Apple Crisp with Almonds

Last night I made Apple Crisp with Almonds to use up the remaining apples from our trip to the orchard. I followed the recipe except for the process, and I used slightly less lemon zest and I subbed some rolled oats for the flour (so I guess I did change it quite a bit...par for the course). We were lacking in the bowl department, so I put all the apples in the baking dish, then mixed up the rest of the filling ingredients and sprinkled it on the apples as uniformly as I could. I also forgot the almonds for the topping until I sprinkled it on, so I just spread the almonds on top.
I thought it turned out really yummy. I tasted all of the subtle flavors of the lemon zest and almond extract wrapped around the apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and crumbly topping!

Cream of Leek and Potato Soup

Thanks to Ebon's searching and a leek in the CSA share we made a Leek and Potato soup the other night for dinner.

It turned out really great and it was super easy. Ebon's request was to have a few potato chunks in the soup. He also said it could have been a bit thicker. I wanted to add more potatoes, but he wanted to follow the recipe... oh well.
We served this with salad and bread.

Quesadilla

Last night we had quesadillas for dinner. Ebon suggested it after his nightly request for Pizza, and I thought it was a great idea!
I used the largest burrito tortillas which became problematic when trying to flip the quesadilla. The tortillas fit in our largest frying pan-barely, but trying to turn it over without spilling everything required using 2 plates. Even with my aids, I folded and spilled the tortilla and it's contents, respectively. As I said, it wasn't pretty, but it was delicious!

2 tortillas
3 green onions, chopped-white and green parts separated
1/2 red pepper, chopped (CSA)
2 medium tomatillos, chopped (CSA)
1/2 16oz can of black beans or ~1cup cooked
1-1.5 cups cheddar cheese shredded

Beet and Fennel Soup

I made Beet and Fennel Soup last night. I was the only one who ate it, but I thought it was really good.

I had some roasted beets and fennel that I needed to use up, so this recipe was perfect! The only modifications I made was to use the roasted beets, so the cooking time was much shorter, and I used yogurt because I didn't have kefir.

The beets made it sweet and I thought the fennel balanced the flavor very well. Unfortunately, since I was the only one who liked it, I probably won't be making it again.  Ebon's suggestion for using Fennel is a Leek and Fennel soup - next time!

Green Smoothie

I love me a good Green smoothie, generally, I use whatever I have on hand, but it usually starts with a frozen banana or two, orange juice and some kind of green - usually chard, spinach or kale.
After much experimenting, I do prefer kale, but if I use chard, i remove almost all of the stem/rib. Otherwise, I think it tastes too "earthy" and sometimes it can be a bit chewy/stringy/fibrous.

bunch of chard
2 frozen bananas
1/2 a peach
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
enough orange juice to get the blender going
few tablespoons of flax seeds.

Since we have Popsicle makers now, I'm going to have to come up with some good smoothies to make into pops!

I could also add yogurt to amp up the protein and calcium!

Rhubarb Walnut Muffins

Along with the Pumkin Carrot bread, I made some Rhubarb Walnut Muffins for our recent flight as snacks. I thought they turned out pretty well. Again, not the sweetest muffin, but I did not use the streusel topping to avoid extra crumbs while traveling. Also, the muffins were a little dry and therefore crumbly. I would like to try these again with a second attempt.

Pumpkin Carrot Applesauce Bread/Muffins

In preparation for a flight, I made Pumpkin Carrot Applesauce Bread to bring along as snacks.I used a muffin recipe, but didn't have enough muffin tins to make this and the Rhubarb muffins I was also planning on.
I had just recently purchased some glasslock containers that are oven safe, so I used the smallest ones to make mini breads. The larger breads didn't cook quite right, but the smaller ones turned out pretty well. It isn't super sweet, but tastes like pumpkin and carrot. I don't think I'll make these again.

Italian Vegetable Stew

I was inspired by this recipe to make a veggie soup/stew last night. My initial impetus for picking that recipe was to use up beyond stale bread, but I never ended up using the bread. I signed up for a meal swap with some other moms, so I jumped on the chance to use up as much stuff from our fridge/freezer as possible, and in return, we got a quiche, a zucchini pasta dish, and an eggplant with lentil dish.

I had to make enough for about 14-16 servings so I could split it up for the other families. I used our two largest pots and tried to split up the veggies as evenly as possible.

Olive oil
3 onions
12 cloves garlic
3 carrots
one white (haruki) turnip
one bunch of celery (from the garden)
2 white peppers (frozen)
one yellow pepper
one eggplant
about 6-8 cups of chopped tomatoes (I had these frozen)
a bit of cabbage ~ 1 cup
a few Baby Bella mushrooms
4-6 cups of water for each pot
2 tablespoons Korean Bullion for each pot
2 cups of cooked chickpeas
3 cups of cooked Lima beans
a bunch of Swiss chard for each pot chopped - including the stems (from the garden)
dried thyme
dried oregano
fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

I started with the onions, then added the garlic until they were soft/almost brown. Then I added the carrots, turnip, and celery and cooked until they were soft. Then I added the peppers and eggplant. I threw a bit of salt over the eggplant before stirring everything in. Finally, the cabbage, mushrooms, beans, and tomatoes were added. I added the water, herbs, and bullion, brought everything up to a boil and then reduced the heat and simmered until everything (mostly the eggplant) were soft.
At the end, I added the chard and their stems and stirred around until the leaves were just wilted.

When serving, I shaved in Parmesan to add to the taste and saltiness.

If I had potatoes, I would have added those, I would have liked one or two more carrots as well.

I thought it turned out well for throwing a bunch of stuff together!

Eggplant and Tofu in Garlic Sauce

I made Eggplant and Tofu in Garlic Sauce the other night, it was a little too long ago, and now I'm forgetting how it turned out. I do remember that I enjoyed it.

Eggplant, Potato, and Okra Sabji

I was way behind on cooking our CSA veggies, so I found this recipe to use up the okra and eggplant.

I followed the recipe pretty closely. It turned out pretty well, the flavors melded pretty well, but was a little bland overall - even with all the spices.
I could make it again to use up stuff, but I wouldn't go out and buy the ingredients to make this.

Ja Jang Myun

Last night I made Ja Jang Myun aka Korean Noodles with Black Bean Sauce. The closest recipe to what I used that I could find online is from Beyond Kimchee. I use a recipe I printed out, so I'm unsure of the source.
In any case, since we're vegetarian, we forego the meat and do not opt for the oyster sauce. Also, Ebon doesn't like the chunky vegetables as much, so I try to pare those down as well - but I like them so usually there are more than he likes anyway.
I purchase my black bean paste or jajang [I've also seen chun(choon?)jang] and fresh noodles  at the Korean market, either Reliable Market in Union Square or H Mart.
I've initially followed the recipe - frying the bean paste, but I have an issue with the residue it leave in the pan, and then I feel like it burns the potatoes etc. So now, I saute the veggies first, then I fry the black bean paste with the sugar, then add in the soft veggies, then the water and cornstarch mix.
While this is going on, the water is boiling and noodles cooking.
The noodles go in big bowls then the sauce gets spooned on top of that. I've garnished it with some green onions if you want to be fancy. The dish is usually served with pickled radish (daikon?)- the yellow pickles that are fairly sweet.
Yum! Ebon seems to prefer the store-bought version because I put too many veggies in mine. He'll deal!

Lentil, Potato and Chard stew

We have had an abundant CSA share this week, so I'm scrambling to cook everything before it goes bad. Last night I made Lentil, Potato and Chard stew based on THIS recipe I found on epicurious.com
I added and subtracted items as I had things on hand, for me the ingredient list looked more like this:

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 garlic scapes, chopped
• 1/2 medium Ailsa Craig onion with green parts, roughly chopped
• 3 cups water with 2 heaping teaspoons of Korean "bullion"
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed, picked over
• 3 "small" red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 a large bunch of chard, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

I also added a bit of water at the end for the desired consistency. I thought it turned out great and I'm really glad I added the cumin, I think that added the right spice punch. And we got to use up onion, potato and chard from the share. On to Cabbage - so much to use up!

Beet and Arugula Salad with Baked Tempeh

I'm trying to go through the veggies I got in our CSA share before we get the next one. The veggies are all wonderful, but it's a weekly struggle to figure out what to make. Earlier this week, I used the kale in a smoothie. It was the Tuscan kale, and I realized I really prefer that in sautes or in the greens gratin. It is a little too stringy/hearty for smoothies - or I need to remove the ribs/stem.
Anyway, on to tonight's meal. Overall, it took a bit longer than I expected. I decided that we needed a beet and arugula salad with beets from the CSA and arugula from the garden. I popped both red and golden beets in the oven to roast at 450degF before I walked to the garden with Leela on my back and Spartacus on leash. The arugula was going a bit crazy and most if it has started to bolt, to heck with it, I still used it. I also picked one head of lettuce, as it was ready and I knew that Ebon wasn't too keen on an entire salad with arugula - "too bitter" he says.
I got back and the largest beet still wasn't done, so I decided to make candied walnuts. The recipe I found online was pretty easy.
I did some more searching and based my salad recipe loosely on Giada's Beet and Goat Cheese Arugula salad. Of course, I made some changes based on our serving size and what was on hand.
I skipped the shallots and just went with red wine vinegar and olive oil for the dressing, which I only used about half of. I used about 2 cups of lettuce torn and about 2 cups of arugula torn, stems from the leggy almost-bolted leaves removed. I threw in a handful or about 1/4 cup of the candied walnuts and skipped the dried cranberries. I tossed the lettuce mix with the dressing, walnuts and then added the beets, which I peeled and chopped, and the goat cheese (I used an herbed version).
Also while waiting for the beets to finish, I used a fork to poke holes in a block of tempeh and marinated it with soy sauce, sesame oil and vinegar. I stuck it in the oven with the beets for about 20-25 min.

When everything was finally done around 8pm, we all ate with gusto. I thought everything turned out great, but I would definitely try to do a bunch of the steps before hand, so I could just toss things together in the end.

Creamy Pesto Tortellini

I threw together dinner last night in about 30 min.
Store bought cheese tortellini
3 basil cubes (from the garden last year, blended with a bit of water and olive oil then frozen in ice cube trays)
a splash of heavy cream (probably ~1/4 cup)
~1/3 tomato coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Served with steamed snow peas.

The heavy cream was a nice touch and made the pesto creamy. Leftovers got drier and drier though.

Long Overdue Strawberry Shortcake

Last weekend we went strawberry picking and at the 11th hour (almost literally) of this weekend, I finally got around to making a strawberry shortcake with all the strawberries that we picked.
Red Fire Farm has an annual Strawberry Soiree, where they have strawberry varietal tasting and strawberry shortcake and chocolate covered strawberries for sale in addition to picking our yearly allotment of strawberries for our CSA share.
I was a bit disappointed in the strawberry shortcake at the farm, it tasted more like a biscuit - more salty than sweet- and it was harder/crunchier than I like.
In our Food and Wine recipe pull, there was a recipe for Strawberry shortcake. In all my procrastination glory, I decided to make it starting at 9pm on Sunday night. Overall it wasn't too involved, but required some planning ahead. For example, the strawberries were supposed to macerate in the sugar for ~3 hours. It ended up being more like 1 hour, but there was enough juice for it it to work.

1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened (I used Ben and Jerry's- it was on sale)
3 cups self-rising flour - I used the King Arthur conversion of 1 cup AP flour, 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of cold unsalted butter cut in chunks

1 quart hulled and sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon honey (I used sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 450degF
2. Soften the ice cream in the fridge or on the counter and pour into a large bowl.
3. Pulse the flour (mixture) and butter in a food processor until you have a course meal. I had to do this in two lots because my food processor isn't big enough for 3 cups of flour.
4. Pour the flour-butter mixture in with the ice cream and mix until combined.
5. Knead the dough with your hands until everything has come together.
6. Spread the dough out evenly in a 9x13 pan and bake for about 20 min or until golden brown.
7. Combine the strawberries and sugar in a med bowl to macerate for about 3 hours (mine were mixing for about 1 and it tasted OK).
8. Make whipped cream with the cream and sweetener.
9. Cut the shortcake into 12 squares and serve with Strawberries and whipped cream.

Yum, it was delicious! The shortcake was soft, moist, and just sweet enough. I think this was my first successful try at making whipped cream with my stand mixer. It was amazing and so easy!

I did try eating the shortcake without the accouterments. I wouldn't recommend it as a dessert on it's own.

Provoleta

We get Food and Wine magazine every month due to some glitch or because Ebon likes to spend points or miles on magazines or something like that. In any case, I enjoy looking through it and Ebon and I have been in the habit of bookmarking the various recipes we want to try out. The recipe for Provoleta with Oregano and Tomatoes stood out for Ebon because it involved bread and cheese - his favorites!
I've made it a couple times so far.
The first I got the cheese from Sessa's in Davis square and got the Supremo Italiano brand provolone cheese. We didn't have the grape tomatoes and I excluded the crushed red pepper so Leela could eat it too - she hasn't mastered spicy food yet. I followed the recipe otherwise.
It turned out great - burnt and melty cheese tastes so good.
The second time, I had run out of oregano, so I used a bit of marjoram and paprika. I used Bel Gioioso Picante provolone, it was much greasier and tasted saltier than the first go round. Maybe it was aged a bit too long- the note in the recipe says a sharp cheese that is 8-9 months old is best. I think the Supremo Italiano is a little younger, so maybe we just like the young cheese better. I had the tomatoes on the 2nd try and they are a must.
In any case we ate both with a baguette or crusty bread.
I think this is meant to be an appetizer, but we've eaten the whole thing between the two(three with Leela/four with Sparty?) of us as a meal. This will go into our regular "quick meal" repertoire!

Spring Panzanella

2 posts on a week - I'm on a roll!
Ebon bought a baguette at the farmer's market on Tuesday, so it needed to be used up before it was too hard to chew. I wasn't in the mood for pasta, so I suggested a bread salad - aka panzanella. I had tried the recipe from 101 Cookbooks before and it was pretty good. I had attempted it again a month or two ago, but - heaven's to Betsy, I used wheat bread and canned peas. Ebon didn't want to have anything to do with it. I will admit, I didn't like canned peas either - much better with fresh or frozen - but they were in our pantry taking up space, so I thought I would use them. This go around was much more well received.

I followed the recipe - mostly. I cut up the 'white' baguette in ~1" cubes and in a large bowl coated the cubes with olive oil and dried thyme. Looking back, I should have also put the garlic in with the bread, as stated in the recipe, but I was more or less going from memory. I put the coated bread on a baking sheet in the oven preheated to ~350degF for about 15-20 min or until they are golden/crispy on the outside. I also flipped/mixed up the bread, maybe half way through.
I pan fried/roasted the asparagus with a little olive oil and I threw the garlic in after I flipped the shoots after 3-5 min. When the asparagus is tender, remove from heat and cut into ~1-2" pieces on the diagonal.
I cooked frozen peas in another pot in a bit of water until they were warmed through.
I had some grape tomatoes on hand an thought they would be good, so I cut them in half, coated them with a little olive oil, and roasted them under a low broil for about 5 minutes to warm them up and bring out a bit of the sugar.

Throw everything in a bowl and add about 1/3-1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also added about 1 teaspoon of dried basil.

I skipped the shallots, fresh basil and spinach and didn't miss them.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Cassarole

As always, I was struggling with what to make for dinner. I was in the mood for beans. I had black beans, kidney beans and white beans in the freezer. Black beans won out and a little Internet searching lead me to a recipe for a pumpkin and black bean casserole, so I used that as inspiration. I had sweet potatoes on hand, so that replaced the pumpkin and I pulled other stuff out of my freezer to add in.

2 cups black beans
One 28oz can of chopped tomatoes with the juice
5 cloves of garlic chopped small
6 green onions, white and green parts separated
1 cup corn (I used frozen)
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
black pepper to taste
1 red pepper roasted
one sweet potato sliced thinly (~1/8")
4-8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 425degF. Combine the beans, tomatoes, garlic, white parts of the green onion, corn, spices, and salt and pepper in a bowl and mix.
Spray a 9" x 13" pan with oil or non-stick spray. Pour half of the bean mixture in the pan, spread half of the sweet potatoes in one layer. Layer on half of the cheese. Then follow with the remaining bean mixture, the roasted red pepper, and finish with a single layer of the rest of the sweet potato. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover, spread the remaining amount of cheese on top and bake for another 20-30 minutes until the liquid has thickened and the cheese is golden brown.
Sprinkle the green parts of the green onion over the casserole.

I was very happy how it turned out. The flavors melded well. The only thing I would change is to chop up the red pepper and combine with the bean ingredients. Ebon seemed to like it well enough. He ate it with some corn tortilla chips. I will try to make it again if I have all the ingredients.

Brunch!

Brunch!

I love brunch. My nature is an affinity to the morning hours and I love breakfast. Most weekends I have two breakfasts - one around 7am when the babe and I wake up and the second sometime between 11 and 1pm when my Sleeping beauty of a husband finally wakes up.
This Sunday, however, we hosted some friends for brunch and I made a sweet item and a savory item, both pretty simple, both turned out great!  I made baked french toast and a crustless quiche.

I followed THIS  recipe for the baked french toast, except I used day old Challa bread that I cut up and left out for a few hours. In addition I added 2 eggs (for a total of 4 eggs), about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, just to give it a bit more flavor and make sure it was good and custardy. I was really happy how it turned out. It wasn't too soggy and it was nice and crispy on top. I really liked how easy it was and that I could prepare it the night before. I forgot about the butter and sugar, so, by accident, my version had slightly less fat and sugar in it.

The Quiche or savory egg bake was an attempt to copy a similar dish I had at a friend's house the week before. I did an OK job comparatively, but I think I'll add a little salt next time.

Ingredients for Quiche
1/2 small onion diced small
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil or butter (I used butter)
4 baby Portobello mushrooms sliced
large handful of spinach (about 2 cups)
8 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
~4 oz goat cheese
4 oz cheddar cheese shredded

Instructions
1. Melt the butter or heat the oil in a frying pan on medium/Med low heat, add the onions to soften - about 5 min. Add the mushrooms to soften and as they begin to release their liquid 5-10 min more. Add in the spinach to wilt.
2. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add the salt and pepper.
3. Butter or prepare a 10" pie plate, layer about half of the veggie mixture on the bottom of the pan. Spread around half of the cheese, then pour in half of the eggs, followed by the rest of the veggies, cheese and eggs.
4. Bake in a 425degF oven for about 25 min or until the eggs are cooked through.

Overall, I thought brunch was a great success!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

I occasionally participate in a food swap with other local mamas and I wanted to make a Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili for that a couple weeks ago. I got sick the night before I was supposed to make the chili, so I opted to not make it and chance getting everyone else sick! SO Last night I threw together the Chili that I had intended making weeks before.


Olive oil
1 large onion (I had about 1/4 of a large red onion and a small yellow onion) cut into 1/2" chunks
5 garlic cloves minced
2 carrots 1/4" dice
2 stalks celery 1/4" dice
1 medium/medium-large sweet potato cut into 1/2" chunks
28 oz can of diced tomatoes and their juice or whole tomatoes cut up or squished
1.5 tomato cans of water - this is probably 3-4 cups
~ 4 cups cooked black beans (I had a "2lb" plastic tub worth of cooked black beans that I had previously cooked and froze)
small can of tomato paste
1 cup of corn (I used frozen)
~1-2 tsp of ground cumin
~2 tsp chili powder
~1 tsp dried oregano
~2 tsp salt or to taste
~1/2 tsp ground black pepper or to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot/dutch oven add in the onions and garlic saute until soft.
2. Add in the carrots, celery, and sweet potatoes, cover, and simmer for a bit while the carrots soften.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer until the sweet potatoes and carrots are soft ~20-30 min depending on how frozen the beans might be.

I served this with corn bread, since that is my favorite accompaniment to chili!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

So I made my own version of Stuffed Acorn squash last night.

I started out with a 6-grain rice mix that I got at H Mart - I think there was red rice, brown rice, black rice, and a few different types of barley. I cooked a 1/2 cup in the rice cooker with 2 cups of water on the brown rice setting. That always takes forever so I started that in the early afternoon.
When it got close to dinner time I chopped up a portabella mushroom and about 1/4 of an eggplant that I had left over in about 1/4" dice.
At that point I looked up a recipe (because before that I was just winging it based on what I had on hand) online. From those, I decided to add pecans for flavor, texture, and a bit of protein. I also added some frozen cranberries. I mixed all of the rice, veggies, etc together and added salt and pepper to taste - but probably about 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper. I had every intention of adding other herbs, but I forgot. I liked the way it tasted in the end, so all was not lost.

I cut the acorn squashes (I had 2) in half length-wise and spooned out the guts. I put them in the oven in a lasagna pan at 450degF for about 10 or 15 min based on one recipe I read which said to roast them for about 20-30min. Then I decided I needed to put the filling in and have it cook for a bit, so I pulled the squashes out of the oven and added 1 tablespoon of butter and then the filling to the holes. I ended up with way more filling so I cooked that in a baking dish. The filled squashes cooked for about 40 min more. I took them out one more time to sprinkle a bit of mozzarella cheese on top - to make them more appealing to Ebon. I let the cheese melt then pulled them out for good.

I really liked how they turned out - flavor and texture wise. The rice mix was hearty and a bit crunchy, the cranberries were an added plus, as the burst of sour was a surprise for the tongue. The butter definitely helped, so don't forget that step. I couldn't get Ebon to say if I should make them again or not, but he finished the whole thing, which I wasn't expecting. Overall I would call it a success.


1/2 cup rice/grain mix
Water to cook
portabella mushroom cap 1/4" dice
1/4 large eggplant 1/4" dice
1/3 cup peacans chopped
1/2 cup cranberries (fresh or dried)
salt and pepper to taste
acorn squash
butter
cheese

Muffins!

I made Lemon Cranberry Muffins yesterday. My alterations were to use some lemon juice and olive oil in place of the butter and lemon zest. I also used an entire (12oz?) package of cranberries that I had bought in the fall and froze. Probably a bit too many cranberries because I think they were a bit sour. The lemon flavor didn't come through as much as I would have liked - the zest was definitely needed.
I added some turbinado sugar on top hoping that it would be a crust of sugar, but I didn't add enough, so there was a bit of crust, but not what I wanted.

I would make these again, but I'll try to follow the recipe the next time :)

Indian food fail

I made a slow-cooker version of Baigan Bharta last night. I had very high hopes, but it just didn't turn out right.This time I followed the recipe. The only thing I did differently is I didn't allow the eggplant to sit overnight with the spices. I don't think that would have made a difference. It came out with little flavor, I had to add a ton of salt and a bit extra of the garam masala.

After this debacle I looked how Baigan Bharta is normally made and the eggplant is roasted and there is usually some tomatoes in it. That makes a lot more sense in terms of the texture and flavors that I was missing. I won't make this recipe again.

Broccoli Cheddar soup

I made this last night:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/almost-famous-broccoli-cheddar-soup-recipe.html

It was pretty good. I was lazy and didn't use a carrot. I also used milk instead of 1/2 and 1/2