For a rainy day.

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Brianne

On the menu: Lentils with Roasted Vegetables

We have ants. Not the tiny ones, but the big, nasty guys. There’s enough of them to know we’re being invaded, but there’s not enough to determine where they’re coming from. It’s immensely frustrating. If I wasn’t so wary of whatever chemicals are in Raid, I’d just go through the house with it. For now I’ll just step on a few ants here, a few there, and I’ll call it good. But I’m watching them. I WILL eradicate them.

The weather is less than exemplary today, so it’s the perfect opportunity to share this rainy day recipe with you. I’ve been saving it up just for a day like this. We have nothing substantial in our refrigerator, so it’s also the perfect opportunity to share this resourceful dinner. This meal came about a few days after we had made some soup, and the leftover vegetables were not at their finest. Roasting brings the life out of vegetables, even when they’re a wee bit past their prime. I was on a bit of a pantry-emptying kick, so I used lentils as the base here. I’m all about paring down possessions.

Speaking of paring down possessions, I’m on the cusp of finally having enough motivation to do my share of the spring cleaning. One of my best friends and her boyfriend are coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks, and the current condition of our living space is nowhere near presentable. The biggest thing I have to tackle is the refrigerator. Although it doesn’t contain anything substantial at the moment, it does contain jars and jars of condiments. I’m kind of terrified at the thought of sorting through it all. I also have big plans to scrub the walls this weekend. Scrub the walls! I’m getting old.

What I’m really looking forward to this weekend is ribs. We have been eating mostly meatless for a month and a half now with great success. We haven’t cooked with meat at all, unless you count the pepperoni we put on our pizza a couple of weeks ago. That is about to change. Last summer we made baby back ribs on the grill, and we have not stopped talking about them. We’re busting them out again for Memorial Day. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll share them with you.

Until then, friends, here’s a recipe for a rainy day.

Lentils with Roasted Vegetables
original recipe

serves 2-3

1 cup green lentils
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
2 large cloves garlic
3 1/2 cups water, chicken stock,  vegetable stock, or a combination
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
a small bunch of broccoli
a small bunch of carrots (4-5 carrots; ours were quite thin)
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Rinse the lentils and sort through for duds or stones. In a small saucepan, heat the liquid until steaming. It doesn’t need to boil. In another, medium sized, saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook until just softened, 3 minutes. Add the lentils, stir, then add the warm liquid. Bring to a simmer, then cover the lentils and cook until soft, 15-20 minutes.

Wash and chop the vegetables. The potatoes should be 1/2 in cubes, the broccoli should be in florets, and the carrots should be in 1 inch lengths. Place the potatoes on a sheet pan and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, half the herbs, and some salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, toss the carrots and broccoli with the last tablespoon of olive oil, the remaining herbs, and some additional salt and pepper. Add the carrots and broccoli to the half-roasted potatoes and roast for another 20 minutes.

We’ve been getting back into wine lately. We served this with a really good Sauvignon Blanc. Sauv Blanc is my favorite.

 

Posted in Beans, Dinner, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A lovely afternoon snack.

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Brianne

On the menu: Mango Mousse

I had hoped that after I graduated, things would slow down a bit around here. Things haven’t. They have just gotten crazier! I still have all the same responsibilities I had before I graduated, plus I’m transitioning between jobs, scheduling visits from family and friends, and going on hiking trips on the weekends. And there seems to be an endless list of little errands to run. No rest for the weary, right?

I can’t complain, though. I would so much rather be busy like this than sitting at home doing nothing. In the instances where I find myself doing exactly that, I usually end up in the kitchen, baking granola (I burned the heck out of my first batch earlier this week), reading through my new cookbook, or, just today, recipe testing for a food52 contest. I wrote a number of posts a while back about recipes that I had tested for the site, but once they cut down the number of contests and I got busy with my thesis work, I wasn’t able to test recipes very often. When I saw the recent contest–Your Best Mango Recipe–I was really hoping I would be able to test something.

When I saw this simple mango mousse up for grabs, I called dibs real quick! Mangoes, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and cardamom–it sounded just like a lassi, but without the tang of yogurt, the piney, floral flavors of the mango would be allowed to shine. I put it together in less than 20 minutes, and with a simple garnish of chopped pistachios, we had a lovely afternoon snack. The mousse was very soft, unlike a typical mousse. Each bite was light and airy, and the flavor of the fruit was crisp and clean. The pistachios added great contrast both in flavor and texture.

Can I venture off course for a minute? We had a lovely hike yesterday. We live about an hour away from Acadia National Park, the second most visited national park in the country. It’s my most favorite place. It’s also insanely busy during the summer season, so we like to get there as much as we can before Memorial Day. Then we stay the heck away. Yesterday we hiked the Bubbles Trail, which begins at, yes, The Bubbles, one of Acadia’s most recognized features. We clambered straight up some crazy scramble to ascend South Bubble, climbed a bit more to reach the top of North Bubble, then descended gradually before coming full circle back to Jordan Pond at the base of South Bubble. It was a gorgeous day, and I’m not even sore today! Score. Last week’s hike made me want to die; I was so sore afterwards.

Back to work tomorrow, where I really have to start crushing out some manuscript edits. I’m done at the lab in 11 days!

Oh yeah, here’s the recipe for Mango Mousse, which I most highly recommend for a Community Pick on food52.

Mango Mousse
adapted from PistachioDoughnut on food52

serves 4

1 cup mango puree, canned or from fresh/frozen mangoes (I used 2 1/2 mangoes)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
a pinch of salt
3 tablespoons chopped pistachios, for garnish

If you’re using fresh or frozen mangos, puree them in a food processor until smooth. Add cardamom, process briefly, then set aside. Combine cream, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl and whip with a beater attachment of an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold the mango puree into the whipped cream. Separate the egg, adding the yolk to the mango/cream mixture and placing the white in it’s own bowl. Add a pinch of salt and whip with the beater attachment of an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold the whites gently into the mango/cream mixture. Divide mousse into small bowls (or jars) and refrigerate briefly before serving. Just before serving, garnish with pistachios.

 

Posted in Fruity, Snacks, Sweet Treats | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Where it’s at.

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Brianne

On the menu: Fiddlehead Quiche

It is not spring in Maine (or in the Northern Midwest) without a eating a few fiddleheads. Fiddleheads are the new spring growth of the ostrich fern. They’re picked while they’re still rolled up tight, just like the end of a violin. You know how most forager types in all the big cities are talking about ramps and nettles right now? Please. Let me tell you, fiddleheads are where it’s AT.  Emma definitely agrees with me; she’s got over 10 pounds of them at home. My father definitely agrees with me; he’s still finishing up his pickled fiddleheads from last year.  I was thinking about my dad as I made this dish. I bet he would go crazy over it!

I actually had a fiddlehead quiche once. I spent a summer working as a research aid for the Forest Service in Grand Rapids, MN, and one weekend I went to a wild foods workshop, where I sampled white pine needle tea, candied violets, and the aforementioned quiche. When we got our most recent batch of fiddleheads–there’s all sorts of folks selling them on the side of the road here, it’s great–I remembered that quiche. It was high time to recreate it. There were a dearth of blog posts about quiche last week, just in time for Mother’s Day brunch. Since I won’t see my momma for another month, I took inspiration from Ruth and Martha and made a nice dinner instead.

It all starts with the crust. Just your basic pie crust. I’ve learned that splitting the Joy of Cooking recipe unevenly, using 2/3 of the dough for the bottom crust, makes a big, easy to work with base for any pie. I’m not much for top crusts, anyway, and the remaining 1/3 makes great hand pies (or mini pies!). The important thing is this: you have to prebake your crust. It creates a barrier between the creamy custard and the crispy crust. The contrast is unbelievable. You have to prebake your crust! Once the crust is baked and cooled, you load it with cheddar cheese, dump in your fiddleheads and any herbs you may have on hand, and then pour the custard over everything. After about an hour in the oven, it’s done.

This. This was a wonderful meal. Fiddleheads have a unique earthiness to them that cuts right through the rich egg custard. There were enough vegetables in each slice to compensate for eating an egg pie for dinner. We only caught hints of the nutty cheddar, bright chive, and warm nutmeg flavors, but we were definitely okay with letting the fiddleheads steal the show. Summer is coming. Go and eat some fiddleheads!

Fiddlehead Quiche
original recipe

Basic Pie Crust, below
1 lb. fiddleheads
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
5 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
freshly grated nutmeg
freshly grated black pepper
kosher salt

Assemble the pie crust, splitting the dough into thirds. Create a disk with 2/3 of the dough, wrap in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes. Save the remaining 1/3 for another use. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll out the pie crust and place it in a 9 inch pie plate. To prebake, poke the pie crust numerous times with a fork, line with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights. I use dried beans. Bake crust for 20 minutes then let cool.

Rinse the fiddleheads thoroughly. Very thoroughly–I rinse mine 3-4 times to make sure all the dirt is out of them. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute the fiddleheads for 3-5 minutes, until bright green and tender. Season with salt and let cool.

Mix eggs, milk, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a medium size bowl. Whisk to combine, but don’t whisk too hard. You don’t want to incorporate a ton of air into the eggs. Now, assemble the quiche. Spread cheese evenly on the prebaked crust. Add fiddleheads and chives, then pour the custard over. Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown and set.

Basic Pie Crust
from the Joy of Cooking

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. vegetable shortening, chilled
3 T. cold unsalted butter, cubed
6 T. ice water

Sift flour and salt together. Cut half of the shortening and all of the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or work it in gently with your fingers until it has the consistency of cornmeal. Cut the remaining half of the shortening into the dough until it is pea sized. Sprinkle the dough with the ice water and blend gently to combine. Shape into two disks, wrap in plastic, and chill for 30 min. Bake as directed by individual recipes.

Posted in Breakfast, Dinner, Eggs, Lunch, Pies, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

More the norm.

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Brianne

On the menu: Millet Cakes with Sundried Tomatoes and Parmesan

The times, they are a changing. Can we talk about feelings for a moment? I am happy.  And I am absolutely exhilarated about that. I remember, during one particularly rough patch, mentioning a deeper reason why I started blogging. The fog that I lived in for almost three years is gone. I feel like myself again, and it is SO wonderful. I have a new direction for my life, and I am so excited to see what the future brings. We have renewed our weekend adventures now that the weather is nice, and it has really reminded us of how lucky we are to live here. We’re one hour from deep woods and one hour from the ocean. In between, there are all kinds of charming towns, each with it’s own character and begging to be explored. Sometimes we don’t find much, sometimes we get a little freaked out, but most of the time, we come home with a stronger sense of what it means to live in Maine. It’s a unique place, and we are glad to be a part of it.

Eating meatless during the week is feeling less and less unique and more and more the norm now. We’re trying all kinds of new dishes and really enjoying each one. I’m learning a lot about whole foods lately, and I’ve been stocking our pantry with many kinds of grains and pulses to explore the full gamut of what eating meatless can mean. Kevin groans when I come home with bulgur wheat, Israeli couscous, or red lentils, but he was quite resistant to millet. Millet is birdseed. It is, and I won’t deny that. We have some sitting in the birdfeeder we have on our dining room window (It has suction cups. It’s SO fun!). The gold finches and chickadees are loving it these days. And after this meal, so are we. I decided to ease into consuming birdseed by making millet cakes with a rice base. You know, a little millet here, a little millet there, and soon eating it on it’s own won’t be so bad.

I had the Joy of Cooking on my side in the quest to get the guy to eat millet. When I showed Kevin this recipe, he conceded, but he was still a bit hesitant. If millet is in The Joy, then it is totally legit. The flavor in these millet cakes comes from sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, onion, and Parmesan cheese, and we threw in some oregano for an herbal component. The sun-dried tomatoes we used were packed in olive oil with oregano and basil, which added even more flavor. Cooking the millet and rice with the tomatoes smelled just like making pasta sauce. As it cooked, we stood over the stove, deeply inhaling it’s rich aroma. I’ve made quinoa cakes before, and I remember having trouble forming the patties and getting them to fry without falling apart. It’s really important to wet your hands with cold water before you form these, otherwise you’ll just make a sticky mess. Also, these cakes are refrigerated for a bit before you fry them so they hold their shape in the pan. These fried up beautifully.

Kevin sauteed some collard greens with garlic and red pepper flakes to serve on the side of the millet cakes. He is crazy about collards. I am more of a kale and chard lady, but since I got my way with the millet, he got his way with the collards. It was a pretty tasty compromise.

Millet Cakes with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Parmesan
adapted from the Joy of Cooking

1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup millet
1/3 cup long grain white rice
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 cups chicken (or vegetable!) broth
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 egg, beaten

Blot tomatoes with a paper towel prior to dicing to avoid a slimy mess. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add onion and cook for a couple of minutes until soft. Add millet and rice and cook, stirring, until the grains are golden, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute, then add broth. Bring to a boil, then cover and let cook over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed and the millet is soft, about 20 minutes. Uncover and stir, ensuring that the millet is soft. Cool for 10-15 minutes before adding the Parmesan and the beaten egg. Stir mixture until well blended (I used my hands), then dampen your hands with cold water and shape 1/3 cup portions into patties that are 3 in. in diameter and about 1/2 in. thick. This recipe can make 4-6 patties, depending on how you size them. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 30 minutes.

To fry, heat 1/4 in. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add patties, in batches if necessary, and fry for 4 minutes per side until well browned.

Posted in Dinner, Other Grains, Rice, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Mitigating meaty madness.

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Brianne

On the menu: Roasted Asparagus Barley Salad 

It’s legit, friends: Spring is here. Not that we had much of a winter to wrestle with, but now everything is green and there is a sense of hope and renewal in the air. The fact that all of this coincides with me emerging from the cave that was getting my Master’s degree has me especially excited. I’m practically bouncing off the walls with glee!

Believe it or not, we are still on our meatless journey…at home, anyway. After a weekend away and a few meals in Brunswick, Maine’s hopping little food scene, we decided a few things: 1) Gelato is the food of the gods, 2) Hipsters should stay far, far away from Mexican food, and 3) When you eat at the Fat Boy Drive-In, order two burgers. Oh, and 4) We have declared ourselves “Weekend Carnivores.” Meat is a necessary part of life. Just not all the time. It’s a good thing that we have meals full of grain and green things like this one to mitigate our meaty madness.

This salad came about a couple of weeks ago, before the really tender stalks of asparagus were out. I decided to roast the asparagus to tenderize it a bit and bring out some sweetness, which I thought might be welcome in an otherwise straightforward barley salad. I added peas because they are also in season, tossed in walnuts for some crunch, and finished it off with lemon and basil for a bit of brightness.

Also, we made hummus. We had it as a snack the day I made the salad, so I snapped some photos of it. We have this jar of tahini that’s been sitting in our pantry for months, and this recipe took care of a significant portion of that jar. The jar of tahini is kind of a thing in our house–we occasionally take it out, glance at it, then remember how awful it tastes and shove it behind all of the spices and try to forget about it. When combined with chickpeas, garlic, lemon, cumin, and paprika, though, tahini is not that bad. Tahini gives hummus a distinct bitterness. Hummus just isn’t hummus without it. We used Mark Bittman’s recipe.

But the salad. The salad is a celebration of spring. Make a batch of it and join the party!

Roasted Asparagus Barley Salad
an original recipe

1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 cup semi pearled barley
4 cups water
1/3 cup walnuts
1/2 cup fresh or frozen shelled peas
3 tablespoons fresh basil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, roast the asparagus. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the asparagus and break off the tough ends. Cut into one inch pieces, then toss with olive oil and salt on a sheet pan. Roast for 25 minutes, shaking the pan once or twice, until well browned and caramelized. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, cook the barley: bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil. Rinse the barley and add it to the boiling water and cook for 30-35 minutes until the grains are tender. Cook the peas, either in their own pan or with the barley (if you’re lazy like me and want to save a dish) for 2-3 minutes. Drain and let cool. While the barley is cooking, toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until you can smell the oils, 5-7 minutes.

When the barley/peas mixture has cooled a bit, toss in walnuts, asparagus, and basil. Add lemon juice and olive oil and stir to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve. Like most, if not all grain salads, this keeps in the fridge wonderfully.

Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Other Grains, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments