home

San Diego. Still adjusting to life back here. Strangely almost feels like I never left. But I'm thoroughly enjoying the warm sunshine, jasmine perfumed air, hoards of hummingbirds around the yard, and just being with everyone I missed. Finally cooked something for myself in our kitchen today, and now it really does feel like I'm truly back home. When I went shopping for groceries a day or two ago, I was overwhelmingly pleased to see all the gorgeous green spring things still in stock. So I came home with a lot of it. Kale, spinach, broccoli, peas, leeks, edamame, avocados, beans, herbs, you name it. If it was green, into my cart in went. And tonight a lot of that went into my dinner. A super simple but super tasty pasta with some broccoli and avocado pesto. I threw it together, piled it into my favorite bowl, and sat down to enjoy it with a big bouquet of peonies in front of me. Couldn't have been better. And I do still have lots to share from my last days in Australia, but I'm afraid you'll have to give me your patience, it's just too weird to look at it all right now. But perhaps I'll start showing you around my hometown!

If you're so inclined to make your own bowl of green goodness, here's how:

Steam some broccoli until it's bright in color and just tender. Toss into a food processor with some garlic, parmesan, pine nuts, a good handful of basil, a ripe avocado, a splash of lemon juice (I got to use one from our new tree!) and some olive oil. Pulse that all into a delicious pesto, then toss with pasta, or any kind of grain, or spread in sandwiches, or just eat it straight! Broccoli pesto is there for whatever you want to do! I had mine with some gluten-free corn penne and fresh peas. Perfect. 

tiropitas

It's a cooking marathon here. High tea is coming, everybody get ready! You're about to get a lot more food pictures and recipes. Don't think you'll mind though. These Greek wonders are a cinch to put together, and crazy delicious. I made about forty last night and they're hanging out in the freezer, waiting to be baked up tomorrow( if you do prepare them ahead like this, freeze in a single layer first, then once they're nice and solid feel free to stack them/pile them in a bowl/toss them in a bag. With this method, they don't need any special treatment when you're ready to bake, just a few minutes more in the oven). And the story of how I first tasted them and got the recipe is pretty good. My first semester of college I took a religious studies class. As part of the curriculum, we were charged with experiencing a religious service that was foreign to us. Being the budding anthropologist/sociologist I was, I attended several. The most impressive to me was a Greek orthodox Holy Thursday service. The ritual of everything was overwhelming, as was the feast that was laid out afterwards. It included these little heavenly triangles, and the woman who made them must have noticed me coming back for more and more, because we ended up talking, and she told me the recipe. It was a cinch to commit to memory, and though I haven't made these but twice in the 7 years since, it all came back to me with no hesitation last night. There are no measurements in the recipe since it really is foolproof, and everything is meted out depending on how many you're making. I have faith that you can figure it out for yourself.


To make your own, you'll need:
phyllo dough, fresh or thawed
butter, melted
cottage cheese
feta
eggs

-In a 50/50 ratio, mix together the cottage cheese and feta. Crack an an egg (or two, or even three in my case), and stir to combine. You want a thick, but slightly runny mixture with just a tint of yellow from the yolks
-Working with one at a time, lay a sheet of phyllo horizontally on a large cutting board/work surface. Brush the dough all over with melted butter. Using a sharp knife, make vertical cuts in the dough about every two inches, making about four long strips of dough per sheet
-Place a spoonful of the cheese mixture at the end of each strip, and fold one bottom corner up to make a triangle. Keep folding/flipping as you would a flag. Fondly recall your days in the scouts, or on flag duty at school
-When the triangle is all rolled up, gently place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and brush with just a bit more butter
-Bake at 325 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden on top
-απολαμβάν !!!!

Tiropita station ready to go. A fine glass of red wine sure helps everything along

Phyllo all buttered up

Roll, roll, roll

One last fatty, decadent touch

honey beer bread

Oh my stars. Sarah's birthday is coming up, and we're planning a grand high tea. While flipping through the little recipe book I brought with me, I came across this one. It's so simple, so delicious, and I had completely forgotten about it. I was super stoked to find it again. Started making the dough at about 10 o'clock last night because I just couldn't contain my excitement. About five minutes later there were some delectable muffins baking away (we don't have a loaf pan, and it was a happy experiment to see them turn out so well this way), and I had a silent kitchen to do a little reading in. Great end to the night, and the muffins were a great start to the next day. I had one with my afternoon tea, cut in two, toasted, with some local honey drizzled on top. Divine. Do yourself a favor and make this soon. In a loaf pan, it bakes up to be the best toast you'll ever make yourself, and in muffin form? Maybe even better. Also, I used a pilsner, but any beer works. I've done it before with everything from a hefeweizen, to a really dark stout. Whatever you have on hand, go for it!

You'll need:

3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey, warmed
1 can of beer, 12 ounces (if you're using a bottle with more beer than the recipe calls for-lucky you, finish it off)
.25 cups of unsalted butter, melted


-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
-Grease a loaf pan, or line a muffin tin (mine has six large cups) with parchment paper
-Stir together all ingredients except the butter
-Pour half the butter into the bottom of the loaf pan/muffin cups, then add the batter (which is exceedingly fun to work with-spongy, clingy, moist, stretchy, just you wait), and top with the remaining butter
-Pop in the oven to bake, about 50 minutes, stay in the kitchen and enjoy the heavenly aroma
-Let cool for a few minutes before tearing in if you'd like to avoid burns on your hands/mouth. If not, dive right in!

P.S. Timothy, who is wary of any food not obviously Italian, just shouted at me that these muffins were "The shit! Yeah!". And Elisa asked for the recipe. Everybody wins.

Late night baking might be my favorite thing to do

Yummmmm

zanahorias en escabeche

Or, pickled carrots. Mexican style. We had a ton of carrots in the fridge, plenty of chilies, and the kids love burritos and tacos like you wouldn't believe. Constantly watching them eat a somewhat compromised version of Mexican food makes me want the real little things like this all that much more to go along. So now we'll have spicy pickled carrots in addition to Cholula (muchos gracias padre!) to put on top of our burritos and such. Thinking a real Mexican feast might be coming up (maybe for Benito Juárez's birthday?), I'm craving an excuse to make a huge pot of frijoles refritos!
And the recipe I use for these follows because, well, you need it in your life to be frankly honest!

Gather your ingredients. A bunch of carrots, some chili peppers, vinegar and sugar.

Peel, then slice the carrots into thin coins. Slice the chilies, too.

If you have OCD tendencies like yours truly, pile them together and determine whether or not you like the ratio of carrot to chili. I added one more chili at this point.

Put a pot on the stove. Admire the view. 

Put some white vinegar and sugar in your pot. You want slightly less liquid than you have vegetables. I had about 4.5 cups of carrots, so used approximately 3 cups of vinegar and a half cup of sugar. 

Bring the vinegar and sugar to a gentle simmer, making sure the sugar fully dissolves. Turn off the heat, but leave the pot on the hot burner. Toss in your vegetables and give them a good stir. 

When the mixture is cool, decant into an airtight container. Make sure the vegetables are fully submerged/covered by the brine. This ensures that they remain fresh for a long time. 

Pick up on your cat's subtle hint that he needs some food. Go feed him, you're done anyway! All that's left to do is put your jar of freshly pickled carrots in the fridge and try to wait a decent amount of time before helping yourself to them.

As a side note, I took a trip down dance floor lane while making these, listening to what Allison and I call "prom music". Basically soul and funk classics and 80s guilty pleasures.  Give it a listen!


                                                


Update: Just went to the kitchen to try one (that was the intention at least), and they were good. Really good. Addictive. So, guess I'm just telling you that I fully endorse my own recipe, which should be inherent, but oh well! 

clafouti

And then there was cherry clafouti. A sort of kissing cousin to crème brulée, a rich, creamy, custard cake filled to the brim with tart cherries. Dusted with a little powdered sugar for just a touch of decoration, and you have summer dessert perfection. Here's the recipe if you're so inclined, it's pretty darn simple!

.5 cups sugar
2 cups cherries, pitted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
.25 teaspoon salt
1.25 cups whole milk
.25 cups flour

-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a pie plate, or about four individual crème brulée dishes, then sprinkle in a bit of sugar and tap to coat.
-Arrange the cherries in the plate
-Beat eggs with the sugar, vanilla and salt. Add milk and beat to blend. Stir in the flour until smooth.
-Pour the batter evenly over the cherries
-Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until an inserted knife emerges with just a few wet particles
-Let cool at least 20 minutes before serving, dust with powdered sugar if desired

sick day soup

Yum! Woke up feeling sinus-y and threatened with the hint of a sore throat, and just threw together this super simple recipe for dinner. Something warm, spicy, and comforting was just the ticket. Adapted (to have a LOT more spice and no tofu) once again from one of my favorite cooks, Heidi Swanson, this was just the thing to get me back in the kitchen. It's been a strange last few weeks, and haven't really felt up to cooking much of anything. Feel like this simple, delicious soup got me back in the groove finally. And it should be just right for cold winter nights in the northern hemisphere!

To warm your cockles and fill your kitchen with a heavenly aroma, you'll need:

2 zucchini, cut into 1 inch thick chunks
1 large potato, unpeeled, cut into small cubes
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
4 tablespoons olive oil
.25 cup red Thai curry paste
1 15-oz can coconut milk
4 cups vegetable stock or water

-Stir the olive oil and curry paste together in a large pot over medium-high heat
-Add the onion and cook until just tender, then add zucchini and potato, stirring around for 5-10 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender
-Throw in the garlic, then add coconut milk and stock/water. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and gently simmer for about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender


That's it! Easy, right? Hope you try it and like it as much I did. And that this finds you perfectly healthy!

everything

Really, this incredible salad has a bit of it all. Sarah showed me the recipe a few days ago, and it instantly struck me as something one of my favorite cooks and kitchen muses would love. If you don't already know Heidi Swanson, check out her beautiful blog 101 Cookbooks or head to a bookstore and flip through one of her books and just try not to get drool everywhere. This recipe is a cinch to throw together and is even better the next day (so I learned at lunch today). Best eaten outside, in the sun, on a veranda with a beautiful view, at a freshly painted table. Give it a try before the last bit of bright sunshine fades out of the northern hemisphere! 

Salad

1 cup of bulgur

.5 cup of Puy lentils

large bunch each of cilantro and Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped

small red onion, diced

2 tablespoons each of toasted pepitas, pine nuts, and slivered almonds

2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed

.5 cup currants

juice of one lemon

few tablespoons of olive oil

Dressing

1 cup of Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1 tablespoon honey

pomegranate seeds

-Boil the bulgur and lentils (Separately! You never know), until just cooked. Drain and allow to cool

-Combine all the salad ingredients, stir gently to combine

-Mix the yogurt, ground cumin seeds, and honey

-To serve, pile the salad high in your bowl, top with the yogurt and pomegranate seeds. Easy! 

best biscuits

Home alone and cooking for one. First up- a variation on my favorite biscuit recipe. This is a winner because it's super simple and delicious on its own, but gets even better when you use your imagination. Today I added some finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes and aged cheddar. Next time? Maybe jalapeños and cojita, or a sweet version with orange zest and honey. Anything goes!

1.25 cups self-raising flour (or add about a teaspoon of baking soda to plain flour)

.5 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

.75 cups greek yogurt

dash of salt and pepper

-Preheat the oven to 230 C/450 F. Put a rack in the middle of the oven and let your baking sheet get nice and hot

-Mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a good sized bowl

-Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, fork, or two knives scissor style. The aim is for small "pebbles" of dough

-Stir in the yogurt and whatever additions you're using

-Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knead for a few minutes until it all comes together. Pat the dough into a rough rectangle, then cut in half and stack one square on top of the other. Repeat this a few times, pat, cut, stack, until you can see nice layers. Cut into six biscuits, and place on the preheated baking sheet, bake for about 15 minutes. 

The only "tricky" thing here is not to cut and stack the dough too many times. Admittedly, I think it's great fun to do this, but one layer too many and those beautiful biscuits will get too ambitious and puffy and topple over. And nobody wants that! We want light, feathery layers that pull apart and welcome a slathering of butter, olive oil, or honey. Enjoy! 

shakshuka

Yesterday was an odd one. Pasca stayed home sick from school, the sky couldn't decide if it was to be a rainy one or not, and Sarah and I were both craving something exotic, warm, and comforting for lunch. So whipped up some shakshuka. Try it sometime, it's easily customized, and truly delicious.

First: gather and prep your ingredients. Slice a few onions and bell peppers, dice a whole lot of tomatoes, and finely chop some fresh herbs. I used thyme, parsley and cilantro. Also corral a bunch of eggs, a pinch of saffron, and some coriander seeds. 

Dry roast the coriander seeds over a high heat for a few minutes

Then add a bit of olive oil to the pan and saute the onions, peppers, and herbs until they're nice and soft and have a bit of color on them.

Toss in the diced tomatoes and saffron, and a splash of water, and lower the heat to a gentle simmer. If you're feeling spicy, add some ground chili or paprika. Let this mixture bubble for about 15 minutes, and be amazed at the heavenly aroma filling your kitchen. 

Stop to admire the view. Feel frustrated at the rain. Come back to focus. 

Slice up some nice, crusty bread from the market. Get excited. Lick your lips. 

Make some cozy nests in the tomato mixture, and ever so tenderly crack in some eggs. However many or little as you'd like. Reduce the heat even further, about as low as you can go, and cover the pan. Cook until the eggs are set to your liking. About 10 minutes for firm whites and slightly runny yolks in our case. 

Test the limits of your patience, and finally, FINALLY, serve it up! Throw some more chopped cilantro on top if you're feeling the need to garnish, and enjoy!

strawberry and corn muffins

Why not share a recipe? Cooking, and baking in particular, has always been a great love of mine. And this is the best kind. A super simple muffin base that I've adapted through the years and that goes well with just about anything you feel like throwing in. And it can easily be made vegan! Just sub out the yogurt for a homemade "buttermilk". These might be even more delicious with some peaches, but alas, there were none in the house for once (really, a rare occasion).
Using strawberries that are almost overripe is best, that way they easily melt into little jammy puddles in the muffins. Perfect for breakfast, second breakfast, brunch, lunch, lunner, snacks, you name it!

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup plain yogurt

2 cups chopped strawberries

1 cup corn kernels, from about 2 ears

• Preheat the oven to 450〫
• Lightly grease and flour, or line, 16 muffin cups
• Cream together the butter and sugars, add the egg and mix well, then gently stir in the yogurt
• Thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients in, fold in strawberries and corn
• Spoon into muffin cups, bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 400〫and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes
• Enjoy! 

Like I said, there is an easy way to make this vegan. Make your own buttermilk by mixing 1 cup of your favorite non-dairy milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar, and let curdle at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Just sub that in for the yogurt, and use an oil instead of the butter. My preference is coconut. Finally, replace the egg with either half of a mashed banana, or about a quarter cup of applesauce. Piece of cake! Or muffin.