Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Monday, April 9, 2007
Farm Fresh Eggs
I have started buying my eggs from a local farm near my house. They are $6 a dozen but so worth it. They are the most beautiful eggs, inside and out. The shells are sometimes robin's egg blue, some are brown with speckles, some just plain brown and the yolks are the most vivid yellow, almost orange. They are so delicious too. Yum!
Easter!
I've got to start taking/posting pictures.
We had a lovely Easter party. It started with an egg hunt for all of the 2 year olds, and one 4 year old. They had a great time searching for the eggs in our backyard while the parents watched and munched on salmon mousse, sundried tomato spread and brie baked with apples, walnuts and cranberries. It always amazes me how impressed people are by the sundried tomato spread that takes about 30 seconds to make. It might just mean that I have unsophisticated friends. Ha!
I decided to do a retro Easter dinner. I made a Beeler ham covered with pineapple rings, marschino cherries and studded with cloves and basted with pineapple juice cooked with garlic and fresh ginger. It came out perfectly. Delicious! I also made scalloped potatoes and a salad of baby lettuce, grapefruit (from our tree), baby red onions and avocado. To drink we served mint iced tea made with our own Meyer lemons and a nice Pinot Grigio. For desert a bunny cake! Vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting and dusted with coconut. I died some coconut pink with a beet juice dye for the insides of the ears. For the eyes I used bright blue chocolate caramel eggs that I bought at Peets, his nose was a chocolate egg turned sideways and pocky sticks for whiskers. I decorated the bow tie with jelly beans. It was quite a hit, I almost felt guilty cutting into him.
It was a great day!
We had a lovely Easter party. It started with an egg hunt for all of the 2 year olds, and one 4 year old. They had a great time searching for the eggs in our backyard while the parents watched and munched on salmon mousse, sundried tomato spread and brie baked with apples, walnuts and cranberries. It always amazes me how impressed people are by the sundried tomato spread that takes about 30 seconds to make. It might just mean that I have unsophisticated friends. Ha!
I decided to do a retro Easter dinner. I made a Beeler ham covered with pineapple rings, marschino cherries and studded with cloves and basted with pineapple juice cooked with garlic and fresh ginger. It came out perfectly. Delicious! I also made scalloped potatoes and a salad of baby lettuce, grapefruit (from our tree), baby red onions and avocado. To drink we served mint iced tea made with our own Meyer lemons and a nice Pinot Grigio. For desert a bunny cake! Vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting and dusted with coconut. I died some coconut pink with a beet juice dye for the insides of the ears. For the eyes I used bright blue chocolate caramel eggs that I bought at Peets, his nose was a chocolate egg turned sideways and pocky sticks for whiskers. I decorated the bow tie with jelly beans. It was quite a hit, I almost felt guilty cutting into him.
It was a great day!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Gourmet Everyday Quick Kitchen
Okay so this is officially my favorite feature in Gourmet Magazine now. Every single thing I have ever made from this section has been terrific. This months issue (April 2007) is especially good. I have a friend who just had her second baby and I made her a meal almost entirely out of this issue:
Chicken thighs and drumsticks roasted with lemon and thyme (both from my garden)
Roasted beets a la Jamie Oliver - SO GOOD!
Peas with horseradish mustard sauce (from Gourmet - not spicy at all just yummy!)
Rice Pilaf - from a box I am sorry to say
Rhubard Strawberry Pudding Cake...now this is real winner. I mean this is so good! I altered the recipe slightly, ommitting the cornstarch because I didn't have any on hand and I didn't have the energy to drag my 2 year old and 5 month old boys out to the store for that one item. Here is the recipe...definitely try it! I have made it twice this week.
Rhubarb Strawberry Pudding Cake
1/4 C water
1/3C + 1/2 C sugar
2C fresh rhubarb stalks, chopped
1C strawberries, chopped
1C flour
1 3/4 t baking powder
1/2t salt
1 large egg
1/2C whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1t vanilla
1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400. Butter and 8 inch square glass dish
2. Stir together water, 1/3C sugar and rhubarb. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, then simmer stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in strawberries.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar in a bowl
4. Whisk together egg, milk, butter and vanilla in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
5. Reserve 1/2C of fruit mixture, then add remainder to baking dish and pour batter over it spreading evenly. Drizzle remaining 1/2C fruit over batter. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center of cake portion comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in a pan on a rack 5 minutes before serving.
Chicken thighs and drumsticks roasted with lemon and thyme (both from my garden)
Roasted beets a la Jamie Oliver - SO GOOD!
Peas with horseradish mustard sauce (from Gourmet - not spicy at all just yummy!)
Rice Pilaf - from a box I am sorry to say
Rhubard Strawberry Pudding Cake...now this is real winner. I mean this is so good! I altered the recipe slightly, ommitting the cornstarch because I didn't have any on hand and I didn't have the energy to drag my 2 year old and 5 month old boys out to the store for that one item. Here is the recipe...definitely try it! I have made it twice this week.
Rhubarb Strawberry Pudding Cake
1/4 C water
1/3C + 1/2 C sugar
2C fresh rhubarb stalks, chopped
1C strawberries, chopped
1C flour
1 3/4 t baking powder
1/2t salt
1 large egg
1/2C whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1t vanilla
1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400. Butter and 8 inch square glass dish
2. Stir together water, 1/3C sugar and rhubarb. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, then simmer stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in strawberries.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar in a bowl
4. Whisk together egg, milk, butter and vanilla in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
5. Reserve 1/2C of fruit mixture, then add remainder to baking dish and pour batter over it spreading evenly. Drizzle remaining 1/2C fruit over batter. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center of cake portion comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in a pan on a rack 5 minutes before serving.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Book Review: Mostly True by Molly O'Neill
I bought this book a few months ago. The subtitle caught my eye: A Memoir of Family, Food and Baseball. I thought the involvement of baseball in the subject might intrigue my husband enough to actually get him to read a food book. I started reading it on a recent trip to Mexico. I really enjoyed it! As the mother of two boys, I could relate to the author's life with 5 younger brothers. It is as much about baseball as about food. It is a nice quick read, very funny and well written. Pick it up, I am sure you'll enjoy it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0743232682/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-3821400-3172840#reader-link
Little Shrimpies
So I made the shrimp with arugula and couscous for dinner last night. I was not sure how well the shrimp would go over with The Boogie, but I figured I'd give it a shot. He loves to watch the Signing Time videos and he recently learned the sign for Shrimp on the "Zoo Train" episode. I had planned to capitalize on that to get him to eat the shrimp. I peeled two shrimp for him and he ate them right up! I peeled two more, told him to eat his "little shrimpies" and he ate another one right up, declaring "Little SHRIMPIES!!" several times as he ate it. When he took a bite out of his fourth shrimp he wrinkled up his nose and said "don't like it" and that was that. No more shrimp for him, he must have sensed my delight in his eating them, and in true two-year old fashion, decided to do things his way. He moved on to the couscous, which he loved. Then we went out for strawberry ice cream cones.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Asparagus!
Today the Boogie has been an unbelievably fussy eater. He is showing his almost-two year old personality for sure! So, when I went to make this asparagus pasta I was not optimistic that he'd be eating it and was expecting to be making him a bowl of cereal instead. That is the alternative that I offer he truly doesn't like his dinner but has given it a genuine try. Anyway, he loved the pasta and picked out all of the asparagus first! Yay! The recipe I used was from Epicurious, it was quite tasty. Next time I think I will add a few shavings of lemon zest to brighten it up a bit.
Asparagus Pasta
ingredients
4 oz sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut on a long diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 lb orechiette or other small pasta
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 1/2 oz) plus additional for serving
preparation
Zest of 1 lemon
Cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet, then add oil and onion to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 4 minutes.
Add asparagus and sauté, stirring, until crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
While onion is cooking, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water and drain pasta in a colander.
Return pasta to pot along with asparagus mixture, 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, and cheese. Add remaining 1/2 cup cooking water to skillet and deglaze by boiling, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Add to pasta and toss over moderately low heat until combined well, about 30 seconds. Mix in bacon, serve with additional cheese and lemon zest sprinkled on top.
Gourmet, May 2002
Before dinner I also made a nice loaf of banana bread to use up all of the bananas that I had bought for last weeks banana phase, which was short lived. It turned out nicely and we enjoyed a small slice for dessert.
Asparagus Pasta
ingredients
4 oz sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut on a long diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 lb orechiette or other small pasta
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 1/2 oz) plus additional for serving
preparation
Zest of 1 lemon
Cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet, then add oil and onion to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 4 minutes.
Add asparagus and sauté, stirring, until crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
While onion is cooking, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water and drain pasta in a colander.
Return pasta to pot along with asparagus mixture, 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, and cheese. Add remaining 1/2 cup cooking water to skillet and deglaze by boiling, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Add to pasta and toss over moderately low heat until combined well, about 30 seconds. Mix in bacon, serve with additional cheese and lemon zest sprinkled on top.
Gourmet, May 2002
Before dinner I also made a nice loaf of banana bread to use up all of the bananas that I had bought for last weeks banana phase, which was short lived. It turned out nicely and we enjoyed a small slice for dessert.
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