extracurricular laboratory notebook

loose threads

2011-02-05T23:14:00.004-05:00

Pernil Asado con Mojo - this was so good! I used a much smaller pork shoulder (3.5 lbs) and the bone was already removed. The leftovers were great in enchilada pie and quesadillas.

Laotian food from Food and Wine magazine - the only one I haven't made yet is the Ground Turkey Laap, and that will probably get knocked off the list in the next few days. And they were all keepers!

Shrimp and grits - I used half the shrimp and added two chipotle cheddar sausages to the grits, as well as a diced poblano and smoked sea salt. I upped the cheese a bit (what can I say, I like Cabot clothbound cheddar). I think that the ratio of sauce to grits is a bit off, since I found I needed a lot of the chile sauce.

Chicken and hominy soup - we made this with Rancho Gordo hominy. As long as you remember to soak the hominy in the morning, this is very doable as a weeknight dinner.

Chickpea and spinach stew - I usually have all of the ingredients for this on hand. It's a really nice and easy weeknight recipe, especially in winter. Even though it doesn't really feel like winter here because we haven't had much snow. Not that I'm gloating...

Butternut squash soup with coconut and ginger - I was quite taken with a coconut kabocha squash soup I ate (from a food truck, of all places!), so when I ran across this recipe I had to give it a try. It's good, but definitely not as good as that kabocha squash soup - I think you need that extra sweetness. I will have to give the recipe another try with kabocha.

A few others of note... salt and vinegar kale chips... roasted cauliflower with golden raisins... breakfast quinoa...

We signed up for occasional Washington's Green Grocer deliveries (it's similar to Boston Organics). It's much more flexible than a CSA, but of course it isn't all local produce. We get to add and subtract things, too, and they offer products from Brooklyn Brine. I love their fennel beets and the curry squash and the chipotle carrots and... well, I haven't had anything that I haven't liked!

Momofuku's ginger scallion sauce - I wasn't sure if I was ready to purchase David Chang's cookbook, but I ran across this recipe. Quick and easy and you can throw it on anything!

I was really happy to see that the Dupont Circle farmer's market is open year round, and it's on Sunday mornings. It's a shame that dogs are prohibited, because I have dreams of taking Hobie for a walk while visiting the farmer's market.

Still looking for replacements for some of my old favorite things from Formaggio Kitchen and Central Bottle. I found that the Whole Foods occasionally has Jasper Hill Farms Bayley Hazen Blue, and since Meadow Creek Farms is local, it's easy to find their Appalachian cheese. I've grown fond of Cowgirl Creamery's Devil's Gulch cheese and Firefly Farms' Merry Goat Round. On the chocolate front, I haven't seen any Mast Brothers or Rogue chocolate here. Our Whole Foods has been lacking in general - they don't carry many chiles, they never have fresh lemongrass, and the bakery selection is abysmal (then again, I haven't found a bakery like Iggy's or Clear Flour in DC).

Speaking of things I miss - I have yet to find a replacement for Flour. I have made a few things from Joanne Chang's cookbook, like the dacquoise (which was much easier than it looks!), the gingerbread cake, the boozy rum cake, macarons... I also made her maple apple upside-down cake from Food and Wine magazine.

As much as I enjoy cooking, it's nice to eat out, too! There are several restaurants here that we were already familiar with before we left Boston (Oyamel, Againn, and Brasserie Beck, for instance), and we're starting to explore a bit more. Restaurant week was a great opportunity for this. We had a great Mexican themed meal at Untitled, Southern comfort food at Acadiana, and we finally went to Birch and Barley.

Other places of note: Estadio (still not sure if I like it better than Jaleo), Bourbon (beer cocktails and fried chicken!), Two Amys (although next time I will stick to the small plates), Pizzeria Paradiso (great beer list and delicious pizzas), Pho 14, Scion (they have a great beer list!) and Vermilion (if I can't get Garden at the Cellar's tater tots anymore, I'll be happy to replace them with Vermilion's hush puppies). I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. And China Poblano, but that doesn't count because it's in Las Vegas. Or maybe it does, because it's by Jose Andres. Anyhow, it was a huge disappointment.

I've been making the food truck rounds, too - @eatwonky, @FlmeetsDC, @lobstertruckdc, @fojolbros, @capmac, @sweetbitestruck...

And of course there's lots of places I still want to visit. I have a lot of eating ahead of me!

the times, they are a changin'

2010-11-29T11:00:00.004-05:00

Two months ago today, I received a call asking if I could interview for a job in a city 500 miles away. Even though everything fell into place - my boyfriend received a job offer in the same city just before I received my job offer, we had a temporary place to stay, we found an apartment, we found someone to rent the condo in Cambridge - life has been pretty hectic. My last day at my previous job was one month ago, and we left for Washington, DC shortly thereafter.

I'm very excited about my new job. It's a big change from my previous life as a medicinal chemist, which is exactly what I was looking for. My days in a chemistry lab are over, and now my kitchen lab is my only lab.

So I'm adjusting to a new city, but more importantly, I'm adjusting to a smaller apartment with a smaller kitchen, which is equipped with an electric range *sigh*. We are very lucky to live near a great Whole Foods (with a fabulous beer selection!) but I'm looking for other places to restock my kitchen. I was very lucky to have lived within walking distance of Formaggio Kitchen, and Savenor's wasn't much further away. Yes, there is Cowgirl Creamery here, but their cheese selection is not as extensive as Formaggio Kitchen's. I think I owe Balducci's another visit, and of course I need to explore my own neighborhood a bit more. I know Chinatown no longer exists as I knew it, and it seems that many other ethnic groceries are a bit further afield as well. So if any DC area (DMV?) residents are reading this, I would love to hear your recommendations for any food-related stores I should visit!

In the meantime, here are a few things that I've been up to in the kitchen:

framboise cranberry sauce - I used Dogfish Head Fort. Dogfish is one of my favorite breweries, and now that Delaware is a short drive away I see a visit in my future! There's no way I could drink a bottle of Fort myself - it's 18% ABV! - but there was some beer left for me to enjoy while I cooked the sauce.
Upside-Down Cranberry Cake - I used twice the cranberries and spread it out over two cake pans. I like a heavier fruit-to-cake ratio so this worked out much better for me than the original.
Chickpea and spinach stew - In our packing and unpacking, I discovered two issues of Food and Wine magazine from 2005 which I had saved for their great articles about Spain. I combined two recipes, chickpea and spinach stew and one with chorizo. I used a chicken chorizo, and I used hot paprika instead of sweet, which didn't make it through the move. It was easy, delicious, and hearty, and if you substitute canned diced tomatoes for a fresh tomato, the recipe features ingredients which I always keep on hand.
I made my first batch of beer! We brewed it in Cambridge and bottled it up just in time for the move! I'll definitely have a separate post about it, especially since we'll be doing another batch shortly, I suspect.
Spent grain pancakes, made shortly after the beer was brewed. The recipe needs work but I will give it another go. As you can see from the photo, I should have ground the grains a bit more. I'm hoping that the new, larger food processor I invested in will aid in this. I anticipate baking some bread using the spent grain as well.

And of course, I cooked a lot of my old favorites. If there's anything that will make you feel better about a life change, it's comfort food.

apple and parsnip soup

2010-10-11T10:17:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

With the apples, cider, and parsnips in this recipe, this is the perfect fall farmer's market soup. Over the weekend I made apple-parsnip soup from Cooking Light magazine's October 2010 issue (which is full of great fall recipes, in case you're looking for some inspiration!) I used parsnips from my Parker Farm CSA, and a couple of Gala apples that were a bit past their prime. I love any excuse to use my immersion blender! I love the spices used in this soup and the soup had a great texture to it. Again, another hearty fall soup that can be converted to a vegan version if you use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. (I omitted the creme fraiche garnish.)

By the way, here's a great diagram of which apples are suitable for cooking, baking, and eating. It's very handy and I downloaded it to my iPhone so that I can refer to it while I am at the store.

2010-09-05T19:08:00.002-04:00

We made baked shrimp with feta from Cooking Light (April 2009) for dinner tonight. We made the suggested orzo accompaniment as well. Just before the orzo was finished cooking, we threw in some spinach, and tossed the orzo and spinach with the herbs, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Although the recipe suggested the orzo as a side, we threw it into the baking dish with the shrimp mixture. It turned out great - I will definitely make this again!

chocolate beet cake

2010-08-09T09:15:00.003-04:00

Every week I have received a bunch of beets through my CSA. I do like beets in their typical preparation - I am especially fond of beets and goat cheese on salads - and I was quite pleased with the beet and carrot latkes I made earlier this summer. But I can't always make the time to cook them, so I have been boiling them, pureeing them, and freezing them for future use. This is well suited for chocolate beet cake. I had my reservations at first, but yes, I would gladly make this again (as a matter of fact, this was the second time I made it). The recipe calls for 2-3 oz of chocolate - but who's going to use 2 oz chocolate when you can use 3 oz? And it just so happens that Taza Chocolate bars come in a 3 oz size. I used the 70% dark chocolate bar since that's what I like to eat on its own.

It would be delicious as a layer cake with a cherry filling, or even a cherry glaze on top... or perhaps chocolate ganache. But it's delicious on its own - it's very moist with a nice hint of chocolate, and you don't really notice the beets.

I also made a vegan cupcake of sorts - red velvet pupcakes. It was my first attempt at vegan baking and my first attempt at cooking for Hobie, the three month old Australian Cattle Dog that joined our household last month. She can be a picky eater, but I know she has enjoyed other treats that include beets, so I gave this a go. I replaced the applesauce with more beet puree (so the cupcakes are quite pink) and rather than using cottage cheese as a frosting, I simply used peanut butter.

Although I'm not canine I tried one of the "pupcakes" myself, sans peanut butter and biscuit, and it's surprisingly good. And my intended audience was quite pleased (although she left the little bone shaped biscuit behind).

honey spice beer cake

2010-07-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

I love spice cake, and I love beer... so I couldn't pass this recipe from The Washington Post up! They adapted it from the book Booze Cakes. I used the beer they recommend, Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss beer, which someone had recommended to me as a nice summer beer. Of course after the cake is baked you can't taste the beer, but it made the cake nice and moist. Although most people prefer spice cakes during the winter, I think this one was "light" enough to be used year round.

For the frosting I used Formaggio Kitchen's Hefeweizen, which is made for them by Cisco Brewers (pictured behind the cake). I screwed up the frosting - my butter was too soft. It's more like a glaze. The flavor is just kind of meh to me, so I think next time I would stick with a traditional white frosting. The walnuts were nice - I might try to bake these in the cake next time (yes, there will be a next time!)

I went ahead and ordered the book, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more spiked baked goods from me!

Moroccan carrot soup

2010-07-27T09:54:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

This soup is much more to my liking than the corn soup, not only in terms of consistency and texture, but spice. It's the Moroccan Carrot Soup recipe from Bon Appetit, April 2010. I used carrots and onions from my CSA delivery. I've made ginger carrot soups before, but this recipe caught my eye because I love cumin. I simply used ground cumin instead of toasting my own cumin seeds - I am sure that the toasted cumin seeds would add another dimension to the soup, but for a quick and easy after-work dinner, ground cumin works just fine. The soup is low fat but it tastes very rich - once again the immersion blender works its magic!

It would be easy to make this vegan - simply replace the chicken broth with a vegetable based broth, and skip the yogurt on top, which isn't essential to the dish.

corn soup

2010-07-26T10:27:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

Food52 is a crowd-sourced cookbook of sorts. They announce themes and invite people to submit recipes. Although I have perused their website many times, I had yet to try any of their recipes. Corn season is upon us, and I am always looking for new uses for my CSA produce, so I decided to give cold corn soup with basil chili oil a go.

Although this is one of those recipes where I whipped out my immersion blender (love it!) the soup never reached the creamy consistency that I was hoping for. Next time I would probably add a potato or two to help it along. The basil oil was delicious and really made the dish, since the soup on its own was not memorable. It's hard to place blame on the recipe, though, as the corn may not have been at its peak.

beet and carrot latkes

2010-06-22T15:09:00.003-04:00

I received a small bunch of beets in my CSA on June 10th. I hadn't paid attention to the farm's website update, so I didn't realize what type of beets they were until I sliced them open. I was pleasantly surprised!

Shredded, they look like confetti:

These lovely candy striped beets were so deliciously sweet - after shredding them it occurred to me that they would have been great in a slaw of some sort. But I had already come across this recipe for beet and carrot latkes, so I stuck with the recipe.

With the carrots:

And the final product!

This recipe is definitely a keeper for me. I will have to give it a try with different types of beets.

Asian kohlrabi slaw

2010-06-22T14:38:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

I received several kohlrabi in my CSA, as well as a big bunch of cilantro. It just so happened that The Washington Post featured a recipe for Asian kohlrabi slaw that very same week. I simply used cilantro instead of parsley. And of course I used sriracha, which was listed as optional in the recipe. The heat provided a nice contrast to the crunchy cool kohlrabi.

You can read more about kohlrabi in the accompanying article.

banana coconut macadamia nut muffins

2010-06-05T20:09:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

When I have overly ripe bananas I usually make banana bread... but I decided to try this banana coconut muffin recipe from epicurious. I added 1/4 c crushed macadamia nuts and I subbed rum for the vanilla. They were quite tasty and I will make them again, but they are no replacement for an actual tropical vacation.

CSA

2010-06-04T09:53:00.002-04:00

Last night was my first CSA pickup of the season. I already knew that this summer's CSA would be very different from last year. Not only was I doing my own pickup, but Steve has been extremely diligent about keeping everyone up to date on the Parker Farm's website and on the Parker Farm Facebook page. It definitely has more of a community feel to it than the CSA that I participated in last year. On pickup days, he sends a reminder e-mail and lets us know what we can expect that week.

So I already had a lot of positive feelings about Steve and Parker Farm, and I am happy to say that he did not disappoint. Not only did the CSA get an early start this year (many do not start until later in June), but the first share was quite a windfall:

1 head Bibb lettuce
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 bunch chicory
1 head pak choi
1 bunch mizuna
1 bunch spinach
1 bunch pea tendrils
1 bunch red Russian kale

And that was a small share - the large share had two of everything. And the greens looked great! Vibrant colors and not a single wilted leaf. I can't wait to try the mizuna - even though I see it at all of the farmer's markets, I have yet to sample some.

CSF

2010-05-20T20:42:00.003-04:00

Last night on Top Chef Masters, one of the contestants made a chermoula sauce. I happened to run across a recipe for
haddock in chermoula sauce... I didn't have enough parsley but I made up for it with extra cilantro. It's worth revisiting for a future CSF delivery.

CSF

2010-05-18T22:09:00.001-04:00

No pictures tonight, but today's CSF haddock fillets were used in this recipe for balsamic-glazed fish fillets and they were SO GOOD.

ramps

2010-05-12T15:48:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

Sauteed ramps, caramelized onions, and fresh ricotta over spinach gnocchi. Perfect springtime dinner!

lamb meatballs

2010-05-12T14:01:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

Lamb meatballs seasoned with oregano and thyme, over whole wheat penne pasta with cherry tomatoes and (a very generous helping of) feta cheese. The meatballs were a bit too lamb-y; next time I would use 1/2 ground lamb and 1/2 ground beef.

recap

2010-05-12T10:36:00.003-04:00

The last two months have been pretty hectic. I did take a few food pictures here and there, and I'll post a few of the more memorable experiments. I've been doing a bit more traveling, and since I often plan trips around eating and drinking, it just makes sense for me to include snippets of those excursions here.

I visited my family down in the Washington, DC area in April. I had my first Five Guys burger when we saw the LA Dodgers play the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. I'm not convinced that they are better than In N Out, but I look forward to having a side-by-side comparison. Note: I had the single patty at Five Guys and I only eat the single patty at In N Out, so yes, I am trying to minimize the variables in this experiment.

While I was in DC I also had sushi at one of my family's favorite restaurants, beer at Dogfish Alehouse (no, it's not the brewery, but the beer is less than two hours away from the beach), a cocktail tasting/pairing at the Columbia Room, and yet more sushi.

Finally, the fish tacos at Gordon Biersch are surprisingly good. Obviously not the same as a taco truck taco, and not a Baja Fresh fish taco, and an entirely different creature from a La Verdad fish taco, but a good chain restaurant choice (and of course there's the good chain brewpub beer). And Gordon Biersch is everywhere... except in New England, of course.

fresh chickpeas

2010-05-12T10:25:00.002-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

I love chickpeas, so when I saw them at the store I had to give them a try. I steamed them and ate them as I would edamame.

open faced egg, ricotta, and arugula sandwich

2010-05-12T10:20:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

The recipe was in the May 2010 issue of Cooking Light magazine. I always love a good egg sandwich and this was a nice variation of my usual egg, gruyere, and baby spinach. I used fresh ricotta from Formaggio Kitchen, which has become a staple in my home... it's much creamier than any of the other fresh ricottas I have found, and it's very versatile.

upside down pear cake

2010-05-12T10:17:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

An old favorite. Click on through to flickr for the recipe and NYTimes story.

dinner

2010-03-01T13:35:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

This was a few days ago... chili chicken and basil from Women's Health Magazine, stir-fried sesame asparagus, and quinoa. I would definitely make this again, and it was fast!

chocolate stout cupcakes

2010-02-22T21:00:00.002-05:00

I gave the chocolate stout cake recipe from Bon Appetit another go. I made cupcakes instead of a layer cake, and instead of chocolate ganache frosting I made a cream cheese and kahlua frosting.

Taiwan - Din Tai Fung

2010-02-02T16:26:00.005-05:00

While we were in Taiwan, my family went to Din Tai Fung for xiao long bao (steam dumplings).

This friendly little dumpling head guy welcomes you to the restaurant.

You can see the dumplings being made at the front of the restaurant. It's a seamless, high-throughput operation. Henry Ford would be proud.

Alongside the tray of soy sauce and vinegar are instructions on how to consume your dumplings (after preparing your dipping sauce in the correct ratio). Nice that they provide soup spoons at the table.

Spicy pickled cucumbers, artfully arranged.

Finally, the main event: xiao long bao. We ordered both the traditional pork dumplings as well as the pork and crabmeat dumplings. I like how they used a cloth to line the steamer basket, instead of cabbage leaves. Since the dumplings didn't stick to the cloth they made it into our soup spoons intact, for maximum soupy goodness. YUM.

dinner

2010-01-27T11:15:00.003-05:00

For dinner last night, we made Mark Bittman's pasta with gorgonzola, arugula, and cherry tomatoes. The recipe was really more of a starting off point, though, since I deviated right from the get-go by sauteeing some sweet onions. We used Barilla whole grain penne in place of the farfalle, and grape tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes. I didn't take any pictures of the meal itself, but this is the cheese that we used - Neal's Yard Dairy Colston Bassett Stilton.

After reading some of the comments on the blog entry, I was a little worried. My concerns were unfounded. The blue cheese mellowed out significantly during cooking, but the arugula maintained its peppery bite. Although the grape tomatoes weren't all that sweet on their own, they complemented the dish nicely.

haggis

2010-01-19T14:03:00.004-05:00

My first haggis was of the canned variety. It was good, but it didn't feel authentic. Let's compare:

My first haggis looked like this prior to cooking.

My second haggis looked like this prior to cooking.

A bit different, yes? But both the canned variety and the traditional variety are basically a lamb sausage. You guys are smart enough to go to Wikipedia and look it up yourselves, but in case you're lazy, here's the Wikipedia entry on haggis. My first haggis was baked in ramekins in the oven. The preparation of the second was a bit different. We cooked it in its casing rather than cooking its contents separately. After simmering in water for 45 minutes, the haggis looked like a balloon... if balloons were filled with meat.

After removing the haggis from its casing, this is what it looked like. It's very dense, much more dense than the canned haggis, and much less salty. The lamb:oat ratio was quite a bit higher.

The traditional side dish is mashed turnips and potatoes, but we roasted our neeps and tatties instead of mashing them.

The verdict? I preferred the consistency of the Savenor's haggis, but it was underspiced. If - no, WHEN - I make haggis I will add more salt and pepper, as well as rosemary and garlic.

dinner

2010-01-18T11:48:00.003-05:00

Saturday night was a busy night in the kitchen...

We started with arugula salad with caramelized onions and fontina cheese. The arugula was lightly dressed with Ken's Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing.

There are so many recipes for cider glazed root vegetables - this has become my go-to for cooking vegetables when I don't have anything else in mind. We had cider glazed carrots with ginger and cider glazed brussels sprouts with apples (which I tested out in November).

And the main event: chicken florentine from America's Test Kitchen's Light and Healthy 2010. Pan seared chicken and spinach in a creamy lemon sauce. We agreed that the lemon sauce would have been perfect for chicken piccata. It was quite tangy and deceptively rich (the recipe calls for very little cream - this is "light and healthy" after all!)

lemon curd

2010-01-18T09:43:00.003-05:00

No, I haven't posted in a while. I had grand plans to write a big entry about my trip to Taiwan. But as you can see that didn't happen.

In the meantime, here's a bright spot on a dreary day... sunshiny lemon curd.

Thickening up...

And the final product!

dinner

2009-11-16T10:01:00.003-05:00

Saturday night's dinner: crabcakes, rice pilaf, and roasted cauliflower (recipe from Cakebread Cellars). I just now realized that I forgot the lemon zest and lemon juice. Oops.

dinner

2009-11-12T12:46:00.004-05:00

This was a pretty easy dinner. I would say it took about 45 minutes for prep and cooking time.

Tis the season for brussels sprouts and apple cider, so I made roasted brussels sprouts and apples from the latest issue of Cooking Light (November 2009). I love recipes like this... it was quick, it scaled up nicely (I used 2 lbs of sprouts, the recipe calls for 1/2 lb), and you can be flexible - I threw some extra apples in. This photo was taken prior to roasting.

For an entree, we had mustard and maple syrup glazed Coho salmon with quinoa (2/3 red, 1/3 white). No, Coho is not in season, so the fish was previously frozen.

For dessert, I made a pumpkin cake from Cooking Light (October 2004) but due to poor planning I didn't frost it. The cake wasn't overly sweet, and it was quite dense. It was served with Haagen Dazs vanilla and ginger ice creams.

squash

2009-11-11T14:58:00.001-05:00

I forgot to blog about acorn squash with maple syrup, dried cherries, and dried cranberries.

reinventing the wheel

2009-11-11T10:24:00.003-05:00

A couple of today's recipes revisit a couple of my favorite recipes...

WaPo's La Farinata (chickpea pancake) is very similar to Mark Bittman's shrimp tortillitas from Bitten, which is great last minute dish that you can make with frozen shrimp and whatever fresh herbs are lingering in your refrigerator.

Speaking of Mark Bittman, today he shares an upside-down pear cake which is reminiscent of this honey-glazed upside-down pear cake (which I've made for a few of you). I'm especially fond of the accompanying story, which discusses the evolution of a recipe. It was one of the reminders that I should be taking notes when I modify a recipe or procedure; hence the blog.

CSA conclusions

2009-11-08T12:58:00.003-05:00

Since my last CSA delivery two weeks ago, I've had a lot of time to think about whether or not I would sign up for a winter CSA (Boston Organics or Enterprise). In the meantime, I've resumed weekly visits to the Central Square farmer's market, which is open until Thanksgiving.

The best thing about the CSA was convenience. Having a weekly vegetable delivery forced me to eat a lot more vegetables than I would have otherwise. It also forced me to try things that I wouldn't normally pick up at the store - kohlrabi, anyone? That part was fun and gave the whole thing an Iron Chef feel. But I had a lot of trouble keeping up with a half share, so I had to learn how to preserve things. And I have a freezer full of beefsteaks and a cupboard full of jam to prove it! I am embarrassed to admit that there were several times when I had to throw food away.

When I go to the farmer's market, it's an entirely different experience. You pick and choose not only what vegetables you want, but the exact bunch of carrots or head of lettuce that you want. The major downside: it's difficult to plan a visit to the farmer's market during the workday, even if it is right down the street. But every time I went I loved it, even if I was just picking up a bar of Taza Chocolate. The whole experience is so much more interactive and social. You get to talk to the person who actually grew those plants or caught and smoked that fish, and they are more than happy to share recipes with you.

While my financial contributions to Community Supported Agriculture were more significant through the CSA share, the social nature of the farmer's market makes its own contribution to the community. Not only am I making friends, but I know a lot more about where my food is coming from - and that was one of the reasons why I joined a CSA.

I haven't ruled it out yet, but I guess the bottom line is that a weekly CSA delivery isn't for me. My schedule is too unpredictable and I go out far too often to be able to eat all of that food every week. When I do cook, it's usually just for me. And as much as I love to cook, cooking for one isn't as much fun as cooking for someone else.

soup

2009-11-01T21:40:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by stephykay

Pureed butternut and kabocha squashes, apples, and pears, with maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Presented in roasted acorn squash. All of the squashes and fruit came from the last CSA delivery (which warrants a post of its own, I just haven't gotten around to it).

chocolate stout cake

2009-10-25T21:45:00.005-04:00

When I first saw the recipe for Chocolate Stout Cake in the October 2009 issue of Bon Appetit, I thought... why would I waste good chocolate stout on a cake? Incidentally, I was at a class at Formaggio Kitchen last weekend where they served Brooklyn Brewery's Dark Chocolate Stout. I liked it... but I didn't truly appreciate it until I had the Rogue Chocolate Stout again. The Brooklyn is faaaaar superior. But I didn't finish my beer on Friday night, and the recipe came to mind.

I had quite a bit of leftover beer so I made a double recipe. It may be time for me to get a new mixer, as I reached capacity.

My cake is definitely not as dark as the cake pictured with the recipe.

The cake itself was very moist and flavorful. It wasn't overly sweet and it had just the tiniest hint of stout. As the recipe suggested, I waited until the next day before making the icing. The recipe calls for a chocolate ganache frosting. You really can't go wrong with chocolate ganache, can you?

I stirred the ganache every so often but I let the ganache sit in the refrigerator for too long. I left it out at room temperature for a bit which made it a little easier to spread, but it wouldn't quite stick to the cake. No pretty pictures, just the picture I took of the work cake (all bundled up and ready to go!)

It's not overly chocolately but the ganache does make it quite rich. I think I would opt for a more simple icing next time. (I tried it with my cool whip/nutella concoction and that was pretty tasty.)

I would make this cake again... except that I also realized that chocolate stout tastes just as terrific when it has been sitting out in the open at room temperature overnight. It would be difficult to pick between making cake or enjoying the beer as is!

CSA

2009-10-20T21:12:00.002-04:00

Once again... CORN. I didn't realize you could so easily find corn on the cob in October. But there it was in the CSA crate again. There was also cabbage, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, a variety of peppers, a butternut squash... and a kumbocha squash. I had seen these at the grocery store, but I would not have dared try one... until attending the Formaggio Kitchen Oktoberfest class on Sunday evening. Julie served a kumbocha squash puree which was delicious. I remember liking the bratwurst they served with it, but I was so taken with the squash puree that the sausage was not my focus.

I still had a head of cabbage from last week, so I made this unstuffed stuffed cabbage recipe from Gourmet tonight and I love it. Reminds me of my mother's cooking! I will definitely make it again.

I'm thinking about signing up for a winter CSA but I haven't decided yet. I'm looking at Boston Organics and Enterprise (delivered by Metro Pedal Power). The delivery would happen on a Wednesday, which complicates things a little. I'm usually home on Mondays and Tuesdays, but later in the week it's a little harder to predict. And as someone said, do I really like kale all that much?

weekend baking

2009-10-12T22:41:00.003-04:00

I did a bit of baking yesterday... which went better than my attempt at cassoulet!

I have used this recipe for old-fashioned oatmeal honey apple cake from Cooking Light magazine many times before. Usually I use chunky store-bought applesauce and I use a heavy hand with spices. This time I used a spiced plum and apple sauce that I made earlier in the week, using CSA plums and apples. The cake was too thick, so the glaze didn't penetrate. I should have used a bigger pan.

I also made a loaf of jacked-up banana bread using a recipe I found at Smitten Kitchen. I skipped the bourbon, I used 4 bananas, I opted for more sugar rather than less, and I added more than a pinch of cloves. Finally I threw in 1/2 c walnuts. It was quick and easy - I mashed everything together using a potato masher, saving me the trouble of cleaning up the mixer.

cassoulet... kinda

2009-10-12T21:04:00.003-04:00

I got off to a good start, but things meandered off course very quickly.

I used flageolet beans and I remembered to soak them overnight. The beans soaked up a lot of water - they easily expanded to twice their original size.

In the morning I realized that I had forgotten to prepare the duck legs for the duck confit. So rather than curing overnight, the duck legs only cured for about four hours. They still had a good five hours on the stove, though. My home still smells like duck fat!

While I was making the duck confit, I started cooking the beans in the water and beef broth. I added the onions and bouquet garni but I hesitated. The recipe from Gourmet in December 2002 calls for tomato paste to be added to the beans while they are cooking. I had thought that you weren't supposed to add any acid (e.g. tomatoes) before the beans were fully cooked through. So I didn't add the tomato paste until much later... much, much later as it turns out, because the beans were still undercooked after two hours.

While the beans were still cooking (and the duck confit was still... confit-ing) I cooked up some bacon and pancetta, and I added that to the bean mixture. I prefer restaurants that serve duck confit on the top or to the side of the cassoulet, so I used a little duck fat in a skillet to crisp up the duck confit. At the same time, I should have been browning the garlic sausage. But I forgot about the sausage.

And because it was late, I didn't even attempt the bread crumb topping, and I didn't bake it. I was hungry! So in the end, I didn't have cassoulet, I had fancy pork and beans. They tasted good but it was a far cry from Hamersley's! I'll have to give it another try.

CSA

2009-10-12T20:46:00.002-04:00

When I picked up the CSA crate today I thought it was full of root vegetables. I forgot how heavy corn on the cob can be. I did receive some root vegetables, amongst other things: acorn squash, white radishes, turnips, apples, onions, cubanelle peppers, bell peppers (which are already on the squishy side), a head of cabbage, and three gigantic tomatoes, which went straight into the freezer since I know I don't have time to use them this week.

I'm excited about the turnips, since I haven't actually cooked turnips before. I know I like turnip puree but I don't think I've even eaten turnip greens before. So that'll be an interesting experiment.

And yes, I am still tired of corn on the cob!

2009-10-06T16:59:00.002-04:00

Can't wait to try this lemon-almond tart in my Calphalon frittata pan. That same pan will probably be used to make a tortilla espanola using last week's CSA potatoes.

CSA

2009-10-05T23:15:00.004-04:00

This week I received green leaf lettuce, dandelion greens, grapes (the same delicious little ones from last week), two big beefsteak tomatoes, green peppers, radishes, corn on the cob (yawn), lots and lots of plums, and an acorn squash! I'm excited about the squash. Not so excited about figuring out what to do with the corn. I have been away for almost a week, so I still have things leftover from last week (cabbage, for instance, and apples, which will probably be used in the Shaker walnut apple cake from Cooking Light a couple of years ago).

Last week I made zucchini and summer squash noodles...

Tonight I just made scrambled eggs with peppers and onions.

I'm pretty busy this week, so I don't know when I'll have time to cook. It's a shame, because I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now, and having some quiet cooking time would probably help relieve my stress!

CSA

2009-09-29T11:04:00.003-04:00

Cabbage, summer squash, zucchini, corn (not as much as usual but still I have a lot of corn), cubanelles, apples, tomatoes, garlic, bell peppers, potatoes, an eggplant(!), and several clusters of the cutest little grapes. They were so tiny and perfect. The clusters looked just the way you would expect a cluster of grapes to look!

http://twitpic.com/jlieo

I should have taken a real picture... but I ate all of the grapes already. They were so sweet!

Since I won't be able to cook most of my veggies right away, I'm working on getting them preserved in some fashion. The tomatoes went straight into the freezer, the potatoes and garlic will be fine until I return.

I did make zucchini and summer squash "noodles" for dinner last night (pic to follow).

chili

2009-09-28T12:06:00.010-04:00

My plans for the day were cancelled at the last minute, and the weather was dreary, so I was looking forward to a lazy Sunday at home. I happened to run across the November 2008 issue of Food & Wine magazine at the gym. They had a nice article about Rancho Gordo, which reminded me that I had a package of Santa Maria pinquito beans in the cupboard. Since I had the afternoon free to cook, it seemed like the perfect time to try them out.

I soaked the beans for a few hours. According to the Rancho Gordo website, it isn't necessary, but it does speed up the cooking process. They absorbed a lot of water!

I started with Hatch chile butter from Whole Foods for the mirepoix (yes, that means there were carrots in my chili). I used 1/2 sweet onions and 1/2 shallots (leftover from CSA). I added the beans, along with the water that they were soaking in, and I added water until the beans were completely submerged.

While the beans were simmering, I smoked the steak tips. I started with a dry rub which has... a little bit of everything. It's the same dry rub that I used when I made brisket. 1.5 lbs of sirloin tips barely fits into the smoker - I'm glad that I have the larger smoker!

And while the beans were simmering, and the tips were smoking, I made jalapeno cornbread with buttermilk.

After the beans were cooked through, I added spices and tomatoes (a few fresh and one can of peeled whole tomatoes). As the skin peeled off of the fresh tomatoes I removed the skins. When the tips were finished smoking I chopped them up and added that to the mix.

The final product:

It was definitely much better than my usual quick-and-easy chili (ground beef and canned kidney beans). The texture of the beans was great, and the smoky flavor permeated throughout the chili, so it was well worth the time.

tomato

2009-09-23T14:35:00.001-04:00

On Twitter, Rick Bayless suggested freezing tomatoes for future use in sauces. No cooking or blanching or peeling or anything, just freezing them whole. This sounds bizarre to me, but since I won't be home much this week, I might as well give it a try...

peachy

2009-09-21T22:54:00.001-04:00

Did I mention that there were peaches in today's CSA delivery? At any rate - I added another jar of peach ginger jam to the cupboard, because the peaches were beyond ripe. The jam is tasty, but I really don't need more jam! I'm going to try using it on chicken or in baking. Maybe it will work as a substitute for applesauce?

CSA Monday

2009-09-21T22:07:00.001-04:00

I know this was a rough year for the farmers... but today's CSA was very disappointing. Lettuce, corn on the cob, potatoes, zucchini, cucumber, shallots, grapes, a beefsteak tomato. Except for the grapes, that's all the usual stuff... but there was a lot less of it. If I didn't have so many plans this week, I would definitely need to supplement this week's delivery.

Dinner was smoked salmon with home fries (inspired by the smoked salmon hash at S&S, only less greasy), salad, washed down with Pretty Things Baby Tree (still love it!), followed by sesame candy and this peanut candy that I can't describe. Joe says it's like extra-peanutty halvah.

smoked salmon

2009-09-21T12:23:00.001-04:00

IMG_0095
Originally uploaded by stephykay

Well, it worked! And now the condo smells like a campsite. But the smoke alarm didn't go off (mine are very sensitive) and it tasted great. I will definitely have to play around with a few recipes.

new toy

2009-09-18T16:10:00.001-04:00

Should I start with brisket or salmon?

Wednesday

2009-09-16T11:10:00.002-04:00

Here are a few things that caught my eye in the Wednesday food and dining sections...

smoked stuffed brisket with pomegranate sauce - stuffed with apricots and dates and onions and pine nuts!
apple-carrot tatin cake
Not a recipe, but an article from the NYTimes about the food scene in Portland, Maine

corn soup

2009-09-14T22:18:00.001-04:00

IMG_0087
Originally uploaded by stephykay

I was thinking spicy corn chowder, but I decided I wanted sweet.

Started with a mirepoix (too many carrots, hence the orange specks), added raw corn kernels (which were of average sweetness), cooked that for a bit before adding milk and chicken stock (2:1 ratio), then finally peeled boiled potatoes. 30 minutes later I used the immersion blender.

1. I need to learn to cut corn off the cob without kernels flying around the kitchen.
2. The Le Creuset was too big for this dish, so it wasn't that deep... so the first time I used the immersion blender, it wasn't, well, immersed enough, so I made a bit of a mess.

Not too bad, but it still needs work. It's not sweet enough! Perhaps Vidalia onions could make up for the average corn? And too much carrot in my mirepoix. The orange specks do match the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale I was drinking while cooking. Yum!

CSA

2009-09-14T19:25:00.001-04:00

Lettuce, potatoes (getting tired of potatoes), corn on the cob (getting tired of corn on the cob), a green bell pepper, tomatoes, lots of plums, peaches, and some green apples that look a lot like the ones in the yard next door. Now I'm dying to know if the apples lying in the yard are worth saving!

My first thought upon opening the crate: potatoes and corn again?! But I see that I have a couple of jalapenos - spicy corn chowder will make use of all of this.

The plums require a little more thought. I'm accustomed to black and red plums, not... green. They look like beach plums. I can make preserves of some sort, right? I wish I had paid more attention to the lady at Crane Beach who was picking them all.

my greatest hits

2009-09-14T12:54:00.006-04:00

I brought baked goods to the Design Hive market yesterday. I picked a few of the recipes that have gone over well with my test subjects (namely, my coworkers). It went well, but - long story short - I won't be doing it again.

I had chocolate chip cookies - you need some kind of safe bet, right? - and lebkuchen, a German spice cookie with almond flour and candied oranges. I provided samples of the lebkuchen. It was gratifying to see the looks on people's faces as they tried them.

I also had an oatmeal honey apple cake. The chunky applesauce in the batter makes it low fat and very moist. The almonds are just on top, so a nut-free version would be easy (although I do like a bit of extra crunch).

I was surprised at the number of people who took a chance on the lemon lavender cupcakes without a sample. They smelled delicious, though, and at the end of the day I had one myself. Usually I can't taste the lavender in lavender foods, so I make mine extra lavender-y.

Overall, it was a really rewarding experience. If I had the chance to do it again, I can already think of a few other recipes (already coworker approved) that I would try.

Design Hive

2009-09-12T16:59:00.002-04:00

I'm making jewelry and baked goods for the Design Hive market tomorrow... and I'm feeling a little stressed out! You can see a very limited amount of my jewelry at my etsy store, 2nd Bedroom Studio.

The Design Hive is 10 am to 5 pm, at the Baldwin School at 28 Sacramento Street, Cambridge. That's just a block off of Mass. Ave., right between Harvard and Porter Squares. If you're in the area, please stop by!

chicha

2009-09-09T14:32:00.003-04:00

Dogfish Head Brewery's Chicha and The New York Times article covering it brought back a lot of memories for me.

Before I went to Peru in 2006, I asked my Peruvian friend for a list of must-try foods and beverages. Of course I expected to see Inca Kola and pisco sour on her list, but I had no idea what chicha was. I was determined to cross off as many items from her list as possible, so I went in search of this corn-based drink.

My friend had said that it was not common in Lima, so I waited until our arrival in Cusco before I asked. I asked the waiter at the Andes Grill Restaurant if they sold chicha. He looked horrified and told me that nice restaurants usually don't serve chicha. I later realized that this was something to be found in more rural areas. My Spanish is very poor, and my Quechua is nonexistent; I was beginning to doubt that I would get the chance to try chicha. So I was very happy when we stopped at a small roadside "bar" - a house which contained a guinea pig farm and a small room for drinking chicha. They even had a drinking game of sorts in the front yard!

I was able to sample a few different types - chicha is a pretty generic term which covers a wide variety of beverages. I remember a pale yellow drink, a pale pink drink, and a purple drink, all cloudy. We sampled them while eating a variety of roasted corn kernels. While I liked all the chichas, I enjoyed them more for the novelty factor than the actual taste.

And reading about the chewing process... well, now I'm not so surprised that our native tour guide was ill the next day!

For more information, see the Wikipedia entry on chicha. Coincidentally(?) today's Washington Post has a story about pisco. I guess it's a day for Peruvian drinks.

fig jam!

2009-09-09T09:33:00.004-04:00

My fig jam was the Internet Food Association's Daily Food Porn for September 4th, 2009! Someone left some fig puns in the comments... was it you?

burger bar

2009-09-09T08:26:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was burger bar day at work. It's never satisfying - the burgers themselves are tough and flavorless, and the toppings aren't that great. So last night I made my own burger bar for dinner. I made sliders, perfect for Iggy's mini brioche buns. The beauty of a mini burger is that you can try many different combinations.

Pictured: guacamole burger and pesto and mozzarella burger

curious cat

2009-09-07T19:34:00.002-04:00

IMG_0074
Originally uploaded by stephykay

This is Coco overseeing my review of our CSA delivery. It's a half-share from the Six Farms CSA from southeastern Massachusetts.

figgy

2009-09-07T17:32:00.003-04:00

IMG_0072
Originally uploaded by stephykay

Fresh Fig Upside Down Cake
Recipe: http://bit.ly/4ByUcA
2/3 black mission figs, 1/3 brown turkey figs

The figs were on the shy side of ripe, but the cake was still quite good. Not overly sweet. The cake itself was light but a bit spicy (in a good way) - I used a heavy hand when it came to the spices. It would have been nice if the cake itself had tasted of figs. Next time I will use less cake batter.

want

2009-09-04T15:46:00.002-04:00

Cambridge doesn't allow it's residents to keep grills on their decks. So I have to go out when I'm craving barbeque. This is no replacement for a grill, but it will alleviate my pain:
http://bit.ly/PVQB2

fail

2009-09-04T09:50:00.001-04:00

For a few weeks, I have been curing a duck breast. I used the recipe from Tom Colicchio's "The Craft of Cooking". Since I couldn't properly hang the duck in the refrigerator, it dangled from a chopstick that rested across a pitcher. It took up a lot of space, and refrigerator real estate is not cheap.

I unwrapped my duck ham yesterday. It barely resembled duck or ham - it looked like duck jerky. And I was too afraid to eat it. Into the trash it went. Such is the nature of experiments!

gazpacho

2009-09-02T12:15:00.002-04:00

I made a lazy gazpacho yesterday... it was more like CSA mélange. Tomatoes, onions, a green bell pepper, half a cucumber, a spicy pepper from a past CSA delivery, a little cilantro (not enough unfortunately), a dash of cumin, a dash of chipotle tabasco, a bit of garlic infused evoo, and Peruvian garlic sauce (aji). I just used the hand chopper because I was too lazy to get the immersion blender. Not too hard, not too bad for me, and a good way to make use of the not-so-pretty items from the CSA delivery.

Why?

2009-09-01T17:12:00.001-04:00

Why not?