love was in the air.
at a lovely wedding i attended recently in stern grove.
stuffed.
life is so full. and for the most part, in great ways. yet i have that definite desire for spaciousness – a second cup of tea, a lazy conversation & longer stretches of silence. i try to use sunday afternoons to prepare for the week so that weekday mornings don’t feel rushed (i become less of a morning person when i have to go work) & i don’t feel d-o-n-e at days’ end. stuffed peppers are a great cook-them-now-eat-them-later dish as they get even better after a day. i am not a fan of green bell peppers so, as always, use what you like – that includes using something else, like zucchini, if you don’t like peppers.
stuffed peppers (serves 6 – 8)
6 large peppers – i like yellow, red & orange
2 T olive oil
1 large onion
3 lbs. ground beef (no more than 85% lean)
1/4 C rice, uncooked
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried oregano
red chili flakes, to taste
salt & pepper, to taste
1/3 C pignoles
1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated
fistful of chopped parsley
6 C tomato sauce of your choice, preferably homemade
preheat oven to 350 degrees.
cut around the stem of the peppers so there is a hole in the tops & empty the seeds. place in a baking dish into which they fit snugly.
add the olive oil and onions to a large skillet & saute until soft. add beef & brown. add rice and stir well. add herbs, chilis, salt & pepper. there should be some liquid from the meat in the pan – if not, add a bit of water, about 1/4 cup, and cover for 15 minutes. add pignoles, parmesan & parsley.
spoon mixture into peppers & pour sauce into baking dish around peppers. bake until peppers are soft, about 1 hour.
sweet pie of mine.
it has been a free-fall since halloween.
when faced with leftover deliciousness & especially in the form of salted caramel pie, instead of parsing it out over the course of several days, i reason – i am going to eat the rest of the pie anyway so i may as well eat it all today -. this pie is deceptively simple and over-the-over-the-top good. the original recipe calls for a graham cracker crust but i tend towards more-is-mo’-better & prefer a shortbread crust – use whichever you prefer.
salted caramel pie (serves 8. depending on the day)
adapted from food & wine magazine
shortbread crust:
1 1/4 C flour
1/3 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, cold & cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
preheat oven to 400 degrees.
butter the bottom of a pie dish & dust with flour, tapping out the excess. set aside.
whisk flour, sugar & salt in bowl of a stand mixer. add butter; process until mixture resembles course crumbs. add egg yolk. process just until dough comes together in a ball. if dough is too soft, refrigerate for 30 minutes & up to 2 hours. pat dough evenly over bottom & up sides of the prepared dish or roll it out between sheets of wax paper & flip it into the dish. thoroughly prick the bottom with a fork & bake until golden, about 20 minutes.
filling:
2 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk
fleur de sel
2 C heavy cream
2 T confectioners’ sugar
pour every last bit of the condensed milk into a 9 x 13 glass baking dish & sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of fleur de sel. cover the dish with foil & place it in a roasting pan. add enough hot water to the pan to reach one-third of the way up the side of the dish. bake & stir 2 or 3 times, until the condensed milk becomes golden & thick, about 2 hours; add more water to the roasting pan as necessary. you are making dulce de leche! don’t worry if it looks lumpy – as it cools down it will become smooth.
scrape the caramel filling into the pie crust, smoothing the top. refrigerate until the filling is chilled – about 4 hours.
using an electric mixer, beat the cream with the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl until firm. pile the whipped cream on top of the pie & sprinkle with fleur de sel. cut into wedges and serve.
sundance.
dear sun,
i miss you on these foggy mornings.
please hurry back.
xome
jacket, nanapatproject on etsy / skirt, gift from a friend / boots, nine west
pucker up.
we are spoiled here by the abundance of fruit trees that grow seemingly in everyone’s backyard – cherries, avocados, apples, pears, figs, meyer lemons, conventional lemons & so it goes. the other day we were at a bbq & the lemon tree in the backyard was… something special. the lemons were huge. and by huge i mean conversation-stopping & then oh-my-god-did-you-see-the-size-of-those-lemons-huge (see scientific comparison documentation photo below). the kids played football with one. our endlessly creative waldorf teacher friend made a puppet with another. and i made a triple recipe of lemon curd with mine. this is a tangy curd – you may want to increase the sugar – but i love its lemony-ness. over the weekend we had it on pancakes that the boy made (recipe coming soon!). it would also be great on toast with butter or as a filling for a fruit tart with fruits from, if you’re lucky, your & your neighbor’s backyard.
lemon curd (makes about 3 cups)
5 large eggs
2/3 C sugar
grated zest of 2 lemons
1 C fresh lemon juice (6 – 8 lemons)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
whisk the eggs, sugar and zest together in a medium stainless-steel saucepan. add the lemon juice & butter. continue to whisk while cooking over a medium flame until the butter has melted & the mixture is thick. reduce heat to low & simmer for a few minutes.* serve warm or cover surface of curd with wax paper and cool completely.
*i like the texture of the zest; however, if you prefer a smooth consistency, force curd through a fine sieve set into another bowl.
the egg is for scale. and for the lemon curd.
getting handsy.
apropos of my recent cooking-with-corn-in-april post, seen here, today i bought a big bag of fat, in-season cherries. so good straight from the bag, sweet cherries disappear with a quickness in my boy’s small brown hands. but i recently came across a couple of recipes that maintain the texture & juicy cherry-ness of these stone fruits while switching things up a bit. plus, in my world, pie is always in season.
cherry hand pies (makes 6)
adapted from food & wine magazine
1 1/2 C cherries, pitted & chopped
1/4 sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 T cornstarch
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed cut into 6 rectangles
1 egg, lightly beaten
sanding sugar, if desired
preheat oven to 350 degrees.
in a bowl, combine first five ingredients. mound by spoonfuls onto one end of each rectangle. fold over & seal the edges decoratively with the tines of a fork & brush the tops with the beaten egg. sprinkle the tops with sanding sugar & place each hand pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet. bake for 30 minutes or until puffed & golden brown.
shout out.
big thanks to stri over at WEAR YOUR VOICE, for featuring me in their ootd (outfit of the day – click through for the full story!) section & giving a shout out to whaticookedwhatiwore.
WEAR YOUR VOICE, exploring oakland’s neo-urban revival, is a super cool on-line magazine. WEAR YOUR VOICE brings forth oakland’s unique history of activism, art, music & fashion through photographs, photo essays & video & how they manifest on our streets of oakland today through interviews with diverse citizens & artists. they also highlight local shops & artisans.
…all about creativity reigning supreme & celebrating oakland – what’s not to love? here is to WEAR(ING) YOUR VOICE!
twofer.
i committed a subversive, don’t-tell-alice-waters, act the other day. i bought corn. in april. the ears were stacked to the point of overflowing in the bins at the market – green & fresh, the kernels tight, small & shining. on top of that it is end-of-summertime-hot here right now & actually feels like corn season. the boy got excited & started talking corn fritters, corn cakes, corn pudding… similar to a quiche but without a crust, less eggy & fluffier than a frittata. so that there is an in-season option i also made a version with smoked ham & spinach. though the custard-base is the same, the resulting flavor of each is distinct. and, of course, mix it up with whatever catches your eye at the market.
corn & zucchini pudding (serves 8)
3 ears corn, kernels removed
2 zucchini, small, cut into ¼ -inch dice
1 T flour
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
3 C heavy cream
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly cracked pepped
preheat oven to 375 degrees.
place the corn & zucchini in a bowl & toss with the flour evenly to cover.
in a separate bowl, combine the eggs & egg yolks. whisk briefly, then add cream & salt. whisk until fully incorporated.
butter shallow 9-inch casserole dish. evenly spread the corn and zucchini in the pan & pour the batter over the vegetables. bake, uncovered, for about 45 – 50 minutes, until nicely browned on the top & a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. allow to cool for 10 – 15 minutes before serving.
ham & spinach pudding
6 ounces smoked ham, diced
10 ounces spinach
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly cracked pepped
in a dry cast-iron pan, saute the ham over medium-high heat until some of the pieces are golden brown. remove to a plate. add spinach to the same pan, lower the heat & gently toss with tongs until cooked down & liquid has been released.
butter shallow 9-inch casserole dish. add ham to buttered dish. top evenly with spinach & pour the batter over the top. bake, uncovered, for about 40 minutes, until nicely browned on the top & until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. allow to cool for 10 – 15 minutes before serving.
(meat) pie for dinner.
i made my picadillo the other day & i made a lot. really a lot. so when my boy & i decided to do some weekend cooking, we decided to make empanadas – those delicious meat pies with various savory fillings – chicken, potato, chorizo… the list goes on. picadillo – with ground beef, olives & raisins – happens to be a fairly traditional filling & also my favorite. some folks are intimidated by making pastry / dough but this recipe comes together easily & rolls out beautifully, resulting in an incredibly flaky crust.
empanada pastry (makes 12 large empanadas)
from the joy of cooking
3 C all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
10 T unsalted butter, cold & cut into small pieces
2 T solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
10 – 12 T ice water
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 T milk
freshly cracked salt & pepper
picadillo (recipe below)
preheat oven to 400 degrees.
place the flour, baking powder & salt into a food processor & pulse until combined. add the butter & shortening & pulse again until just barely combined & mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs. transfer the mixture to a large bowl & drizzle ice water over the top. moisten dough and gather together into a ball. flatten into a flat disk, wrap tightly in plastic & refrigerate for one hour.
roll out the dough 1/8” thick on a lightly floured surface and cut into 6-inch rounds. gather scraps and re-roll until you have twelve rounds. spoon ¼-C of picadillo onto one half of each round of dough. moisten the edges of the rounds with water (i use a pastry brush but you can also use your finger) & press the edges together, creating half-moon shapes, to completely enclose the filling. use the tines of a fork, making a nice pattern, to seal the edges. place on a baking sheet 2” apart.
mix the beaten egg & milk together and brush over the tops of the sealed empanadas. top with a sprinkle of cracked pepper & salt.
bake empanadas in for 20 minutes or until deeply, golden brown. serve warm.
picadillo (enough filling for 12 empanadas)
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 lb. ground beef (15 – 20% fat)
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 potato, diced (about 1 C)
1 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. gound cloves
¼ tsp. chili flakes
¼ C raisins
½ C pimento-stuffed green olives, coarsely chopped
salt & pepper to taste
½ C slivered almonds
heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. add onion, garlic & bay leaf & sauté until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. add beef & sauté until cooked, breaking up with back of a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. add all remaining ingredients & simmer, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender & picadillo has thickened. season to taste with salt & pepper. discard bay leaves & stir in almonds.
keep it simple.
there are those days when i want a simple but-not-a-piece-of-toast-simple lunch. and we all know about my delight for an egg. so here i have a quick salad that is lovely as is or, with the addition of lardons or roasted asparagus, can be dressed-up into something dinner party-special.
simple greens with poached egg, avocado & dukkah vinaigrette (serves 1 big salad-eater)
dukkah vinaigrette (recipe below)
1 ripe has avocado, peeled &cubed
3 oz. spring mix
3 oz. baby kale
2 – 3T parmigiano-reggiano, freshly grated
1 egg, poached*
place about ¼-cup of dressing in the bottom of a wooden salad bowl. place avocado in dressing and coat with dressing. add greens and toss gently. top with grated parmigiano-reggiano & poached egg.
*to poach egg: in a saucepan, bring 2″ water & 1 tsp. white vinegar to a low simmer. gently crack egg into the simmering water & cook until just set, 4 to 5 minutes. remove with a slotted spoon to a clean, dry dishtowel.
dressing (makes about 1/2 cup)
1 ½ T orange/champagne vinegar
½ tsp. dijon mustard
¾ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ cup olive oil
2 T dukkah*
place all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid & shake well, until emulsified.
*dukkah is a blend of almonds, fennel, coriander, anise seeds & sesame seeds.
whaticookedwhatiwore 