Simple Peanut Sesame Noodles

I used to make this all the time. I saw a similar recipe on a TV show once when I first moved away from home. I think it might have been TLC's Home Made Simple. I didn't know how to cook very many things. But I could make this. And it was yummy.

I like to toss a bunch of cilantro on top so that it looks green and healthy. It isn't healthy. But I like to fool myself.

I always love sesame noodles at potlucks, but I think this version (which is so super easy to make!) which includes lots of fresh lime juice and cilantro is particularly yummy & lively.

The ingredient list is short, and mostly compromised of pantry staples. (do you all keep soy sauce, rice vinegar, and siracha as pantry staples?)

Your favorite noodles - I like to use linguini, I really like the Ronzoni "smart taste" one because it is supposedly healthier, but looks and tastes the same as the normal stuff.
1 cup peanut butter - any kind works, but keep in mind if it is salted or sweetened, you will need to taste as you go and adjust the flavors.
1 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS soy sauce
1/2  cup water
2 tsp sirracha
1 TBS sesame seeds - I have the mix of dark and light seeds. the dark ones sort of look like ticks. I prefer the regular whiteish seeds alone for that reason. But the blend works. Just don't think too much about how much the dark ones look like ticks. Thanks.
a lot of chopped fresh cilantro
juice of half a lime


If you want to be fancy with this, you can start by lightly toasting your sesame seeds in the bottom of a pan.You can also cut nice extra lime wedges to put on the plates when you serve. Just saying.


1.Start by boiling some water for your pasta. Follow the directions on the package and make your noodles.
2. while they cook, put the peanut butter in the bottom of a hot sauce pan. Add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sirracha and taste as you go. If it's too sour you can add more PB or a bit of sugar. Too sweet, add more soy sauce, rice vinegar or siracha. you get it, this is one of those adjust it as you go along recipes.
3. Add the water and mix over heat until blended. This should create a thick, opaque sauce.
4. Drain your noodles (don't rinse or add oil) and pour the sauce over. Mix, adding the sesame seeds, lime juice, and cilantro.
5. Serve warm, room temp, or chilled. Totally your choice. Today is all about choices. You're in charge.

French Onion Soup (revamped repost)

Back when I was on a member of an online dating website (yes that happened and seriously I suggest it to anyone single who wants to meet new people they wouldn't otherwise) I wrote in my profile to answer the prompt "I am good at  ______" that I was good at making french onion soup.  I subsequently got multiple messages from nearby single men asking details about how to make french onion soup. Now I am sure these were just conversation starters,  but it really must show that people out there are interested in this right? And since it is in fact so, so easy to make a decent french onion soup, it seems like this knowledge needs to be shared.

In case you were wondering how to make a basic french onion soup, and perhaps haven't found any girls on dating websites to address the question to, here is a bit of instruction on how I make it.

I actually posted a french onion soup recipe  on this site in October of 2010. I decided it was time to revamp and update that post with new pictures and some slight revisions, as well as to bring it out from the depths of this site's archives.

I made this french onion soup recently, using a similar method to my original with only a few small changes. The ingredients are simple and inexpensive,  and the outcome is pretty good if I do say so myself.

If you are wondering what changes I made since last posting this recipe, they were mostly based on simplifiying and making the original even easier to make, with fewer ingredients to go out and buy. Things like using dried thyme instead of fresh, cutting out the rosemary, and using only red wine instead of both red and white, in place of the traditional sherry. I also increased the amount of garlic, and reduced the amount of bread, which I chose this time to serve on the side.

Next I photographed it in the natural light from a sunny window, and not on an ugly orange placemat. Big changes, guys. But really, this post needed some attention. The single men of Boston want to know how to make french onion soup, and they don't want to see photographs that look like this:

And here's what you need to know to make the recipe:

Simple French Onion Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 large onions, sliced

1 TBS olive oil

2 tsp dried thyme

3-4 cloves of garlic- minced

3 cups beef or chicken broth

3/4 to 1 cup dry red wine

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp worcester sauce

Plus:

4 slices of bread- I used challa, but french bread is classic

1 cup of shredded cheese- Greyere and Parmesean, Swiss, or even Cheddar- whichever is your favorite. I found a Cheddar-Greyere blend at Trader Joes that worked well and was inexpensive

Process:

1.Halve and slice each of your onions. Try not to cry too much. Chew on some bread, it will help.

2. Heat your oil in a large pan. Once hot, add the onions.

3. Heat the onions in a covered pot until they begin to caramelize, stirring occasionally. About 20 minutes.

4. Add garlic and thyme. Cook 5 more minutes.

5. Add wine to deglaze pan, then stock (and water if you need more liquid)

6. Add worcester sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.

7. Simmer and allow the liquid to reduce a bit and get delicious. 

8. The End.

except for this part:

MEANWHILE: 

1.Heat the oven to 400. 

2. On a baking sheet lay out your slices of bread, topped liberally with cheese. 

3.Bake until the cheese is bubbly. 

4.Serve alongside the soup. 

PS- I hereby promise to try really hard to make my next cooking post not be soup related. Sorry.

Tom Kha Gai

Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines. When I go out for Thai food the part of the menu I get most excited about is the soup section. This probably isn't surprising to any of you who have been reading my blog for any length of time...I seem to be a bit obsessed with soup. I once joked that I should officially change my food blog into a soup blog. In fact, a quick search shows me that the word "soup" was mentioned in 17 of my 45 cooking related posts.  17 is the same number of posts in which I mention the word "flour" in the baking section, and actually several more mentions than the word "project" in my home and DIY themed posts, which I often feel ridiculous for overusing. What can I say, I am a lover of soup.

Should I officially convert this into a soup blog, guys? Do you all love soup like I do? Think of all the possibilities...I have never even posted a chilled soup, such as cold cherry soup or gazpacho! And I have never posted a chicken matzo ball soup recipe (what kind of nice jewish girl am I?)  But anyway, back to Thai food, alright?

I can never decide if I prefer Tom Yum Goong, with its spicy-sour broth and decadent shrimp, or Tom Kha Gai with its lively coconut milk, cilantro and lime combination.   I have made Tom Kha Gai at home several times, and have yet to attempt Tom Yum...maybe soon! I think I would rather not choose a favorite. I will just settle to like them both equally. 

If you, like me, dig Tom Kha, and its aromatic coconuty broth, I think you'll be happy to know that making it at home is really quite easy. I had success finding most of the ingredients I needed by going to a big asian supermarket near my house, Super 88 (psst...click that link to read an old post I wrote about Super 88 and omelets...it also includes a funny Japanese commercial), but in my search for recipes I also discovered a lot of helpful substitutions which may come in handy if you don't live around the corner from a mammoth Asian specialty grocery store.

Here are some of the ingredients I used:

fresh cilantro, scallions, lemongrass, thai peppers, galangal, coconut milk and lime

I also used: chicken broth, chicken breast, sliced white mushrooms, fish sauce, a bit of brown sugar, and some thai curry paste. They didn't make it into the picture.

If you are worried you won't find thai specialty ingredients, I urge you to be optimistic! Check your local grocery store in the international section. My local Stop&Shop carries thai curry paste (which can be used in place of the thai peppers), coconut milk, fish sauce, and a whole slew of other basic thai ingredients. I have found lemongrass at whole foods in the past, and occasionally thai peppers, too. In the past I have had trouble finding galangal (though I got lucky this time) an aromatic root similar to ginger, but more floral. I have substituted ginger in its place on two occasions, and though it may not be the most authentic, it still came out delicious. So never fear, substitutions can be made. 

I have unfortunately never been successful in finding Kefer lime leaves, so  I end up leaving them out, and including a little bit more lime juice than the recipes I have found call for. Believe me, it still turns out delicious. 

Because when I make soup I don't usually stick to a recipe but rather a guideline, here is the basic process I followed. Taste as you go, and alter things as needed...don't be afraid to experiment a bit!

Ingredients:

2 cans of coconut milk

thinly sliced chicken breast

juice of 1 or 2 limes (at least 3 TBS)

fresh cilantro

lemon grass, (just the bottoms, bruised)

galangal, roughly chopped

thai chili peppers

chicken broth

scallions

white mushrooms, sliced

fish sauce (roughly 2 tablespoons)

Process:

• Start with the aromatics- Chop up some galangal (I used about an inch by inch piece, chopped roughly) and put it in the bottom of your soup pot over medium heat with a bit of oil. Add a few pieces of lemongrass, bruised to bring out the flavor, and chop a couple of thai peppers, removing most of the seeds and ribs, or throwing them in whole, depending on the level of spiciness you desire. Add a little bit of chopped cilantro, too. 

• Cook until fragrant, adding the chicken broth, one can of coconut milk and fish sauce at this time. Give the liquid some time to simmer, and then strain the broth to remove the aromatics. 

• Next add the remaining coconut milk and mushrooms. 

• In a saute pan, lightly cook the chicken in thin strips, then add to the soup.

• Remove the soup from the heat, add the lime juice, taste and add brown sugar, more chili peppers or curry paste if desired. 

• Serve hot, garnished with plenty of sliced scallions and chopped fresh cilantro, and some thai peppers for color and extra spice. 

Have you made Thai food at home before? Have you experimented with cooking a new cuisine lately, or tried to figure out what to substitute for ingredients that are hard to come by in your region? Are you obsessed with soup? What is your favorite thing to order at a Thai restaurant? Let me know in the comments, maybe I will try to make your favorite dish next!

Egyptian Lentil Soup

 

Lentil soup will heal you. It will make you whole. And fix all your problems. And find you lasting love. And lower your cholesterol.  Ok, only the last statement has been scientifically tested, to my knowledge. Well, and to be even more fair, I should mention that I made this soup a couple of weeks ago, and it has yet to find me lasting love. But it totally fixed all my other problems. And it was delicious.

I went to the grocery store hoping to find brown lentils to make a lentil soup recipe by Martha Stewart, to tack on to the end of "Martha Stewart week" (a theme I may have to revisit...I didn't even do any paper crafts, or creatively set a dinner table!) Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately!) the grocery store was out of both brown and green lentils, and only had red. Now anyone who is worth their salt in lentil-knowledge (does this sentence make anyone else chuckle a bit...I did while writing it, but that's probably just me) knows that brown and green lentils each keep their shape much more while cooking, while red lentils tend to be...fall apart-ish or mushy. So a soup like the one I had picked, which intended the lentils to hold up, would not be a great choice for substituting red lentils. That being said, even though mushy, red lentils are particularly delicious- just think of your favorite lentil heavy Indian dish.

So I got home intending to find a recipe for a soup using red lentils, and most of the other ingredients I had brought home with me. This is best part, guys. I got home to find my most recent Food & Wine Magazine open on the kitchen table. I hadn't read it yet, so one of my roommates must have been looking at it there. The page it was open to? Egyptian Red Lentil Soup. Seriously. It was a sign from somewhere. And besides the ingredients I had already picked out, the only other things it called for were things I had on hand, like lemon and plain yogurt, and certain spices. Meant to be.

So I made this soup. And I ate it. And it healed me.

Egyptian Lentil Soup
From Food & Wine Magazine February 2012


Special Equipment: A large soup pot (I used my beloved Mario Batali dutch oven, which is currently on sale, FYI), an immersion blender (though if you only have a standing blender you could blend this in batches*)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 3 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• Salt to taste
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 
• 1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
• 1 pound tomatoes, seeded and diced  (I used a can of diced tomatoes. It worked out great)
•  2 cups red lentils (14 ounces)

•  Plain yogurt, lemon wedges and warm pita, for serving 

1. Start your cooking process by preparing a mirepoix-  heat the butter in the bottom of your pan, add the chopped onions and cook for a few minutes, then add chopped carrots and celery, and lastly garlic. Cook until both onions and celery become translucent and somewhat soft. About 5 minutes.

 2. Add the spices to the pot, and heat until fragrant

 3. Add the tomatoes to the pan

 4. Add the lentils and the water

 5. Simmer for 30 minutes or more, until the lentils become very soft. 
 6. Removing from heat, use your immersion blender* to blend the soup until smooth

 7. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt and a squeeze of lemon

 

This Time Last Year

I started this blog in 2010. I am actually only a couple months from my second blogiversary. Recently I have been looking back and noticing what posts I was working on at the same time, last year.

So here is a round up of my 3 favorite posts from last January, and what I was up to then. In the future I plan from time to time to recap some favorite posts from the same month, 1 year ago, and perhaps even two years ago after my second blogiversary rolls around.

This time last year I...

...Posted a recipe for Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts.  I'll have to make that again soon- the glaze was sweet and tangy and I always forget how much I love Brussels sprouts! This was early in my food blogging history, and I was much more concerned at the time about recipe ownership. Now I usually use recipes I find in cookbooks, credit the original author, and note any changes I made. Back then I made up of my recipes, which made for a more interesting process, but also a more risky one. I would have to make a recipe at least three times to work out the kinks before I could post it. It was fun and taught me a lot about cooking, actually, but turned out to be too time intensive for me in the long run.

...Started my Foyer Table Update- turning a drawer-less yellow dresser I found on the street into the table that now holds my printer, record player and records, as you can see here. I also learned while writing that post that my foyer was capable of becoming a workshop.Who knew?

...Made Seedy Snowday Cookies, using only ingredients I had on hand, while snowed in! Today it's snowing, too. I have been transfixed looking out my window all morning, it's been so long since it snowed. Who else finds the lack of snow so far this winter (not counting the freak October storm... Guys, October= fall, not winter) totally confusing? Actually, that post is one of my favorite I have written to date.

I think it's fun to revisit old posts and remind myself of the recipes I made and projects I was involved in, one year ago. I had totally forgotten that Brussels Sprouts recipe, and now I want to remake it. And actually, I could go for one of those seed-y cookies, too. I can't wait until I have multiple years of archives to look back on, it makes me wish I had started blogging sooner!

Rereading the posts also reminds me of other things going on in my life in that moment in time. Walking down memory lane after only a year is sort of funny, but thinking back to the details of last winter, remembering what I was up to, all of the minutiae of my life at that time- what was on my mind, where I spent time and with whom, the movies I saw, the dinners I made- it actually seems like a fairly long time ago. Funny, huh? So, what were all of you up to this time last year?

Mushroom Tart

One of the first places I look for food inspiration is Martha Stewart's website.  She is so good at everything you sort of want to hate her, right? And she has built an empire. But then you try a couple of her recipes and see how easy and delicious they are. A few martha stewart recipes I have posted on this blog so far include Bacon Jam (which was such a hit this New Years!),  Roasted Roots and Tubers Pizza, and Spiced mixed nuts.  I spent some time browsing her website now that I am back in action blogging recipes, and I decided to do a week of Martha. It just had to be done. And to kick it off right, I made this beautiful and simple Mushroom Tart.

The process is simple, the result rewarding. A sheet of puff pastry, baby spinach, goat cheese, a clove of garlic, and a variety of types of mushrooms (I used cremini and shataki.) If you can saute vegetables in pan, you can probably make this delicious appetizer.


Mushroom Tart
Recipe inspired by MarthaStewart.com, however my steps and choice of ingredients differ a bit
Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 TBS olive oil
1 lb of mushrooms of your choice, sliced
a handful of baby spinach
1 clove of garlic, minced
soft goat cheese
1 TBS melted butter

1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat
2. Add minced garlic, allow it to cook a couple of minutes until just golden
3. Add the mushrooms to the pan, and cook until they are tender
4. Fold in the spinach
5. Lay out your puff pastry (the instructions on the box may suggest to allow it to sit for 10 minutes to defrost) on a buttered baking sheet
6. Top with your mushroom mixture, salt, pepper and sprinkle with goat cheese
7. Using a pastry brush, apply the melted butter to any exposed edges of puff pastry
8. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, or until edges are golden and crisp

Notes:

This tart would be delicious with any variety of wild mushrooms. I droll imagining it with Hen-of-the-woods. My choice of and shataki is easy to find at grocery stores and relatively inexpensive. I used primarily the cremini (also called baby bella), and suplimented with a couple of shataki mushrooms sliced thin (tough stems removed)

The secret for perfectly browned puff pastry (which is luckily the sort of item even serious chefs buy premade from the grocery store...hence the ease of this recipe) is to brush any exposed parts with either melted butter or egg wash to aid in browning. You can choose to do this step at the end, removing the tart from the oven a few minutes before the end of the cook time, buttering it and returning it, if you are worried about the edges burning, or include it as a step before placing the item in the oven.

If you are making this ahead of time a few additional minutes to heat up in the oven (preferably on a pizza stone) will bring back any crispness it may have lost from sitting out. I made this early in the day (to accommodate bright sunlit pictures) but served it at night. A quick heat-up was all it needed.

Holdiay baking

This year I revisited several favorite recipes I have posted here in the past. There are still many occasions for dinner parties or hosting guests, so if you're looking for a little something to bring your host, or some appetizers or desserts for your own event, maybe you'll be inspired by the favorites I made this year!



1. Perfect for an unusual appetizer (served with crackers), or a host gift... Bacon jam

2. Perfect divided into small cellophane bags as gifts for friends, or served with wine and cheese...Spiced mixed nuts

3. Perfect for the dessert table, or made in smaller loafs as gifts...Chocolate chip pumpkin bread


And, with New Years still coming up, I have big plans. I am hoping to make my own crackers for our cheese plate, and make fondue and signature drink for the evening. You'll be hearing from me soon.

Roasted Roots & Tubers Pizza

One of my favorite family recipes is a side dish my mother always made called roots & tubers. She cut small potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions (am I forgetting anything, Mom?) and roasted them in a pyrex dish with olive oil until they were a perfect combination of soft on the inside, crisp on the outside, and sweet.

I was reminded of that side dish when I saw this pizza recipe from Martha Stewart, and decided I had to give it a try. Roasted root vegetables and herbs with ricotta on pizza? An odd combination maybe, but it sounded totally delicious. And was also reminiscent of the ricotta and butternut squash crostini I had recently made, and I even had ricotta left over from that. Perfect.

I made this my own by changing some ingredients as I saw fit and adding a drizzle of balsamic reduction at the very end before serving. I love the way the rich sweet flavor of reduced balsamic plays against the earthy fall flavors of the root vegetables and also seems to bring out the contrast of the light smooth flavor of the ricotta.

I was intending to make a pizza dough from scratch, but this ended up being a last minute meal made straight after getting home from work. Luckily, I am a fan of the pizza dough sold by Whole Foods, and I was able to stop in and pick some up near my work.

Pizza is always a simple meal to assemble, and giving a recipe for a pizza sometimes feels redundant. It's like telling people how to make a sandwich, right?

But, as this is how I like to do it, I will include the groceries you will need and the cook times to recreate the pizza as I made it.

Roasted Roots & Tubers Pizza
Inspired by this Martha Stewart recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• your choice of fall vegetables, consider including: fingerling potatoes, little red potatoes, sweet potatoes and/or butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, red onion. (You can also include other vegetables that suit your fancy, look for ones that are hearty and can roast for a long time, so you can prepare all of the vegetables at once in one dish.)

• a homemade or store-bought pizza dough
• a small container of ricotta cheese (I had some left over from my crostini, so I used that. It had some lemon zest and juice mixed in, and I found I liked the brightness this added)

• A variety of fresh herbs to keep things interesting(I used fresh rosemary and thyme which I cooked with vegetables, and then added the sage leaves to the top of the pizza before baking )

• olive oil, salt & fresh ground pepper 
• one cup of balsamic vinegar to reduce

STEPS:

To prepare the Roast Roots & Tubers topping:

1.Chop the vegetables into small similarly sized pieces. I look for small carrots, potatoes and parsnips, as the skin is usually thinner and you can scrub them and then roast them with the skin on instead of having to peel them. If the skin seems thick or you think I am crazy for doing it this way, by all means, peel away!

2.Add the chopped veg to an oven proof dish or baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add a small sprig each of thyme and rosemary- no need to remove from the stem or chop, the flavor will cook right into the oil and roots over the course of the roast.

3.Place in a hot oven (about 450 degrees) and roast, tossing as needed to brown all sides of vegetables for about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. remove herb sprigs.

For the Pizza:

1. Stretch dough onto a baking sheet (or preheated pizza stone, I love using mine!) with a bit of olive oil. 

2. Spread on the ricotta as thick as desired.

3. Add the cooked vegetables and and sage leaves, nestling ingredients into the spread ricotta.

4. Bake in a preheated oven (475) 20-25 minutes (until crust is golden)

MEANWHILE... reduce your balsamic vinegar by pouring it into a small sauce pan over medium high heat. Pay attention and stir often so the bottom doesn't burn. You can add some sugar to speed up the process and add extra sweetness, especially if the balsamic you are starting with is of poor quality. after the balsamic has reduced, keep it slightly warm until you can drizzle it over your pizza. 

A tip- Wash the pan you reduced the balsamic in asap...that stuff can become sticky as it sits!

Butternut Squash, Ricotta & Sage Crostini

A few nights ago I put together the quickest, easiest meal and appetizer for my weekly dinner (and Fringe-watching ) with my friend Sophie. I got home less than half an hour before she arrived, and the meal (compromised of this tasty crostini to start and a hearty doctored can of pre-made tomato soup) was ready to be served by the time she rang the doorbell.
I have been living in my apartment for two years and I still jump about 2 feet in the air every time our doorbell rings. That sound is terrifying. So, needless to say, when she rang the bell at 5:30, and I was standing above a plate of crostini, carefully placing fried sage leaves on top of each, I jumped in alarm and dropped a few of the aromatic crisp fried leaves. Bummer.

I have long felt confused about sage. Most other common herbs I have a good sense of when to add here or there, what flavors they will compliment, and what quality they will bring out in a dish. Thyme? Basil? Bay leaves? Parsley? Rosemary? Yep. I can (for the most part) taste a dish I am cooking and think "this would be enhanced with                    ." But sage? Well, honestly, I didn't even quite know what it tasted like. I have really only had it paired with brown butter and butternut squash ravioli. I think I'd like to look into other recipes that use sage, get to know this herb a little better.

This recipe also paired the flavor of sage with butternut squash. But the crispy fried sage leaves were the statement making part of this combination. The ricotta was smooth and subtle, enhanced only with a little bit of lemon juice and zest, the bread that made up the toasted base of this crostini with toasted with just a bit of olive oil, and the butternut squash was cooked up with olive oil, salt and pepper. So the crisp sage leaves spoke for themselves, not overshadowed by other flavors, but instead bringing interest to combination of subtle sweet squash and creamy ricotta.

I saved time on this meal and was able to prepare it so quickly because I had leftover roasted butternut squash from the dinner I made the night before. Feel free to prepare the components of this appetizer the day before if you wish, you can roast cubed butternut squash and set aside in the fridge (bring to room temp before serving), or even combine the ricotta and zest the night before and refrigerate. Assemble right before serving.

Butternut Squash & Ricotta Crostini
Recipe from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch or package of fresh sage leaves

• olive oil

• 1 baguette

• 1 butternut squash (or cheat and buy the precut pieces at the grocery store. Cutting butternut squash is one of my least favorite jobs in the kitchen- they're tricky!) 
• 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar

• sea salt & ground pepper 

• 3/4 cup fresh ricotta 

• 1 lemon- zested & then squeezed for juice

Step 1. Roast the butternut squash- after cutting into 1-2" cubes, lay butternut squash on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with brown sugar. place baking sheet in preheated oven at 425 degrees.  Roast for 25-30 minutes, tossing occasionally. While this roasts, start the next steps!

Step 2. Fry the sage- in a small skillet or frying pan, heat olive oil until hot. Place sage leaves (stems removed) in oil and remove after they appear lightly golden and crisp. Place fried leaves on a paper towel and set aside. Reserve the used olive oil for the next step.

Step 3. Toast the bread-  cut the baguette into 3/8" slices. lay on a baking sheet, and brush on the oil from step 2. Add the to the already hot oven (if not making the squash ahead of time. Otherwise, set the oven to broil and keep an eye on the bread, it will brown quickly!) until golden.

Step 4. Prepare the ricotta- While the bread toasts and the butternut squash finishes roasting, zest and juice half of your lemon. In a mixing bowl combine the ricotta and the lemon zest and juice. set aside until the bread has started to cool a bit.

Step 5. Assemble it all- Spread some of the ricotta mixture on to each piece of toast. Place the butternut squash pieces on top of that, then squeeze lemon juice from the remaining lemon half over the top, and drizzle a bit of olive oil. Top each crostini with 1 or 2 fried sage leaves, and season with salt and pepper.


This was easy and so delicious, I will definitely make this again soon. So perfectly fall!

As I mentioned above, I served this as an appetizer with a simple "doctored" pre-made tomato soup. When I am short on time and want something warm and delicious, especially as the weather gets cooler, I am not above opening a can of soup. I use Progresso Tomato & Basil, and add lots of fresh basil leaves, heavy cream, cracked pepper, sliced fried garlic, and a little bit of herb oil. A quick salad and some hearty bread, and you have an easy nearly instant light meal, that I swear doesn't taste like it came from a can.

Ok, excuse me, I am going to go make some more of these now!

Black Bean Soup & Sweet Potato Biscuits

When people ask me what my favorite thing to cook is, I almost always answer with some sort of soup. French onion some days, butternut squash, perhaps a lively and spicy black bean soup, like this one. To me, cooking soup seems like a nearly magical process. Brown a few simple ingredients in the bottom of a large pot, perhaps onions cooked until translucent and lightly sweet, garlic and herbs, add liquid, a few other choice ingreidients, cover the pot and... Magic happens. Water becomes flavorful broth,  dense root vegetables become soft and sweet. Herbs and spices mingle on your tongue, and the whole thing can be sopped up with a nice piece of hearty bread.

We have had our first few days of true fall weather recently, the rare moment in time where 50 degrees feels just chilly enough to curl up in a blanket on your couch with a book and make every excuse not to leave the house, or run all the errands you need to. (Or is that just me?) As the months wear on, we will grow accustomed to the colder weather, and a 50 degree day will seem like such a luxury, a moment to take back out our summer clothes. But at the end of the summer, with the certain crisp air only fall can bring, 50 degrees means it's a time to make soup; to comfort yourself.

I made this soup with my (lovely and pretty) friend Sophie, one of my oldest friends, whom I met in pre-school. We attempt now to cook dinner together every Friday (before settling in to watch Fringe-- any other Fringe fans out there? WHERE IS PETER BISHOP??) and her regular email to me "What should we make this time? Should I bring wine?" has been a great motivator of many of my food posts on this blog.

This time around, unsure what to make, I linked Sophie to my pinterest board for food inspiration. She responded pointing out that many of the recipes included sweet potatoes, and it had her thinking about the African Sweet Potato Stew I often make. Since I have already blogged that recipe, I suggested making a different sort of soup, and pairing it with the Sweet Potato Biscuits I had pinned and had been wanting to try. I suggested black bean soup particularly for a few reasons:

1. I love black bean soup

2. I love the way black beans pair with sweet potato- like in this recipe

3. The ingredients for black bean soup are cheap- no lies, this is always a good motivator for me

In the end we both loved the combination, and the leftover biscuits were great for breakfast the next day, too.

too bad I can't master the perfect sour cream dollop at the moment

Since we followed the recipe with no alterations I am not including the steps in this post, but you can head over to this link to see the original recipe- it's easy and delicious, they turned out flaky and just a tiny bit sweet. Like with pie crust, the key is to keep the butter cold and handle minimally. We ended up having to handle our biscuit dough more than we intended, but even so they were tender and flaky.

The only note I would make about the above recipe, is if you are short of time, peel and poke some holes in your sweet potato, then microwave it for about 3 minutes before mashing instead of baking it. We also chose to keep our sweet potatos mashed in a chunkier style, I liked the chunks of sweet potato in each bite that this created.

And for the soup...

This soup was adapted from a recipe from Eating Well. The recipe I started with was very basic, but gave me just the guidelines I needed. I supplimented it with 2 large cloves of garlic, more lime and cilantro than it called for, and where they asked for prepared salsa I used Trader Joe's Habenero Lime salsa which really added a lively kick. If you don't have a salsa like this available to you, I would suggest adding some diced fresh hot pepper and doubling the lime juice.

Black Bean Soup

Adapted from Eatingwell.com

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 onion, diced

1 tablespoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 15oz cans of black beans, rinsed

3 cups of water

1/2 cup prepared salsa- I used Trader Joe's brand Habenero & Lime Salsa

Salt to taste

Juice of one lime

fresh cilantro chopped, plus some additional for garnish

Sour cream to garnish

Process:

1. In a large pot heat the oil. Add chopped onions and cook until translucent- less than 5 minutes

2. Add to pot: cumin, chilli powder, minced garlic, stir and cook 2 minutes

3. Add rinsed beans, salsa  and water. add salt to taste, and adjust spices as needed at this point (remember that the heat of the soup will vary depending on what salsa you use)

4. Using a traditional or immersion blender, blend mixture minimally so that some chunks remain.

5. Add the lime juice and cilantro before serving, add additional cilantro to garnish, as well as a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Serve with cornbread, biscuits or something else delicious. Feel happy. Go watch Fringe.

Forget about dinner

Things are heating up. The other day, Boston (and much of the eastern seaboard) had one of its hottest days in history. Not since the 1920s has a temperature of 104 been recorded in this area, and no temperature higher has been recorded since 1911.

 It's inescapable, wherever you are, the heat will find you. I don't have air conditioning in my apartment, and unfortunately even if I wished to use window units our power won't support it. I spent some time visiting with my parents and their AC. We ate out, to avoid having to cook, but one of my favorite ways to eat in the heat is to simply pull together some appetizers and cold white wine, and forget the dinner all together. 

I did this on a night last week with my good friend Sophie. We ate kalamata olives, locally made bread, juicy red grapes, goat cheese, cheddar, and some rhubarb chutney I made recently with ingredients from the farmers market. We sipped on chilled Sauvignon Blanc, and dipped our bread in rosemary infused olive oil while chatting about the week that had passed and enjoying the cross breeze from two fans set up. Some interesting artisanal meats or fresh vegetables are also always a welcome addition. Perfect.

The good news is this heat wave seems to have broken, today was quite warm, but nothing like the past few days. Are those of you in other areas of the country (or other countries) having similar weather? How do you keep comfortable?

Do you have a favorite simple meal to make on days like this- when it is so hot the idea of standing above a lit stove is simply unbearable?

Portobello & Red Pepper Burgers

This recipe is one of my favorite things to make come summer time. Marinating the portobellos even briefly in a balsamic vinaigrette leaves them with so much flavor, and a rich tender texture. Red peppers, grilled until soft, with a skin nearly blackened have such a sweet unmistakable flavor. Further toppings of a some caramelized onions, fresh basil and barbeque sauce, all on crusty grilled ciabatta rolls made this a home run of sweet and savory flavors. I melted a bit of sharp cheddar on my own, which was a great addition, but even without the flavors were complex and satisfying.

Bread and Herb Butter

I love bread and butter. I run into trouble when I go to restaurants that start you off with a big bowl of warm bread and some pats of butter- I eat it all until I am actually not hungry for what I ordered. It's usually worth it. I pretend not to know how little nutritional value a thing like bread and butter has. It's such a comfort food, I can tell even if it doesn't do much for my body (ok, anything) it is at least nourishing in another way. I sit on the couch with a magazine and eat some slices of french bread with butter and get crumbs everywhere and get grease on the corners of the magazine pages. I snack on some toasted sourdough slathered in butter and sprinkled with coarse salt at my desk while I study for a final or browse blogs. Tiny bread crumbs get in between the keys of my computer, causing the N key to require an extra hard push to work. It's all fine by me, I don't mind.

I was given a pot of thyme, oregano and rosemary from my mother on my birthday. I went out and bought a second one, too, and now they live on the sunniest windowsill in my living room. I remember to water them. I fuss over whether I should open the window for them, or if they get enough sun. I haven't clipped any yet.

A Perfect Sunday- and how to a make a red wine, onion and blue cheese tart

I just had a birthday. A couple weeks ago, actually. It was delicious. I decided instead of throwing a big shindig like I sometimes do, which for me can lead to feeling stressed out and overwhelmed and can take on a bit of "must have fun" pressure, I actually just wanted to create my ideal Sunday (since my birthday fell on a Sunday this year) and not even really think of it as a birthday celebration. Luckily for me, I have a close (and yet so far away) friend from Australia who was slated to visit over the week of my birthday this year. If I could create an ideal Sunday it would definitely include having her around! (If you see her, won't you tell her to move to Boston?)

Other things my ideal Sunday would include?

•  waking up early
• doing a bit of organizing around the house (is it strange that this is truly one of my favorite activities?)
• having a leisurely breakfast, either at home or at a diner
• doing a little bit of baking in the morning- in this case a pie crust which I popped in the fridge to chill during the course of the day
• stopping in for a fruit smoothie at a favorite local place
• on the way to....attending a matinee of a new show at a local theater
• and then spending the evening sipping wine with a couple friends, nibbling on cheese, and baking off a few tarts

Doesn't that sound perfect? OK, I understand that not everyone has the same love I do for organizing, or waking up early, or even making pie crusts. But to me? Bliss.

And what was that baking that I did?

Recipe Round-Up: My Top 3 Vegetarian Main Courses

 The recipe round-ups just keep coming. Yes, I need to get back to cooking and posting new things, and yes, I need to show you all the changes I have made to my living room, and all my recent spray painting projects I have been withholding, and awesome etsy buys I have left you all in the dark about...and yet I have been having trouble motivating myself to see things through to the end recently, and actually get the posts set out in writing. It's not quite a writer's block, but perhaps a writer's fatigue-- Which I am sure will sort itself right out when that nice spring weather finally hits and wakes me up! But in the meantime, rounding up my favorite recipes previously posted on this blog allows me not only to share them with you again (and for the first time for some new readers) but also to celebrate my 1 year blogiversary, and perhaps will spur me back into blogging new recipes. So, without further adieu, my top 3 Vegetarian Main Courses blogged in the last year:

Eggplant Rolatini-
 This was a really fun recipe to cook, and to write about. My good friend Jamie and I made this together (with some moral support from her little girl, Lilly) last summer. The result was just delicious, and I can't wait to make this again as soon as I see those tiny eggplants show up at the farmers market.

Meatless Cassoulet- A traditional french cassoulet is far from vegetarian, with sausages and meats galore (and often an abundance of duck fat). Adam from The Amateur Gourmet (I have a big old blog crush, by the way) did an excellent post on the more traditional meat-tastic dish here. It was my familiarity with recipes like that which made me raise an eyebrow at the concept of a "meatless cassoulet" when I saw this recipe from Gourmet. But, mostly, while this is actually closer to a french version of Ribbolita (a tuscan peasant soup made with white beans and bread) what made me love this version is that it is just plain delicious. And super cheap. Really, white beans given time to soak up delicious garlic, fresh and dried herbs, mixed with some slow cooked vegetables, and garlicky bread crumbs just seems like something that can't possibly be bad. And it isn't. An additional note- if you like garlic, this is an opportunity to go crazy. Seriously, add even more.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili-
This dish makes me so happy. I have made it now several times, and plan to make it again and again. It is hearty, both sweet and a bit spicy, full flavored, vegan, and just the right balance of filling and healthful. And sometimes it inspires dance parties.




Do you have a favorite vegetarian main course? let me know in the comments, I am always looking to grow my repertoire.

You can also check out my other round ups:
FAVORITE COOKIE RECIPES
FAVORITE MEAT MAIN COURSES

and coming soon:
Favorite Vegetable Side Dishes
Favorite Appetizers & Snacks

Recipe Round-Up: My Top 3 Meat Main Courses

I was going to do a round up of my top 3 main courses...But I found I just didn't have it in me to choose between some of the fabulous vegetarian foods I have craved recently, and the heartier meat dishes that to me are pure comfort food. So I decided to create 2 different round ups. If you don't eat meat just hold tight, and vegetarian top 3 will be up soon. :)

But now, MEAT. Yes.

I will be the first to admit that chicken is underrepresented in this blog. I usually either skew towards vegetarian foods or else directly at the opposite end of the spectrum- red meat. I spent a while feeling guilty for my affinity for red meat, but then after a recent doctors appointment, when my lab tests revealed I was anemic, it all started to make sense. I need that iron! Bring on the meat! Maybe you need iron, too. Really, a healthy portion of steak is probably just what you need.

1. Steak with Red Wine and Shallot Sauce-  This was the first recipe I posted to this blog. I hadn't quite gotten the hang of the format (or my camera's settings). I think I may revisit this recipe soon and post some better close ups of the food itself, and the process. But it is still a really easy, delicious meal, that I love to make whenever I want to serve something that feels a bit fancy and rich, without being overly expensive or time consuming. Pan seared steak with a rich sweet red wine reduction and caramelized shallots? Yes, please.

2. Stuffed Turkey Sliders- Thinking about these makes me miss summer. Good thing it won't be too long now! These sliders were two things I hardly thought a turkey burger could be (must be bad turkey burger experiences in my past), flavorful and juicy. With a little soy sauce and garlic powder mixed in with the meat, and a surprise pocket of cheese, caramelized onions and herbs within, they were a perfect light summer-y meal to eat before seeing the fireworks on the 4th of July. I served them on sourdough rolls and alongside a tall glass of homemade blueberry-lemonade spritzer. The meal was refreshing, lean, and packed with flavor. I look forward to making these again soon!

3. Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Coffee and Caramelized Onions - Served over mashed potatoes, this was a perfect winter comfort food. And it is made in a slow cooker so I could do the prep steps in the morning, and then forget about it all day while it cooked away. The flavor was deep and rich, and the meat tender. Don't fight it, you want it. You know what to do.



Do you have a favorite meat main course? More top 3's are coming soon- keep an eye out for vegetarian main dishes, vegetable side dishes, and appetizers & snacks!

Sage and Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes with Cheddar

 

Mashed potatoes make me happy. Really, really happy.  They are the ultimate comfort food. This variation has some extra sophistication and savoriness thanks to sage, brown butter, and sharp cheddar. So this is what love is? It's good to be in love. Even when your sweetheart is potatoes. I love you. The flavors of this dish are complex enough to be savored on their own, but also subtle enough to take a back seat if you wish to use them as a vehicle for braised meat and rich gravy like I did here. 

Coming up...

This weekend I am looking forward to trying some new simple recipes that use...

Cheese!


I have a pretty nice assortment at the moment, I feel like I ought to have guests over for wine and some of this:

Do you have a  favorite recipe that uses sharp cheddar? How about bleu cheese? Brie? I am thinking some kind of onion tart might be in the mix, maybe with the bleu cheese. And maybe gougeres? Not quite sure yet, but whatever I make this weekend, the star of the show will be, yep, cheese.

Carrot, Apple and Ginger Soup

Um, this was delicious, just saying. A fragrant, quick, vegetarian soup that is light, comforting, and a great starter for a late winter meal. Garnished with apple, carrot and fresh mint, and with flavors of ginger, nutmeg and allspice, I am sure this will become a classic I make again and again much like the butternut squash soup with pears and cumin, sweet potato and peanut stew, roasted garlic soup and kale and white bean soup I keep coming back to.  

I guess I am a soup person, because really, nothing could make me happier. I served this as a starter, but it could also make a great lighter meal, served with hearty whole wheat rolls and a green salad sprinkled with some chickpeas for extra protein. And, don't forget, carrots will help your eyesight, right? Which actually I could use as I am finding I have to wear my glasses more and more these days. Heh.

Rosemary Honey Carrots

This recipe is one my mother introduced me to over a year ago. It is from one of her favorite cookbooks, The 150 Best American Recipes edited by Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens. Every recipe she has tried from that book has been successful, so I felt it was about time I borrow the book. More recipes from it soon to come, including Sage, Brown Butter and Sharp Cheddar Mashed Potatoes!

This recipe was created by Tom Collicchio (love him!) and published in the New York Times. The best part is it could hardly be simpler: tender young carrots are pan roasted in a bit of olive oil, seasoned with salt, fresh ground pepper and fresh sprigs of rosemary, then drizzled with a mixture of melted butter and honey. Simple as that, and delicious!