SPICY Broccoli – A Musical Trip Thru the ’80’s : Win a Prize!!!!

Are you into cooking but not that into cooking?  This is for you.  It requires very little work, no proper cooking (just warming up a few little ingredients) and tossing everything together.

Simple as can be and super delish.  This isn’t one for the kiddos, it’s very spicy which I love and now that the weather has finally turned cooler I tend to add even more heat to my meals.

I think of this as a kind of eighties dish so I’m throwing in some hot ’80’s videos for you to get you in the mood.

1 head of  fresh broccoli – cut into florets and washed well (I wouldn’t skimp on the washing part, I just heard a scary story on NPR about food and illness.)

2 cloves of garlic – smashed and peeled

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

2-3 tbs hot red pepper flakes

2 tsp. soy sauce

In a small sauce pan over low heat add the sesame oil, garlic and pepper flakes.  Allow to warm throughly, remove from the heat and add the hot red pepper flakes.

Discard the garlic, toss to combine well and add the soy sauce to taste.

Allow to sit for two hours in the fridge.  That’s it.  It’s really delicious and the broccoli doesn’t have any of that dry waxy quality raw broccoli gets but retains all its crunch and flavor.

Enjoy!

I really intended to keep it to two ’80’s Videos but I can’t help myself, this is next level.  Any one who wants to write their interpretation of what this video is about or what the pitch to Nu Shooz  was for this video will get some spicy broccoli made by moi, delivered to you at home.   Seriously.

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – Muffins

Don’t you love that music?

I’m trying to write this while my daughter is crying  on my lap and my son is zooming around so apologies in advance for any nonsense that seeps its way in.

I love the fall, it’s my favorite season and I love all the seasons.    People talk about “good weather” and I know they mean 78 and sunny but I think good weather depends on what time of the year it is.  I’ll take a good snowy day or a dark and stormy afternoon anytime.   Part of loving fall is loving pumpkins and all the other terrific things that pop up in the garden at the end of the growing season.  Pumpkins are 1. adorable, 2. taste great (stay tuned for another blog post about a stuffed baked pumpkin)  3. terrific for you (pumpkins are full of: vitamin A, fiber and beta-carotene which keeps you wrinkle free. Yay!) .   I’ve been in a breakfast rut of late and decided to make a new addition to our mornings, pumpkin muffins.  Like most muffin recipes these are quick and easy and everyone is so happy to have a home-made muffin they won’t notice it only took you a half hour or so to put together.

I didn’t put any raisins or nuts in mine this time but will 100% be adding them in going forward, I’m including them in the recipe but you won’t see any in the pics.

1 1/2 cups oat bran

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp.  baking powder  – I woud like to take this opportunity to thank the good people at Davis for making the best container ever.  I love that you can dip your measuring spoon in and level it off right there!

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice – I tend to think of spice compilations as a bit lame, like buying the greatest hits album and then saying you’re a huge fan of the band but let go of all that, pumpkin pie spice is great and convenient.

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup mashed pumpkin  (be sure you don’t get pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 milk  – any amount of fat or skim is fine

2 egg whites lightly beaten

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup  chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 425.  Grease a muffin tin with canola oil.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine, after it’s all mix make a well in the center.   In a smaller bowl mix the pumpkin, egg whites, milk, vegetable oil, then add to the well in the center of the dry ingredients.   Stir until just combined.   Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin filling each up about 3/4 of the way.  Bake for 20 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool.

Enjoy!

Apple Sauce! & A Couple of Videos

Apples, who doesn’t love them?  We went apple picking on labor day weekend and have just a few left.  Since we’ve all been a bit sick and the kids have had some tummy troubles I decided to make some apple sauce.   I had no thought that I would want to eat it or that it would make it into this blog but it is awesome!   First of all your kitchen (or if you live in a tiny NYC apt. the whole place) will smell like heaven and second of all it tastes SO GOOD.  I would gladly serve this warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to anyone for dessert and you could even add a bit of calvados if you wanted to make it extra grown up (though there’s no need).

4 -6 apples – I used a mix of varieties – peeled, cored and diced

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup water – or a bit more depending on how juicy your apples are

1/4 cup brown sugar – or less if you have very sweet apples

Put all the ingredients in a medium pot over medium heat and cover.  Cook at a low boil for 15 to 20 minutes or until the apples are soft.  You can mash some with the back of the spoon or if you want it very smooth use an immersion blender.  I didn’t mash it at all and thought it was lovely as is.

 

The Andrews Sisters up above reminded me of this:

http://tv.popcrunch.com/snl-lawrence-welk-show-betty-white-singing-sisters-kristen-wiig-denise-video/

 

Enjoy!

Heart of Palm, Corn, Pepper, Avocado Salad – Southwesternish?

 

I just spent a few minutes looking at what I’ve posted to date to make sure I haven’t all ready written about this.  I make this salad all the time.  I stole the recipe from a prepared food shop a couple of blocks away from me and it was easy to re-create at home.  One of the nice things about this is that you most likely have all the ingredients around, so there’s no need for a special trip to the store.  Yay!

Other then taking care of my kids most of my time is spent making special trips to the store, FYI.

 

1 1/2 cups cooked corn – fresh or frozen is fine

1 avocado – diced

1/3 red onion – diced

1 large handful of cilantro – chopped

1 red pepper – diced

1 jar heart of palm – cut into 1/2 inch rounds**

salt & pepper

olive oil & vinegar* to taste

Combine all the ingredients and season to taste.

 

I use sherry vinegar for this because it’s my favorite and I think it does a lot to enhance all the flavors of the veggies but try any vinegar you like.

**Do you all like heart of palm as much as I do?  I grew up eating it in Brazil and then at home in NYC and it’s very normal for me to eat but now that I writing this I’m wondering if it’s as usual for everyone else.  Let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Watermelon, Feta, Basil and Black Olive Salad & A Funny Bit From SNL

I’m sticking with the theme of Summer foods.  I don’t know where you are but here in NYC we are having a wave of the most delicious weather possible.  It’s about 78 degrees, zero humidity and I looooove it.  This must be why people in California feel entitled to brag about the weather, it’s glorious and I feel clever just for leaving the apartment to enjoy it.  Since I’m reveling in all things summer I thought I’d make one of my favorite summer salads.  This dish is a bit like California (which I love by the way) since it’s just simple elements pulled together to make something much greater then the parts.  The juicy, crunchy, sweetness of the watermelon plays so well with the salt and cream of the feta and olives and the basil adds a nice hit of herb (plus the green looks pretty).

1 quarter Watermelon – cut into 1/2 in chunks

4-6 oz. feta – crumbled (Please don’t buy pre crumbled Feta, it won’t be good.  Just get a block of good Feta – I use Belgian which is creamery – and cut it into little cubes.

1/4 cup of black olives  – pitted and roughly chopped

To pit an olive use the flat side of your knife to press down on the olive and it will crack the flesh, the pit will pull out easily.

1 large handful fresh basil – cut into ribbons

Combine all the ingredients and see if you think the balance looks right, adjust as needed and serve with a splash of good olive oil.

Enjoy!!!

Stuffed Peppers

I don’t like stuffed peppers.  Really it’s because I don’t like cooked bell peppers.  There’s something about the sweetness of them minus the raw crunch that just tastes kind of blah to me.  Like school cafeteria food.  So it’s weird that I decided to make this and even weirder that I like it so much.  Maybe my tastes have changed?  It has been a long time since I had had a stuffed pepper.  Maybe it’s that the filling has enough integrity to balance the sweetness of the pepper and that there was still some bite to the pepper.  Either way these are history.  Even the little bit of extra filling that was left over and baked in a dish has been eaten and I only made them last night.  The whole family loved them which was a relief since I am trying to wean our baby off her all-bread-all-the-time diet.  The other plus here is that you probably have all the ingredients on hand and it’s very easy to make.

4 red bell peppers – pith removed, seeded and cut in half lengthwise

2 medium potatoes – cubed

8 oz. feta cheese – cubed

1/4 pesto – as usual homemade would be better but I bought some this time

olive oil

salt and pepper

*a note on salt.  All cooks and cook books urge you to use kosher salt and then to “finish a dish” with a coarse sea salt, I like Maldon.

http://www.amazon.com/Maldon-Flaked-Sea-Salt-Ounces/dp/B0006FS4TI

And it’s true the larger grain and flavor of these salts are great and add a tiny little something special to your dish but usually they’re not iodized and iodine is pretty important.  You need it for healthy thyroid production.  Too little iodine can lead to weight gain, a slowed metabolism and skin abnormalities.  Pregnant and nursing women with iodine deficiencies can have babies with brain damage (the most common cause of preventable damage to babies in the world).  So don’t forgo your good old Morton table salt all together.  I use mine to salt the water for pasta, rice or veggies and generally use it while I’m cooking.  Only at the end when I’m ready to serve or adjusting the seasonings do I use kosher or sea salt.

Pre heat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a large pot boil salted water, add the cubed potatoes and allow to cook for 8 minutes or until tender.  Drain.

Brush the outsides of the peppers with olive oil and set on a baking pan with either parchment paper or a Silpat liner.

Silpat liners are incredible for baking, I use mine all the time.  Nothing will stick to it and it makes cleaning up take two seconds. You can get one here:

http://www.amazon.com/Silpat-Non-Stick-Silicone-11-75-Inch-8-25-Inch/dp/B0001RT42C

In a large bowl combine the cooked potatoes, cubed feta cheese and 1/4 of pesto.  Season with salt and pepper and spoon into the cavities of the peppers.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top of the potatoes are crisp and brown.

Enjoy!

Spanish Ensalada – Cod, Orange, Egg and Pomegranate + the proper way to boil an egg

You know that thing

where you go out to eat, have something incredible and try to make it at home but it’s not quite the same?  This is almost that but it did turn out great.  Husband and I went on a delightful date to Brooklyn, the cooler borough, and ate at a super tapas restaurant.  I don’t love spanish food even though Spain is the foodie mecca right now but this particular dish was fab.  There are a few basic steps but it’s simple to make and really pretty.

1 piece cod (or other flakey white fish) 8-10 Oz.  – cooked and flaked

2 navel oranges – peeled and cut into segments

1/3 cup pomegranate seeds

1 cup Cerignola olives – seeded and chopped

1/2 cup pistachios (unsalted) – shelled

small handful of fresh mint – finely chopped

3 hardboiled eggs – peeled and chopped

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-techniques/cooking/hard-boil-egg-00000000002333/index.html

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

sherry vinegar

In a pan over medium heat salt and pepper the fish and cook through.  Allow to cool and set aside.

To segment the orange (the fancy name for this is supreme) cut the top and bottom off of the orange.  Set on one of the cut ends and cut the peel off going from top to bottom following the curve of the fruit.

Over a bowl, cut between the white membrane removing only the orange flesh, squeeze the remaining juice into the bowl and reserve for another purpose (ie. the cook gets to drink the juice).

In a large bowl combine the fish, pomegranate seeds, orange segments, chopped hard-boiled eggs,

olives and mint.  Dress with the pistachio nuts,olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar.

Enjoy!

Chi-Chi-Chi-Chia!

Does everyone love old commercials as much as I do?

OK so you had to guess that when I was taking a little trip to LA I’d come back with something funky  to add to the mix.  Chia seeds are the sexy new starlet of the healthy eating world, they are full of omega 3’s, protein, fiber, AND antioxidants.   They have virtually no taste and just add a teeny bit of texture, kind of like poppy seeds (and sexy new starlets).  You can put them on yogurt, cereal, bake them into bread or muffins, sprinkle them on your salad, or do what I do, soak them over night and add a spoonful into your morning smoothie.  Taste and texture wise I can’t tell I’ve added anything, which is nice if you are resistant to change at all or if you just liked what you were eating before hand.

Take 1 tsp. of dry chia seeds

mix it with 4 Tbs. of water

allow to soak over night

and then put a spoonful of the seeds and the gelatinous water goo that’s formed over night into the blender with all the other ingredients.

Fair warning, the “gelatinous water goo” that I mentioned above?  That’s not me waxing poetic, it’s for real.  It looks like something from the special effects department of a sci-fi movie but not in an unappetizing way, just in a science-is-cool kind of way.  I promise.

Enjoy!

Olive Oil Cake

I mentioned a while back I was going to make an olive oil cake and I did but it didn’t turn out well.  It was too dry, which for an olive oil cake is totally unacceptable.  I waited a little while and made a different one that I found on a blog I love, Cup Of Jo   http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/.  I don’t have terrific pictures of this one because when it came out of the oven it looked as though it had risen and fell and I thought it was a bust.  But the edges were so good (Husband described it like an olive oil Twinkie) that I ended up taking it out of the pan and serving it much to everyone’s delight.  The cake is totally delicious and the texture is moist as is only fitting for a cake that is centered around oil.  It has a very large crumb which I assume must come from the only ingredient that’s not typical, almond flour.  I also assume the almond flour is what made this cake do it’s weird up-the-walls-of-the-bunt-pan-but-not-in-the-center trick but can’t imagine the chemistry behind that.  This has the flavor and richness of olive oil and you can definitely taste the lemon though it’s in no way a lemon dessert (I don’t like lemon desserts, thanks anyway).

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil – nothing with too strong of a flavor

1/2 cup lemon juice (you can use Meyer lemons if you prefer)

zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Whisk all the dry ingredients in a large bowl,

make a well in the center of the mixture and add the wet ingredients.

Combine and pour into an oiled bundt pan.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.  Allow to cool and serve.  If you look on the Cup Of Jo website you will see there is a glaze you can do, I skipped it as I never like that kind of thing.  You could sift a little powdered sugar over the top if you wanted to dress it up a bit, though I think anything out of a bundt pan is pretty enough.  I served this with the buttermilk ice cream I made a little while ago and the combination was great.

The cake is “all done” (as my baby would say) and I can’t wait to make it again.  I’ll let you know what happens re: the rising of it the next time I make it.  If any of you make it will you post to me and let me know what happens?

Enjoy!

Delicious Pesto – nut free (except the cook)

Friday was the first day I packed a lunch for my son to take and eat away from home.

There were lots of tears about not getting to have lunch with him (crazy, I know) but I also had to figure out what to pack for him so he would eat something and of course, it had to be nut free (the rule of the camp).  Since he loves pesto I thought I could make him some pesto pasta.  At this point I thought pine nuts were seeds and would be exempt from the nut ban, but after a quick round of googling I saw that wasn’t going to work and figured I’d just give it a shot without nuts and see how it goes.  Is this now my favorite pesto?  I think so.  I don’t know why because I love nuts and more fat (the good kind) usually equals better taste but this is  fantastic.

2 handfuls basil

1 handful spinach

2 garlic cloves

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 – 1/3 cup parmesean cheese

1/3 cup olive oil

salt & pepper

Put the garlic in the food processor and give it a whirl until it’s finely minced.  Add the basil, spinach, parmesean, lemon juice, salt and pepper and blend again, while the food processor is still going pour the olive oil down the feed tube.  Stop to check the consistency and flavor and add more cheese, lemon juice salt or pepper as needed.

I thought the spinach would be good to sneak in there (for some extra vitamins) but I think it adds some of the mellowness the nuts would usually contribute and it bumps up the bright green color another notch which is pretty.

I usually put pesto on pasta but you can use it for just about anything, chicken,  to dip veggies in, as a salad dressing, the sky’s the limit.

The whole family is impressed with this one, I hope you like it!