Asparagus Pizza

So, we are back from a long, life altering trip to Chicago.  We found our new home for the next year, anyway (more on this later).  We made this a while ago, and it was so good, I wanted to share.  This pizza recipe was in the most recent Eating Well magazine.  As you can see, our pizza was not as artfully put together as the picture in the magazine , but it was delicious.  We blanched the asparagus briefly and cut into thin pieces because we we thought it might be a bit tough otherwise.  The flavors were great and it warmed up well the next day for lunch.

On the Chicago news.....we will be renting a condo in the South Loop neighborhood.  It is on the 26th floor and has views of the city, lake and Grant park.  It's smaller than our current house so we will have to trim down our possessions greatly.  We have not decided on the final move in date - but somewhere near the end of May.  

Veggie Nights

We didn't do it on purpose, we didn't even try.  I suppose it probably had something to do with the refrigerator full of fresh vegetables from our CSA and our garden.  Last week, we ate vegetarian fare for four nights in a row.  I wanted to share two of the meals that we made.  There was a taco salad that I wanted to try and also stuffed peppers that we have made before and enjoyed.  Both were delicious and also created enough leftovers for several lunches.

The "lime" green colored peppers were from our CSA and were delicious.  As you can see we upped the nutritional ante by serving broccoli as a side dish. 

The next night, we made a vegetarian taco salad.  Other Blonde girl - I think you would really like this one.  This salad was incredibly filling and we didn't really miss the meat.  We even ate it again the next night (it makes a lot) and added more fresh lettuce.  It was still great.  

By Thursday night I was a bit tired and irritable and craving meat.  Last night we went to La Provence and I ordered the Filet Mignon (yes it was wrapped in bacon).  It was delicious!

Slumps and Sour Cherries

So we seem to be having a continued blogging slump (summer slump maybe?) and an economic slump as well.  Seemed fitting to make a slump for dessert tonight.  We had a pound or so of fresh sour cherries from Los Poblanos (our CSA) and I didn't want them to end up as fertilizer for our garden.

I found a recipe on Eating Well for a sour cherry slump  Perfect!  I added blackberries and blueberries, both, and it was really delicious.  The whole family enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Leaping Lemurs



Noah's 8th birthday cake!

 Just wanted to share a picutre of the birthday cake (and the Lemur was edible!)  We had a wonderful party in the park last weekend.

A new day/year!

Black Bean Salmon Tostadas. Sounds a bit strange. Trust me, these are delicious! Easy and a great meal for fast weeknight fare. We have made this recipe many times since discovering it in the January 2010 EatingWell. Blonde girl's husband enjoys these with a dash of Sriracha chili sauce and maybe some mango slices with a dash of chili powder and squeeze of lime.

It seems that during the dark nights of winter our family of bloggers retreated into their respective caves for a proper hibernation. Now that the days are longer and the weather is warmer, I hope to hear of new and delicious adventures from everyone.  I'm sure everyone was just storing up cooking and eating experiences to blossom come spring!

Oven Project

This summer in addition to having a great garden which will provide food for lots of winter dishes, we built a clay, wood fired oven. The project took most of the summer. In addition to preparing the site to make the oven frost proof, Subduck built a shelter to protect the clay (and the cooks) from inclement weather. The preparations were done by mid August. A group of interested friends and neighbors then stopped by to help shape the actual oven. We made a pile of dampened sand into the shape and size of the oven interior. This sand was then covered with a 4" layer of a clay/sand mix. In a couple of days, Subduck could scoop out the sand and build a drying fire in the oven. Once the first layer was dry, we added a second 4" of clay and sand, this time with wood shavings added for insulation. Another drying fire was used for this layer.

A week or so later, we fired the oven in earnest to cook Pizza. It takes about three hours of a constant hot burn to get to cooking temp. (in this case 7-800 degrees) We cooked the crust a bit before adding the toppings. The crust took about 45 sec to brown, the pizza another minute to minuet and a half. The Pizzas were great. We have since done bread and focaccia with similar success. To do bread, the oven is cooled to temps in the 4-500 degree range.

The oven really holds the heat once you get the mass warmed up. We baked in it at 450 for a party at 6 PM. At 9:30 PM it was still 400 degrees. At 8AM next morning it was 150 degrees.

This project was a lot of fun and we look forward to sharing what we do with it in future posts. And,yes, we will be cooking out there through the winter!

Plumble

This year, the plum tree in our backyard has hundreds of plums.  When my sister came to visit, we decided we had to use some plums in our dinner.  We found a recipe for pork loin with poached plums (from Walla Walla!).  Somehow this recipe calls for 6 plums (for a total weight of 2 pounds.)  If any of you have seen such large plums, I'd like to know what they look like.  We had to use at least 20 plums to make 2 pounds - and that was a lot (see exhibit A.)  We served the pork with brown rice and green beans - as shown in Exhibit B. 

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

This recipe resulted in lots of yummy leftovers, which we enjoyed for several days.  This would be a great meal to make for 8 people.

For dessert, we made a plum crumble (we called it plumble) that also called for 2 pounds of plums.  It was tart and delicious with vanilla ice cream.

Hot Summer Supper

With the heat wave all over the east this week we,too are doing what we can to keep the house cool. One easy solution is to cook outside. The grill can handle all aspects of a meal so no heat is added to the kitchen. If you then eat outside a well you, hopefully, enjoy a breeze as you watch the sun set. for this meal a couple of days ago we grilled local lamb chunks with red peppers, zuccini and onions. We also grilled a couple of red potatoes coated in olive oil and chipotle chili powder. We made a salad from our garden greens, radishes and snow peas.For dessert, sub duck made raspberry ice cream to use up berries we froze last year. Tomorrow we'll meet here again for chicken salad with green grapes and toasted almonds. Summer enjoyment with cooks to spare.

Comfort Food

Besides the pizza and sushi kick we have been on lately the one dish that is always a huge hit in our house is macaroni and cheese.  I think this was one of the first dishes that I learned to cook as a child (using the Betty Crocker recipe.)  What is it about mac and cheese that all children love?

We have found a healthier version in the Eating Well recipe for Baked Mac and Cheese and we make this at least twice a month.  Recently I started added some sauteed onions to the milk sauce and it adds a little bit more complexity to the flavor.  We generally use sauteed fresh spinach rather than frozen.  On this occasion - we used whole wheat shells and they work well.

 

Morels

Many of the Cooks to Spare were in the state of Washington -- Walla Walla and Yakima -- in June. The weather was cool and rainy which meant the local strawberries were late, but the asparagus was excellent. Blonde Girls father found morels at Klicker's Berry Farm. Big morels!!! Well the cooks went to work and created a wonderful dinner. They took the morels and made a morel risotto with asparagus. What a treat!!

These are five members of the Cooks to Spare team. The sixth cook took the picture.

Then my husband and I went to Yakima to visit family and friends. My brother and his wife invited my husband to go morel hunting in the Cascades where they had a successful hunt -- 1 1/2 pounds of morels. My sister-in-law sauteed them with shallots and added a little cream at the end --that with salmon and asparagus made for a perfect meal.

Back in Baltimore, there were no morels, but there were peaches and apricots at the Farmers' Market.

Silly Snake Dogs

No, I'm not just gunning for the most ridiculous post title. This is the name of an actual recipe out of the Pillsbury Kids Cookbook. Blonde Girl's Son received it as a gift last Christmas (or maybe the one before?) and we have already made the Monster Burger recipe, so Silly Snake Dogs was the logical next step. There are fairly reasonable recipes (most involving some Pillsbury product), but of course Monster Burgers and Silly Snake Dogs are WAY more fun!

There isn't much of a recipe, besides wrapping your dogs in a tube of your favorite prepackage breadstick dough and crafting snake tongues from red bell peppers. Also, some melted cheese product is required for attaching the currants used for eyes. What we are going to do with the remaining block of Velveeta, I have no idea. I'm imagining some green chile queso dip?
Blonde Girl's Son definitely enjoyed them. We substituted grass fed all beef dogs for the specified "cheese filled hot dogs" and the end product was pretty tasty.

Also, in the interest of equal coverage, Monster Burger pic as well.

Maize from Heaven

Corn on the cob has returned in full-force to the farmers markets, supermarkets and roadside stands around Baltimore. Yesterday, I saw a man selling it out of the back of his van for $2 a dozen. It's everywhere.

With inspiration from a dish at Woodberry Kitchen, which in my opinion is the best restaurant in the city, Other Blonde Girl and I have been gobbling up this summertime staple grilled with mayonnaise and feta cheese. It is so good you'll crave it every day.

No recipe to follow here. Just drop husked ears of corn directly onto your grill. Cook, turning every couple of minutes until the ears are slightly charred. Remove and slather immediately with your favor mayo and feta cheese crumbles.

Be warned, this corn is addictive! You will want to make meals of nothing but this corn. Plan on at least two ears each.

Strange Dreams

Last night I dreamed that Eric Ripert served me dinner.  I was eating alone (don't know why or where...)  I don't remember most of the food, however he served an amazing clam chowder.  The clams were still in their shells and it was the most delicious soup I remember ever eating. 

What does all this mean?  Well apparently (according to various web sources on the Internet) to see a chef in a dream represents transformation and changes.  Consider what is "cooking" in your life.  Eating alone signifies sadness or loneliness and the clams?  Well to eat them, foretells you will enjoy anothers prosperity.

Good and Quick

Tonight we had a simple and tasty combination. Sub Duck cooked lamb patties (vermont raised lamb with garlic,rosemary and lemon zest) on the grill. He also grilled Zuccini and corn on the cob which we mingled in a bowl to serve. Couscous provided the starch. Not at all complex but very tasty.We then had a salad entirely of greens from our garden including arugala, two kinds of lettuce, spinich, sorell, mint and sage. It is so great to be eating from the garden again. Good memorial day weekend to all !

Inspiration from the Market

We have now enjoyed 3 Sundays shopping at the Farmers' Market. There have been strawberries, green onions, lettuce, and asparagus. I think I could eat asparagus every day if I had an unlimited supply. Today the market inspired our menu planning. We came home with sorrel which became sorrel soup -- via the recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child - for our starter. Shrimp with Mango and Basil from Eating Well magazine followed the soup. The recipe called for a large amount of basil and scallions which we had bought at the market. Needless to say the mango and shrimp were not local. For dessert we ate stewed rhubarb topped with cut-up strawberries. Tomorrow night I will fix spinach salad - baby spinach -- another market inspiration.

As a side note, last week I made the Chinese noodle dish that several of Cooks to Spare have prepared. I used ground pork instead of turkey. It is easy to make and so delicious! We highly recommend it.

Fiddleheads !

Yesterday afternoon we saw a couple selling fiddleheads by the roadside. This is the top of fern plant, which, before it unrolls to open looks like the scroll t the top of a violin's neck. Only one or two varieties of fern produce a truly edible "head". We haven't seen the right type in our own woods so we stopped to buy these. This is truly a short time treat because the season is less than a month long. We boiled the ferns in plain water for ten minutes to remove any toxins. Though not deadly they can cause some distress eaten raw. We then sauteed them in olive oil with a bit of garlic. As you can see , they stay a lovely color green and the flavor was very nice. We had planned to have Salmon and Basmati Rice for supper and the fiddleheads went very well. This is a real sign of spring here in the northeast.

Our fist crop of salad greens is about a half inch tall and I just planted peas. Some of the local farms with greenhouses are offering spinach and soon will have lettuce as well. The whole "local" food scene is starting to get more interesting.

Corn Salsa

Life has been busy in April for us and from the look of our blog posts (or lack there of), for everyone else as well.  My husband's sister sent us a recipe for a simple corn salsa and we tried it this week.  We used it on steak and tortillas along with avocado as an added garnish.  It was delicious and very refreshing.  On lettuce the next day, it made a great vegetarian salad for me to take to work.

We did alter the recipe a bit by slightly cooking the red peppers with some garlic, and then adding the beans and the corn.  Here is the recipe.  I think it would go well with other meats or on it's own.

1 15oz caned black beans rinsed

1 c thawed or fresh corn, sweet is best

1/2 c each chopped red pepper and cilantro
3 TB lime juice
Red onion to taste
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin

Pizza Night

So Fridays at our house are pizza night. There is pizza and sometimes a nature show on TV. This week we watched the Tivo'd episode of Life about birds. Sometimes it's good pizza, sometimes it's less than good (yes, Dominos, once, and no, don't believe the commercials, their pizza is still horrible). Depending on how the week went, sometimes it's made all or mostly by us.

This week, Blonde Girl's Son was on a school holiday, so there was some actual time for planning. Thanks to Trader Joe's for some pre-made dough (whole wheat and herb varieties) and also for the Thai Chicken Pizza recipe. I found a recipe for Cherry Tomato Pizza Margherita on Epicurious and we were ready for pizza night.

The Thai Chicken Pizza was good, forgoing the precooked chicken suggested, I marinated in satay sauce and cooked in a hot cast iron skillet. It made for the grilled texture and flavor you are supposed to have with satay chicken. We didn't have green onions, so substituted mandolined leeks. The mandoline also makes nice julienned carrots (thanks Other Blonde Girl, btw, great gift which sees tons of use).


The Cherry Tomato Pizza Margherita was also good. The whole wheat crust was surprisingly tasty. We didn't put pepper flakes in and put more garlic in than called for, also grated some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top after it came out of the oven.

On another (vaguely food related) note, there are theories that bad and good things, depending on what theory you prescribe to, happen in threes.

Our triumvirate appears to be brushes with somewhat famous people in restaurants. First it was Scott Simon commenting on Blonde Girl's Sons behavior (in a good way) in a Tucson restaurant. Then it was getting scanned by Janet Napolitano's security detail as she ate in our favorite French bistro. Tonight, it was giving up our table at the local sushi joint so Virginia Madsen could have a street view. Reminds of the old Letterman skit titled "Brushes with Greatness", when Dave would mock people for this very thing. Ah well, at least we got free gyoza and tempura out of the move to the sushi bar. And Blonde Girl's Son prefers the location, because he gets to watch the boats go by, that and some fish eggs and he's happy.

Hello Spring

We know it is spring when we start to get strawberries in our weekly box.

I couldn't resist taking this picture after I came home from our CSA last night.  The beets were giant and were topped with a huge amount of greens (which we sauteed and ate last night.)  Doesn't looking at this make you hungry?
 

Simple Soup

When my parents were visiting us last week, I decided to prepare a Tortilla Soup for them.  This soup recipe came from a supper club that we were a part of a couple years ago.  It is simple and delicious.

Tortilla Soup
1 yellow onion
6 cloves of garlic
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
Salt, Pepper
Olive oil
2 16 oz cans tomatos (diced in juice)
3 qts chicken stock
12 corn tortilla shells

 

- Bake corn tort shells in oven @ 350deg until golden brown
- Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil
- Add dry herbs and simmer chicken stock, tomatoes, onions, and garlic ~30 min
- Add tortillas after 30min and cook for another 30min
- Puree all ingredients in soup in blender until smooth

- Garnish w/ sour cream, cilantro, etc, if desired

I used an immersion blender rather than moving everything to our blender (which barely works anyway) to puree the soup.  I have made this with prepared taco shells and with corn tortillas.  It works either way.  If you use fresh corn tortillas, you need to brown them a bit longer in the oven than you do the taco shells.