Zucchini Bowtie Pasta

I think I've mentioned before that we eat a lot of pasta. A lot. So, what better thing to write about than a dish we eat at least every other week? We like to vary our pasta forms, so for this dish we use bowtie (farfalle) pasta. We've used rotini in the past, but it's just not the same. Well, I guess it does taste the same, but...eh. The shape seems to at least hold a mental importance. In some dishes, the shape of the pasta is actually important--there are certain pasta varieties that are suited better for different textures of sauces. For instance: linguine, fettuccine, and other thick strips of pasta are generally suited for heavy, creamy sauces. Thin pastas, like angel hair, do well with light sauces, thin sauces. Shaped pastas, like rotini, ziti, or mostaccioli , do well with chunky sauces. Check out this website for ideas on what to do with all those other fun shapes you find at the store.

This recipe is really simple and fast. It should be, since it was adapted from a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal. It can also be used as a side dish for a main dish such as chicken Parmesan or breaded chicken, or the like. Very versatile!

Zucchini Bowtie Pasta
adapted from 30 Minute Meals by Rachael Ray

Ingredients:
16 oz. bowtie pasta
1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 yellow squash, cut into matchsticks
5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced (we do this is a mini food processor)
about a cup (or more) shredded Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper


Directions:
1. Cook bowtie pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1-2 ladle fulls of starchy water for later and drain the rest.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Saute garlic in oil 1-2 minutes. Add zucchini and squash and saute until soft (8-10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the reserved starchy water to the skillet and stir 1 minute. Add pasta to skillet and stir all together (water should begin to absorb into pasta). Sprinkle cheese over top and stir until cheese is melted.


Enjoy!

The first harvest

Our garden has produced its first harvest: 2 cherry tomatoes! Lucas does not like tomatoes, so these were enjoyed only by me. I had to savor them, because I'm not sure the plant will produce any others...it seems to have developed some kind of disease (perhaps blight?) and has no signs of further tomato growth at this point. I plan to continue to water it in hopes that we will get a few more, but at any rate, I am happy to have at least these 2 in my first gardening attempt! Our squash plants are enormous now and have a few flowers that bloomed this week. Although I am really excited about them, I am also a bit sad in that in their growth, they have begun to take over some of the other squares of the garden, completely hanging over and blocking the sun of the peppers and parsley. Both peppers and parsley still seem to be hanging in there, so we'll see...The watermelon has also begun to vine out of the box and we are now trailing it along the side of the deck. And, the basil, which I thought was a lost cause, is finally starting to grow! We also have mesclun, which is fair to good. Something ate half of the red leaf variety, but the rest is looking good. I'll have to get out there soon and take some updated pictures.

Barely food related...

August 2nd, or sometime around then, we're not really sure on the exact day, was our puppy Wembley's first birthday. I had these grand schemes to invite all his doggy friends (really, just our friends who happen to have dogs roughly Wembley's size) over for a fun filled afternoon of water fun. Lucas was having none of that (staunchly determined not to become "those dog people"). I can see how having a birthday party for your dog may seem a little bit overboard, so I was willing to compromise. Instead of inviting other dogs to join in the fun, we bought Wembley a sprinkler. Wembles is a huge water fan anyway and loves the hose, so we figured he might enjoy a sprinkler. Enjoy it he did--he played a good 30 minutes straight in the water, pausing every so often to roll around in the grass to get good and dirty (this birthday party ended with a bath for Wembley--probably not his favorite present ever). When we thought he might fall over from exhaustion, we presented him with his cake (see, there, I mentioned food! This still counts as a food post!): 5 wheat thin crackers topped with peanut butter--his favorite treat. So, happy birthday to Wembley! Fun times. Note: the last picture is a video.

Dixie Quick's Magnolia Room

While I was visiting my family this past week in Omaha, my mom and I met my brother for lunch one day at Dixie Quick's Magnolia Room. The building itself, from the outside, is nondescript, not even a sign except for some paint on the windows telling you that you have just driven past the restaurant. Inside, it is a cute little diner, with murals painted on the walls, a chalk board listing the menu of the day, and an art gallery accessible through a doorway in the dining room. The tables were covered with butcher paper and a cup of crayons on the table indicated that drawing all over your tablecloth was encouraged. The menu featured both breakfast and lunch items, and my family ordered from both areas. I had the magnificent french toast dish pictured above--it was topped with fresh berries and whipped cream and served with maple syrup. Delicious. The picture (from the Dixie Quick's website...click on it to link back to their site) doesn't give you an accurate picture of how monstrous it is--the stack of toast was huge. Being pregnant, I was able to give it a good effort and ate nearly 3 pieces. My mom helped out with the rest. For her meal, she had the grilled tomato, basil, mozzarella sandwich. She loved it. My brother had the black bean and corn quesadilla, also declared to be quite tasty. Dixie Quick's was featured on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on Monday night and got rave reviews. I don't know if it is available to watch online or not, but I'll see if I can find it. The menu changes daily (or even during the day), according to Chef Rene Ortuna's preference. I'm looking forward to going back next time I'm in Omaha, and recommend it to anyone that lives there or will be visiting!

Dump Cake

At the moment, the most delicious smell is wafting through the house. I just talked to Lucas and told him if he found me on the kitchen floor when he gets home from work, it is because I have just eaten an entire cake and cannot move. Seriously, this thing is dangerously good smelling. And also, dangerously awful for you. After just posting about how we are eating healthy and cooking with non-processed ingredients, I am completely contradicting myself with this post. None of this cake is from scratch. It took maybe 3 minutes to assemble. I don't even want to ask about the nutritional value. But, I haven't eaten it since college, and I have never made it myself, so it isn't like this is a normal occurrence (although maybe it should be...). And, I am further justifying it by the fact that it isn't for us (not all of it, anyway). In about an hour, if I haven't eaten the whole thing by then, it will be traveling to a friend/coworker's home, where she and her husband will join us in our self-destructive behavior. We are actually taking a whole meal over, as they are the proud new parents of a new baby girl, who we get to meet for the first time tonight! The Dump Cake was a last minute addition to the meal, because I had forgotten to plan a dessert. As previously mentioned, Dump Cake is super fast to make, so it was easy to through together in the last few hours before we head over there. I am hoping it is just as good as I remember, and judging by the smell, I think I'm in luck!

Dump Cake
ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 can sugar free cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple in water (don't drain)
1/2 c. butter, thinly sliced into pats

(I know, 4 ingredients, how can that even be considered cooking? Well, friends, deliciousness apparently is more concerned with quality, not quantity.)

directions:
1. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray, or coat with butter.
2. Open can of cherry pie filling and spread over bottom of pan with spatula.
3. Open can of pineapple and spread over pie filling, mixing together.


(for those of you who are asking yourself, "Aren't those pineapple tidbits? I thought the recipe called for crushed pineapple!", congratulations on being so observant! That will pay off when you are at the store and looking at pineapple cans--be sure to look for the word "crushed." I obviously was not so observant...hence the tidbits in my cake above.)

4. Sprinkle cake mix over top of fruit mixture in an even layer.


5. Place cut butter pats across top of cake mixture.


6. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees, or until top is golden.
7. Try to hold off eating until you are actually at the dinner party (good luck with that).


I like to console myself by thinking that there are 2 types of fruit in this dessert. That totally counts as a serving of fruit. Let's forget that I plan to top this with a generous dollop of whipped cream, and can't completely rule out second helpings...mmmm.

Whipped Cream

To be honest, I really haven't done much worthy of writing about lately, so in the interest of posting for the sake of posting, I thought I'd write about whipped cream. Last summer, I had the time and opportunity to frequent the library daily (all right, not always by choice...we were in the process of house buying and due to the incompetencies of Comcast, spent nearly 2 months without internet, therefore sending me to the library daily to communicate with our realtor, lenders, insurance agents, utility providers, etc. More than annoying.) This did give me lots of time to peruse the shelves while waiting for a computer to open up, and I spent most of my time in the food section, reading books like Twinkie: Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger, Real Food by Nina Planck, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and most recently, Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. In short, after reading those books I decided to eliminate a lot (not all, let's be reasonable...every so often, you are going to have to eat high fructose corn syrup...it is in everything. If you go out to eat at all, there is a good chance every item you order contains some. That is perhaps an over generalization, but I'm just trying to point out that even though I try to be really conscious about it, I am aware that I do eat some) of processed foods from my diet. Starting with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Which is why the Ward household no longer buys "frozen whipped topping" and instead makes our own whipped cream. Which is so easy, I am ashamed to admit that I just started doing this a year ago.

A note: I am only posting these pictures because they are the only ones I have of whipped cream making. They are from earlier this week, and the only reason I have them at all is because I used too small a bowl and splattered the whipping cream all over my shirt (and the kitchen), which Lucas found hilarious, therefore prompting him to fashion for me the "paper towel bib" you see me wearing in the photos. He thought he was quite funny, so he proceeded to take these pictures. Ha.


Whipped Cream
ingredients:
whipping cream
sugar or agave nectar
flavoring (vanilla, almond, liquor, etc)


Unfortunately, I can't offer you measurements or quantities for the ingredients. I just eyeball it to however much we need. I taste as I go until it is sweet enough for us. I like to flavor with almond extract, but vanilla is good too, and when not pregnant, I like amaretto or creme de caramel.



To make:
1. Pour desired amount of whipping cream into an appropriately sized bowl (I have learned that you should always go bigger than you think you need...).
2. Begin whipping with an electric whisk, or make in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. I suppose you could also whisk it by hand, but be prepared to be whisking awhile.
3. Gradually add sugar or agave nectar and continue whisking until cream starts to thicken. When soft peaks begin to form, add in flavoring and continue whisking until desired consistency. Don't over beat, or you will make butter. Very sweet and tasty butter, but probably not what you want on your dessert...

The almond flavored whipped cream is especially good with fresh berries. Mmmmm. Enjoy!

Peach-raspberry pie

Lucas and I had a few guys from his office over for dinner on the 4th of July. In the spirit of the holiday, I thought I would bake a pie, because what goes better with the 4th of July than pie? I had planned to make peach-blackberry pie, but when I got to the store after saving my shopping for the day of the holiday, I was saddened to discover they were sold out of blackberries. So, I swapped the blackberry idea for raspberries at the last minute. In hindsight, I maybe should have just made a peach pie and left out the other fruit entirely, but there's always next time. As a warning, peach-raspberry pie is very, very, sweet.

This pie was my first attempt at a lattice top pie. I made the crust from scratch, and probably should've made a bigger batch as it turns out I made a crust for a regular dish pie, and the dish I own happens to be deep dish. So, the edges weren't turned under as nicely as they should have been, and there are fewer lattices than I wanted, but an overall respectable attempt. Last summer I found an all butter pie crust recipe that I loved, and then promptly lost it. I have tried several times to replicate said pie crust, but cannot recreate the delicious flaky butteriness of the original. This crust was just a version of the Better Homes and Gardens red plaid cookbooks pie crust, substituting butter for the shortening. Eh. Nothing special.

Peach-raspberry pie
1 recipe for a double crust pie (use your favorite)
7-8 peaches, peeled and sliced
1.5 cups fresh raspberries
1/2 c. sugar
3 T. all purpose flour
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1.5 T. unsalted butter, cubed (I forgot this step. Do Not forget this step!!)
1 egg, mixed with a little bit of cold water (to brush on the crust)
sugar (to sprinkle on the crust)

Directions:
1. Make pie crust for double crust pie. Divide dough in half and refrigerate 30-60 minutes. Roll one half of dough to 1/4" thick and place in 9" pie plate. Allow dough to overhand the edges.
2. Mix peaches and raspberries with sugar, flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon into crust. Dot with the cubes of butter.
3. Roll out second half of dough to 1/4" thickness. Use a pizza cutter, pastry wheel, or knife to cut 10 strips of dough 3/4" thick. Weave into lattice top over filling. Turn bottom crust edge over edges of strips and roll and pinch together.
4. Brush egg over the strips and sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake 40-50 minutes on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven (based on original recipe. my oven never works right, so I baked it close to 1.5 hours. maybe your's will work better...). Crust should be golden brown and filling should be bubbling when done.

Garden

So....haven't posted anything for awhile. I have had a few failed baking attempts (I entirely blame my oven. More on this later), have started a backyard garden, went through a few weeks where I made things, but didn't think to photograph them (guess we'll just have to make homemade ice-cream with homemade caramel sauce again...oh well!), and was mostly lazy. I thought I'd attempt to make up for my laziness by promising a series of posts--as in one each day this week. This is a lofty goal, however, and you will be lucky to see one every other day. Though I will try my best.

Today I thought I'd share about my garden. Since we moved in a year ago, I have been talking about the wonderful garden I would have now that I had my own backyard. I suppose I could have managed something during the "apartment days," but the closest I got to gardening then was my window oxalis, which could live anywhere and I'm sure could be tended to by a hamster or other small brained creature with moderate rate of success. Pondering just how we were going to get anything to grow in our clay soil lasted nearly the whole first year we were here. Then, our neighbor told us about square foot gardening, which would eliminate any soil preparation and contain the garden to a set spot all at the same time. Perfect!

3 weeks later...


We have a garden! Looking at the picture above, from the bottom left hand corner, going from bottom to top, then top to bottom: 2 squares of watermelon, cherry tomatoes, basil, empty square (was going to be zucchini, but no stores seemed to carry those seeds this late in the summer), zinnia, mesclun, zinnia, spinach, empty square (was to be zucchini, again), 2 squares of peppers, 2 squares of squash, parsley, and mesclun. All except the tomato and zinnias were from seed. I also have a larger tomato plant in a container on the deck. So, we'll see how well we do! I've already found a worm and some sort of tiny grasshopper looking thing eating the leaves on the watermelon sprouts, which is why I have thinned the sprouts back yet. Want to make sure I leave the strongest one! I am pretty sure I have over planted in terms of big plants--the book recommended one squash plant for every 3 squares. I went ahead and planted 2 next door to each other. Oh well. If one doesn't make it, I guess I have a back up.

In the picture, you will also notice the presence of our dog, Wembley. He thinks it is his job to dig up any bark, pieces of mulch, or large clumps of dirt that might be present in the garden. If you spend any time near our yard, you will most likely hear the sounds of: "Wembley! No! Get out of there!", followed by a crazed black dog streaking through the yard at a speed way to fast for a human to catch. He will then proceed to streak straight by you, through the garden, and start the process over. We are going to look into a small fence. This in lieu of Lucas' suggestion to just get rid of the dog. Deep down, I think he really does like him.

Tomorrow (or the next day, whichever...): Peach-raspberry pie

Breakfast Couscous

In an attempt to eat a more varied breakfast, I made this Breakfast Couscous dish last week. I had made it once before and remembered it was easy, so decided to give it a second try. It is in fact very easy to make. I adapted it from the original recipe found in Cooking Light because I didn't have all the ingredients. Also, the recipe was intended for use while camping, so it did provide directions using dried milk, but I went ahead and used regular 2% milk instead. It made enough for 3 breakfasts, about 2/3 c. each serving.


Breakfast Couscous
adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. uncooked couscous
1/2 c. dried cranberries (or 1/4 c. dried cranberries, 1/4 c. raisins)
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
optional: toasted walnuts or pecans, chopped

Directions:
1. Boil water and milk in a small saucepan.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients and remove from heat.
3. Cover and let stand 10 minutes.

See, very very easy!

Farmer's Market

Yesterday, Lucas and I drove up to Houston to attend the Bayou City Farmer's Market. There was a nice selection of vegetables, meats, honey, cheese, and some prepared foods. Unfortunately, it took us nearly 45 minutes to get there. I would definitely return, but probably won't make it a weekly drive. In Omaha, my brother lives within walking distance of a weekly farmer's market--hard not to be jealous of that! Below are pictures of what we made it home with--we are really excited to try the steak!

Above are fresh bell peppers and a Japanese eggplant.

Sirloin Steak, grass-fed in Waller, TX. Can't wait to try it!

Fresh baked Naan.

Honey with the comb.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Whole Wheat Flour

I have been wanting to experiment baking with whole wheat flour for awhile, so I finally picked some up the other day at the store and pulled out my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was also considering substituting agave nectar for the sugar, but after learning that agave nectar can change the texture of the cookie, opted to go only with the flour change for this batch (since the reason I love these cookies so much happens to be the texture in the first place). These are the perfect combination of chewiness and crunchiness. Delicious. The change to whole wheat flour also can affect the texture, so for my first batch, I used a little more than half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour. The result was an even chewier cookie--yum! The recipe makes a lot of cookies (near 5 dozen--which no, we did not eat all by ourselves...), so consider halving it if you are just baking for 2 (which we were, but I tend to go overboard anyway).

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Whole Wheat Flour
adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather

1 c. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 T. vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 scant teaspoon salt
semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like Guittard)
white chocolate chunks (not white chips...I just chop up a white chocolate bar)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or spray with cooking spray).
2. Cream the butter in a mixer with the paddle attachment. Add in both sugars and continue mixing until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed 1 minute.
3. Combine the flours, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and whisk together. Add to creamed mixture in 3 batches, mixing on medium-low speed just until combined between batches.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and white chocolate chunks by hand (use as much or as little as you prefer).
5. Drop dough onto cookie sheet using 2 spoons or a 1 3/4" dasher (which I am not lucky enough to own). Leave about 1.5-2" between cookies. Bake 10-12 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. The middles may still look light or under cooked, but as they cool that will go away. Allow to cool on pan 2 minutes, then remove to cooling rack.

Yum!!!

Basil Pesto

So, I thought about just pretending I didn't abandon this blog for 2 months and just go ahead and make a new post like it was totally routine....then I decided that no one probably checks this anymore anyway, so I should probably make some mention of the fact that I am starting to post here again. Most people who read this blog read our other blog as well, so this news should be a shock to....no one. I'm pregnant! Being pregnant put me off of cooking and baking for fun for awhile, but I am happy to announce that the second trimester seems to agree with me and baking and cooking are no longer a problem. So, coupled with the fact that I am not working this summer, I should have plenty of time to post here. Starting with.....

Basil Pesto!


My neighbor, Sam, grows basil and was kind enough to give us some regular and lemon basil, with which I made my first batch of pesto. I found some recipes online, but pretty much just eyeballed it until it looked like the right consistency. The lemon basil gave it a nice citrus-y kick and it was a very refreshing dish for a hot summer day. I made the pesto a few weeks ago and froze it until we used it this week. I had read varying reviews on if you should freeze the pesto before or after adding the cheese. I finally went with after, just for the sake of easiness. It froze very well, no flavor or texture concerns to speak of. Below is what was added--I pureed all in a food processor until smooth, adding more olive oil until the consistency I wanted was achieved. I say just experiment with the quantities of ingredients. Seemed to work fine for me!

Basil Pesto
Fresh basil leaves, stems removed (at least 1.5 cups)
toasted pine nuts
olive oil
salt
grated parmesan cheese

Puree basil, pine nuts, salt, and cheese in food processor. Drizzle in olive oil until smooth. Serve over pasta, or I suppose it could also be used as a spread on bread or sandwiches. Freezes well.

Coconut Plantains and a Question

This week hasn't been much for cooking--we've been pretty busy, so our meals have been kind of piece-meal. Nothing much worth writing about. Of most recent interest, behold my attempt at Coconut Plantains.

The first time I had plantains, they were fried and delicious. This time, I didn't want to mess with getting out oil and the inevitable oil splash mess that comes with frying, so I came up with this creation. I had some leftover coconut milk from making coconut-ginger rice a few nights before, so I grabbed that, some cinnamon, and a bit of salt and tossed them all together in a saute pan. While I made the rest of the dinner, the plantains simmered away in the coconut milk mixture. I turned them several times as they were cooking. I decided they were done when they reached the above consistency--all the milk had thickened into a gooey paste. They were very sweet, maybe a bit too much cinnamon, but a fair effort nonetheless. I'd like to go with more of a savory flavor next time--these reminded me of a dessert.

And now I present: cake failure. Below is a picture of the most recent cake I baked. This is the 4th time this particular failure has happened to me, and I am at a loss of how to fix it. The resulting cake is very very dense, with a high center, and a rim around the edge. Based on internet research I have attempted the following remedies: adjust the oven temperature (check, bought an oven thermometer), avoid over mixing (check), use fresh eggs and baking soda/powder (check and check), and make sure the pan is the right size for the recipe (check). None have helped at all. Now, I thought about switching to an aluminum pan versus the non-stick metal pans I have been using for 4.5 years, but if it was the pan, why wouldn't this have happened for the past 4.5 years? Why is it just starting to happen now? Can anyone shed some light on this? I am guessing it has to do with the oven (I don't know what though). Please help! It is hard to even out these cakes, and I much prefer a light, airy cake over such denseness.


Thanks in advance.

F5: Pan-seared Tilapia with Edamame and Mango

I have decided to start a new feature on my blog after a bit of inspiration from my brother, Jeff. Last week he sent me a recipe idea, which I then made, and which is now the first "Featured Flavors of Friends, Family, and Fstrangers" (the "F5") recipe. (yes, that says fstrangers. It is a bit hokey to add an "f" to the word strangers just to make it work for me, but at the time when I thought of it, it seemed hilarious. Now, it seems mildly annoying, but we're gonna stick with it anyway...) The rules of this contest are simple--you submit a recipe (you can e-mail it, mail it, hand it to me...), then if I make it and love it, I will share it on the blog as the monthly winner of the F5 award.

The recipient of the F5 award for the month of April: Jeffrey.
(I don't have a physical prize to award you...maybe that will come someday if this blog ever starts producing an income...)

Pan-seared Tilapia with Edamame and Mango


Ingredients:
Tilapia fillets
Frozen edamame, out of the pod*
Mangoes, cut into small pieces
Low-sodium soy sauce

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the fish and cook 3-4 minutes each side, until flaky.
2. Meanwhile, boil some water and add the edamame. Boil about 5 minutes, then drain and add to the tilapia pan when the fish is done cooking.
3. Add the mango to the pan as well and cover with the soy sauce. Reduce the heat, stir, and cover pan. Let the soy sauce get soaked into the mango and boil the excess off a bit, but not too much cause it might burn. *I could only find edamame in the pod--if that is all you can find, just thaw and remove from pod before cooking.

Increase proportions of fish, mango, and edamame according to the size crowd you are feeding. When Jeff makes this for himself, he recommends 1/2 cup edamame, and 1 mango. It is delicious, fast, and healthy. Thanks for sharing!!


So, send in some recipes for the next F5 award! I have set no deadlines, other than I will post the next winner sometime in May. You can enter multiple times, too, in multiple months. I may need you to, because I'm not sure I'm quite up to 12 readers yet...although, apparently I do have some global readers--I've had visitors from a total of 10 different countries thus far--with 3 from Turkey! So, welcome to everyone and thanks for reading! Enjoy the food!

Short and Sweet

It is late, and I am just waiting for some icing to thicken so I can frost a cake, but I thought I'd make use of these 10 minutes and post a short blog. This is an easy dinner, or a semi-dressed-up lunch that takes all of 5 minutes to prepare. We have had it a couple times for dinner in the past few weeks when we have been busy at night and didn't want to cook. I've made minor variations on the original recipe, but it doesn't stray too far (there aren't that many things you could change before it becomes a whole new dish...).

I give you--Ham Sandwich on Pumpernickel.


Ham Sandwich on Pumpernickel
adapted from Food and Wine (March 2008)

1. Toast 2 slices of pumpernickel bread.
2. On one slice, spread a layer of mango chutney.
3. On the other slice, layer the following: thinly sliced Virginia Ham, 4-5 thin slices of apple (we used Fuji, but use whatever you have at home...), sliced medium-sharp cheddar cheese.

That's it! Easy, and tasty. The actual recipe called for grilling it in a panini press, but since we don't have one, we just toasted the bread first. If you have a press, go for it.

Lemon-Raspberry Cupcakes

I've previously mentioned that I received Food & Wine magazine as a gift for my birthday. Well, for Christmas, my brother sent me a subscription to bon appetit!, so I should have no excuse for not eating well, right? This month, bon appetit! featured a lemon-raspberry cupcake as their cover shot. This gave me a perfect excuse to use one of the last remaining lemons from our lemon tree, as well as breakout the cupcake pan, which hadn't been used in awhile.

The texture of the cupcakes is more dense than a typical light cupcake--more like a pound cake. I think the recipe could easily be adapted for lemon poppyseed muffins or bread, with a lemon glaze instead of icing. As is, though, they were quite delicious. I say were, because they are already gone--since Lucas is out of town, I didn't want to be stuck home with a tray of cupcakes for only myself to devour, so I doled some out to our neighbors and coworkers. After saving a few for me, of course =]

The recipe had 2 versions of the icing (lemon and raspberry), and I made both. It would be a tough call to pick a favorite of the 2, but if there are raspberries involved, that is where my vote will always tend to go. The lemon icing would be good to use on sugar cookies, though. Very summer like.


lemon-raspberry cupcakes
from bon appetit!, April 2008

Ingredients:
3/4 c. unsalted butter at room temp.
3 c. powdered sugar, divided
4.5 tsp. grated lemon peel, divided
2 large eggs
1.25 c. self-rising flour
1/4 c. buttermilk
4 T. fresh lemon juice, divided
12 tsp. plus 1 T. seedless raspberry jam, divided
fresh raspberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffin cups with liners.
2. Beat butter, 1.5 c. powdered sugar, and 3 tsp. lemon peel in large bowl until blended, then beat until fluffy.
3. Add in eggs, one at a time, until blended.
4. Beat in 1/2 of flour. Add buttermilk and 2 T. lemon juice, beat to blend. Add the rest of the flour and blend.
5. Drop about 1 T. of batter into each muffin liner. Spoon about 1 tsp. jam over the top of the batter. Cover with the remaining batter.
6. Bake until tester inserted 1/2 into cupcake (to avoid jam) comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack (I removed them from pan after 5 minutes for faster cooling).
7. Whisk remaining powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon peel in small bowl. (note--I had to use more lemon juice, because 2 T. just produced a big pasty glob. Make sure you have extra in case you need more, too. Also--this makes waaay more icing than needed. You might start off with less powdered sugar, or find something else to ice, like cookies).
8. Spoon icing over 6 cupcakes. To the rest of icing, whisk in 1 T. jam. Spoon over remaining 6 cupcakes. Let stand until icing sets. Garnish with fresh raspberries (note--it is best to place the raspberries on the cupcakes before the icing sets, otherwise, they tend to fall off).

Delicious!

How to Post a Comment

(For you, mom)
If you are trying to post a comment and don't have a google account, you can still post! After you type your comment in the box, you will see a series of circles/choices you can click for your identity. If you have a google account, keep the top circle clicked. If not, your best choices are either the 3rd circle (Name/URL) or the 4th circle (anonymous). If you click Name/URL, just type your name in the name box, then if you have a website to link to, type that in the URL box. If not, leave it blank. If you choose anonymous, just type your name in the comment text box so I know who you are =]

Hope that helps!

Chocolate Brownies

When we first moved to Texas, Lucas started his job right away but I had the summer free until school started up in August (a benefit of working for the schools...). When not house hunting with Maria (our Realtor), I spent a lot of time baking. Back in Colorado, I attended a cooking workshop on holiday baking and the chef recommended a cookbook called A Passion for Chocolate by Maurice and Jean-Jacques Bernachon, translated by Rose Levy Beranbaum. The book is out of print, but I was able to find one at a used bookstore in Denver. I have tried many of the recipes in the book (repeatedly), and one of my favorites is the Chocolate Brownies. The recipe forward says they are the best brownies you'll ever eat, and I would have to agree with that with one addendum: provided you use a good quality butter. I tried using a cheap, no-brand butter once when I was in a hurry, and the quality was noticeably different. So, go for the good stuff!

These brownies are moist and thick. I have tried doubling the recipe and baking it in a 9x13 pan. They are slightly thicker this way, because of the way the volume difference is between the 8x8 and 9x13 pans, but still delicious.

Chocolate Brownies
from A Passion for Chocolate (1989)

Ingredients:
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate
6 T. unsalted butter
1.25 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. plus 2 T. superfine sugar
2 extra-large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8 square baking pan with parchment paper (if you intend to remove the brownies to cool), then grease and flour it.
2. Break chocolate into squares and place in the top of a double boiler with the butter over hot water. Stir until it starts to melt and remove from heat before completely melted. Continue to stir off the heat until completely melted, then allow to cook to lukewarm.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
4. Add the sugar, eggs, and then the flour mixture to the lukewarm chocolate, mixing well until combined.
5. Scrape batter into pan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean (still slightly moist).
6. Remove to a cooling rack, if desired, or allow to cool in pan.
(optional: add 1 scant cup walnuts to batter. I never do.)
Yields about 16 brownies.

Ireland Cusine

Lucas and I have been a little preoccupied updating our other blog with our Ireland pictures and stories, so this blog got put on the back burner for a little bit. Now that we are on the last Ireland post there, I thought I would post some of the Irish food we tried while visiting. Our biggest meal of the day, everyday, was breakfast. Each of the Bed and Breakfasts gave us a choice of a full Irish breakfast or a continental breakfast. We went with the full Irish spread everyday and thus saved ourselves from having to stop for lunch because the breakfast kept us full until (at least) dinner.

Each morning, the table was set with fine china, delicious raisin scones, fresh orange juice, and tea or coffee. And this was before we placed our order (note: all breakfast costs were included in the Bed and Breakfast room rate. Really, staying at Bed and Breakfast vs. a hotel is the way to go in Ireland)! While we sipped our tea and orange juice, our full Irish meal was being prepared just steps away in the home kitchen.


A typical full Irish breakfast contained poached eggs, sausage, bacon/ham, tomato, black and white pudding, and some form of potato. On the side, bread and toast were served, plus cereals, yogurts, and plenty of Irish Kerry Gold butter (which you can buy here in the states--and it is good!). Fresh fruit was also a common start to the meal as the hot portion was cooking.



At Petra House, we could order variations on the full breakfast, such as the combination of scrambled eggs, potato waffles, and tomato below:


One of my favorite parts of the meal was the Irish soda (brown) bread. At Petra House, we could smell Joan baking it at night and it was always so good with the Irish butter. I plan to try and make some Irish soda bread of my own sometime soon, and will post the results here. Joan's recipe is actually published on the web, so I think I'll give that a try first--that way I can see if it tastes the way it is supposed to!

Since breakfast was always so filling, our next meal of the day wasn't until dinner. For dinner, we had a mixed bag of cultural tastes--from Indian to hamburgers to Irish traditional fare. It seemed to us that the main places you could get the traditional Irish dinners were aimed directly at tourists. While we did eat at one of those places once (because we were in Ireland and were determined to have and Irish dinner, darn it!), the other nights we ate at places recommend by others or that happened to catch our eye. The first night in Ireland, in fact, we ate at a little Indian restaurant called Agni, in Swords (near Dublin). It was excellent. I had the aloo tikka for an appetizer and when they brought it out I had to take a picture because I was not used to having a dish that fancy brought to my table! Aloo means potatoes, and these were seasoned and fried, then served with a mustard and oil sauce. They were quite tasty. I've looked up recipes to try myself, but the process seems a bit daunting. We'll see if I can motivate myself to try them this summer...


As for the traditional Irish meal, Lucas selected Irish stew and I had Shepherd's Pie. As I mentioned, they were from a bit of a tourist trap restaurant, so while we were feeling authentic, the quality itself wasn't the best...

Irish Stew

Shepherd's Pie

Overall, we enjoyed the food. By far, breakfast was our favorite meal, but even if the food hadn't been so good, the atmosphere and genial owner's at the B&B's would have made up for it. Now that we're back, I need to start cooking again...

Rotini with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Onion Roasted Potatoes

There has been a lull in posting--if you check this often, my apologies. I have still been cooking, but finding the time to put the recipe and pictures on here has been tricky. In addition, I have been pouring through culinary magazines like nobody's business. By doing that, sometimes if we just don't have time to cook, it makes me feel like I still made even a slight attempt to be "culinary" for the day.

Lucas and I are big pasta eaters. In fact, some weeks we probably have pasta with every meal. Recently we have tried to use whole wheat pasta when available to add a semblance of healthiness to our fast and carbohydrate loaded dishes. The latest issue of Food & Wine (February 2008) has an article dedicated to fast, hearty pastas. It was, of course, the first article I read when I opened the magazine. Thus far, we have tried 2 of the recipes with minor adaptations to both. I can't say I've been really pleased with either--although I can't say that isn't because I didn't stay true to the original recipe or I just didn't care for the dish. I am picking one of the two to share (in my opinion , the slightly better of the two). This dish involves a roasted red pepper sauce. I have made a roasted red pepper sauce in the past, and was looking forward to seeing how mine compared with the recipe in the magazine. In the end, I think both Lucas and I preferred my version because it is a bit more flavorful--I will post that here sometime and you can compare them yourselves. The main difference in the 2 is the source of fat--my version uses heavy cream and this one uses olive oil. Take your pick, I guess.

For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
3/4 lb. rotini noodles (I used whole wheat)
6 oz. roasted red peppers (if you don't have access to fresh, you can find them in jars)
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
3 T. tomato paste
1 large garlic clove
3 fresh basil leaves
1/2 lb. salted fresh mozzerella cheese cut into 1/2" cubes
salt and pepper

1. Boil the water and add the rotini noodles. Cook according to package directions.
2. In a blender, puree the red peppers, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, and basil leaves until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat the sauce in a small sauce pan until simmering.

4. Drain the pasta place into a large serving bowl. Toss with the sauce, mozzarella cubes, and if desired, top with fresh basil.

Now, I'm not saying this recipe wasn't good at all--we definitely ate it all, and even had leftovers the next day--I'm just saying it could use some tweaking for my taste. You might try it and love it. If you do try it and make any changes, let me know so I can give them a try.

Our side dish was onion roasted potatoes, a staple since Lucas and I first got married. It is easy, quick, and always tasty. It is also readily adaptable to size of crowd you are feeding. I make it with new (red) potatoes and for that use one potato per person. If you are using russet or other large potato, you may just need 1 for every 2 people.


Ingredients:
1 packet dried onion soup (e.g., Liptons)
olive oil
potatoes, cut into cubes

1.. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Coat potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle on onion soup--stir until well coated. I usually use less than a whole packet--just sprinkle and stir until the potatoes are completely coated and save the rest for next time. Use enough olive oil to coast, but you don't want a pool at the bottom of the pan either.
3. Place potatoes on baking sheet and bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, or until tender. Stir halfway through to ensure even cooking.

Enjoy!

Honey Pecan Porkchops with Carrots and Apples

In addition to having a plethora of lemons to use, we also have a large quantity of pecans fresh from the farm, thanks to Lucas' grandparents. Recently, we were looking for a last minute recipe to use with some porkchops we had bought on sale, and what a delicious and fast recipe we did find. Anything involving butter, pecans, and honey really can't go wrong. We served this with a side of carrots and apples, which is a recipe of my mom's that I hadn't made it quite awhile. This became evident when I forgot how to make them while in the process of making them, and therefore they did not turn out like mom's. Thankfully, though, I have called her since then and now have the correct method for next time!

Ingredients:
1. 1 lb. porkchops or tenderloin cut into strips
2. 1/2 c. flour
3. salt and pepper
4. 2 T. butter
5. about 1/4 c. honey
6. about 1/4 c. pecans
(We used more honey and more pecans than the recipe requests....therefore, our version was most likely tastier =])

Directions:
Combine the flour and salt and pepper in a bowl. Dredge porkchops in mixture to coat. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add porkchops and cook until brown on both sides and center cooked through. Remove porkchops from pan, but reserve drippings.





To drippings, add honey and pecans, stirring to make a sauce. Heat through, and serve over porkchops.





For the carrots and apples:
1. Cut 2-3 medium sized carrots into coins.
2. Slice 1 medium sized apple into slices, then cut slices into quarters (see picture...). You can peel or leave skin on.
3. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil (I don't know how much--enough to cover the carrots and apples...). Add carrots and boil until they begin to soften. For the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the apples.
4. Drain water and add 1-2 T. butter and 2-3 T. brown sugar to the hot carrots and apples. Melt over low heat to form a glaze. Feel free to adjust the amount of butter and sugar to taste. Those amounts are just guesses anyway, since it changes every time I make them.

Enjoy!