the happy couple

this weekend, kevin and i went to prescott, az, to visit his mom. she took a picture of us, which i think came out really well. let me know if you agree.

what's that? you didn't know kevin is taller than i am? well, he is - i'm 5'5" and he's 5'10". you can clearly see he's about a head taller than i am in the pic. and you know what they say: "pictures don't lie." btw, i think kevin is pretty photogenic; don't you?

strawberry fields forever...

strawberries are one of my favorite fruits. so, even if you haven't noticed, i did in a big way when they started to become available at the farmers' market about 3 weeks ago. one of the best things about my strawberry lovin' is kevin isn't really a big fan of them, so i get to eat pretty much every single one that i can get my grubby little paws on.

this last weekend, the line at the strawberry stand to buy a single pint was so freakin' long you would have thought the farm was giving something away (these people realized they had to PAY for those, right?). i noticed the line to buy whole cartons of strawberries (3 pints) was pretty much nonexistent, so i did what anyone who hates lines but loves strawberries would do. i bought a whole carton. i was in and out in about 30 seconds. [contented *sigh*]

now, i don't know how familiar you are with strawberries, but 3 pints is a *lot* for one person to eat all by herself. and they don't keep very well for very long, so i was in a major quandary. what the fudge was i going to do with all of them strawberries? that's when i had a rare stroke of brilliance and realized i could puree a bunch of them and make a strawberry champagne vinaigrette for the salad at our passover seder that night. i decided then to switch up my plan and make a very simple mixed green salad with chunks of pink lady apples and crumbled buttermilk blue cheese with the strawberry champagne vinaigrette.

there's a stand at the farmers' market that sells all sorts of greens (endives, radicchio, dandelion, stinging nettles, spinach, fava greens, etc. etc.) so i walked over to it like i had a purpose (which i did), elbowed a little old lady out of my way, and filled to the brim an entire produce bag with mesclun. ...ok so maybe i'm exaggerating a little... i didn't *actually* fill the produce bag all the way to the very top. i left enough room so i could tie it shut. sheesh, you guys know me tooooo well. can't get away with anything. (hunh? what about the little old lady?)

so a slight tangent before i post the strawberry champagne vinaigrette recipe: ever since i decided to eat as little food as possible that contains chemicals and/or corn derivatives (used as preservatives and artificial flavorings), i take the time to actually read the food labels before i buy anything. things like xantham gum, citric acid, maltodextrin, and high-fructose corn syrup are examples of corn products used to stabilize, flavor, and preserve processed foods (for a more comprehensive list, you can look here). xantham gum seems to be in EVERYTHING, btw. crazy, who knew.

anyway, if you start to read ingredient labels, you'll probably feel as though you've been sucked back in time to chem lab (to some of you, this may be a nostalgic, pleasant memory. not for mwah, however. ;) seriously, you'll be surprised to see how prevalent these corn derivatives are in anything you buy from the shelf of a supermarket. most stuff in a safeway is now ineligible for entry into the house of froon b/c of these substances. to be honest, even the crunchy-granola vegetarian grocery co-op i go to has a lot of food that i won't eat.

anyway, what's the long-winded point i'm trying to make tonight? well, what i'm getting at is that if you look at the ingredients in a bottle of salad dressing, almost all of them are corn derivatives. even "organic" dressings like annie's contain this stuff. so, i've pretty much been forced to make my own from scratch. the good news is that they're very easy to make, easily modifiable to suit the ingredients you have on hand or the # of servings you need to make. as you'll now see. :)


Strawberry Champagne Vinaigrette

1 pint hulled strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (if necessary, I left it out, the strawberries were so perfect)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup good-quality extra virgin olive oil (I like Stonehouse)

Combine first four ingredients and puree either in a blender or using a stick blender. Slowly blend in olive oil until emulsified. Chill, covered, if not using immediately. Makes enough dressing to serve 10-12 people.


Mixed Green Salad

8 cups mesclun salad mix, rinsed and spun dry
1 large Pink Lady apple, cored and cut into chunks (you can use Granny Smith if you can't find any Pink Ladies ...i'm pretty sure there's a joke in there somewhere...)
1 cup crumbled buttermilk blue cheese
1 cup cinnamon almonds
Strawberry champagne vinaigrette

Place all ingredients into a HUGE bowl. Toss to coat evenly. Plate and serve immediately. Serves 10.

is this burning an eternal flame?

i used my slow cooker to make tonight's dinner, which was indian vegetable curry with brown basmati rice.

i may have mentioned in an earlier post that i'm in love my slow cooker... well, i'm *still* in luv with him. ooops, i mean "it." IT, not him! haha, wow, that was a funny freudian slip, hunh?

well so what if i do love my slow cooker? what's NOT to love? you stick a bunch of ingredients in it in the morning, push its buttons (!!), and when you come back from a hard day's work of bringin' home the bacon, it's waiting for you with a piping hot dinner of goodness. AND, it's never upset with you if you come home later than you told it that morning.

yeah, mhmm, that's what i THOUGHT: you're thinking to yourself that not many *people* would even do that for you. aren't you? AREN'T YOU!!!

anyhoo, while you try to come up with a (pitiful) excuse as to why you, too, do not own a totally amazing slow cooker, i'll leave you with tonight's dinner recipe. enjoy!


Indian Vegetable Curry with Brown Basmati Rice

Curry
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, cut into 1/2" pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
3 tsps yellow curry powder
1 1/2 tsps salt, plus more to taste
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and chopped
2 tbsps chopped fresh cilantro (or not...yuck!)

Rice
1 cup brown basmati rice
2 cups water or stock

Curry
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and saute garlic and onions until onions begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Add curry powder and salt, and saute for another minute. Deglaze pan with vegetable stock, making sure to scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan. Once mixture comes to a boil, remove pan from heat. Place potatoes, cauliflower, and green beans in slow cooker and then pour onion mixture over vegetables. Cover and cook for either 4 hours on high heat or 8 hours on low. If necessary, season to taste with salt.

Rice
Rinse rice a few times in cold water. In a medium saucepan, add rice and water (or stock) and bring to a boil. Cover and then simmer for about 40 minutes, or until water is completely absorbed.

Serve curry over rice and sprinkle with cilantro. Serves 4.

can you spare a square?!

apparently, there's a matzoh shortage in the entire bay area! you can check out the (very brief) story here.

while it didn't help that trader joe's and costco both didn't carry matzoh this year, supposedly, the largest supplier of matzoh (hello, manischewitz) pulled a move that's reminiscent of apple computer (back in the day): it decided to heavy up on some new equipment that led to...well, *engineering delays* so they couldn't make enough matzoh for passover.

kevin and i spent some time on sunday driving to a couple stores, and then wising up and calling around for matzoh. that's when the dude at mollie stone's told me that there was no matzoh to be had in all of san francisco (me: "are you serious?!" mollie stone's dude: "as serious as a heart attack!").

so, if any of you have any "squares to spare" please let me know - kevin is running out of matzoh - he only has one square left!!!

in the meanwhile, here's the brisket recipe (you need to start it the night before) that i use every year for our seders. this time, i used grass-raised meat from marin sun farms served with potato latkes, and honey-glazed baby carrots, sugar snap peas, and roasted asparagus as sides. (i'm getting a little better at this "seasonal cooking" thing, fo' shizzle) yummy!


Passover Brisket
6 lbs beef brisket
4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
4-5 lbs yellow onions, chopped into 1" pieces
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsps Hungarian paprika
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp ground pepper, plus more to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F. Rinse and pat brisket dry. Season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsps olive oil in a Dutch oven for about 10 minutes. Roast brisket in pan, uncovered, 30 minutes, turning over halfway through.

Meanwhile, using a very large skillet (or use 2 normal ones if you can't fit all the onions in one pan), heat remaining 2 tbsps olive oil over medium-high heat and cook onions until they start to caramelize (about 10 minutes). Reduce heat to medium-low / low and continue cooking onions until they turn deep golden, stirring occasionally (about 20 minutes). Stir in garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper and cook 1 minute, then stir in 3 cups water and bring to a boil.

Spoon onion mixture over brisket and bake, covered, with lid slightly cracked, 4 hours, or until brisket is tender. Check every hour and add more water if necessary to keep meat covered. Remove from oven and let brisket cool in cooking liquid for 1 hour, then remove from pan and wrap in foil overnight. Pour onion gravy into a bowl and chill, covered, overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350°F. Spoon off fat from onion gravy, add enough water to measure 3 1/2 cups total, and using a stick blender, blend gravy until smooth; add salt and pepper to taste. Slice brisket against the grain (break out the meat slicer if you have one!) and place slices (slightly overlapped) in a large baking dish. Pour gravy over brisket, heat in oven for 30 minutes, or until hot. Serves 8-10.

"i'm a shepherd."

it's been a while since i've written about a "quick weeknight dinner," so i thought i'd post the shepherd's pie recipe from tonight (posted below). took about 30 minutes to prep it, another 30 to bake.

...hmmm, ok, so maybe this one isn't as quick as i thought... [awwwkward] well, you could, uhhh, definitely make it the night before (cover and refrigerate) and then just pop it in a 375°F oven the next night; just add about 10 more minutes to the original baking time.

yeah, that's the ticket...it's fast if you make it the night before!!! let's, um, just ignore the fact that prepping it the night before makes this a little less than ideal as a really quick dinner. but never mind, never mind. let's move on, people; nothing to see here.

in all seriousness, trust me when i say this dinner is *really easy* to make. yes, FINE, ok, it takes an hour from prep start to table, but it's only a half hour of actual work and it's very tasty. this is a great dinner to make when it's a little cool/chilly outside. the potato top becomes deliciously golden and crispy (oooh, especially the edges.... *sigh* edges.... yummy edges.... hunh, what?! oh sorry, got distracted.) and underneath, the beef filling is wonderfully rich and piping hot! neither kevin nor i thought we'd finish our portions, but we did. and with even a little room to spare for some dessert! [oink oink oink!]

p.s. points to anyone who knows whom i'm quoting in the title.


Shepherd's Pie

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 cup beef stock
2 tsps tomato paste
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup fresh peas
salt and pepper to taste

1 lb yukon gold or yellow finn potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsps unsalted butter
1/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bring pot of salted water to a boil; add potatoes and cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes. While potatoes are cooking, over medium-high heat, heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Add onion, carrot, and ground beef, and cook until meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain liquid from pan, then add broth, tomato paste, and herbs. Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer until mixture is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in peas and then spoon beef mixture into 2 individual-sized gratin dishes.

Force potatoes through a ricer (or use potato masher), then stir in garlic, butter, and then milk. Add salt to taste. Spread potatoes on top of beef. Using a fork, create crosshatch in potatoes. Bake in oven until potatoes are golden brown, about 35-40 minutes. Serves 2.

perfect pastry for passover

while saturday at sundown marks the beginning of passover, what it doesn't have to mean is seders with food that's well, NOT tasty (and sometimes downright weird) and where the wine is manishewitz.

until last year, the most problematic part of our seders had always been what the heck to make for dessert. pretty much every recipe i had looked over and even tried was just a sad attempt at working around the fact that flour is verboten. that is, until i got my grubby little paws (as aaron h. likes to refer to my hands) on a copy of elisabeth prueitt and chad robertson's Tartine cookbook. there, i stumbled on a chocolate cake recipe that was perfect for passover.

i tried it out last year, and it was a huge hit. gentiles ate it not realizing i had made it for passover. jewish peeps who *were* observing passover didn't believe me that it was, well, er, kosher for passover. (it's always a great feeling when you're hit on both sides with accusations of being a liar. *sniffles* *honnnnnnnk*) i brought in the leftovers to work and it disappeared in about 10 minutes. but then again, that's what happens to most desserts at the office, so don't worry, i didn't let it puff me up TOO much. (note the use of "too." a-HEM.)

this is a cake that can be served two different ways: at room temp, which makes it more like a chocolate mousse cake; or, serve it chilled, in which case the cake is much more like a flourless chocolate cake. either way, trust me when i say it's tastylicious. the key is to use the finest chocolate you can, well, get YOUR grubby little paws on. (just make sure to wash said grubby paws before you start baking.) recipe below.

matzoh tov!


Tartine Bakery Chocolate Soufflé Cake

Cake
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter
14 oz finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
7 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Ganache Topping (optional)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

Cake
Preheat oven to 325 deg. Line bottom of 10" springform pan with 3" sides with parchment paper cut to fit exactly.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and add chocolate. Stir occasionally until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, place the yolks and half the sugar and beat on high speed until light, fluffy, and volume triples, about 4-5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks until mostly combined.

In another bowl, and with clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add the other half of the sugar and the salt, and beat until whites form medium-stiff, glossy peaks. Blend one third of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites just until no white streaks are visible. Turn the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until the top of the cake is no longer shiny, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours, up to overnight.

Ganache topping
Remove cake from refrigerator, uncover it, and let sit at room temp for about 15 minutes before pouring ganache.

Heat cream in small saucepan and bring to just under a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let sit for about 2 minutes without stirring until the chocolate melts. Then, stir gently until smooth (incorporate as little air as possible). Pour ganache over cake and tilt and turn pan to cover top evenly. After about 20 minutes, the chocolate will have set. Run a thin knife around the inside edge of the pan to loose the sides. Release and lift off the pan sides and transfer cake to serving platter.

Serve the cake cold or at room temp. Slice cake while still cold with a warm knife, cleaning blade after each cut (even if you prefer to serve at room temp, otherwise it'll be hard to make clean slices). Cake keeps in refrigerator, covered well, up to 1 week.

Serves 12-16. Or, if you've got friends like mine, 10-12. ;)

friday night lights...(pork, not pigskin)

i've been holding back a leg of pork from my marin sun farms' meat csa box for a worthy gathering (don't worry, i was storing it in my freezer). we were having our friends katie and matt over for friday night dinner, so i figured this was my chance.

i've been sort of, er, fantasizing about the green-garlic aïoli from our marin sun farms lunch, so i decided to make some to serve on the side, instead of having a gravy (which is, frankly, a PITA to make on our radiant-heat stove). i've also, uh, sort of been fantasizing about using my meat slicer, so i figured this was a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. (and un-hunh, thanks, yes, i *know* i need better fantasies, ok?) as for the rest of the meal, i made crispy potato pancake, roasted asparagus, and grilled up some diagonally-sliced baguette.

the roast came out pretty well, but i realized that night i should get a small roasting pan with a rack, because i only have a (huge, enormously) large roasting pan that's appropriate really only for, say, a thanksgiving turkey, and an oval baker, which is shaped in such an *unfortunate* way that makes fitting ANY kind of rack impossible. (soooo "unfortunate"....i mean, it's so unfortunate that i get to buy a new roasting pan.) i opted to roast the pork in my oval baker, only to have to switch it out towards the end to the (huge, enormously) large roasting pan because of the (shocking amount of) pan juices that came off of the mere 4-lb pork leg. i mean, when i tell you that sucker was SWIMMING, well, frankly i'd be lying, 'cuz it was DROWNING. i saved it just in time. now, i didn't have to do cpr on it or anything, but it was definitely a close one.

katie was in charge of dessert. she talked a big game a few nights before, claiming she'd bake brownies, but in the end she brought over a GIGANTIC TUB of mitchell's cookies & cream ice cream and sugar cones, instead. this change in her sweets strategy might have had something to do with the fact she arrived at our place slightly tipsy, but this is all just rampant speculation on my part. i mean, i have no idea whether katie can bake drunk. er, i mean "slightly tipsy." but, the ice cream was damn tasty. i'm eating some as i write, in fact. (curse you, katie sween, for leaving behind such delicious ice cream who calls my name from the freezer, no matter where i am in the house!!!! how does it know my name?!?! howwwwwwww?!?!?!)

recipe for friday's dinner below. timing wise, roast the pork first (obv); when it reaches about 150°F, start cooking the potato pancake. While you're resting the roast, bring the oven up to 450°F, and then roast the asparagus. enjoy!


Roast Leg of Pork
4 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano

4-lb leg of pork

Preheat oven to 350°F. Purée the first 6 ingredients in a blender, and then rub the mixture all over the roast. In a roasting pan, place pork leg on rack and roast until meat thermometer registers 160°F. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Transfer roast to a carving board and slice thinly across the grain. (Break out the meat slicer if you have one!) Serves 4-6.


Green Garlic Aïoli
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 stalks green garlic, chopped (light green and white parts only)
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tsps fresh lemon juice

In a food processor, blend olive oil, green garlic, and salt until garlic is minced. Add 1/4 cup mayonnaise and blend well. Transfer to bowl; whisk in remaining mayonnaise and lemon juice. Cover and chill for at least an hour.


Crispy Potato Pancake
2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Using a salad spinner, spin potatoes to remove excess liquid, then transfer to a bowl. Stir in cheese, onions, salt and pepper until well blended.

Heat oil in 10" skillet over moderate heat until hot. Add potato mixture, then press firmly into a round cake. Cover skillet and cook potato cake until underside is crusty, 10-12 minutes. Slide out onto a plate and then invert skillet over potato cake and flip into skillet. Drizzle oil around edge of cake, then cover and cook another 10-12 minutes. Slide potato cake onto serving plate and cut into wedges. Serves 4-6


Roasted Asparagus
1 1/2 lbs asparagus, trimmed
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 450°F. Arrange asparagus in a single layer in a roasting pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly, then drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 10-15 minutes, until asparagus is just tender. Serves 4.