recipe: beets two ways

[Red stained fingers from the beets]

If you saw my recent Instagram photo of dinner ideas, you may be surprised by the photo above. I do have some big plans for later this week and as a result, I wanted to get my veggies in early. I have two recipes that make the most of fresh fruits and vegetables before spring is officially here. The first is an adaptation of Bon Appétit's Blood Orange, Beet, and Fennel Salad while the other is more a cooking technique than formal recipe. I couldn't stand to throw out the lovely greens that came attached to the beets. Turns out they taste almost identical to swiss chard! The stalk does leach a little red, though. 

Blood Orange, Beet, and Fennel Salad
For this salad, I most followed the prepareation according to the recipe, but changed the proportions. I felt the recommended amount of several ingredients, most notably the beets, is not nearly enough for two people, much less the 4-6 it is suppose to serve. My grocery only had mini golden beets so I used all red beets but mix it up if you can. I also changed the final step to serve the salad in a bowl instead of plated.


5 medium red beets, tops trimmed
5 medium golden beets, tops trimmed
3 blood oranges
2 medium navel oranges
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced crosswise on a mandoline
1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced on a mandoline (about 1/3 cup)
Good-quality extra-virgin olive, pumpkin seed, or walnut oil (for drizzling)
Coarse sea salt,  freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves


Cut beets from leaves, set leaves aside for second recipe. Wash beets and wrap in foil, leaving some water on the beets. Bake at 400 for an hour. 


Juice two of the blood oranges. Add the juice of the blood oranges, lemon and lime to a bowl. Slice the other oranges, cutting away the white pitch and/or peel and use as wedges*. Add to the bowl. Once beets are done roasting, peel. Add the beets, fennel, and onion to the bowl of oranges. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Stir. Allow to sit for a few minutes then serve.  To store leftovers, transfer to covered container with only minimal dressing. 


*Mixing slices and wedges adds interesting textures to the salad and are visually fun. Slice the beets in a combination of wedges and slices as well. 

Sautéed Beet Greens 
leftover beet greens from 10 beets
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped

Cut the leafy greens away from the thick stalks and roughly chop. Wash and dry. 

[You only need to remove the thickest part of the stalk]

Heat oil in large saute pan and add red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes then add greens. Add one or two tablespoons water and cover, stirring occasionally. 

[Cover the greens to get them to wilt]

Cook for about 8 minutes, to desired texture. I like to leave them just wilted but you can cook them longer if you prefer. 

recipe: lemon squares

I'm posting this with a disclaimer: making this recipe may ruin all other lemon squares for you. Ever. You know a recipe is going to be great when it comes from a Junior League cookbook. Okay, another disclaimer: this does not apply to anything molded out of jello that contains fruit or cottage cheese.  However, lemon squares? Those ladies have it perfected.

I grew up eating these lemon bars on special occasions. They are not overly time consuming but do require three steps and a long time chilling, so you cannot whip them up right before your luncheon. Luncheons being what I assume they originated for. The ladies of the Junior League of Cincinnati are still hawking cookbooks, but neither on sale is the one to originally contain these so I will share it with you. In fact, when I google searched "junior league of cincinnati cookbook lemon squares" they were sharing a recipe with no cream cheese icing! Cue pearl clutching. Enjoy the icing loaded version here.


 Frosted Lemon Squares
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 whole eggs
Juice of two lemons
4 Tablespoons flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together the flour, butter and powdered sugar, either with a mixer or food processor. It will be quite crumbly. Press into ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes until a light golden color.

Beat the eggs. Add juice of two lemons, flour, sugar and salt. Mix together. Pour over baked crust. Bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely before icing, 2+ hours or overnight.

For the icing, cream together the butter and sugar in mixer or food processor. Add whipping cream and vanilla and mix. Add the cream cheese in pieces into this mixture. Spread icing on cooled lemon layer. Chill and then cut into small squares. Store in the refrigerator. Freezes well.

If nice presentation is desired, partially freeze before cutting as icing remains soft at room temperature. But if the Junior League ladies thought they looked fine, they look fine. And I can promise you, they taste great.

bake it, gift it: snowball cookie recipe

Yesterday I posted my "make it, gift it" DIY button rings that I made for a Holiday Gift Swap. Today I am sharing my recipe for the The Great Food Blogger's Cookie Swap from Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen.

I wanted to make a family recipe, one given to my grandmother from her friend and my mother's godmother. This recipe goes by many names, but the one most appropriate for the season is Snowballs. They are also called Viennese Crescents when shaped slightly differently and Mexican Wedding Cookies when made with vanilla in place of the almond extract. I think the almond gives them a great not-too-sweet flavor. 

[The dough]

It's important to note that the dough is very very crumbly. You will be forming these with your hand and have to really squish the dough together. I was taking a fistful of crumbly dough to end up with the cookies you see below.

[Before baking]

[Cookies just out of the oven]

Snowballs
½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup confectioners’ sugar 

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1 tsp. almond extract 

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup blanched slivered almonds, ground

Mix all ingredients together.  Shape into small balls, about 2-4 bites per cookie. These do not rise or change shape, so you can fit about 20 on a baking sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees on greased cookie sheet for 20-22 minutes.  When mostly cooled, roll in conf. sugar before serving. 

Yield:18 cookies

Recipe is easily doubled. Cookie size can also be reduced, decrease baking time accordingly.  

[Ready to coat in powdered sugar]

[All done!]

recipe: shrimp scampi with preserved lemon and fennel

Grocery shopping is a trip typically made together, with a few meals planned and a few thrown together later from whatever we have gathered. Last weekend I worked both days, so Partner-in-Crime set off to procure foodstuffs on his own. On a whim, he picked up a half pound of shrimp. We didn't have a recipe planned, so at 6pm on the night of their consumption (a week ago) we sat down on the computer to find a recipe, ultimately selecting one from Bon Appétit on Epicurious for Shrimp Scampi with Quick Preserved Lemon and Fennel on Polenta.

We lacked some ingredients, including the polenta. Instead of the amount of shallots listed, we used a combination of shallots and white onion that needed to be used quickly. Luckily, we had fennel for another recipe planned for later in the week and I frequently keep preserved lemons in the fridge, made using this method. This cream/fennel/lemon sauce is good enough to eat without the shrimp. I don't know why you would, unless you are serving a vegetarian or keeping kosher. (Which, if you are, cook the shrimp in an entirely separate skillet. Toss a bit of preserved lemon in the olive oil as you cook the shrimp and you are good to go.) Below is our adapted recipe.

Shrimp Scampi with Preserved Lemon and Fennel over Pasta
Ingredients:
1/2 lb pasta
1/2 shrimp
4 shallots, sliced thinly
1/4 white onion, diced
1 medium bulb fennel, halved and sliced thinly (about 1 cup)
1/2 preserved lemon peel, diced (about 4 teaspoons)
1/2 cup half and half (or cream)
 

[Preserved lemon, onion, shallots, fennel]

Peel and vein the shrimp. Note that prepping the shrimp will take the whole time it takes to cook pasta, so be sure to do this step first instead having your boyfriend do it while you make the pasta. Our pasta sat for a while waiting for the rest to be done. If this does happen to you, toss the pasta with olive oil.

After shrimp are ready, put the pasta on. Go for something long and stringy. We used standard spaghetti, linguine or fettuccine would be great too.

[After adding the cream]

Saute shrimp in olive oil over medium heat for 1 minute per side. Transfer to plate. Saute shallots, onion, fennel and lemon together, until fennel is tender, about 4 minutes. Add cream, bring to a boil briefly. Toss shrimp back in and cook until just opaque in the center. Serve over pasta.

[Tossing the shrimp in]

recipe: my mother's pumpkin muffins

As soon I saw canned pumpkin in the store, I swooped up several cans, thinking not of pie but of my mother's delicious pumpkin muffins. They are perfect for enjoying a taste of fall all through Thanksgiving and even up to Christmas. Bake regular muffins for yourself or miniature muffins to take as treats to coworkers, friends and family.

Pumpkin Muffins
Dry ingredients:

1 2/3 cup flour

1 ½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Optional: 1/3 cup raisins or walnuts

Wet ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup water

2 eggs

1 generous cup canned pumpkin

Combine dry ingredients. In separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Add dry until blended.

Bake in greased muffin tins (or with liners) at 350 until golden brown. My mother’s recipe says 35 but she told me to check earlier. I took them out at 30 minutes, but they could have even used about two minutes less. For miniature muffins, bake 15 min.

Makes about 18 muffins. I made a dozen regular and a dozen minis. 

*I didn't have pumpkin pie spice, but figured I could google a substitute. I used this one. 

made me smile: occupy oakland and free pears

These pears were found yesterday in a box by the sidewalk- gifted, as my friend Anna would say, by the universe. A friend for many years through organizing, Anna is currently in town and was the perfect companion to participate in Occupy Oakland with me. After a day of participating, I returned home to the pears calling for attention. I reflected on the day's action with Partner-in-Crime over preparing a pear crumble. Cooking with free pears, willingly given from someone who had more than they needed or even desired, felt appropriate as a small part of what the Occupy actions are working to create.

All in all, a series of smiles. A found box of pears. A friend in town. Democracy in action. Preparing good food with a loved one.

Recipe: Harvest Pear Crisp with Candied Ginger from Bon Appétit.

quick pic: jammers

[I made 16 on Friday. They are all gone. From The Kitchn.]

recipe: breaking out the ice cream machine

They say if you don't wear something for a whole year, you should throw it out (or, really, donate it) because you'll probably never wear it again. This is probably even more true in the kitchen where there are tons of fancy toys but far fewer necessary items. I am bad about following this rule.

Instead, after being secondhand gifted an ice cream maker at the begining of this year, I proceeded to leave it in the box all summer. Which in Richmond pretty much started in March. I then moved across the country, lugging the ice cream maker still in its box. At which point I swore I would use it.

[Color is a little off in this image]

Luckily, strawberries at 3 pints for $8 at the farmers market finally prompted me to make good on that promise. Uncharacteristically timid with my first solo-ice cream making experience*, I decided to use the recipe provided for me by Cuisinart. Recipe after the jump.

*Solo because in about second grade I assisted in cranking a hand-crank machine and in tenth grade we made ice cream in plastic bags in chemistry class. Neither experience instilled confidence in myself.

[Appropriate pink color]

pizza

There are some things that I've wanted to make, that I've been told are really quite simple but that have always intimidated me. Making fresh pasta is one of those things. Homemade bread. Pizza dough. Are there foods you've been too intimidated to try?

I plan to conquer these fears, starting with pizza. I first made a pizza dough while at home but it was a no-rise recipe off the back of a special pizza yeast (the only yeast the grocery store had.) Here in Berkeley I got a packet of regular yeast, and Partner-in-Crime and I tried again. We followed a recipe for dough from Epicurious that involved a step where you slightly fry the dough. Definitely got a nice char taste that my oven alone couldn't impart. I used my trusty cast iron and it all went smoothly. The biggest thing I learned is you can never roll the dough too thin.

[My first attempt at hand forming the crust. Switched to rolling after this one.]

[Partner-in-Crime prepping the fennel and onions]

[Fresh heirloom tomatoes roasted and then added to olive oil and mozz pizza. Sort of sauce on top]

[The most succesful- sausage, fennel and onion]

[Potato, bacon and fontina. Sadly the bacon burned. I picked it off when the pizza was hot but the burned bacon actually tasted great on the cold leftovers the next day.]

plum good luck

After moving in, I discovered this tree in my backyard. A bit of luck since I arrived too late to plant anything for this season.




The plums are not especially sweet, so I'm still figuring out future recipes to try but they worked well in a plum galette, using the recipe I linked before that was written for plums but I had used for peaches. It was perfect to serve for Wine Wednesdays, a tradition started when I lived in DC and now continued with one of the original members also having just moved to the Bay as well.

What other plum recipes should I try?

[Poor kitchen lighting]

Original recipe from Honest Fare.

recipe: chicken risotto with broccoli pesto

I've shared a risotto recipe before and I make it often, but the other night I made the best risotto I have concocted to date. Much of the reason was Partner-in-Crime's suggestion to add the roasted chicken from the previous night. We didn't have a cup measure so I've used 'units' to describe the amount of rice and broth to use. Recipe below the jump.

recipe: grilled romaine salad

To spice up a simple head of romaine, my mom and I decided to throw it on the grill with the chicken we were grilling for dinner. Recipe by photograph below.

[Chop head in half lengthwise]

[Grill 3-5 minutes]

[ Add chopped tomatoes and cucumber, top with vinaigrette.]

recipe: fingerling potatoes

The past three weeks have been spent lazing around my (later) childhood home and with my family at the beach. It's been wonderful and now I'm getting ready to spend a week traveling the East Coast (upstate New York, The City, DC and then Richmond) before leaving for the west coast. Two days ago, Partner-in-Crime found us a place so now only the actual moving my things across the country by large truck is left. I'm not sure that I'll have time for writing much over the next few weeks but there are few posts schedule and the Tumblr will be tumbling for quite a while. So my online existance will go on while I barrel down I-80W.

In order to add value to this post and avoid two imageless posts in a week, I give you an entirely simple recipe for roasted fingerling potatoes. I love all potatoes but I am partial to fingerlings. Not just because tomorrow at 7am, technically today, I leave for the Finger Lakes and old Cornell.

[Sliced fingerlings]

[Roasted fingerlings]

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Slice potatoes lengthwise, typically into thirds. Roughly 6 potatoes per person.
Toss with olive oil and rosemary.
Roast at 450 for 20 minutes or until the edges are crisp and the centers puffy.

recipe: little sister's lime cakes

I've been home the past week and enjoying time with my family. It's been fairly relaxing and besides a few meals and the Harry Potter premiere, I haven't left home. What I have been doing is eating lots of lots of these tiny lime cakes my sister made. The radio silence will continue while I head off to the beach for the next week. It's a darling little cottage with no internet or cell service. I will be bringing a stack of books instead.

Lime Cakes
1 box yellow cake mix and ingredients listed on box
1/3 cup key lime juice
whipped cream
raspberry sauce

Make cake according to box, substituting lime juice for 1/3 of the water called for. Bake sheet cake, cut out circles of cake. Top with whipped cream and a dallop of raspberry sauce.

lunch from leftovers

My recent post from Fourth of July showed a bevy of food from our cookout spread and I've been making meals from it all week. Above is the delicious grilled chicken, provolone, grilled pepper, arugula and pesto sandwich I made yesterday. All from leftovers, it was possibly the best sandwich I've ever made. Probably due to the use of homemade bread (thanks, Stephen!)

On the more actual-cooking side of things, I had some uncooked green beans from the farmers market to use. Wanting to eat more of the fresh corn, I created this Green Bean and Corn Succotash. The first day I ate it solo and today I reheated it and served over toasted crostini and basil pesto.

Green Bean and Corn Succotash

[Ingredients]

1 pint steamed green beans
2 ears of corn, removed from cob
spring onions sliced and soaked in vermouth
butter
balsamic vinegar (not pictured)

[To prepare:]

Saute the onions in butter. Add the green beans and corn, saute until hot.
Add splash of balsamic. Salt, pepper to taste.

[Enjoy!]

[For crostini, slice bread thinly. Fry in butter.]

[Spread with basil pesto]

[Cover with succotash. Enjoy!]

weekend review: long fourth of july

I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July. My lease here in Richmond ended on the 30th but I knew I needed to stay around at least through the Fourth (and now have been convinced to stay through this coming weekend as well.) I enjoyed relaxing after a June full of travel and packing. Posting here has been slow, but today I offer two (easy!) recipes.

I started my celebration Sunday morning with a lunch with the pup at the park. Byrd Park's concession stand impressed me, offering this hearty chicken sandwich for roughly $5. The sandwich itself was standard but the chips were fresh and quite tasty. Plus, I got to sit and watch families paddleboat. Next I headed back to my friend's house where I am staying for the week. He and his girlfriend were hosting a cookout, which was a great chance to see some friends before I leave.

[California Israeli Cous Cous]

[Grilled peaches]

[The (mostly) complete spread]

[My sandwich creation- grilled chicken, green apple, avocado, lettuce]

The feasting was followed by outdoor activities, then resting, then fireworks over the river. Monday itself was even lazier, spend mostly by the pool and then lounging on a porch watching a lightening storm instead of manmade sparks.

California Isreali Cous Cous
1 cup of cous cous according to the package.
3 small cucumbers (farmers market style) or one grocery store size cucumber, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 green onion, diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine first seven, salt and pepper and olive oil to taste.


Grilled Peaches
Slice six barely-ripe peaches into eights.
Thread on skewers soaked in water. Place in baking dish.
Pour about 2 tablespoons olive oil over peaches then crumble 1 tablespoon brown sugar.
Mix to coat.
Grill 3-5 minutes per side until fork pierce easily. Enjoy plain or over ice cream.