leeks

“leek and goat cheese tart” may sound like a fancy, highfalutin dish, but it’s actually very simple, quick and totally variable. i served it as sort of a side dish with fish, but it would make a great appetizer or snack to go with a glass of wine. it’s okay hot or room temp, too, so great for a cocktail party.

i started with three leeks (from the box, of course. although i like leeks, they just aren’t something i buy for myself for some reason).

leeks are in the onion and garlic family, so they have a delicate onion flavor. they are grown in sand and are therefore quite gritty inside, so it’s important to wash them well. start by cutting off the dark green tops and the root-end.

then split the leek in half and remove the outer one or two layers. as you peel back the layers (like an onion! get it?) you will notice dirt inside. run your leeks under cool water while you peel them open and rinse out the dirt.

then cut them in about half-inch pieces.

i melted about a tablespoon of butter in a saute pan, along with a small splash of olive oil (using this combination adds the yummy flavor of butter, but the oil allows it to get hotter than usual without burning. handy!) and added the leeks.

saute them until they are “melted,” of very soft. don’t let them brown, though.

while you’re doing this, you want to pre-bake your crust. i had planned to use (pre-made, frozen) puff pastry, but my grocery store didn’t have any, so i substituted a (pre-made, frozen) pie crust, which worked fine. use whichever you can get your hands on.

lay the crust out on a baking sheet (it doesn’t have to totally defrost, but i would let it warm up a little) and – this is important! – prick it all over with a fork. this lets the air out and keeps it from puffing up awkwardly.

bake at 425 degrees for about 12 minutes, then lower your heat to 350 and bake 10 minutes more, or until it is golden, but not brown.

let the crust cool, and when it is at about room temp, i spread it with creamy goat cheese from trader joe’s (those guys should totally be giving me a cut…)

and topped with the leeks.

then i sprinkled it with a little grated parmesean and romano cheese and some fresh thyme and threw it back in to oven (at 350) just until it got a little gooey.

it was a HUGE hit.

i said at the beginning that this recipe is very variable. by that mean, start with the same crust procedure, but try spreading it with cream cheese, pesto or even a light layer of tomato sauce. top with melted, caramelized onions, thinly sliced and seasoned new potatoes or oven roasted tomatoes.  or, try a sweet version – spread with fig jam and top with caramelized apples!

1950s dinner

i told you she’d be back! my old (and by that i mean former, of course!) roommate.

thanks for letting me guest blog again! my oldest friend tori and i were feeling very 1950’s homemaker and we decided to make turkey meatloaf with peas and mashed potatoes. dessert was a pillsbury recipe that’s so easy even my dog could do it with her paws tied behind her back.

meatloaf adapted from ina garten.

sauté an onion with a little olive oil, salt and pepper for about 15 minutes or until translucent. do not burn.

add in 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and whatever italian spices you have on hand (i used oregano), plus a splash of chicken stock.

let the tomato-onion mix cool and then fold in to about 1.3 lbs of ground turkey. don’t buy the super lean kind or it wont work. you need a little fat to keep it together. separately beat an egg and add to the meat/tomato/onion mush. throw in about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and combine thoroughly.

form into a loaf and pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. i like mine very well done on the top.

now it’s time for the mashed potatoes! boil salted water and throw in a bunch of chopped up potatoes. when they are very fork tender (err on the side of overcooked, not undercooked), add butter and milk to taste. sprinkle with salt and pepper. ta-da!

dessert – buy pre-made sugar cookie dough. could you make your own? yes. will it taste as good as pillsbury? NO. that’s why they have a multi-billion empire spanning generations and you have…a different recipe.  roll out just enough dough to cover a mini snickers bar. the small square ones, not the “fun size” halloween sized ones.

(eat some snickers as you go, the meatloaf will take a while)

stick in the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. check on them. you’ll know when they’re done. allow them to cool. [i had to ask – are we baking these at the same time as the meatloaf? temperature-wise, you could, but i probably wouldn’t…]

take one can of store-bought chocolate frosting (could you make your own? we already went over this…) and spoon into a big zip lock bag. Cut the tip off one end and then channel a professional pastry chef and pipe that frosting onto your snicker cookies!

oh wait! the meatloaf is done!

mmmm!

did i tell you we also made cocktails?

here are the ingredients. tori made these while i was toiling away at the stove and i can’t quite remember how she made them…but these are the ingredients.

the whole meal start to finish was an hour. can’t quite fit in to rachael ray’s timeline but she lies anyway and that stuff always takes longer than she’s showing you.

pomegranate

happy november – national pomegranate month!

from wiki

learn more.

pressure cooker

for my first foray into pressure cooker land, i decided to start with something basic – beans. did i mention he is the proud new owner of a pressure cooker?

these particular beans – a gift from a coworker from rancho gordo new world specialty food – actually deserve a post to themselves. called “rice beans,” they are white like navy beans, but smaller, longer and thinner… like a large grain of rice.

rifting off a recipe for white chicken chili that is a staple of my mom’s repertoire (also deserving of it’s own blog post), i based my flavors around beer and cumin.

he had already made an amazing tagine of lamb and peas in the pressure cooker, so i had an experienced eye overseeing operations.

using the pressure cooker pot like a regular pot, you start by cooking your onion and spices.

then add the beans, a bottle of dark beer and some chicken stock. (in the case of a meat-based stew, you can brown your meat right in the pot itself.)

herein lies the miracle of the pressure cooker. we did not soak the beans – they went in dry. for those bean-cooking experts out there, you know this is unusual. and then, instead of cooking them for several hours… just 35 minutes in the pressure cooker. what do you think of that?!

the pressure cooker is also so easy to use that if you’re still learning the ins and outs like we are, you can actually release the steam

(can you see the steam coming out?! …kinda…)

and open it mid-cook to check out the progress or add more liquid, like we did.

although rather expensive for a high-end (german) model, the pressure cooker is going to come in quite handy this winter, especially for two people who could live on soups and stews alone.

imagine whipping up a pot of beans or a slow-cooked-tasting chili in under an hour flat.

top beer beans with cilantro for serving!

halloween goodies

i didn’t make or cook anything halloween-y this year (other than eat almost an entire bag of candy corn…), but if you need some tips, head over to macheesmo for candy corn cosmos, bloody worms of doom and mozzarella eyeballs.

boo!

sweet and salty spiced nuts

i looked up a whole bunchload of recipes for sweet and salty nuts before settling on this procedure, which is adapted from several. some recipes took a lot of butter, some called for light corn syrup (ick). this way minimizes the bad-for-you ingredients but maximizes the flavor.

sweet and salty spiced nuts are perfect for hostess gifts, holiday season munchies or a birthday present for a nut-loving coworker, which us what i was making them for.

i started with three cups of roasted, UNSALTED nut mix from whole foods. if you have unroasted nuts, bake them in a 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes until they are lightly browned. you can also stick to just one kind of nut or use whatever mix you prefer.

then make your spice mix. this is what i used, but you can change it up to suit your tastes.

one third of a cup sugar
two tsp cinnamon
a quarter tsp allspice or nutmeg
a quarter tsp ginger
a quarter tsp salt

separate an egg and beat the white gently (throw out the yolk), then pour it over the nuts and stir to coat well.

then pour the spice mix over the nuts and stir to coat VERY well. i did the spices in three sections to make sure my coating was even.

i definitely recommend lining your baking sheet with aluminum foil, even if yours isn’t straight from the devil’s kitchen like mine is. i swear, it is possessed.

spread the coated nuts out on the sheet and sprinkle with salt. because i had it around, i used my special salt.

can you see that it says that salt is $50 a pound? yeah… but fortunately, whole foods will sell you a tiny amount.

bake the nuts in a 300-degree oven for 15 minutes, stir the nuts, and bake for another 15. they will get a wonderful sweet, spicy, salty hard coating on them.

carrot pasta

and yes, i do mean “carrot pasta,” and not “pasta with carrot sauce.”

the other night i was craving pasta for dinner, probably because i had just enough leftover tomato-vodka sauce… (seriously, i could eat that stuff on a shingle) but i had eaten like crap all day (don’t judge) so a big bowl of pasta – although appetizing – wasn’t feeling like the right decision.

rummaging around the fridge, i remembered i had a bag of tri-colored baby organic carrots (from the box) that i hadn’t figured out what to do with yet, either.

so i started peeling them…

and kept peeling them…

pretty, no? (unfortunately, like many pretty and unusual-colored veggies, red carrots are only red skin-deep.) and rather pasta-looking…

into a sauce pan they went with a little bit of olive oil and a little bit (i mean like maybe a tablespoon) of water. i wasn’t sure if i wanted oil or water, so i went with both! probably didn’t need the oil…

i cooked them until they were al dente – NOT soft and squishy. ick – and poured over that vodka sauce.

you see what i mean? carrot pasta!

okay, so not exactly the same thing as a real bowl of pasta, but i found it highly satisfying, especially because it felt so healthy. you can even twirl it around your fork! and no side salad needed.

pumpkin scones

it’s not fall in my house until we start making pumpkin scones. these perfect little munchies aren’t the usual dried-out scone texture. maybe it’s the pumpkin in them, but they are moist and chewy and delicious – almost like free-form muffins. with a valencia orange, perfect for fall breakfasts.

pumpkin scones

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 stick cold butter
1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/2 milk (i had to use soy because it was the only thing i had in the house. didn’t seem to be a problem.)
1 cup mix-ins – any combination of nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, etc

mix all dry ingredients together

cut in cold butter until it resembles peas. remember our pastry cutter? now would be the time to whip it out, but if you don’t have one, try a fork.

mix pumpkin and milk in a separate bowl.

add wet ingredients to dry, and stir in mix-ins. here my mother cautions to mix until the batter just comes together. if you over-mix, the scones will be tough! boo!

using a third cup measure, drop batter on a parchment-lined (or well-greased) baking sheet.

bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees until golden brown. recipe makes about 10 scones… and halves well.

chile rellenos

today’s fabulous guest blogger is in exile here in dc from texas, and she’s always telling me i don’t know what real mexican food is. i have to say, i’m super impressed by how easy, healthy and straightforward this recipe is, but i’m still looking forward to my first trip to the lone star state. hook ’em!

this was my first attempt at making chile rellenos, and i must say that i’m quite pleased. this recipe is the trifecta of goodness: easy, filling and tasty.  it takes only moments to make and has minimal prep work. i didn’t fry the chiles so they are still a bit crunchy, which is a wonderful combination with the melted cheese and green sauce.

what you will need:

enough green chiles for the number of people you want to feed, plus a few extra for the filling
about 5 cups of shredded monterrey jack cheese
green chile sauce

start by cutting off the top of the chile and scooping out the seeds.  next slice the chile lengthwise but leave the very end of the chile intact so it makes a nice pocket for the cheese.

take any extra chiles, dice them, and add them to the shredded cheese. this can be done ahead of time and stored for up to a day in the handy prep bowls ms. ICF shows off. [editor’s note: prep bowls]

use a generous handful of shredded cheese to stuff the chiles. it’s okay if the chiles don’t close all the way.  i love cheese, so my rellenos are usually overflowing.

in a large skillet, over medium to high heat, place up to four chiles and let them bake. turn the chiles as they brown. it’s up to you when the chiles are done, i like mine almost charred.

finally, plate the chiles, sprinkle a little (or a lot) more cheese on top and drizzle green chile sauce over everything. i served ’em with black beans and jalapenos and washed them down with some white trash margaritas.

¡buen provecho!

how cool that she makes these healthy by eliminating the frying!!

fighting climate change through food

in the not-too-distant future, americans may have to get used to seeing calorie counts and nutritional information on menus at fast food chains. but are they ready to learn about the environmental impact of their food, too?

according to this article, a pilot project in sweden is adding labels to food that list “the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of foods, from whole wheat pasta to fast food burgers.”

what do you think? would having this information change your eating habits?