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Archive for August, 2010

Aug 26

The Pioneer Woman’s Simple Sesame Noodles


Do you follow The Pioneer Woman? Something about her having 40,000 comments for one post makes me think, yes, everyone does. She is so delightful, isn’t she? Her style of writing always puts me in a better mood – though I have never heard her speak, a different voice (with a drawl, naturally) is reading her words in my head. While initially I was more caught up in her life on the ranch, and how she met Marlboro Man (an entertaining story, will be published in book form next February), I started poking around her recipes (she also has a cookbook) and found quite a few to tag for future dinners. The Simple Sesame Noodles caught my eye and with the addition of chicken, had dinner on the table in a flash. Don’t stare at disbelief at the amount of sauce to noodles ratio – just go with it. It’s packed with flavor, so you don’t need much.

Aug 24

Homemade Hummus & Stuffed Pita


Oh hummus, the food of the Birkenstock wearing and tree hugging lot. Just kidding, though that is sort of what I thought of hummus for a while. Hummus was placed into the food category of “food I do not like and will not eat” for a very long time. However, as all stubborn people with a point to not be too stubborn, I put it on my annual list of foods to give a try (which happens after the winter holidays, when I pick a couple of foods and make sure I try them a handful of times to see I will like it…I usually am converted after a second go. Most people would call this the foodie new year’s resolution). The first few times I tried hummus I thought it was an excellent little tub of dip, perfect for veggies or pita chips when people come over. Very low fuss. Then, in watching the Cook channel on cable, there was this short very animated guy who loves paprika, making homemade hummus. Um…is it really that easy? Apparently so, and Frank gave it two thumbs up, which goes for a lot particularly when sans meat content. Here’s the beauty:

Hummus:
Serves 4
In a food processor, empty one can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans (drained from liquid in can), 3-4 garlic cloves minced, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 teaspoon cummin and 1/3c olive oil. Blend and serve.
Naturally, we spooned it up into Pita bread (we cut the pitas in half, then stuffed) with cubed chicken, tomatoes from the garden and a good sprinkling of feta cheese. Easy, delicious and healthy.

Aug 19

Strawberries and Dumplings


Two weeks back, right before getting our dog Cassidy, I was going to make a strawberry and rhubarb pie. However, Cassidy arrived into our home sweetly taking up all of our evening hours to sit and look at her, pet her, walk her…you know…typical “We have a puppy” honeymoon stuff. Not that the honeymoon period is wearing off, I did realize I needed to make something and got back into looking at a strawberry rhubarb pie, except the rhubarb season has swiftly moved past me. And by swiftly, I mean I was really really late to the game. You’re supposed to harvest no later than mid-June, so the stalks can grow back and be strong through the winter and come back better than ever (yes, my interpretation of reading rhubarb literature). Okay, that’s just fine. What to do with those strawberries in the fridge that are quickly going bad? Smitten Kitchen had the best answer: Strawberries and Dumplings (please go see her pictures, they are awesome). It’s a really cute little dish, quick to make, hits the late night I-want-something-sweet-now spot and would be fun to make as a dessert for a dinner party as it holds up well over a couple of hours sitting. Her recipe is adapted from Gourmet’s recipe last year, and I agree with her pulling back on the sugar – her recipe below is the one I followed, and was delicious.

The following text is from Smitten Kitchen. To see more of her recipes, please visit her recipe index here (it’s awesome) and if you’re into it, you can look forward to her upcoming cookbook.:
Strawberries and Dumplings
Adapted wildly from Gourmet
Serves 6, in theory

1 quart (about 2 pints or 4 cups or 1.25 pounds or just shy of 600 grams) strawberries, trimmed and thickly sliced (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup sugar (though I might try this with brown sugar next time, just to up the cozy quotient)
Juice of half a lemon
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Accompaniment: Heavy cream

Stir together strawberries, sugar and lemon in a 4-quart heavy saucepan and let stand, stirring occasionally, until juicy, about 15 minutes. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Heat the milk and butter together just until the butter melts. Stir this warmed milk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated and smooth. Gather a golf-ball-sized portion of the dumpling batter onto a small spoon, then push the dumpling onto the stew using a second spoon. (I used a small cookie scoop for this — a #70. It made 16 dumplings. Yes, I counted because someone always asks these things!) Cover the fruit with the dumplings, leaving about 1/4 inch between each.

Tightly cover saucepan and reduce heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, until dumpling looks dry on top, 15 to 18 minutes; the dumplings will have doubled in size. Let stand off heat, uncovered, five minutes, then drizzle with heavy cream right before serving.

This dish definitely tastes best freshly made, as the dumplings do dry out a bit by the second. But then it starts to taste like a cobbler, and really, who is going to complain about that?

Aug 17

Bison Burgers


Until this summer, I had never had bison. A child of the “it’s going to be gamey” camp, I hadn’t considered it a substitute, or alternative, to ground beef. Well, I heard some rumblings about it being a healthier option than ground beef (lower in fat, higher in protein and iron) so when it became available at the Seward Co-op, I took some home to cook up bison burgers. Frank and I haven’t looked back since. It takes a little longer on the grill to cook, but it cooks through evenly and while it tastes different than beef, it doesn’t taste gamey. At all. It’s almost…gosh, floral or earthy compared to beef which has a straightforward beefy taste (unless you’re adding seasoning to it…you know what I mean). We make our burgers with diced jalapeno, salt and pepper, then after forming the patties, rub a little soy sauce on both sides. Frank takes his with two slices of American cheese, and I’m a mushroom swiss girl.

Aug 11

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Our Dog, Cassidy


Frank and I have been talking about getting a dog for about a year now, but have never come up with the convincing argument either way to nail down a decision. Our conversation points always centered around the issue of a puppy – puppy training, puppy behavior, puppy guilt when we’re not home, etc. However, dog fever finally hit us a couple of weeks ago, when the option of getting an 8 month old yellow lab presented itself. We were pretty excited about two dogs (sisters), and went out to meet them both last weekend. Cassidy was the girl we were looking for, and now on day 3, couldn’t be more thrilled. We’re getting up early to walk her and love her, playing with her Kong and Wubba, showing her off to neighbors and friends. So..what I mean to say is, I’m a bit distracted this week and am not doing much new to write about so I can focus completely on her. Next week I’ve got my eye on making my first pie…

Aug 5

Making Crepes


Crepes, or Swedish Pancakes as they were called in my childhood, are such a perfect small meal for one, standing in the kitchen and not making a fuss over a meal. My mom would make Swedish pancakes on weekend mornings (now typically served the morning of a holiday), with melted butter and cinnamon sugar. How could I not have loved and still love that? My youngest brother has eaten a ridiculously large amount of them in one sitting…I think it was 30-something pancakes. We are a family that loves these thin pancakes, and find it’s the easiest dinner I can make on nights when I’m on my own. (And obviously, can be made for more than one person).

Basic Crepe Batter Recipe:
Pâte à Crèpes… Thin, light, and luscious!
From Famous French Desserts

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: about 30 minutes

Ingredients (for about 15 crepes):
2 cups Flour
2 1/2 cups Whole Milk
4 Eggs
2 tbsp. Butter (melted)
Pinch of Salt
1/2 Vanilla Stalk or Few Drops Vanilla Extract (optional)
Vegetable Oil (for pan)

How to Prepare Batter:
1. Sift flour and mix with salt in a bowl.
2. Make a well and pour in eggs. Stir well.
3. Slowly pour in milk while stirring. Keep stirring batter until small bubbles form on the surface.
4. Stir in Butter.

How to Make Crepes:
1. Pour a small amount of batter into small 6″ diameter non stick pan (or Crepe pan) that has already been coated with melted butter.
2. Rotate the pan so the batter covers the bottom of the whole pan
3. In about two minutes, flip the pancake to cook the other side, about 1 minute. You are looking for the pancake to be creamy yellow in color, with just a little browning to it.
4. I make multiple pancakes and as each one is done, throw onto an oven safe pan in the oven, at 170 degrees to keep warm until ready to devour.

Topping Ideas:
1. Butter and cinnamon sugar (a personal favorite)
2. Nutella and bananas (I ate these nonstop when I was in Paris)
3. Go savory – melted cheese with sauteed mushrooms and peppers
4. Jam with powdered sugar

Aug 3

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Carbonara, Two Ways


Carbonara is a staple in the weekly food rotation these days, because bacon is a winner ingredient and incorporates a variety of veggies from the garden. The sauce (cream and egg) gives it a nice texture, without the heaviness of an alfredo sauce. While taking my cues from Gourmet’s recipe and Jamie Oliver’s version, here’s what we’ve been doing:
Farfalle Carbonara with Summer Veggies
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 lb. farfalle
6 slices of bacon
1 of each: jalapeno, banana pepper, green pepper diced
1/2 cup peas
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons of butter
2 eggs
To cook:
Set pot of water to boil while frying the bacon. Once bacon is cooked, set aside and drain bacon fat from pan except for a small amount. Add butter to same pan as bacon and melt, then add your veggies (if you use frozen peas, add the peas first with a little water to cook them (water will evaporate), then add butter to melt, then add other veggies). Your water should be boiling, so add the farfalle to cook, about 12 minutes or until al dente. Add your heavy whipping cream to the pan of veggies and let simmer on low for a few minutes while whisking two eggs in another bowl. Once the farfalle is cooked, drain all but some of the cooking water; add the cream and veggies to pasta, then add eggs and stir. Voila. Add Parmesan to top if you like.

Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto

The recipe above is similar to the basic carbonara, but uses tagliatelle, basil and corn. It is also delicious but has more of an herby freshness than savory veggie taste. Get the recipe at Bon Appetit.

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