New Toys, New Soup

Hello, Friends! It has been too long. Not only have I been very busy with work, but I have been very uninspired in the kitchen. Mike has been busy with school and not around for many dinners. I've not felt like coming home after my intense workouts (trying to get into wedding dress shape!) and cooking a big meal. And finally, we have eaten out a lot lately, too. So there hasn't been a lot - I mean, there really hasn't been anything - to post about.

But two weekends ago I had my first wedding shower, and it was so fun! It was a tea party with hats and teas and quiche and finger sandwiches and cheesecake. It was a lovely time. And I found a few teas that I adore - and I have never liked tea before.

In addition to the phenomenal party and company, my family and friends were most generous and gifted me with some amazing toys I mean tools to use in the kitchen. First up, a slow cooker to put all other slow cookers to shame. Unlike most slow cookers, this one has four different functions - slow cook, roast (with a roasting pan included), steaming (basket included) and BROWNING!! Did you catch that? You can brown things IN THE COOKER!! And that is what I did. I browned butternut squash and onions, added apple juice, sweet wine, and broth, and then the apples. Enter toy #2 - the hand blender. I've long yearned for one. And it totally lived up to the hype. It blended up the squash and the apples in no time, and it morphed a lumpy mess into a deliciously smooth soup. For the entree, enter the convection oven/toaster oven. I made up some spaghetti sauce with ground beef, some ziti, and then threw it into the oven. Into the oven that now fits my largest baking dish, which is amazingly exciting.

My Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, courtesy of Williams-Sonoma's The New Slow Cooker, was amazing. In typical Megan fashion, I added my own little twist - I can't imagine cooking with apples in the fall without including some cinnamon and nutmeg. Even if you don't have the spiffy new tools described above, you can still make a stellar fall soup.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Halve a 2.5 lb butternut squash lengthwise, scoop out and discard the seeds and strings, and then peel the halves. Cut into 1.5 inch chunks and season generously with salt and pepper. In a large heavy frying pan ove medium-high heat, warm .25 cups of canola oil.  Once hot, add the squash and saute until nicely browned, 8-10 minutes. Work in batches if needed so as not to overcrowd the pan. Transfer to a slow cooker.

Add half a small yellow onion, thinly sliced, to the pan and saute over medium-high heat until beginning to color, about 5 minutes. Pour in 1 cup unfiltered apple juice and stir to dislodge any browned bits on the pan bottom. Stir in 1 cup floral white wine (like Riesling) and 1 cup chicken or veggie stock and transfer the contents of the pan to the slow cooker. (Add a teaspoon or two of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg, as I did, if you want.) Cover and cook on the low setting for 3 hours. Add 1 Granny Smith (or other tart apple), peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks, and cook for 1 more hour. The squash and apple should be tender.

Let the soup cool slightly. Working in batches, transfer to a blender and process until smooth (or use a hand blender). Return the puree to the slow cooker and stir in half a cup heavy cream. Cover and keep warm on the low setting until ready to serve.

In a small bowl, whisk together half a cup plain yogurt, half a teaspoon curry powder and .25 teaspoon salt. Ladle the soup into warm shallow bowls and drizzle with some curried yogurt. Sprinkle with parsley and scatter fried shallots.

Question of the Day: What is your favorite toy in the kitchen that you can't imagine cooking without?

Building My Asian Repretoire

My second favorite thing to do on Saturday morning is to watch the Food Network (in case you are wondering, my first favorite thing to do is sleep in!) and their morning line-up of new shows with new recipes. One of my favorite chefs is Anne Birrell and her show "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef". This week she made a marinated tuna with soba noodle salad with Asian flavorings. The tuna was seared and the noodle salad had veggies. It looked really good and I decided that is what I wanted for dinner. Mike and I stopped at Whole Foods and picked up two small Ahi tuna steaks, equaling less than a pound total. I also grabbed a leek as there were no green onions to be found. I had everything else that I needed at home in the pantry.

First, I started with the flavor bases - I grated two cloves of garlic and about an inch of ginger. Half of each went into a pyrex dish to marinate the fish, the other half in a large bowl. I added a few tablespoons of soy and rice wine vinegar to the dish and the bowl. Next, some sriracha went into the dish, I mixed, and added the tuna in. I marinated for two hours, flipping the fish halfway through. The bowl got the juice from two limes. Next I julienned some carrots and jalapenoes, and sliced the leeks. These went into a pan and started to saute until they were crisp-tender. Rice noodles (which I'm currently slightly obsessed with) went into boiling water for a few minutes and when taken out had a little bit of sesame oil drizzled on. At the same time, the tuna went on a skillet that was as hot as I could make it with a little oil. Each side got just a few minutes on the pan. The veggies and the noodles go in the bowl with the dressing when completed, and tossed to coat.

I should've cut into the tuna so you could see how beautifully pink the inside was. It as barely warm and tender and delicious. I think this recipe would be delicious with other meats, too - chicken, maybe even beef as well. The noodles could use something crispy in them - Anne crushed some peanuts and put them on top - something like that would add just a bit more texture and take it to the next level.

Question of the day: Do you eat your tuna rare or cooked through, and why?

Lemon Olive Oil Muffins

I've not posted in a while, which makes me sad, but I feel like I haven't been cooking much, either. There have been a number of evenings in the last few weeks when I have succumbed to the frozen pizza dinner. Or even the exponentially more lazy dinner that consists of a bottle of beer, a bowl of mixed nuts, and a bag of Sour Patch Kids. Pathetic, I know. Delicious, yes, but arguably the lowest of the low when it comes to a real meal. So my friends, I haven't had much to say.

However, I have been saving this one for a rainy day. I read an article in Cooking Light about how breakfast is a very important meal. For me, breakfast has never really carried much weight. I might eat a granola bar, an apple,  maybe a piece of toast (no oats in my bread, please). The only time I had a big breakfast was weekend mornings when my sister and I would roll out of bed at an obscenely late hour to the smell of bacon and sausage and the sound of pans banging in the kitchen. My dad would have the onions sweating and the cheesy eggs scrambled and on standby. There is an old joke in my house that it isn't a real breakfast unless there are three types of breakfast meats. In the years after, I've tried to replicate the morning feasts. My eggs always stick, and bacon has given way to fruit as I try to watch my girlish figure. Anyways, now that I'm working, I decided I need to eat something in the mornings before work. In the same Cooking Light magazine  were some recipes for low(ish) calorie muffins. I decided to try one of the recipes.

The best sounding one, and the one which I had the most ingredients for at the time, was the Tuscan Lemon Muffins. As I've said before, I'm not a baker. I also have no muffin pan. So I improvised. I have a tin that makes mini loaves, so I figured that would work. Guess what? It did.

They aren't too sweet, and have a ton of flavor because you use olive oil. I used my good oil since I figured you would taste a lot of it - it was a good decision. You get the savory-fruitiness from the oil and a tart citrus from the lemon. Half a loaf equals a muffin (according to serving sizes of the recipe) and so I eat half a loaf for breakfast, heated in the microwave for 20 seconds. It is delicious.

I liked the muffins so much I tore out the recipe from the magazine for safe keeping. And now I can't locate the little strip of paper that stored this little gem. Here are the instructions from the web:

Tuscan Lemon Muffins

• 7 9/10 ounces all-purpose flour (1 3/4 cups)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (I didn't include, and it is just fine)

• 1. Preheat oven to 375°.
• 2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt); make a well in center. Combine ricotta and next 5 ingredients (through egg). Add ricotta mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
• 3. Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups; coat with cooking spray. Divide batter among muffin cups. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over batter. Bake at 375° for 16 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.
• Question of the Day: Favorite everyday breakfast food? And on the other hand, what is your favorite breakfast splurge? 

Noodle Win

You may recall my epic fail at lo mein earlier this month. I haven't had the heart to try it again yet, but I have put my rice noodles to excellent use. If you need a superfast, superdelicious, superflavorful carb load, you should try this recipe:

Cook one block or nest of rice noodles per package instructions.
Drain and rinse with cold water. Put noodles in a large-ish bowl.
Squirt a healthy amount of sriracha right in the middle.
Drizzle in a few tablespoons of low-sodium soy.
Add a shake or two of sesame oil (a little goes a long way).
Mix well until all noodles are coated.
Eat half. Or more. Maybe all. Then tell me you don't love it.

Question of the day: Sometimes simple is best - what is your favorite dish that requires 5 or fewer ingredients?

France in SoCal

My new office is just down the block from Santa Monica and Westwood Blvd and within walking distance of dozens of restaurants. Though I try to bring my lunch to save money and my waistline, there are some days that I just have to get out of the office for 45 minutes. I sit in front of a computer all day and a walk somewhere usually does me good. As does a little "me time". You know what I mean - just a few minutes when you don't have to be at the beckon call of clients or bosses or subordinates, when you don't have to pick up the phone if you don't want to or immediately read the email that just came across your desktop.

My first day on the job I took a few minutes to myself, to recompose, to slightly decompress from the morning. I walked out the back door to Westwood and thought I would just find a sandwich shop or something similar to grab a bite. Just past the Starbucks was a little hole in the wall advertising a half-sandwich and salad lunch combo. Perfect.

I suddenly found myself in a tiny cafe in rural France, greeted by a lanky French gentleman, an old upright piano in the corner, a half dozen mismatched tables and chairs strewn about, an overly large displaced church pew against one wall, and the French equivalent of NPR broadcast across a laptop. I ordered a dry sausage sandwich and salad and took my seat in a rather rickety chair by the front window. Several minutes later my plate arrived.

The baguette - arguably my favorite bread on the planet - was wonderfully soft inside and deliciously crusty out. The sausage was flavorful even though there were only a few slices. Tiny sweet gherkins pickles were sliced lengthwise and added a nice cut of acid to the rich bread and meat. The salad was fresh, crisp and delicious, romaine lettuce dressed simply with a bit of oil and vinegar. The tomatoes were sweet and the cucumbers tasted like summer.

I've only been working two weeks and I've already been back to my small haven in the city, this time sitting outside on the front porch and devouring a smoked salmon with tapenade sandwich and arugula salad. In less than an hour I felt rejuvenated and ready to take on the rest of my day. It is amazing how a simple, delicious meal and a serene atmosphere can restore one's perspective.

I hear they have an unbelievable pâté that I can't wait to try next.

Mein Fail

This week I thought I would try something new. We are going to Thailand for our honeymoon, and I wanted to try my hand at some Asian recipes. I had been reading some guide books about Thai cuisine and had no idea that there were such things as rice noodles. So, we picked some up. They are just like regular noddles, but made with rice flour, not wheat flour. I got some chili sauce (it is delicious, I put it in everything now) and some sesame oil, too. I found a recipe for lo mein that I thought would work great. I chopped up all my veggies and chicken beforehand, as the recipe suggested, and got our big pot as hot as I could. And this is what happened as we tried to get the chicken out:

Non-stick my ass.

It was a huge mess. It took two days of soaking just to clean the darn thing, not to mention that we couldn't finish the dish in the pot. So we hauled out our much smaller wok. I could hardly toss everything together in that one, so it never got hot enough and the result was a very mediocre noodle salad, not lo mein.

I guess you can't win them all. This is not my first attempt at Asian food, and it won't be my last. I just hope that at some point I'm able to make something edible.

Question of the Day: What is your favorite Asian dish?

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow I start my first day of work, the first day of work in about a year. You can read about my job here. But let's talk about two dinners. First was the celebratory dinner at Bandera in Brentwood. It is a tough world out there right now, and after 3 interviews and a half-day in-office tryout, I was fortunate enough to get an offer for a job that I think I'm going to really enjoy. My dad graciously offered to pick up the tab for a nice meal for Mike and me so that we could properly celebrate the occasion. I had a filet with Bearnaise sauce, sauteed spinach and mashed potatoes and a delicious bottle of Zin, our fave. The filet was thick and red in the middle, crunchy and caramelized on the outside - just the way beef was destined to be consumed. I've never made Bearnaise sauce before and I've never really had a good one before. It seems time consuming to make from scratch, packets of those flavors taste dreadful, and no one really needs to consume that much butter and egg yolk in one sitting. That's how I justify not making it and thus, not eating it. Um.... I was wrong. It was worth every sinful bite. If I didn't have to fit in a wedding dress and bathing suit in less than 6 months, I might have come home and made myself a vat of good ole' Bearnie to enjoy on every veggie and protein I ever make again.

Tonight was a different kind of meal. Mike took it on himself to do the cooking for dinner. I'm a small bundle of nerves right now since I'm starting my new position in the morning. I've already filled out my paperwork and signed my life away, and I've tried on at least three different outfits that I may or may not wear on my first day. Anyways, Mike made one of his specialties and one of my favorites: Salsa Chicken with Spanish rice. He marinated chicken breasts in salsa for the afternoon and prepared Spanish rice with diced tomatoes. I had made some coleslaw (which is worthy of a whole other post) yesterday so that rounded out our plate. In a twist of our typical roles, I did the dishes afterward.

I am very grateful for both dinners, each in their own way celebrating my return to the workforce.

Question of the day: To celebrate significant events, where do you go? Or do you stay in and make something special?

Not a Baker, but I Do Love Ice Cream

I'm not a baker. Not at all. I can follow a recipe, sure, because you have to when you bake. It is more chemistry than anything else. If you mess with the ratios of flour to eggs to oil to sugar you can come out with something completely inedible. When I cook, I tend to look to recipes for inspiration, technique, or a general outline of what I want, and the outcome is almost always dependent on the time I want to spend on it and what I happen to have in the pantry at the given time. Plus, I like the freedom of being creative and adding foods and flavors to the things I cook. When I bake on the other hand, I'm a real stickler to the recipe. In fact, I'd really like to get a kitchen scale so that I can make a science out of it.

So, I sort of surprised myself when I volunteered to bring dessert of all things to my aunt-to-be's Father's Day's BBQ. What should I bring? A few years ago around Christmas I made a delicious peppermint ice cream and smashed Oreo cookie layer thing which was quite good (and easy, because I didn't have to bake anything). I thought maybe I could make a summer version with brownie on the bottom, mint chocolate ice cream above, and smashed Oreos to sprinkle atop, sort of like a cookie cake. In my typical style, I didn't want to just make brownies from a box, I wanted to make real brownies from scratch. So I pulled out Joy of Cooking because it is my go-to cook book for all the basic recipes and techniques (thank you, Linda, for such a great gift!) So, Brownies Cockaigne sounded delicious and like something I should learn to do. It requires melting chocolate with butter, beating the yellow out of some eggs and sugar, then folding in the chocolate and some flour into the eggs until just mixed, no more. I've seen Food Networkers use this technique before (mainly Paula Dean) and it always looks so yummy. Other than that the top completely caved in, they weren't too bad for a first attempt. A little dense, but not bad at all.

Probably, though, the batter was better than the brownies. Mike took care of the bowl with great pleasure.

 The final product, minus the Oreos, is below, and was reportedly voted #1 at the BBQ. I think the judges were a little biased, but it sure raised my confidence on my baking. Perhaps I will try a little more of it in the future.

Question of the Day: Ice cream may be my favorite food. Ever. What is your favorite flavor?

A Little Warmth During the June Gloom

There is a meteorological anomaly that apparently takes place in June each year in Southern California. It is called June Gloom, and it is exactly as it sounds. Thick fog and low clouds roll in off the water every night this month and they settle on the city like cataracts, blocking out all sunlight, all the blue skies, all the hope and all the joy from what should be one of the most beautiful months of the year. In a word: gloomy.

Of course, nothing could be that bad here in the City of Angels. By mid afternoon the low-lying clouds burn off, the sun warms the ground below, and all is right with the world until the next morning.

So it's chilly, overcast, and depressing. I decided to add a little warmth to my meal earlier this week. Take that back, this was just plain HOT.

I had a slab of beef, but it wasn't a super cut of meat. It needed to be marinated so that it had some additional flavor. So I chopped up some onion and a huge jalapeno. I added some salt, pepper, and oregano. I then mixed in a healthy dose of Worcestershire sauce and olive oil and let the beef marinate at room temp for an hour. (Let me pause and talk about another Unforgivable. Meats should not go straight from the fridge to the heat. You should always let meat rest before and after cooking, as it allows the proteins to relax a bit and not be shocked into the next state. Have you ever gone from a hot tub and jumped straight into a chilly swimming pool (I have, it was a favorite activity during vacations at the beach when I was a child)? It is SHOCKING to the system and makes you a little numb. I don't know many people that like their meat numb. All it takes is 20 minutes out of the fridge to let it warm up a bit, and it does wonders.Try it next time.) Mike then slapped it on the grill until it was medium-rare and perfect.

In the meantime I steamed some broccoli, simple enough. Brussels sprouts were rinsed and quartered, then sauteed until soft and caramelized in some oil and a bit of butter (next time, I won't add the butter - it's not needed), and some salt and pepper. But here is the kicker - I took the leftover marinade and heated it up to kill the germs from the previously-marinating beef, and then dribbled it on top of the cooked steak once finished.

So, now that you've waited this long, you are probably wondering "what was hot again?" The marinade was en fuego! It was so spicy. And then when it was concentrated on the stovetop, it got even hotter, but in a deliciously complex and tasty way; it wasn't not just for the sake of being hot. It was the perfect thing to heat me up after a cool day.

Question of the Day: What is your favorite cut of steak?

Tuna Salad

Tuna salad is equally delicious and gross. It can go so right, and it can go so wrong. The past two weekends it has gone right. I've made two batches that were crunchy, zesty, and full of flavor. And then I saw some at a sandwich shop and threw up a little in my mouth because it looked and sort of smelled like something that my mom's cats enjoy eating.

Good tuna salad is very easy to make. There are two guidelines to follow, in my opinion:
1) Less mayo = more awesome salad. The ratio of mayo to everything else is NOT 1:1. It is more like 1:4. Too much mayo makes for a wet, soggy, tasteless mess.
2) It needs some crunch in it, otherwise you may as well be eating cat food. Texture is half the battle.

Here is my recipe for a delicious tuna salad. Put on any type of bread, cracker, or just plain lettuce.

First, make your own mayo. Yes, I said it, make your own. Actually, make your own aiolli, because it is better for you and has a lot more flavor. (Here is your quick fact for the day - mayo is made of egg and vegetable oil, aiolli with egg and olive oil.) Take the yolk of one large egg and beat it just a bit with a whisk. Add a drop or two of olive oil and whisk together quickly. Add a few drops more and whisk. Add a few drops more, whisk. Add a splash and whisk. Your arm should start to get tired. Don't be a wuss, keep whisking. Add another splash or two. Whisk. Splash, whisk, splash, whisk. As you are doing this, you should see the oil disappear into the yolk. If you can see the oil in the bowl, you aren't whisking enough. Really put some elbow grease into it. All told, you should add about a quarter cup of oil. When you get to that point, add a healthy pinch of salt, whisk, and then taste. It will probably need more salt. I like my mayo a little thin, so I add some more oil. When it starts to taste really good and get thick, then squeeze in some fresh lemon, usually one half if it is juicy. Whisk this in really well, as it will add a lot of flavor and thin out the mix a bit. Taste it again just to make sure it is how you like it. It won't look like Miracle Whip; it will be a lot yellower in color. Next, add a clove of super-finely chopped garlic, or put a clove through a press and whisk it in. Add a healthy dose of red pepper flakes and set the mayo to the side. By the way, you just made real mayonnaise. You should be proud of yourself. Congratulations. And you will never again want to eat anything that comes out of a jar, especially when you look at the other additional ingredients that are in there. Next time, play around with the spices and make something new. I've had a curry aiolli that I just love, for example.

Anyways, on with the tuna salad....

Dice half a red onion and slice a few stalks of celery. Drain the water (not oil!) from two small cans of tuna. Add to the onion and celery. Add salt and lots of black pepper, then dump the whole mix into your mayo and mix it together. Squeeze the other half of the lemon in. Take a bite, and adjust the spices as needed.
The next step is very important, so make sure you leave time for this: cover the bowl and let it sit in your fridge before you dig in. The flavors will marry and become more pronounced. Mike actually figured this out for me on accident. We had a little left over after sammies and he went back later that same day to eat the rest and it was a lot better than the first time. Wait at least half an hour to eat it, up to a few hours. I would caution against leaving it overnight, mostly because your fridge will smell like tuna, and that is gross.

Question of the day: which salad do you prefer and why: tuna, egg, chicken, or potato salad?

Green Fruit

Hello faithful followers. Thanks for your patience, as it has been a little longer than I like since I last posted. There is food reason for it - I haven't really cooked much lately. We've had a demanding social schedule over the last few weeks (which you can catch up on here) and so the quantity of time I've been in the kitchen has dropped dramatically. And when I have been in the kitchen recently, it has been spent preparing some of my old standbys, with which I wasn't going to bore you.

I prepared one of my favorite standby snacks yesterday. It was inspired by a restaurant-made guacamole; you know the kind that they make right there at your table? Some do it better than others, but they are all better than the kind you buy in a plastic container in the deli isle of your local grocer. Avocados were on sale earlier in the week, and though unripe at the time, by yesterday they were perfectly soft and bright green. I smashed up two to the point where they were mushy (yes, a technical term) but still had enough chunks in them so as not to feel like you were eating baby food. I then diced up a small shallot and half a jalapeño pepper (seeds and spines removed so it's not so hot that it overpowers the avocados.) Add the juice of a lime, seasoned salt, pepper, and mix together. I often add a bit of fresh cilantro and diced plum tomatoes too, but didn't have them on hand this go around. Guacamole is one of my favorite condiments... or is it a salad or chutney? I'm not sure on that. Nonetheless, its creamy texture, semi-sweet fruit, and the crunch that the onion and pepper provides make it the perfect compliment to both chips and anything spicy.

Question of the Day: I once had Bananas Foster prepared table-side, flames and all. What is your favorite table-side prepared food and where do they do it?

Veggie-saurus

It's been a busy week. Last weekend Mike and I were in Palo Alto for a business school sporting competition. My good friend Anna flew into San Francisco and drove back to LA with us where we spent the week on the go. Here are a few food-related highlights from the week:

5. Homemade Chex Mix for the car ride: our secret family recipe, which they have published on the side of the Chex boxes (ha, just kidding. Find the recipe here). I add cayenne pepper to the spice mix. After a few handfuls you suddenly realize that your mouth is pleasantly on fire from the kick of the pepper. Delicious.
4. Garlic Fries: the Braves lost to the Dodgers. I cried a little on the inside. The only thing that consoled me were the french fries smothered in garlic paste. Because who doesn't love garlic?
3. Mile-high coffee cake from brunch in Palo Alto: I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place, but they had the lightest, fluffiest and tastiest coffee cake I've ever had. With a dollop of whipped butter on top, it was my favorite part of the meal.
2. Brioche Bread: Anna and I bought fresh brioche bread from the farmers market Monday and made french toast Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn't have any syrup, so we spread jam on top on Tuesday and I added orange juice and zest to the batter Wednesday. It was quite tasty. Mike and I then used the bread for an open-faced chicken meatball sandwich Friday night. Delicious.

Number one deserves its own paragraph. Anna is a vegetarian (total sidebar - I was watching Jurassic Park last night and the little boy tells his sister "veggie-saurus, Lex, veggie-saurus!" I love that line.) so her staying with us posed a small challenge for our meat-eating house that I was more than willing to take on. I had seen recipe for veggie enchiladas in a west coast magazine where each portion was cooked and served in individual  ramekins so I used this as the basis for my creation. I first sauteed diced onions, minced garlic, and minced jalapenoes in a skillet. Then I added some chopped chipotle peppers (from the can), half a can of red beans and black beans, and half a can of corn. I added some taco seasoning and a bunch of spinach, and let it all simmer together a bit and the spinach wilt down. Anna served as sous chef and helped assemble everything. We took some enchilada sauce (someday I will make my own, but I used store-bought for this) and spread on the bottom of each oven-safe serving vessel so that nothing sticks too bad. Cut up some tortillas into wedges and put a piece or two at the bottom, on top of the sauce. Then layer the veggies, some shredded cheese, more sauce, more tortillas over and over until you reach the top of the dish. Place the dishes on a cookie tray and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or so until the cheese melts and everything heats through.

There are a million variations on this. The recipe called for refried beans, corn tortillas, and green onions, but you could also add roasted or fresh bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, kale, rice, you name it, you can put it in there. If you would eat it in a Mexican restaurant, you can put it in your enchiladas. And that if you can't forgo the meat, add shredded chicken or pork, flank steak, or ground beef. This will definitely be a repeat recipe in my house.

Question of the day: Do you ever eat meat-free meals? And if so, what is your go-to dish?

Rough Day

Today was rough, one of those afternoons where nothing goes the right way. Maybe the stars weren't aligned. Maybe it was Karma. More likely it was an unfortunate series of decisions made by other people that affected me at the end of the day.

So I took out my aggression on a huge onion. It was sweet, yellow, and bigger than a softball. And then I tackled the garlic. Four cloves, minced. Then thyme. Then I opened a bottle of malbec. All the sudden I had a serious tomato sauce brewing. I hacked up four chicken breasts. It was a simple but satisfying butchery.

I'm taking the chicken, sauce, some Parmesan cheese, linguine, garlic bread, and salad to my soon-to-be aunt, uncle, and cousin's house tomorrow for a little homemade Italian TLC. They, too, are having a series of rough days, with one of the twins in the hospital for scheduled surgery. Thoughts and prayers are welcomed and appreciated for Gabe and his family.

At least my rough day will make someone else's tomorrow a little brighter.

Question of the Day: What do you do when you have a rough day?

Celebrity food sighting!!

Emeril at Pink's in LA. I got his "BAM" dog. Awesome!!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Farmer's Market

Let's talk a bit about where I get my food. Most of it comes from the Ralph's Grocery Store 3 blocks from my apartment. Some select items come in large packages from Costco. But most of the produce in my house comes from the Sunday Farmer's Market in Brentwood. It is 1 mile away, just the perfect distance for an invigorating Sunday morning bike ride. I love the market. About half of the market is comprised of produce, prepared food (artisan olive oil and hot sauce) and floral vendors. A quarter are what I call lunch vendors, with everything from tamales (chili and cheese is my fave) to gyros to gourmet crepes and cupcakes. And the last quarter are clothes, hats (one of which is super cute and I have my eye on and will purchase one day when I have $150 to spare), jewelry and kiddy games.

After going to the market almost every Sunday since I've moved here, I've developed a strategy to get the most out of it. It is about two blocks long on a single street; I enter at one end and I don't buy anything as I walk to the other end. I just look. Nearly all the vendors sell the same thing, or a variation of the same thing because they only really sell what is in season. Right now, carrots and turnips are giving way to artichokes and asparagus. In the winter, squash and citrus dominated. Late fall I found and fell in love with figs, but that is a whole other post in and of itself. And then on the return trip I buy what I want from the places that have the best prices and the best looking produce. Here is what I bought today:

What a beautiful spread! There are lots of things that I love about shopping at the market. First, I'm not a farmer, and I have only a vague idea as to what is in season when. However, since all the vendors are local (I'm not sure how close "local" actually means. But compared to brining in food from Chile or Argentina in the exact opposite season you are supposed to get a food item, I'm thinking this is super local. As in from the same state in which I live) I know that the food is in season in my area. And, if you have ever had a tomato from your garden versus one in the middle of winter that was shipped in from the Southern Hemisphere, you know that "in season" = "super tasty and delicious". The second reason I love the market is that they give you free samples. Not sure if you want a bartlett or an asian pear? Give them a taste! Maybe you even like the bosc best! Not sure how a bacon avocado tastes? Eat it! And finally, there is just something hippy and awesome about carrying around your market bag outside on a beautiful morning, smelling the freshly cut flowers and the aromas of grilled meat all around. I love markets so much that when I travel I always try to make it to the outdoor markets. I have some epic stories from markets in Spain that includes large legs of pig and Austria that includes garlic stuffed olives.

Today the best part of the market may have been the ride home. I wish Mike had been around to take a picture (he was at softball practice) because I can only imagine how silly I looked on my bike, in my helmet, with a large backpack on with a baguette sticking out the top. Classic.

I'm introducing a new feature to the blog: the question of the day. Today's question: What is best purchase (food or otherwise) you've ever made at an outdoor market? Please discuss.

The Importance of Patience

When I'm hungry, I'm not a very patient person. I tend to undercook food (especially pasta) and sometimes forget steps, especially ones that add that extra-something to a dish. Which is all a real bummer when you are trying to make a yummy dish. By the time you are half done you think "Doh! Pine nuts would've been amazing on this!" or "Erg, i forgot to add a splash of lemon juice!" Or, worst of all, you cook meat in a way that leaves it a little less tasteful and a little less appetizing than it could be, a smidge below your expectations and you think to yourself "I can do better than that."

I'm trying to get better. Cooking takes time, and it is important to give food the chance to do its thing. Last night really helped for future endeavors;it proves that patience pays off. I made two pork tenderloins, one with a Moroccan spice rub, the other with a Jamaican jerk rub. After a generous rubbing of the spices, I browned them on the stove top on all sides and then roasted in the oven for 20 minutes to finish them off. The most important part of this cooking process is the browning because that is where the meat caramelizes and forms a crispy exterior. It also helps keep in moisture while it is cooking through in the oven. Generally, I have a tough time waiting until the pork is browned before flipping it. It gets cooked, certainly, but it doesn't have that extra tasty brown goodness. But last night, I waited. And when I would normally flip it over, I waited a minute longer. The meat released itself from the pan, and "viola!"

And it was amazing. Meaty-sweet in the way that only can happen when the sugars in the muscle caramelize. Slightly crispy in a way that adds a bit if texture to an otherwise homogeneous piece of meat. And it just looks delicious.

Now, don't misunderstand, I'm not condoning overcooking. That is a egregious, horrible, and depending on the food, sinful mistake. But, food should be cooked an appropriate amount of time in order for it to caramelize and brown. If, like me, you have trouble with this, let me give you a piece of advice. DON'T TOUCH IT! If you a recipe says to cook 5 minutes on each side, that doesn't mean that you flip your meat ten times, once a minute. Put it on then leave it alone. Just don't touch it. Don't even sneak a peak underneath. Just let it be. I know you can do it. Resist the urge, and I promise you will be rewarded.

Crabby Potstickers

My family and I are big fans of Chinese food. There used to be a take-out place not far from the house I grew up in called Jade Dragon. They had exceptional Chinese food. We usually ordered the same thing every time, and the orders always included Crab Rangoons, a type of fried potsticker filled with crab meat and cheese. My mom especially likes Rangoons, so the other day at the grocery store we picked up some seafood cheese spread and some immitation crab meat. We chopped up the meat, added some thinly sliced green onions, salt pepper, lemon juice, and the cheese. We stuffed the potsticker rolls and folded over with her nifty potsticker maker. Don't forget the water to seal the edges!

We made a couple dozen and froze them. I cooked a few up for lunch the other day by pan-frying them in a little veggie oil until the outsides were brown and crispy. We had ordered Chinese the other day (including some crab rangoons, but these were shaped as tasty pouches) and had a little leftover sweet and sour sauce which made for a delicious addition to the crispy triangles.

I've made other potstickers lately. Ground beef, veggie, mexican flavored with cilantro and jalapenos. I'd like to try some other unorthodox potsticker flavors like BBQ chicken, mozzarella with sundried tomato and basil, and maybe bacon cheeseburger. There are few things that couldn't be improved on while in a crispy and flakey shell. Feel free to share any other stuffing ideas!

The Perfect Vessel

There are many yummy foods that aren't easy to eat on their own. Take feta cheese for example. It's salty, a little dry, crumbly in your mouth, and really difficult to eat unless it is in or on top of something. Onions are another great example. Not many folks eat them on their own (though I have seen a farmer in southern Georgia eat a Vidalia like an apple). But there are few savory dishes that don't use onions or onion cousins in them. 

To solve the problem of how to eat these delicious foods, one needs a vessel, a delivery mechanism in which to hold the food. Bread works amazingly at this.

I made this snack the other day with my mom. I chopped up some leftover chicken into very tiny cubes, added canned diced tomatoes, feta and mozzarella cheese, minced onion and garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme. Spread generously over rosemary olive oil bread, add a little more cheese on top and then I broiled them to melt the cheese.  I probably should have toasted the bread before I added the toppings, but I was really hungry. They made for a great light lunch. They would also work quite well as appetizers. 

But back to the bread idea as a delivery vehicle. I went to Macaroni Grill the other night and had a very mediocre meal. But the thing I love about the MacGrill is their bread and their olive oil. Their bread is soft and light inside, crusty outside, deliciously buttery, and has rosemary baked in. Their dipping oil, which they leave at the table is rich and fruity, and the cracked fresh pepper adds a great contrast. I ate a whole loaf by myself, I'm ashamed to admit. But again, how else was I going to enjoy the succulent olive oil unless it was on the bread?

There are many other amazing characteristics about bread which I'm sure I will dote on in a future post. Suffice it to say for now however, that I wouldn't last a day on a carb-free diet. 

Meatball Sammies

We bought some Aidell's Chicken Meatballs a while back in a Costco-sized package. They have great meatballs  - and sausages, too, but that is a different post - and while they are super in spaghetti, there is only so many noodles one can eat. What else can you do with meatballs? Thanks to a Subway commercial I was inspired to make a meatball sub. But I find meatball subs to be very messy, so I tried to figure out what I could do to make them, well, cleaner. I bought a nice sized loaf of French bread and cut off both ends about 4 inches in. I ripped out the soft bread inside the ends to make a type of bowl. I browned the meatballs then added some tomato sauce. Preprepared tomato sauce is great, but it can sometimes be bland. I added some pepper, salt, crushed red pepper, oregano, and thyme, and allowed the meatballs to warm up some more in the sauce. While they simmered, I stuck the bread in the toaster oven to heat it up. Before it started to brown, I took it out and rubbed a clove of garlic on the inside to give it some extra flavor. I sprinkled some shredded mozzarella cheese inside the bread, then stuffed in 4 meatballs and some sauce - just enough to fill the bread but not too much that it all falls out when you pick it up. I sprinkled some more cheese on top, let it sit 30 seconds to melt, and served with a smile. They were so good, I bought another loaf two days later and made it again. This time the bread was fresh-made garlic and rosemary from our local Sunday farmer's market. I added some sliced olives, too, and it was even better the second time.

What's great about this sandwich is that you can make it a million ways. Change the bread to sourdough or something else flavored. Change the cheese to provolone or feta. Change the sauce to vodka or marinara. Add some peppers, onions, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, or whatever is in your pantry. Even the meatballs come in different flavors, like Buffalo and Teriyaki Pineapple.

Sick at Home

I'm the worst at being sick. I'd like to think I'm a strong person and I have a high pain tolerance, but when I get the flu, or a cold, or even a tummy ache, I become the biggest baby in the entire world. Luckily, I have a great guy that is willing to take care of me when I'm a needy brat. So when I had a cold this weekend with a severe headache and a terribly sore throat Mike came to my rescue to make me matza ball soup. I didn't know matza ball soup even existed until Mike and I started dating. He is a self-proclaimed matza ball expert, but somehow it took 6.5 years of dating for him to make me any. Regardless, he makes a mean ball.

It was chicken-less this time, but still full of flavor. He said that this is his mom's recipe, which I think is really great that he knows how to make it like her. But then he surprised me and said that we should come up with our own twist on the recipe, something that will make it ours (sorry, Linda!!) I don't know much about matza ball soup. Lie. I don't know anything about matza ball soup. We've got carrots, celery, egg noodles, balls, and homemade broth (except that I was really needy last night we nixed the homemade broth in favor of getting this on the table in an hour.) I suggested adding jalapenos; Mike said over his dead body. I'll have to think about how we can make it ours. Ideas are welcomed.

I grew up with a slightly different kind of comfort food: chicken and dumplings. It was a favorite of my sister for sure, and we seem to have whenever we are home for a significant amount time. Dumplings are pretty awesome. Doughy and thick and filling. We made ours with Bisquick. As we grew older, there seemed to always be a pot full of dumplings, with a few pieces of chicken in there somewhere to add a little protein. Matza ball soup has a different focus. Yes, there are big balls looking at you from the bowl, but there is other stuff going on, too.

Who wins? It is a battle for the ages. Either way, I'd like to think we can put our own twist on our family favorites. Any ideas on how to do it?

Korean BBQ

Somehow I've managed for my first food post to be something not entirely "real-life" or everyday, but I'm willing to make an exception because 1) I didn't prepare (but I did cook) this food and 2) it is too cool not to write about. I experienced Korean BBQ for the first time last night. We had a group of 10 crowded around a table meant for 7 and we ate for two and a half hours at Road to Seoul. All the sauces and strange side dishes were totally foreign to me, and about half an hour into the meal I gave up asking what was what and just dove in without hesitation. There was a potato/egg pancake thing (yes, "thing" is the best description I can provide at the moment) that was amazing. And the meats... well... let me get to that.

For those that haven't yet experienced Korean BBQ, please allow me to explain. Each table has its own grill or griddle in the middle. You start with an assortment of sauces, spices, and sides on the table, and then you order your meat - say, marinated sirloin for example - and they bring it out uncooked. You cook your own sirloin on the grill until it is done to your liking, and then you stuff your face. And then you order more - bbq chicken this time - and cook it and stuff your face. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I am not squeamish about foods. I will try just about anything at least once. So when someone at our table ordered the squid and baby octopus platter, I was seriously psyched. I've had octopus in sushi before, but that includes just a sliver from one of the tentacles. I've never stuck a whole one in my mouth at once. We plopped the silvery demon-like critters on the scorching-hot grill and they performed a sensual dance, wriggling and curling as they cooked. I pulled my first one off and tried to eat it, but the thing was so tough and rubbery that I couldn't take a bite. I wrestled with Inky in my front teeth and chopsticks in my hand, trying to break him apart into something that resembled a polite-sized bite. Instead, all I managed to do was to rip his squishy head off and send him flying into my lap and subsequently under the table. I spent the rest of the meal believing that there was an octopus head in my purse.

But this experience taught me a valuable lesson. Overcooked cephalopods taste worse than rubber band balls!! Unfortunately no one would listen to my pleas to take the seafood off the heat sooner. And I was sitting at the far end of our overcrowded table and could not overtake the tongs from the self-proclaimed grill chief. On returning home, I located a fairly simple-looking recipe Grilled Baby Octopus and low and behold, you cook for 3 minutes each side. Not 10. After 4 or 5 more babies, covered in chili sauce to mask their imperfection, I surrendered and stuck with the beef and pork.

Most of the rest of the meat was common and available at any old grocery store (surprisingly, you can often even find baby octopi at your favorite fishmonger.) Including pork belly. Ah, pork belly. Also known as bacon. There isn't a single food in this world that isn't improved with the addition of bacon. But when you order pork belly at a Korean BBQ, it doesn't come out in the thin crispy strips you know an love. No, sir, they are long slabs of deliciousness that look to be made completely of fat. We grilled those babies up and though I will probably have to be put soon on Lipitor, they were totally worth every juicy, fatty bite. I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures.

I can't wait to return. My fiance (by the way, his name is Mike, and I'm sure you will be hearing about him a lot) and I have a friend in town that eats as much if not more than we do. I'd love to do a double date with him and his gal and see if we can't put this place out of business. Did I mention that it is all you can eat? Yes, I think that was the best part. Also, there were more items on the list that I wanted to try: tongue, large intestine, calf intestine...

Welcome to the First Post

Hi, Folks.

Welcome to the inaugural post of my new blog. I've been living in Los Angeles, CA for six (6!!) months now and I'm loving the produce and the extra time on my hands since I don't have a job right now. I love cooking and I'm trying to spend as much as my pocketbook and waistline will allow on my hobby. Being unemployed with a fiance in business school and an wedding in December (hello skinny wedding dress) doesn't provide a lot of leeway. BUT, as a rule, I love making food, I really enjoy eating it, and I want to share it with my friends, family, and other random folks that think that I write well.

So... bon appetite! I hope to learn as much from you as you learn (or tolerate) from me. Please send me comments, recipes, hate mail... whatever. Eat and be well, friends.

Meg