our farm share, the meat in the fridge/freezer, and the staples in our cabinet. Sometimes these challenges produce some unusual results. One such meal was pork chop and mushroom salad. It might not be a combination I would plan ahead to make, but it was really good. I would consider making it again. The mushrooms had a rich, meaty flavor that helped the salad seem more substantial.

Pork Chop and Mushroom Salad

1 pork chop
1/2 lb of mushrooms, chopped (we used shitake mushrooms)
1 T butter
salad greens
olive oil
vinegar (we like raw apple cider vinegar)
salt and pepper

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, drizzle with oil and add the pork chop. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Let it rest for 5 minutes, and then slice. Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat and add the mushrooms. Cook until tender. Toss the salad greens with oil and vinegar and top with pork chop and mushrooms.

Is your kitchen well stocked? Do you have any unusual creations that were the results of thinking on your feet?

This post is part of Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Top Ten Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tuesday Twister.

Plans for Week 17

2010-09-27T06:23:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was one of those days when I was really excited to do some cooking for the week, but nothing turned out quite right. That really kills the mood. I bought a chicken at the Union Square Greenmarket on Saturday, and decided that I wanted to boil it to create some chicken broth and shred the meat to use on salads. I ended up using the huge stock pot because the chicken was slightly too big for the normal soup pot. This pot is pretty wide, so in order to cover the chicken with water, I had to use a fair bit of water. The chicken stock ended up being really watery. The upside is that we have a lot of it. Oh well. I was planning to cook quinoa and brown rice in it anyways. I guess I managed to stretch it farther. After making dinner, I decided to bake some cherry tomatoes. We just got them on Saturday in our farm share, but they were very ripe. I have done this lots of times, but yesterday I left them in the oven too long, and they cooked down to burnt bits. I managed to save a few. Hopefully I got my kitchen mishaps out of the way for a while.

This week's share brought us arugula, some bitter greens for braising, daikon radishes, potatoes, beets, garlic, heirloom tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.

The plan for this week is:

Monday - Salad with pork chops and mushrooms

Tuesday - Steak topped with leeks and mushrooms, beet salad, and arugula salad

Wednesday - Chicken breasts with garlic scape pesto and salad

Thursday - Lentils with beets and goat cheese

Friday - Out to dinner

Last night we had some shredded chicken with tomato sauce, oven roasted potatoes and a big salad. The tomato sauce was really good and really dressed up a simple dinner. It was so simple, but full of great tomato flavor.

This post is part of Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and Menu Plan Monday at I am an Organizing Junkie.

Tomato Sauce

2010-09-25T07:10:00.014-04:00

Our kitchen counter was starting to disappear. The tomatoes from our farm share were taking over the kitchen. Our efforts at putting fresh tomatoes in every dish imaginable was not keeping up with supply. It was time to take action. It was time to make sauce.

People are really passionate about their tomato sauce recipes. They will defend their method like their lives depended on it. I won't claim that this is the best way to make sauce. It's just one way to make it, and the method I chose this time around.

I can only remember making sauce from fresh tomatoes once before. It was years ago, and that time around I chose to ignore the directions to remove the skin and seeds from the tomatoes. I thought it seemed like a big hassle, and didn't believe it would make much difference in the flavor. The resulting sauce was really thin and low on flavor. It took me a long time to admit it, but I do think removing the peels and seeds makes a difference. Removing the seeds also removes the excess liquid which helps produce a thicker sauce.

This was my first time removing tomato skins. I have read about it in cookbooks and blogs, but had never tried it myself. They all assured me that it was a really easy process, but I was skeptical. You know what? They were right! It was a little messy, and it took a bit of time, but it was easy.

Core the tomatoes.

Score an "x" on the bottom of the tomato.

Carefully lower tomatoes into boiling water. When skins begin to split (30 to 60 seconds), use a slotted spoon to transfer tomatoes to ice water.

When tomatoes are cool, peel off the skins. Halve tomatoes. Remove seeds with a spoon, and discard. Finely chop tomatoes.

Saute some onions and garlic until softened. Add the tomatoes and cook the sauce for about 1.5 hours.

Here is the finished sauce.

Tomato Sauce

5 - 8 lbs tomatoes (we used a combination of heirloom and cherry tomatoes)
1/4 C olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, smashed
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and prepare a large bowl of ice water. With a paring knife, core tomatoes, and score an X on the bottoms. Carefully lower tomatoes into boiling water. When skins begin to split (30 to 60 seconds), use a slotted spoon to transfer tomatoes to ice water.

When tomatoes are cool, remove skins. Halve tomatoes. Remove seeds with a spoon, and discard. Finely chop tomatoes.

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender, stirring frequently (about 4 to 5 minutes). Add tomatoes, and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and saucy, about 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

We froze a jar of sauce, and set aside a bowl to use tonight.

Thank you to everyone that voted for me in Project Food Blog. The competition was stiff, and only 400 participants made it in to the next round out of 1,800. I am not in that group of 400, but I look forward to following the rest of the competition.

Potato and Leek Frittata

2010-09-22T23:18:00.011-04:00

I am participating in the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog challenge. If you like what you read, please vote for me by clicking on my profile in the right sidebar and following the directions. Voting ends on Thursday evening.

I love leftovers. I love being able to eat leftover dinner for lunch the next day, and I love it when they can be transformed into something new and different at the next meal. We had leftover scalloped potatoes (from yesterday's post), we mixed them with some eggs, and cooked up a delicious frittata. So easy and satisfying.

After mixing the eggs and potato mixture, pour it into a hot, lightly oiled cast iron skillet.

Once the eggs set around the edge, add some slices of cheese, place under the broiler and cook until golden.

Slice and enjoy.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday, Things I Love Thursday, Ultimate Recipe Swap, Pennywise Platter Thursday, and Tasty Traditions.

Steak with Scalloped Potatoes

2010-09-21T21:05:00.010-04:00

I am participating in the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog challenge. If you like what you read, please vote for me by clicking on my profile in the right sidebar and following the directions.

The other day my husband asked me, "How many apartments do you think we have seen since moving to New York City?" The answer is somewhere between several and A LOT. When we moved here two years ago, we sublet an apartment off craigslist that had beautiful photos. We were told it was furnished with cable TV, internet, and a fully stocked kitchen. It sounded great! When we arrived, we found a mattress on the floor, a TV without cable (which means we only got NY1), no internet, a bathtub coated in mildew, and a kitchen that was far from fully stocked. Although, it was so dirty that I didn't want to do any cooking in there anyways. Luckily we had only rented it for five days, and after seeing it we were bound and determined to have a new apartment at the end of that five days.

We looked at several apartments in Cobble Hill, several in Chinatown, several in the Lower East side, and finally ended up just North of Little Italy in Manhattan. Last year, we thought about buying an apartment and we looked at a bunch of places. We ended up deciding against buying a place. Once our lease was coming due, we thought about renting a bigger apartment. We looked in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but our landlord decreased our rent and then nowhere else could compete. This year we have looked at apartments in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, and the time for a decision is almost here. We love our little apartment in NoLIta (North of Little Italy), but it is really small and we would love to have more space. We will let you know what we decide.

The other night we had steak, scalloped potatoes and salad for dinner. It was our totally local dinner. The steak was amazing. My husband declared that it was the best steak he had ever eaten. It was a local, grass fed rib steak and it had a great beefy flavor. We don't have a grill, so we just cook steak in a cast iron pan on the stove top. Warm up the pan, add a drizzle of oil, and add the steak that has been generously sprinkled with salt and pepper. We cooked it for 5 minutes per side, but cook yours until it's to your liking. We had a simple salad with greens and cherry tomatoes from our farm share and our house vinaigrette. Here is the recipe for our take on scalloped potatoes:

Scalloped Potatoes
2 leeks, whites finely sliced and rinsed
2 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1 T oil
2 T butter
salt and pepper

Heat up a large skillet, add some oil and add the potatoes and leeks. Add a quarter cup of water and cover. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Uncover and let the rest of the water evaporate. Remove from the heat and add the butter. Salt and pepper to taste.

I used cultured butter and Himalayan sea salt. The butter had a delicious rich flavor. I used Himalayan sea salt because it is full of beneficial nutrients. They are both new splurges.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Works-For-Me Wednesday and Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

The Feast

2010-09-20T20:49:00.015-04:00

I am participating in the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog challenge. If you like what you read, please vote for me by clicking on my profile in the right sidebar and following the directions.

In our neighborhood, The Feast refers to the Feast of San Gennaro. Imagine a county fair on a narrow street in downtown Manhattan. It's wild. Lots of stands selling sausage and peppers, deep fried oreos, zeppoles and pizza. There are even some small rides on the side streets including a mini-ferris wheel and parachute drop. There is a stage with live entertainment, and each night we are serenaded by a band playing Italian American classics such as the Rocky Theme Song, New York, NY, That's Amore and more. Oh, and it lasts for 10 days. Here are few photos:

This is the view from our front door.

Here is a view down our block with one of New York's finest.

Another angle of our block and one of the many t-shirt stands.

We thought we'd have dinner inspired by The Feast. We had some spicy sausage with potatoes, red pepper, garlic and kale.

This is an imprecise recipe. We used 1 lb of spicy sausage, 3 potatoes, 1 red pepper and 1 large bunch of kale. I cooked the sausage and potatoes for 30 minutes at 300 degrees, and then added the red pepper and kale and cooked it for another 15 minutes. It was piled high in a cast iron pan, and it cooked down nicely. Enjoy your own feast.

This post is part of Hearth 'n Soul Blog Hop at A Moderate Life, Top Ten Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tuesday Twister.

Voting and Plans for Week 16

2010-09-19T20:33:00.008-04:00

I entered the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog yesterday. Please check out yesterday's post to read my entry for the first challenge. If you like what you read, please click on my profile on the right sidebar and vote for me. Voting is open Monday to Wednesday.

This week's share includes leeks, salad mix, arugula, potatoes (the first of the season), hot peppers, radishes, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and garlic scapes pesto. We are looking forward to some delicious meals. Here is our menu for this week:

Monday: Steak, Scalloped Potatoes with Leeks and Salad

Tuesday: Chicken Cacciatore with salad

Wednesday: Pork Chops with Garlic Scape Pesto and Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

Thursday: Spicy Lentils and Beet Salad

Friday: Chicken and Arugula Salad

This post is part of Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist and Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie.

Project Food Blog's First Challenge: The Story behind City Share

2010-09-19T11:45:00.007-04:00

I am participating in Project Food Blog at Foodbuzz. The first challenge is to define ourselves as a food blogger and what makes our blog unique. I believe my set of experiences uniquely inform my blog. Here is my journey that led me to my City Share blog.

I grew up eating home cooked, well balanced meals. My parents did a great job of always getting dinner on the table for family meals. By the time I was a teenager, I had been helping in the kitchen for years, and could help prepare most of the family favorites.

After college, I worked in a couple of restaurants to help pay my rent. I worked as a server, but I spent all of the down time in the kitchen watching the chefs at work. I already knew how to cook the basics, but it was at that stage that I was exposed to sauces and creating more complicated dishes with layered flavors. Working in restaurants provided me with a turning point, food went from something you ate when you were hungry to something delicious you looked forward to, discussed, and contemplated.

A year after college, I decided to move to rural New York State. This may be hard for some of you to picture, but most of New York State has rolling farm land instead of have high rises. I got a job at The Farmers' Museum and taught visitors about rural life in the mid 19th century. When I arrived, I was a city girl from Arizona. What did I know about rural life in the Northeast? Not much! But I learned, and went on to teach others. The museum has a small farm used to teach visitors about historic foodways. Some visitors would walk in and be appalled that there were carrots with small clumps of dirt still clinging to them. They would declare that they would never eat such dirty carrots. This would be our chance to explain that carrots actually grow in the ground, and that if they had ever eaten a carrot, they had eaten a "dirty" carrot. They just get washed off before they are delivered to the grocery store. These types of interactions were a revelation to me. People had grown so removed from their food! Both children and adults preferred baby carrots from plastic bags and thought eggs came from Styrofoam cartons.

While I was growing up, I knew that carrots grew in the ground and oranges grew on trees because we had a small garden and a few citrus trees. This was knowledge I had taken for granted. Something I had not appreciated before my time at The Farmers' Museum was the seasonality of food. We have gotten so out of touch with our food that we don't know when produce is naturally available in our area. Grocery stores ship produce grown around the world so we can get strawberries in February, oranges in August and asparagus in October. During my time in upstate NY, I started shopping at farmers' markets, and getting to know family farmers. It was an amazing experience meeting the people who raised my food. I learned about the challenges they face from factory farms and agricultural corporations. After I moved away from upstate NY, I continued to read about local and organic foods and their benefits to the environment and our health.

This year, my husband and I decided to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share as part of our effort to eat more local and sustainably produced food. I decided to write about the challenges of eating up the veggies that kept coming each week. It's a very different way to think about food. We aren't thinking of what we want to eat next week, but waiting for the vegetables to arrive and then deciding how to prepare them. I originally wanted to write the blog just to hold us accountable and share some suggestions for veggie overload with other CSA participants. I envisioned my blog as a digital recipe swap. We experimented with names that would convey that we are living in New York City and eating a farm share, and City Share was born. This journey shapes how I think about food, and helps set my blog apart. We want to encourage other apartment dwellers that they too can eat a farm fresh diet. My blog is my way to participate in the conversation about food, farmers, cooking and more. Thanks for joining me.

If you enjoy my blog, please click on my contestant button on the right sidebar and vote for me. Voting begins on Monday, September 20th and continues until September 23rd. Thanks!

Composting

2010-09-16T20:23:00.008-04:00

We are composting! Or, at least saving vegetable scraps to put in a compost bin. I always thought composting was out of our reach because we live in a small apartment without a yard or access to any dirt, but last Saturday we discovered otherwise. Our pick-up point for our CSA share moved to a community garden, and they have a compost system. Our CSA organizers pointed out we can bring in our vegetable scraps. They suggested putting the peels in the freezer for the week, and delivering them to the community garden when we pick up our share each Saturday. It was one of those moments when I felt silly that I hadn't thought of that myself. Of course! Freeze the scraps! Why didn't I think of that? At least we are composting now.

We are still getting in the habit of saving our vegetable peels, but we are getting better each day. It's great to see our garbage really decreasing in volume.

Tonight we had chicken baked with kohlrabi, turnips, onions and garlic with sides of beet greens and brown rice. Baked chicken is one of our favorite meals for cool weather because it is so versatile and forgiving. We placed a chicken in our Dutch oven, surrounded in by chopped vegetables, covered it, and baked it. Cook it for 1 to 1.5 hours depending on the size of your chicken.

Here's another post on Oven Roasted Chicken with Vegetables.

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade, Frugal Fridays and Grocery Cart Challene Recipe Swap.

Burgers and Greek Salad

2010-09-15T20:11:00.009-04:00

I have been trying to avoid gluten for a few weeks. It's a bit of a dietary experiment. I haven't noticed any differences, but I haven't been a purist for too many days in a row. Tonight's dinner was a relapse into the world of gluten, but it was worth it. We had a Greek diner inspired dinner of burgers with fried onions and Greek salad. It tasted really good. Our burgers were made from some grass-fed ground beef we found on sale at Whole Foods, and they were seasoned with sage, garlic and a bit of Old Bay (my husband made them). These flavors combined beautifully with some melted cheese and the sweet, smoky onions. Delicious! The salad helped us eat up some of our CSA bounty. The dressing was a real success. The recipe is below.

City Share Burgers
1 lb ground beef
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 T sage, chopped
1 T Old Bay
1 large onion, sliced
Cheddar cheese, sliced
oil

Combine the meat, garlic, sage and Old Bay, and let sit for 30 minutes. Heat up a cast iron skillet, lightly oil the pan and add the onion. Cook until tender and browned. Remove the onions from the pan. Form the meat mixture into small patties and place them in the hot pan. Cook to your liking. Top with cheese shortly before done cooking and cover. Top with onions to serve.

Greek Salad Dressing
2 T Greek yogurt
1 t apple cider vinegar
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped and smeared
1/8 t dill

Mix the ingredients and let sit for 30 minutes.

We served the dressing over a salad of greens, radishes, golden cherry tomatoes, red onion, corn and feta.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS, Pennywise Platters Thursday at The Noursishing Gourmet, Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cooking, and Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries.

Fresh ham with Maple Glaze

2010-09-13T18:21:00.010-04:00

I have only been blogging for 3.5 months, but I feel like I have learned so much. When I started, I hadn't really read any other blogs and I definitely didn't have ANY technical knowledge. As much as I have learned, I still have a ways to go. In order to keep learning and growing, I am going to begin a couple of challenges this week. The first is Back to School, Back to Blogging at Kludgy Mom. Kludgy Mom will provide weekly "assignments" to teach us how to improve our blogs. I think there are over 200 people participating, and we are all getting linked up through Twitter, Facebook and Blog Frog. The second program is Project Food Blog at Food Buzz. This program has a series of 10 blogging challenges in which almost 2,000 food bloggers will be whittled down to one winner. The point of this program is to find the best food blogger. I have pretty realistic expectations. I would like to make it through the first round, and gain some exposure. I will be sharing my Project Food Blog challenge post later this week.

Ahh, I love it when one night's dinner feeds into the dinner of the next night. Tonight we had rice cooked in the broth from the brisket last night. Plus, we had some corn, kale and fresh ham. I wish I had a photo of the ham fresh from the oven, but we immediately started picking pieces of the delicious crispy skin, and it quickly went from beautiful to ugly. Even after losing it's beautiful skin, the ham was still tasty. Here's the recipe for the ham and glaze:

Fresh Ham with Maple Glaze
1 fresh ham, 7-8 pounds
1 C maple syrup
1 T brown mustard
1 T ground cloves
1 T chili powder
1/4 C apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Score the skin and fat of the ham in a diamond shape with lines about 1 inch apart. Mix the rest of the ingredients for the glaze. Place the ham in a large Dutch oven skin side up. Pour half the glaze over the ham. Bake for 30 minutes covered. Pour the rest of the glaze over the ham and return covered to the oven. Baste the ham every 30 minutes. After a total of 1 1/2 hours, remove the lid and cook uncovered for another 1 1/2 hours. Continue basting every 30 minutes.

This post is a part of Hearth and Soul, Top Ten Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tuesday Twister.

Brisket with Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

2010-09-13T06:05:00.006-04:00

The weather suddenly feels like fall here in New York City. It's making me crave roasts and baked vegetable dishes. It's a great change of pace after spending a hot summer eating lots of salads and planning meals around cooking as little as possible. I thought I'd make another meal plan this week to make sure we eat up all our farm share vegetables.

Monday - Fresh ham baked with maple and mustard sauce, brown rice cooked in chicken stock, boiled corn, and sauteed kale.

Tuesday - Hamburgers with tomatoes, oven roasted beets, and sauteed beet greens.

Wednesday - Leftover ham, baked corn, and kale salad.

Thursday - Baked Chicken with kohlrabi and leeks, and a tomato salad.

Friday - Steak with fried onions, corn on the cob, tomato, radish and salad turnip salad.

Last night we had brisket with mashed potatoes and vegetables. I heated up some oil in my dutch oven, browned the brisket, and set it aside. I then quickly browned some onions and garlic, and added the rest of my ingredients. Once I had everything in the pot, my husband shared that he thought mashed potatoes would be really good with the meal. I had to agree that some mashed potatoes with gravy would be delicious, but I already had the potatoes stewing in the pot with everything else. But then we decided to try something new, we would cook the potatoes in the dutch oven with the brisket and broth soaking up flavor, and then pull them out after 30 minutes and mash them. It worked really well. We ended up with really flavorful potatoes, and only used one pot!

Brisket with Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
2 T oil
1 (2 1/2 lb) brisket, with "fat cap" (do not trim)
3 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus for brisket
Freshly ground black pepper
2 medium yellow onions, cut into thick slices
12 - 16 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 c cooking sherry
4 c chicken broth
2 T fresh sage, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled, and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 turnips, peeled and chopped
8 red potatoes, cut into large pieces
2 T butter
1/4 C flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke. Season the brisket generously with the paprika, salt, and pepper. Place fat side down in the Dutch oven and cook until brown, turn and continue to brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate and set aside.

Add the onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until starting to brown. Pour in the sherry and cook until reduced by about half. Nestle the brisket into the onions and garlic fat side up, add the broth and sage; bring to a simmer and place in the oven to bake, covered, until the brisket is fork tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Uncover, scatter the carrots, turnips and potatoes around the brisket and cook until they are tender, about 30 minutes more.

Fish out the potatoes, and place in a mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes with a fork or masher. Add broth from the brisket until they reach the desired consistency.

Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, thinly slice the meat across the grain.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables from the broth, and set aside to serve with dinner.

For a Pan Gravy: Melt the butter in a skillet and slowly add the flour. Make sure the four is entirely integrated with the butter before adding more flour. Cook until golden brown, and then starting adding broth ladle by ladle. Stirring until smooth, and then adding more broth. Once the gravy has reached the desired thickness, pour into the gravy boat.

Save the rest of the broth for another dish. We plan to use our for cooking rice this evening.

This post is part of Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Deadlines and Week 15

2010-09-12T08:26:00.008-04:00

I haven't posted for several days because we were off to a wedding in Easton, Maryland. It was quite the affair. There was a traditional Hindu ceremony in the morning with a luncheon, we had about an hour for a costume change, and then there was an Episcopal service and a black tie reception. We are generally shorts and t-shirt people, so this was a big deal for us. I bought a new floor length black dress and heels. My husband bought a tux, a tux shirt, cuff links, a bow tie and cummerbund. We had made it to NJ when he realized that he forgot his bow tie at our apartment. There was not time to turn around, but luckily there ended up being a men's store right down the street from the hotel. The second tie was a real bow tie, so we also learned to tie it (our new skill for the weekend).

The luncheon featured a delicious Indian buffet made by the bride's family. For dinner, we enjoyed salmon and chicken entrees. My husband and I split the entrees, but we each liked our own dish the best. The salmon had a rich buttery sauce served on a bed of vegetables. The chicken had a flavorful maple, ginger and clove sauce with squash and spinach.

On our way home yesterday, we got a call from Zip Car telling us that our car was overdue. We thought we had it until 5:00, but they said our reservation ended at 11:00. Oops! They were able to rearrange the schedule and let us have the car until 3:30. There went our time buffer. We were racing the clock the rest of the way home. We were just entering the Holland Tunnel at 3:10, and we pulled into the garage at 3:30 on the dot. We quickly dropped off our wedding gear at home, and raced to pick-up our farm share. We arrived at the building, and learned that the pick-up point moved again this week. No climb to the roof top, but a walk a few extra block to a community garden. We made it in time, and because we arrived at the end of the day we got extra corn and garlic.

We saw the return of some favorites that we hadn't seen since the beginning of the summer. This week we will be enjoying garlic, corn, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips, kale, cherry tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes.

Mediterranean Salad

2010-09-08T21:19:00.011-04:00

One of the great things about eating out is getting inspiration for dishes to make at home. Last weekend we had lunch at Miriam Restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I had a Mediterranean salad that was delicious. It was fresh and used seasonal ingredients. I promised myself that I would make it at home this week, and here it is. It was a great opportunity to use up some green, yellow, red and orange varieties of heirloom tomatoes. We had gotten some sorrel at the farmers' market. I had never used sorrel before, and it provided a great lemon taste to the salad. One regret: I didn't seed the tomatoes. After I had them chopped up, I wished I had. So I placed them in a small strainer to remove the excess liquid while I chopped the onions and cucumbers. I tried to recreate the look of the dish at Miriam with only moderate success. I just used my hands to form it when I really should have used a ring mold. Ring molds count as gadgets we do not have space for in our small kitchen, so the rustic look will have to do. We served our Mediterranean salad with some pan fried salmon, but it could be a meal on its own.

Mediterranean Salad
1 eggplant (or 4 very small eggplants in our case), thinly sliced
5 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 medium English cucumber, finely chopped
16 oz chickpeas
2 T sorrel, finely chopped
feta
oil
sea salt

Heat a large skillet and add a drizzle of oil. Place eggplant in the pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook for 2 minutes on each side (or until tender). Cook batches of eggplant until it is all ready. While cooking, chop the rest of the vegetables. Combine the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, chickpeas and sorrel. Dish up the veggies, wrap in eggplant slices and sprinkle feta over the top.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursdays at GNOWFGLINS, Things I Love Thursday at Diaper Diaries, Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cooking, and Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom.

30 Minute Stuffed Peppers

2010-09-07T21:51:00.009-04:00

When I think of stuffed peppers, I think of a meat and rice mixture baked inside a whole bell pepper smothered in tomato sauce. There is prep time for the meat mixture and the sauce that runs between 15 and 30 minutes, plus almost an hour to bake them. We rarely want to spend that much time on dinner on a week night, so I was pleased when I saw some stuffed pepper boats popping up on different blogs recently. They were baked, but they took a lot less time.

I planned on making stuffed pepper boats tonight, but our apartment was pretty hot when I got home and I was hoping to take a yoga class. I saw on-line Rachel Ray had a cheat. She cooked the peppers and the stuffing separately on the stove top. Her recipe was for Southwestern peppers, but I adapted her technique to my flavors. It was great! Thirty minutes and only one pan was dirtied! Plus, it was delicious and we have enough leftover to serve over salads for lunch tomorrow. Quick, tasty and delicious (and nutritious)with leftovers - pretty much my definition of a successful weeknight dinner.

30 Minute Stuffed Peppers
4 green peppers
2 carrots
3 small tomatoes
3 green onions
4 large cloves of garlic
1 t dried Oregano
1 T fresh sage
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 lb ground beef
2 T oil
salt to taste
grated cheese (optional)

Slice the top off the peppers, and slice in half. Remove the seeds and ribs and rinse. Place in a dry, large skillet with a lid. Cook over high heat for 4 minutes covered. Flip them over and cook for 4 more minutes covered. Turn off the heat and let sit while preparing the rest of the vegetables.

While the peppers are cooking, chop the carrots, tomatoes, green onions and garlic. Once finished preparing the vegetables, remove the peppers to a large serving platter. Add the oil to the pan, cook the vegetable for 5 minutes over high heat. While cooking the vegetables, measure out the spices and add to the pan.

Once the 5 minutes are up, push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add the ground beef to the other half. Cook until no longer pink (about 5 minutes). Drain off the excess liquid, and spoon mixture into the pepper boats. If desired, top with grated cheese.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Works-for-me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Liver and Onions with Collard Greens and Corn

2010-09-07T07:49:00.006-04:00

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day. We used our day off to explore a couple of neighborhoods in Queens. We continue to expand our horizons and consider new places to live. A couple of neighborhoods were really promising, but we haven't found an actual apartment we like yet.

Labor Day is often associated with cook-outs, grilled meat and all those great summer foods. We don't have a grill, so we had something more akin to a Sunday dinner (on Monday). We had liver and onions, collard greens and corn. I read about a technique in Mark Bittman's column a while back that recreates the taste of grilled corn without a grill. What you do is heat up a cast iron skillet, melt some butter, and pan fry the corn. It looked beautiful, but unfortunately tasted mushy and flavorless. I think our CSA farmers gave us cow corn! Oops! We each took a couple of bites, but couldn't finish it.

The rest of the meal was a huge success. We always like liver and onions. This time around it was bison liver. Here is my recipe. For the collard greens, I basically followed ChezSuzanne's recipe off of Food 52. My husband exclaimed, "These are the best collard greens that I have ever tasted!" and a few bites later "These are amazing." They are definitely worth a try. It includes garlic chips, bacon, and a butter and apple cider vinegar sauce- need I say more?

Here is a close up of the garlic chips and bacon bits awaiting their fate (That's a small plate).

This post is part of Two for Tuesdays at A Moderate Life, Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.

Making a Plan

2010-09-05T20:52:00.008-04:00

We had a busy day walking around Brooklyn. We are considering moving to have some more space, so we were checking to see how we felt in a couple of different neighborhoods. There are lots of nice places, but we are weighing living space, distance to the subways, outdoor spaces, and things to do close by. It is hard because there are so many choices. It feels that we need to keep looking and looking so that we won't miss that one good deal right around the corner. A decision will need to be made in three weeks, which is good. Sometimes it is good to have deadline.

I thought we should get more organized this week and plan out our meals. We are going out of town for a wedding on Friday and Saturday, so this plan will only take us through Thursday. I want to eat up our farm share veggies and our farmers' market finds:

Monday - Stuffed Peppers with some grass-fed ground beef, corn, carrots, garlic, mushrooms and fresh tomato sauce.

Tuesday - Liver and Onions with Collard Greens and Corn on the Cob.

Wednesday - Salmon and a Mediterranean Salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, avocado, chickpeas, sorrel, garlic and feta (inspired by a dish at Miriam Restaurant in Park Slope)

Thursday - Lentil and Beet Salad with goat cheese and beet greens

Last night, we had steak with leeks and mushrooms over some yellow beans (or should they be called wax beans?). It wasn't the most photogenic meal, but it was delicious. The steak was a tough cut, so we cooked it pretty rare.

Steak with Leeks and Mushrooms
1/2 lb steak, thinly sliced
1 head of garlic, minced
2 T soy sauce
Juice of half a lemon
oil
1/2 lb of Oyster mushrooms, chopped
2 leeks, whites finely sliced
2 T butter

Mix the steak, garlic, soy sauce, and lemon juice and let marinate for a few minutes. Heat a skillet and coat it with oil. Add the steak mixture and quickly toss it in the pan for a minute and turn off the heat. Cook mushrooms, leeks in the butter until brown (about 10 minutes). Combine and enjoy!

This post is part of Monday Mania and The Healthy Home Economist.

Smoked Trout

2010-09-04T22:45:00.008-04:00

Two years ago we were in Arizona to visit my family, and we spent several days on an AZ sightseeing trip. We went to Jerome, Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Williams, Grand Canyon and Flagstaff. My husband hadn't seen most of it before, and I was excited to show him the rest of the state where I grew up. In Flagstaff, we ate breakfast at a small diner downtown. It was great! We love the type of places where the waitstaff knows how the regulars like their coffee and their eggs. My husband ordered scrambled eggs and smoked trout, and the combination was amazing. We wanted to buy some, and we tracked the trout to Oak Creek Canyon, but they only smoke it for restaurants. We hadn't tried it again... until, yesterday! We were walking through our Whole Foods, and spotted some local smoked trout. We were so excited!

We had smoked trout and poached eggs for breakfast, and it was delicious. I hadn't tried poaching eggs in a while, so I looked up some tips. People recommended cracking the egg into a ramekin, and then gently submerging the ramekin into the boiling water and transferring the egg into the pan. We don't have any ramekins, so I used a small shallow bowl. They don't look perfect, but they were delicious. My husband came up with the idea of using a ladle tomorrow. We sprinkled a little chopped sage over the top. The creaminess of the egg yolk with the smoky, salty taste of the trout and the herby, fresh taste of the sage created the perfect flavor combination.

We also picked up our farm share yesterday. It was another roof top week, and we had to climb the 7 flights of stairs to pick-up our veggies. I just tried googling Anthill Farm the other day (the farm that provides our veggies) and they now have a website!

This week we will be enjoying garlic, onions, leeks, beets, carrots, kale, yellow beans, and corn. My goal is to eat them all from root to tip (if possible).

Chicken with CSA Succotash

2010-09-03T07:13:00.003-04:00

My husband made dinner last night while I worked away on the computer. I worked at the table while he was cooking about 9 feet away (I know because I counted floor tiles.) We chatted about our days as we cooked and worked. He asked a couple of times if I was ready to type up the recipe, and taunted me that I was going to find the succotash recipe shocking. Mmm, what could make succotash shocking?

As he was plating up dinner, he revealed his recipes. The "shocking" ingredient was Sazon. It is really tasty, but I worry that it's full of chemicals.

This was a great meal for using leftover bits of veggies. We were getting down to the end of our CSA veggies, so my husband supplemented the succotash with the "emergency" can of black eyed peas from the cabinet. You can substitute whatever you need to eat up, and if you want to forgo the Sazon choose some spices of your own. A little chili powder would be a good choice for a similar flavor.

Chicken with Herbs
4 cloves of garlic
2 T fresh basil, chopped
2 T fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 t red chili peppers flakes
1 t paprika
1/2 t Dijon mustard
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T melted butter
1 T olive oil
2 large chicken breasts, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the garlic, spices, mustard, vinegar, butter and oil in a mixing bowl. Add the chicken and mix together with your hands. Let marinate for an hour or more. Heat a wok or pan with deep sides, and add the chicken mixture. Cook until cooked through (about 5-8 minutes).

CSA Succotash
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 ears of corn
6 oven roasted tomatoes
2 frying peppers, julienned
1/2 lb of green beans, chopped
16 oz black eyed peas
1/4 c pepitas
1 package Sazon

Saute corn for 2 minutes. Add garlic, onion and peppers and cook for 1 more minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 5 minutes or until they are tender.

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays from Food Renegade, Finer Things Friday, Frugal Fridays, and Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.

Eggs Glorious Eggs

2010-09-01T19:45:00.007-04:00

I think the recall of a half a million eggs is a reminder to us all that we need to be eating better quality eggs. Get out there and support your local farmer or farmers' market and buy eggs from their pasture raised hens. They will be safer, tastier, and more nutritious. Here are two ideas for those farm fresh eggs:

A while back, we had burritos for breakfast. We peeled and chopped some kohlrabi and sauteed it with some onions. When they were softened and starting to brown, we added some eggs. Serve in tortillas with condiments of your choice. Prepared this way the kohlrabi has a texture similar to potatoes, but with a slightly sweet flavor. It pairs nicely with the onions and scrambled eggs. My favorite thing about that picture is that one burrito has salsa and one has ketchup. Can you tell which one belongs to the girl that grew up in AZ and which one belongs to the boy from upstate NY? It makes me chuckle each time I think about it.

This is not the best photo, but it documents our breakfast yesterday morning. I'm actually impressed that I managed to take a photo during the morning scramble before work. This was very simple, but delicious. My husband sauteed some spinach until it started to wilt and added some beaten eggs to the pan. We topped it with salsa we made the night before. (I learned that he will eat salsa on eggs if it is homemade.)

Eggs are a satisfying way to start the day.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS, Ulitmate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom, Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cooking, and Things I Love Thursday at Diaper Diaries.

Chicken Bulgogi Salad

2010-08-31T20:41:00.009-04:00

We always enjoy Bulgogi when we eat at Korean restaurants. Bulgogi is made from thin slices of steak (or sometimes chicken or pork). The meat is marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and other ingredients such as scallions, or mushrooms. We have had it served by itself or with cellophane noodles.

We decided to recreate bulgogi at home, but with chicken that we had on hand. Because it was a scorcher again today, we decided to serve it over a salad. My husband already had the chicken thinly sliced and marinating by the time I got home from work. I rummaged through the fridge to see just how many salad fixings we had. We were going to be three for dinner tonight, so I had to stretch a bit. We ended up having spinach and finely shredded cabbage tossed in oil and vinegar. Topped with blanched green beans, chopped heirloom tomato, chicken and corn. It was very tasty, a little chewy because of the cabbage, but overall really good.

Chicken Bulgogi
2 large chicken breasts
1 T sesame oil
2 T tamari or soy sauce
5 green onions, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1 T maple syrup
1 t sesame seeds
2 T oil

Thinly slice the chicken (if it is slightly frozen this is much easier). Mix with the sesame oil, tamari, onions, maple syrup and sesame seeds. Cover and let marinate for at least an hour. Heat a wok or a deep frying pan, and add oil and the chicken and the marinade. Cook until the chicken is cooked through (about 5 minutes).

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

This post is part of Works-For-Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

New Profile Picture

2010-08-31T20:10:00.007-04:00

I'm thinking of using a new profile picture. I have used different photos of meals we have made, but I want to use something more consistent. I figure the most appropriate thing to use is a picture of our kitchen. That is where all the magic happens, and I think our Manhattan kitchen might be of interest to people.

The entertaining thing is that our kitchen is really small, but it's not even THAT bad by Manhattan standards. We looked at apartments that were so small they didn't have ovens, or only had an under-the-counter fridge. When we walked in and looked around them, it would take me a minute to realize what was missing. I told the real estate agent I required an oven and a larger fridge. She seemed a bit surprised. Apparently a lot of people really don't cook.

What do you think? Now that I'm looking at it, I'm thinking I should clean off the fridge and straighten out (or remove) the basket of our picnic supplies. In case any of you were dreaming of living in Manhattan, or looking back with longing of past days in NYC, I'm providing you with a little taste of reality. We bought that island and pot rack. Can you imagine preparing a meal without it? There is almost no other counter space! The stove is a challenge because we can't fit more than one large pot at a time, but we make it work.

All in all we love our tiny apartment and kitchen. It has helped us whittle our belongings down to the truly essential (and we both have parents that are generous with garage/barn/attic storage space for things we want to keep for the long term). We love our location and are willing to sacrifice some space for all our area has to offer.

This post is part of Twister Tuesday at GNOWFGLINS.

This post is a part of Top 10 Tuesdays at Oh Amanda.

Red, Green or Christmas... Salsa

2010-08-30T21:03:00.012-04:00

In New Mexico, when you order a meal they always ask, "Red, green, or Christmas?" They are asking about the type of chilies you would like. Would you like red, green or both (Christmas)? Tonight we had a bunch of tomatillos and several tomatoes that needed to be eaten pronto. We went on a little salsa making spree and made both red and green varieties.

I looked up several tomatillo salsa or salsa verde recipes and averaged them together to create a recipe we used tonight. I made one major change: I cooked the tomatillos in a cast iron skillet instead of oven roasting them as the recipes suggested. This hot weather friendly technique worked out well. We made our tomato salsa from a recipe we have used many times before.

Here is the finished product:

Of course red and green salsa is not enough for a meal, so we prepared several other veggies that needed to be eaten up too. My husband sauteed some onions, peppers and fennel. The fennel was strangely spicy. As he started cooking it, it made us start coughing the way hot peppers would. I'm back to not liking fennel. I had to pick it out of my veggies because it was making my tongue burn. The time I liked Parmesan fennel must have been a fluke.

My husband also cooked up some rainbow chard with garlic, and I prepared some black beans and local grass-fed steak. The steak was delicious - tender with lots of flavor! We both decided to have Christmas salsa. After the photo, we pretty much put the salsas on everything because they were so good!

Tomatillo Salsa or Salsa Verde
8 small tomatillos, quartered
1 clove of garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 lime juice
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, roughly chopped
1 thick slice of onion
1/2 bunch of cilantro, stems removed
1/4 t salt (or to taste)
oil

Heat a cast iron skillet and coat the bottom with oil. Add the tomatillos and cook until softened. Remove from the pan and add to the food processor or blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to let the flavors meld.

This post is part of Two for Tuesdays at A Moderate Life blog.

A Local Foods Feast with Friends

2010-08-29T22:11:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, we had a bunch of veggies to eat up, a clean apartment and no plans for the evening, so we decided to invite a couple of friends over for dinner. We have done almost no entertaining this summer. I blame it on the fact that it has been so hot. We have felt like eating simple meals that required limited cooking and lazing about in minimal clothing. Finally it is cooling off a bit, so we can start being more hospitable again.

We quickly decided on our menu. We prepared thin slices of raw beets and cucumbers with a smear of goat cheese for starters, plus our friends brought two types of feta, olives, hummus and pita. We almost didn't need dinner.

I made a corn and tomato salad with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and apple cider vinegar, one clove of garlic finely minced, and a pinch of salt and pepper. The last few time I cut corn off a cob, I made a huge mess. I recently picked up a tip from the blog How to Cook Like Your Grandmother that made a big difference. He suggested placing the corn cob in the middle of a bundt pan or an inverted bowl inside a bigger bowl. I don't have a bundt pan, so I used the latter method. It worked like a charm. I don't know why I never thought of it myself.

The other side was green beans with lots of garlic and some sesame seeds, but the real star was the pork chops with mustard sauce and onions. I made the corn and tomato salad and my husband made everything else. Everything was fabulous. All of the vegetables came for our CSA share, and the pork chops came from the Winkler Family Farm (we bought them at Whole Foods). We also served some lacto-fermented sauerkraut from Hawthorne Valley Farm. Here is a photo of the spread:

Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce and Onions
2 pork chops
Old Bay
oil
1 onion with its greens*, sliced

Set the pork chops on the counter and let them reach room temperature. Dust both sides with Old Bay. Heat a cast iron skillet. Coat the bottom with oil. When it begins to smoke add the pork chops. Cook about 5 minutes per side (more if they are really thick). Remove from the heat. Let rest and then slice. In a separate pan, cook the onions stirring frequently. Cook until caramelized.

Our onions from our CSA share come with the greens still attached. If you don't have onion with greens, you may use an additional onion, or some scallions.

Mustard Sauce
6 oz beer (we used Brooklyn Brown)
1 T mustard
2 T butter

After the pork chops have been removed from the skillet, drain off the excess fat. Scrape the bottom of the pan, and add the beer to help deglaze it. Turn on the burner to medium heat. Add the mustard and butter. Whisk continually, and let cook down and thicken.

The heat was too hot for our sauce, and it "broke". The butter separated from the other flavorings. Don't worry if that happens - it's still delicious. We served our on the side (we use our creamer as a gravy boat).

This post is part of Two for Tuesdays at A Moderate Life blog.

Week 13

2010-08-29T07:47:00.006-04:00

We went to go pick up our CSA share yesterday to find no tent, no people and no vegetables in the normal spot. We did get there a little later than usual because we had a busy morning, but we were still well within the 12-4 time slot. We decided to head into the Bluestockings Bookstore (they help organize the CSA) and see if they knew what was going on.

We were informed that they had been running into problems with the parks department (he used the phrase "the Man was keeping them down"), so the share pick-up point had to be moved. He directed us to walk around the corner to an address, someone would be there to let us in, climb to the roof, and we would find our vegetables. It almost felt like a scavenger hunt or a speakeasy during prohibition. We walked around the corner, a girl sitting in a lawn chair asked if we were with foodstockings, we said yes, and she let us in. We climbed 7 flights of stairs, and got to enjoy a great view of the city while picking out our vegetables.

This week we will be enjoying tomatoes (there are 3 additional heirlooms that I forgot to put in the photo), garlic, corn, green beans, collard greens, leeks, and onions.

Check back in to see how we eat it all up. The big challenge for the week: tomatoes. We still have some left from last week, and we got a bunch more this week. Readers have made some great suggestions for pasta sauce, but my husband doesn't really like red sauce. I mentioned to him that the tomatoes we got yesterday would make a great tomato sauce, and he responded that he thought they would make an even better salsa. So, I guess we will be having some salsa this week.

Adventures in Farming

2010-08-26T20:55:00.005-04:00

I haven't told my coworkers about my blog. Maybe one of these days I will come clean, but for now it is a private part of my life. I have told them about my CSA share. None of them had heard of a farm share before, and it was an intriguing concept to them. Most of them don't really cook, it is amazing how few people in NYC really do. I guess it could be blamed on small apartments with even smaller kitchens, so many good restaurants only steps away, or busy lives with long hours at work. Anyways, I always try to bring a homemade lunch to work, so between that and the farm share, I'm really the odd woman out.

A couple of days after I mentioned my farm share, a coworker shared that he found a show on a new cable channel that featured the story of two former New Yorkers who moved upstate to try their hand at farming called The Fabulous Beekman Boys. He was telling me about their trials and tribulations and how much he enjoyed the show. I asked where they lived, but he couldn't remember. He happened to mention that there was a hotel close by. I asked if he could remember the name of the hotel. He answered, "The American Hotel." It turns out the show is set only about 20 miles from where I used to work, and I think I have driven down their road. What a coincidence?!?

I think this show and my coworker's interest in it reveal a growing interest in food, where it comes from, and getting back in touch with the land. There seem to be a fair number of books coming out on the topic. Last weekend I noticed a sign in our neighborhood bookstore, McNally Jackson, that there would be a book reading today by Keith Stewart from It's a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life.

I had no expectations for the reading. I knew only the title of the book before going. It turns out that he sells his tomatoes, garlic and other organic vegetables at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He has been selling there for 24 years and is one of the longest running vendors. There were about 30 people in attendance, and many of them were his long-time customers. Keith shared some stories from the book about his transition from a corporate job in NYC to organic farmer in Orange County, NY at the age of 40. He was charming and entertaining, his New Zealand accent animating his humorous anecdotes. It was an evening well spent.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa, I'm Lovin' It Fridays at TidyMom, and Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

Cherry On Top Award

2010-08-25T20:54:00.001-04:00

I am thrilled to have received a blog award from Laura at Cooking in Kenzo. When I first started my blog, I looked around for other bloggers writing about their CSA shares. I came across Cooking in Kenzo, and loved that she had just started her blog too. We have become blog comment friends, and I always look forward to hearing about her culinary adventures. Thanks Laura!

Now it is my turn to pass the award along to 5 of my favorite bloggers.

The rules for accepting this award are:

1. Thank the person who gave this award to you. Thank you Laura! Keep up the good work.

2. Copy the award and put it on your blog. DONE!

3. List three things which you love about yourself.

My ability to stay calm under pressure.
My wavy hair (I have learned to embrace it).
My sense of adventure.

4. Post a picture you love:

This photo is from a family hiking trip in AZ after Christmas last year.

5. Tag five people you wish to pass this award on to:

The Good Cook; A blog for cooks of all skill levels - This a blog I came across while hunting for other bloggers writing about their CSA shares. The author always has great recipes and insightful family anecdotes. She was the second person to write a comment on my blog, and always offers thoughtful comments. She recently suffered a horrible family tragedy. Her honest reflections on her blog have made my heart break for her, but also help me to appreciate the wonderful people in my life. Thanks Good Cook.

Radishes and Rhubarb; Fresh, Local and Homemade- Allison celebrates simple, fresh seasonal food. She shares that her blog name was inspired by eating radishes and rhubarb fresh out of her grandparents' garden when she was a child. Her posts include a combination of recipes for good food and happy memories.

Nourished Kitchen - In the past few months, I have discovered the Weston A Price Foundation and a Real Food movement. They educate others about the benefits of sustainable, unprocessed and traditionally prepared foods. This site offers a wide variety of recipes, traditional techniques and information on ingredients. I have greatly enjoyed learning from this encyclopedic resource.

A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa; For the Best in Mediterranean... grow your own, family farms, urban homesteading, farmers markets, nourishing traditions...made from scratch because you can - That title and subtitle pretty much says it all. She offers great Spanish inspired dishes using traditional techniques and fresh, seasonal ingredients along side family stories.

Dinner: A Love Story; It all begins at the family table - Cooking in Kenzo, my first blog friend, referenced a recipe off of this site. I followed the link and immediately fell in love. Jenny advocates for the endangered species, the family dinner. She provides strategies to help families sit down and enjoy dinner together. The posts are full of beautifully written observations, family anecdotes, and recipes for simple, delicious meals.

Oven Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

2010-08-24T17:12:00.013-04:00

I had an interesting walk from the subway to home. A cute new chocolate shop opened, and they were handing out samples. I tried a lemon caramel chocolate, which was good. A lot going on with the flavors, but I did choose lemon caramel chocolate. There were signs up and down the street warning drivers that parking was off limits because Happy Hour was filming. We see these signs a lot - last week they were filming White Collar. But this time they shut down Eight Mile Creek to film. I wonder what Happy Hour is? Next I saw a bike tour peddling toward me, and then lots of paparazzi and people taking cell phone photos of an Evian event. I admit that I had to take a peek through the window to see what all the fuss was about, and I saw a blond young woman. I just assumed she was a model and kept walking, but I just googled "Evian event NYC" to find out that it was Maria Sharapova. Google is amazing - it knows which celebrity I saw on my way home from work. Mind boggling! Last but not least, I noticed that the decorations for the Feast of San Gennaro are starting to go up. Soon we will have the equivalent of a county fair right outside our front door.

Once I got home, I found out my blog won an award from a fellow blogger, Cooking in Kenzo. I will write more about it in my next post, and get to pass it along to other blogs that I love.

It has finally cooled off this week in NYC, and we are getting some long overdue rain. On my way home from work yesterday, I decided that I wanted to have oven roasted chicken. It was finally cool enough to turn on the oven. Mmmm, it hit the spot. We cooked the chicken and vegetables all in the Dutch oven which made it a no fuss meal. All of the vegetables took on a great chickeny flavor.

Oven Roasted Chicken with Vegetables
1 medium chicken
1 onion, cut into good size chunks
1 small cabbage, sliced
2 carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse and dry the chicken. Add vegetables to the Dutch Oven, and place chicken on top. Cover it and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and turn up the heat to 425, and cook until the juices run clear (about 30 more minutes).

Oven roasted chicken is a gift that just keeps giving. We had salads with leftover chicken for dinner tonight, and now I have the bones in the crock pot making chicken stock.

Sausage and Peppers

2010-08-23T18:50:00.009-04:00

When I got home from work today, I flipped on the TV and listened to a news program while I tried to figure out what to make for dinner. Have you noticed how they advertise the upcoming news segments with shocking titles? This one was something like, "What in your dining room is making you fat?" When they finally aired segment after several teasers, they reported that blue is the best color for plates, dining room walls, tablecloths, etc. Why? Because supposedly when people eat surrounded by the color blue, they eat less. The worst colors are yellow and red. One group of people ate dinner in a blue room and another in a yellow room, and the group in the blue room ate 30% less. I'm not sure about the quality of scientific research, but it's intriguing.

Have you noticed the color of our plates that play a supporting role in all of our food photos? They are mustard yellow! (They came with my husband. I like the style of them. The color, well, it is tolerable. The best thing about them is that they are almost indestructible.) Are we overeating every day because of our yellow plates? Maybe we should start using salad plates for dinner...

Last week, we had a hearty dinner served on salad plates. Sausage and peppers cooked with kale, tomatoes, onions and potatoes. I don't think I had ever made sausage and peppers with potatoes until I met my husband. He's Italian-American (among other things), and it's a family classic. His dad usually makes it with sausage, vinegar peppers and potatoes. It's FABULOUS! It's amazing how simple, classic meals are so good - no wonder they have stood the test of time. We added some extra veggies, and cooked it in our dutch oven on top of the stove. It was great - we got some oven fresh taste without heating up our apartment.

Sausage and Peppers with Kale, Tomato and Potatoes
1 lb Italian sausage, cut in half
1 lb potatoes, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 peppers, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 bunch kale,chopped
oil

Drizzle oil in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally. Cook until the desired crispness is achieved, about 1 to 1.5 hours.

We served it on small plates because it is so filling.

This post is part of Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist.

Week 12

2010-08-22T15:13:00.003-04:00

I grew up in a house where there was almost always a grocery shopping list on the fridge. If someone drank the last of the milk or ate the last slice of bread, they needed to put it on the list. This was our household inventory, and helped to ensure the basics were always around.

Our CSA veggies have started to pile up a bit, so I decided to make a list. This one is not a list of what we need to purchase, but a list of what we already have. It's pretty impressive, right?

When we went to pick up farm share #12 yesterday, we got more corn, tomatoes, garlic, green beans, onions, basil and our first blueberries. After running the vegetables home, we hopped in a Zip Car to head out of town to a family party. We just got back today, so we haven't made any additional progress on the veggies. Better add the new ones to the list!

Do you have any suggestions for way to eat up lots of vegetables or ways to preserve them for later?

Garlic Bratwurst with Sauerkraut

2010-08-19T20:02:00.006-04:00

We had a craving for German food the other night, and decided to pick up some bratwurst from Whole Foods. While we were there we also picked up some lacto-fermented sauerkraut. It was from Hawthorne Valley Farm and full of good bacteria to aid digestion. I felt really good about this choice. We accompanied this with some sauteed onions and a salad full of CSA vegetables and topped with our House Vinaigrette.

The sauerkraut was awesome - crispy, tangy, sour and fresh. I want to try to make some like it myself. I got some small cabbages last weekend at the farmers' market, but I still need to get them started. "Tomorrow!"

This post is part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

2010-08-18T18:43:00.009-04:00

Yesterday I wrote about the delicious sage polenta with fresh corn. Mmmm, it was so good we could have eaten it by itself, but we didn't stop there. We topped it with some sauteed chicken breast and a quick sauce of garlic and oven roasted tomatoes. Sun dried tomatoes or oven roasted tomatoes are like nature's candy. They have a really intense sweet and tangy flavor, and pretty much improve anything they accompany.

We got two pints of cherry tomatoes in our farm share last Saturday. I was worried we wouldn't eat them all up in a week, and the weather had cooled for a couple of days. I decided take advantage the cooler temperatures and roast one of the pints. Here are some photos of the process:

One pint of tomatoes awaiting their fate.

I covered a cookie sheet in foil to help prevent sticking. Drizzled it with olive oil. The tomatoes were sliced in half and spread out on the cookie sheet.

The tomatoes cooked for about 3.5 hours at 200 degrees. I stirred them after the first and second hour, and then every 30 minutes. (I became a little neurotic that my precious roasted tomatoes would burn.)

I put the roasted tomatoes in a glass, and had to take a photo by the other pint of tomatoes next to them to show how much they shrank.

This post is part of Simple Life Thursday at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa.

Sage Polenta with Fresh Corn

2010-08-17T20:53:00.009-04:00

We got four ears of corn with our farm share this week, and we also got a bunch of sage from the farmers' market. We were racking our brains for a creative way to use them both. Suddenly, my husband had the idea to combine them in a polenta. He always told me that he didn't like polenta, but he found a recipe that sparked his curiosity.

I have never made polenta. I always thought it was fussy like risotto, and since my husband swore that he didn't like it, I never gave it a try. It's actually pretty easy. For basic polenta, just combine some water and cornmeal and cook for about 30 minutes stirring frequently. We jazzed it up with some sage and fresh corn. The results were delicious. It had a really creamy texture with hints of Parmesan cheese and sage with a crunch and sweetness from the fresh corn. We are totally sold and are ready to make polenta all the time. Here is the recipe:

Sage Polenta with Fresh Corn
small onion, finely chopped
clove of garlic, finely chopped
4 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob
oil
5 c water
1 c corn meal
3 T sage, finely chopped
4 T butter
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
pinch of salt and pepper

Heat a heavy sauce pan and coat with oil. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic and corn and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Bring water to a boil and gradually add the corn meal stirring with a whisk. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the sage, butter, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mix until smooth. Serve with extra Parmesan cheese.

We ate our polenta topped with sauteed chicken breast, oven roasted tomatoes and garlic. The combination was awesome. More on the oven roasted tomatoes in the next post.

Blackened Catfish with Quinoa and Greens

2010-08-17T07:53:00.011-04:00

People living elsewhere in the country ask us if it's difficult living in New York City. I always answer with a resounding "No." Maybe we set up our lives to make things simple, but living here has been really easy. My husband walks to work. I can take one subway to work. During the weekend, we often don't take the train at all because there are so many things to do within walking distance. There is lots of great food all around us. The list goes on and on, but the moral story is that we find living in NYC really enjoyable. There is one exception to this easy, enjoyable life; we have an ongoing battle with the Post Office. We cannot get them to deliver packages to us. We have gone round and round with the little brown package slips, and it's really frustrating. Yesterday my husband and I met at the Post Office to pick-up a package, but the mission was unsuccessful.

On the way home, we stopped by Gourmet Garage to pick-up some fish. We decided to get catfish. It's really mild, so I always like to add some spice to it. We served blackened catfish over some quinoa and greens. Here are our recipes:

Blackened Catfish
1/4 t cayenne
2 t chili powder
2 t oregano
2 t paprika
2 t chili pepper flakes
2 t Old Bay
1 lb catfish fillets
oil

Mix all of the spices together in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Rinse the fish and pat it dry. Coat each fillet in blackening mixture. Heat a frying pan and coat the bottom with oil. Add the fillets and cook on each side for about 4 minutes. The key is to not fidget with the fish while it is cooking, so that the spice mixture forms a nice blackened crust. This spice mix was pretty spicy. If you like things mild, cut back or cut out the chili pepper flakes, Old Bay, and/or cayenne

Quinoa and Greens
1 c quinoa
1 large bunch greens, roughly chopped
4 c water
1 clove of garlic, minced
pinch of salt

Rinse quinoa and drain. Place quinoa in dry sauce pot and cook until it starts to smell nutty. Add greens and water. Cook over high heat until it starts to boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in the garlic and salt.

This was an experiment to use only one pot, but the results were great. The extra water I added to help cook the greens made the quinoa have a really creamy texture. I used mustard greens in our version, but any braising greens will work.

Week 11

2010-08-15T10:55:00.007-04:00

This week's share marks a turning point. We got our first tomatoes and sweet corn through the farm share. A very exciting development! We immediately started plotting delicious ways to prepare them.

This week we will be enjoying corn, tomatoes, onions, wax beans, garlic, yellow cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, rainbow chard and zucchini from our CSA share.

At the end of the day, we headed over to the Union Square Greenmarket to see if there were any bargains to round out the vegetables from this week's share. We did quite well. We picked-up some tomatillos, peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, sage and blackberries. I'm going to try my hand at making some sauerkraut from the small cabbages. I realize it will be a small yield, but I see this as a test run for when cabbages really come into season in another month or so.

Bikes and Treats

2010-08-14T11:43:00.007-04:00

We have had a miserably hot summer here in NYC. But finally the heat has broken for few days, and we are thrilled to be out and about without melting. Today we headed out to enjoy City Streets. For this event, the city closes Lafayette/Park Avenue to car traffic from Brooklyn Bridge all the way up to 72nd Street. Pedestrians and bikers take over and it has a street fair atmosphere. There are free bike rentals, live entertainment, fitness classes and lots of bike and pedestrian advocacy groups. We managed to borrow bikes without waiting in line. We rode all the from Spring Street to 72nd Street (about 8 miles round trip) during our hour. The highlight for us is riding around Grand Central terminal. Good times!

After our bike ride, we refueled with some coffee and apricot pastry from Ceci Cela Patisserie. Their pastries are awesome. They sell them at their own store plus Dean and Deluca and the coffee shops in the area.

Happy Saturday! I hope you have nice weather in your area today too.

Write Your Representatives

2010-08-13T12:58:00.005-04:00

Normally I write about cooking and eating - especially those ingredients that come from our farm share and from our local farmers' market. Today, I'm shifting focus to politics because these ingredients might be endangered!

Congress is tyring to pass S.510, the Food Safety Modernization Act. I'm sure they have the best of intentions and are working to protect citizens from illness, but the Act would hurt smaller farmers by making them jump through lots of hoops and deal with oodles of red tape. Please write your representatives in Congress to voice your concerns. The blog Agriculture Society has a great article on the bill. Here are some of her talking points:

1. The major food borne illness outbreaks and recalls have all been caused by the large, industrial food system. Small, local food producers have not contributed to the highly publicized outbreaks. Yet S. 510 subjects the small, local food system to the same, broad federal regulatory oversight that would apply to the industrial food system.

2. Increased regulations and record-keeping obligations could destroy small businesses that bring food to local communities. In particular, the reliance on hazard analysis and risk-based preventative controls, a concept similar to HACCP, will harm small food producers. HACCP has already proven to be an overwhelming burden for a significant number of small, regional meat processors across the country. Applying a HACCP-type system to small, local foods processors could drive them out of business, reducing consumers options to buy fresh, local foods.

3. FDA does not belong on the farm. S. 510 calls for FDA regulation of how farms grow and harvest produce. Given the agency's track record, it is likely that the regulations will discriminate against small, organic, and diversified farms. Although language calling for flexibility may be included, but there are no enforceable limits or protections for small diversified and organic farms from inappropriate and burdensome federal rules.

4. Food safety and security both come from a diversified, vibrant local food system. Local foods give consumers the choice to buy from producers they know, creating a transparent, accountable food system without federal government oversight. State and local laws, which are often size-specific rather than one-size-fits-all, are more appropriate for local food producers.

Let's work together to protect our food from safe,small and local sources. Find your representatives on www.congress.org by entering your zip code in the upper right hand corner.

Cucumber, Corn and Tomato Salad

2010-08-11T18:48:00.015-04:00

Sunday we headed over to Tompkins Square Green Market to supplement our farm share. We got some peaches and tomatoes from Madura Farms, milk from Ronnybrook Farm, and corn from Stannard Farms. When I saw a tomato and corn salad on Dinner: A Love Story, I had a plan. It's a great way to combine the best of summer's bounty. Here's our take:

Cucumber, Corn and Tomato Salad
3 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
several leaves of basil, finely chopped
1 T apple cider vinegar
oil
salt and pepper

Heat a frying pan and coat with oil. Add corn and saute for 1 minute. Add half the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Combine the corn and garlic with the tomato, cucumber, basil and vinegar. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Cucumber

Dirt Candy Roti aka Vegetable Quinoa Pilaf

2010-08-10T20:51:00.008-04:00

As my husband and I discussed what we should serve with the Moroccan Lamb Meatballs, inspiration struck him and he wanted to be in charge of the side dish. His working title is Dirt Candy Roti in reference to two different restaurants. I chose Dirt Candy for my birthday dinner this last year. It's a vegetarian restaurant that honors vegetables as nature's candy (It was an awesome meal. I highly recommend it! Definitely get the Mushroom Pate). The "roti" is in honor of the Kattu Roti from Lakruwana, a Sri Lankan restaurant in Staten Island. This was an impressive looking dish that came out molded like a pyramid.

Dirt Candy Roti
1 C quinoa
3 C water
1 large zucchini, shredded
1 medium carrot, shredded
2 large radishes, shredded
2 small beets, shredded
5 garlic scapes, chopped
salt
oil

Rinse the quinoa and drain. Place the quinoa in a sauce pan and toast over medium high heat. Add the water and cook until the water is absorbed (about 30 minutes). Combine the vegetables on a large platter or shallow bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes to draw out excess liquid. Place the mixture in a strainer or colander and squeeze out the liquid. Heat up pan and coat the bottom with oil. Add the vegetable mixture and cook until it starts to crisp. Fold in the cooked quinoa to combine, and cook the mixture for a few minutes.

Use a mold to plate up the Dirt Candy Roti. We used a "solo" size dish from Rice to Riches, but any shape will do.

Moroccan Lamb Meatballs

2010-08-10T18:27:00.012-04:00

When we were doing some grocery shopping on Sunday, we came across some pasture raised ground lamb. It was priced reasonably, so I picked some up. I immediately thought of making some lamb meatballs. I looked up a couple of recipes and combined some features from Nigella Lawson and some from Bon Appetit. Here are the results:

Moroccan Lamb Meatballs
1 lb ground lamb
1/4 C scallions, finely chopped
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t cumin
1 t turmeric
1/2 t cayenne
1 t allspice
1 t salt
3 T oatmeal (I used cooked steel cut oats)
1 egg
Vegetable oil, for frying

Put the lamb into a bowl and add the scallions, the spices, salt, oatmeal and egg. Work everything together thoroughly with your hands, and then place in the refrigerator for half an hour for the flavors to combine.

Scoop out some of the mixture and roll in your hands to form 1 inch meatballs. Place on a plate.

When the meatballs are ready, heat about 1/4-inch of oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, fry the meatballs in batches until golden brown all over (approx. 5-8 minutes for well done meatballs).

We served them with a Tamarind sauce. The results were delicious. The combination of the spicy, savory meatballs and the sweet, tangy sauce was taste bud heaven. We served our meatballs over Dirt Candy Roti. The next post will give a recipe.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Works-for-Me Wednesday at We are That Family.

Crock Pot Greens

2010-08-09T19:45:00.003-04:00

We had a lot of greens to use up, and I decided to try something new. I washed them, chopped them up and put them in the crock pot. I have never cooked greens in the crock pot before. They turned out really well. I have read how vegetables should be cooked for as little time as possible to maintain highest possible nutrients, but these were beet greens and mustard greens and they had to cook for a while. I just served them with a little butter. Very tasty!

I cooked a second batch of greens in the same water. I thought it would help preserve some nutrient content? I didn't really pay attention to the clock, but I think the first set was done in about an hour on high. I scooped those out with a slotted spoon, and put in one large bunch of collard greens chopped up while the water was still hot. I don't think I have ever made collard greens before. I probably ended up cooking them for about 4 hours. I sauteed some bacon and added it half way through and added some apple cider vinegar. At the end of the 4 hours, the greens were tender but the bacon and vinegar couldn't be tasted. I drained them and added a couple of extra tablespoons of vinegar. The results were OK. The bacon had completely lost its flavor, but the taste of the extra vinegar came through. This was one of those times when I should have actually consulted a recipe. When I make them again, I would simmer them, drain them, and add them to a hot pan with the bacon and vinegar (but first consult a couple of recipes to see if I could find improvements on my plan).

The crock pot is great in hot weather. It doesn't heat up the apartment, and it adds some variety to our diet. I would definitely try crock pot greens again.

Chicken Scampi

2010-08-08T18:50:00.007-04:00

I mentioned yesterday that my husband and I are feeling a bit under the weather. Not bad enough to keep me home from a wedding shower I had to attend, but yucky enough to want to stay home and eat comfort food after it was over.

I was at a total loss for dinner ideas, but my husband came up with the idea of chicken scampi, and that sounded perfect to me. Later he confessed that he was inspired by his lunch on Friday. Apparently he forgot to eat breakfast before he left for work, and he felt like a treat by the time lunch rolled around. He went to Urban Lobster Shack and got a lobster roll scampi style. The chicken scampi wasn't the most photogenic meal, but it was quick and delicious. The combination of butter, garlic, lemon and white wine is always a hit with me. I'm allergic to shell fish, so this is how he translated it for me.

Chicken Scampi
1 lb chicken, chopped
1 C flour
salt and pepper
olive oil
2 T butter
2 T garlic
2 T oregano
1 C white wine
juice of half a lemon
pasta
Parmesan cheese

Start a large pot of water for the pasta. Season flour with a pinch of salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour. Coat a hot skillet with olive oil and add chicken. Cook until the chicken is done (about 5 minutes, but it depends on the size of your pieces). Remove chicken from the pan. Start the pasta. Add butter, garlic, oregano, wine to the same pan used for the chicken. Cook over medium-low heat for one minute while scraping off any flour from the chicken to help thicken your sauce. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Add chicken back to the pan and combine with sauce. Serve over pasta. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and an extra shake of oregano.

Week 10

2010-08-07T18:32:00.004-04:00

We love getting out of town and visiting new places, but this year each weekend away is a little bittersweet. Our farm share pick-up is on Saturday afternoon, so each time we go away we miss out on the week's vegetables. Last weekend we were in Boston, and missed out on week 9. That put us up all the way up to week 10 of our CSA. Hard to believe! This week in our share we got some old favorites including kale, radishes, beets, braising greens, cucumbers and carrots, plus onions and basil.

We have been feeling a bit under the weather, so it will be good to eat lots of fresh vegetables and get us back to our regular selves. Any suggestions on easy greens recipes? We're not using our oven because of our hot summer weather, so we're looking for stove top recipes for collard and mustard greens, kale and beet greens.

US Wellness Meats Giveaway

2010-08-06T11:20:00.002-04:00

As you may know, I just recently started blogging. I started this blog to document our summer with our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share. I thought it would be a useful tool to hold myself accountable to make sure we ate up the veggies each week, and keep track of the recipes we used. I had no ambitions for readers (or anything else) because I had no expectations. As I started reading other people's blogs, and learning more and more about the blogging community, I became a bit more ambitious. I have learned about the world of networking and some of the techniques for gaining readers. One way to increase your readership is by offering giveaways. These giveaways function like raffles. The blogger offers virtual raffle tickets in exchange for following their blog, tweeting about it, etc.

I have never gone after a giveaway until today. There is a US Wellness Meats giveaway at the Food Renegade blog that has caught my fancy. She is "raffling" off a package of sausage that includes: Braunsweiger, Salami, Liverwurst, Italian Sausage and more all from pasture raised meat. Doesn't that sound delicious? You too can enter by visiting the above website, or purchase your own products at US Wellness Meats .

Wish me luck!

Boston, Part II

2010-08-04T18:49:00.008-04:00

As much as I like to search out restaurants with nice atmosphere and delicious food, sometimes it comes down to location. We didn't get in to Boston until 8:30 PM, so we looked for a seafood restaurant close to our hotel in the financial district that was still serving dinner at 9:30. It came down to Union Oyster House. I read some reviews and they weren't the best. People said the service wasn't friendly, the food was OK, but overpriced. But we were undeterred, and went there any way.

It claims to be the oldest restaurant in America, and has the ambiance to match. The food was simple, but good. I had the broiled scrod with boiled salt potatoes, and my husband had a small lobster with broccoli. It wasn't inexpensive, but the prices weren't shocking.

Sunday morning, we were looking for a breakfast place near Old South Meeting House when we came across Emmet's Pub. We both ordered the Irish breakfast which included the Irish bacon, sausages, black and white pudding, grilled tomato, two eggs served with home fries. The black and white pudding was excellent. I highly recommend Emmet's for a hearty breakfast before a busy day of sightseeing.

Boston, Part I

2010-08-03T20:23:00.004-04:00

We are so spoiled. We have been eating lots of delicious homemade food prepared with fresh local ingredients. We are accustomed to vibrant tomatoes bursting with flavor; nutty, whole grain breads with naturally fermented starter; and creamy fresh mozzarella from the Italian cheese shop down the street. All these foods have raised our standards.

We were in Boston over the weekend to visit family and do some sightseeing. We had a great time. The weather was gorgeous and provided the perfect backdrop for 2 days of walking and seeing the sights. We always keep an eye out for local institutions to try. We were looking for some food to take on the road when we came across Cardullo's in Harvard Square. We were excited to explore the old school deli and charming gourmet food shop. Unfortunately, the sandwiches were a bit disappointing. We chose Caprese and Italian sandwiches. The tomatoes were green in the center which was a shame because it was the centerpiece of the Caprese sandwich. The Italian had a variety of meats and lots of hot peppers. Both were solid, and made a good dinner for our trip back to New York, but they didn't beat sandwiches we had at home.

All in all, the next time we are in Boston I would still peek in the store to see what's on the shelves, and I would try another sandwich. There was one with pate and figs that was intriguing.

Italian Vinaigrette

2010-07-29T20:42:00.008-04:00

I learned on my way home from work that we had a last minute guest coming over for dinner tonight. I did a quick mental run through of the kitchen contents and decided we really didn't have the makings of a dinner that would comfortably serve 3 (or 1). My husband suggested that he pick-up pizza, and I loved the idea. I picked up some lettuce, and we were in business.

I have worked in some restaurants along the way, and two of them were casual Italian-American places. Both restaurants had the same recipe for their house vinaigrette. It's really complex. Are you ready for it? Large squirt bottle filled with about half olive oil and half red wine vinegar (slightly more oil). Place thumb over the nozzle and vigorously shake. Squirt on some chopped lettuce. Sprinkle it with a couple of shakes of oregano. Garnish with a tomato wedge (two if the customer is a regular), and you are finished.

As a step up, the salad I made tonight even included local tomatoes, cucumber and carrots. Pizza pie and salad with leftovers for tomorrow. Perfect. Here is my dressing recipe for home:

Italian Vinaigrette
3 T olive oil
3 T red wine vinegar (or I used apple cider vinegar)
pinch of oregano, salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Combine the oil, vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper. Toss salad with dressing and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

We are heading to Boston tomorrow and leaving the computer at home, so no posts for several days. I hope to bring back news of exciting adventures and fun family time. Do you have any suggestions for restaurants in the North End/Financial District of Boston?

Pickles

2010-07-28T18:43:00.009-04:00

I have been learning about the benefits of naturally fermented foods recently. One food that can be fermented is a cucumber. They are referred to as lacto-fermented pickles. I was inspired by a recipe at Healthy Green Kitchen. She credits Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon with the recipe. This is interesting because that cook book has been popping up everywhere in my reading lately. I just ordered a copy, and I'm sure that I'll be talking about it more once it arrives. We started the pickles on Saturday and opened them up yesterday. I highly recommend them. They are crisp, fresh, sour and garlicky with a light dill flavor. Best of all, they are super easy. Here is my take on the pickles:

Pickles
4-5 kirby cucumbers, washed and sliced in half
5 garlic scapes, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 T dried dill
1 T sea salt
1 cup filtered water
very clean 1 or 2 qt. wide-mouth mason jar with screw-top lid (run through the dishwasher before using to ensure it is sterilized, if you have one)

Place cucumbers, garlic scapes and dill into 1-2 jars. Mix salt and water in a measuring cup and add to the jar. Add additional water to completely cover the cucumbers and scapes. Make sure the liquid is about 1 inch below the top of the jar. Screw the top on the jar tightly and allow to sit at room temperature for three days.

Healthy Green Kitchen says, "After this time, go ahead and open the jar. The liquid should be pretty fizzy, which means the lacto-fermentation was successful. If there is any type of “off smell”, discard and start again (I’m mentioning this as a caution, but also want to mention that I have been lacto-fermenting for years, and I have never had anything go wrong)."

Once opened, move your jar to the refrigerator for storage. Lacto-fermentation will continue in the colder temperature, but at a much slower rate, and the garlic scapes should mellow a bit over time.

Cucumber

Zucchini Pancakes

2010-07-27T21:35:00.003-04:00

I'm usually the one that comes home from work starving, but yesterday my husband was the hungry one. We have a large supply of squash in the fridge, but I was at a loss for new delicious, nutritious ways to prepare them. Chopped up and sauteed in butter, in stir-fry and burritos. Check, check and check. I tried to think of something fast, and decided to make zucchini pancakes.

I grew up with very sensible dinners that looked like a picture in the nutrition brochures. My mom always tried to have a protein and starch on half the plate, and a yellow and green vegetable on the other half. This is not one of those dinners.

I got a little over zealous with the egg, so they almost tasted like omelets. A dinner of zucchini omelets with salad, how very European of us. I adjusted the recipe to make it less eggy.

Zucchini Pancakes
2 medium zucchini, shredded
2 scapes, finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2 T Parmesan cheese
flour, if necessary
oil
salt and pepper

Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the zucchini and mix in the scapes, eggs and cheese. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add a thin layer of oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Spoon in the mixture and cook until golden (about 2-3 minutes per side). Repeat the process until all of the pancakes are prepared. As the mixture sits, the zucchini will release more liquid. If the mixture starts to get runny, add a tablespoon of flour. Serve warm.

We ate the leftovers for lunch today in a cold salad and they were good.

Heirloom Tomato and Mediterranean Tuna Salad Napoleons

2010-07-26T22:49:00.006-04:00

There is a blog called A + M that has a weekly recipe/cooking contest on a featured ingredient. We have entered twice before, once with a Deconstructed Eggplant Parmesan Salad (for fresh mozzarella) and another time with Cherry Chutney topped Pakoras (for cherries). I thought both of these were pretty good. They tasted great and were creative, but neither one even made it into the final list. I guess I shouldn't feel too bad because there have been between 100 and 200 recipes in entered in both of those rounds.

The contest topic for this week is Heirloom Tomatoes, and we decided to try throwing our hat in the ring once again. We tried to think of something that was fresh, summery and unique for the tomatoes. We decided to create a no-cook dish with Mediterranean tuna salad layered with tomatoes. Here's the recipe:

Heirloom Tomato and Mediterranean Tuna Salad Napoleons Serves 4

16 ounces tuna
16 ounces cannellini beans
1 handful Niçoise olives, pitted and chopped
1 small roasted red pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons capers
3 scapes, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced
4 cups salad greens
Parmesan cheese curls

Combine the tuna, beans, olives, peppers, capers and scapes in a mixing bowl. Mix the oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, herbes de Provence and drizzle over the tuna mixture. Layer the salad greens, tuna mixture, tomatoes and top with cheese curls.