Recipe sampler on 101 Cookbooks

Even though I'm not a vegetarian myself, and don't know if I ever could be (BACON), I do appreciate good vegetarian cooking and am not adverse to regularly skipping meat in meals. I try to subscribe to the idea of using meat more as a condiment rather than a main focus of the meal--so instead of making it all about the beef, using the beef to accent a larger dish, like a stir-fry, salad, stew, etc.

I do, however, have a real fondness for the blog 101 Cookbooks, by Heidi Swanson. It's a beautiful site with photos that make me want to lick my computer monitor, and despite my bacon-loving ways, I still want to eat most everything on her site. Everything looks hearty and fulfilling and delicious, despite the fact that most of it is pretty healthy too.

Heidi has a new book coming out this April called Super Natural Every Day. I may get the book myself (which is currently available on pre-order via Amazon). I'm trying hard to eat healthier and anything that might entice me into doing it would probably be a good thing. As a nice little gift, there is a mini sampler of six recipes available as a PDF on her site. Those photos are gorgeous. Again with the desires to lick the screen.

I'll be honest: that avocado and mustard seed salad makes me want to have a party in my mouth. And that tutti-frutti crumble? Forget it. Can you imagine how much your taste buds would want to hug you if you had a plate of that topped with a big dollop of creme fraiche?

What do you think of vegetarian cooking? What about all-natural cooking? Is it something you're into?

Roasted Acorn Squash with Red Quinoa Stuffing

One of the things I love most about fall is the abundance of squash. The mix of colors and shapes adds some variety to a season where everything is gradually starting to brown, and I feel like the insides of squash are pretty darn delicious too. You can do a lot with a squash. I never met a squash I disliked.

Last week I popped into the supermarket for a quick something-or-other and spotted a beautiful, pine green acorn squash. I couldn't resist, and for a week I admired its perfect green ridges gracing my kitchen counter. This weekend I decided it was time to stop admiring the squash and get it into my belly.

I also happened to have a package of red quinoa I'd bought at Trader Joe's on a whim. I'd never before eaten quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), but I do know that it's a healthy grain that can be used in place of rice. It's got a nutty flavor, a slightly toothsome texture, and it's high in protein, so it makes a good stand-in for meat. I decided to make a variation on my traditional Thanksgiving acorn squash with chorizo stuffing. I left out the meat and made a slightly simpler version that turned out just as delicious. You should try it if you're looking for a veggie alternative that's still hearty and filling. This recipe does take some prep time but most of it is just waiting around for things to finish cooking, so it's pretty simple to prepare. You can put the squash in and then make the quinoa and prep the rest of the ingredients while the squash roasts.

Raquel's Roasted Acorn Squash with Red Quinoa Stuffing For Two (or one with leftovers)

• 1 acorn squash, washed and dried
• olive oil
• 1 cup dry red quinoa, well rinsed and drained
• 2 cups cold water
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 scant tsp dried sage
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries (I used orange flavored ones that were awesome)
• maple syrup for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil. You will need to stand the squash up on the non-stem end, so you may need to trim off the bottom to provide a flat surface. Make sure you have a big, well-sharpened knife. Carefully cut the squash in half lengthwise. (Or get your bulging bicep'ed boyfriend to do it for you with such skill that he even cuts the stem in half so artfully.) Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out the pulp and seeds. Set the pulp aside; you'll want to take the seeds out to roast for awesome snackings. 

Generously brush the squash inside and out with olive oil. Place the squash cut side down on the foil-lined baking sheet and bake for about 35 minutes, until the insides are tender.

Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa well under cold running water and drain. Place the quinoa in a pot with 2 cups of cold water and a sprinkling of salt and turn the heat up to high. Once the water starts boiling, turn it down to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. (It's okay if the quinoa still looks moist, but there shouldn't be any standing water left in the pot.) Remove the quinoa from the heat and give it a good stir, then leave it in the pot.

Once the squash are done roasting, remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 325. Using tongs, carefully turn the squash halves over to allow the steam to escape. Let the squash cool for a few minutes until you can scoop out the pulp without burning yourself.

While the squash cools, heat up some olive oil in a small saute or frying pan over medium-high heat. (Use enough oil to just thinly coat the bottom of the pan.) Once the oil is hot, add the diced onion and stir occasionally, cooking until translucent and softened. Add the sage and stir well to combine. Cook for another minute or two to allow the flavors to combine, then remove from the heat.

Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the squash pulp into a bowl so that the edges of each half are about 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick. Squoosh up the pulp to break up any big chunks, then add the squash to the pot of quinoa. Stir in the onions and dried cranberries. Season with salt to taste. (Seriously, treat yourself to a big spoonful of this now to taste it. It'll taste only better after you cook it.) Adjust seasoning, and add a little chopped fresh parsley if you have it.

Arrange the two squash halves back on the baking sheet. Mound the stuffing into each squash half. It's okay if you can't fit all of it; that just means LEFTOVER STUFFING for tomorrow's lunch! After filling each half, drizzle with maple syrup and put them back in the 325 oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Perfection! They are sweet, savory, and creamy. The quinoa gets nice and soft and the nutty flavor works well with the squash. Here's hoping you enjoy them. They are a real taste of fall. Dig into the season.

Organic produce: what's a girl to do?

If you're anything like me, organic and natural can cause some confusion. Yes, I know that foods that are natural are good for me, and yes, I feel like foods that are organic are probably even better, but unfortunately, my wallet doesn't always agree with me. I try to get as much organic produce as I possibly can, but let's face it: sometimes I just can't find or can't afford to get every fruit and veggie organic. Then I am wracked with guilt and worry. Will I die because I got something non-organic that might have harmful pesticides? Am I contributing to the destruction of the earth because the sale on non-organic carrots was too good to pass up?

The internet to the rescue! A few years ago I had seen this extremely handy site that features a card-sized list you can clip and carry in your wallet that lists foods you should always choose organic versus foods you can get nonorganic without worry. Then, like many good things I find on the internet, I lost the website before I could bookmark it. It's back, and now I want to share it with you. Go to the site to cut out the list to carry with you. And for the sake of convenience, here are the two lists.

THE DIRTY DOZEN (always buy organic)

1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Bell Peppers
8. Spinach
9. Kale
10. Cherries
11. Potatoes
12. Grapes (imported)

THE CLEAN FIFTEEN (lowest in pesticides)

1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mango
6. Sweet Peas
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Cantaloupe
12. Watermelon
13. Grapefruit
14. Sweet Potatoes
15. Honeydew Melon

Interestingly enough, I already sort of tend toward these lists in my current shopping habits. I try to always get organic spinach, celery, apples, and berries. And some of the clean fifteen foods simply aren't available as organic options at my local supermarket, so I just get my non-organic asparagus because I can't pass up eating asparagus. But now I know that it's okay to eat it, non-organic and all.

Of course, we're left to wonder where along the pesticide spectrum other forms of produce we eat fall. (WHERE ARE CARROTS?) But this small guide is at least a good start, and I think the main Food News website yields even more information about this stuff. What are your thoughts on organic produce? Do you religiously buy all organic? Or do you think this is all an elaborate hoax set up by the government and food industries to get us to spend more money on food?

An Easter dish that's perfect for every day of the week

Happy very-belated Easter! And what a beautiful Easter it was here in the Northeast. The temperatures were in the low 70s, there was a lot of sun, and it was breezy. It really was a lovely, pleasant weekend.

Easter has never been a very big deal in my family. We usually gather at my aunt's house for a half-hearted egg hunt in her tiny backyard, chocolate bunnies, and a dinner of meatballs and ham. I think one reason I've never been very keen on Easter is those dreadful spiral-cut hams people have on Easter. A big, pink lump studded with cloves, covered in sweet sauce, and topped with pineapples is not my idea of how to honor a beautiful ham. To me, ham should be salty, because the natural subtle sweetness of the pork will shine through the brine. To cover a ham in sugar AND cloves AND fruit AND syrupy sweet stuff is just a crime. An absolute crime! Putting a bit of sugar on ham is okay by me ONLY if you are also putting savory spices on it, like cumin and paprika, and using the mixture as a nice rub. None of this gooey sweet ham nonsense. Honor your ham and lay off the pineapples! (I despise pineapples, mostly because they make my mouth incredibly itchy, but if they're your thing, go for it. Just don't let me see you putting them on a ham.)

Jeremy and I kept it pretty casual on Easter Sunday, but because I did want to at least do something a bit Eastery, I decided to make penne with asparagus and ham. It includes a lean ham steak, which you cut into tiny bits and add in at the end. This dish is lovely and light, yet lemony and flavorful, and it's also really healthy because it's pretty low in fat. In fact, it's a dish I got from a Weight Watchers cookbook, and Jeremy and I just love it. The best part of this dish is that you can also eat it cold, like a pasta salad, something that came in handy last night when it was freakishly hot (90 degrees!) and we couldn't even muster the energy to heat our leftovers, let alone actually stand in front of the stove to cook anything.

To make this delicious meal vegetarian friendly, swap the chicken stock for vegetable stock and consider adding some tofu stir-fried in a bit of oil and garlic in place of the ham, or else add some nice sliced mushrooms.

Penne with Asparagus and Ham (depending on your portion sizes, this makes about 4-6 servings)

- 2 cups whole wheat penne OR linguini broken into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 3 thinly sliced garlic cloves
- 1 lb bunch of asparagus, cleaned and cut into 2-inch pieces (snap off and discard woody bottoms of stalks)
- 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 diced lean ham steak
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

Prepare pasta according to package directions and drain.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomato and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato has softened, about 5 minutes. Inhale the delicious aroma of garlic and tomatoes cooking together and wonder to yourself what you did to deserve such a treat.

Add asparagus, broth, and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until asparagus is tender, about 3 minutes. Use a fork to poke about at the asparagus and make sure it is to your liking.

Add pasta, ham, and basil and toss to combine. Allow everything to heat for a minute or two and then serve.Top each dish with Parmesan. (You remember my rant about fresh Parmesan, right? And you're not cheating by using that stuff that comes in the green tube that shall remain nameless, correct? Okay, good. Just making sure!)

Warm Belgian endive salad with pine nuts

The weather is getting GORGEOUS outside, and it's all I can do not to spend the day frolicking in the sunshiney goodness rather than sitting at my desk working, or blogging. Spring means all sorts of delicious and delightful things are going to start growing and tickling the senses and the palette.

Spring, to me, means lovely growing things and lighter meals, and since I was recently on an endive kick, I decided to find a salad recipe using endive. I found one online that's made with a simple dijon vinaigrette that is positively scrumptious. I've modified it slightly and am including it below.

The thing that is so good about this salad is that heating the endive in the pan mellows out the flavor and makes it a lovely warm temperature without sacrificing the thick, toothy crunch of an uncooked endive. I decided to put the endive on a bed of spring mix greens, so I doubled the amount of the dressing I made. I'll give you the measurements for making one batch, which is tossed with the endive while you're cooking it, and then make a second batch using the same measurements to drizzle over the greens at the end. I made this recently for Jeremy and myself and it filled two big plates, so it served as our main course, but you can, of course, use this as a salad portion and dole it out to more people. Also, Jeremy and I added a few slices of torn-up thin-sliced serrano ham that we had leftover and it was scrumptious.

Warm Belgian Endive and Pine Nut Salad

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 heads Belgian endive (we only had 3 and it was plenty, since they were each a decent size)
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

In a bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, and lemon juice (I just eyeballed the measurements for the entire dressing and it was fine). Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking the whole time, until the consistency is creamy. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Remove outer leaves of the endive, if necessary, and cut off the bottom stalk. Cut each endive crosswise into rings and rinse in a colander. Shake it around to separate the rings and allow to drain. Maybe give them a quick pat with a paper towel. As I mentioned in my last entry about endive, you don't really have to do much washing because they are grown underground and have never been in dirt.)

In a large dry skillet over medium heat, toast the pine nuts, stirring constantly to avoid burning, until golden brown. Add the endive and warm slightly, then add the first batch of dressing and toss everything around in the pan to coat. Lower the heat, if necessary, to prevent the endive from wilting. You want to make sure that they are just heated through and the slightest bit tender while still retaining a nice crunch. Remove from heat.

Make a second batch of the dressing. Add a generous pile of spring mix or other mild salad greens to each dish and toss each with some of the dressing. Add the endive and nuts. Top with bits of shredded ham, freshly grated parmesan, and a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Enjoy the tangy goodness of the dressing and the crunchiness of the endive. Be amazed that such a simple combination of ingredients could be so scrumptious, and revel in the freshness that means spring is coming.

Also, get creative in terms of nuts. Try using almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts if pine nuts don't appeal to you or are out of your price range.

Braise the Roof! Braised Belgian endive with ham

As the joyous recent owner of a beautiful Le Creuset dutch oven, among other fabulous kitchen gadgets, I have been looking for more ways to use these things to make new recipes. Since one of the things a dutch oven is best for is braising, I recently checked out a book from the library called All About Braising by Molly Stevens. It's a great cookbook that explains in clear detail what braising is and how different kitchen gadgets can be used to achieve different results. Braising is "Low and Slow" cooking: a process of cooking food, covered, in a small amount of fat and liquid at a sustained temperature for a longer amount of time. This makes for juicy, tender food. Think of your slow-cooker pot. This is basically really, really long braising. When braising meat and some vegetables, you will often first have to brown the meat or veggies in fat before adding to the liquid to braise. This almost creates a protective "armor" on the outside of the food, making a crisp outer crust that helps to seal in the tender deliciousness inside.

The book is divided into chapters by ingredients; there's one for vegetables and then the ones following are each devoted to a type of meat. She also offers lots of tips throughout and at the end for choosing and storing ingredients too. Overall it's a great book. I had to return it before I got to try out more recipes, but the one for braised Belgian endive with ham is pretty tasty and turned me on to a veggie I'd never tried before.

Endive is actually the root of chicory that is grown in darkness, hence its white color. They have a mild, somewhat bitter tang to them that isn't unpleasant. Jeremy and I paired this recipe with our belated Valentine's pork chops and they were the perfect complement. Molly Stevens explains that braising endive turns the bitterness into "something marvelously complex and luscious" and she's right. It becomes tender and soft and silky.

When selecting Belgian endive, look for firm, tightly packed bulbs that are as pale as possible. If the tips of the leaves are more than the palest green, don't select them. Endive can be pricey, so choose them carefully. For our recipe, I bought 6 endive and used 3. (I save the other 3 for a delicious salad I'll share later.) I found that the proportions for this recipe, which were for 6 endive, worked perfectly well for just 3 of them. But certainly if you have more mouths to feed and a bigger dish, make 6 or 9 of them.

Braised Belgian endive with ham

- 6 Belgian endive
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 thin slices of prosciutto or serrano ham (we used serrano), or another comparable good-quality salty ham (don't use these to make the dish vegetarian), cut or torn into small strips or bits
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup of chicken stock
-1/4 to 1/3 cup of heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a ceramic or glass gratin dish that will accommodate the amount of endive you are cooking snugly. (Molly suggests a 9x13 dish, but we made only 3 so our dish was smaller)

Remove the outer leaves of each endive and trim the stalky bottom off of each. Cut each in half lengthwise.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter just stops foaming, add as many endive as will fit in a loose layer cut side down and brown them for about 4 minutes. Using tongs, carefully turn them over to brown for a minute or two on the other side. Transfer them to the gratin dish cut side up. Use the rest of the butter to brown the rest of the endive.

There should still be a film of butter on the inside of the skillet. Add the ham bits and turn to coat them with the butter. After just a minute or two in the skillet, remove them and add them to the gratin dish, tucking them in between the endive and laying some on top. Add a bit of salt and pepper to your gratin dish (easy on the salt, as the ham and the forthcoming stock are both salty).

Add the stock to the pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir up the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan and pour the hot stock over the endive in the gratin dish.

Cover the dish tightly with foil and braise in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the endive are collapsed and tender when pierced with a knife. They will have a burnished hue.

Remove the foil and baste the endive in the pan juices. If the pan is dry, add 2 tbsp of water. Braise uncovered for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the pan juices turn caramel colored and have almost completely evaporated. Pour over the heavy cream (use the greater amount for a richer taste) and bake another 6 minutes or so, until the cream takes on a caramel color and has thickened to a sauce consistency. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving with the sauce.

These were a delicious accompaniment to the sweetness of the pork chops: the mellow, slightly bitter tang and soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture accompanied by the creamy sauce and bits of ham. Heavenly!

The ultimate comfort food casserole

Ah winter... the perfect time to indulge in warm, comforting carbs. What more perfect carb for this than the humble but mighty potato? Potatoes are not only incredibly versatile (boil them, bake them, fry them...) but they also lend themselves well to pairing with things you add to them, like shepherd's pie or pierogies.

Years ago my mother clipped a recipe out of a magazine for a potato-spinach casserole. We tried it one year for our Christmas Eve dinner, and it was such a hit that it's made a repeat appearance every year since. The recipe is easy and the end result is delicious. I made some this weekend and figure there's no better way to ring in the new year than with a carb-o-licious recipe.

POTATO-SPINACH CASSEROLE
- 6 to 8 large potatoes
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
- 8 oz. sour cream (you can go low fat), or use 8 oz plain yogurt
- 1 package of frozen spinach, thawed
- 2 tbsp chopped chives, fresh or dried, or in the absence of chives, use a generous helping of onion salt
- salt and pepper to taste
- shredded cheddar cheese

Scrub the potatoes, peel, and cut into small chunks. Add to a pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a rolling boil, then lower the temperature until you get a constant gentle boil. Cover the pot loosely (I just tilt the lid over the pot so steam can escape), and boil for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Drain. (I find that it's easiest to assemble this dish in the warm pot, as it helps melt the butter and it's easy to mash everything together in the pot.)

Mash the potatoes with a masher, adding chunks of butter as you mash them to help the butter melt and incorporate. Add the salt and pepper (and onion salt, if you're using it instead of chives). Start adding dollops of sour cream and spinach, incorporating into the potatoes with the masher, until you've added them all. Add the chives.

Spray a square casserole dish (Pyrex or Corningware work perfectly here) with nonstick spray and spoon in the potato mixture, spreading it evenly around the dish. At this point, you can cover and refrigerate the casserole happily for the day or even overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the casserole into the oven, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with a layer of cheese, then return to the oven for 5 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. Enjoy! The leftovers keep pretty well (covered) for a few days, but I doubt they'll last that long. :)

San Gibbin: Overeating with a purpose

Ah, Thanksgiving. (Or, as we Latinos call it, San Gibbin.) I was in such a food coma, both from the big day and from enormous meals in subsequent days (including INDIAN BUFFET), that I lost my internets faculties. But now I've re-emerged into the world of getting back to business and staring at a screen all day, so I'm here to recap the goodness and share a recipe for the side dish that is becoming my claim to fame at the Trout family Thanksgiving dinner. I also have to share an exciting personal revelation, but that deserves its own post.

Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic. Jeremy's mom is an amazing cook. In addition to the typical spread, this year we had the usual escarole soup for starters (it's literally just escarole and broth, and it's delicious) along with marinated mushrooms, olives, and these little onions soaked in balsamic vinegar (DELICIOUS OMG). Jeremy's mom also made a tasty fig sauce, almost like a marmalade, to go with the turkey that was awesome. Need that recipe! The salad was oranges, red onions, and black olives with olive oil, which was simple and refreshing and which I'm going to steal for Christmas this year. She also put some leftover stuffing into muffin tins and baked it to make STUFFIN' MUFFINS! I love the idea. We also had wine, belatedly celebrated our joint birthday with pumpkin spice cake from the Amish market, and talked about Trotsky. Pretty typical Trout family Thanksgiving.

For the second year in a row, I made acorn squash filled with chorizo stuffing. I got this recipe from a Latina magazine and it's great! It's not as hard as the recipe might make it seem--just takes a few steps. But the good part is that while the rice cooks and the squash roast, you can prepare everything else and then be ready to go when the squash and rice are ready. There are only 4 of us at Jeremy's Thanksgiving dinner, so I halved the recipe. The trick to splitting an acorn squash is to use a large, very sharp knife and work very slowly, cutting carefully around the squash. Having your mother in the kitchen nervously supervising is optional.

* 2 cups wild rice
* 4 1/2 cups chicken broth
* 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
* 4 small acorn squash
* Olive oil (for sauteeing onions and brushing the squash)
* 1 large onion, diced
* 12 oz Spanish chorizo, chopped (you can also use sweet or mild Italian sausage, the kind that doesn't have a casing)
* 2 tsp dried sage
* 1/4 cup chopped parsley
* 3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
* 1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375. Rinse rice. In medium saucepan, bring rice, broth, and 1/4 tsp salt to a boil. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, with some grains split open, about 45 to 60 minutes. (I used the Archer Farms from Target wild rice and it was done in 45 minutes, but check the directions on your container for specifics!) Transfer rice to a large bowl.

Cut off squash ends if necessary to stand them upright, cut them in half lengthwise, and seed. (Use an ice cream scoop to easily remove the seeds and stringy pulp. I love the multi-functionality of ice cream scoops and think no kitchen should be without one, but I digress.) Line a baking sheet with foil. Brush the outsides and insides of each squash with oil and place cut side down on baking sheet. Bake until tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 325.

In saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion until soft. Add chorizo and sage and cook about 5 minutes. Add to bowl with rice.

Scoop out squash so edges are 1/4 inch thick and add pulp to bowl. Stir in parsley and cranberries and add salt to taste. Mound stuffing into squash halves and drizzle with maple syrup. Put them into a foil-lined baking dish. Bake until heated through, about 25 minutes. Makes 8 servings.


Apparently, Jeremy's father specially requested that my leftover stuffing be served as part of their day-after-Thanksgiving leftovers dinner, and I felt so loved. Hurrah! Do share your traditional and not-so-traditional meal ideas!

Here is a (slightly dark) picture of my stuffed acorn squash. Noms!

The lowly sprout, elevated to the greatest heights

Brussels sprouts! They're like tiny cabbages! They're like little gems of goodness! They are underappreciated and sometimes hated, often wrongfully so, because people cook the living bejeesus out of them and they end up tasting sulfurically of dirty socks!

I personally LOVE Brussels sprouts, and am fortunate to have a partner who also loves them, but I was woefully underfed them growing up, mostly because my nutty father likes to have everything cooked to within a mushy inch of its LIFE. (Either that, or he likes it raw. Raw or mushified--for him there's no in-between.) Anyway, I fully embrace sprouts and love to cook them. I've learned that the proper way to cook them is to take care not to OVER-cook them. As long as you keep an eye on them and remove them from whatever heat source you've got them over or in just after they become fork-tender with a nice bit of give, you won't have mushy, smelly, travesty-of-a-sprout sprouts.

A few years ago, my friend Frank made some sprouts with bacon (NUM) and apple cider vinegar. OMG HEAVEN. It was the perfect combo. So recently, when we had some sprouts, leftover bacon from a soup we'd made, and some spiced apple cider, I decided to try for my own version of Frank's magnificent dish.

Take about a pound of sprouts, clean them, remove the stems, and halve them if you wish. I like cutting them in half lengthwise because I feel like they cook faster and you can thus remove them from the heat more quickly. This also makes them easier to eat.

Put two or three thin-sliced strips of bacon in a pan and fry them up over medium heat until they're nice and crisp. Remove them from the pan and drain on a paper-toweled plate. Leave the lovely bacon fat in the pan and leave the heat on. Immediately dump in the sprouts and stir frequently, allowing them to quickly fry and heat up. Then add some apple cider to the pan and a few splashes of red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar and stir. The amount of cider you add is up to you, but I probably put in about 3/4 of a cup and just a splash of vinegar. Lower the heat and cover. Allow the sprouts to braise for a few minutes. I think I left mine in there for 7 or 8 minutes. Check the state of the sprouts with a fork and remove them when they're at your desired balance of tender and firm.

Remove the sprouts from the pan with a spoon--I stashed them in a small covered Corningware dish. Then add a bit more apple cider and another dash of vinegar to what's left in the pan and continue to cook on low, deglazing the pan. Scrape up all the lovely bits of fat that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. I cooked the liquid down until it was about half the amount it originally was, so it was slightly thickened, then I spooned it over the sprouts. I crumbled the bacon on top.

PERFECTION. DELICIOUSNESS. OMG-NESS. It was so good! The sweetness of the cider, the gentle tang of the vinegar cutting through the appleyness, the crisp bacon, the perfectly cooked sprouts. It was a good time. Of course, you can veg this one up by using butter or olive oil instead of bacon fat, but if you eat meat, trust me: Brussels sprouts and bacon are one of those deliciously satisfying combinations you don't want to miss.

Zucchini lemon cookies + kitchen sink pasta with zucchini and white wine cream sauce

Hurrah for zucchini! I'm going out of town tomorrow (heading to PA for a week of vacation and going to a friend's wedding), so I wanted to use up the second zucchini from the farmers' market before leaving.

I found this recipe for zucchini lemon cookies that looked really simple--plus I had some lemons at home so I figured, why not? These cookies were pretty easy to put together; the only time-consuming tasks were grating the lemon zest and zucchini, but my microplane and mandolin made easy work of those.

I'd suggest doing the same parchment paper trick when you go to bake these cookies, and putting them in a 375 degree oven won't be a problem. I baked mine for about 13-14 minutes and they came out really well: light brown on the bottom with pale, puffed centers. These cookies are scrumptious... really like soft little tea cakes. They stay very soft and moist, thanks to the zucchini. And speaking of which, they do mostly taste of lemon (there's a lot of zest in there!), but they have a little hint of the zucchini here and there. And they just look beautiful, with the bits of yellow and green speckling the pale rounded surfaces. Highly recommended! I took some to work and they were gobbled up. Everyone was pleasantly surprised by the flavor combo and the softness.

I used the other half of the zucchini with some pasta. We had leftover linguine from our grown-up hamburger helper, and while that cooked I steamed the zucchini (sliced into thin rounds). After the pasta cooked, I melted the bit of butter left over from the cookies and sauteed a clove of garlic with the zucchini. Then I added some dry white wine, a bit of heavy cream, and a grating of fresh parmesan cheese. I threw in a spoonful of flour to thicken the sauce, and added some salt.

Like whoa. For being a meal of leftovers ("kitchen sink" pasta, as Jeremy calls these dishes when we throw together a bunch of stuff with pasta), it was really quite delicious. Anything made with cream is always delicious. When white wine is added, even more so. I was pretty pleased that I found a way to use up a bunch of leftovers in a delicious, make-it-up-as-I-go kind of way.

So I'm off to PA tomorrow! I'm hoping to have lots of foodie adventures while I'm home, so I'll be sure to share as many as I can here. Bon voyage to myself!

Grown-up Hamburger Helper and zucchini fritters: perfect Sunday supper

Our Sunday night dinner was hearty and autumnal: zucchini fritters and a beef and pasta stove top casserole. Tasty and comforting.

We modified a recipe for the pasta casserole that I picked up at Shaw's; they have these displays of free recipe cards by the front door of the store. (The recipes are made in conjunction with America's Test Kitchen, so you know they have to be good.) It's sort of like a grown-up, homemade Hamburger Helper. We also had two decent-sized zucchini that I bought last week at the farmers' market, so we used one for the fritters, a recipe from my food bible. You just can't go wrong with Bitty.

Here's our slightly modified beef and spaghetti stove top casserole---the recipe said to use 12 oz ground beef and 4 oz sausage but we just used a pound of beef. We also omitted the step of covering the thing in cheese and broiling it but you can of course add this step in. We found it just fine without this step.

Beef and Spaghetti Casserole

• 1 lb 90% lean ground beef
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• A sprinkle of red pepper flakes (use your discretion)
• A sprinkle of dried oregano (again, as much as suits your fancy)
• 1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes (we used ones with basil already mixed in and thus used less fresh basil)
• 8 oz of uncooked spaghetti or linguine (we used linguine), broken into 2-3 inch pieces
• 2 cups water
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 6 tbsp finely chopped basil (we used several generous squirts of the fesh ground herbs that come in a tube; you'll find them in the produce section)
• 1 cup of cheddar cheese

1. If you want to broil the cheese into a crust on top, get your broiler fired up. Give a large oven-safe nonstick skillet a few sprays with olive oil cooking spray and when hot, cook the beef over medium heat, breaking up the meat into little bits until no longer pink (about 5 minutes). Drain meat on paper towel-lined plate and pour off fat from pan. Return meat to skillet and add garlic, pepper flakes, and oregano, and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).

2. Stir in tomatoes, spaghetti, water, and salt. Cover and cook, stirring often, until pasta begins to soften, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, covered, until pasta is al dente, about 7 minutes.

3. Stir in cream, basil, and (if you're broiling) 1/3 cup of cheese. If you're not broiling, just stir in all the cheese. If you're broiling, sprinkle on the remaining cheese and broil about 3 minutes. We just sprinkled with more cheese before serving.

SO GOOD! :)

Here's Bitty's recipe for zucchini fritters (he calls them pancakes, but they were really more like fritters). We also used the thin julienne attachment on our mandolin to get tiny zucchini shreds.

• about 2 pounds of zucchini, or one medium to large zucchini, finely grated (place the grated zucchini in a colander, salt it, and let it sit 20 minutes to help it dry out)
  
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup minced onion (we just used a half an onion)
• 1/4 flour or bread crumbs (we used bread crumbs), plus more if needed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup freshly minced basil or parsley (optional, we didn't use it)
  

1.  Combine zucchini, egg, onion, bread crumbs, cheese, salt and pepper, and herbs (if using). Add more crumbs/flour if using to make the mixture hold its shape.

2. Form into balls, then flatten into patties, about the size of a small hamburger in diameter, but thinner. Place on a plate and refrigerate for about an hour, if you can, so they'll firm up. We formed 5 patties and by using extra bread crumbs they held their shape.

3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Dredge patties in more crumbs or flour and place in the hot oil. Fry on each side until golden brown and crisp on each side. Heed Julia's advice and don't crowd the pan! :) Drain on paper towel-lined plate and serve. OMG DELICIOUS. Seriously. Try these. They take a bit of time in terms of prep work (although a food processor or mandoline will make quick work of the grating), but they are definitely worth it.

**UPDATE** I just found a mandolin online that is inexpensive and has all the same features as mine, if any of y'all are seriously looking at getting one (I'm just going by the comments I've gotten thus far!). Check it out on Amazon. 

Souper Saturday: Mama Pidal's lentil soup

I seem to be coming down with some sort of weird cold-type thing, so it was a good thing I was prepared with a big pot of Mama Pida's lentil soup. It's hearty, tasty, and really easy to make. This recipe is my mother's and it is one of the first things I ever attempted to cook when I decided to branch out from the pasta/stir fry rut. I love making it in the fall and winter. The best part of this soup is that you can season it and add things to it to your heart's content. That and the fact that lentils don't require any soaking, so you don't have to prepare in advance with this soup the way you have to with other bean soups. I use a minimum of broth and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated and been absorbed, so that it's more like a stew. I'll call it a potage (a thick stew-like soup). Sounds fancier.

Rinse 1 cup of uncooked lentils in a strainer and drain. (Pick out any pebbles or nasty-looking lentils.) Toss them in a pot with two cups of water and two cups of vegetable or meat broth or stock. (You can add another cup or two of either if you want.) Add 1 diced onion, 1 cup each of chopped carrots and celery, and 2 cups of firmly packed baby spinach leaves. Throw in 2 cloves of minced garlic and some salt and pepper and turn on the heat until it starts boiling. Cover, and stir occasionally, until the spinach has wilted. At this point you can throw in a diced ham steak or a couple of chopped cooked sausages (but these are entirely optional). Stir a few more times and allow to boil another few minutes. I also like to add some other seasonings, like a bay leaf or two (which you must remove later), some garlic and/or onion salt, or some adobo powder, which is a typical Latin meat and vegetable seasoning.

Adobo: seasoning of campeones!






Lower the heat until the soup is just simmering and then just let it simmer away, stirring every now and again. This is a very low-maintenance soup. I allow it to simmer until all the vegetables have taken on a nice brown color and nearly all the liquid has disappeared, so it's like a stew. Delicious! If you're more into soupy lentils, you can add a cup or two of water or broth to the pot while it's simmering and remove it from the heat before all the liquid disappears.

This soup keeps well in the fridge, and it will thicken the longer it sits in there. To reheat, you can add some water or broth before microwaving. I just like to eat it like a stew, with some nice buttered toast. It's simple, filling, hearty, and comforting. I love soup, and this is one of my favorites. I remember eating it all while I was growing up and every time I eat it now, I feel home. Thanks, Mama!

Make this now

Seriously... don't delay. Make this today: Mark Bittman's macaroni and cheese.

I make the first version of this, though I am intrigued by the variations and might try some of them soon. Jeremy and I just made some of this over the weekend and it's fab. It's very grown-up, savory mac and cheese--no gloopy, overly sweet cheesy goop. The bay leaves in the milk give it its special taste.

This time I added peas and ham. Cook one cup of frozen peas according to package directions; drain and set aside. Slice one ham steak into small cubes and set aside. Stir the peas and ham into the pasta after adding the sauce before baking. Yum!

We paired this dish with Brussels sprouts and sausage with just a touch of white wine and vinegar. Steam the sprouts, cut them in half vertically, and set aside. Throw some butter in a large pan and add the sausage, preferably split in half longways. Cook the sausage till it's about half done, add some more butter to the pan and throw in the sprouts. Once the sausage is nicely browned and the sprouts and done (still firm but easy to put a fork through), remove the sausage and sprouts, but leave the heat on the pan. Add a little dry white wine to the pan and stir it up, scraping up any bits left in the pan. Heat for a few minutes, cut up the sausage into small bits, then turn off the heat on the pan, stir in a splash of white vinegar, and drizzle over the sprouts and sausage. Tangy and delicious!

I made this one up on the fly because I had sprouts and sausage in the freezer and a bottle of dry white wine that I really didn't like as a drink in the fridge, but I wanted to try and find a use for it rather than just pouring it down the drain. I remember having some sprouts that a friend of mine made years ago with bacon and apple cider vinegar, so I put my own little twist on them. They turned out really tasty!

I went to an Italian street festival in my neighborhood, and in addition to a meatball sandwich that I purchased for a dollar (priced to sell!), I also had some really good lemonade and my very first deep-fried Oreo. The Oreo was delicious--kind of like an old-fashioned donut with an Oreo in the middle. Yum. I definitely giggled when I bit into it--a sure sign that I am really surprised by and am enjoying a food. I love street fair food.

Never apologize... even for garlic

So I recently made a batch of arugula pesto. (Using my handy-dandy, just-taken-out-of-the-box Magic Bullet of course.) I had some wilting arugula in the fridge and I didn't want it to go to waste, so I threw it together with pine nuts, lemon juice, parm cheese, garlic, and olive oil in the Magic Bullet and processed away.

Well. I was a little short on the arugula. Like probably a cup short. And I wasn't thinking and just threw the 3 cloves into the mix. And the end product was really rather garlicky. I tossed in some extra salt and stirred in some extra olive oil, which helped cut back on the garlic, but it was like taking a cup of water out of the ocean. It helped, but not much.

But whatever! It's all good. Jeremy and I happen to love garlic, so despite leaving us with garlic breath for hours and hours, we enjoyed it. We just found that we didn't have to put quite so much on our linguine as if it were less garlicky pesto.

And by the way, if you melt a little butter and drizzle it over the linguine before stirring in the pesto.... mmmm. Magnificent! Really, what isn't made better with butter?

I like tomatoes! (and gazpacho)

I busted out the Magic Bullet for the first time in 3 years last night for... gazpacho.

Yes, I've owned a Magic Bullet for 3 years (got one right before moving to Boston) and for 3 years I never even took it out of the box. Now I feel like I should be on an infomercial because I find myself wondering how I ever got by without it. Yes, I had to make the gazpacho in batches, because admittedly the Bullet doesn't have a high capacity. But it works so fast, and made such quick work out of things that it was worth it to blend the soup in small batches.

We decided to make gazpacho from Jose Andres's cookbook, which calls for a particular brand of sherry that I hunted for and found at the Liquor World near my office---a particular brand of sherry that happened to set me back $25. Dios mio! At least the recipe calls for a scant quarter-cup of the stuff, so we'll be making batches of gazpacho with this stuff for a while.

But oh! What a difference a sherry makes! This gazpacho was amazing stuff. Jose calls for straining it, but I actually like the chunks in my soup, so it was perfection. It was tangy from the vinegar (we used red wine vinegar), and the sherry added a luxurious taste to it. And of course, this being a recipe by Jose Andres, it was full of olive oil, which just made it all the tastier. And you really do have to add the little cut-up tomatoes and thin-sliced cucumbers (which I sliced paper-thin, thanks to the mandolin slicer I bought this weekend on a whim), and the cubes of bread toasted in olive oil. We used a roasted garlic artisan loaf from Shaw's that's pretty tasty. (Shaw's has a surprisingly good bakery.) Our soup turned out more orange than pink because the market was out of green bell peppers and we used an orange one. Still delicious though. Very refreshing, and surprisingly filling. I definitely recommend trying this one out. It's simple and satisfying. To know that such a fine soup hails from my homeland makes me proud to be a Spaniard!

A salad that was a long time coming, plus my first homemade burgers

I love Trader Joe's and any occasion to go is a joyous occasion indeed. Many times when I'm there I pick up a container of balela salad (a Mediterranean chickpea dish), and pretty much every time I sit down to eat it I think, gosh, I should just find a recipe for this and make it myself! It seems easy! It's so tasty! It'll be cheaper if I just make it myself. I should do it! This went on for about a year. I kept forgetting to look up the balela recipe.

Well, no more! I finally remembered and my expert Googling skills turned up many results. Here's the recipe I finally used (it looked most similar to the balela I was used to getting from TJ's), from Relish magazine. It's easy and very delicious. It also keeps well, so you can make a big tub of it and let it sit for a couple of days in the fridge--everything marinates even more in the olive oil and lemon juice, so it gets even tastier.

Ingredients
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Let stand 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

As this recipe calls for half a cup of freshly chopped parsley, I thought it was time to put my herb mill to use--a handy little device into which you put whole fresh herbs and turn a crank that minces them up.



It's a little messy because the moisture released by the leaves tends to make them stick to the apparatus, but you just shake them out or scrape them out with a fork, and it makes easy work of that much parsley. (Half a cup is a lot of parsley and I'm lazy!)

Also, last night we made hamburgers out of some tasty ground beef and they were amazing. We combined the package of ground beef (which was one of those all-natural no-hormone, grain-fed kinds) with some salt and pepper, some garlic and onion salts, and a dash of Worchestershire sauce, and then we took a bundle of shredded horseradish cheddar cheese and rolled it into the center of each burger. We seared them in a pan for about 4-5 minutes on each side and they were a nice medium-well: still juicy and soft, with the tangy cheese inside. Yum! And even better, we had them on lightly toasted onion rolls--divine! We froze the extra two patties but we sort of already want to eat them.

The moral of the story: don't forget to find recipes you want in a timely fashion, and also eat horseradish cheddar cheese, especially wrapped in a slice of Genoa salami (which we also had this weekend) or in the center of a tasty burger. It's super amazing!



Why hello, delicious horseradish cheddar, please be my new best cheese friend.

101 Simple Summer Salads! plus a recipe I tried

Oh. My. GAWD. HOW did I forget to post this magnificent article?

101 Simple Salads for the Season

By (you guessed it) my boyfriend, Mark Bittman.

There is a salad for everyone on this list! Really! I printed it out and have a copy in my kitchen so that I can mix it up with my boxes of arugula.

And speaking of arugula, here is a delicious salad that I found in an issue of Glamour magazine earlier this summer that is easy and amazing.

Take 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar and allow it to simmer in a saucepan on low heat for a few minutes, stirring every now again, until it begins to thicken/reduce. Add 1 tablespoon of honey and stir together with vinegar until thoroughly blended. Mix up arugula, cubed watermelon, and crumbled feta cheese in dishes and top with a little of the balsamic-honey mix. You can add some olive oil too, or not, and just dig in. It's sweet, salty, peppery, and delicious!

Holy mac and cheese!

Last night I made THE BEST MACARONI AND CHEESE EVER. Srsly. SO AMAZING. It was the first time I'd ever tried making it, and I think now I'll never be able to go back to that boxed crap again.

I got the recipe out of my favorite food book, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. (Or Bitty, as I now lovingly refer to him as, after his stint on the show Spain... On the Road Again.) I used a blend of cheddar with monterey jack and something else in it rather than just plain cheddar, and I threw in a package of diced ham just to give the dish a little oomph, and damn. It was SO EFFING DELICIOUS. And honestly not that hard to make either. I think Bitty's secret ingredient is that he tosses a couple of dried bay leaves into the milk while it's heating. This gives the dish a really intense, savory flavor, rather than the sweet, goopy stuff we're used to eating when it comes to mac and cheese. I'll try and include the recipe in a future posting, when I have the energy to type it out.

I also made some perfectly cooked Brussels sprouts (again, I learned how to perfect these thanks to Bitty), and served them with just a touch of melted butter and a sprinkle of salt. They were the perfect vegetable, I think, to accompany a whomping serving of mac and cheese.

I love Brussels sprouts, and my love for them is a recent one, mostly because I, like many people, grew up eating over-cooked and thus disgusting-tasting sprouts. The trick to sprouts is to cook them just enough that they stay firm and just barely fork-tender. This keeps them from getting that disgusting sulfur smell and taste and gives them a nice resistance that is just delightful.

To make some good sprouts, fill a pot with water, throw in a pinch of salt, and set it to boil. While it's boiling, wash the sprouts, then cut off the bottom brown stump. Unless they are baby sprouts, I find that cutting them in half lengthwise helps them cook more quickly and evenly. When the water is boiling, dump them in, keep the water boiling, and give them a quick stir every now again. Watch them carefully. After a few minutes, fish one onto the spoon and try sticking a fork in. They'll be ready when you can get the fork in just easily enough that there is still some resistance. Whatever you do, keep you eye on them and don't let them boil more than 8 to 10 minutes. Drain them in a colander and serve. Delicious!

One thing that isn't delicious is Moxie soda. Best name, worst drink. Hands down. While talking to a coworker, Jeremy discovered that apparently Moxie is still a regional favorite here in New England. Neither he nor I had ever tried it, having grown up in Pennsylvania where it isn't readily available. So when Jeremy was at the supermarket buying the Brussels sprouts for me, he picked up a bottle of the original flavor and brought it home for us to try. It tastes like root beer with a bottle of cherry cough syrup poured in. It's completely disgusting.

"It might taste good with some rum mixed in," Jeremy said after I tasted some, proclaimed it disgusting, and immediately made him try it. "Maybe 50-50, Moxie and rum." He waited a moment.

"Oh my god, it just gets worse," I said. "The aftertaste is even worse."

"It really does," he agreed. "It's terrible. Okay. Maybe like 70 percent rum with 30 percent Moxie."

I gagged again.

"Or maybe just a glass of rum with a little Moxie to top it off," he said.

"How about just a glass of rum with no Moxie?" I said.

Yuck. I don't know, though... apparently some people really like the stuff. Maybe you have to have grown up drinking it, like Jeremy's coworker. Me, I'll stick to ginger ale. But still, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.