Rosemary Crusted Pork Chop with Coconut Milk Braised Carrots

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Alisa

This is a good meal for many reasons. The pork chops were actually a good thickness, and lean, and were buy one pack, get another pack for free (4 really thick chops in each package. I get ridiculously excited for discounts in the meat department.) I bought a 5 pound bag of carrots two weeks ago, and so I am currently looking for different ways to prepare them, and found a stunningly simple and flavorful way on one of my favorite blogs, French Foodie Baby. Say what you will about my French obsession, but those people KNOW their food, and from a very loving depth that centers around family and love of pure ingredients. Helene, from FFB, is one of the best writers in the myriad of food blogs out there. I literally exhale with relaxation when I read her posts. She challenges me and inspires me and makes me want to be better at being thoughtful about what I put on the plate for my family.

The braised carrots in coconut milk was from her blog and I just took the concept and did it in a much bigger batch on my stove so that I’d have leftover finger foods for Olive for the week. And so I could use up the never ending bag of carrots. I swear that thing is multiplying.

I don’t know much, but I do know that pork and rosemary are best friends. So when I saw that Helene put rosemary in with her coconut milk to braise the carrots, I thought: instant pan sauce! And it turned out wonderful! The extra sauce from the carrots made an amazing garnish for a thick, crispy, rosemary-infused pork chop! I was happy with this meal and wanted to share its simplicity and comfort-food qualities with you today!

Rosemary Crusted Pork Chop with Coconut Milk Braised Carrots
serves 4-6

4 boneless pork chops, thick cut, if you can find them (the ones I found were about an inch thick)
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper – about a half teaspoon of each
2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary – I would think dried would be fine, but it wouldn’t be as aromatic
4 tbs butter or olive oil for pan frying the chops

For the carrots:
1 lb carrots, peeled and chopped into half inch rounds
1 can of coconut milk
2 cloves of garlic, crushed but left mostly in tact
two sprigs of fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Get the carrots on the stove to braise first, as they take the longest. In a deep skillet, heat the coconut milk over medium heat along with the cloves of crushed garlic and the rosemary sprigs. Add in the carrots and let it simmer on the stove until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. I put a lid on halfway through as to not lose too much moisture. When the carrots are done, remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

For the chops: pat them dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Put the flour and rosemary and a few dashes more of salt and pepper in a bowl and toss well to combine. Coat each side of the chops in the flour mixture and set aside. Heat the butter or olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering (or bubbling if using butter) and add in the chops, cooking about 5-6 minutes per side. If they are browning too quickly, reduce the heat after you get a good sear/crust on each side of the chop. If your chops are really thick, you may need to transfer them to a preheated oven to finish cooking. I had to do this for one of the chops because it was way bigger than the rest and wouldn’t cook through without burning the crust. At any rate, you need a meat thermometer for this because we no longer have to cook our pork to death to be safe. Some farmer told me that no one’s gotten sick from pork in years, but everyone is still cooking it like they could. A pink center is fine – I made sure mine got up to 150-160 and called it good, regardless of how the centers looked.

Place the chops on plates and for the sauce garnish, move the carrots to a bowl, reserving about a 1/2 cup of the coconut milk in the pan. Taste for salt and season as necessary. Remove the rosemary sprigs and the cloves of garlic and spoon the sauce over each chop and serve alongside the carrots. If you don’t cook the chops too much, they will be soft enough for a baby to chew, given she has at least 3 molars, which mine does. She loved the carrots (she’s 15 months old) and ate a few pieces of pork and called it good. And lately, that has to be good enough for me! For smaller babies, the carrots would be IDEAL pureed or just left in tact for finger foods. They are so soft, sweet and a little salty – perfect! I would have blended up the pork with some coconut milk back in the 6-9 month days for Olive.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Alisa

French Kids Eat Everything was the second book I read in my brainwashing of French food culture (the first was Bringing Up Bebe) and it was the best one in the trend of “the French know what you’re doing wrong”, in my opinion. In the book, the author, Karen Le Billon, describes her struggle raising her two little girls on the streets of Paris, trying to fit in to a food culture so different from our own. She noticed toddlers sitting in restaurants for an hour meal without making a peep and eating the entire time. She never saw public temper tantrums in grocery stores over a product not bought, even if desired (kids know they can’t have snacks unless it’s 4 p.m. and even then, most are not used to packaged food aisle-fare). She wanted to know how the French managed to raise children who ate peacefully and in turn, made having a meal together actually appear fun for the adults, as well!

There are a lot of great take-away tips in this book and one of them is to make the 4p.m. snack (or 3ish, in our case) really good – something a child won’t mind waiting for. The French have an appointed time for snacks in the afternoon because between noon and 8 is a long time to wait for food (although they expect adults to wait! Snacks only apply to children – dang it). So I’ve been trying to find fun things to make and at the back of the book, there are some real recipes found in the daycare systems in Paris, as well as in every day homes. One of those recipes is for a simple chocolate mousse. I had procured some amazingly fresh eggs from my dear friend, Katrina, and I thought there would be no more honorable way to consume them than to eat them raw.

I just lost some readers.

Seriously, though, eating eggs from a reliable source, from happy chickens whose eggs are only a few days old – you would more likely get eaten by a goat than get sick from eggs like this. I’ve never been one to shy away from a raw egg in cookie dough, even with the old eggs from the store, but for a recipe that calls for 6 whole eggs, I don’t think I would have been too comfortable eating them if I didn’t know how old they really were. And I knew, in this case, because Katrina gathered them from the hen house a day before I took them home. You all should hook up with a friend who has chickens. They can never eat as many eggs as they end up getting! And if you have chickens, this type of recipe is great for using up excess eggs!

This mousse is light, fluffy and has an amazing texture and flavor with the added zing of orange zest. You must eat it very very cold or the texture gets a little too loose. But straight from the fridge, they are amazing and Olive enjoyed it a LOT, and I exercised my patience with messy eating and happily took pictures of the chocolate chaos.

Chocolate Mousse
Serves 6

1/2 pound semi-sweet Baker’s chocolate (I actually used Ghirardelli 60% chips)
4 teaspoons butter (oh, just use two tablespoons)
6 eggs, whites and yolks separated
Zest of half an orange (I also think a 1/4 tsp almond extract would be awesome!)
Pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler on the stove over low heat. Quick method: melt in the microwave on 30 second increments, stirring gently until melted and smooth. When the chocolate is melted and cooled a bit, add in the egg yolks and orange zest and stir well. Set aside.

In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or in a large metal bowl with metal whisk, by hand, if you know what you’re made of) beat the egg whites until they reach stiff peaks (adding a pinch of salt at the start will help them stiffen).

Gently fold one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Mix gently, then fold in the other half, mixing very gently. Spoon the mousse into little serving dishes and chill for 2 to 3 hours or over night until firm.

Domestic Goodness – The Day to Day Matters

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Alisa

“Keep your work space clean”

This was my mom’s mantra in the kitchen. Every time I’d help her with cooking a meal, she would say this sentence at some point during our work. She has no idea how important this lesson truly is for any home cook, professional chef or really, anyone in any professional field, ever. Professional chefs refer to the order of their kitchen, or their cooking station as their “mise en place” – everything in its place. This refers to the ingredients they cook with, primarily, but it also refers to the pots and pans and knives and towels and, well, everything. This concept is so important that many cooks get fired for being messy or leaving their works place a wreck. The reasoning makes sense: if you know where things are, you will cook more efficiently and get your work done quicker and with fewer errors. There will also be a higher standard for what you put on the plate as the place it came from was clean and professional. Sure, we all make messes while we cook, but as my mom would tell me, we should clean as we go. Not only does it leave less for you to do after dinner, but it helps you feel more in control. And when you have a toddler climbing up your pants as you stir a pot on the stove, it’s good to feel like you have some control over the situation.

I’ve been rocking the stay at home mom thing for a few months, now. My photography business has happily slowed down since December while I’ve launched this blog and thoroughly enjoyed my time at home, managing the house, planting a garden, cooking a LOT and getting to experience the wonder that is Olive. I will get back to doing weddings more frequently, but I’m honestly in no rush. Wedding photography is a very demanding job, one that I love, but I believe things come and go in seasons and right now, this is my season of being less busy. Even though I have something to do nearly every minute of the day, I feel on top of things. I’m going at my own pace. I used to not love staying at home, but I think that’s because I was bad at it. I didn’t find joy in the mundane, the every day tasks. But I’m beginning to.

Not every day feels this way. Sometimes it’s all I can do to keep a happy face while I fold microscopic socks while keeping Olive engaged so she won’t put all of Cash’s food, piece by piece, into his water bowl. But for the most part, I’ve embraced the beauty of the mundane. The happy calm from a home in order. It’s not mundane, anymore. It’s sacred. It’s sacred because God is in all things and is constantly working through all things. Even the laundry. In your life, if you constantly say “what’s next?” or “I’m “just” a mom, but later, when the kids are in school, I’ll try to figure out what I’m really meant to do”, you’re selling yourself short. Newsflash: You’re meant to do exactly what you’re doing right now. Whatever it is. And you should find ways to do it with joy. Even if it’s a job you hate or a situation you find beneath you. I read a quote the other day that said, “How you spend your days is how you spend your life.” And although that sounds so cliche, it’s so right. Do you want to spend your days, your life, waiting for something better to come along? I’m not saying we shouldn’t work toward new goals, but maybe we should all start doing a better job at being thankful and making the most of our “right now”, with whatever we’ve been given, in any situation we find ourselves.

A way that I chose to have joy in my seemingly-mundane current station in life was to revamp the place I spend a lot of time: the utility area. So utterly boring, right? I agree. And it’s usually the most cluttered, messy, thrown-down room in the house. In our house, that area has our pantry, our washer and drier, a craft area, a place to iron, a storage area, and Cash’s food and stuff. That’s a lot of crap to cram into two, tiny, hallway-sized rooms. And that’s a lot of time spent in a place that is ugly and thrown-down and messy. Here’s a before pic – the view coming through the garage door:

What if THIS greeted you every time you came home? Would you feel like working? All those things hanging on a curtain rod are aprons. Yeah, I have plenty. I gave a lot away and kept the ones people made for me. De-clutter! I’m the antithesis of a hoarder. If it doesn’t get used in a year, it gets given away or thrown out.

And here is the new view coming into the house:

Much, much better. As you can see, the craft area is still junky, but it’s SO hard to keep it not-junky if you actually craft. And I do. I’m currently making World’s Ugliest Lampshade.

Below, you can see how the pantry has order, however imperfect. But I know where everything is, and that’s what matters. I put a cute light switch cover on the wall, then put two hooks in the openings for our keys. Right below is a hook for my purse. Which my purse currently isn’t on – it’s in the car where it shouldn’t be. But you get the idea.

Then, I ordered a super cute ironing board cover and hung my iron on the wall as domestic-style art. This really has become a peaceful area to iron, my most hated domestic duty.

Then, I got all Pinteresty and made a laundry-folding area. My mom used to yell, “Come get your stacks!” (of clothes) and now, I can yell, “Come get your basket!” and hopefully have the same results. I made four shelves because I’m pretty sure we’re not done having children. But for now, Olive gets both because that girl has more tiny outfits than one would ever need in life. Good thing they cycle out of clothes every 3 months!

From the craft area looking into the laundry/pantry area – I’m proud of my lampshade rigged light. Just hung it against the ceiling on little screw hooks. Magnets on the side of the drier for Olive to play with. They usually end up in Cash’s water bowl, too.

This looks messy, but that’s because they’re currently in use. Three planter boxes – one for items that need repair, one for “projects” and one for items that need ironing. Plus, a cute pegboard painted with the same paint for all the tools. I love that I don’t have to go hunting in the garage for these things, anymore.

My most Martha-moment – putting stuff in these jars. I love the OCD appeal and I love how all the colors show through. You can see here: beans, rice, pasta, feuilletine (it’s a candy additive thing you’ll make if you own Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook long enough), cocoa and cake flour.

I also hang the super heavy pots here – we use these about once a week, so they don’t need to be in the kitchen with the daily use stuff, taking up space. Those awesome teal Ball jars are at Target, currently! Go get some! The drawers below are for spices that won’t fit on my magnetic spice rack (or that I’ve stopped caring enough to buy spice cans for), extraneous and random flours, weird baking items like straight up glucose (I’m not scared) and baking additions like chocolate bars, cocoas, nuts and baking chips. Then, a tupperware full of dried chilies that we never use but it makes us feel prepared, and two boxes (the pink ones) of cake and cookie decorating things. All items that clutter up kitchen drawers! This area is my favorite part of the redo. Obviously

Hope you enjoyed the tour! And I hope that if there’s a room in your house that you use all the time, but simultaneously makes you feel depressed by being in it, that you would at least reorganize! I really didn’t spend much on all this – I had all the storage units and I just bought the paint and the laundry shelves, which cost about $25 total. Just rearranging things and painting the walls can make a world of difference!

And remember: whatever you’re doing in life right now is what you’re supposed to be doing. So find the joy in whatever small ways you can! You matter and what you do matters, even if it’s not flashy or expensive or even if you don’t get acclaim for doing it. I wish I’d learned that years ago…

Coriander Crusted Chicken

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Alisa

This Monday meal is a really unique spin on some old standards. We all get tired of chicken because it’s nearly always in the weekly rotation. Adding a spice you may not be used to is the best way to make something boring like chicken seem new, again! This week that spice is coriander. The seed of the cilantro plant, it has a tutti-fruity flavor and is commonly used in Indian cuisine. It’s got a wonderful sweet/spicy appeal that makes it ideal for roasted chicken. We first ran across this spice mix from acclaimed chef, Michael Symon, who combined coriander, cinnamon, cumin and Srirracha for the most unbelievable wings you’ll ever taste. We’ve brought those chicken wings to football parties, church potlucks and small get-togethers with friends and they are always gone first.

For this simple meal, I took a few of the spices from Symon’s original wing recipe and tossed the chicken legs in with them, plus some olive oil and roasted it. Perfection! They’d be even better if you put them in the rub the night before you were going to cook them. We simply served the chicken with a side of Srirracha for a dipping sauce instead of making the wing sauce recipe.

For the side, I did a simple roasted green bean/potato dish tossed with diced, caramelized purple onions. Such a simple addition and it made the vegetables totally awesome. Oh, and for my gluten/dairy avoiding friends, this meal is entirely safe for you! FYI, just to keep things honest, Olive only ate the potatoes out of this dish. She’s decided this week and last to boycott meats and most vegetables. It’s been super fun…

Coriander Chicken with Roasted Vegetables
serves 4

1 lb chicken legs, thighs, wings – just make sure they’re still on the bone. Yes, this can be done with boneless, but you’ll need to adjust the cooking time
2 tbs coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil

For the vegetables:
2 medium sized potatoes
1/2 lb fresh green beans, ends snipped
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 red onion, diced
3 tbs olive oil

For the chicken: Preheat your oven to 450F. Combine the coriander seeds, cumin, cinnamon, salt and olive oil in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Add the chicken legs and smush and toss and move them around inside the bag to coat all the pieces evenly. Sometimes I open up the bag and have to move some of the top pieces down to the bottom cause the bottom pieces are spice-hogs. Leave the bag in the fridge for 30 minutes while you prep all the rest of the vegetables for the meal.

Wash and cube up the potatoes into about 1/2″ cubes. Snap the ends off your green beans and wash them and pat them dry. Toss the potatoes and green beans together with the 2 tbs of olive oil and spread them out on a greased, rimmed baking sheet. Season with a good sprinkling of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and set pan aside. Take your chicken out of the fridge and arrange the pieces on a greased, foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Place the chicken in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. Put the potatoes and green beans in the oven on the lower rack beneath the chicken and get on with your onions. In a medium saucepan, heat the remaining 3 tbs of olive oil over medium heat and cook the onions till they are golden, usually 10-15 minutes.

Check the potatoes and green beans when the timer for the chicken goes off. If they haven’t turned golden and slightly crispy, leave them in there. Check the temp of the chicken with a probe thermometer. If it’s 165, they are done and you can remove them from the oven. They may take longer depending on the size of chicken pieces you used and the temp of your oven (all ovens lie just a little bit). If your vegetables aren’t quite done when the chicken is, just tent the chicken with foil so they’ll keep warm. The beauty of the vegetables is that if they get done faster than the chicken, they can easily be warmed in the microwave. When the vegetables are done roasting, toss them in with the caramelized onions in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Brown Butter Almond Brittle Ice Cream

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Alisa

I promise you that this is the best ice cream you will ever make at home. We stumbled on Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home a couple years ago and I believe the first recipes I made from this book were the Kona Stout and the Roasted Strawberry and Buttermilk for Matt’s company picnic. Both flavors got such rave reviews, that when I went to buy this book for my friend, Anna’s birthday, a week later, Barnes and Noble told us that they’d recently sold the rest of their copies – all to Matt’s co-workers, it turned out I think the way Jeni makes ice cream is a revelation. She combines a bit of cornstarch into the base and then adds just one and a half ounces of cream cheese per quart recipe, and the texture and consistency turns out amazing. Perfectly creamy, freezes well, and her flavors are never too sweet – always a perfect balance. The recipes in this book range from really unique (gouda and vodka plumped cranberries) to traditional (vanilla bean) to genius (sweet potato with torched marshmallows – gotta try this one, next).

Summer time is the perfect time to buy this book and try out a new recipe at each and every opportunity you get. Our little ice cream maker will get a work out during these hot months to come! But we have faith that it feels it is finally getting to do what it was created to do, thanks to Jeni’s Splendid ice creams and our not-so-splendid hundred degree days!

This week, I made three flavors out of this book: Brown Butter Almond Brittle, Roasted Pistachio and Bourbon Butter Pecan. All amazing. The Almond Brittle was the most requested at our church get-together last night, and the most consumed (although I adore the pistachio), so I’ve written out the recipe for you here today. It calls for almost a pound of butter. ACTUALLY you only use a tablespoon of that pound of butter. The solids that settle to the bottom of the pan after you brown butter is what gets mixed into the base and it creates a divinely nutty, roasted flavor in the ice cream base. Yet another way brown butter makes the world a better place.

Brown Butter Almond Brittle Ice Cream*
makes about 1 quart

for the base:
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1.5 oz (3 tbs) softened cream cheese
1/8 tsp fine sea salt (I use kosher)
3/4 lb unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbs light corn syrup

1 cup crushed Almond Brittle (recipe below)

Mix about 2 tbs of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a 4 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil and let bubble until the foam starts to subside and the butter is a rich dark brown (not black!). Remove from the heat and let stand until the butter solids settle to the bottom of the pan, about 5 minutes.

Pour the clear butter oil into a storage container (once it solidifies you can use it as you normally would for cooking so it’s not a waste!) As you get closer to the butter solids in the bottom of the pan, use a teaspoon to remove as much liquid butter as you can. You should have about 1 tablespoon of brown butter solids and a little bit of melted fat in the bottom of the pan (it’s impossible to remove all the fat).

Add the remaining milk, cream, sugar and corn syrup to the butter solids, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry (you’ll need to stir it up again as it will settle and solidify some). Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula or whisk, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister of your ice cream maker and spin until thick and creamy. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, folding in the chopped almond brittle as you go. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface of the ice cream (this is important to avoid freezer burn and maintain a good consistency) and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Almond Brittle*
makes about 2 cups

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Generously oil a large baking sheet.

Combine the sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt in a 4 quart saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Insert a candy thermometer in the pan, add the butter, and bring back to a boil, then cook until the mixture reaches 300F. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the almonds and then the baking soda, working quickly but combining them thoroughly.

Pour the mixture out onto the oiled baking sheet, spreading it to a 1/4 inch thick layer. Allow to cool completely before smashing to bits.

*recipes taken nearly word for word from Jeni’s book.

Caramelized Onion Dip

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Alisa

Every summer, certain things tend to become a trend. We nearly always have an official corn dish, a certain way we assemble a burger from the grill, a particular drink we make over and over, or a particular ice cream flavor we bring to parties. It’s so much fun looking forward to the hot summer months by way of what we’ll be cooking. It really helps utilize what’s in season (think: guacamole, caprese salad from REAL tomatoes and backyard basil, etc) and this summer, I think I’ve found the official dip/spread!

This dip would be amazing as a burger spread, a dip for tortilla chips, crackers, etc. A wonderful topping for baked potatoes, a dip for fries – the options are endless. I’ve always been a fan of the tubs of French Onion dip in the grocery stores, but this homemade version blows any of the store bought options out of the water. It has a sweet smokiness from the caramelized onions, a super creaminess from the addition of the cream cheese and my addition, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, really makes the flavors come alive and gives it a bite that cuts through all the richness. It’s perfect. I also decided to spin all the ingredients in my food processor a few times because I liked the idea of the onions being finely chopped instead of left in long slivers. I think for me, it’s a more pleasing texture as a dip.

However you decide to make it, just promise me you’ll try this one at your next BBQ.

Caramelized Onion Dip*
makes about 2 cups

2 large yellow onions
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tbs red wine vinegar (really, any vinegar you have on hand will do just fine!)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup good mayonnaise (we use Hellman’s original)

Cut up the onions into very thin slices. Place in a large skillet with the butter, vegetable oil, salt and cayenne and let it cook over medium low heat until the onions turn golden, and caramelize, about 30 minutes. You really want to err on the side of TOO caramelized instead of not enough. The flavors get so intense as the onions break down. Let the onions cool and set aside.

Add the vinegar, salt and pepper, cream cheese, sour cream and mayo to your food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Then add the onions and pulse until fully incorporated. If you don’t have a food processor, just dice your onions before you cook them, and then take all the ingredients to a bowl or mixer and mix until smooth.

Adjust the seasonings and serve with…anything!

*recipe adapted from this site, who took the recipe from The Barefoot Contessa cookbook.

Turkey Meatball Stroganoff

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Alisa

For your Monday family meal, I am presenting something truly comforting, low in fat and wonderfully flavorful. Coming, again, from Tyler Florence’s book, Start Fresh, this recipe appears at the back of the book where a few dishes are listed that the whole family can enjoy and be modified for any stage eater. If I were feeding this to 9 month old Olive, I would smash up a meatball into tiny pieces (they are really soft, anyway) and I would take some of the sauce and pulse it a few times with a few noodles. I’d even have taken a bit of everything for 6 month old Olive and blended it all up with some extra sauce! I was never too worried about feeding her a huge variety at an early age. For 15 month old Olive, this meal is a free-for-all. I’m really strict when it comes to what and when she eats, but as for how, I still cringe, but I do let her eat with her hands, smash things in her face and even try and “smell” everything (which results in food up the nose). I know I have a lot of guidelines, so I try my best to not stress too much about the mess. I still won’t dump a scoop of spaghetti onto her try and leave her to it. I have boundaries, you know. :) But I think WHAT she eats and the way we treat mealtimes is more important than having to hose down the high chair. (I’m preaching to myself. This is a life lesson for me and my need to control things too much!)

Turkey Meatball Stroganoff*
Serves 4 to 6

1 slice multigrain bread (I used rye) or about 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1.5lbs ground turkey
2 tbs whole milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, minced
1/2 tsp caraway seeds, crushed (just dump some in a plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin if you don’t have a mortar and pestle)
Pinch of kosher salt
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
6 ounces sliced mushrooms (any kind)
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 tbs AP flour
1.5 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 tbs sour cream or unsweetened yogurt (I used the latter cause that’s what I had on hand!)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
8 ounces cooked egg noodles (I like the extra wide for baby hands to grasp!)
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

Chop or pulse the bread in your food processor (or with a knife) until very small and crumbly. In a large bowl, mix the turkey together with the bread, milk, onion, caraway seeds, and salt until combined (err on the side of too wet and add more milk if it seems dry). Shape the turkey mixture into about fifteen 2-inch meatballs.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the meatballs and cook, turning often, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes (I have to use a meat thermometer for turkey and make sure I get the centers up to 160). Transfer the meatballs to a plate.

Add the garlic to the same skillet and cook over medium heat for a minute or two. Add the mushrooms and thyme and continue to cook, turning often, until the mushrooms are golden. Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir to coat. Stir in the chicken stock and cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Whisk in the sour cream and mustard until smooth, then return the meatballs to the pan. Turn to coat with the sauce.

Spoon the meatballs and sauce over the noodles and serve garnished with parsley. I didn’t think this recipe made enough sauce, just FYI, so I think next time, I’d double the parts for the sauce. Word to the wise! I like leftover sauce and for the noodles to be absolutely coated!

*recipe adapted from Start Fresh

Champagne Mangoes and a Glorious Mango Curd

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Alisa

When we were in Mexico City last year with our friends, Cali and Alex, we were introduced to the ultimate mango. Small, lemon yellow and sweeter than a peach. Cali showed us that there was a specific mango fork that you need to peel it properly, and then she went on to show the proper way to peel and dice up these golden nuggets of wonder. She is my unofficial mango-expert. I will forever associate her with this wonderful fruit and every time I peel one, I always think, “Is this how Cali would do it?” I had never experienced a mango like the ones in Mexico, before, and when we got back home, I was on the look out. I was so excited to see one that looked very similar at the grocery store called Champagne mangoes, and the next time Cali came over, I had her confirm its validity. We had a winner! So now, whenever I see that they are in abundance at the store, I get a half dozen. The last time I did, I let them go too long before eating them, and faced the fear of letting them go bad.

So, I decided that I wanted to make a mango curd. I looked up a recipe and it called for 15 ounces of mango and that’s exactly how much I had. The recipe turned out so well, I filled macarons with it and also filled citrus cupcakes with the curd and topped them in coconut cream cheese frosting. Epic win for the cupcakes, epic fail on the macarons. The macarons tasted great, but the cookie itself didn’t turn out very well. They all went hollow! I have made macaron cookies before and the best I can describe them is that they are the croissant of cookies. Every batch is different, every recipe is different and their success depends on so many factors, it’s a little maddening. The quality of the ingredients, the humidity in your kitchen, the exact temp of your oven, etc, etc, etc. I surprised myself and didn’t FREAK OUT when the first batch of cookies EXPLODED, the second batch was pretty perfect, and the third batch baked like the first. A true testament to how baking is a fickle beast. They at least looked pretty:

The cupcakes, on the other hand, were a no-brainer. I took a basic yellow cake recipe and added in Fiori di Sicilia, then made a cream cheese frosting, added a bit of coconut extract and topped each with toasted coconut after filling the cupcakes with the mango curd. Such a wonderful combination, that I wanted to share those recipes with you, today, but mainly, this mango curd is the winner. A week later, I still had some in a jar so they were put on some buttermilk pancakes this morning with fresh blueberries and slices of Champagne mangoes, of course.

Champagne Mango Curd*

Makes 1 to 1.5 cups

15-ounces ripe mango, peeled, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (It took 5 Champagne mangoes)
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Puree mango, sugar, lime juice and salt in processor, scraping down sides of work bowl occasionally. Add yolks; puree 15 seconds longer. Strain through sieve set over large metal bowl, pressing on solids with back of spatula to release as much puree as possible. Discard solids in sieve.

Set metal bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); whisk puree until thickened and thermometer registers 170°F., about 10 minutes. Remove from over water. Whisk in butter 1 piece at a time. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

*taken from Smitten Kitchen, who took it from Bon Appetit

Citrus Cupcakes*

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, or 1/2 tsp orange extract + 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 12-16 muffin tins, or just line with cupcake liners and spray those with non-stick spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat well, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture, beating until combined. Add milk and extracts and beat until just combined.
Divide batter among cups; smooth tops with an offset spatula. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks to cool completely before filling.

*adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Coconut Frosting*

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
5 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp coconut extract

1/2 cup coconut, toasted, for topping cupcakes

Beat together butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium. Add confectioner’s sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Add salt, milk, and vanilla, coconut extract and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. If not using immediately, cover surface of frosting with plastic wrap. Frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 week. Before using, bring to room temperature, then beat on low speed until smooth.

*adapted from Martha Stewart Living

To Assemble:

I used the large tip from my piping bag to cut out the centers of my cupcakes and I really went pretty much to the bottom of each cupcake with the cut. The curd is pretty runny out of the piping bag, so I had to hold it up in the air between fillings. I inserted the tip of the piping bag and slowly squeezed until the sides of the cupcake bulged a bit. I like filling. Then, I just smoothed the frosting on top of each cupcake and sprinkled with toasted coconut.

Homemade Salted Butter with Fresh Thyme

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Alisa

Since we found Pereira Pastures Dairy a couple months ago, I suddenly had access to raw cream and milk, which fulfills my dream of having a milk man. It doesn’t arrive on my porch in cute, glass bottles, but it does come from a friendly man in Abernathy who does his best every day with the land and beautiful Jersey cows God gave him to make the best product he can. He treats those cows so well and it shows in his product. I ordered a couple bottles of cream over the past two weeks and I’m telling you, this cream is legit. There was only a half inch at the bottom of the bottle where the cream had separated from the rest of the milk. THAT much raw cream just screams to be made into butter. So, after being inspired by a story in the May issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine about Diane St. Clair, who makes butter for the French Laundry and Per Se, I decided to make my own. I went a simpler route than the recipe featured in the magazine and just basically whipped the cream into oblivion until it separated into buttermilk and butter. I then kneaded it, washed it (washing it makes it last longer) added some salt and sprigs of fresh thyme from my “garden” and voila – I had made my very own compound raw butter.

Making compound butters (essentially butter with stuff mixed in to flavor it) is really easy. When the butter is at room temp, simply mix in herbs, seasonings, whatever you want and then wrap it up in plastic wrap and chill until firm. Then, like my salted thyme butter, use it on fish or chicken or just bread for something really wonderful. Sure, buying butter is so much easier. And less expensive. And less messy and time consuming. However, I think doing things from scratch offers a natural inclination for satisfaction and moderation that you just can’t buy. How much slower you’ll eat butter you made than stuff you can scoop out of a tub!

First, dump cream (I used two cups) into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Then, whip on medium high until whipped cream forms. Then, really, just let that sucker whip until it suddenly separates. This process can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes of solid whipping. You should have something that looks like this:

Strain the buttermilk out and save it to make pancakes or biscuits!

Then, gather the butter solids and knead them in your hands under running water, squeezing the excess buttermilk out. Then, you can either leave it alone for plain butter, or mix in salt and herbs, like I did here:

Then, transfer to a sheet of plastic wrap, form into a log and refrigerate until firm. Or leave it out on the counter if you’ll be using it right away.

And for a simple approach, just slice it and eat it on a cracker

Fish Sticks and Sticking to Your Guns

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Alisa

The method is working. We have a few food rules when it comes to feeding Olive and ourselves. All these thoughts are fueled by the game-changing book, “French Kids Eat Everything“. I highly recommend it if you find yourself stressed that your kid eats a limited selection of foods. Babies don’t know snacking exists. They learn it soon enough from peers and tv and observing adults who randomly nibble throughout the day, but in the formative first couple years of life where you have most of the control over what your baby consumes, you can show them a different way. And maybe even learn to eat better, yourself! Olive gets one snack a day. Yes, she’s 15 months old (almost) and only snacks once a day. (And it’s a good one! Something fun and really tasty. Usually a piece of fruit or some dark chocolate and bread with milk. You gotta make it something they look forward to.) It’s in between lunch and dinner, because that’s the longest stretch without food. We also have to emulate this discipline for her. How would it be fair to snack in front of her without including her? And if I want her to be hungry enough at a meal to be willing to try something new, well darn it, she needs to not have eaten a snack an hour before dinner! Makes sense to me and it seems so obvious, yet so few do it. We should all eat this way! Hunger is a discipline that too few of us experience. And the discipline is learned before the age of two. It can be learned if started after two, but it’s just so much harder (think: excessive whining).

We’ve even pushed dinner back to 7:30 the past few nights and she has eaten EVERYTHING. Whereas before, I was serving dinner at 6:30 and it was a fight to get her to eat for 10 minutes straight (she’d had her snack just two hours before and had drank milk in between, so, consequently, she was only mildly interested in dinner.) Eating an hour later has been a transformation – she ate marvelously and ate everything from fish to broccoli to berries to a nice piece of Manchego (the King of Cheese). So, it’s working! The next day, she ate like a bird and acted like bananas were the devil (a former favorite). Even if she has days like that, I try to remind myself that she will not starve and that maybe she’ll eat more at the next meal (this is SO hard.) This structure of eating has made my days better, too. I don’t have to constantly find something for her to eat. Other than her snack, we’re all eating at the same time. This will get harder as she gains the ability to ask for things and tell me she’s hungry. I’ll tackle that problem when it gets here. Hopefully between now and then, she’ll form the habit of knowing when food is served and being willing to wait till we can all sit at the table together for the family meal. Also, because she eats so much quantity at each meal, she’s often not even that hungry until about 30 minutes before the next meal. So waiting for the meal is as simple as distracting her with playing in another room with Matt, or just including her in the cooking process like holding the herbs, or a peeled carrot, or whatever. She sits on the counter a lot

The recipes today come from two cookbooks. The fish recipe came from Tyler Florence’s book, Start Fresh, which is an absolutely wonderful book filled with recipes I would be just as happy eating as I would serving them to a toothless baby or toddler. Toward the end of the book, there are recipes for the whole family to share. My wonderful friend, Becky, sent this cookbook to me as a gift to me and Olive, and she put sticky notes all throughout the book with comments she made about which recipes looked good, which she wanted to try, etc. It made me miss her so much and long for my genius-in-the-kitchen friend to be beside me, cooking and enjoying these recipes with me. I’d recommend doing that to any cookbook you buy for someone – it just made it seem like she was here with me as I looked through it.

The tartar sauce recipe comes from the Bonne Femme cookbook and I swear to you, this is THE best tartar sauce I’ve ever had. It puts every other tartar sauce to shame. Makes them seem like a joke. Like mayo with pickles. This has tang and zip and crunch and so much flavor, I really will never feel satisfied eating any other tartar sauce, ever again. (Dramatic, much?) I’ve made two batches since last week and turned the latest batch into a potato salad. Amazing. You can’t go wrong with these recipes and I feel that this would even be an acceptable meal for a kid who does not like everything. Surely on this plate, any kid could find SOMETHING they were happy to eat!

Oven Baked Fish Sticks with Roasted Potatoes
serves 4

1/2 cup buttermilk
1 lb cod or tilapia fillets, cut into 1 inch wide fingers
1 cup panko breadcrumbs (I ran out of panko and used plain and it worked fine)
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb assorted baby potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
2 tbs olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line two rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pour buttermilk into a large bowl. Add the fish pieces and turn to coat. In another bowl, stir together the panko, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Dredge each fish finger in the breadcrumbs to coat completely and arrange on a baking sheet.

Combine the potatoes (and broccoli pieces, or asparagus or green beans – whatever other green veg you want!) in a bowl and drizle with the oil. Toss to coat thoroughly, then arrange the vegetables on the other baking sheet. Bake the fish and vegetables, turning once, until the fish fingers are golden, about 15 minutes. The potatoes may need longer. If so, simply take the fish out when they’re done and tent with foil to stay warm.

Serve fish (and potatoes, really) with tartar sauce!

Tartar Sauce
makes about a cup

3/4 cup high-quality mayonnaise (we think, aside from homemade, that Hellmans REAL mayo is the best. No low-fat or miracle whip crap.)
2 tablespoons chopped cornichons (small sour French pickles)
1 small shallot or 1 scallion (white part and some tender green tops), minced (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or fresh parsley and chives
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons capers, drained and chopped
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon or chervil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a bowl, gently fold the mayonnaise, cornichons, shallot, parsley, mustard, capers, vinegar, and tarragon together (don’t mix too vigorously, or your sauce will be too smooth). Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and preferably 2 hours, before serving. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

The Family Meal

we eat together

Rosemary Crusted Pork Chop with Coconut Milk Braised Carrots

Chocolate Mousse

Domestic Goodness – The Day to Day Matters

Coriander Crusted Chicken

Brown Butter Almond Brittle Ice Cream

Caramelized Onion Dip

Turkey Meatball Stroganoff

Champagne Mangoes and a Glorious Mango Curd

Homemade Salted Butter with Fresh Thyme

Fish Sticks and Sticking to Your Guns

Follow “The Family Meal”

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