Cucumber, Tomato, Feta and Watermelon Summer Salad

This crazy combination by Deb from Smitten Kitchen is SO good that I cannot say enough about it. I am not going to reproduce it here, as Deb's pictures and explanations are beautiful. Just trust me, if you like watermelon and salad, you should make this!

Smitten Kitchen's Cucumber, Tomato, Feta and Watermelon Summer Salad

PS This article goes over the difference between an English and a regular American cucumber, and I have to say that it was totally worth it to find the English variety. It was not bitter, very crunchy and the seeds were nominal. Win!

Shepherd's Pie + Rhubarb Crumble

Made a shepherd's pie today, based off of a Moosewood recipe, and then as I seemed in an English mood, I made a rhubarb crumble for dessert!

For the rhubarb crumble, you can simply halve Nigella Lawson's.

The Moosewood recipe for shepherd's pie has three parts: a tofu saute, a mushroom gravy and a mashed potato topping. Tonight, I wanted a more traditional pie so I used the Moosewood recipe as a base but substituted lean, organic beef for tofu, added carrots and celery, and beef broth to the gravy. It turned out pretty well :) if I do say so myself.

Ingredients for the saute:
vegetable or olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
2 carrots, peeled
2 celery stalks
1 white onion
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground coriander
S&P
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Ingredients for mashed potato topping:
4 large potatoes
3 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
salt to taste

Ingredients for the mushroom gravy:
4 oz sliced mushrooms, the regular kind you get in the grocery store
6 oz baby bella sliced mushrooms
3 tbsp tamari soy sauce
pinch of ground black pepper
1 cup beef stock
2 cups water
2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 1/2 cup of water

While putting this together today, I made the potatoes and the saute at the same time, followed up by the gravy. If you have help in the kitchen and enough burners you can probably accomplish it all simultaneously and save yourself some time!

First, the saute. Chop your onion, carrots and celery finely. Heat some oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Add in your chopped vegetables, along with the thyme, coriander and pepper; stor well. Saute until the onions are translucent. Add in the minced beef, and break up into the smallest pieces possible. Stir the saute occasionally, and keep cooking until the beef isn't pink. About 10 mins after you add the beef, add in the walnuts. Add S&P. Once your meat is cooked, put evenly in glass casserole dish and set aside. Keep your pan handy and don't clean it out.

Start your potatoes. Peel thoroughly and chop into roughly 6 pieces each. Add to salted water and bring to a boil. Boil gently until potatoes are soft enough to put a fork in (15-20 minutes). Drain the soft potatoes and put back in the pan. Off the heat, mash the potatoes adding in the milk and butter. Taste and add extra milk and salt as needed. Set mashed potatoes aside.

Now it's time for the gravy (the best part!). In the meat saute pan add some oil and heat on medium. Add in your mushrooms, tamari soy sauce and pepper. Stir and saute mushrooms until they're tender. Add in beef broth, water and bring to a boil. Slowly stir in the water/cornstarch mixture and cook at a low boil until the mixture is thick.

Putting it all together: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Ladle mushroom gravy over your beef saute. Top with the mashed potatoes and dot those with butter. Once oven has heated to temp, put the casserole dish on a baking pan and place on a rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are golden.

Serve and enjoy, but leave room for dessert!

In honor of Spring...MARGARITAS!

Mik and I have discovered the perfect marg. recipe and we had to share. This is soo much better then any mix you can make. Now that the weather is warmer, sitting out on the porch with one of these is just heaven!

3 limes, the juicier the better
1:1 simple syrup (recipe below)
100% agave tequila, golden
Triple Sec
3 ice cubes/drink

To serve 2, here's all you'll need to do:

Pre-chill 2 high ball classes. (I stuck ours in the freezer for 5-10 mins.) Juice your limes and put the rinds in your glasses. Add ice, and then split your lime juice between your glasses. Next, add one shot of the Tequila, 1/4 shot glass of triple sec, and simple syrup to taste (I added about 1/2 shot glass). Then stir and enjoy! Do it this evening - you'll thank me!

Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Put sugar and water in a saucepan. On low, let sugar dissolve in water. Once you can't see any crystals, bring to a boil for 1 minute. Let cool to room temperature.

Dinner Avec Nicole

Hello everyone! Tonight I had dinner with the ever lovely Nicole, my counterpart in our neighboring Habitat office. (Also the person who gave me the "Won't Kill Kelsey Chili" recipe.) She introduced me to two awesome recipes which I had to share.

FIrst up, an awesome variant on the Thai soup I usually make (Thai Soup a la Nicky):

THAI TOMATO SOUP

(Serves 8)


1 OZ OLIVE OIL

1 SHALLOT, MINCED

2 CLOVES GARLIC, MINCED

3 OZ WHITE WINE 

32 OZ VEGETABLE STOCK

2, 14 OZ CANS TOMATO SAUCE

1 CAN COCONUT MILK (NICOLE USE LIGHT)

8 OZ HEAVY CREAM (NICOLE USES FAT FREE HALF & HALF)

SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

FRESH CILANTRO



SAUTÉ SHALLOT AND GARLIC IN OLIVE OIL OVER MEDIUM HEAT UNTIL SOFT, 2-3 MINUTES. BE CAREFUL NOT TO SCORCH. ADD WHITE WINE AND STIR. ADD STOCK, TOMATO SAUCE AND COCONUT MILK. BRING TO A BOIL. LOWER HEAT TO A SIMMER. ADD CREAM, SALT AND PEPPER. SIMMER FOR 15-30 MINUTES. GARNISH WITH FRESH CHOPPED CILANTRO.


Chicken Avocado Salad
4 servings

You can poach or sauté chicken breasts especially for this delicious main-course salad, but it's a great way to use leftover chicken. (You can also use leftover turkey, roast pork, or veal.)
Shred the chicken (or other meat) rather than cutting it with a knife, it looks nicer, and the meat will absorb the dressing better.

1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
½ tsp Tabasco sauce
3 tbsp safflower or corn oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 scallions, cleaned and minced fine (about ½ cup)
2 cooked chicken breasts (8 ounces; see Note)
1 small ripe avocado (about 7 ounces)
12 leaves lettuce or other greens

Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, Tabasco, oil sugar, salt and Worcestershire in a large bowl, and blend thoroughly. Stir in the scallions.
Shred the chicken by pulling the meat apart along the grain, forming narrow strips. Add them to the dressing and toss well.

Make an incision around the widest portion of the avocado, cutting through to the pit, and twist the ends in opposite directions until the halves separate. Remove the pit. Using a sharp knife, slice through the flesh clear to the skin every ½ inch one way and then the other, creating a checkerboard pattern in both halves. Then, using a spoon, scoop out the pre-cut cubes of avocado and add them to the bowl. Toss gently with the chicken and dressing.
Arrange the salad on the lettuce leaves and serve.

Note: If the chicken has been refrigerated heat it in a microwave oven for 20 to 30 seconds to take the chill off.

Nicole and I enjoyed this meal with Yellow Tail Chardonnay :) Totally recommend!

Chicken Fried Steak

For you non-Texans Chicken Fried Steak isn't chicken. It technically should be Steak fried like chicken. It actually derives from German settlers in Texas. They had trouble finding Veil for Schnitzel so they used cube steak instead.

And it's one of my favorite foods from Texas, that you never find once you travel North. So it's something I wanted to learn to make. I got this recipe out of Grady Spears - A Cowboy in the Kitchen. One of my favorite books.

Flour Spice
1 1/2 C Flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
4 TB paprika

Batter
2 eggs
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
1/2 cup Shiner Bock Beer
2 Cups Peanut Oil
4 Tenderized round steaks (about 1/2 lb. each)

Make sure your steaks are tenderized and pounded flat. I've used a tenderizer and cast iron to beat the steaks down until they're very thin.

Combine the flour, salt, pepper, and paprika in a bowl big enough for the steaks. In another bowl whisk the eggs. Add the buttermilk and beer.

HERE'S THE KEY. Dredge your steaks in the flour mixture and then let them sit for at least ten mins. Doing this removes the moisture and makes sure your batter will stick to the steaks.

In a heavy skillet heat your Peanut Oil (you can substitute veg oil here, Peanut Oil is good b/c it has a high smoking point). It needs to be 350 degrees. Honestly, I just look for shimmering on the top of the oil and drip a little water or batter to see if it sizzles. Then adjust the heat from there. Usually I have to lower the heat after one or two steaks.

Take your steaks, knock off any excess flour. Then re-dredge them in the flour mixture trying to coat them evenly. Shake off the excess again. Dip the meat into the batter. Let the excess drip off and finally put it back in the flour mixture one last time. Evenly coating the batter so it is dry on the outside.

Drop your steaks in carefully into the oil. Cook it about 5 minutes on one side. Turn it over, careful not to break your batter. And cook it another 5 minutes or so. You want a nice golden brown color. Drain the cooked steak on a paper towel. And you can hold it in the oven at 250 degrees to keep it warm while the others cook.

You can use the pan to make cream gravy as well. Drain your oil until there's a 3-4 tablespoons left in your skillet. Take 3-4 tablespoons of the flour you used to dredge your steaks. And whisk it together. Once its mixed slowly add milk or cream. Until you get a cream color. Keep stirring at low heat, being sure to get the bottom of the pan mixed into the gravy. Season with salt and a lot of pepper. And stir for 5-10 minutes until it's thick.

Banh Mi - Vietnamese Sandwich

I had a Vietnamese Sandwich the other day and was blown away. It was spicy and had a crazy combination of flavors and a ton of vegetables and weirdly served on a french baguette, which kind of blew my mind. East meets West.

And we got a Daikon Radishes in our veggie share, I had absolutely no idea what to do with them. Until I remembered they were on my Banh Mi Sandwich.

So I got online and found this site, it takes you through how to make them, and they're really, really, really good.

Battle of the Banh Mi

It takes a little planning to do, because you actually pickle the carrots and radishes. Which takes a couple days. It's actually pretty easy and very worth it in the end.

Pickling Carrots and Daikon



















Ingredients:
1/2 lb. carrots
1/2 lb. daikon radish
3 cups warm water
3 Tablespoons distilled or rice vinegar
2-3 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you want your pickles
2 tablespoons salt


Cut your carrots and Radishes into matchsticks.
Put everything in a sealed container.
Put it in the fridge for 3 days.
Done.

Making the Sandwich


Ingredients:
For the meat
1 pound of pork chops, shoulder or loin.
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 table spoons of fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons of finely chopped shallots or onion
1/4 cup vegetable or grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil

For the sandwich
1 Cucumber
Cilantro
Mayo
French Baguette
Chili Garlic Sauce

Slice the pork as thinly as you can. Put it in and let it marinade in the garlic, fish sauce, sugar, onion, vegetable oil, and sesame seed oil. Add some black pepper too. Give it an hour or two. I tried the same marinade with chicken as well. It was good, but pork tastes better.

Heat up a pan. Get it nice and hot. Lay in your pork. I like to pour the marinade over it as well. You can if you'd like. Cook until cooked.

Then make your sandwich.

Chop the cucumber in thin slices. Chop the cilantro.



Set out your baguette. Spread on some Mayo. Put a little Chili Garlic Sauce. Line the sandwich with the pickeled radishes and carrots, the cilantro, and the cucumbers. Add the meat. Salt.



Eat it and enjoy the irony of a Vietnamese Sandwich on French (who were in Vietnam before us) bread.

Christmas Fruitcake with Brandy Frosting

(the last few bites of the fruitcake)

We're doing the rounds of the holiday parties, and I decided to take a chance and make a fruitcake; something I've never attempted before. Success! I adapted the recipe from this one: 21st Century Kitchen. I've included a recipe for frosting that I think would be an improvement over the Brandy Buttercream I used for the party. The frosting was nice on it's own, but I think too sweet for the richness of the fruitcake. So, I'm suggesting a cream cheese frosting, still flavored with brandy or brandy flavoring if you like, and just frost the top. Should be good :)

Base
1.5 cups apple juice
1 cup grated scrubbed carrots
1 cup raisins
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup margarine (I used non-dairy margarine which tasted great)

Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wholewheat regular flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda

The important part: the fruit!
2 cups chopped pitted mixed dried fruits (chop the whole bag of dried prunes, apricots, apples, etc.)
1.5 cup chopped pitted dates
1.5 cups dried cranberries

Chop up your dried fruit and then measure what you need and set aside.

Next, in a large saucepan, bring the "base"ingredients to a boil and then simmer for about 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat. Let this mixture cool down to about room temperature while you preheat the oven to 300 degrees. (I actually had to put the base into the refrigerator for a little while to get the temp down.)

Combine the dry ingredients together, and then add the cooled down base and the dried fruit. Once well mixed, spray a bundt pan* with baking spray and pour evenly in all around. Bake for 60 minutes.

While the fruitcake is cooking, you have time to make your Brandy Cream Cheese frosting.

1/4 cups softened butter
4 oz cream cheese
Powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla (Or 1/4 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp brandy extract)

Mix all ingredients together until fluffy.

When your fruitcake has baked, let cool and then frost and enjoy! I topped it with cranberries for a festive appearance. :) Happy Holidays!