In honor of our newest food blogger (as soon as Dena accepts her invite--hi Dena!) I thought it would be cool for everyone do do a little food bio to welcome her and get to know her tastes. This might actually have been a good way to start our blog, but it's way too late for that. So I'm doing it now.
Skill level: medium. I'm not intimidated by long ingredient lists, but I'm a long way from Top Chef.
Favorite Cuisine: Indian and Italian (I'm better at cooking Italian than Indian, though.)
Cooking or Baking: Cooking, usually stovetop.
Favorite Appliance: The fancypants rice cooker Akiko's parents gave us.
Favorite Junk Food: potato chips, all kinds.
Favorite Real Food: fancy cheese. I'm in love with Denmark's Finest Havarti.
Except for the occasional tuna salad for the kids, I cook entirely vegetarian. I'm not a good enough veggie to worry about rennet in my cheese or ask about chicken broth at the occasional pot luck or anything. I like veggies but I'm not great with fruit, and I prefer spicy to sweet. My recipe book is full of one-pot wonders and I've been trying to add more light, cold dishes for summer. Yum!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Crostinis
I made (bought) crostinis and made super easy toppings that turned out really fun and light for summer. It was like an Italian version of do-it-yourself tacos.
Our toppings were:
First I did a basic tomato deal, kinda like Taryn's bruschetta recipe. I diced a roma tomato and a handful of grape tomatoes, threw in some julienned sun dried tomatoes and basil and balsamic vinegar. Next time I'd use a tad less vinegar, but it turned out sweet and fresh tasting.
Second, I chopped a medium-small can of black olives and four or five green olives, mixed in a little pesto (store bought, left over from another recipe), and sliced some mozzarella to go under it. Kind of a poor man's olive tapenade. People into capers might use those instead of green olives, I bet that would be interesting.
Third, we had artichoke dill spread. I was originally going to make this recipe, but Sunflower Market had a dill dip just like it but better, so I chopped my artichokes fine and mixed them with the dill dip. It turned out well and the kids loved it.
I thought about doing a mushroom topping, too, but I didn't feel like actually cooking.
Obviously, these barely qualify as recipes, but that's kinda why I liked them. If anyone else has super easy topping ideas or funsies dinner ideas, I think they'd be great for summer "cooking."
Our toppings were:
First I did a basic tomato deal, kinda like Taryn's bruschetta recipe. I diced a roma tomato and a handful of grape tomatoes, threw in some julienned sun dried tomatoes and basil and balsamic vinegar. Next time I'd use a tad less vinegar, but it turned out sweet and fresh tasting.
Second, I chopped a medium-small can of black olives and four or five green olives, mixed in a little pesto (store bought, left over from another recipe), and sliced some mozzarella to go under it. Kind of a poor man's olive tapenade. People into capers might use those instead of green olives, I bet that would be interesting.
Third, we had artichoke dill spread. I was originally going to make this recipe, but Sunflower Market had a dill dip just like it but better, so I chopped my artichokes fine and mixed them with the dill dip. It turned out well and the kids loved it.
I thought about doing a mushroom topping, too, but I didn't feel like actually cooking.
Obviously, these barely qualify as recipes, but that's kinda why I liked them. If anyone else has super easy topping ideas or funsies dinner ideas, I think they'd be great for summer "cooking."
New jams, Arizona edition
Just got back from a week at the parental units' house in Tucson (thanks, folks!). Might have a couple more food-related posts later. This one's about souvenir jams. We didn't get any last time we visited Tucson, but this time we did.
If you've been there you can probably guess one of them: you can find prickly pear jelly at any roadside gift shop. We got ours at the Tohono Chul Park gift shop. The brand we got was Cheri's Desert Harvest. The other jam we picked up was Margarita Marmalade, from the same maker.
The Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly (as they title it) is good, but I think it might have a tad too much lemon juice in it - it mollifies the prickly pear flavor so much that you easily forget what you're eating. (Not that I'd know what pure prickly pear tastes like - but I've had prickly pear candies, and those taste more distinctive than this.) It's a good jam, but not a standout.
The margarita marmalade, on the other hand, is excellent. A great mix of lemon, lime, and red lime. They say it has tequila and triple sec in it, too, and I'm sure those help with the bitterness, but I imagine all the alcohol cooks out in the jam-making process, because there's no bite. Just a tiny spiciness mixed in with the fruit. A winner. Definitely worth picking up another jar next time we're down there.
If you've been there you can probably guess one of them: you can find prickly pear jelly at any roadside gift shop. We got ours at the Tohono Chul Park gift shop. The brand we got was Cheri's Desert Harvest. The other jam we picked up was Margarita Marmalade, from the same maker.
The Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly (as they title it) is good, but I think it might have a tad too much lemon juice in it - it mollifies the prickly pear flavor so much that you easily forget what you're eating. (Not that I'd know what pure prickly pear tastes like - but I've had prickly pear candies, and those taste more distinctive than this.) It's a good jam, but not a standout.
The margarita marmalade, on the other hand, is excellent. A great mix of lemon, lime, and red lime. They say it has tequila and triple sec in it, too, and I'm sure those help with the bitterness, but I imagine all the alcohol cooks out in the jam-making process, because there's no bite. Just a tiny spiciness mixed in with the fruit. A winner. Definitely worth picking up another jar next time we're down there.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Coke roast pork
This is a recipe from Dad, but I'm posting it on his behalf because we haven't gotten him converted to the whole blog thing. We're working on it.
Coke Roast Pork
Ingredients:
pork roast - shoulder, or any cheap cut is fine, because the coke tenderizes it
onions and carrots to taste
1 pkg dry onion soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 bag frozen peas
1 can coke (regular or diet)
Note: we used about a 5 pound roast, to feed 6, and there was a lot left over. Because you're cooking it in a wet medium, it doesn't shrink.
1. Slice the veggies and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. Sear pork on all sides in a hot pan on the stovetop. This seals in some of the juices and flavor. Place it in the cooker.
3. Pour onion soup mix on top, spoon mushroom soup on top, pour coke over all.
4. Cook on high until done - 4-6 hours. Timing and temp can be adjusted - we often put it in before church on high, then turn it down to low when we get home.
5. Can add fresh rosemary sprigs when you turn the temp down, or add mushrooms. I use the rosemary as sprigs so it can be removed prior to eating. Fresh rosemary from your Arizona backyard is preferable!
6. When pork is done, remove to a pan. Add frozen peas (as many as you want) to the now voluminous liquid in the pot.
7. Dissolve about a half cup of corn starch in some cold water, then stir into the liquid. Turn the slow cooker to low. The corn starch thickens the liquid into a nice gravy - can add more corn starch to taste. Cook until peas are warm.
8. Ladle out veggies, separating them from the gravy.
Garlic could be part of this dish as well.
Q: Where did you get this recipe?
A: From a Coke cookbook. There is one! We have one! This is nice because the coke tenderizes the pork so nicely. The coke taste completely disappears. And this is all the liquid you need.
Bonus:
Served this with Mary Ann's Cole Slaw:
1 slaw mix kit
1/2 cup or so craisin (cranberry raisins)
sliced toasted almonds
1/2 cup mayo (or Miracle Whip) if needed
Mix. Chill. Eat.
Coke Roast Pork
Ingredients:
pork roast - shoulder, or any cheap cut is fine, because the coke tenderizes it
onions and carrots to taste
1 pkg dry onion soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 bag frozen peas
1 can coke (regular or diet)
Note: we used about a 5 pound roast, to feed 6, and there was a lot left over. Because you're cooking it in a wet medium, it doesn't shrink.
1. Slice the veggies and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. Sear pork on all sides in a hot pan on the stovetop. This seals in some of the juices and flavor. Place it in the cooker.
3. Pour onion soup mix on top, spoon mushroom soup on top, pour coke over all.
4. Cook on high until done - 4-6 hours. Timing and temp can be adjusted - we often put it in before church on high, then turn it down to low when we get home.
5. Can add fresh rosemary sprigs when you turn the temp down, or add mushrooms. I use the rosemary as sprigs so it can be removed prior to eating. Fresh rosemary from your Arizona backyard is preferable!
6. When pork is done, remove to a pan. Add frozen peas (as many as you want) to the now voluminous liquid in the pot.
7. Dissolve about a half cup of corn starch in some cold water, then stir into the liquid. Turn the slow cooker to low. The corn starch thickens the liquid into a nice gravy - can add more corn starch to taste. Cook until peas are warm.
8. Ladle out veggies, separating them from the gravy.
Garlic could be part of this dish as well.
Q: Where did you get this recipe?
A: From a Coke cookbook. There is one! We have one! This is nice because the coke tenderizes the pork so nicely. The coke taste completely disappears. And this is all the liquid you need.
Bonus:
Served this with Mary Ann's Cole Slaw:
1 slaw mix kit
1/2 cup or so craisin (cranberry raisins)
sliced toasted almonds
1/2 cup mayo (or Miracle Whip) if needed
Mix. Chill. Eat.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
New jams
We just got back from a short trip to the Oregon Coast. On the second day we were in Astoria, a little town up in the corner of the state where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific. Very cute, and it's also where Goonies was filmed - we saw the house where the Goonies lived.
It also turns out that, back when Astoria was a salmon-fishing boomtown, it was largely settled by Scandinavian immigrants, mostly Finns. And, looking around for souvenirs to bring home, we settled, as we so often do, on an exotic jam. In this case we brought home a jar of cloudberry preserves and a jar of lingonberry preserves - both from a Swedish maker called Hafi. Here's a link.
We'd had lingonberry sauce on pancakes before, but never had cloudberry anything. Of these jars, the cloudberry turned out to be sweeter than the lingonberry. I guess lingonberries are naturally sour, and although the syrups we've had in the past were quite sweet these preserves are pretty sour. Almost as sour as cranberries, but not quite; they taste like a cross between a blueberry and a cranberry, maybe? The cloudberry preserves tasted more like a kind of mellow raspberry. But mainly I think I like the name: cloudberry.
We made pancakes for dinner last night, so we could ladle the preserves over them. Awesome.
It also turns out that, back when Astoria was a salmon-fishing boomtown, it was largely settled by Scandinavian immigrants, mostly Finns. And, looking around for souvenirs to bring home, we settled, as we so often do, on an exotic jam. In this case we brought home a jar of cloudberry preserves and a jar of lingonberry preserves - both from a Swedish maker called Hafi. Here's a link.
We'd had lingonberry sauce on pancakes before, but never had cloudberry anything. Of these jars, the cloudberry turned out to be sweeter than the lingonberry. I guess lingonberries are naturally sour, and although the syrups we've had in the past were quite sweet these preserves are pretty sour. Almost as sour as cranberries, but not quite; they taste like a cross between a blueberry and a cranberry, maybe? The cloudberry preserves tasted more like a kind of mellow raspberry. But mainly I think I like the name: cloudberry.
We made pancakes for dinner last night, so we could ladle the preserves over them. Awesome.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Pullt pork
Spring term is winding down, so finally I have time/energy to think about cooking again. We had a party the other night, and we made this recipe. It's so simple it's hardly a recipe, but it sure is tasty. I got it out of a slow-cooker recipe book that Akiko got me for Christmas.
Ingredients:
pork shoulder roast
1 or 2 bottles barbecue sauce of your choice
1 onion, chopped
buns or rolls
1. Cut any twine holding the roast together. Put the roast in your slow cooker and cook on high for 6 hours.
2. Take the roast out, put it in a dish, and shred it with two forks. Discard the juice that has collected in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Put the shredded pork back in the slow cooker. Add the chopped onion, pour the barbecue sauce over it, and mix. Cook on low for 2 more hours.
4. Stir. Serve.
Amounts: We were feeding 12 people. I used a 3.5 pound roast, and that was just right. We had none left over, and nobody left hungry. For that amount of roast I used all of one bottle of sauce (18 oz), plus about a third of another. That seemed right, too - but then, we like our pulled pork sloppy.
For sauce, of course everybody has their own preference, and if you're serious you'll probably make your own. Someday I'm going to try that, but for now I used Stubb's Honey Pecan. Perfect for pulled pork.
We served this with Akiko's potato salad, which disappeared very quickly, and some cole slaw that we got at the supermarket. That was because I realized that, as much as I love cole slaw, I've never actually made it.
Anybody have a good cole slaw recipe?
One of our guests was one of Akiko's grad students, and her back story is surprisingly similar to Dad's. Her mom's from Mississippi, but she was raised here in Oregon. She was telling us the difference between the "pullt" pork (real slow-cooked, barbecue-sauced stuff) that her Southern relations eat and the "pulled" pork (not soft enough, not flavorful enough) that she gets here. She (only a bit reluctantly) pronounced this recipe "pullt" enough. So, we were pleased.
Ingredients:
pork shoulder roast
1 or 2 bottles barbecue sauce of your choice
1 onion, chopped
buns or rolls
1. Cut any twine holding the roast together. Put the roast in your slow cooker and cook on high for 6 hours.
2. Take the roast out, put it in a dish, and shred it with two forks. Discard the juice that has collected in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Put the shredded pork back in the slow cooker. Add the chopped onion, pour the barbecue sauce over it, and mix. Cook on low for 2 more hours.
4. Stir. Serve.
Amounts: We were feeding 12 people. I used a 3.5 pound roast, and that was just right. We had none left over, and nobody left hungry. For that amount of roast I used all of one bottle of sauce (18 oz), plus about a third of another. That seemed right, too - but then, we like our pulled pork sloppy.
For sauce, of course everybody has their own preference, and if you're serious you'll probably make your own. Someday I'm going to try that, but for now I used Stubb's Honey Pecan. Perfect for pulled pork.
We served this with Akiko's potato salad, which disappeared very quickly, and some cole slaw that we got at the supermarket. That was because I realized that, as much as I love cole slaw, I've never actually made it.
Anybody have a good cole slaw recipe?
One of our guests was one of Akiko's grad students, and her back story is surprisingly similar to Dad's. Her mom's from Mississippi, but she was raised here in Oregon. She was telling us the difference between the "pullt" pork (real slow-cooked, barbecue-sauced stuff) that her Southern relations eat and the "pulled" pork (not soft enough, not flavorful enough) that she gets here. She (only a bit reluctantly) pronounced this recipe "pullt" enough. So, we were pleased.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Beans and Brats
So we've all been busy and the blog has been slow, but I'm hoping we'll be able to pick things up for the summer. Yay! I've tried some new recipes and foods in the last few weeks, but none of them have been winners. So instead I present a really easy recipe that I like to make once in a while.
Beans and Brats (serves 2-3 adults):
2 or 3 of your favorite bratwurst sausages, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds (I use fake, of course, but I still haven't found any that brown up nicely, so real will probably be even tastier in this recipe)
1 medium onion, diced
1 15-oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, not drained
3 Tbs unsulphured molasses
1. Heat a large nonstick pan, with a little oil, on medium and brown up the brats, then set them aside. 3-4 minutes.
2. In the same skillet, turn up the heat a bit and saute your onions until they're soft and maybe a little brown. 5 minutes or so.
3. Add tomatoes, beans, molasses, and put the brats back in. Season with salt and pepper and simmer 10 or 15 minutes until the sauce thickens a bit and the flavors concentrate. If it gets too thick, add a little water. When you think you're done give it a taste--if it doesn't have a nice sweetish flavor it needs more cooking or more molasses.
And that's it. The original recipe called for leeks, and it turned out good that way, but onions are cheaper and easier to work with, so I generally use them. You can also dice a potato into it for extra veggie power and such, but I think it's unnecessary.
P.S. I've been looking for/experimenting to find a nice, basic pasta salad recipe with a lot of flavor, so if anyone has ideas that'd be super. I've been looking for something Italian dressing-y or vinaigrette-y.
Beans and Brats (serves 2-3 adults):
2 or 3 of your favorite bratwurst sausages, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds (I use fake, of course, but I still haven't found any that brown up nicely, so real will probably be even tastier in this recipe)
1 medium onion, diced
1 15-oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, not drained
3 Tbs unsulphured molasses
1. Heat a large nonstick pan, with a little oil, on medium and brown up the brats, then set them aside. 3-4 minutes.
2. In the same skillet, turn up the heat a bit and saute your onions until they're soft and maybe a little brown. 5 minutes or so.
3. Add tomatoes, beans, molasses, and put the brats back in. Season with salt and pepper and simmer 10 or 15 minutes until the sauce thickens a bit and the flavors concentrate. If it gets too thick, add a little water. When you think you're done give it a taste--if it doesn't have a nice sweetish flavor it needs more cooking or more molasses.
And that's it. The original recipe called for leeks, and it turned out good that way, but onions are cheaper and easier to work with, so I generally use them. You can also dice a potato into it for extra veggie power and such, but I think it's unnecessary.
P.S. I've been looking for/experimenting to find a nice, basic pasta salad recipe with a lot of flavor, so if anyone has ideas that'd be super. I've been looking for something Italian dressing-y or vinaigrette-y.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)