I love to see how vegetables actually grow. I can still remember the awe of seeing my first artichoke field in Central California, a huge tuscan kale plant, rice in Japan, or zucchini and eggplants plants in a farmers market exhibition garden. This time, Trader Joe's brought the brussels sprouts to the store, including their habitat: a stalk. On top of looking picturesque, the stalk was also inexpensive. So, roasted balsamic brussels sprouts, sauteed endives, baby spinach and a handful of cherry tomatoes, all courtesy of Trader Joes, made up today's lunch.
Balsamic roasted brussels sprouts:
cut brussels sprouts off stalk
half, and line on a baking sheet lined with alu foil
salt, pepper, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
After using the balsamic vinaigrette in many of my salad recipes, it is time that I actually post the recipe. I promise this is the best balsamic vinaigrette ever.
1/8 cup excellent extra-virgin olive oil (currently, I used a price-winning Australian olive oil I got at Wholefoods)
1 TB grainy mustard (Maille recommended)
1 TB honey
1 garlic clove, microplaned
Add all ingredients in a vinaigrette bottle (or simply a jar with a tightly closing lid) and shake vigorously. Keep chilled in the fridge, and serve for salad.
I cannot believe I have not blogged about them yet; I made them twice already! I favor savory things to sweets any day, and these are now my favorite savory muffins. My local farmers market sells a wonderful, strong feta, as well as fresh spinach and any type of winter squash, and these are the main ingredients. I adapted it slightly from the original recipe from 101Cookbooks, but they are also delightful in their original conception.
cooking spray (or butter for the muffin pan)
1 gluck of olive oil
255g cubed butternut squash, cut 1/2-inch cubes (I buy peeled butternut squash, less work)
salt and pepper to taste
1 large handful of fresh baby spinach, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds kernels, roasted, unsalted
100g cubed feta (full-fat, and best a local product from the farmers market)
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 405F / 200C, with rack in the top third. Grease 2 12-hole muffin pans and set aside.
Sprinkle the olive oil, salt and pepper over the cubed squash. Arrange in a single layer on a baking pan and bake for 15 - 25 minutes so that the squash is mostly cooked, but not mushy or dry. Set aside to cool.
In a bowl beat the eggs and almond milk together. Sift the flours and baking powder onto the mix, add in some salt and a generous dose of freshly ground black pepper, and mix until smooth. Fold in gently the spinach, sunflower seeds, feta, and all of the mustard. At last, fold in the baked squash.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, filling each hole 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops and sides of the muffins are golden, and the muffins have set up completely. Let cool for a couple minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.
Sunday mornings often start with tuning into Food TV or the Cooking channel, and sometimes this results in inspirations for a few meals. Today was such a day. The original salad calls for pecorino and pistachios (great idea! but I was out) and blistered grapes, but for me only the combination of radicchio and (raw) grapes stood, with balsamic vinaigrette and toasted walnuts and shaved parmesan. The combination of the crunchy, slightly bitter radicchio, the full-flavored balsamic vinaigrette and the juicy, sweet grapes with the crunch of walnuts is a wonderful combination.
On a trip to Bar Harbor over the sunny, yet cold but marvelous Columbus day weekend with the foliage peaking, I picked up 2 boxes of Stonewall Kitchen scone mix. Today, I baked the first batch, cranberry orange scones with fresh orange zest and a few more cranberries. I used Ina Garten's trick, and pulsed the ingredients, including the cold, chopped butter in a large food processor for just a few pulses. To get a flaky scone, it is necessary to have intact little butter 'bubbles', and pulsing the ingredients in a food processor for 4-5 times does just that. Add ice cold water, pulse some more, and the scone dough is ready. I filled the small triangles of my scone pan and baked for 12-14 min (turned oven off after 12 min). They are the most flaky crunchy and tasty scones ever!
The leaves are changing their colors into bright red and yellow, and the grapes in the garden are sweet this year, thanks to a long and sunny summer. Morning Greek yogurt got a fall spin.....
Since the weather has been just right for mushrooms to, well, mushroom (a lot of rain and warm temperatures), I went into the woods behind my house again to see if I would find more chanterelles at the location from last time. I did not, but instead I found porcinis. And not just a few, a whole lot of them. For someone considered quite optimistic bringing this basket last time, today I basically had to give up when the basket was filled to the brim.
After sharing the bounty with some friends, dinner tonight was simple: sauteed porcini in butter and with shallots, sour cream, chopped parsley and simply a slice of rye sourdough bread. Most of them, I will dry for the winter.
Fall, or a prelude of Fall, came with a bang this year. From searing heat, sunshine and 90F it became cold, rainy, and gray. Not much of an Indian summer so far, but we can always hope, right? Fall weather changes my appetite, and risotto is one of my favorite fall foods. This one tries to preserve the summer heat and spirit by using hot chili peppers and Trader Joes frozen seafood mix. On the good news side of this fall, all of Maine looks forward to the opening of a long-awaited Trader Joes market in Portland, ME, by the end of October 2010.
Ingredients:
1 small white onion, finely diced
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 TB butter
100g/3.5oz arborio rice
a few glucks of dry sherry
1 spicy chili pepper, cut into thin slices
a few strands of saffron
500ml of shrimp bouillon (dissolve a Knorr shrimp bouillon cube in 500ml boiling water)
cup of frozen Trader Joes seafood mix (fresh shrimp, calamari, scallops)
Parmesan, freshly grated.
Dissolve the butter in a large heavy skillet. Don't brown it, just melt it. Add the onion and garlic, and saute until translucent (not browned!) and add the risotto rice to toast it in the onions, garlic and butter mix for 3-4 min on medium-low heat. Add the sherry, and simmer until the sherry has evaporated. Add a laddle (ca. 1/2 cup) of the shrimp bouillion to the risotto, stir, and let simmer on low until the liquid is evaporated. Then, add another laddle (the bouillon should be hot). Do this until the rice is soft and most of the stock has been used, ca 20-25min. Now, add the seafood, and cook for 2-3 min until shrimp are cooked, have turned pink and into the shape of a 'C' ("C" is for 'cooked', an "O" would be for "overcooked). Grate parmesan cheese into the hot risotto, and serve.
This soup is very versatile -- light, with just a few mushroom and carrots and seafood, or filling with noodles, corn, edamame. It is all in the base. Ever since I found these fabulous spicy chili peppers at the Farmers market at Peacemeal Farm, I am finding new ways to use them. They make all the difference in this soup.
Thai coconut soup base:
2 cups of water
1/2 can of light coconut milk
1 TB red curry paste
1 TB bonito-based soup base
1 large red hot chili pepper (FM), sliced in thin stripes
1 inch ginger, cut in thin strips
1 garlic clove, cut into strips
curry leaves or lemon grass
Heat the water and add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil, and add ingredients from the list below. Simmer for 10-15min. Serve with thinly cut green onions.
All of Maine is ecstatic! According to rumors, the Trader Joe's store on Marginal Way (former Wild Oats location) in Portland is going to open on November 1 2010. Just in time to be thankful ;-)Post Options
Ever since I had this packaged sandwich at a Wholefoods Market south of Boston I was hooked: a delicious sweet, tart and crunchy bread popping with dried cranberries and walnuts that could stand on its own feet for a meal, and a slice of grilled chicken breast in the middle with a dollop of mango chutney. A perfect sandwich! While I enjoyed the sandwich the wheels in my mind already started spinning: I need to make a cranberry walnut bread! The rest would be simple.
I still had a few Bob's Red Mill low-carb bread mixes in my pantry, so this is where I started (any simple bread mix will do, just avoid sourdough or other flavors). I added plenty of cranberries and walnuts (it might be good to actually soak the cranberries ahead of time), and maple syrup for the extra flavor.
1 package Bob's Red Mill low-carb bread mix (for a 2 pound loaf)
1/2 cup King Arthur all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 TB Baker's milk powder
1 TB yeast
2 TB maple syrup
1 TB organic canola oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup mix of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and raisins
Pour lukewarm water into kitchenaid standmixer. Add the bread mix, the flour, the yeast and baker's milk powder. Start mixing the dry ingredients on slow speed. Add egg, and canola oil as well the cranberries, walnuts, trail mix and the maple syrup. Use dough setting to mix the dough, first on slow and then on higher until dough forms a ball. Let the dough rest for 60min.
Knead the dough one more time, and take dough out of stand mixer, and shape dough into a loaf, and add to a floured bread basket. Let rise for 1-2 hours until dough doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350F, and bake for 50-60min.
P.s. if you have a large enough breadmaker you can also make it in the machine.
