kitchen hell

Croque-Végétarien & Croque-Monsieur

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:00:00 +0000

So, you know how there really wasn't much winter this year?

Its been like, November (but without the rain), all winter long.

We're so spoiled by it... Because this year, any time it goes below 35 or is rainy, we're all 'ew, gross! couch! comfort food!'

Since our honeymoon in Paris was quite rainy and chilly, one of the newer additions to our 'ew, gross! couch! comfort food!' repertoire is the Croque Monsieur. While in Paris there was more than one night where the sightseeing got in the way of the marathon dinner events that we planned for many of the nights and, as a result, we ended up at Cafe Le Depart-St. Michel more than once... While it wasnt much more than our equivalent of a 24 hour diner, it was open 24 hours (important to NYers who are used to such things) and close to our hotel(s) to boot, so it worked. And this cafe's croque végétarien was one of the best I had while we were there...

This version is my favorite of all of the ones I've had since leaving paris (admittedly, there havent been that many, but this one is good, i promise!) and will probably become my new standard, not to mention a regular part of the 'ew, gross! couch! comfort food!' rotation.

Croque Végétarien & Croque-Monsieur

courtesy of me, as adapted from Ina Garten

Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

6 slices good white bread

1 tablespoons unsalted butter
1.5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 c warm milk

1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg

3 oz Gruyere, grated
3 oz Emmentaler, grated
1/4 c freshly grated Parmesan

Dijon mustard

2 plum tomatoes, sliced

For Croque-Monsieur:
1/4 lb jambon de Paris

***

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Toast your bread in the oven on a cookie sheet - 5 minutes on the first side, then 2 minutes on the opposite side. Set aside.

In a small saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter and then add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for ~2 minutes.

Slowly pour the warm milk into the pan with the butter/flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened, about 3 - 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add the salt, pepper, nutmeg and stir.

Add in 1/4 c of the Gruyere, 1/4 c of the Emmentaler and all of the Parmesan and stir until cheese has all melted. Set aside.

Spread dijon mustard on all of the bread.
On half of the bread, lay out tomatoes on a single layer.
If desired, add a couple of slices of ham on top of the tomatoes. (croque monsieur)
Top the same slices with the remaining Gruyere and Emmentaler, about 1/3 of the total cheese on each.
Top each 'loaded' slice with one of the dijon-only pieces of bread.

Top each sandwich with about 1/3 of the bechamel (cheese sauce)

Bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes.

Switch your oven to broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes (depending on how close your heating element is to your sandwiches) or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned.

Serve hot.

Chocolate-Raspberry-Marshmallow Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:00:00 +0000

That's a mouthful, huh?

Nothing pains me more than a birthday without cupcakes... so this year, I asked Jordan what he wanted me to make for his birthday party/100th unique beer at Pony Bar celebration... I got a lot of vague, 'um, i dont know...'s so I just went ahead and picked something.

(ladies, if you are ever dealing with an indecisive man, just make a decision... He'll immediately tell you what he really wants when you tell him what he's about to get if he doesnt say otherwise...)

That something that i picked never got made but what did eventually get made is the cake and frosting components that will now be my official standards... Jordan's final request was raspberry chocolate cake... and then somewhere along the way, he decided it needed marshmallow frosting... So we set out. I was hell-bent on keeping it as simple as possible so i decided i wanted to start with a boxed cake mix and just doctor it up a bit... In googling, i stumbled upon "Too Much Chocolate Cake" and decided that, with a few slight modifications, that was going to be the base...

I knew that adding a raspberry jam filling would be simple (and i wasnt making my own jam or anything crazy like that), so next up was frosting. We knew that the chocolate and raspberries were going to create a really sweet cake, so we wanted a frosting that was a little less-so... In searching, we found Smitten Kitchen's post on making homemade devil dogs which included a recipe for Marshmallow/Seven Minute frosting... seemed easy enough and like it might be a bit less sweet than the versions made with fluff, so we figured why not?

In the end, it all came together like one huge pile of YUM. The sum much greater than the parts and the cupcakes a HUGE hit among friends, bartenders and other patrons alike...

Chocolate-Raspberry-Marshmallow Cupcakes
courtesy of me, with component parts from Denise on Allrecipes.com and Smitten Kitchen
Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

For the cake:
1 package devil's food cake mix
5.9 oz instant chocolate pudding mix (this is one large package or about 1 1/2 small packages)
1 c sour cream
3/4 c vegetable oil
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c warm water
2 c mini chocolate chips

For the filling:

1 jar of your favorite raspberry jam

For the frosting:
2 large egg whites
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c light corn syrup
2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

***

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350°

Line muffin tray with foil liners

In a large bowl, mix the first 6 ingredients together.

Once they are all well-combined, stir in the mini chips.

Pour into cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake 20 - 24 minutes or until toothpick comes out mostly clean.

To add the filling:

Once the cake is done baking and cooled, use a butter knife to cut a little divot out of the top of each. (Each divot should be about 3/4 of an inch circle with about the same depth.)

Pop out the divot, plop in a teaspoon or so of jam and then pop the divot back in.

For the frosting:

Set a saucepan on the stove and bring a couple of cups of water to a simmer.

Combine all ingredients in a metal bowl and set the bowl over the simmering water.

Beat at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove bowl from heat, place on a heat-proof surface, and continue to beat until frosting has slightly cooled.

Final Assembly:

Once frosting has cooled down, frost cupcakes, taking care to not knock the filling divot out.

If you have any mini-chips left over, sprinkle on top for decoration.

NOTE: Frosting will harden slightly as time goes on, so it is best to do any decorating while the frosting is still 'fresh'.

Sunday Morning Bagels

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Long time, no post...

Its been a whirlwind, to say the least... but it looks like Kitchen Hell will be moving up in the world! No, not the blog-world, but the real world... Let's just say that teeny tiny kitchen? We'll be upgrading. and the 2nd biggest greenmarket in NYC? Right outside of our front door. Cooking won't be the hell that it is today and we can't wait...

As a result of the impending move (to an apartment we chose 50% based on its kitchen alone), we've been hard-pressed to do much of anything in our current tiny, cramped, half-sized-appliance kitchen and as a result, there's been a lot of eating out, ordering in, frozen dinners and pasta (boxed) with red sauce (from a jar)...

Quite frankly, frozen Amy's dinners, while yummy in their own right, don't make for the best blog fodder...

Our weekend morning rituals haven't been much better than the dinners - pretty dependent on our local diner and bagel shop and when you can be served really good, still-warm-from-the-oven bagels by walking about 2 blocks from home (and barely beyond the store where you would have to fight your way through the crowds to buy anything to make at home) it's really hard to motivate to do anything different...

However, this past week, someone posted a bagel sandwich that looked so good that it was just the motivation I needed... I needed that bagel sandwich...

This isn't earth shattering, it's not life changing, so why am I posting it? Because, frankly, it was so good that we've already talked about how we should really be sure to keep these ingredients in the house from now on... Even when cooking isn't the hell it is today.

With this one, the tiny smidgen of motivation it took paid dividends...

Sunday Morning Bagels

courtesy of me
Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

2 everything bagels

~1/2 c whipped cream cheese

1/2 of a ripe avocado, sliced

a few paper-thin slices of red onion

lemon pepper

***

Slice bagels in half

Spread half of the cream cheese onto each bagel - covering both sides of the bagel (i like a lot of cream cheese, 1/2 c might be more than most people need...)

put half of your avocado slices onto one side of each bagel

sprinkle a few slices of the red onion over the avocado (this is optional - Jordan doesnt like raw onion, so he skipped this...)

Sprinkle the avocado and onion with a generous shake of lemon pepper

Close bagels up, slice in half and enjoy

Dutch Baby Pancake

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:00:00 +0000

I'd never heard of a dutch baby pancake before...

But just as I was starting to think about New Year's Day breakfast, Martha, bless her heart, sent me this recipe and it sounded like the perfect way to start off the new year...

And it turns out it was.

Dutch Baby Pancake

courtesy of Martha Stewart

click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

NOTE: I'm providing the recipe as we followed it, but next time I make this, I'll probably cut the lemon juice by 25%. It was good, don't get me wrong, but just a little too much lemon for our personal tastes. Also, Martha claims this serves 4. I say, 4 children, maybe, but for adults? 2 of us had no problem finishing this whatsoever...

3 tbsp butter, divided

3 eggs
3/4 c whole milk
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c plus 1 tbsp sugar, divided

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

***

Preheat oven to 425°.

In an oven-safe, medium-sized skillet, melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat and then set aside.

In a blender, combine eggs, milk, flour, salt, vanilla, and 1/4 c sugar. Blend until foamy, 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on the power of your blender.

Pour batter into skillet and place skillet in the oven.

Bake ~ 20 minutes or until pancake is puffed and lightly browned.

While baking, cut the remaining tbsp of butter into small bits.

Once the pancake is cooked, remove from oven and dot with the butter bits.

Sprinkle with remaining tbsp of sugar and lemon juice.

Slice into wedges and serve immediately.

Cold Crab Dip

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:14:00 +0000

This year it was just Jordan and I for the holidays... with the impending move, we're hoarding money like crazy and travel and gifts just didnt really fit in. However, holidays can be saved, what with the miracle of Facetime and the recreation of culinary traditions...

This is part 1 of a series i'll call "how we ate our way though the holidays"

I never knew that crab dip was a Christmas tradition for so many people... That was, until I started googling, looking for the crab dip my mom has made for the past bazillion Christmases... However, it seems most of you enjoy hot crab dip. and while i'm never one to turn up anything warm and cheesy, these holidays had specific demands - recreate the traditions...

so when google failed, i called my mom and just asked for the recipe.

duh.

Oh? Did I forget to mention that there was a block of cream cheese involved? One of my favorite culinary phrases has got to be "serve over a block of cream cheese"...

Cold Crab Dip
courtesy of my mom
Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

1 c ketchup
2 tbsp horseradish
1 tbsp honey

8 oz crab meat, cleaned and picked over

8 oz block of cream cheese

***

In a small bowl, mix ketchup, horseradish and honey together.

Add in the crabmeat and stir until incorporated

Chill in the fridge for at least a half hour

Spoon the dip over the block of cream cheese and serve with your favorite butter crackers.

Reindeer Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:10:00 +0000

Wait, what? I'm actually going to post a timely post - you know, before you need it?

And i'm going to do this in the middle of what is always my busiest time of the year, to which i've already added trying to buy a co-op and the other half of my department being on maternity leave? While I've got an awful head cold and have guests coming into town in a week?

I'm such a rockstar.

or, i thought i was until my sister told me that my 3 year old nephew had made these exact same cookies in NURSERY SCHOOL.

oh whatever. they're cute.

(sorry for the crappy cell phone camera picture. and yes, i should have
faced the Ms down - but I was REALLY tired...)

I made them for my work cookie exchange and while they were a HUGE pain to transport to the office (due to not wanting to lose the antlers, though the antlers seem way more secure than i expected), i fully expect to win (no actual award but lots of bragging rights for) cutest cookies on that exchange table...

Reindeer Cookies
courtesy of Bakergirl with slight modifications by me
Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

3/4 c creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 c firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick)
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

~ 72 chocolate-covered mini pretzels (1 box of the 100 calorie packages works)
~ 72 brown and green M&Ms
~ 36 red M&Ms in one of the larger varieties (i used pretzel but you could use peanut too...)

***

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Combine peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well mixed and fluffy. (it also tastes REALLY good - sample it now, cause the egg is about to go in...)

Add egg; beat again to combine.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.

Slowly add flour mixture to peanut butter/sugar mixture with mixer on low. Mix til combined, but do not overmix - once everything is incorporated, shut it down.

Form dough into ~1-inch balls. Place on baking sheet, an about 1.5 - 2 inches apart. Pinch one end to form a nose and then slightly flatten the entire thing. You will have a tray of alien-heads at this point.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until set or just barely beginning to brown.

Remove from oven and immediately press red M&Ms into the point to make Rudolph's nose. Then place either 2 brown or 2 green M&Ms into the middle to make the eyes.

Finally, push two mini pretzels at a ~90° angle (so, sticking straight up towards the sky) into the tops of the cookies for the reindeer's antlers.

Allow to cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. DO NOT TOUCH antlers while cookies are cooling as the chocolate will be melty and they are precarious at this point.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Malfadine with Lemon-Asparagus Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

When i started this blog - about 4 years ago - it was to not only share recipes, but also to share the stories behind them. I lost that somewhere along the way. i lost some of the story.

Keeping that in mind, you have to forgive me for posting this recipe at the absolute wrong time of the year. This is a spring dish if i ever tasted one. but i made it this week. When yes, it was warm, but its still october...

However. If you know me in real life, you know that i've seen more than my fair share of Better Than Ezra shows. You know that i have friends - real life friends - that i wouldnt even know if not for my hours on their messageboard and my travels to their shows. You know that when i start talking about someone you dont know, you have to ask 'is that a BTE person?' and you know that quite often, the answer will be yes.

So why is that relevant? because a funny thing happened along the way. all of us BTE people? we grew up. some became real adults and had kids. some bought houses. some moved - many times. some got married. some broke up. but through the miracle of the internet, so many of us have stayed in touch. held eachothers hands through breakups. been to eachothers weddings. sent presents to those kids. and among it all, theres a number of us who emerged as being almost as obsessed with food as we were with that band - at least 3 of us have food blogs. so now, instead of trading live show tapes, we trade recipes. We send treats to those having a hard time. and not so long ago, i sent 1.5lbs of pasta all the way to california, because one of those friends mentioned that she couldnt find malfadine near her.

now, of course, if someone wants a specific shape pasta for a specific recipe that badly, you know i have to try it too, right?

So that 1.5lbs of malfadine has been sitting in my cabinet waiting for me to get around to this...

I ended up altering the original recipe a bunch, some based on reviewers suggestions, some pulled from other recipes we've known and loved (Cacio e Pepe, i'm looking at you), but the gist is the same... these long skinny lasagna-style noodles finished in an asparagus lemon sauce that just screams SPRING! (even if its October) when you bite into it...

and if you cant find malfadine near you? drop me a line - i'm an expert at shipping it ;)

Malfadine with Lemon-Asparagus Sauce
courtesy of me, loosely adapted from Epicurious

Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

1/2 lb fresh asparagus, tough ends discarded, tips and remaining stems separated
1/2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp softened butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tbsp lemon zest
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 lb malfadine or other pasta of choice

1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

***

Boil a generous amount of water (you will use this water 3 times). Once boiling, add the salt to the water. Watch the volcanic eruption. its fun.

Chop asparagus stems into 1-2" segments. Cook the segments in the boiling water for 6-7 minutes or until very tender. Transfer segments to a colander, reserving cooking water in pot (a slotted spoon or small strainer works well), and rinse under cold water. Set aside.

Cook asparagus tips in same boiling water until just tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer tips to a colander, again reserving cooking water in pot and rinse under cold water and set aside,

Purée asparagus stems with oil, butter, garlic, parsley, zest, lemon juice, black pepper and 1/4 cup asparagus cooking water. (be careful, that water is hot)

Cook pasta in boiling asparagus cooking water for about 3/4 the amount of time suggested for al dente pasta. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, drain pasta and remaining water out of the pan.

Return pasta to the dry pan. Add in the asparagus tips, the pureed sauce and the reserved water and cook over high heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning and to ensure the ingredients are combining well. Allow to cook ~ 3 minutes, or until pasta is al dente, and the sauce has thickened and coats pasta well. (it will still be too 'loose' at this point - thats ok, the cheese will help...)

Remove from the heat and stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano. Stir until cheese is meltedand well combined.

Serve immediately, adding salt to taste.

Introducing Pepperplate links!

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:00:00 +0000

(i'm going to wax poetic about my ipad for a moment here, but even if you dont have one, keep reading - this is for you too...)

so, about a year ago, i started thinking that maybe i wanted an ipad... i'd spent many months making fun of what i felt was basically an overgrown phone that you couldnt use to make calls... (incidentally, my 3 year old nephew actually calls his dad's ipad 'the big phone') and didnt see why anyone would want one, but then, one day, it hit me.

i need this in the kitchen.

so when ipad 2 came out, i was right there on the pre-order bandwagon. I thought it would be great to have my recipes online instead of on random printed sheets all over the apartment.

and it was.

but, of course, i needed just a little more... So i went searching.

and i found the Pepperplate app. a way to store recipes and turn them into menu plans? score. exactly what i needed.

and, as it turns out, a lot more...

see, they have a website too (told you this wasnt all ipad love) and its amazing. AMAZING.

Between the site and the app, you can do a million things...

import recipes directly from supported sites
use the bookmarklet on your browser to do a simple copy/paste of recipes from unsupported sites
create manual recipes
edit recipes for your modifications, no matter their origin
menu plan
create shopping lists, customized for your grocery store
keep your ipad awake while cooking in the app
share your recipes with others and allow them to import those recipes into their own pepperplate accounts.

and, oh yeah, its FREE.

So the other day i started thinking - how do i use this on Kitchen Hell? So i tweeted the lovely @pepperplateapp people and asked - is there a way to create and share these links? and within moments, they got back to me with the details.

Therefore, from now on, any time i post a recipe, there will be a Pepperplate link under the title/creator - but before the ingredients - which will allow you to import that recipe into your own account.

(it also creates a clean print if you don't want to use an online version of said recipe)

I'll be going through the archives and adding links to old posts, but if you see any you want converted sooner rather than later, just drop me a line (or use the bookmarklet).

I hope you love Pepperplate as much as I do. And no, this was NOT a paid or requested endorsement - i really, truly just think this site/app are that useful that i wanted to share :)

Broccoli Mac & Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:08:00 +0000

When the weather starts to cool off, everyone's thoughts (mine included) turn to apples and pumpkin and maple syrup. However, when mother nature decided to skip the whole cooling off period a week or so ago and go straight to RAINY & COLD, I couldn't help but skip the normal cravings and move straight to comfort food.

Most people will agree that there really is no better comfort food than mac & cheese but for those who arent looking to fatten up for their winter hibernation, the comfort we seek in mac & cheese can quickly turn to distress when trying to get dressed in the morning and finding out that none of your clothes fit anymore because you've been eating a little too much comfort...

This leaves you with a dilemma - stop eating the warm comforting hug that is mac & cheese and keep that slammin' body or eat all the comfort and embrace the fatness?

I'm here to give you a 3rd option - do both. and do it without sacrificing the stuff that makes mac & cheese the yummy goodness that it is...

Now, this recipe makes me feel a little bit like a mom who's trying to sneak vegetables into her kid's meal but really, the broccoli is a bonus, not a secret we're hiding under a layer of cheese (though that's how my mom got me to eat it as a kid...) and actually adds to the dish.

And you don't have to be on a diet to like it. It doesn't taste like diet food! I promise you, this mac and cheese tastes just as good as many other versions out there. The bonus is that the vegetables are already built in, so you don't feel like you have to make a side in order to have a complete meal.

It's a pretty versatile dish. While the recipe below uses high-fiber pasta and reduced fat cheese, that's not really the calorie-cutting key - its much more about the fact that there is equal weight of pasta and vegetable soaking up all of that cheesiness. I highly recommend playing around with it and coming up with the version you like best. I'm already planning its successor as we speak ;)

Broccoli Mac & Cheese

courtesy of skinnytaste.com, with modifications by me
Click here to import to Pepperplate.com

12 oz high fiber pasta (we used Barilla Plus elbows)
12 oz fresh broccoli florets, any large pieces roughly chopped

2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves if you aren't cheating and using the pre-minced stuff)

1/4 cup flour

1 cup vegetable broth

2 cups 1% milk
1 tbsp garlic chili cholula sauce

8 oz (2 cups) shredded reduced fat mexican cheese blend
salt and fresh pepper to taste

1/8 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup bread crumbs

***

Lightly grease a large casserole dish and set aside

Preheat oven to 375°

Prepare pasta in accordance with package directions for al dente pasta. Include the broccoli in the water with the pasta for about 7 minutes (this was al dente cooking time for our pasta, so everything went in together. If you are using a pasta with a longer cooking time, just throw the broccoli in when there is 7 minutes left...)

While pasta & broccoli are cooking, heat 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add onion & garlic and cook for about 2 minutes to soften.

Lower heat to medium-low and whisk in flour. It will clump and get dry - dont panic. Keep whisking for a minute or two until it is all incorporated and the mess looks golden.

Add broth, milk and cholula, whisking to incorporate. Raise heat to medium-high and heat, whisking often, until mixture is bubbling and gets thick. (This will take anywhere from about 5 - 10 minutes, depending on your definition of medium-high)

Remove from heat and stir in cheese, in batches, until it has melted and is well-incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the pasta & broccoli into the cheese sauce and mix well to combine.

Pour the whole thing into your prepared baking dish. Top with parmesan and then breadcrumbs.

Bake ~ 20 minutes and then turn oven up to 500° and bake for an additional 3 minutes to get the top a bit golden and crispy.

Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Grandma P's MandelBread

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:35:00 +0000

We were not going to be able to celebrate Rosh Hashana with Jordan's family this year, but i knew it was important to him that we do something to mark the holiday. Because Hallmark really doesnt have a 'high holidays' line in their stores, and no mythical characters show up with presents or chocolate, the only marker i was left with was food. (oh, darn.) So I went on an elaborate recipe search all over the internets trying to figure out what to make.

The interesting thing i learned about Rosh Hashana is that the general gist of it is to eat sweet things, as a wish for a sweet new year. This was a good thing to learn as holiday cooking is generally made more 'interesting' (and by interesting, i mean difficult) by my pescatarian lifestyle, but sweet is generally associated with desserts and such and desserts generally dont have meat in them. This i could do.

After a bit of digging, i came up with a basic menu, which included honey cake. When i ran it past Jordan, he was like, 'wtf is honey cake?' and i was like, 'its only what you are supposed to eat on rosh hashana, duh...' and he was all 'if you say so...' So then we had one of those super-fun discussions that go 'ok if you dont want honey cake, what do you want?' 'i dont know... no, its fine, i've just never had it before' at which point i declared myself more jewish than him - which went over about as well as you can imagine...

so in the interest of saving the holiday (and maybe my marriage), i did more research. and in that research, i saw that some people were making apple cake or mandelbread for dessert... Now, i didnt know what mandelbread was, but when i mentioned it to Jordan, he was all 'i've been craving that!' and just like that, the world was now right in jordan's eyes. so we called up his mom (ok, texted) and asked for his grandmother's recipe.*

Turns out mandelbread is basically biscotti. Except not always baked the second time the way biscotti is - and never baked the second time by Jordan's family.

Now, you may wonder why I'm posting this now, after Rosh Hashana. You may be saying 'um, maybe i could have used this if you'd only TOLD ME SOONER...' well, Yom Kippur is this weekend and i'm pretty sure that this mandelbread would be a welcome addition to ANY break fast table...

*turns out that Grandma P used Mom S's recipe - something Jordan only learned a couple of days ago... but i like the title Grandma P's, so i'm going to take that liberty, ok?

Grandma P's MandelBread
courtesy of Mom S.
click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

This is the full recipe. We actually cut it down and only made 1/3 of the recipe (therefore one loaf) because there are only two of us and we're already fat enough...

1/3 c butter
1 c sugar
3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla
1 drop lemon juice
2 1/2 c flour

2 tsp bsking powder
1 bag chocoloate chips

sugar & cinnamon for top

***

Preheat oven to 350°

Prepare a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar.

Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix well after each.

Add the vanilla, lemon and mix well.

Combine the flour and the baking powder in a separate bowl and add the flour mixture in batches, mixing well after each addition. (I was able to keep using the electric mixer the whole time but it does get sticky at the end...)

Add the chocolate chips and mix to combine.

Flour your hands well and divide the very wet, very sticky dough into 3 pieces. Shape each piece into a narrow loaf and place on the parchment.

Sprinkle each loaf with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool a bit and then slice as you would biscotti and serve.

Note: Its a dry 'cake' - i'm told its best dipped in either milk or coffee, but i liked it just fine plain :)

Halibut with Asparagus in Brown Butter Balsamic Vinaigrette

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:35:00 +0000

I've been holding on to this one for a while, trying to think of a little story to tell with it. So I hopped over to the Top Chef page, hoping for some inspiration. and when i went to look at the original recipe, i realized that maybe now is when we should talk photography...

Why now? Well, because for one of the first times in my life, i think my picture is better than the supposed professional one...

About a year ago, Jordan and i decided to 'pre-spend' some wedding gifts and buy ourselves a fancy new camera... Jordan wanted it for our honeymoon, I mostly just wanted it for this blog... We wavered back and forth between different cameras, eventually ending on the Nikon D5000. And, of course, it showed up and we both said "well now what?"

Neither of us had a clue what to do with the thing and sure, we took it to paris and played with it and have thousands of pictures to show for it, but we still didnt really understand it. At all.

So for Jordan's birthday, i bought him a class on how to use that camera - Take Your Camera Off Program Mode, Part I with Okello Dunkley. I sent him with very specific instructions... find out how to take pictures of food and also how to make a cool picture with an out-of-focus background...

And that Jordan, he's a keeper - he came back with both pieces of information... Since we are talking food here, lets focus on that (though, turns out the info was largely the same) He said we needed to spend $ and get a Nikon 50mm lens, use our tripod and open the aperture way up to allow the background to 'fade away'... While i dont think i can explain the science of it, i can tell you that the good pictures you've occasionally* seen around here recently are a result of what he learned. Birthday present SUCCESS!

This halibut might be my most beautiful example of those lessons... the original picture just isnt so pretty and i dont know that it ever would have piqued my curiosity... Our picture? I think it makes the halibut and asparagus both look yummy and intriguing...

Something food-related worth noting - this was our first successful balsamic reduction. Both Jordan and I have tried in the past and both of us have failed... Traci used this for a quickfire challenge - explain how to cook something without seeing the other person - because it was simple and, by her accounts, one of the first sauces she teaches to anyone who comes to work for her... I figured if she could explain it through a wall and taught it to everyone who walked through her kitchen doors, that maybe it would even be Kristen & Jordan-proof... and it was - and if we could make it, i think its safe to say that pretty much anyone can!

*sadly i'm sometimes too lazy to get out the good camera and tripod and well, then you get the regular old boring ugly pictures... so sorry...

Halibut with Asparagus in Brown Butter Balsamic Vinaigrette

courtesy of Traci Des Jardin on Top Chef Masters
Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

1-2 tbsp olive oil
8 spears of asparagus

2 halibut filets, skin removed

~2 tbsp butter
4 shallots, minced
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped

***

Heat ~ 1tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat and saute asparagus for 3-5 minutes, depending on thickness of asparagus - should still be a bit crisp. Set aside

Add a bit more olive oil to the pan, give it a minute to come up to temperature and saute the fish for a couple of minutes on each side until cooked through. (Traci said 1.5 mins per side, but i think it took us a bit longer...) Set aside.

Remove pan from heat. Lower heat to medium-low. Add butter to the pan & return it to the heat. Allow it to brown. If you have never browned butter before the basic gist is this: let it melt and let it sit in the pan. dont stir it. it will start to foam up. this is a good thing. Once that happens, start swirling the pan or stirring. this will cause the foam to 'collapse' and little tiny brown bits will float to the bottom of the pan. this will be wildly difficult to see if you are using a non-stick pan, so you'll have to rely on the foaming and the scent, which will be slightly nutty. Just as the butter has begun to brown, add the shallots and allow them to soften a bit - about 3 minutes.

Raise heat slightly and add in the balsamic. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Add a bit of water (start with a tablespoon or two) and whisk to emulsify. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, in accordance with your personal taste (we like both!). Add parsley and stir to incorporate. Allow to cook for a few minutes. Sauce will begin to thicken (aka reduce). Once it has reduced a bit, remove from heat.

Place 4 stalks of asparagus on each plate, top with one piece of halibut and spoon the balsamic sauce over top and serve.

Strawberry-White Chocolate Snack Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:27:00 +0000

I meant to post these ages ago... While what i thought were the last strawberries were kicking around the greenmarket...

However, during my last trip there, i noticed something strange - a lot of people still had strawberries... strange but true. Therefore, rather than save this for next summer, i'm sharing it now, at the end of this summer...
I suspect you could make these with any kind of berries, so while the it may be late in the season for strawberries, i'm still recommending you find a way to make these... because summer's nearly over and big chunky sweaters are all the rage for fall (so say the fashion blogs) and whats better for hiding a few extra lbs than big chunky sweaters?

So even if you think that you detest white chocolate, do yourself and those around you a favor and make these anyway.

Thank me later.

Strawberry-White Chocolate Snack Cakes
courtesy of Cake Keeper Cakes, via All that's left are the crumbs, with modifications by me

1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 c all purpose flour, divided
1.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c sugar

8 oz strawberries, stemmed and sliced
3/4 c white chocolate chips

***

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Prepare a regular-sized muffin tin (i used cupcake liners...)

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric beater until fluffy.

Combine the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla in a separate bowl

Combined 1.25 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the egg mixture into the butter/sugar bowl in a slow stream and beat together until combined.

Then, turn the mixer down to low speed and add the flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all of the flour has been added, mix for 30 seconds on medium.

Combine the strawberries and remaining 1/4 c flour in a bowl and toss to coat. Add white chips in and toss again.

Gently fold the berries and chocolate into the batter.

divide batter between 12 muffin cups.

bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, ~22 - 25 minutes.

Allow to cool some before eating.

New York Hurricane

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:34:00 +0000

In one week, New York City would see an earthquake and a hurricane.

say what?

One cant prepare for an unusual earthquake, but as a fan of all things New Orleans, I couldnt let a hurricane (the storm) pass without making hurricanes (the drink) at home. While others were preparing with milk and water and bread, i wanted to make sure i had the necessary ingredients for this most appropriate drink.

My version isnt all that different from the standard (i passed over a few of the versions i found online as they sounded just too teeth-rottingly sweet - something i have found true of the version served by Pat O's in NOLA) save for the fact that i had to make a small substitution of mango-passion fruit juice for the straight-up passion fruit due to a mixup which can be attributed to the mass confusion caused by the frantic shoppers of fairway when it was announced that fairway would be closing at 10am - 13 minutes from when the announcement was made...

In my quest to perfect the New York Hurricane, I ended up making 3 versions of this drink last night - all in the name of getting it just right for you.

Yeah, thats why i made 3. no, really, it is. stop laughing! what kind of drunk do you think i am?

ok, fine. you are right. but my drunkardness is your gain, i swear.

New York Hurricane
adapted from about.com

2 oz light rum
2 oz dark rum
2 oz mango-passion fruit juice
1.5 oz orange juice
1 tbsp grenadine
1 tbsp simple syrup
juice from one lime
maraschino cherry (optional)

***

Place all ingredients, except the cherry, in a cocktail shaker and shake with 2-3 ice cubes to combine & chill

Serve in fun cocktail glass and throw a maraschino cherry in for good measure. (cherry optional, but recommended)

Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:05:00 +0000

what a shock, more mexican...

actually, please be impressed... the glut of mexican food means we are, gasp, using up ingredients!!! the idea for mexican lasagna came from a random comment on another blog regarding some sort of mexican casserole that her husband was going to eat while she juice fasted... i read that one morning and thought - ooh - we have like, 3/4 of a bag of tortillas! i can use them up! woo hoo!

of course i had to complicate things - combining 3 recipes into one which, in the end, didnt resemble any one of them all that closely - but in the end, worth it...

also? my first time working with TVP. super easy, super cheap. If you are sitting there going 'what the hell is TVP?', its ok, you could certainly make this with ground meat or more beans instead...

However, there is one MAJOR problem with this recipe...

its UGLY.

I know there is nothing appetizing about this picture - i'm fairly embarrassed to even be posting it because its SO ugly... but it was either deal with the ugliness or not post it at all, and i liked this enough that my need to share outweighed said embarrassment. So, ignore the picture and take my word for it... its good. it was actually so good that we ate the leftovers too (2.5 mins in the microwave was perfect) - which is something we so very rarely do - and honestly, the reheated version may have even surpassed the just-out-of-the-oven experience...

and, wait for it, this means we actually got 3 meals out of that one bag of tortillas.
watch out world, first using up tortillas, next extreme couponing! woo!

Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna
courtesy of me - inspired by Funkinutt McFly's Vegan Food blog, See Jen Cook, and Rachel Ray

for the seasoned TVP: courtesy of Funkinutt with minor modifications:
(note: we only used about 2/3 of this in our lasagna)
1.5 c textured vegetable protein
2 dried new mexico chilis
4-5 cloves garlic
1/4 of a vidallia onion
1 3/4 c water, divided

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Tabasco
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 3/4 c water, divided

Heat olive oil in sauce pan over medium-high heat.

Remove stems from chili peppers and then put peppers, garlic, onion and 1/4 c water into food processor and process until finely chopped.

Add chopped chili mixture to hot oil and mix around. Add remaining ingredients to pan and cook over high heat for 2 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium and cook for another 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Set aside.

For remaining layers:
1 c cilantro
4 scallions, light green parts only
~5 c fresh baby spinach

corn kernels from 2 ears of corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

6-7 6-in flour tortillas

1.5 cans diced fire roasted tomatoes

2 c shredded mexican cheese blend

salt & pepper to taste

***

Preheat oven to 425°
lightly grease bottom of casserole dish with olive oil and set aside

combine cilantro, scallions & spinach in a food processor and process until almost pesto-like (you will probably have to add the spinach in batches). Add a bit of salt & pepper if desired and set aside.

combine corn and black beans and set aside.

cut tortillas into strips.

layer tortilla strips in the bottom of the casserole, just slightly overlapping.
layer some of the seasoned TVP in
toss on some of the black beans & corn
add a layer of tomatoes, with their juices
add a layer of cilantro/spinach mix
add a layer of shredded cheese
place another layer of tortilla strips on top & push down slightly.

Starting with seasoned TVP, repeat all layers, being sure to leave a little bit of the spinach mixture and cheese for the top.

At this point, you should have a top layer of tortilla strips. Spoon remaining spinach mixture over top and spread so that all tortilla is 'wet'. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

Cover and bake for 25 mins.

After 25 mins, remove cover and bake additional 20 minutes.

Allow to cool 5 or so minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve with sour cream and hot sauce (both optional)

Crispy Black Bean Tacos

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:40:00 +0000

I swear, i was born in the wrong country... i think canadians are far more interesting than americans and all i eat is mexican food...

maybe its good that i was born half-way in between the two?

Regardless, its summer and for me, summer means a lot of things... but for purposes of this blog? it means mexican food. it means how many different ways can i make tacos...

I saw this recipe posted over on tumblr (its like twitter, but bigger...) and thought it looked interesting, and then someone else i follow on tumblr went ahead and made it like, 4 hours later... and a girl can only take so much peer pressure before she gives in, you know...

We served it with some kicked up rice and some cold beer. i recommend you do the same...

Crispy Black Bean Tacos

courtesy of Bon Appetit with modifications by me

1 15-ounce can reduced sodium black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp olive oil
juice from one lime

1/2 serrano pepper, minced
2 c coleslaw mix (no dressing, just the cabbage/carrots/etc. You can buy it bagged...)
2 green onions, very bottom and dark green portions discarded, center sliced into small discs
1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 avocado, diced

salt & pepper (to taste)

1 tbsp olive oil
6 corn tortillas

1/3 cup crumbled cotija cheese

hot sauce of your choice (chipotle works quite well)

***

In a small bowl, mash beans and cumin until beans are mostly mashed but still have some definable beans

In a medium bowl, mix 2 tsp olive oil, lime juice and serrano pepper together. Then add coleslaw mix, green onion, cilantro and avocado and toss to coat. Salt & pepper to taste.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil on a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Fit as many tortillas as you can on. Spoon approximately 1/6 of the bean mixture onto each, keeping it to one side and not too close to the edges. (it won't seem like enough, but this allows for more room for the slaw & cheese...) Allow to cook for a minute.

While they are still on the skillet, carefully fold tortillas in half. Do not press down too hard, but make sure they are folded enough to stay folded. Allow to cook on each side for a minute or two, until golden brown.

Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.

Top each with a generous amount of slaw and cotija - more than you see in the picture - after taking a few bites we realized we'd been skimpy on both - and top with hot sauce before serving...

Scape & Squash Frittata

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:30:00 +0000

You know what's exciting? When you realize you now have the tools needed make something you never could before...

I've looked at frittata recipes for years. considered how versatile they were. contemplated flavors. but until recently, never made one because i didnt own an oven-proof pan.

sad, isnt it?

However, thanks to the miracle that is bridal registries & bridal showers and incredibly generous friends & family, we can now make all sorts of things!

Waffles? Check!

Frittata?

Check!

There isnt anything magical about this particular frittata - you can really use just about anything in a frittata that you would in an omelette. For me, the magic was realizing that i finally owned the tools needed to make it... and that was magic enough :)

Scape & Squash Frittata
courtesy of me

1 tbsp butter
6 - 7 garlic scapes, chopped into 1" segments
1 globe squash (about the size of a baseball) cut into 1/2" by 1" segments

7 eggs
~ 2 oz goat cheese, cut into small pieces

salt & pepper

***

Preheat oven to 350°

Saute scapes in butter over medium-high heat in an oven-proof 10" skillet or omelette pan until they soften and maybe get a tiny bit golden on the edges, ~ 5 minutes. Add a bit of salt & pepper, if desired.
Once they have softened, throw the squash in with them for a minute or two, just to soften it up a little bit.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a separate bowl. Once eggs are well mixed, gently stir in goat cheese bits.

Once the squash is ready, pour egg mixture over top of the scapes & squash. Top with salt & pepper, if desired.

Lower heat to medium and allow to cook, undisturbed, for about 2 - 3 minutes, or until the edges of the egg appear to be setting up.

Place skillet in the oven and allow to bake for ~10-12 minutes, until egg appears to be cooked nearly all the way.

Turn oven on to broil and place pan directly under broiler for about 1 minute, or until the top of the fritatta gets just a bit golden-brown.

Remove from oven, allow to sit for a minute or two before serving.

Waffles with Strawberry Conserve

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:14:00 +0000

This year we decided to skip a CSA share in favor of spending more time/money at the greenmarkets and picking and choosing our produce. After 3 years as an active CSA member, this was a hard decision, but in the end, it really seemed like greenmarketing (yes, i just made that word up. feel free to use it :) ) would better suit our lifestyle, plus, i wanted a chance to try out other farms & other products, something that the effort of using up our CSA share often prevented me from doing in the past.

In addition to picking up squash and greens and bread and even local beer, we've been very interested in seasonal fruit. and right now, thats strawberries. The greenmarket strawberries are better than anything you'll get in your local grocery store - they dont hold a candle, size-wise - but when it comes to flavor, they really cant be beat. That little bit of knowledge makes them hard to pass up.

However, we're still us - meaning we still overbuy and underuse. So when it rolled around to Friday and i realized that last weekend's strawberries were still in the fridge, i was kinda mad at myself... how could we let those beauties go to waste? Luckily, we have the crappiest refrigerator on earth - it near-freezes everything on the top shelf, while the rest is the correct temperature. When it comes to forgotten foods, this can be a total blessing, as often things are preserved beyond their normal life. So when i finally pulled out those remaining strawberries, they were a little bit past their prime, but nowhere near the mess they should have been, and the first thing that came to my mind was strawberry conserve.

I dont really know what the technical definition of a conserve is, but whatever, this stuff is REALLY good... a couple of hours of passive time and a few minutes of active time yielded some of the best strawberry sauce i've ever had... Of course, once you have a container of yummy strawberry stuff, you need something to eat it with (as eating it with a spoon, while yummy, isnt exactly advisable...) so I immediately declared there would be waffles the next morning.

We had it for breakfast, but its sweet enough that you could certainly make a pretty excellent dessert - especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - out of it... Either way, you just need to make it soon.

Waffles with Strawberry Conserve
courtesy of Bon Appetit and Food.com with minor modification by me

For the conserve:
1.5 c strawberries, hulled & cut in half
1/4 c sugar
the peel of 1/4 of a lemon - including the pith (white part)

***

Place all ingredients in a saucepan, stir to combine and cover.
Let sit for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Strawberries will release juices and the sugar will melt into the juices.

Turn the stove on to medium and simmer for about 3 - 4 minutes. Once berries have softened, remove them with a slotted spoon and place in a jar.

Continue to simmer the juice for 2 - 3 minutes, until it begins to thicken up a bit. Remove from heat, remove lemon peel and pour the syrupy juice over the berries.

Seal the jar and refrigerate.

For the waffles:
1 1/3 c all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/2 c butter (1 stick), melted
1 3/4 c skim milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

***

Combine flour, baking powder, salt & sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine.

Add the egg yolks, melted butter, skim milk & vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks.

Gently fold egg whites into the rest of the batter.

Follow the instructions for your waffle iron to cook. As for how much batter to use: the instructions to our waffle iron indicated 2 different amounts, one for a thinner batter and one for a thicker batter. I found that an amount right in the middle of these two yielded the best results. I also found that setting the browning level just slightly above average worked best.

***

Spoon conserve over warm waffles. Eat as is or add powdered sugar, bananas (shown above), ice cream, whipped cream or any combination of the above if you are feeling particularly decadent.

Open-Faced Goat Cheese & Avocado Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:23:00 +0000

so, i'm totally obsessed with top chef masters this go around... (season 3). as much as i like to cook, i've never been a huge fan of any of the cooking shows until this one, but when they announced that Floyd Cardoz, former chef of Tabla - one of my all time favorite restaurants - would be a contestant, i decided to tune in.

As we've watched this season (because dont think i've allowed jordan to escape this one), one of our favorite topics is who's restaurants we want to visit... I've been to Suvir's restaurant, Devi, but Jordan hasnt, so that's high on our list for this summer... Floyd is set to open a new restaurant in the coming months and, of course, we'll be vying for reservations the minute it opens...

In addition to my New York Indians, Traci & Mary Sue were always high on my list. Given that they round out the top 3 with Floyd, i decided to go looking and see just how long of a flight we'd need to take to get to their restaurants... turns out its a pretty long one since they are both in CA... however, my search for more info on their whereabouts landed me one of the most useful pieces of information ever...

all of the top chef recipes are available on the website.

now, i'm sure this isnt news to you, but like i said, i havent been watching this show! I had NO IDEA! Amazing!!!

so, just as i was learning this, it was about 98° outside... and the thought of cooking dinner was pretty awful because, oven, EW... however, i quickly remembered the avocado/goat cheese sandwich Mary Sue had made during the quickfire challenge just a couple of episodes ago and thought - ooh... that.

So i went on my search and lo and behold, there it was... just begging for me to recreate it... given my recent obsession with avocado (seriously, for the past 2 months, i've craved avocado every single day...) i was powerless to resist.

we did have to make one obvious tweak to it, given that i dont eat bacon, and i do suspect that real bacon would make it even better for those so inclined to eating that particular product, but even without it, this open-faced sandwich is a winner in my book - even if the microwaved version of it was a big loser on the show...

Open-Faced Goat Cheese & Avocado Sandwich
courtesy of Mary Sue Milliken, via Top Chef Masters with minor modifications by me

Note: I've listed the sandwich ingredients first, but i would suggest making the dressing first so it has some time to sit so the flavors can meld

For the sandwich:
2 pieces of baguette, approximately 6 to 8 inches long each, sliced in half

1 avocado, seed and peel removed
2 oz soft goat cheese
1/4th of a lemon, juiced (prob about 1 tbsp?)
4-5 dashes garlic chili cholula
~ 1/4 tsp black pepper (freshly ground is best)

sea salt

1/2 of an heirloom tomato, sliced paper-thin

For the dressing:
(this makes way more than you will probably use on the sandwiches - dont feel compelled to use it all or you'll drown your other ingredients and end up with soggy bread...)

1 tbsp minced shallot

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp bacos (meat eaters, feel free to use real bacon instead...)

salt & pepper (a few turns of the grinder of each seemed to work for us)

***

Prepare the dressing - mix all dressing ingredients together in a bowl, jar, emulsifier - whatever you want - and mix well/shake/whatever to combine. Set aside.

Turn oven on to broil

Toast baguettes, cut side up, for 1 - 2 minutes under the broiler, so the edges get a bit golden and the bread itself is a little toasty.

Mash the avocado, goat cheese, lemon juice, cholula, and pepper together in a bowl. The goal is to get a cohesive mixture that is fairly smooth with a few lumps remaining (i had to use a wooden spoon to really break my avocado apart as it was just slightly under-ripe and then mashed the rest up with a fork)

Taste and season with additional black pepper and a little sea salt, if desired. (note - it will taste a little bland at this point. dont worry. have faith.)

Spread mixture on the toasted baguette pieces and place back in the broiler for a minute or so to warm it up.

Remove from the broiler and top with thin slices of tomato

drizzle each piece with some dressing and serve immediately.

Remoulade

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:29:00 +0000

So, it turns out you dont have to make your own crabcakes to get some really good ones...

One of the greatest things about where we live is Fairway (i'm sure i've said it many times before, but its really true) and one of the hardest parts about one day leaving where we live will be the lack of Fairway...

and one of the best parts of fairway is their seafood counter...

Not only do they have great fresh seafood, they also have a lot of pre-cooked stuff... We'd noticed the crab cakes one day and thought that we might try them one night when we were too lazy to make our own...

Generally, i'd top my crab cakes with cocktail sauce or tartar sauce, but a night when we were being to lazy to actually do anything more than heat our dinner up seemed like a good night to experiment with toppings - especially one that, while it has a long list of ingredients, requires VERY little actual work...

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a traditional remoulade, but whatever it is, it definitely adds a little something that makes your supermarket prepared dinner seem just a little fancier...

Remoulade
courtesy of me

3/4 c light mayo
2 tsp dijon mustard
1.5 tsp whole-grain mustard
1.5 tsp ketchup
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp garlic cholulah (or other hot sauce of your choosing)
1 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
1 scallion - most of the white and the light green parts
2 tbsp spanish onion
1/2 tbsp horseradish
2 tsp capers
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp chili powder
salt & pepper to taste

***

Place all ingredients in a mini-chopper (or blender or small food processor) and process until well combined and mostly smooth.

If possible, chill before serving to allow flavors to meld.

"Real" Fettuccine Alfredo

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:19:00 +0000

According to Mario Batali, us americans have totally bastardized Fettuccine Alfredo...

On May 17, he was on the Today Show - at 8:39am to be exact - making what he calls the real, original version of fettuccine alfredo. Live, on TV, with no 'so this is what it will look like in 10 minutes' or any of that - this whole thing could be made live on tv in real time, save for the prepping of ingredients and the boiling of water...

(incidentally, if i was a good kid, i would have already been out the front door on my way to work and would have missed this. bonuses like this dont do much to discourage my bad-kid behaviour...)

Now, as someone who really, really likes that bastardized american version of fettuccine alfredo, i wasnt so sure what i thought of this - but both Jordan and I thought it was as least worth a shot... as we always say, whats the worst? - we order Big Nicks...

We did decide that it might be better with some garlic - most things are - but aside from that, pretty much followed mario's recipe exactly (well, the one he did on the show - the written recipe leaves a step or two out...)

Serve it with a salad, crusty bread and a little white wine and you've got a perfect low on time/high on taste midweek meal...

"Real" Fettuccine Alfredo
courtesy of Mario Batali on the Today Show with minor modifications by us

1/2 pound fresh spinach fettuccine (boxed would be fine as well)
3.5 tablespoons (scant ½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound medium asparagus, tough ends snapped off (yields about 1/3 lb of usable asparagus)
¼ c freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

***

Using a mandoline (or other vegetable slicer, or a vegetable peeler), thinly shave the stalk of your asparagus into little discs. Leave the 'trees' whole.

Bring 2-3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, and add 1 tablespoons salt.

Cook the fettuccine in the boiling water, just slightly shorter than the package directions, as it will cook a little bit with the sauce. Drain, reserving about 1/8 cup of the pasta water, and set aside.

In a large saute pan, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Add the garlic and allow to sauté for a minute or so, then add the asparagus. Toss to coat & allow to cook a couple of minutes.

Add the reserved pasta water & stir to combine.

Add pasta to the saute pan & toss until the pasta is coated with the butter mix.

Allow to cook about 30 seconds, then add the cheese and toss well.

Once cheese has mostly melted in, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper (to taste) and serve immediately.

The Best Quinoa EVER

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:39:00 +0000

Throw away all of your other savory quinoa recipes - this is the last one you will ever need.

I'm serious.

Some people believe that food blogs should only be vehicles for New!Original!Wow! but anyone who's read this blog for any amount of time knows i dont feel that way... This blog is a way for me to chronicle my favorites - whether I created or just replicated - and share them with others. This is pretty close to a pure replication, from one of our favorite sources, Mark Bittman.

Since making it the first time, its become the default go-to recipe when we want a grain-y side and there isnt an otherwise-obvious answer (ie mexican food gets mexican rice)... between the health benefits of quinoa and the overall yumminess of this recipe, i cant see any reason for it to lose its place at the top any time soon...

The Best Savory Quinoa EVER
courtesy of Mark Bittman - How to Cook Everything (a variation on the Roasted Corn Quinoa) with minor revisions by Jordan

2 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, minced
salt & pepper

3/4 c quinoa - rinsed and drained

1.5 c hot water with 1 large vegetable bouillon cube (the kind that makes 2 cups of stock) dissolved in it*

parsley (dried or fresh will do)

***

Place oil in skillet/saucepan (make sure it has a lid - you dont need it yet, but you will) over medium heat

Once oil is hot, add in the shallots and a little salt & pepper. Stir to coat and then allow to cook 3 - 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the shallots begin to brown.

Once the shallots have browned, add in the quinoa. Stir to coat with oil & to combine. Allow to sit until grains start popping/toasting. This will take about 5 minutes. You can stir a little, but not too much, during this time. Once the popping has begun (you'll see 'movement' among the grains) add in the broth (water/bouillion) and bring to a boil.

Stir and then cover and reduce heat to super-low so that the pot is just lightly simmering.

Allow to cook 15 minutes. (you may want to check on it after 10 minutes to be sure that its not dry. If it is, add another 1/4c of water and stir, reduce heat even further, and continue to cook)

Check after 15 minutes. If water is gone but grains are still too crunchy for your taste (quinoa generally will have a slight 'crunch' to it) add in more water, 1/4 c at a time, until it is cooked to your taste. If there is still water, continue to cook, checking every few minutes.

Once fully cooked, remove from the stove and add a few shakes of parsley (if dried or a small handful of chopped fresh) and a bit of additional pepper. For some reason, this last step REALLY makes a huge difference - prior to adding the parsley, it can seem too salty and a bit blah, but afterwards, its perfect. the parsley is truly more than just a garnish.

Stir and serve.

* you can obviously use 1.5 c of vegetable broth if you want. In a small manhattan kitchen, its just easier to keep bouillon on hand than it is to keep containers of broth...

Breakfast Tacos

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Mon, 16 May 2011 22:14:00 +0000

Cinco de mayo aside, i could eat mexican every day. Therefore, allowing leftover mexican ingredients to go to waste is pretty much sacrileg in my book.

Last weekend we found ourselves in need of breakfast. We've gotten into a horrible habit which is alternating between ordering from a local deli (egg and cheese on a roll with ketchup delivery - its supposed to be hangover food, not every single saturday food...) or going to the bagel shop... Its one of my least favorite of our recent bad habits and occasionally, i find myself motivated to do something about it. This was one of those times.

Armed with the cinco de mayo leftovers and some eggs, i knew just what to do...

Eat This Not That!/Men's Health recently published a list of the 8 foods you should eat every day. Black beans and tomatoes were both on the list and are both in this recipe (tomatoes via the salsa, but close enough). Had i read the list before i made the tacos, i would have also added some baby spinach - after the butter melted, but just before putting the eggs in - as it was also on the list.

Starting your morning with 3 of the 8 things you are supposed to eat every day? Total WIN, and not in the Charlie Sheen way...

Breakfast Tacos
courtesy of me

5 flour soft taco shells

butter
5 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 - 1/3 c black beans
1/3 - 1/2 c shredded mexican cheese blend (any cheddar would do fine as well)
1/4 - 1/3 c salsa
~2 tbsp pickled jalapeños (optional, depending on your personal penchant for heat)

salt, pepper & hot sauce (all optional, all to taste)

***

Turn oven on to 200°
Put soft taco shells in the oven to warm up.

place small amount of butter in frying pan over med-low heat

once butter is melted, pour eggs in. Use a wooden spoon to mix them around - we're going for a scramble here...

Once eggs are about half-way cooked (remember the heat is low, so it will be a slower cook than you are normally used to), add in the black beans and cheese and mix around.

Once cheese is melty and eggs are cooked about 3/4 of the way, pour the salsa in. Mix again to combine.

Just as eggs are about finished, add the jalapeños. and mix one last time.

Allow eggs to finish cooking completely and then remove from heat.

Remove shells from the oven and divide egg mixture evenly between the shells. Top with salt, pepper and/or hot sauce depending on your preferences.

Fold each shell up, securing with a toothpick if you like yours wrap style...

Mexican Brown Rice

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 06 May 2011 16:59:00 +0000

You know how i was all 'new post! new post! new post!' and now its all radio silence?

its because i've seemingly forgotten how to cook... it appears that 2011 and kitchen concoctions dont mesh well for me.

lately, everything i make is a failure of some sort - even things i've made a million times before - even simple boring boxed pasta - i've lost the magic. and its really getting me down and making the idea of ordering in a lot more appealing...

while i try to figure out what the hell is going on, i will share this mexican rice with you... last night was cinco de mayo, so we opted for basic quesedillias, refried beans (hint: goya refried > amy's refried) and this rice.

Its not the most traditional of mexican rices - a bit more tomato and no peppers, but it was seriously the first thing we've made in a while that didnt make me apologize throughout the entire meal...

(oh yeah, and if jordan ever offers you a margarita? if you have anything to do the next day, run far, far away. 1.5 of his amazing margaritas has left me way HUNG OVER this morning...)

Mexican Brown Rice
courtesy of me

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 of a medium red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice (i'm sure any brown rice would do - just be sure to adjust your cooking time accordingly)
3 cloves minced garlic
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 can (14.5 oz) petite cut zesty tomatoes w/ liquid
~ 6 strands saffron

***

Heat olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat.

Add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes. Onion should be somewhat softened, but not at all browned.

Add dry rice & saffron and stir to combine so that rice is coated with oil and cook with the onions for about 5 minutes or until rice gets 'toasty' - color will change a little and you'll smell it.

Add in the garlic, stir well to combine & saute for one more minute.

Slowly add in broth, tomatoes & saffron threads. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Allow to boil about 2 - 3 minutes and then turn the heat to super low and cover.

Let it simmer for ~45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Periodically check to make sure that there is still water in the pan (if your lid allows steam to escape, some of the liquid may evaporate before it can be absorbed). If it gets too close to dry and the rice is still crunchy, add ~1/3 c of water & continue to cook.

Once all of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked the way you like it, fluff with a fork & serve.

Matzo Crack

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:48:00 +0000

Years of growing up in a predominantly jewish town left me with all sorts of envy - how come we didnt have a menorah? how come we didnt have matzo in the house? how come my parents didnt know a place in the city that they drove 1.5 hours to just for bagels?

yeah, yeah, santa claus, easter bunny, italian pastry, blah blah blah.

However, one of the best parts of growing up in said environment and not being jewish is it meant i was able to selectively partake... so even though the girl who's name translates to 'follower of christ' probably didnt need to buy the matzo/butter for lunch during passover, the nice lunch ladies let me anyway... and in 9th grade home ec, they taught me how to make matzo brei... (more on that later this week, hopefully...)

it really was no wonder i ended up marrying a jew, is it? we now have all of the benefits of 2 religions! lasagne, bagels, pastry, matzo brei! (have i ever mentioned that my absolute favorite part of any holiday is food?)

anyway, enough about me and my envy - this is about what you are going to bring for seder dessert tonight... (or next year if you dont manage to catch this on April 19... or just eat whenever you want if you arent jewish but have distinct envy like i did...)

This matzo crack is so incredibly easy to make - I started on it at the same time jordan took the dog for her afternoon walk, and i was finished (save for the chilling) by the time he got back in...

There are a million ways to adapt this - a quick google search will tell you others have used almonds, coconut and a whole host of other things to top this off... we went for the standard presentation and while it would be fun to experiment a little, it really is quite amazing even in this, its simplest form...

Matzo Crack
adapted from of Marcy Goldman - A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking

4-5 unsalted matzos
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 c firmly packed light brown sugar
scant 1 c bittersweet chocolate chips
fleur de sel/sea salt

***

Preheat oven to 350°

Cover a baking sheet entirely with aluminum foil and then place a piece of parchment on top of the foil (helps with sticking. the internet says you could butter the foil instead but the parchment worked wonders...)

lay matzo out so that it covers the entire thing, breaking pieces up to ensure full coverage

place butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and turn heat up to medium. When butter is mostly melted, add in the brown sugar. stir, continuously, to incorporate. When mixture starts to bubble, start your timer. continue to stir mixture for about 3-4 minutes. at some point during that time, you will notice that the butter/sugar is starting to come together and the mixture is getting less liquid and more almost marshmallow-fluff-ish. this is a good thing. If you think its getting too hot, briefly pull off of the heat and then return it a few seconds later. (stir the whole time...)

remove from heat and pour over the matzo. using a rubber spatula, spread the mixture evenly over your matzo.

place the cookie sheet in the oven and set your timer for 13 minutes. After about 5, you will see that the mixture has started to bubble up. this is a good thing. check it every 3 minute or so to ensure that its not cooking too fast (getting darker brown would be a good indication)... I opened my oven a few times to let some heat escape and turned the tray around once. The minute you smell a hint of burning, remove the tray from the oven.

immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over the toffee and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

after 5 minutes, spread chocolate chips around with a rubber spatula until the entire tray is coated in a layer of chocolate.

sprinkle with fleur de sel/sea salt and place in the freezer. After about 15 minutes, remove and score into whatever size pieces you wish to have and return to the fridge (if you have plenty of time) or freezer (if you are making this 45 minutes before you are supposed to head across town...)

once fully cooled, break into pieces and enjoy.

Avocado-Pistachio Wrap

noreply@blogger.com (kristen) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:43:00 +0000

This time of year, things get a little hectic... its stupid, really... I gave up my busy Jan-April job a couple of years ago, so this should be my slow time. However, that rational thinking has caused me to overextend myself in so many ways that Jan-April is nearly as bad as it used to be.

before someone throws something at me, i did say NEARLY...

Anyway, (tangent - google tells me i use the word AGO more than any other word on this blog. I'm completely and 100% shocked that its not ANYWAY...) busy nights lead to quick dinners thrown together... After the quesedillias, there were a few random things kicking around and i'm still trying really hard to cut down on my food waste, so i was all 'what can i make with that bit of goat cheese and those tortillas?' and i thought back to the little card that was floating around in my ~~bottomless pit~~ bag from my local Pret... It had instructions on how to construct their avocado-pine nut wrap and it was enough to get me started on my own avocado wrap.

Dont tell them, but i might like my version better...

Avocado-Pistachio Wrap
Inspired by Pret A Manger, courtesy of me

2 tbsp plain yogurt
2 tbsp low-fat mayo

2 whole grain tortillas

1 avocado, cut into slices
1/4 - 1/3 c goat cheese crumbles
1 c arugula
15 - 20 pistachios, shelled & chopped (yes, we have a slap chop. 2 in fact. we > you)

salt & pepper

***

mix the yogurt & mayo together and set aside

lay out the tortillas

place 1/2 of the avocado, then 1/2 of the goat cheese, then 1/2 of the arugula & you guessed it, 1/2 of the pistachios in each, mostly towards the center and one end... kind of like from the center of the clock down to 6 o'clock, if that makes sense...

salt & pepper to suit your personal tastes
(the average person enjoys 3 cranks of a pepper grinder. true story. learned it from a real-live bonafied professional chef)

Carefully fold both sides in and roll from the bottom*. Slice in half** and enjoy.

* If you are as talented as me, your sides wont stay rolled so tight, but i assure you, your wrap will taste just as good, regardless...
**slicing on an angle makes the first bite easier to take...