April 2012
2 posts
When Life Gives You Leftovers, Make Crepes!
After a week in Peru, we were excited for some good old home cooking. Yesterday I went to the farmer’s market and got a bunch of stuff to make a roast chicken with sweet potatoes and salad. We had a some left overs, so tonight I mixed them all up, sauteed them with some more leeks and green onions, and added a bit of cream and parmesan. I served them in a crepe that had minced sage and...
March 2012
6 posts
Chocolate Popcorn
For our wedding, a family friend gave us a popcorn set to make some of the homemade popcorn they enjoyed when they were first married.
Las tnight, I made her favorite kind—the Hershey’s kiss popcorn. To pop the popcorn, place 3 tbs of popcorn oil in a pot with a heavy bottom along with 1/2 cup of popcorn (this made like 4 cups popcorn). Cover the pot and turn on the heat to medium...
Wrap It In Prosciutto
To make something more delicious, wrap it in prosciutto. Seen here, roasted prosciutto-wrapped rockfish with white asparagus and truffle parmesan potatoes.
I wouldn’t have had so much white on the plate, but that’s what you get when your husband takes over the grocery shopping.
You Know What's Really Easy to Make? Panna Cotta.
Basically, you place an envelope (.25 oz) gelatin in 1/2 cup of milk, and let it stand for 5 minutes. Then you turn the heat to low, and stir the mixture until the gelatin dissolves fully.
Add another 1/2 cup milk and 2 cups cream, 1/2 cup sugar, and your flavoring (you can use a vanilla bean, mint, tea, etc.) and stir on low heat until the mixture steams. Take the pot off the heat, cover it, and...
February 2012
4 posts
Bo Ssam
Here are the photos of that bo ssam I was talking about. It’s so, so easy.
I took a 2 lb. pork shoulder and let it sit in the fridge over night covered in 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of salt. In the morning, I put in in the slow cooker on low for 9 hours. When I gott back from work, it’s ready.
I served it with some mustard greens from the school garden and the...
My New Favorite Thing
I made a bo ssam for some friends on Friday, including the ginger scallion sauce that is suggested as an accoutrement. Despite the yumminess of the 9 hour cooked pork and the brussel sprouts in the fish sauce vinaigrette, this sauce really stood out.
I made it again on Sunday, and used it in a rock shrimp and broccoli fried rice. The chef also recommends it on noodles or meat or fish.
...
January 2012
4 posts
Meyer Lemons in da House!
Meyer lemons are in season in California, and are therefore in the supermarket all the way here in DC. Meyer lemons are originally from China, and are thought to be a hybrid of a lemon and a mandarin orange.
Having them in the house reminded me of how a little squeeze of lemon (or lime) can lift a dish. Keep citrus around and you can find many uses. This week I used meyer lemon juice in:
...
"Blush" Cabernet Sea Salt
For Christmas, my mother-in-law put some Blush Cabernet Sea Salt from Hawaii in my stocking. I don’t play with flavored salts very often, but I thought this would be fun.
Tonight I seasoned my skirt steak with a bunch of it (liberally distributed over both sides of the steak with some pepper), and it turned out great! I don’t know if it was the blush cabernet flavor (I’m not...
December 2011
4 posts
Happy Early Hanukkah!
My family was in town last night, so we had an early Hanukkah celebration. We ate: brisket, braised in balsamic vinegar, red wine, and veal stock, roasted brussel sprouts, and of course, latkes. The new food processor wedding present was a huge help!The veal stock addition is very exciting, as it was the stock of choice in culinary school. I obviously and shamefully do not make my own stock, but...
Christmas Cookie Fail (Kind of)
I went to a holiday party a few weeks ago and had the best Christmas cookies I have ever had! They were Martha Stewart’s chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies. Very light and chewy, such great gingerbready-flavor, and the chocolate is a really nice touch.
Recipe:
YieldMakes 2 dozen
Ingredients
7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose...
November 2011
8 posts
Soup!
To get all up in my Vita Mix again, I made myself some acorn squash soup (roasted acorn squash, chicken stock, cinnamon, salt & pepper). I also had a lentil/rice blend in my pantry, so I cooked up some lentil soup, as well (with onions, carrots, spinach, and beef stock).
Pumpkin Cornbread
I made one of my favorite Thanksgiving treats to prepare for the big day: pumpkin cornbread.
My aunt Carla made it for us a few years ago, and now it’s a family staple. I made the recipe into muffins because they would take less time to bake (10-12 minutes), and I was going to take them to the office in my new cupcake caddy (wedding gift)!
I also got to use my new VitaMix, which, in three...
'Tis the Season
Thanksgiving is still a week and a half away, but it’s not stopping me from getting into the spirit. Based on my farmer’s market shop today, I made a dinner of turkey braised in pumpkin ale with yams and roasted squash.
I feel like I braise quite a bit and have reviewed the technique many times on my “blog,” but I know some of my friends like to get the recipe for my...
Peking Duck and Other Uneaten Hors d'Oeuvres for...
What I guess I’d heard, but never really believed, was that you don’t really eat at your wedding. Well, it’s true. At least it was for us. I was all nervous and excited until we cut the cake that I didn’t really have time to think about or enjoy the delicious food (and we rocked it out with our food) we had for dinner and cocktails.
Two hors d’oeurves my husband was...
October 2011
3 posts
Clams with Beet Greens and Garlic Toast
I love the way the beet greens turned the sauce such a pretty color!
September 2011
2 posts
Labor Day Weekend Dinner Party
It’s been a while since we’ve had people over. This weekend, some of our friends who were around for the weekend came over for dinner. It was so nice to make it back to the farmer’s market and get the last of the great summer produce: corn, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and peaches.
I also go to use some of my awesome new wedding gifts: a Minnesota cutting board, a silver chips...
August 2011
2 posts
Hello, Gorgeous!
I love you, caribbean blue Le Creuset Dutch oven!
July 2011
12 posts
Shake Shack at Nats Stadium!
Turkey Thighs Rock!
My mother-in-law to be came into town, and I know she’s not much of a meat eater. I didn’t want to make fish, pay for duck, or make chicken again, so I went for some turkey thighs.
They were amazing. Amazing. We couldn’t stop eating it. I marinated them over night in salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and fresh herbs, but I honestly think it was the richness of the turkey itself...
Hello, Caprese
Momofuku Braises
Upon a recent trip to Williams-Sonoma, I noticed that Momofuku was selling their very own braising sauces. I normally wouldn’t spend $14 on something I could probably make myself, but I’m a sucker for Momofuku, and I have some W-S gift cards so I thought I’d splurge.
I braised some lamb shanks I had with it, browning those with some vegetables, the contents of the jar and some...
Chesapeake Bay Adventure and A Very Local Meal
We took off for the beach on the Chesapeake Bay yesterday with our doggie. On our trip back, we stopped to get Maryland wine (I found it meh), and some side-of-the-road produce (peaches, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes) that was way cheaper than the farmer’s market.
Tonight I made a salad of the peaches, some mustard greens and kohlrabi from the school garden (I can’t believe I forgot...
Left Overs
We had a lot of chicken, corn, and cauliflower left over, and we had both forgotten to bring our left overs for lunch.
Luckily, I was able to make them into a brand new delicious dish: fusilli with chicken, cauliflower, corn, pesto, and parmesan.
And I remembered to take it for lunch the next day.
June 2011
10 posts
More Fun with Wedding Presents
Some very close friends threw me a bridal shower a few weekends ago. It was beautiful and so much fun. And I got some super great gifts. It’s nice to have gifts, but I also really do think of the person who gave me the gift when I use it (so far), and that’s a very nice thing.
Shown below is my window-sill herb garden (box to come), which I know looks two-thirds pathetic, but I am...
From Spring Into Summer
Spring has officially turned into summer (as of last week). Here is a dish made with the last of the farmer’s market asparagus and the first of the Whole Foods corn (from Georgia, I think).
It’s gnocchi with sauteed corn and asparagus, topped with pecorino.