Cajun Shrimp and Potato Bake

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Alisa

This is a fantastically easy, hearty, well-rounded meal that is wonderful for the whole family. I love cutting corn cobs into sundials – it’s not only very pretty to look at, but it makes it very easy for little hands to pick up and dig in! I created this meal after determining we had nothing to eat 🙂 I had a few fingerling potatoes, 3 cobs of corn, and about 12 shrimp in the freezer. Oh, and a shallot. I had a shallot. It really is remarkable what you can create when your laziness for going to the store beats out your laziness for cooking. I chopped up everything, roasted them, and served it all in bowls with plenty of hot sauce!

This meal was made possible by the previously stated freezer staple, frozen shrimp, and a strong desire to stay home and out of the heat. We had leftovers for a few days from this, and for what was probably $5 total, I’d consider that a success.

Cajun Shrimp and Potato Bake
serves 4

1 lb fingerling potatoes, or small, new potatoes, chopped into 1″ pieces
3 cobs of corn, cut into 1″ cross-sections
1 large shallot, or 1/2 a medium onion, cut into thin half-moons
1/2 lb peeled, deveined, frozen shrimp (about 6-8 per person, if they are big)
1 tsp Cajun seasoning (or Old Bay would work great)
Olive oil (about 3-4 tablespoons total)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Preheat the oven to 375. Run cold water over the frozen shrimp to thaw and leave it in the colander while you cut up the vegetables. Toss the potatoes, corn and onion with about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle well with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until corn turns golden and potatoes are tender, stirring once or twice during cooking time. While the vegetables are roasting, rinse the shrimp again and then lay them out on paper towels, blot dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper and Cajun seasoning on both sides.

When the vegetables are almost done, take the tray out and lay the shrimp on top of the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the shrimp are opaque. Toss everything together in a big bowl and serve with hot sauce of choice!

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!

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.

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.

Potatoes Gratin

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Alisa

This is such a beautifully simple dish. It’s also quite rich and begs that you throw away your fear of dairy, potatoes and butter and embrace how amazing those ingredients, in combination, can truly be. This is not the potatoes gratin you are used to where rather thick slices of potato are all stacked on top of each other in a huge dish, covered in cheese. This recipe actually has no cheese. I know I’d had the dehydrated versions of potatoes gratin out of the box, and possibly something similar at a buffet, but I’d never tried making it myself until we read the book, Must Have Been Something I Ate, by Jeffrey Steingarten. (This book will change you.)

The section of his book that this recipe comes from is entitled “There is a God in Heaven”, (I love a person as emphatic about food as I am) with the quote beneath the section headline, “But as luck would have it, there is a God in Heaven. Medical researchers now know that not all saturated fats are the same, and that cocoa butter does not raise our cholesterol.” And in that section is an entire chapter dedicated to Gratin Dauphinois (the French created this dish, of course), or Potatoes Gratin. Gratin, coming from the word “gratter”, meaning, “to scrape” referring to the crispy bits of cream that get glued to the sides of the pan and scrape off and crunch so amazingly well. Say no more.

We have eaten this dish as a meal, before, but it goes best as an accompaniment to a really great steak and a really fresh salad or other light side. Also, don’t make the mistake of serving a rich dessert after eating these potatoes. I’m all for indulgence and you will never, ever find me saying that you should avoid entire food groups or ingredients altogether (bring on the corn, cheese, gluten, you name the poison) but I am also not dumb enough to serve a rich dessert after a dish this heavy. You’d sink all the way to the bottom of the playa lake. Everything in balance!

Potatoes Gratin*
serves 6-8 as a side

4 tbs butter, softened to room temp
1 cup whole milk
1 large garlic clove, peeled and lightly crushed
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1.5 lbs baking potatoes
1.5 cups heavy cream

Preheat your oven to 425F. Place the milk, garlic clove, pepper, salt and nutmeg in a small saucepan, stir, bring to a boil and then remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, liberally butter the bottom and sides of a 9×13″ baking dish, using about half the butter. Peel the potatoes, rinse them, and pat them dry. Then, slice them 1/8th of an inch thick, discarding the smallest slices (This is easier with a mandoline) The cooking times really depend on this thickness, so don’t go too much thicker. Under no circumstances should you wash the potatoes after they have been sliced — the surface starch is absolutely indispensable.

Evenly arrange the potatoes in the buttered dish in ONE LAYER of overlapping slices. You will undoubtedly have some slices left over. Don’t try to cram them in. Bring the milk to a boil again and pour it over the potatoes, removing the garlic. Cover the pan with a sheet of foil and bake in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes, until most of the milk has been absorbed. Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil and remove from heat. When the potatoes are ready, remove and discard the foil. Bring the cream back to a boil and pour it over the potatoes, dotting the surface with the remaining butter.

Bake, uncovered, for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes have turned golden brown, spotted with darker, crisp areas. You may need to rotate the dish halfway through cooking to ensure an even browning. We love thyme leaves in this dish and will sprinkle some on when the dish is nearly done baking. Let the gratin settle for 10 minutes. Then eat immediately – taste and texture suffer with each passing minute. Cut into 6 to 8 rectangles and serve with a wide, metal slotted spatula.

*most of the text taken directly from Jeffrey Steingarten’s book. Go get it!

Caesar Salad and Chilling Out

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Alisa

We’ve been trying to eat outside on our patio table more often as the weather warms up and the days get longer. I want to enjoy myself in this zen-like way where I don’t care about a little extra mess, where Olive eats everything we serve and she isn’t wildly distracted by the dogs and the wind and the trees and the air and where I lean back in my chair, leisurely taking bites of my food and just enjoy the moment and the concept of taking a little longer than usual to eat dinner. But instead, what has happened the few times we’ve done this, is I get all worked up and stressed trying to feed Olive and trying not to make a complete mess without her in the playful looking restraints of a high chair, and I end up trying to scarf down my food so that I can tend to whatever mess is going on, or try to block Olive from feeding all her food to Cash.

I do this to myself. (For the record, this stress is only with food and dining – I am okay with a muddy kid or a messy house or whatever – but please, don’t put food in your hair and whatever you do, do NOT drop food from your tray!) I don’t enjoy the experience of something different and out of control, I let that ruin the experience for me. Now, my sweet husband might just say, “Let’s not eat outside anymore if it bothers you so much!” (always trying to keep me from feeling anything but joy) but I think what I need, instead, is MORE dining experiences where not everything is micro-managed by my desires for things to look and go perfectly.

It happened again this Sunday – we had a picnic in the park with some people from our church group and we brought a tish bit of an ambitious lunch. Matt had made all the components for this really great Vietnamese pork and noodle salad and everything was so delicious, but I instantly got down about: 1. the wind blowing lettuce and dirt in my face 2. my baby walking around the blanket and the park NOT eating and spitting things out that we tried to make her eat (God bless one of our friends who had the brains to bring a banana 3. just the overall lack of control I had over the components of my meal – it was messy and I needed a bowl and lots of napkins and NO wind, but I didn’t have those things and I became really negative and I am 100% sure I ruined the experience for Matt, who was trying his best to stay positive while eating beside a big rain cloud (me).

Whenever I struggle with sinful things in my life like jealousy or greed or pride or even the need for control (a sin, I believe), I try to do a bit of immersion therapy on myself and directly expose myself to the thing I can’t seem to handle as often as possible until I am over it. It has worked in the past and I think I will try to apply it here. I resolve to eat outside MORE often. To let messiness happen MORE in situations where I’d like to appear perfect, and I resolve to look at my situations like Olive would – like an opportunity she’s never had before and quite possibly might never have again!

An opportunity you might never have, again, is enjoying a properly made Caesar dressing, because absolutely no restaurants make this dressing right, or from scratch. This recipe is so flavorful and has just the right balance of tanginess from the lemon and anchovies and creaminess from the oil that it’s nearly like a beautiful, homemade mayonnaise with a kick! I see this salad happening a LOT during this hot summer ahead!

Just a little behind the scenes shot of how I usually take my food photos 🙂

Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons*
makes about a cup of dressing

4 tbs lemon juice, plus more to taste
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1 large egg yolk
4 anchovies, plus more for garnish, if you like
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tbs bacon grease from 4 strips of cooked bacon, or melted butter that has been cooled
Torn up romaine lettuce
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Combine all the ingredients except the canola oil in a tall, wide cup and blend with an immersion blender and then slowly drizzle in the oil. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper and extra lemon juice.

Toss leftover cubed up bread on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, and toast until golden brown.

Toss a couple tablespoons with the lettuce until nicely coated. Top with croutons, cut up pieces of the bacon and extra Parmesan cheese. And lots of cracked pepper!

*recipe adapted a lot from Ruhlman’s amazing sounding Chicken Fried Pork Belly Caesar.

Pizza Night!

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Alisa

We do pizza night nearly once a week. It’s kind of a weekend thing because Matt makes the dough the night before and we think up a new topping combination we haven’t tried, yet while flipping through magazines and cookbooks. It’s even better to have friends over, make individual pizzas and let everyone top their own. Matt has the crust down to an art. It’s perfect every time and trust me, he’s tried at least a half dozen different recipes and ways of doing the crust. He finally got the texture he was searching for: chewy, crispy, even in the very center under all the toppings and sauce, and great flavor. It’s honestly lacking nothing. And it makes us bitter when we go out for pizza, thinking, “Why didn’t we just make our own?”

We have Jim Lahey to thank, the pizza guru himself. His book, My Pizza, is forever bookmarked on the crust and sauces recipes. The recipe isn’t the only trick, though! We have a stone that we start heating up as soon as we begin prepping. We heat it as high as the oven will go – ours is 500 – and let it heat for at least 30 minutes. Then, right when we’re about to cook, we switch it to the high broil setting so that it cooks the top as fast as the stone cooks the bottom. I don’t trust my pizza peel skills, so I let Matt put them in the oven. (Self admitted wimp when it comes to this and frying things. I’m scared of lunging heat particles.)

You need never buy pizza sauce again in your life. If you do, you’re probably sacrificing flavor, money and freshness. The only thing it won’t save is time. But really, it doesn’t take that long and you get to squish tomatoes between your fingers. Always a bonus.

The topping combinations we came up with this week:

Sun Dried Tomato, Goat Cheese and Basil

Pea, Bacon and Mint with Bechemel Sauce (alfredo, basically)

Mexican Chorizo, Purple Potato, Queso Fresco and Fresh Corn (this was my idea and my favorite of the three, but chorizo is cheating because it makes everything delicious like bacon or butter. Three cheers for lymph nodes and salivary glands and such – I’m at least comforted that they don’t try to hide these ingredients from the list)

The best part of pizza night is that there’s no limit to your topping choices! We’ve done so many from buffalo chicken to dried cherries and sausage (a fav) and even Thai chicken. Get creative and get a pizza stone!

Pizza Dough:

500 grams all purpose flour
350 grams water
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp fine sea salt

In a medium bowl, thoroughly blend the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and with a wooden spoon or your hands, mix thoroughly.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow it to rise at room temp for 18 hours or until it has more than doubled. it will take longer in a chilly room and less time in a very warm one.

Flour a work surface and scrape the dough out of the bowl. Divide it into 4 equal parts and shape them: For each portion, start with the right side of the dough and pull it toward the center; then do the same with the left, then the top, then the bottom. The order doesn’t actually matter; what you want is four folds. Shape each portion into a round and turn seam side down. Mold the dough into a neat circular mound. The mounds should not be sticky; if they are, dust with more flour.

If you don’t intend to use the dough right away, wrap the balls individually in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Return to room temp by leaving them out on the counter, covered in a damp cloth for 2 to 3 hours before needed.

Shape each ball into about an 8-9″ round (about 1/4″ thick). Put on a pizza peel (we have a wooden one and we dust it with cornmeal so that the dough slides off easily once topped) and top with a thin layer of desired sauce. We’ve used plain olive oil, pesto, bechemel, marinara, buffalo sauce, homemade ranch dressing, etc – possibilities are endless and should correspond with your toppings! One tip if you’re using a fresh mozzarella that might be watery is to sprinkle the top of the cheese with a little corn meal. It absorbs the extra moisture! Top your pizza as desired – maybe don’t go crazy because the weight makes it hard to get off the peel. If you’re using fresh herbs, put them on once your pizza comes out, unless you just want that charred effect. We cook our pizzas at a preheated 500F oven for exactly 5 minutes. Right before we put the pizzas in, we turn our oven to broil. Some of this may be trial and error depending on how your oven cooks (oh, for a wood-burning stove!) but that’s part of the fun of cooking – figure out what works!

Marinara Sauce that we use every time:

1 – 28oz. can whole tomatoes. We like San Marzano
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs red wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients and crush tomatoes with your hands, removing the tough stem ends of the tomatoes. Mix well. That’s it! 🙂

Creamy Rice with Peas and Asparagus

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Alisa

There is a beautiful quarterly cookbook/magazine called Canal House cooking. It is founded by two friends who meet together every day to talk about what they had for dinner the night before, and then they get cooking. They decided to start writing down their recipes and what resulted was this beautiful magazine book. I like to try recipes out that are in season, and so I am currently going through their Spring issue. And even though there aren’t a lot of fresh peas in our produce bins, I know that they are currently in season somewhere out there in lands where it rains, so I felt this was still an appropriate recipe for an overcast May day. Asparagus is also in season, so I added some chopped up that I had roasted a few nights before and it was a really excellent addition. Canal House calls this dish Risi E Bisi (rice and peas) and it’s just that simple.

This is an excellent dish for little ones. The comfort of soft rice and cheese and the addition of greens and a dab of butter makes this dish all-inclusive. For smaller, toothless ones, this would be so simple to pulse a few times with an immersion blender! Olive still doesn’t like asparagus, but I think I’ve only given it to her 5 times. I’m going to try at least 15 more times before I determine that she does not, in fact, love asparagus. I challenge any mom out there to do the same! Case in point: I had nearly determined that Olive didn’t like peas until I hadn’t given them to her for a week or so, and then tried again and she gobbled them up. I realized that familiarity equals good for a child. So if you make a wide variety of vegetables simply familiar to a child, the enthusiasm will soon follow. I believe this with all my heart, even on days where Olive spits out anything green. One day she won’t, and I’ll be glad I didn’t let her under-developed, under-exposed palate determine her food preferences!

Creamy Rice with Peas and Asparagus
serves 6

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
4 tbs butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups fresh peas (you could also use frozen, as I did and it turned out great)
salt
6 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups arborio rice, or other short grain rice. I didn’t have any on hand, so I used plain long grain white and it was just fine.
1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
pepper to taste
1 bunch asparagus, roasted at 400 with olive oil, salt and pepper until tender

Heat the olive oil and 2 tbs of the butter together in a heavy medium pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and golden, 5-10 minutes. Add the peas and season with salt. Cook for a minute or two, then add 1 cup of the hot stock.

Cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the peas until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the rice and 4 cups of the remaining hot stock. Cover the pot and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle boil. Cook the rice, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and moisten the rice and peas (if needed and too thick) with the remaining cup of stock (I didn’t do this step – my rice didn’t absorb as much as arborio would have) Stir in the remaining 2 tbs of butter and half of the cheese. Fold in the chopped, roasted asparagus if you want. Season with salt and pepper and serve sprinkled with remaining cheese.

Cooking from a Food Memory

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Alisa

The first time I went down to Tulsa, Oklahoma to meet Matt in person, we ate this dish together with his family at a restaurant called Carrabba’s. (We met via instant messenger, after a dear friend of mine, who was talking to both of us at the same time said, “Here, you guys talk to each other, you’re telling me about the same band” (Jurassic 5) and after talking that day, we talked every day, increasing in hours logged (we had only land lines way back in 2003 and ran through multiple calling cards each week.) 6 months later we were engaged, and a year after that, we got married. We’ve been eating good meals together ever since. Aww)

Matt ordered the Chicken Bryan and we both marveled at the melty goat cheese and sun dried tomato mix that was tangy and sweet. A revelation! Since that day, I’ve tried to recreate it multiple times, but I never can quite replicate it. (Not enough butter?)

This week, I tried again and I’m slowly getting closer. It’s such a good dish, and as I look at their online menu, it says they drizzle a basil lemon butter sauce on top. Ah. That might help. Will try again next time! I happily used up the rest of my goat cheese and even made a mini portion on a bread and butter China plate for Olive, just so she’d feel fancy, too. (I think it worked, as she made some of the chicken into a hat near the end of the meal.)

As a side, I made the creamed spinach and basil recipe from a few weeks ago, and put a scoop inside squares of puff pastry, baked it, and although they didn’t stay together in the neat little pouches I folded, they were still amazingly good and a perfect side for this dish.

Chicken with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Basil
serves 4 to 6

1 lb chicken tenderloins
Salt and pepper
4 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, sliced in half
8-12 basil leaves
1 shallot, diced small (1/4 cup – you can use an onion if that’s what you have on hand)
1/4 cup white wine or chicken stock
4 oz goat cheese

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season each side with kosher salt and pepper. Heat olive oil (go two tablespoons at a time) over medium heat until shimmering and cook the chicken strips in batches, not over crowding the pan, or they won’t get a good sear. Chicken strips don’t take long to cook, maybe 1-2 minutes per side. Let the strips sit on a plate, covered in foil to keep warm until ready to plate. In your empty skillet, add the diced shallot and saute until golden. Then, add in a splash of wine or chicken stock, scraping up the browned chicken bits and then add a tablespoon of butter to make a pan sauce. Set your sauce off the burner so it won’t continue to reduce.

Put your chopped sun dried tomatoes in a saucepan with a quarter cup of water and let it simmer to re-hydrate a bit. Assemble the chicken, two strips per plate, with a sprinkling of sun dried tomatoes, a basil leaf or two, and a slice of goat cheese. Place the plates under the broiler until the cheese melts. Drizzle your reserved sauce over the cheese and serve!

Pasta Carbonara – tried and true recipes

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Alisa

I’m going back to some basics this week. I’ve exhausted myself on trying something new nearly every single day for two months. Time for some repeats! I have made some form of pasta carbonara on a regular basis since Matt and I were first married, 8 years ago. Carbonara is one of those dishes that you can nearly always make, even when you don’t think you have anything in the fridge for dinner. (Hello, Monday dilemma) Nearly everyone has some form of pasta on hand. Carbonara is traditionally made with spaghetti, but it can really be just fine with any kind of dried pasta you have on hand. Also – most people have bacon either in the fridge or freezer. The sauce for this dish comes from cheese and egg yolks – that’s it! And if you’re wanting something extra tossed in, try frozen peas or corn or lima beans – any kind of random bag of frozen veg you have in the freezer that has been labeled “too little for a side dish, too much to throw away”

I love the comfort of this dish – I love the simplicity and I love that in about 25 minutes, I can have a dish on the table that makes everyone feel good. The little darlin’ loved it, too.

Good for little fingers is any kind of smaller pasta such as rigatoni, fusilli, macaroni, or these cute little corkscrew shapes (which I think are just un-trimmed macaroni) really – whatever you think your toddler can grab or stab with a fork – go for it!

Pasta Carbonara
serves 2.5 (two big people and one little person) or 4 as a side dish

8 ounces dried pasta, cooked al dente (maybe cook a little longer for the baby if they don’t have more than 8 teeth, like mine)
4 strips of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small onion, diced small
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup frozen peas (or other vegetable of your choice)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks

1. Salt your pasta water. I usually put about 1/4 cup of salt into a large pot of water (at least a half gallon of water.) EEEEEEEK, SALT! Here’s the thing: it flavors your pasta. You don’t have to salt the dish upon completion because you salted along the way. Just enough salt gets absorbed into the pasta and it’s perfect. The noodles could be eaten on their own. Try it next time. And if you’re still worried, just look at how much sodium is in the powdered cheese on your blue box mac and cheese.

2. Bring the water to a rolling boil and cook the pasta till al dente, or a little over for the little mouths that will be eating. Reserve a cup of pasta water and then drain your pasta, rinse and set aside.

3. Cook the bacon strips in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Reserve on a paper towel and drain all but a tablespoon of the oil from the pan. Toss in your onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until translucent. Add in your frozen vegetables and pasta and a splash of the pasta water and stir until combined.

4. Remove the pan from the burner and while stirring constantly, add the egg yolks and cheese. Stir stir stir stir as to not get scrambled eggs. The heat from the pasta will cook your yolks and they will combine with the cheese to make a sauce. If the pasta looks a bit too dry, add more of your reserved water and stir to combine. Pasta water is starchy and salty and PERFECT for making a pasta sauce.

5. Fold in the bacon, garnish with more cheese, if desired, and serve with a crusty piece of buttered bread.

6. And a glass of Malbec for the big people.

Enjoy!

The Family Meal

we eat together

Category Archives: Vegetables

Cajun Shrimp and Potato Bake

Rosemary Crusted Pork Chop with Coconut Milk Braised Carrots

Coriander Crusted Chicken

Fish Sticks and Sticking to Your Guns

Potatoes Gratin

Caesar Salad and Chilling Out

Pizza Night!

Creamy Rice with Peas and Asparagus

Cooking from a Food Memory

Pasta Carbonara – tried and true recipes

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