Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Grandpa Day #2 / Hazelnut, Ricotta, and Lemon Pesto Pasta

Today marks the anniversary of my grandfather's passing, so we're having beans, franks, and potatoes for dinner. You've seen that already (but this time I got some hot dogs from the butcher) (my grandpa would have LOVED my butcher, btw), so I thought I might try to tempt you with a delicious pasta dinner we had earlier this week.

For this installment of Presto Pasta Night, hosted by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast, my second in as many weeks (go me!), I give to you: Hazelnut, Ricotta, and Lemon Pesto Pasta!!

I found this recipe in the August issue of Bon Appetit magazine... It isn't something that normally would have caught my eye, but belonging to our CSA and making regular trips to the farmer's market on weekends... we've had a lot of tomatoes in our house... so the lack of tomatoes really appealed to me. That, and I had a giant tub of ricotta in the fridge (from all those SBD-friendly desserts!)

See how there aren't multiple paragraphs of instructions? Its that easy. Process it all (in their order, of course) and boil some pasta, and you're done. Seriously. I wasn't sure I wanted to toss the whole bowl into the pasta (and I'm glad I didn't - more later), but I should have used more than I did. The moisture in the pesto was soaked up into the pasta itself, which make the whole thing really really sticky. On future helpings, I added more pesto, and it was fine. I almost want to compare it to the crumb layer in frosting... let the pasta soak up the first bit, add more and its perfect. Anyway... do what you'd like, the stickyness was a little weird, but it made it easier to cut and eat with a fork! ;)

The reason I'm glad I didn't use up all the sauce is this: Its awesome on a pizza! I went online to grab the recipe for the blog, and I saw that a reviewer suggested using the pesto on pizza - and since I'm currently in love with all things White Pizza, I had to try it out. I toasted a whole grain flat out wrap (thanks, Marcie!), then smeared the pesto on. I added a few spoonfuls of ricotta, and then put it back in the oven for 10 minutes. O my gawd. Its now become the only thing I want to eat anymore. If I had a toaster oven at work, I seriously could eat this every day of the week. No photo, and I'm sorry about that, but I'm sure you can all imagine it.

I still have all of the ingredients at home, so you betcha that I'm pulling them all out this weekend!

Hazelnut, Ricotta, and Lemon Pesto
Bon Appetit, August 2007
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/239059

This can be tossed with a pound of pasta (serve warm or chilled), used as a topping for grilled chicken, or spread onto toasted slices of baguette or focaccia.

Makes about 2 1/3 cups.

1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese (from one 15-ounce container)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons (packed) finely grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Fine sea salt

With processor running, drop garlic clove into machine and blend until finely chopped. Add hazelnuts, basil, and 2 tablespoons olive oil; process until hazelnuts and basil are finely chopped. Add ricotta cheese, lemon juice, lemon peel, and remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil; process until well blended. Transfer mixture to small bowl and stir in Pecorino Romano cheese. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

See the recipe...



Monday, September 24, 2007

SHF #35: Fig and Peach Newtons


Ivonne's figgy call went out, and I have tried to answer. Yah, the picture isn't very pretty... they could have used a sprinkling of sugar pre-baking... but I wanted to let these cute little bars also serve as a tasty sweet afternoon snack... which meant... no added sugar! (Don't worry, they're still nice and sweet!)



This being both my first ever Sugar High Friday and my first experience with figs, I was surprisingly calm. Even rowdy with the recipe. Rowdy? What do I mean? If you know me, you know I am a devout recipe follower. I might smidge a little here or there (I always add extra garlic (who doesn't?) or less salt or sub out splenda where it fits), but for the most part, I stick to the rules. I am not an intuitive cook (yet), so I don't trust my whimsical decisions. So yesterday, as I was picking out figs, and I could get only 1 lb, not 2... I initially thought I would just halve the whole recipe. But then when I got home, lugging all my stuff up the stairs, I wondered how my fresh market peaches would work incorporated into the mess... figs and peaches? Could they be friends?

I don't know why I did it. I mean, have you ever seen a peach newton? I haven't. I also hadn't ever purchased my very own fresh figs... so.. maybe the newness got to me. Whatever it was, I like it. I might learn to trust that crazy little voice in my head!

These cute little bars won't win any beauty contests, but they are delightful little mouthfuls! The fruit is nice and sweet and the cream cheese dough is a nice mix of chewy and flaky. Mine don't look like Gena's, but that's okay. Just means I'll have to try them again! And this time, who knows what that little voice will have me doing with the filling!

I want to give a little shout-out love to the lovely man in the produce department that taught me how to pick the perfect fig - I don't know what I would have done without you!


Adapted from:
Better Fig Newtons
http://www.bigcitylittlekitchen.com/2007/09/17/better-fig-newtons/

Pastry:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room-temperature
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room-temperature
Cinnamon sugar (optional)

Jam:
1 lb fresh figs, chopped
1 lb fresh peaches, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of a lemon

To make pastry: in a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In a large bowl, using either a standing mixer or a handheld one, beat the butter and cream cheese until well-combined. Add flour mixture, and beat until combined into a sticky dough. Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap it up, and press down to flatten a bit. Chill in refrigerator while making jam.

In a saucier or medium sauce pan, combine figs, half of the sugar, and half of the lemon juice. Repeat in a separate pan with the peaches. Mash each mixture a few times with a potato masher or fork. Cook mixtures over medium-high heat until bubbling and sugar has dissolved; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes, until it has reduced by about one-third and is beginning to gel. Set both aside until completely cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut dough into four pieces. On a well-floured surface, roll the first piece out to about 12 inches by 6 inches. Place on cookie sheet. Spread about 1/4 cup of the cooled jam (fig, peach, or both) along half of the sheet of pastry, lengthwise (ie, the 12-inch side), leaving a 1/2-inch border along the edges. Fold the other, naked side of the pastry over the jam-spread side, and press down on edges to seal. Create tiny slits with a knife on surface of pastry, about 2 inches apart, to allow air to escape while baking. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired. Repeat with remaining three sections of dough, ending with 2 pastries on each cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, or until pastry is just beginning to turn golden.

Cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes, then slice into bars. Try making one slice length-wise, then making 2-inch cuts horizontally, to mimic the size and shape of actual Fig Newtons. It’s important not to let them get too cool before slicing; otherwise, the pastry becomes too flaky, and doesn’t contain the filling as well. Similarly, don’t slice them straight out of the oven, or the filling will ooze out.

Enjoy!

See the recipe...



Sunday, September 23, 2007

It's a Great Day to be Alive

Those words were spoken to me a week ago today by a woman in my apartment building. Her admission echoed the exact thing I'd been thinking at that very same time. I had just been to the farmer's market and to the bookstore, the weather was cool, crisp and sunny, the sky a blue you could get lost in... I was absolutely in love with life. And for that woman, a woman I didn't know, to utter those words at that time... it was cosmic.

I've also decided that if I were to ever run away from home, it would happen on a Sunday morning. There is something so soul satisfying about the farmer's market... I feel on top of the world and capable of anything. And it isn't limited to the market itself. The drive itself to market excites me. If my car could skip, we'd be skipping to market. The vibrant colors of the fruits and vegetables, their scents... their potential... I love it! My husband will come along on the odd weekend, but only for the ham-and-cheese croissants! I make sure to bring some home with me if I go alone, though. Win-win. :)

If you're thinking, "Yah, thats great, but what about dinner???" then this is where it gets good. Last Sunday, my wonderful girlfriend Liane came over for the afternoon and we put this together for our families! Sure, she may have questioned everything I did, but I'll keep her! ;)

I'd picked up the lovely leg of lamb from my favorite butcher a few weeks ago and I'd been itching to make it. I'd picked out this recipe from my 86 Recipes New York box, and we got started!

The lamb was easy-peasy... just a matter of mixing the herbs and letting them soak for a while and then grilling.

The salsa was the same way... roast and blend. Ta-daa! It was spicy but not in a mean way. Even Liane liked it (and she doesn't like hot-hot)!

The polenta had a few extra steps, but they were well worth it. WELL worth it. I plan on making it again this week (just the polenta) and maybe even double the recipe! Liane and I decided that next time, we need to let the polenta cool in a thicker layer... the wee skinny little triangles were impossible to flip in one piece (which is why they are so mangled in the photo). Delicious, yes, pretty, no. :)

And lastly, the salad... this recipe makes a lot of salad. A lot. Seriously a lot. Only make the full batch if you're feeding more than 10 people. Honest. The salad itself was fresh and dainty - a nice foil for the spicy salsa and polenta.

This was one of those meals that melds beautifully together, and you're going to want to get a little of everything onto your fork for each bite. Everyone seemed to like it, and I definitely want to try it all again. And again.


Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ancho-Tomato-Tamarind Salsa
From: Village Restaurant
c/o 86 Recipes, New York

Lamb:
¼ cup olive oil
3 Tbsp dried oregano
3 large garlic cloves, finely minced
1 ½ Tbsp whole cumin seed
Ground black pepper
1 (4- to 5-lb) leg of lamb, boned, butterflied, trimmed of almost all fat

Salsa:
4 large beefsteak tomatoes, whole with stem removed
1 large white onion, peeled and cut into thick slices
6 cloves garlic, peeled
¼ cup olive oil
1-2 dried ancho chilies, soaked till soft in hot water, seeded
3 Tbsp tamarind paste
2 Tbsp smoked sweet paprika
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar, or more to taste

Fresh Corn-Basil Polenta, recipe follows
Jicama-Orange Salad, recipe follows

For lamb:
Blend together ingredients of marinade and rub over lamb, especially on the inside. Cover, chill at least 8 hours or overnight.

Heat grill (medium-high). Remove lamb from marinade. Sprinkle both sides of lamb generously with salt and more pepper. Grill lamb until brown and crusty on outside and thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 125°F for medium-rare, turning occasionally, about 20-30 minutes.

Transfer to platter and tent with foil. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut on diagonal, across grain, into thin slices.

Salsa:
Roast first 3 ingredients dressed with olive oil on baking tray in 425F oven till soft (approx. 20 minutes). (Can also be cooked in a roasting pan over the charcoal, with grill lid on).

Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth in food processor.

To serve, reheat gently, add a little water if too thick. Adjust seasoning.

Serve with Fresh Corn-Basil Polenta and Jicama-Orange Salad.

Fresh Corn-Basil Polenta
From: Village Restaurant
c/o 86 Recipes, New York

2 cups milk
1 Tbsp chopped garlic, sautéed in a little olive oil
3 ½ cups fresh raw corn kernels
2 sprigs basil
1 scant cup cornmeal
1 roasted poblano pepper, finely chopped
¼ cup butter
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and ground black pepper

Boil milk, with garlic, 2 cups corn and basil. Remove basil and blend.

Strain through a coarse chinoise. Bring to a boil and whisk in cornmeal, pouring it in a shower.

Return to heat till mixture thickens and continue cooking for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and add extra kernels, poblano peppers, butter, cheese, and season with salt and pepper. Place onto foil-lined tray, 1 inch thick. Refrigerate.

To serve, slice into triangles and remove with flexible spatula. Dredge in cornmeal and brown in nonstick pan on both sides (can be fragile).


Jicama-Orange Salad
From: Village Restaurant
c/o 86 Recipes, New York

4 small jicamas, peeled and cut into a large julienne
3 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced not too thin
5 oranges, peeled and cut into segments
½ small red onion, sliced thinly

Dressing:
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
½ cup each tightly packed mint and cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Toss the salad ingredients together and top with the dressing.

See the recipe...



Friday, September 21, 2007

Trust Me: Garrett Makes Tasty Sauce!

Is this a filler post? Maybe. But I couldn't NOT tell you about the lovely thing we did with Garrett's Salted Caramel Sauce!

I try to only bring into our home things I'm comfortable eating - so this means less chips/snacks and more fruits and veggies and granola. My one (very strong) vice is ice cream... so I try to keep a steady supply of Skinny Cow brand ice cream sandwiches in the freezer... because if an ice cream craving strikes, and believe me, it will, its better to have these tasty, healthier versions at hand... otherwise we'll hop over 7-11 and get a pint of something terrible (and yummy!)

Well, earlier this week, I found us out of cupcakes. It was a really sad day. We still had some of the marvelous sauce in the fridge.. and well... we didn't want it to go to waste! Onto the skinny cow it went. Yah, it ruins the "good-choice"ness of the skinny cow in the first place... but we tried!

Even if apple cupcakes aren't your thing, make a batch of sauce. It's just plain sinful and would be amazing on anything!

See the recipe...



Thursday, September 20, 2007

Lemon and Garlic Prawn Pasta

Thank goodness! It has been so long since we've had any new pasta for dinner, I was beginning to worry if I'd ever have anything to submit to the lovely Ruth! But here it is, from Donna Hay Magazine, my entry to Presto Pasta Night #30!!! Yay!!! (I remember being really frightened of turning 30, but PPN seems to be taking it in stride! Go Ruth!!)



Now, I've only been acquainted with all things Donna Hay since April of this year. I now have a couple of her books, and all of her magazines that have come out since. What I find interesting about her magazines is this: I feel like they are a secret weapon. Why? Well, because her magazines come out based on Australia's seasons... which are of course different from those had in the US... so I have to sit on them a few months before they're entirely applicable... so I have this stash of Future Recipes, seasonal and delicious, and all I have to do is wait! Yes, its an arsenal we all have access to... but... still.

Sure, I overcooked the pasta. It's been so long since we've had any pasta in the OPF Household, that I just wasn't thinking about the proper pasta timing. Considering how flavorful the rest of it was, the squishy pasta was easily overlooked. At least this time. ;)

I also forgot to add the garlic at the right time... I tossed it in at the same time I added the broth. The sauce didn't seem hurt by it, but I'll try it the right way next time and see which I like better. (Or if it makes that much of a difference.)

Mistakes aside, we loved this. LOVED this. It made a delightful dinner and a totally snazzy lunch the next day. We mostly get by with sandwiches for lunch, you know how it is, so its always really nice to have a warm, yummy lunch. Can't help but feel special.


Lemon and Garlic Prawn Pasta
Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 31

14 oz angel hair pasta
1 ¾ oz unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
14 oz prawns or ginormous shrimp
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fish stock
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup chopped green onions
1 cup basil leaves
shaved parmesan cheese to serve

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until al dente. Drain and return to the saucepan.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the butter, garlic, prawns, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and cook for a further 2 minutes or until the prawns are cooked through. Add the prawn mixture to the pasta with the lemon zest and juice, green onions and basil and toss to coat.

Top with the parmesan to serve.

Serves 4.

See the recipe...



Sunday, September 16, 2007

Poached Eggs in Salad Aren't Scary

Despite being a big fan of poached eggs in general, and especially on toast or on corned beef hash, the idea of a poached egg in my salad always squidged me out. Which is odd, now that I think about it, because I like hard-boiled eggs in my salad... so it shouldn't have been too much of a leap to try poached. Muh.

At any rate, Dave and I watched Emeril prepare one night. We don't normally watch Emeril Live, but he just so happened to have Daniel Boulud as a guest chef, and we both have a little chef-crush on Boulud (we watch his After Hours show, we went to his restaurant in Vegas), so it was an easy call. As we were watching, Dave decided that we had to have this at home. (Read: I had to make this so he could eat it.) I thought that this was an interesting request, as Dave definitely doesn't eat runny eggs... I didn't know what had gotten into him, but I was certainly going to capitalize on it!

We timed this salad for when we were having friends over for dinner. I thought, I'm making something I'm already familiar with, may as well try out something new on them. (Yay guinea pigs!)

I asked my butcher for a thick hunk of bacon, so I could cube it at home, and grabbed the other ingredients at the store. I've never worked with frisee before, and I found it to be pretty interesting... and it gave me a reason to pull out the salad spinner!!

This salad was lovely to make, and pulled together for a really nice presentation. If your love of toast is anything like mine, this will take it to a whole new level. I mean, whats not to like about toast thats made by grilling bread that was dipped in bacon fat?!?!??!

Everyone seemed to like it, and with such a small ingredient list and an easy preparation, I know we'll have this again.


Frisee Salad with Bacon Lardons and Poached Eggs
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagassee, 2006
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_36266,00.html

2 heads frisee lettuce, about 1 1/2 pounds
12 ounces thick-cut bacon, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
4 (1-inch) thick pieces baguette
1/4 cup minced shallots
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
6 cups water
1 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
4 large eggs

Trim the green tops from the frisee, and trim the root ends. Separate the leaves and tear them into 2-inch pieces. Wash and spin dry in a salad spinner and divide the frisee into 4 shallow soup or pasta bowls.

Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.

Set a 10-inch sauté pan over medium-low heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring often until most of the fat has rendered, and the bacon is crispy, about 7 to 8 minutes. Dip bread slices in bacon fat just to coat and remove bread from pan. Place bread on grill pan and toast on both sides until golden.

Add the shallots to the bacon and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Pour the vinegar into the pan and season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper, remove from the heat. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon from the pan and drain onto a plate lined with paper towels. Drizzle the vinaigrette evenly over the lettuces, and divide the bacon among the bowls as well.

In a wide-mouthed saucepan, bring the water to a gentle boil with the white vinegar. Crack an egg into a cup, and gently slide it into the water. Slide each of the other 3 eggs into the water in the same manner. When the water comes back to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the eggs are set, about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. Gently remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and pat dry with a linen cloth or paper towel. Place an egg over the top of each mound of frisee and season with the remaining salt and black pepper. Serve immediately.


See the recipe...



Friday, September 14, 2007

Garrett's Tasty Cupcakes


Despite it being 90+ degrees outside, it felt like a crisp fall day in my kitchen last Sunday. Why? I had football on the kitchen radio and I was peeling apples. Seriously, what could be better? I distinctly remember thinking, as I was peeling away, with the smell of apples in my nose, that this feels like Fall. Mind you, I am neither of those people that hold on to Summer or embrace Fall once Labor Day hits - I enjoy both for different reasons... so I amused myself by taking advantage of both - and quite accidentally. I saw these cupcakes (the sauce is dreamy, too) on Garrett's site, and I had to have them!

I don't know if I was being conservative with the tin-filling, but I ended up with 19 or so cupcakes... instead of the 12 he suggests... More the merrier!

I probably undersalted the sauce, which was ok with me. I tend to shy away from salt, and I can go from finding something perfect to too salty in a flash. I overbought on apples, but I chopped them anyway and froze them. If they thaw ok, I'm totally using them to make more of these cupcakes. I loved them, my husband loved them, they rock. Nice and moist, perfect crumb. Garrett might have been well behaved enough to not lick his plate, but as I took my husband's plate from the bedroom to the kitchen, I totally licked it. (You may too, so make sure no one is looking!!!)

To make your own plate-licking sauce, waltz on over to Garrett's site for the recipe!


See the recipe...



Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Heidi Swanson's Madeleines Went Straight to My Belly

See all of those madeleines up there? See them? They are ALL GONE!! So delicious and addictive they were, that I made them Sunday afternoon and they were but mere crumbs-on-a-plate by last night. So. The Madeline Math here, if you will, is this: 24 madeleines gone in 24 hours, 8 hours asleep, 10 hours away at work = we consumed 24 madeleines in less than 6 hours!!!!! OMG!

What's really nice (and a bit scary) about these madeleines is that yah, we ate 'em.. but I never felt sick of them (or sick-sick of them). No belly ache, to being tired of eating them... I could eat a whole 'nother 24 of them over the next few days. I did have help, btw.

I clearly need to never make these again. Or, I need more than one madeleine pan, so I can make MORE of them FASTER!!!!!

Should you like to make some of Heidi Swanson's delicious little madeleine dream-boats, go check our her recipe! Make them! Do it! And I can personally vouch for her pouring-the-batter-from-a-glass trick. Worked like a charm. Just pour what you need into a glass and then pour into the pan. I got crazy and then refilled more than I needed while my pan was in the oven, in preparation for batch number two, and the batter started to separate. So I needed to pour it back in and whisk it up. So yah, just pour what you need at the time.

I'm having some girls over in a couple of weeks, so I might make these again soon... however, I'd need to share them with the girls... and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that. ;)

See the recipe...



Monday, September 10, 2007

Zucchini Ricotta Frittata

It's seriously as much fun to eat as it is to say! I just adore Elise's site, Simply Recipes. Not just for all her tasty food (though, thats enough!), but because of her engaging commentary. I feel like I know her family, understand why they eat what they eat, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with on a daily basis! Sure, you all read what she has to say, too, but I can still get my Elise fan-girl going. :)

So. Where should I start? This is an excellent way to use up all of your stray zucchinis and yellow squashes AND!!!! if you don't eat it with bacon (like we did), its pretty healthy! We had this meal right before we left on our trip to Vegas a few weeks ago... and I'm hoping I get more zucchinis in our CSA this week, so I can make it again!

Another reason I liked this recipe is because it gave me an excuse to use my mandoline again. I don't know what happened. For the longest time, I saw so many recipes that would have benefited from my having a mandoline, so I got one... and now, I barely use it. (I hope this doesn't happen with my nifty new torch!!!!)

The recipe says it serves 2 to 3, and it means it. Yah, it looks big, but its thin... and delicious... so the less of you there are, the less you have to share!!!

You can find the recipe on Elise's site - I didn't change it one bit!



See the recipe...



Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Old Favorites, Part 2: Whoa, what happened?



You've made it before. More than once, even. So when you decide to make it for your husband's friends, you figure, no problem! You have it in the b-a-g!

Until.

Until you don't pay enough attention and your chocolate cools a little too much. Or it could have been the reverse addition (chocolate to cream vs. cream to chocolate). Whatever it was, your nice creamy chocolate mousse top layer is instead a weird white-with-chocolate-speckles mess. (Tasted just as nice, though!!)

That was me Friday night. We had Dave's lovely friends Mark and Maggie over for dinner Saturday night, and I wanted to get as much prep done as I could, to maximize our playtime. So, Friday night, I'm making risotto (more in another entry), I'm chopping veggies, I'm making the hazelnut caramel sauce AND I'm making our dinner for Friday night... so my chocolate cooled too much. And I was too lazy to do the mixing in the right direction... so my dessert was speckled. (Let that be a lesson to you!) That, and the caramel sauce was a little too thick - too many nuts, I'm guessing.

So, let that be a lesson to you - it doesn't matter how comfy you are with a recipe, pay attention! Or just be ok with the speckles. :)




In another sameness direction, we had our lovely black pepper-crusted steaks again. This time was different because I am now the proud owner of a KITCHEN TORCH!!!! Think of all the things I can burn up! Woo! Rather than add the goat cheese and continue to broil until the cheese gets melty and tan, I broiled the steaks to the right done-ness, spooned a little sauce on top, cheesed them, and then torched away! I am really really really pleased with how they turned out, and I'm not sure how I got by for so long without this fabulous little toy!

I did make a couple of new things that night, but I'll save them for later this week!

See the recipe...



Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Old Favorites, Part One: The Way We Were

(No, we aren't robots. Just a little bit on autpilot.)

We here in the OPF Household have been revisiting old favorites lately. Before this blog happened, I would find a new recipe, make it, and then if we liked it, I would make it another 3 or 4 times. Not all in a row, mind you, but over the next few weeks. At that point, I'd have learned something else, and we'd be eating it over and over until the next New Thing came along. It was a trend, sure, but I was ok with it. (Until Dave complained, anyway.)

And then the blog... and the desire/need to produce something new and different and yummy on a regular basis - and we both LOVE it! I love having this giant sheaf of recipes I can personally vouch for.

However, when we got back from vacation, all I wanted to make and eat were things we were already in love with... a true Coming Home, if you will. We had the steamed halibut, the chicken and polenta with fruity sauce, those yummy blueberry muffins, and we're having the swiss chard and ricotta roll tomorrow night!

Anyway, I have a slew of tasty, amusing things to show you. Some new foods (and non-south beach diet, for a change), and some old, but they turned out a different way... which was a little weird.

For now, I'm off to bed. G'night!

See the recipe...