Category: Recipes

recipes we’ve made

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girls’ night

Jordan stays late working hard in the psych lab on Thursday nights. I get together with my cousin Katie and my neighbor/new favorite person Robin. We make cocktails and dinner and have a grand old time just us girls, Willow and Honey included.

This Thursday, Robin took the reigns and made a delicious barley and mushroom risotto. I made a salad with arrugula, baby spinach, blood orange and candied nuts. Today, I’ll share my recipe for candied nuts that are perfect in just about any salad.  This recipe was inspired by incredible green beans that my friend Katie Norton made for me while we were in college. (Katie is now a pastry chef in D.C. and you can visit her blog here). Oh how I wish she could attend our girls’ nights!

Candied Walnuts, great for salads or as a ice cream topping
1/2 – 3/4 cup walnuts
2 T butter
1/2 cup sugar, white or brown
2 t worcestershire sauce
a dash of paprika
a dash of salt

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar. Melt the sugar, stirring occasionally until it becomes carmel in color. Add the paprika, salt and worcestershire sauce. Stir. Turn off the heat and add the nuts. Stir to coat. Pour the nuts onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. As they cool, you can break them into appropriately sized pieces. Toss with salad and enjoy!

-Emily

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meet kiwi kombucha

Let me introduce you to Kiwi, my first foray into fermenting. Kiwi is my kombucha starter, also know as a mother. I started brewing my first batch of kombucha about 3 weeks ago.

Kombucha is a fermented tea drink that supposedly has significant health benefits because of the live active cultures that it contains. I’d never tried it until my friend Noah introduced me to the beverage about a month ago. Noah is also a home-brewer. While I can’t say much about the health benefits, I can say that I find kombucha pretty tasty. It is bubbly, sour, a little vinegary and very refreshing. And since I am pretty into doing things from scratch, I decided why not brew my own.

The first step was aquiring a mother. My friend Noah said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that hippies all over Berkely just give their mothers away. Logically I turned to Craigslist. I found a girl in my neighborhood who was offering kombucha starters free to a good home. I hopped over to her house with my 1 gallon glass jar (purchased from Sur Le Table for $11 if you’re in the market) and she gave me a mother and about 12 oz of starter liquid from her previous batch.

Note: The kombucha mother is freaky looking creature. It is pinky orange and gelatinous. It is very similar to the washed-up jelly fish that you see when you’re walking on the beach. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

When I got back home, I brewed a large batch of strong tea. The ratio should be about 90% new tea to 10% kombucha starter liquid. To the tea I added 1 cup of white sugar. The kombucha bacteria feed on the sugar during the fermentation proccess. Then I let the tea cool overnight to room temperature.

The next morning I poured this sweetened tea mixture into my glass jar with the kombucha mother and starter liquid inside. Then I covered the jar with cheesecloth – it is important that the mother can breath – and put the jar in my hall closet to let my little bacteria cultures get down to business.

Kiwi had been hanging out in my dark closet for about a two and half weeks. After about one week, the brew started to smell less like tea and more like kombucha. Kiwi also seriously grew inside that jar. She now looks like a membrane tornado! (Wow, that sounds gross. But it is really cool, I swear).

It can take anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks to brew a batch of kombucha. After about one week, I began dipping a spoon into the brew and tasting. I tried it every 3 days, until it had reached my desired kombucha strength and effervescence. Jordan was scared – the kombucha mother just got freakier looking as it grew – and he finally tried my brew for the first time last night. Once it reached the desired level of fermentyness, I poured most of the kombucha into bottles to refrigerate, leaving enough liquid to start another batch. I think my next batch will be a mixture of green and black tea.

My first experiment with fermentation was a success! Jordan says now it’s his turn to ferment – I think this means home-brewed beer is in our futures.

And a final note: this kombucha is strong in flavor – much stronger than the store-bought varieties. If you like the strong, natural flavor of kombucha, home-brewing is for you! And if you prefer a more mild flavor, cut the kombucha with some juice, soda water or ginger ale.

-Emily

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grilled cheese and tomato soup

Yesterday was rainy here in San Francisco. I trudged home from work dreading taking Willow for her evening walk. (She hates the rain and actually pouts when we take her out in it). Fortunately, my friend Robin and her pup Honey met us for our walk, which temporarily distracted Willow from her usual pouting. As we walked awkwardly with umbrellas in one hand and dogs in the other, we discussed dinner. We were both rocking all-American classics that night – meatloaf for Robin and tomato soup for Jordan and me. It was on the Leavenworth hill, soaked from the rain, in the company of grumpy pups, that we decided tomato soup and grilled cheese is the perfect rainy day meal. And, after cooking and eating it, I can confirm that indeed it was.

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese, especially for rainy days

For the soup:
2 16 oz cans of whole or crushed tomatoes
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
3 T sugar
2 T red wine vinegar
salt, pepper, chili flake, a bay leaf, thyme

In a dutch oven, saute the vegetables in a little olive oil. When they start to become tender, add the tomatoes, a pinch of each of the spices, salt, sugar, vinegar and broth. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Puree the soup using and immersion blender or food processor. Taste, season with salt and pepper, and let simmer until ready to serve. We served it with a little creme fraiche on top.

For the sandwiches:
1 T butter, for the pan
1/2 cup cheese, grated (we used goat cheddar)
4 slices of bread (or 10 slices if the only bread they had at your up-the-hill-market was a baguette, but you decide to make a go of it for experiment’s sake)

When your soup is finished and simmering, place a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Toss in the butter. Make the sandwiches and place them in the pan. Cover with a lid to melt the cheese. When they are golden brown on one side, flip and cook the other side. Serve hot and gooey.

Our tiny sandwiches were quite delicious, but because of the bread to cheese ratio, they lacked the gooey cheese factor one expects in a grilled cheese. While they paired well with the soup, they would not satisfy a grilled cheese craving.

-Emily

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baking therapy: homemade graham crackers

Our good friend Jeff made these homemade graham crackers from Smitten Kitchen and brought them oven for us the other weekend. They were so good that Jordan and I ate the entire bag of them in a few hours. I decided to try to recreate the magic on Sunday.

Sadly, my grahams did not turn out nearly as perfect as Jeff’s. I overcooked one batch and undercooked the other. While the undercooked batch was still tasty, they lacked the satisfying graham cracker crunch we all know and love. Still, I’d recommend the recipe, because when these turn out well they blow store bought graham crackers out of the water!

Visit Deb’s recipe here and follow her advice, since I can’t yet stand behind mine.

Homemade Graham Crackers, in photos

-Emily

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carnitas tacos

It is no secret that we love pork. It is also no secret that we love braised meats. You can imagine how much we enjoy carnitas. Luckily for us, Jordan makes mean carnitas and I’m here to share his secrets with you.

(Later this week, we’ll mention another amazing mexican pork dish and where you can get the best of it in San Francisco. Hint: pineapple).

Because they are braised, pork carnitas are inherently easy – just sear and then cook low and slow. The only caveat: you have to be home for a few hours to monitor the oven and make sure the apartment doesn’t burn down.

Pork Carnitas Tacos

2 lbs pork shoulder
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
zest of an orange – the secret ingredient
2 cups broth
salt, pepper, chili flake
Diced onion, cilantro and salsa and corn tortillas for serving

Preheat an oven to 275 degrees. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Put some oil a dutch oven or other heavy pan and heat over medium high heat. Sear all sides of the pork shoulder and set aside. Saute the onions, carrot, celery and garlic until softened. Add the pork, orange zest and chili flake and fill the dish with about 2 cups of broth. You want the broth to go half way up the chunk of meat.

Place the meat in the oven. And let it slowly cook for 3 – 4 hours, flipping the meat half way through to ensure even cooking. After the meat is fork tender, remove it from the liquid and shred using two forks. Meanwhile, pour 1 cup of the braising liquid into a smaller sauce pan and reduce, until slightly thickened. Pour some of the braising liquid into the carnitas until they are moistened.

Serve these heavenly carnitas in hot corn tortillas with cilantro, onion and salsa. We also made a salad of jicama, radish and lettuce with a lime vinegarette to go along with the tacos.

-Emily

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strawberry lemonade sorbet

What do you do when life (aka my CSA fruit box at work) gives you lemons? Make lemon sorbet! What do you do when those lemons don’t yeild nearly enough juice to make sorbet? Steal a bag of frozen strawberries from your neighbor and make strawberry lemonade sorbet!

Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 lb frozen strawberries, defrosted
zest of 4 lemons
8 lemons, juiced

Over low heat, heat sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved completely. Zest four of the lemons into a bowl. Juice the lemons into the same bowl. In a food processor, puree the strawberries until smooth. Add the strawberry puree to the lemon juice and zest. Add the simple syrup. Chill this mixture until cold.

Pour the strawberry lemonade mixture into your ice cream maker. Churn until it has a sorbet-y texture and lightens in color. Pour into a tupper and freeze until firm, or until you are ready to serve it. Garnish with mint.

I loved this sorbet! It was so summery and tart. Jordan would have preferred to cut its tartness with some vanilla ice cream, which isn’t a bad idea.

-Emily

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baking therapy: homemade cheez its

I love cheese, I love cheese on crackers, I love cheesy crackers. Cheez-its, Goldfish crackers, Flaming Hot Cheetos, yummm. BUT, we are trying to stay away from processed foods, which means no cheez crackers for Emily.

That is until I found a recipe for cheese straws (made with real cheese, butter and flour!) on Smitten Kitchen. I made these sharp cheddar cheese crackers last night and boy do they fill my cheesy cracker void. They actually taste more like cheddar than cheddar, if you can believe it. Even Jordan, who is not a processed cheese cracker aficionado like me really enjoyed them.

Homemade Cheez Its, adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Cheese Straws

1 1/2 cups extra sharp cheddar, grated (about 6 0z)
3/4 cup flour
4 T butter, softened and cut into cubes
1/2 t salt
1/4 t crushed red pepper (although paprika or ground red pepper may give a more even distribution)
1 T milk

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor,  process cheese, flour, butter, salt and red pepper until it resembles coarse sand. Add milk and process until dough forms a ball. About 15 seconds.

Take out the cheesy ball and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. If you’d like to make cheese straws, roll it until it is 1/4 inch thick and cut into straws. If you’d like to make cheez-its, roll the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick and cut into squares. Poke the squares with the tines of a fork.

Transfer straws or squares onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees, until lightly browned. Cool on a rack and devour!

-Emily

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mussels and clams with fennel

Jordan and I enjoyed a romantic night in last Saturday. We had high hopes to cook something new and elaborate with lots of steps, but when we got to the store we decided instead on mussels and clams. We cooked them simply in a base of vegetable broth, tomato, fennel and garlic and ate them with a loaf of crusty Acme sourdough.

The best part about this meal (other than the fact that it is totally delicious) is that it only takes about 30 minutes to prepare, but looks much more impressive.

Mussels and Clams with Fennel, Tomato and Green Garlic

1 lb mussels, rinsed
1/2 lb clams, rinsed
Vegetable broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 8 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 medium bulb of fennel, sliced
2 stalks green garlic, sliced
Salt, pepper, chili flake

Slice the green garlic and fennel. Heat a little olive in sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Toss in the garlic and fennel. Saute for a few minutes. Add the can of tomatoes and the sauce, a little salt, pepper and a small pinch of chili flake. Saute for a few minutes and add the white wine and enough broth for a saucy consistency. Toss the shellfish in and cover with a lid. Cook for about 5 – 8 minutes. They are done when they open up. Pour into a dish, garnish with parsley or fennel fronds, squeeze a little lemon over the top and enjoy with hunks of crusty bread.

We also made a salad with arrugula, apple and fennel fronds to balance out the meal. It was delightful, quick and only made one pot dirty … leaving me plenty of time and dishes to make cinnamon rolls from scratch.

-Emily

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baking therapy: cinnamon rolls

On Saturday night at about 8 pm I decided that I had to have cinnamon rolls. My sweet Jordan humors these moods of mine, but also tempers them with a little reason: perhaps I should not try to make and eat cinnamon rolls on Saturday night, but instead have them for breakfast on Sunday. Making the dough, plus 2 hours for the dough to rise, plus baking time … point taken. I also wisely decided that I should not eat a dozen cinnamon rolls myself, and invited a few lovely friends over for Sunday brunch.

These cinnamon rolls are awesome – gooey and cinnamony with a little tang from the cream cheese frosting.  And the best part is you can make them almost entirely ahead of time, which means you sleep in and have homemade cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven. You really can’t ask for more on a Sunday morning.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, by Alton Brown

For the dough:
4 egg yolks, room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
6 T butter, melted
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
4 cups flour
1 packet instant dry yeast
1 1/4 t kosher salt

In a stand mixer, whisk eggs, sugar, butter and buttermilk to combine. Add two cups of the flour, yeast and salt and mix. Switch out the whisk for the dough hook and add another 1 1/4 cup of flour. Knead on low for 5 minutes. Touch the dough – it should be smooth and soft but not sticky. If it is sticky, add a bit more flour. My dough did not need additional flour, but yours might. Knead for another 5 minutes on low.  Knead the dough with your hands for 30 seconds and place in a lightly oiled bowl to rise. Lightly oil the top and cover with a towel.

Now for the rising. The dough should rise for about 2 hours or until it has doubled in size. If you live in an old, poorly insulated apartment like I do there is probably not an appropriately warm place for your dough to rise. And if you’ve never made a yeast dough in said apartment, you will most likely have a panic attack when after two hours of quiet counter sitting your dough has not risen and you already have 4 confirmed breakfast guests. So you don’t experience a similar panic and wasted time, I recommend you place your dough in the oven, fill a dish below it with boiling water and close the door. Replace the hot water every 30 minutes or so and your dough will rise beautifully.

For the filling:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 T cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 T butter, melted

Once your dough has doubled in size, lightly flour a counter and butter a baking dish. Roll the dough into a 12 by 18 inch rectangle. Spread the melted butter on all but the top 1 inch. Sprinkle with the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt mixture on all but the top 1 inch. Roll the dough, starting with the edge closest to you and pinch the edge to seal. Turn it over so the seam is face down on the counter and cut into 12 pieces. Place the pieces in a buttered baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge.

The next morning about an hour before your guest arrive, take the rolls out of fridge, remove the plastic wrap and place in an off oven with a pan of boiling water to rise again. After about 30 minutes they should look delightfully poofy.

Remove the rolls and water from the oven. Preheat the oven to 35o degrees. Cook the rolls for about 30 minutes, until they are lightly browned on top. Frost with cream cheese frosting once you take them out of the oven.

For the frosting:
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
3 T milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the milk and powdered sugar and mix to combine. Spread over the hot cinnamon rolls and serve.

Like I said before, these rolls are good. They are everything you want out of a cinnamon roll and, despite involving yeast and rising, are pretty easy to make. But, I think what these rolls have really taught me is that the pan of hot water trick is one to live by.

-Emily

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un wok

When I was living in Argentina – land of meat, meat, more meat and sausage – my host mom would often try and oblige my very un-Argentine desire to eat vegetables. One of her concoctions to meet my green-loving needs was a rice, vegetable and chicken dish she called “un wok”. I’m certain she called this dish a wok because it contained rice and was seasoned with soy sauce instead of table salt – it doesn’t get more Asian than that. I enjoyed it and its higher proportion of vegetables regardless.

Jordan and I made “un wok” last night using some leftover chicken, veggies from our CSA and of course, soy sauce and rice. Our adaptation of Josefina’s wok added a few additional seasonings, but was equal to hers in its vaguely asian quality.

Un Wok
1 cup leftover chicken, cubed or sliced
broccoli, sliced
carrots, sliced
green garlic, sliced (or regular garlic, minced)
white rice

For the sauce:
Mix some soy sauce, sriracha, sweet chili sauce, and fresh ginger together in a small bowl. We just guessed with this sauce and added a bit more of each ingredient until it tasted good. You can’t really mess up this pan-asian dressing.

In a saucepan, make rice according to package directions. In a sauté pan, sauté chicken in a little olive oil until it is warmed. Pour sauce over chicken and toss. Add vegetables and sauté a few more moments until al dente. Pour the saute over rice. Ta-da! Un wok!

-Emily