World Peace Cookies

Holiday parties!
The glorious time of year

With cookies galore

Check out the recipes:
World Peace Cookies
Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies

Roasted Butternut Squash with Brown Butter and Sage

 

Wise spice with butter 

Roasting heavenly delight 

Sweet, nutty, earthy 

I am excited that fall is finally here…which means I can switch my obsession from corn to squash.  This was a really simple dish, but turned out wonderfully.  First, I cut up squash into cubes, threw it on a baking sheet with a little olive oil and salt, and baked for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until tender.

Meanwhile, I started the brown butter.  It’s really easy to make, and it has a more complex flavor than regular butter.  I placed the butter into a pan over moderate heat, and stirred continuously until it changed color and started to smell nutty and delicious.  At the end, I added a few tablespoons of chopped sage, and tossed with the squash.  Sometimes simple really is better. 

 

Corn and Heirloom Tomato Salad

 

Corn salad, again?

Yes!  I’ve decided to join

People of the corn

 

Okay, is it obvious I’m on a corn kick?  Maybe it’s from watching Children of the Corn one too many times as a child, but there really is nothing like fresh corn.   Since the summer season is winding down, I made sure to buy what’s probably the last of the corn and heirloom tomatoes at the farmers’ market for quite a while.  I made a simple salad by adding scallions, cilantro, Cotija cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, and a little salt.  Yum.

Beef Rendang with Green Been Sambal and Coconut Rice

Malaysian food, yes! 

Rich, tender, fragrant beef stew 

With spicy green beans

I’m reporting back on my mediocre Asian cooking curse, and I'm deeply saddened to say that my shiny new cookbook did not remove my bad juju.  It wasn’t terrible, but normally when I eat Beef Rendang, I’m ooohing and aaahing with every bite.  Once again, it was just okay.  At least the Indonesian Green Beans and Coconut Rice were yummy.  Hmmm, maybe I need to take a cooking class in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to break the spell.  Yeah, that's it!  Definitely a sign.

Green Bean Sambal

Adapted from Solomon’s The Complete Asian Cookbook

8 oz fresh green beans

1 Tbs Peanut Oil

½ t minced garlic

½ t sambal ulek (Indonesian Chili Paste)

½ t salt

1 small onion, finely diced

Cut beans in very fine diagonal slices.  Heat oil in pan and fry onions for a minute or two.  Toss beans on high heat for 1 minute.  Add garlic and fry 1 minute more.  Add sambal and salt and fry 1 more minute.

Black Bean & Corn Salad with Lime Vinagrette

Fresh corn and black beans

With a slight Mexican twist

Delicioso

 

Black Bean & Corn Salad

1 can black beans
1-2 ears fresh corn
1 tomato, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

Olive oil

juice of 1 lime
1 T cumin

salt
cilantro

 

Simple Pan Seared Scallops

 

What is a scallop? 

A marine bivalve mollusk 

That tastes delicious

 

Corn Salad with Curry Dressing

 

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Fresh corn off the cob 

With cilantro and scallions

Bursts with crisp sweetness

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Summer Corn Salad

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Adapted from RAWvolution by Matt Amsden

Salad:

3 ears fresh corn kernels

3 chopped scallions

Cilantro, chopped

Dressing:

3 Tbs Olive Oil

1-2 Tbs water, as needed

¼ c fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs Agave Nectar

1 t salt

1 Tbs curry powder

¼ pine nuts

Combine all dressing ingredients in blender, and blend until smooth.  Toss with salad. 

 

Greek Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes

 

Cuisine of the Gods 

From Demeter’s Olympus 

To my thankful plate

 

Scrambled Eggs with Zucchini, Leeks, and Basil

Leeks are delicious

Zucchini is nutritious

Would you like some eggs?

For the longest time, I thought I didn’t care for eggs very much. After reading that eggs need to be cooked on extremely low heat to reach their fullest potential, I realized that I had been cooking them incorrectly my entire life. Turns out, my apathy toward eggs is solely a function of having been exposed to too many rubbery, bland scrambled eggs (and my proclivity to cook them on medium heat).  This dish proves that hypothesis beyond any reasonable doubt.

After a trip to the famers market, I was armed with fresh eggs, zucchini, and leeks.  I was originally planning on making a frittata, but decided I was too hungry to wait for it to bake, so I opted for scrambled eggs instead.

It was quite easy to make.  I just cut up the white part of a couple of leeks, and sautéed in a mixture of olive oil and butter (a couple of Tbs total) for about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.  At that point, I added the grated zucchini (about 2 small) to the pan with the leeks, and continued sautéing for another 5 minutes or so.  

Meanwhile, I broke 5 or 6 eggs into a bowl, seasoned with salt and pepper, and beat.  Finally, I turned the heat to low, and poured the egg mixture and about 1/3 c of grated parmesan cheese into the pan with the leeks and zucchini.  I constantly (and gently) stirred with a spatula, and added some chopped fresh basil just before done.  A little tip:  remember that the eggs will continue to cook after you remove the pan from the burner, so take off the heat slightly before the eggs are just set. 

Apple Pie

 

All-American 

Flaky, spicy, tart & sweet 

Secret vodka splash

I know it isn’t very American, but I’m not a big pie person (shhhh!)  I made one pie when I was 12, and I managed to go two decades without making another.  However, since I knew that apple pie was one of the birthday boy’s all-time favorite desserts, I caved and made a birthday pie (oh, how I like to buck birthday convention). 

I did some research on the internet to help me with the formidable pie-baking task.  I’ve always had good luck with Cook’s Illustrated, so I decided to go with their crust.  But really it was because I thought the secret ingredient, vodka, just sounded too cool to resist.  According to Cook’s Illustrated, vodka adds moisture to the dough without aiding in gluten formation, so you end up with a tender, flaky crust.  Note to the non-bakers:  you want gluten in thick, chewy breads (hence all the kneading to promote gluten formulation), but not so much in light, flaky crusts.  Anyway, back to my favorite subject for today, vodka.  It will actually evaporate during the baking process, so no need to fear an alcohol taste in the crust.

Cook’s Illustrated Foolproof Pie Dough

For one 9-inch Single-Crust Pie.   From Cook's Illustrated, November 2007.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

 

Procedure

1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl

2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Now that I had the crust figured out, I needed to move on to the filling.  In my pie research, I came across an interesting site that talks about common problems with apple pies: 

http://www.joyofbaking.com/ApplePie.html

Many recipes call for mixing the sliced apples and sugar together and then piling them in the unbaked crust.  Apparently, this can lead to the unforgivable sin of having a gap between the baked apples and the top crust (since the apples contain water and shrink during baking).  So to remedy the problem, they suggest first macerating the apples in sugar, then draining the juices and boiling them with a little butter.  

 

So I used the Cook’s Illustrated Crust, and the Joy of Baking filling to end up with one beautiful, gap-free, delicious apple pie.  And despite the secret vodka, it’s hangover-proof (unless you pair it with an appletini or 3).

 

Parmesan Chicken with Butter Balsamic Sauce

 

Crisp roasted chicken
With butter balsamic sauce
Minus the butter

Lest you get the wrong impression about my dietary consumption habits, I realized I should probably post a dish that includes meat.  Though I do tend to cook a great deal of vegetarian food, I am definitely an omnivore at heart.  This post illustrates two things…that I do indeed cook meat, and that I can be a big dumbass in the kitchen.  Point number two is not a new theme at all.   Quite frankly, I am sometimes amazed that the majority of my culinary adventures turn out pretty dang good, if I do say so myself. 

The classic story that always comes to mind to illustrate said mishaps is the time I made a family favorite dessert called Southern Delight.  The simple crust is comprised of three ingredients—nuts, butter and flour.  Somehow, I managed to forget the third (and obviously crucial) item.  I didn’t realize my omission until I glanced in the oven expecting to see a golden brown crust, and was instead greeted by nuts sizzling away in hot butter.  Awesome. 

So fast forward many years to August 2009, and I decided to cook a recipe that my foodie friend said was delicious, Parmesan Chicken with Balsamic Butter Sauce. I am proud to say I remembered the parmesan, the chicken, AND the balsamic.  However, the butter did not fare as well.  Ah well, it was still tasty and inadvertently healthier.  My glass of Viognier was definitely half full that evening. 

Vegetable Salad with Fresh Herbs & Balsamic Vinaigrette

 

Farmers' market treat
Sweet organic explosion
Cornucopia

 

Carrot Soup with Coconut & Lime

Sweet carrot puree
With a subtle citrus hint
Dances on my tongue

Tofu Stir Fry with Eggplant & Bok Choy

Golden soft tofu

Surrounded by crisp green leaves

Mediocrity

I came to a profound realization after cooking these last two dishes. Though I am exceptionally good at eating Asian food, I stink at cooking it. I’m not entirely sure where I go wrong. For example, for this dish I sautéed some ginger and garlic in oil, added soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, scallions, tofu, eggplant, and bok choy. It sounded delicious. It looked delicious. But it just tasted okay. Since life’s too short to consume food that is just okay, I decided to purchase the highly rated The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon. We’ll see if that rectifies the mediocrity…I’ll report back later.

Tempeh Peanut Curry

Velvety peanuts

Join the rich coconut milk

In a symphony

Roasted Chickpeas with Chard, Garlic, & Shallots

Beans and shallots dance
A roasting, melding, wafting
Rainbow in the pan

As I was sorting through an old folder stuffed full with old recipe clippings (the kind you usually save and never look at again), I came across this gem from Bon Appetit. Let me just say that I’m so glad I did…this dish is like healthy comfort food that warms your soul. Even though I was eating by myself, I was literally oohing and aahing with every bite.

If you’d like to try your hand at it, the recipe can be found online at epicurious.

I mostly followed the recipe, though I cut way back on the oil to roast the chickpeas in and didn’t drain them. Also, I didn’t have fennel so I used herbes de provence instead. I’m sure you could cut out the roasting step entirely to save time, but there’s really nothing like roasted garlic. Yum.

Raw Pie with Coconut, Date & Nut Crust

Raw. Bad rap, perhaps?

Delightful dates, nuts & fruit
Pure simplicity

Here is my first attempt at creating a completely raw dessert. Although I'm far from a raw foodist, I must say this pie was simple, delicious, and really highlighted the intense flavor of the fruit I picked up from the farmer's market. I actually made the pie a while back, so I don’t remember what I did exactly (though I do recall I used to get really mad at my mother when she said there was no recipe for something I liked!)

So I’ll try to recap…for the crust I combined about 1 cup of almonds, 1 c of walnuts, 1/2 c coconut, 1/2 c dates, dash of salt and cinnamon in a food processor. Taste and adjust as necessary. Press it into a pie pan and stick it in the fridge. For the second layer, puree a package of strawberries with some dates, and then separately puree some blackberries with dates to achieve the different colors. Spread on the pie crust and top with fruit! Voilà! I seriously couldn’t believe how easy and yummy it was--I even thought about becoming a raw foodist…for about 2.37 seconds.