Fennel!

I love fennel.  I've been so happy to start seeing it show up in my CSA box and at the farmer's market.  Last week I grabbed several small fennel bulbs at the farmer's market, with no real plan of what I wanted to do with them.  I also started my fennel seeds for the garden.  I can't wait till I'm growing my own fennel!

I've eaten a lot of fennel this past week.  First I tossed together a super simple, fresh and tasty salad.  I used my mandolin to thinly slice one fennel bulb and then I tossed in a strainer and thoroughly washed it (the fennel was dirty!).  I julienned some raw celeriac I also found at the farmer's market and tossed that together.  To add some color I chopped some cilantro and the fennel fronds to go in the salad.  I simply dressed the salad with some hazelnut oil, the juice and zest of a very small lemon, a touch of local honey, salt and fresh ground pepper.  Not my prettiest salad, but it was so good and so easy. 

Spoiled Rotten

Some pretty treats from the Topanga farmer's market. I just had to stage a photo!

On Friday we took a trip to our little tiny local farmer's market where I snagged up some tasty goodies. We then popped by Canyon Gourmet, as we do every Friday, to get the bean a treat and more importantly, to get me some wine! I came home with loads of Cara Cara oranges, pea tendrils, some beautiful baby red scallions, strawberries, pecan butter, baby carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, baby Persian cucumbers, fresh baked bread from the gourmet store and a lovely bottle of Chardonnay.

Baby scallions and pea tendrils, yum!

For lunch the boys and I gorged ourselves on berries, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and made honey and pecan butter sandwiches with our fresh baked bread. We followed up with oranges for dessert while we sat in the gorgeous sunshine. If only that were today!

Balsamic Molasses Lemonade and Pickled Chard Stems

photo by One Eleven Photography

The other day I took the bean to a toddler yoga class. He had a blast. After the class, the instructor (who is also a great friend, the beautiful Vicki Rose), told me she'd brought me a lovely bag of Meyer lemons, she knew they'd go to good use with me. I was so excited! After many more activities, I completely forgot about them and left them behind. I was so sad. The following day I had my dad and his wife over for lunch. They came bearing another unsolicited full bag of juicy lemons! I was so happy! And these ones actually made it all the way to my house!

On Monday the bean came wandering and asked for lemonade. I was about to respond that we didn't have any, but then I remembered my lovely lemons!

Broccoli, Chard and Pancetta Frittata!

Beautiful chard from my CSA

Yesterday was a crazy day in the land of this stay-at-home-mom. My wannabe-acrobat of an 18 month old took a couple nasty spills while I was attempting to make dinner and my 3 year old was being, well, a 3 year old.

Figs!!!

I am currently a complete fig addict. I will be sooo sad when the season ends. I've been eating them on bagels, dipped in mascarpone, in tarts, on pizza, plain, etc. etc.





As I kid I was always a fan of Fig Newtons. That was about the most exposure I had to figs. A couple years ago a friend (who also happens to be a chef) had a cheese plate at her party. It had all sorts of fancy cheeses, honey comb, blue cheese drizzled in honey and gorgeous halved figs. That was the first time I'd ever had a fresh fig. I was beside myself with how refreshingly delicious a plain, raw fig could be! I never knew! As the last couple years have passed I've randomly tried to obtain fresh figs only to not be able to find them (since I wasn't looking when they were in season).

A couple weeks ago I attended my very informal, extremely fun and wine-filled book club meeting at my sister's house. As an appetizer she had a giant platter of quartered figs with a bowl of whipped mascarpone, honey and vanilla. I must've eaten half the platter. The figs were from her tree in the backyard. Lo and behold, that very next week I received a ton of figs in my CSA box. I was beyond stoked (though sad to find that they weren't nearly as tasty as my sister's). At the book club there had been talk of making a tart with the figs, so that was what I did! I found a very simple recipe on line, which apparently is THE recipe since I found the identical recipe on about five different sites, each boasting it as their own. I don't know who's recipe it is, but it turned out fantastically, so here it is!

Caramelized Onion, Fig and Goat Cheese Tarts

(I went the lazy route and just used frozen puff pastry-you need one sheet, cut into fourths to make 4 tarts-but if you want to make your own, here's the recipe for the puff pastry: Puff Pastry)

Caramelized Onions

1 large onion
tablespoon of olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

1. Peel and slice the onion thinly.
2. Heat a large sauté pan and add the olive oil and onions over a low heat.
3. Gently cook the onions without color for 10 minutes or until they’re very soft.
4. Add the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and continue to cook over a low heat and stirring frequently for 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Once the onions are beautifully soft, ‘caramelized’ sticky and jam like, set aside to cool.
(I have to be honest, I didn't measure any of the above. I had a huge onion from my CSA box that I used. The recipe I followed called for 3 medium onions...with my one big onion I had more than enough. I just poured some olive oil and vinegar in when it was time, no measuring and did one big spoonful of brown sugar, though the recipe called for 2-3 tablespoons. I find onions tend to be quite sweet on their own, especially when coupled with balsamic AND figs.)

I split the onions into 4 equal portions and spooned into the tart shells. I pinched the edges of the puff pastry so that they sort of made a little bowl for the ingredients. Next I sliced about 2 figs (each into 4 slices) per tart and piled those in. I then crumbled goat cheese on top and popped into a preheated oven at 375 for about 25 mins, or until the puff pastry is a nice golden color.

SUPER tasty! Enjoy!!

Roasted veggie salad!!

Ok, just made up a super yummy veggie salad today. I got a spaghetti squash in my CSA box and I needed to do something with it. I'm not a huge spaghetti squash fan, but I would happily make this salad any day!

Last night I roasted a yellow and red bell pepper in the oven. To roast a pepper (WAY better than store bought) is very easy. I just stuck both peppers on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 degrees. I turned them over after about 15 mins and then after that point I turned them a little about every 5 mins or so for about 35 mins. I then put them in a bowl and covered it in seran wrap. The condensation helps the peels come off easily. Once they were nice and cool, I peeled the peppers and removed the seeds and stems. I reserved the liquid at the bottom of the bowl and put the peeled peppers back in the bowl once done. Since I did that part last night I just recovered the bowl and put it in the fridge for today.

Next I went ahead and roasted the spaghetti squash whole (pierce it all over with a sharp knife so it doesn't explode, cook it for about an hour at 400). Cut it open, scoop out the seeds and pulp (you can save the seeds and roast them on a pan with some salt just like pumpkin seeds!). Scoop out the flesh and set aside in a bowl.

Today I took about 1/2 an eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1/2"-1/4" cubes. I also minced 2 cloves of garlic and chopped 1/2 an onion (into 1/2 chunks). I tossed all of this on a cookie sheet with olive oil and a little bit of salt and roasted at 400 degrees for maybe 30 mins, flipping everything about half way through.

While the eggplant was roasting I sauteed some mushrooms. I normally slice my mushrooms but this time I cut the shrooms up in 6ths or so, about 1/2" chunks. I like so saute my mushrooms in a bit of olive oil, soy sauce and butter.

Now for the salad. I chopped about 2/3's of the peppers I roasted last night up and tossed them on top of the spaghetti squash. I also poured some of the juice in. (I reserved the rest for some tasty Italian sausage melts I plan on making tomorrow.) Next I poured the mushrooms in, along with the juice they were sitting in. I pulled the eggplant mixture from the oven and scraped everything right into the spaghetti squash bowl. I sliced several basil leaves and added this in to mixture along with a bunch of feta and a little bit of lemon juice!

Seriously, the salad is a little bit of heaven! It was soooo good! This salad makes me look at spaghetti squash in a whole new light! And if you really don't want to do the spaghetti squash you can always sub some orzo or quinoa in there. But I think the spaghetti squash makes this veggie salad extra light and fresh. Perfect for the summer!

Ingredients:

Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
About 10 basil leaves
Feta cheese
1 spaghetti squash
1/2-1 small eggplant (peeled)
1 1/2-2 bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)
About 10 white mushrooms (or your favorite kind of mushroom)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 a large yellow onion
Soy sauce and butter for the mushrooms
1/4-1/2 of a lemon

I paired my salad with some yummy homemade pizza, YUM!!

Experimental Tuesday

I failed at being consistent with "Experimental Fridays" so now I'm just going be experimental when I can!


Today I decided to try to put my kale to good use. I'm not a huge fan of kale, despite how healthy it is supposed to be for me. There are plenty of other greens that I really love to eat, I haven't felt the need to force feed myself one that I didn't like much. However, I get kale in my CSA box pretty much every week. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I give it away to my neighbors, and sometimes it just goes to waste and I end up tossing it.

This week it occurred to me that I could try to make chips with it. I turned my oven on to 400 and lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper. I then washed and drained my kale (something I should have done on Sunday before it even went in the fridge). I removed the stems (all the way up the leaf, so you are just left with the green part on either side). Then I tore the leaves into chip sized pieces and coated them with olive oil. I VERY lightly salted the chips and then used my microplane to grate some parmesan cheese on top. I popped the chips in the oven for 10 mins. They came out perfectly. Since it only took me about 5 mins to prep the chips my oven wasn't fully preheated to 400. For the second batch I reduced the heat to 375, repeated the 10 mins and they were perfect. So, if you fully preheat I wouldn't put the oven at more than 375 and 10 mins is the max I'd cook them at.


Even my toddler loved them. I liked them so much I had eaten 1/2 of the first batch before I remembered to take a picture!


Anyhow, these were a total hit and I'm pretty proud that I totally winged it with a green I'm not too fond of and managed to create something I love. And seriously, it took 15 mins max to make one batch of these from start to finish.

Beets, Beets and More Beets - Part Two

The beets keep coming. After my last beet post I was left with 6 beets. I got my next CSA box and there were TEN beets in it! So, I've continued being inventive with my beets.


I had been considering trying to make a cake with them, figuring it might come out similar to a carrot cake. I found a carrot cake recipe online that looked pretty good. I made a few adjustments to it, and of course used beets instead of carrots. It came out incredibly well! It was quite tasty and you seriously could not taste that it was made with beets! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (you can add nutmeg, too, if you like)
3 cups grated beets
1 cup chopped walnuts (or whatever nut you prefer)

Frosting:
1/2 cup softened butter
8oz soften cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar (could probably use even less, I actually cut the sugar from 4 cups to 2 and it was probably even a bit sweeter than I liked, but still good)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in beets. Fold in walnuts. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.


Even the kidlet approved!


I also used some of my beets to make a roasted root veggie medley. I used this Wolfgang Puck recipe, again I changed it a bit.

I couldn't find all the veggies and some I simply didn't want to bother with (like potatoes, seemed like a waste of space when you are using such fun veggies already). Here is what I did:

I used 3 carrots, 1/2 a celery root (mine was huge), 1 head of garlic, 1 onion, 2 turnips (on the smaller side), 2 small chioggia beets, 1 large golden beet, 1 fennel bulb, olive oil, salt, pepper and about 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped. I also peeled my garlic, so it did start to fall apart a bit. I think I'd still peel it just to save everyone the hassle of having to deal with the paper skins after it's cooked. Oh, and I purposely did not use regular, purple beets as I didn't want all my veggies to be pink.

I cooked my veggies at 400 degrees for about 90 minutes, stirring every 30 mins or so. They were amazing. I think my favorite veggies were the celery root and fennel. I only got a picture of them before they went in the oven. But they sure were pretty!


This weekend I plan on trying my hand at pickling some of the beets I have remaining. It'll be my first attempt at canning. Expect more on the beet front in a week or so!

Happy cooking!

Fried Tomato and Bacon Salad

Well, Experimental Friday came and went with zero experimenting. Life got in the way, as it often does.

My house is currently much quieter than normal with the hubby and toddler on their way to their first solo camping trip. It's very weird to have such a quiet house. I have Pandora going and of course there is still munchkin number 2, but he's pretty quiet when he's happy. It's peaceful!

On Thursday I was starving and it was about 4pm...too early for dinner, but too late for lunch. I was sorely craving a very decadent fried tomato and bacon salad I've made in the past. I got the recipe from my friend Marlyn and we'll see how my arteries thank her in a few years! I'd literally eat this salad every day if I could.

So here is how the recipe goes:

You need some sort of green, I prefer spinach as the green is going to be slightly wilted by the dressing and tomatoes and there really isn't another green I like both raw and wilted. I think I'd like it with arugula, as well, but I've only done spinach. In the pictures I'm posting here, I used Bloomsdale spinach, which is why it's so curly.

At least 2 thick slices of tomato per serving of salad (if you cut the tomatoes thinly they will just fall apart when being fried). I like to use those big, meaty, purple/green heirloom tomatoes.

Bacon-I like at least 2 slices per serving, but you could do one (really, if you are worried about the fat and all that fun stuff you shouldn't be eating this salad!). My favorite is Whole Foods' black forest bacon you can get from the butcher. When I'm curbing my Whole Paycheck addiction, my second favorite is the Trader Joe's apple smoked bacon.

And lastly, whatever vinegar and herbs you'd like to use to make a dressing. I usually just use a little apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar and some Italian seasoning. Quick, easy and tasty.


First you prep your greens (wash, drain, etc.). Then fry up the bacon and set aside to drain on some paper towels. Keep the bacon grease hot (the hotter the better) and gently slide your tomato slices in. Tomatoes are full of water, water and hot bacon grease really don't go well together, so don't cook this wearing your favorite $200 top. Wear an apron and stand back! Now just wait and let the tomatoes fry. After you feel like you've waited long enough (a minute or so), you can gently check the bottom of one, see if they are browned at all, if they are, flip and repeat! As soon as the tomatoes are cooked to your liking, remove directly onto your plate of greens (you should put each individual serving of greens on their own plate). Turn the heat off and swirl in some vinegar and herbs with the grease. Again, this is going to pop like crazy and if you've ever heated vinegar, it's a good idea to turn a fan on so you don't shrivel your nose hairs. While the dressing is still bubbling and hot, pour over the salad. Next crumble your bacon (or in my case I just chopped the bacon) on top and voila! Eat immediately, while your tomatoes are still hot!

Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies!!

Great post about baking gluten-free!

http://leitesculinaria.com/42047/writings-gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies.html