Cooking Adventures, Part Deuce

Wednesday was my first day off for the summer (6 weeks, baby!). In my typical style, I tried to pack too many things into that first day. I have a list of things to accomplish, things that have been thwarted by 8-hour work days. I set out very early Wednesday to make that day count!


After an early work out session, I headed to the store to buy ingredients to make my own pesto. A few years ago, my lovely sister helped me out by making Lana-friendly pesto with organic produce from the farm where she was working. It was divine! And, since I cannot eat store-bought or restaurant-served pesto, I really wanted some more. It's a great addition to so many things: pasta, sandwiches, and the new discovery: pizza. The real reason I needed pesto pronto was due to Kim's recently posted pizza recipe. I wanted it. And my first day off was the day to do it. Kyle was off that day, so I knew he could knead pizza dough for me (something I sadly cannot do on my own). 


The grocery was very disappointing. No bulk basil for pesto. But I bought some spinach (because I had a hunch that could substitute in a pinch) and the remaining ingredients for the pizza. This meant I had to make the pizza before the produce went bad. Where to find massive quantities of basil? Where else but the farm! I stopped by and found out they were in desperate need of someone to basically groom the basil so it could grow bigger and more full. I did just that and scored probably 3 cups of teeny tiny basil leaves. Plus, I scored some spinach. This entire process took me until 2pm from grocery (10a) to returning from the farm. I was hot and tired, but very excited for pesto. So I began washing and rewashing and drying the spinach and basil. I picked the tiny stems from the tiny leaves. I de-stemmed the spinach. I gathered all of my ingredients and began to process the pesto. Our food processor is tiny, so it took several batches to get all the leaves ground down. Then, I added the garlic, oil, salt and pepper, and Parmesan. Group #1 of the pesto included all of the farm spinach and some basil. Group #2 included a larger proportion of basil and store-bought spinach. 


Here was my set up for this whole mess: 

 Yes, it was very messy.

But here's the finished product! I had two little jars like this and one large jar. 

I froze the two smaller ones and used the large one to make dinner.


The whole process ended around 4pm, at which point I collapsed of exhaustion on the floor, vegged out in front of the computer, and then took a shower to get ready for the next phase, which began a short two-hours later. We had to make dinner, people. And it was homemade Pizza. Something I had never done before. Luckily, I'm married to former pizza maker extraordinaire, so we were in good hands. 


Although not the best picture, this was Kim's recipe for Kale, Tomato, Pesto Pizza. (See here for what to do with the leftover pesto, tomato, and gouda.)

It boasts a whole wheat crust (so yum), pesto for the sauce, then completely covered in gouda (oh, heavenly), then tomatoes and kale piled on top. We added some shredded Italian cheese to the top because we love cheese. 


It was unbelievable. We will be eating this again. We also used this time to see how our pizza stone works. Fairly well, if I do say so myself. I even ate two leftover pieces of pizza for lunch today and they were good reheated. What?! I doubted, but I was wrong. Mmm, mmm, good. 


Another cooking success, and with 3 jars of pesto to show for the day, I feel completely satisfied with my first day off. Oh, and by the way, I also made chicken and bean tacos in the crock pot that morning and tuna salad for lunch. It's like I love the kitchen or something (no, I don't). 

Cooking Adventures, Part 1

I really enjoy cooking. I wouldn't say that I'm always creative or that I even always feed Kyle and myself well. However, when I have time to try something new and it sounds divine or has gotten a good rating from friends, I actually get excited!


In the past few weeks, we've tried several new dishes. The best by far turned out to be the Prosciutto-wrapped pork chops, rosemary roasted potatoes (a new recipe), and broiled asparagus. The desert suggested with it was Red wine Pear Sorbet. We found this recipe while watching a show one random Saturday in the fall. It was intimidating. I had never heard of Prosciutto before and while the woman on the show made it look SO stinking easy, I knew that couldn't be true. But, we were pumped and embarked on this cooking adventure together (thankfully, as there was rubbing raw meat with spices involved; and we all know I don't do that). 


Little did we know what was in store for us. The meat and potatoes were stove-based, so we had three pans going at once. And the oil spatter started early. Hot, searing pings of sizzling oil...all over everything. Gross. Then, because we have a stupid, old coil stove, they didn't cook evenly and one was scorching while the other was just okay. Kyle would have thrown in the towel, well he kind of did emotionally when he checked the first pan of 2 pork chops. He tossed the tongs and said, "That's it. Ruined. Stupid stove!" I wasn't ready to give in to despair just yet. I had shelled out a lot of money for these chops and the wrapping Prosciutto. Plus, even if it's gross, I actually really liked charred food. 


So we continued in this atmosphere: 

 Scared and nervous, yet hopeful.

The whole house became engulfed in smoke from the stove. We opened 'er up and had fans going at both doors. I was bound and determined to win against this meal! In the midst of this fog, we heated up the oven to 450 for asparagus. What were we thinking?! It was HOT.


As it turned out, I hadn't read the directions very closely. The potatoes took 30 minutes (duh! Of course they would.) and everything else about 10. Plus, the dessert took over night. Epic fail by Lana! We ended up with pork chops and asparagus together, let it sit for a while and then had a few potato pieces. We were stuffed by this time. No room for the dessert that was waiting in the freezer for the next day when we had round 2 of this meal: 

Our assessment of the meal was: delicious! The char was perfect (I wouldn't have it any other way). The asparagus (olive oil and sea salt) gave a totally new texture and color to the plate, which was fun. The potatoes had just a hint of rosemary, which is different from how we normally make them. And the subtlety worked for this dish. Kyle did mention he'd prefer our other method for the potatoes next time, but all in all...yums!


Truth be told, it was just as good, if not better the next day. Even I was skeptical about that, and I will eat anything for leftovers. The dessert was phenomenal, too. Mmmm. I love pears (right, Grandpa?!)!


This cooking success made me even more eager to try out some other new dishes that I've gleaned from friends' and cousins' blogs. Yesterday was another cooking adventure, but more on that later.


Email me if you want these recipes. They are SO worth it.

A new hobby?

I've discovered that I love creating things in the kitchen. I won't do it blindly, but if I have a recipe, it's inevitable that I'll follow most of it and then do my own thing towards the end.

Last weekend we had friends over for dinner. I wanted to make something new--which seems uncharacteristic, but I was getting really tired of the old standbys.

I found a recipe for spinach and ham lasagna with white sauce and I knew that was the dish. As Les and I had been talking about what veggies were available on the farm, I gave her a call about some basil (for something else) and asked about spinach. Turned out, she had beet greens, which taste exactly the same.

I made the lasagna according to the recipe, substituting beet greens for spinach, and then adding in some broccoli and mushrooms for substance. It was a hit.

Since Leslie has been talking about basil so much these days (the farm is overflowing, apparently), we both wondered about making pesto. I love pesto, but hadn't had it in a long time and found out in my research that nearly ALL pesto has some sort of nut. That, in and of itself, excludes it from my diet. Unless we start messing with the recipes.

Les tried her hand at it today -- making two batches -- one for me, nutless, and one for her, with nuts. She also brought over some zucchini and a tiny misshapen yellow squash. As the pasta was cooking for dinner, I decided to saute some onion with the zucchini and squash. When it was almost done, I threw in some leftover mushrooms. I tossed the pesto with the veggies and pasta and voila! a new dish was born. It was GOOO-OOOD.

I never would have guessed myself a cook-type. I never had any interest. But it turns out, it's really fun and making stuff up is phenomenal!
Tomorrow I get to try my hand at the Amish Friendship bread. I've had it stewing on my counter for 10 days. I found a blog that listed the innumerable varieties that you can make, simply by changing the flavor of pudding, or adding cream cheese, different spices or fruits or toppings. Sounds awesome. I'm so glad it's the gift that keeps on giving, so that I can try out as many different kinds as possible. Sweet!

Let me know if you want some. It'll be in my freezer.

A Summertime Treat

Tomorrow, June 29th, is Leslie's birthday. She began celebrating with her first b'day card on Friday afternoon, continued through Saturday evening dining with the Indiana Gottschalk Crowd (where Phoenix was dearly missed), and carried over even to today, when I baked her a Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb-Crust Pie. Oh dear, was it delish.

I began searching last week for a recipe and discovered this gem on allrecipes.com. Great site! I spent at least an hour reading over the cooks' reviews and thus made many of their adjustments to the recipe. So, I'm including below the delight in which we partook this afternoon, complete with vanilla bean ice cream and the film Australia. (Great flick, by the way.)

Ingredients:
3/4 c. sugar
3 Tb. flour
1 Tb. corn starch (for thickening)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 lb. fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pint fresh strawberries, halved
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell (I used a deep dish one, worked well.)

Topping:
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. quick-cooking or rolled oats
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
6 Tb. butter (or slightly less)

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, flour and vanilla. Gently fold in rhubarb and strawberries. Pour into pastry shell.

2. For topping, combine flour, brown sugar,spices, and oats in a small bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes (if very soupy, do extra 5 minutes). Reduce heat to 350 and back for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
Cool on wire rack.

Hope you all enjoy it!

Pomegranate Paradise

My contribution to the family Thanksgiving dinner revolved around the dessert table, as usual. Thanks to a couple of my friends at school, I've received some magnificent cake recipes this year. Kate and I recently experimented with a pumpkin cake and cream cheese icing. I can't even explain the scrumtralescence of that first bite. Kelly gave me the idea of adding pomegranate seeds as a garnish, not only because the individual seeds resembele jewels (garnets), but also because the blend of flavors--pumpkin, cream cheese sweetness, and the pomegranate burst of soury goodness--makes it the perfect Fall food. Hands down!

This is what it looked like when it all came together.

We also had a black raspberry pie, as well as a pecan pie. Only one of which I tasted (because I love fruit pies).

Kelly provided some interesting facts about pomegranates (I love fun facts!):

Every pomegranate is composed of exactly 840 seeds, each surrounded by a sac of sweet-tart juice contained by a thin skin. The seeds are compacted around the core in a layer resembling honeycomb. The layers of seeds are separated by paper-thin white membranes which are bitter to the tongue.

The fruits are ripe when they have developed a distinctive color and make a metallic sound when tapped.

The pomegranate is equal to the apple in having a long storage life. It is best maintained at a temperature of 32° to 41° F. and can be kept for a period of 7 months within this temperature range and at 80 to 85% relative humidity without shrinking or spoiling. The fruits improve in storage, becoming juicier and more flavorful.

I also tried my hand at another recipe I found online for Pomegranate Grenadine. I was shocked to find that it was the central ingredient for the syrup that we all enjoy in Shirley Temples. I thought it'd be a nice addition to our beverage table, what with blackberry wine, water, and milk.

The recipe I had for the grenadine claimed it took about 10 minutes to prepare. That is, of course, after the time it takes to collect all of the seeds from the skin (a time consuming task). I enjoyed it, though, because I'd never handled this fruit before. Here is a picture of the process:

After 3 hours of peeling out the seeds, stirring them over a low flame, squeezing and pressing out the remaining juices through a very small hand-held strainer with the handle of an ice cream scoop (the only thing we had that closely resembled a pestle), and then adding sugar and stirring over the flame again - all I had was a cup and a half of sweet-potato-smelling red goo. It was not good and stunk to high heaven.

Leslie made fun of me mercilessly for wasting my time. But in all honesty, I didn't mind that much. I had nothing else to do and I had tried something new. It failed, but now I know not to do that again. I'll buy grenadine next time I need it.

The pomegranate experiment, however, with the pumpkin cake was pulled off with perfection. You should definitely try that. The pomegranate season lasts from October to January, I believe, so get one soon. And let me know what you think.