Food weekend in the country

By in dessert, family

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Our Cape Family got together for a delightful and much-needed reunion up at the “Drews” farm in the country this weekend. When I’m away, I tend to drop the ball when it comes to taking pictures and posting, this weekend was no exception. Instead of individual dinner posts, I’m offering a selection of images and notes about food from our weekend.

Among the things I neglected to photograph were: Drew’s homemade hummus with parsley, tabouli made with quinoa, fresh from the oven lemon poppyseed scones, just-layed eggs, sea-breeze cocktails (the quintessential summer drink), André’s wonderful homemade granola, and my sister Anna’s mind-blowing brownies.

Everyone asked for the recipe for Joy The Baker’s Chewy Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies. They were absolutely perfect, a make-again recipe for sure, not only because they’re utterly delicious, but also because the recipe calls for melted butter. Melted butter! Do you know how easy this makes my life? No more waiting several hours for butter to get soft (I always keep mine in the freezer). No more planning ahead (not exactly my strong point). These cookies are a game-changer.

 

 

 

A summery meal for the February blues

By in uncategorized

SummeryFeb_IMG_6193The last few winters have been so mild that I forgot what it was like to have the February blues. It’s awful.

This mood, this time of year, reminds me of when I first met my husband, Shane. It was February then, too. I was hanging out with Shane and a friend, and the friend said: “We were so depressed today, that we actually ate at Burger King.” I’ve been pretty depressed before, but I have never set foot in a Burger King. Shane and friend were in a seriously bad way.

I’m not about to head out to Burger King, or anything drastic, but I am getting awfully jealous of my friends who are posting Floridian vacation photos on Facebook. I found myself reading old blog posts from July and August this afternoon, and decided to make a dish from one of the most delicious, summeriest, beachy-haired, salt-licked, sun-kissed, succulent, evenings of summer: fish (Flounder, tonight) cooked the Adriatic Way.

With it we had an equally summery salad of Boston lettuce with cubanelle peppers, fresh basil leaves, and Rita’s Dressing. The quinoa, though quite tasty (recipe below), wasn’t very summery, I guess I just couldn’t keep up the facade. One of Shane’s margaritas might have helped.

• Quinoa with Mushrooms & Sage •
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3/4 cup quinoa, I like the organic kind that comes pre-washed
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 teaspoon vegetable Better Than Bouillon
2 tablespoons butter
1 package crimini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
10 fresh sage leaves, finely slivered
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a small (2qt) saucepan over medium heat, add onion and cook until soft and translucent. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat, add the mushrooms and sage and cook until done, about 10 minutes, set aside. When the onions are done, add the quinoa, stir to coat with oil and then add the water and Better Than Bouillon and stir. Simmer until the quinoa is translucent and cooked through, about 15-20 minutes, add more water if necessary. Add mushrooms and sage with any pan juices, to quinoa, stir to combine, taste for seasoning, and serve.

“The only thing I want for dinner is brussels sprouts”

By in picky eaters

OnlyBrussells_IMG_6182“The only thing I want for dinner is brussels sprouts” I couldn’t believe my ears when my five-year-old, picky-eater uttered these words today.

I immediately went to the store to buy every brussels sprout they had in stock. (It helped that we were already parked outside a grocery store.) At the same time, in my mind, I got down on my hands and knees and thanked god for Heidi of 101 Cookbooks, and her simple and delicious recipe, that made my daughter a convert. I also wondered what I’d done to deserve this. And then I contemplated whether five years of offering healthy, homemade meals might finally be paying off.

Only time will tell. We also had buffala mozzarella with olive oil and bread (she skipped the bread, naturally).

Pity the carnivores… but for the gigantic pile of prosciutto

By in uncategorized 4 Comments

PityTheCarn_IMG_6177Sometimes you just have to disregard your family’s dietary idiosyncrasies, and cook whatever you’re able to. Tonight was one of those nights. We didn’t have much to make dinner with, despite having spent $380 at Costco over the weekend, and Rose was being a pill about going out to the store. Screw them, I thought to myself, I’m going to make a blatantly healthful vegetarian meal they’re going to have to suck it up for a change. Yeah!

Alas, I love my family too much to be that cruel to them. I gave them a huge pile of week-old prosciutto as a concession.

The meal was an odd mix, and I wouldn’t serve the two main dishes together again, but I liked all the pieces very much. 101 Cookbooks’ Lemony Chickpea Stir-fry was good, even without the kale and tofu. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the baked tofu with miso came out. So much so, that the recipe is below.

• Baked Tofu with Miso Dressing and Peas •
1 package extra firm tofu
vegetable or canola oil
1 cup thawed frozen peas
2 tablespoons white or yellow miso*
1-2 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
4 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

The tofu is from this recipe, and paraphrased here. Wrap the tofu in 4-5 paper towels and press between two plates weighted down with cans or books, for 30 minutes. Replace towels and repeat for another 30 minutes. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and brush with vegetable or canola oil. Cut tofu into 1″ cubes and roll on oiled parchment to coat on all sides. Distribute tofu cubes evenly, on tray, with space between each cube, and bake for about 40 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

For the sauce, combine miso, sugar and rice vinegar. Whisk in oil until emulsified and then stir in fresh ginger. 

Combine cooled tofu, miso sauce and peas and serve.

*I used red miso tonight but I think this dish would be prettier and have a more mellow flavor with white, or yellow miso.

Better miso glazed salmon

By in quick, uncategorized

BetterMisoSalmon_IMG_6157You might recall that my last foray into miso glazed salmon was, well, a disaster. Or close enough to it. The version below is much better. You could probably broil or grill the salmon instead of baking it.

We also had the same brussells sprouts as last night, roasted cubanelle peppers, and rice.

• Salmon with Miso Butter Glaze •
2 pieces salmon about 1″ thick with skin on one side
olive oil
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon hot water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon miso paste

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place salmon skin side down in a baking dish that has been lightly oiled. Combine butter, hot water, brown sugar and miso into a thick sauce. Coat the top of  each piece of salmon with the miso mixture. Bake at 400 degrees until cooked through, 10-15 minutes.

Pretty good leftovers

By in left overs

Leftovers_IMG_6147This is a bad photo. Rose had Thursday’s Penne alla Vodka. I had last night’s polenta (without the shrimp and tomatoes), sliced, warmed, and topped with Gorgonzola Dolce and sauteed crimini mushrooms. We both had a pretty decent not-much-in-the-fridge salad.

On another note. Remember my post about all the compost, or as Shane calls it “your trash,” that accumulates in our freezer? Here’s the 30 or so pounds I toted off to the compost pickup this morning. You’d think I don’t want to use my freezer for food.

Compost_IMG_6139

Polenta with tomatoes and shrimp

By in quick

ShrimpPolentaTomatoes_IMG_6137This is a tasty, quick-to-prepare meal, except for the tomatoes, which have minimal hands-on time and can be made ahead. I served it with a simple salad.

• Polenta with Oven Roasted Tomatoes and Shrimp •

For the tomatoes: Heat oven to 400. Line a baking tray with foil and coat generously with olive oil. Rinse and halve a pint of grape tomatoes, lay them cut side up on the baking tray and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 30-45 minutes until shriveled, pruney and a little bit blackened, but not too much (see photo here.) Set aside to cool.

For the shrimp: I used Mark Bittman’s Simplest and Best Shrimp recipe but with smoked paprika instead of regular. Prep all the ingredients for the shrimp, and have them ready to go, then make the polenta.

For the polenta: bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil. When water boils, pour in 1 cup of corn meal or quick-cooking polenta in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring for 5-10 minutes, until cooked through. The polenta should be soft, like hot cereal, and not crunchy. Stir in 3 tablespoons of butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove cooked polenta to a serving dish, top with roasted tomatoes and cover to keep warm.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, over low heat. Add the garlic and cook until it turns golden, about a minute or two. Add the shrimp, salt, pepper, cumin and smoked paprika and cook, stirring, until shrimp is cooked through. Transfer to a serving dish, top with parsley and serve over tomatoes and polenta.

 

 

Valentines Day for the un-romantic

By in dessert, quick

VDay_IMG_6133Shane and I are well suited in that we both find anything romantic to be really embarrassing. We can’t tolerate romantic comedies, even the token smoochy bit in dramas and action movies has us both cringing and fidgeting nervously. We didn’t have a wedding. Suffice it to say we’re not big on Valentine’s Day.

It used to be that we didn’t celebrate at all, but now Rose is around. Far be it from us to ruin her Valentines vibe, just because we’re romantically challenged. Our solution has been to do away with the romance, and make a fun time of it.

For dinner tonight, we had all food that was pink and red. Lidia Bastianich’s Penne alla vodka, which happens to be Rose’s favorite. A grilled tuna steak that turned out to be a little less pink/red than we’d planned, but was nevertheless tasty. A red pepper and radicchio salad. Cosmopolitans for the grown-ups, and a ‘cocktail’ (seltzer and cranberry with ice and a straw) for Rose.

Dessert was sugar cookies from the lovely blog Joy the Baker. Today was my first time trying one of her recipes, and I’m excited to try more.

Wishing you lots of love on this often awkward day, in whatever form you’re comfortable with. xxoo
VDay_Dessert_IMG_6133

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