Orecchiette with Wilted Spinach and Smoked Paprika

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Orecciette_IMG_2734Newborn weeks 4-6 sure are rough. Now that baby Sid seems to be past the constantly screaming his head off phase (knock wood), I’ve got a post for you!

This is not the post I’ve been writing in my head, which is a response to Britta’s blogging challenge. That post is coming soon, I promise.

Orecchiette with Wilted Spinach and Smoked Paprika is a dish I’ve never tried before. I think that finding and trying a new recipe with a screaming newborn on hand and no help around, is tantamount to cooking a fancy 5 course meal on a busy weeknight. Or something.

It’s an interesting dish, I would never think to use smoked paprika on pasta, but it works. The recipe makes a lot, I’ll be eating it for lunch for the rest of the week if you’d like to stop by for a sample.

• Orecchiette with Wilted Spinach and Smoked Paprika •
original recipe from food and style via Gojee

sea salt for the pasta water
12 oz (3/4 box) Orecchiette
1/3 cup olive oil plus more for garnish
6 large garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne or to taste (optional)
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 cups cooked chickpeas, (canned is fine too)
12 oz baby spinach (use the pre-washed kind that comes in a box to save time)
1/3 cup cooking liquid from chickpeas or pasta water
salt or to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Aged Manchego or Grana Padano shaved (use vegetable peeler or cheese slicer) 

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. When the water is boiling, add the salt and the pasta. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain well.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds until the garlic begins to sizzle, stirring constantly and making sure it doesn’t brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

About 3 minutes before the pasta is ready, reheat the garlic oil over high heat. As soon as the garlic sizzles, add the smoked paprika and chickpeas. Toss well and add half of the spinach. Toss the spinach with two spoons, as if you were tossing a salad, until wilted. Add the balance of the spinach and continue tossing until wilted, about 1 minute. Add the pasta, cooking liquid from chickpeas or pasta water, salt and pepper. Toss quickly and remove from heat.

Spoon pasta into bowls. Garnish with shaved cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

New baby meals: 10 tips & 10+ food suggestions

By in family

NewBabyFoodBaby Sid turned 1 month old yesterday. This post is inspired by all of the wonderful friends and family who provided us with food (and otherwise cared for us) as we adjusted to being a family of four. Without you, this first month would have been a lot harder.

While it’s fresh in my mind. I thought I’d share a few dishes and tips that are great to have when there’s a new baby in the house.

Tips:
Whether making the recipes below, or something else, here are some good tips on cooking for a family with a newborn.
1. Veggies, veggies, veggies. It’s surprisingly hard to get enough vegetables in your diet with a newborn in the house.
2. Consider one-handed food or snacks. It’s hard to put down a newborn sometimes (okay, all the time), food that can be eaten one-handed is a lifesaver.
3. Provide the condiments or toppings too. Your friends are not going to have the time or manpower to grate cheese, chop fresh herbs or make salad dressing.
4. Think whole grains and high-fibre, if bringing food in the first week of a baby’s life. The mom will thank you.
5. Nursing moms often crave sweets, bring oatmeal cookies or whole-grain quick breads, laden with nuts and dried fruits. The more fruit and nuts the better.
6. Fresh fruit is wonderful. Pre-washed and no-need-to-peel fruit is even better (see #2 above).
7. Think beyond baked pasta. Personally, I could eat baked pasta every day, after all, macaroni and cheese is my signature new-baby dish. But other folks will be bringing baked pasta dishes too, try your hand at something non-pasta, if you can, to give your friends a change of pace.
8. Bring something they can freeze and reheat later, in case they’ve already been given a lot of food. Bonus points for includng freezing and reheating instructions.
9. If you live far away, or just don’t want to cook, but still want to provide a meal, send a gift certificate to a restaurant in their area that delivers.
10. It will make the new parents’ day if you throw in a couple of beers or a bottle of wine with dinner.

Recipes:
1. Spicy (or not-spicy) Vegetarian (and Turkey) Chili Chock full of vegetables and protein-packed beans, this is a great one for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. It only takes a couple of minutes to heat up on the stove. Bring to a friend with the toppings already prepared, take your pick of grated cheddar, chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream or avocado chunks. Be sure to leave the pit in with the avocado pieces, and toss with lemon, so they don’t go brown.
2. Torta Verde (Swiss Chard Pie) I like this because it can be eaten warm or at room temperature, it has a lot of nice green veggies in it and can be eaten with one hand.
3. Macaroni & Cheese  It didn’t take me long to get around to baked pasta did it? But really, this is my signature new baby dish, so how could I not include it?
4. Lasagna. Try Spinach & Bufala Mozzarella, Rita’s Lasagna or Butternut Squash.
5. Pasta Sauce, this is something they can easily keep in the fridge for a while or even freeze. Try Marcella’s Famous or Sweet Italian Sausage Sauce. Include some grated parmesan and a box of pasta with your delivery, so all they’ll have to do is reheat the sauce and cook the pasta.
6. Easy Chicken Cacciatore. My family loves this one, it’s quick and easy to make despite the fancy name.
7. Oktoberfest Stew. I’ve never met a meat eater who didn’t love this, make this on a weekend, when you have some time. Shane recommends a side of potatoes.
8. Anna’s Oatmeal Cookies (recipe below). See tips #2 and #6 above. My neighbors and sister each made us a batch which kept me going over the first couple of weeks.
9. A big salad (your choice of veggies) with a jar of homemade dressing on the side. Dressing on the side will keep the salad from wilting if not eaten right away. Try my version of Rita’s Dressing, Homemade Ranch (you can also do ranch with crudite) or a simple Tart Dressing.
10. Soup! Try White Bean with Rosemary Oil or Pasta e Fagioli if you don’t have a lot of time, and Minestrone or Kale, Cabbage & Farro if you do. All of these soups are full of veggies and beans, lots of healthful nutrition in there.

None of these dishes float your boat? Check out our recipe index for more great ideas.

• Anna’s Oatmeal Raisin Chip Cookies •

2 sticks butter (salted)
1 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cup old fashioned Quaker oats (not quick cook)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add combined flour and baking soda; mix well. Stir in oats then raisins, chips and pecans. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: feel free to play around with the chocolate, fruit and nuts. Anna sometimes uses coconut, white chips, dried cranberries and lots of other stuff. Substitute as you like.

New Year’s Sweet

By in cakes, dessert, family, traditions 1 Comment

Baked_Alaska_IMG_2612This New Year’s Eve was nothing like last year’s. The baby and I snuggled off to bed at 9:00. Shane and Rose stayed up until midnight playing cards, Spot It and who knows what else.

At midnight they went up to the roof—so as not to wake us up—and set off some questionable poppers that my sister bought from a street vendor. I don’t know the details, but word is the poppers were kind of scary.

There was no elaborate meal, just a simple lasagna, roasted asparagus and a bottle of bubbly that we couldn’t finish. As I said, nothing like last year… except for the dessert.

Rather than a recap of this tumultuous, but ultimately rewarding year, I’ll leave you with this, New Year’s Cake (aka Baked Alaska). Something sweet for the New Year, and a tradition to carry on. Wishing you all the sweetest 2014, I think we’re off to a good start.

• New Year’s Cake (aka Baked Alaska) •
original recipe from Saveur Magazine

For the filling and cake:
2 pints strawberry ice cream, slightly softened (you can use whatever flavors you want, of course)
Unsalted butter, for pan
½ cup cake flour, plus more for pan (cake flour is good but not essential, it will come out fine if you use all purpose)
¼ tsp. kosher salt
½ cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. grated lemon zest

For the meringue:
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
4 egg whites
½ cup sugar

For topping:
Toy penguins (optional, and yes, we know penguins don’t really live in Alaska – you can use caribou or polar bears if you prefer)

Instructions:
1. For the filling: Line a 7″-diameter bowl with a 15″ piece of plastic wrap, allowing excess to hang over rim of bowl. Pack ice cream into bowl, smoothing top, and freeze until solid, at least 4 hours.

2. For the cake: Heat oven to 325°. Grease and flour an 8″ round cake pan; set aside. Whisk together flour and salt in a bowl; set aside. Beat sugar and eggs in a bowl on medium-high speed of a hand mixer until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Stir in juice and zest; fold in flour mixture. Pour into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool completely, invert onto a rack, and set aside.

3. For the meringue: Heat oven to 450°. Place cream of tartar and egg whites in a large bowl; beat on medium speed of a hand mixer until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Add sugar, and beat until stiff but not dry peaks form, about 2-5 minutes.

4. To serve, place cake on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Invert ice cream onto cake and peel off plastic. Cover ice cream and cake with meringue. Bake until meringue begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Using 2 metal spatulas, transfer to a cake plate and serve immediately.
Baked_Alaska2_IMG_2612

Happy, Hazy, Dreamy, Delicious, Holidays

By in family

20131226-181109.jpg
It was ambitious to think I could keep up with the weekly meal digests. I forgot how truly tired and disconnected one feels during weeks 2-6 of a newborn’s life.

It’s a beautiful time, in a hazy, sleepless, dreamlike way. More so with knowing how fleeting it is. How briefly your baby will be the soft, sleepy, fragile, dependent creature he is.

For now, we’ll stay on maternity leave. You can check out last year’s Christmas or New Years Eve posts to see what we usually do. And we’ll get back to regular posting as soon as we can.

Wishing everyone a home as totally full of love, as ours is right now.

Weekly Digest 2

By in family

Here’s what we’ve been up to dinner-wise for the past week or so.

Left to Right:
1. Pasta with Easy Sweet Italian Sausage & Tomato Sauce, and a beet salad similar to this one.
2. The beet salad really hit the spot.
3. Spinach lasagna from a kind neighbor, steak and Romanesco broccoli.
4. Kale, Cabbage & Farro Soup (from the freezer)
5. Oktoberfest Stew, amazing potatoes (a Shane ad-hoc, so no recipe – sorry!), salad & a selection of cheeses from the Cowgirl Creamery, courtesy of good friends in San Francisco.
6. Macaroni & Cheese, you know, for babies. Thanks to Jenya.
7. What’s on my lap at dinner these days.
8. Loads of fun with candy from Dylan’s Candy Bar. They are my sunshine once the tiredness kicks in (Shane & Rose, not the candy).
9. Making dinner 24/7, if you know what I mean.

What we’re eating now

By in family 1 Comment

In these early, foggy, newborn days, we’ve been mostly surviving on food that has been brought to us by a whole bunch of very kind friends, neighbors and family. Pictured above is week 1: Dec 2 – Dec 8. There is more, but I’m too sleep deprived to remember to take photos every night.

Left to Right:
1. Me and my children(!) very tired after being up all night and a totally unmedicated birth.
2. My reward, dinner in a private hospital room, which comes with better food than the regular, shared room. (This is a weird New York thing.)
3. Jamie Oliver’s friend’s lasagna, made by my aunt and served up (two nights in a row) by my girls Jenya & Anna.
4. This chili (from the freezer),
5. Delectable spinach lasagna from our neighbors who are amazing because they have a newborn of their own.
6. This chicken with potatoes and roasted broccoli, by Shane.

A guest post!

By in uncategorized 1 Comment

No, we don’t have a guest posting here on The Steady Table, though that’s a good idea. I was invited to write a guest post for Word of Mom Blogger over at WhatToExpect.com several weeks ago, and it went live today!

You can read the post here. Check back soon for a quick glimpse of what we’ve been eating since we became a family of four. Enjoy!

Special thanks to my blog post coach, Britta Alexander for her help.

Fish n’ chips… sort of

By in pregnancy, quick 1 Comment

Perch_Fries_Salad_IMG_2274Shane was really pushing for takeout tonight. I think because he wouldn’t be home in time to cook dinner, and he knows how painful it is for me to be on my feet these days. I might have agreed to takeout, if I hadn’t already dragged my grumpy, hurtin’ self to the farmer’s market to buy fish this morning.

We settled on very simple fish, a minimal salad, and french fries from the chicken place around the corner. The fish was ocean perch, which I cooked by dipping in egg, dredging in seasoned flour and pan-frying in butter for about 8 minutes. It was good, simple and fresh.

For dipping the fish and/or the fries, I made a cilantro-Sriracha mayonnaise. The sauce was good but has not caused me to go into labor, so I’m  considering it a delicious sauce, but ultimately an epic fail.

Turkey tacos and a soup-off

By in dessert, left overs

TurkeyTacos_SoupOff_IMG_2265We had dinner at our friends the Blanco’s place tonight. They had a lovely spread, as always, with turkey tacos (clever!) and a butternut squash soup-off. A good time was had by all, even still-pregnant me.

Let’s go back to the turkey tacos. What a great idea for Thanksgiving leftovers! When you take tortillas, cheese, seemingly any leftover thanksgiving dishes and top it with mole sauce, it’s delicious. The kids can skip the mole if they want.

James’ quick mole sauce really pulled everything together. He pointed out that you can make the kind of mole that takes days, or you can do a quick version in the blender. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a quick blender version, but it was really good!

James and Fiona each made a batch of butternut squash soup, and we did a blind taste test. The results were—and have been, when tested on others—pretty much even. Which means to me that they both make a really good butternut squash soup. Fiona’s was classic, subtle and butternutty, and James’ was spicy and appley.

For dessert I made Martha Stewart’s Banana Bread with coconut, toasted pecans and chocolate chips. the recipe doesn’t actually call for chocolate chips, but I think they’re a great addition. Recipe after the photo.
BananaBread_IMG_2268

• Banana Bread with Coconut, Pecans and Chocolate Chips •
from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook 

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups canola oil
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups ripe mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1 cup unsweetened dried shredded coconut
1 cup walnuts or 1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped (I prefer pecans)
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup chocolate chips
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat pans with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar and oil on medium-low speed until combined.
4. Beat in the flour mixture. Add the vanilla, banana, coconut, nuts, chocolate chips and buttermilk and beat just to combine.
5. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula.
6. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the centers come out clean, 60-65 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove laves from pans and let cool completely.
7. Bread can be kept at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months.

 

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