Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Curry - Feb 20, 2011

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Green Curry

We made this meal last Sunday, during the crazy February blizzard. My sister Natalie is in town for a few days for work (yay!) and so we've been going out quite a bit, hitting some of her local favorites (ahem, Punch Pizza) that she misses now that she lives in Portland. After many restaurant meals, Sunday seemed like a good night to have a family style meal at home while we stayed cozy and warm. For this curry, I used JJ's recipe for salmon curry, but instead of salmon and potatoes, I used cauliflower and sweet potatoes. We served it over big bowls of fragrant jasmine rice and topped with some expertly chopped cashews. It was warm and comforting, with just a hint of spice and lots of fish sauce. It kept us nice and toasty while we were out shovelling an obscene amount of snow off the driveway later that night.

Fusilli with Clams and White Wine Sauce - Feb 14, 2011

Fusilli Pasta with Littleneck Clams and Tomato-White Wine Sauce

This was Valentine's Day's main course, although in all honesty, after that big bowl of delicious French onion soup, I could hardly eat any of this because I was so full. As most of you know, Nick is a big fan of seafood, and because we live in a land-locked* state with limited sea access, we rarely prepare it. We do, however, tend to pull it out on special occasions and celebrations. Nick found a few different recipe suggestions and I took one and used it as a rough outline. I purchased the littleneck clams in addition to some chopped clam meat at the store. And, while working my way to the check out, I spied this fun long fusilli in the pasta aisle. Even though the recipe called for linguini, I thought this might work better to catch and hold all the tasty bits in the sauce. To prepare the recipe, I simply followed directions, but omitted the Pernod and scallions, because we didn't have any, and added the chopped clam meat to boost the clam flavor. It was quite tasty, even re-heated a couple days later.

*Technically Minnesota has the fresh water port of Duluth, which is, in fact, connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the St. Lawrence Seaway. While, as a Minnesotan, I'm proud of this fact and often tout the benefits of living on America's 'North Coast,' this still doesn't help us significantly with access to fresh-off-the-boat seafood. It may, however, help you at your next trivia night.

French Onion Soup - Feb 14, 2011

French Onion Soup for Two

This was our Valentine's Day first course. Nick perused the highlighted Valentine's recipes on Epicurious last weekend to get some inspiration and when he read this one to me I was sold. I love French onion soup. It's easy to make, tastes delicious, and is perfect for a chilly winter night. I already had nearly everything I needed, with the exception of Gruyere cheese and a baguette. Since it was a special meal on a special day, I also splurged and bought some fresh thyme instead of just using my dried spices. The soup was incredibly flavorful and my favorite part of the recipe was that it was already calibrated for two servings, so I had no need to make adjustments, nor did I need to worry about storing leftovers. It's the little details that make me happy. I have no doubt that this soup will be in heavy rotation here at our house for the remainder of the winter. And, after the last 15 inches of snow Minneapolis got yesterday and today, winter might be here for awhile!

Cucumber, Apple and Mascarpone Sandwiches - Feb 11, 2011

Open Faced Cucumber and Apple Sandwiches with Mascarpone

I had a busy Friday, running errands, spending a lot of time in the kitchen baking certain birthday treats, and preparing for some dinner guests we hosted on Saturday. Because of that, by the time dinner rolled around I had very little ambition to cook. Luckily we had a very tasty loaf of apple cinnamon walnut bread on hand, which I had brought home from work earlier in the week. I spread a couple of slices with some creamy mascarpone cheese and added thin slices of cucumber and apple on top. A pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper and dinner was served.

Ground Turkey and Sweet Potato Burritos - Feb 9, 2011

Sweet Potato Burrito with Ground Turkey, Cotija Cheese and Avocado

I've made nary a dent in our massive sweet potato supply so far this winter. This meal, however, made use of one of them. After cutting the potato into half inch cubes, I roasted them in a 450 degree oven. While this was going on, I cooked up some ground turkey that I had on hand, tossing in some onion and leftover bulgar for good measure. I added some seasonings including coriander, cumin, oregano, and a pinch of cinnamon to bring out the sweetness in the potatoes. Then, at the very end, I put in some cotija cheese. When the sweet potatoes were done, I combined everything together and served on whole wheat tortillas with some creamy avocado to garnish.

Warm WInter Salad with Bulgar and Apples - Feb 7, 2011

Bulgar Wheat with Apples, Onions, Walnuts and Kale

This meal was hearty and tasty, perfect for a really, really cold day. I prepared my bulgar first, letting it steep while I made the rest of the salad. After chopping the onion and apple, I sauteed them, onions first, in a skillet. Towards the end, when everything was getting soft, but before I had onion flavored applesauce, I tossed in some chopped kale and a handful of walnuts. Once the kale was wilted, I added in the bulgar and mixed everything together gently to combine and warm. We seasoned this with some salt and pepper and enjoyed a cozy evening.

Sauteed White Beans with Garlic and Rosemary - Feb 3, 2011

Cannellini Beans with Kale, Garlic and Rosemary

This is one of our favorite quick dinners. I've posted it before, probably more than once. The recipe is out of 'How to Eat Supper.' We changed it up a little this time by using kale instead of the spinach called for. We also used a really grainy bread to make the toasted bread crumbs, so it had some extra body. And, a little bonus...the rosemary is from Portland. I snagged a bunch from a friend's shrub while I was out there. I love that it just grows like a weed in that climate. It was a perfect little souvenir.

Happy Valentine's Day! - Feb 14, 2011

Toffee Cookies with Dark Chocolate Glaze

Hope you are all having a sweet day!

Pork and Sunchokes - Jan 25, 2011

Winter Roasted Pork with Sauteed Sunchokes and Kale

I know I've been absent the past few days. Let's chalk it up to licking my wounds after the Steeler loss in the Super Bowl. A hearty congratulations to all you Packer fans out there, especially the ones I count among my family and friends. You know who you are. Your boys really brought it home and you should rightfully be very proud of them. If we had to lose, I'm glad it was to the Packers (even though I'm fighting back tears as I type this). Alright, now I need to shake it off and get back on track to tell you about one remaining meal leftover from last month. This is the last of the L'Etoile pork, served alongside some sauteed sunchokes and wilted kale. It was a deliciously seasonal meal and helped clean out our fridge prior to our respective trips to Portland (me) and Whistler (Nick).

This should be the last of the January eats around our house. Starting tomorrow, I'll bring you a little of what's been going on in the kitchen in February. Oh, and since I brought up the low point of my weekend, I should quickly share with you the highlight. Nick and I checked out the City of Lakes Luminary Loppet on Saturday night. It was incredible. Lake of the Isles was lit up like a winter fairy land. It was nothing short of magical and it made me so happy to be a Minneapolitan.

Bring it on Down to Burgerville

My Original Cheeseburger Basket with Seasonal Yukon Gold Criss-Cut Fries

Another place I like to visit when I'm in the Portland area is Burgerville. (Don't you immediately hear Justin Timberlake singing that catchy little jingle from SNL? But with 'Omletteville' replaced by 'Burgerville.') Burgerville is the kind of fast food restaurant one might expect to find in Portland (or Portlandia). You can get a cheeseburger and fries, but the beef is sustainable, and the cheese is from Tillamook, and the fries are seasonal Yukon Gold Criss-Cut fries. When they're in season, you can even get Walla Walla onion rings, or sweet potato fries. Oh, and once you've finished eating, you put your wrappers and paper cups into the compost, instead of the trash. Burgerville even recycles cooking oil into biofuel. You get the idea. It's like the cult craze known as In-N-Out Burger in California (which I also love!), but with a definite Portland spin. And it's good. Very good.



Hazelnut and Chocolate Shake

Perhaps my favorite reason to visit Burgerville is the seasonal shake. This one is the chocolate hazelnut, made with hazelnut meal from growers just down the road from the restaurant in Cornelius, OR. Last time I visited, the shake flavor was blackberry. Yeah, blackberry, all of which were grown in Oregon, of course. Love it.

Uwajimaya Market

I am freshly returned from a little excursion to Portland, OR to visit sisters and friends. It was a great trip and we did many fun and memorable things. One day was devoted exclusively to shopping ethnic markets, my favorite being Uwajimaya Market in Beaverton. Kate, Natalie and I spent hours here, and upon leaving I felt as though I'd just been on a whirlwind tour of Asia.


Tropical Fruits

Some highlights include these colorful and exotic fruits. I can identify three of four starting with mangosteens in the top right corner, rambutan in the bottom left, and dragon fruit in the bottom right. It was amazing to find these here. If I'm not mistaken, it's only been in the last year or two that mangosteens are even able to be imported to the States. I felt like I was back at a big open air market in Bangkok, except it smelled better inside Uwajimaya.


Interesting Bottles and Cans

We stumbled across these interesting finds including the bottled ginseng root and a very eye catching clear can of soda.


Rice Wine

Shelves and shelves of colorfully labeled rice wines were delightful.


Lucky Cats

Lucky cats in every color and size, just in time for Chinese New Year.


Red Snapper...

...I think, but lovely nonetheless. Notice the clear eyes denoting freshness.


Cock Brand Tapioca Balls

This is a little Dinner Club inside joke, that isn't too difficult to figure out. We bought these and fat straws to make bubble tea at home. As we like to say in Dinner Club, it's better with balls.

It was a fantastic adventure and I'm envious of you Portlanders (and you Seattlites) who have this amazing store at your disposal, with all it's exotic treats and inspiring supplies. We went home and made some delicious miang kam, red curry and bubble tea for dessert.

Blueberry Pie - Jan 25, 2011

Blueberry Pie

I baked this last weekend because it's high time to start using up some of the fruit I picked over the summer. We don't have a deep freezer, so I start to worry about the quality of our frozen items after six months or so. Also, it's a fun trick to pull out summer berries to bake a pie on one of the coldest days of the winter. It's quite satisfying to be able to one-up Mother Nature every once in awhile.

I used a recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens Baking Book. I did change up the crust recipe a bit, using a combination of butter and lard instead of the shortening called for. My shortening was dated 'best by' sometime in 2006, so I thought it best to toss it and use something else. The crust ended up far exceeding my expectations. It was relatively flaky, not tough, and stayed crusty for the next few days. I despise a mushy crust. It totally ruins it for me. The filling was excellent as well. I worried that it wouldn't be sweet enough because the berries were pretty tart, but it ended up being just perfect and not overly sweet like some diner pies can be. The hints of lemon zest and juice come through nicely and it set up firmly after it cooled, so again my finicky texture palate was satisfied. Nick was of course, in pie heaven.

Garbanzo and Pork Stew - Jan 24, 2011

Garbanzo, Broccoli and Pork Stew

This meal used up some of our leftover L'Etoile pork roast from last week. We used a recipe from 101 Cookbooks and built on it. It seems a bit sacrilegious to start adding meat into vegetarian recipes, but I don't let anything stand in my way when I have leftovers to use up. We also used broccoli instead of cauliflower, but other than that, we followed directions and behaved. The end result was quite delicious and relatively healthy. I finished the bowls with some orange infused olive oil and smoked hickory salt, which was a gift from Ben and Ellen and we LOVE! It's been finding it's way onto everything around here, but my favorite is to sprinkle it on popcorn because it's the perfect medium to taste the delicious smokey flavor. Mmm, little luxuries make me happy.

Bacon Bourbon - Jan 21, 2011

The Rise and Shine

Last week I made mention of a project in the works involving bacon fat. Well, this was it. Nick had borrowed a book from the library called 'Cooking for Geeks' a couple weeks ago (and there's a blog). Now, you Dinner Clubbers can pretty well guess that would be a book we would find appealing. Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I would actually consider myself to fall more into the 'dork' category, but of course there's overlap. Basically, if I can mix together chemistry, cooking, and the Scientific Method I'm a happy camper. Needless to say, I was delighted to find a section in the book devoted to 'fat washing.' Fat washing was a new term to me, and it was described in the book as a way of using fat to remove undesirable molecules from alcohol as a means of refining or distilling, if you will. A fun way to apply this in the home kitchen is to use fat washing to infuse oil soluble compounds into alcohol. The book suggests bacon infused bourbon (yes please!) and butter infused rum.

Now, I have been pondering exactly how to make a bacon infused beverage for some time but have never been quite sure how to go about it. That is, until now. Thanks to this handy-dandy new technique I've added to my repertoire, the possibilities are endless. I decided to start with the aforementioned bacon bourbon and I added a bacon vodka into the mix as well.


'Fat Washing'

I used the ratio of 2 tsp of filtered bacon fat per 1 cup of alcohol recommended in the book. I let the mix sit out on the counter for 24 -48 hours, then popped the jars in the freezer for a couple hours to make sure all the fat was solidified. Then I simply used a coffee filter and strained the fat out of the alcohol. I find that my little melita coffee funnel works perfectly for this task. Now all I had to to was mix up a tasty cocktail and test the effectiveness of this experiment.

The Rise and Shine:

1/4 C bacon infused bourbon
1 Tbsp maple syrup
dash of orange bitters
soda water
crushed ice

Shake first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.
Strain into a low ball glass filled with crushed ice.
Top with soda water.

Success!

Roast Pork Shoulder with Fennel Salad - Jan 20, 2011

Roast Pork Shoulder with Fennel and Grapefruit Salad

Some of you might remember that I excitedly mentioned the article in February's Food & Wine on L'Etoile last week. This meal is comprised of recipes from that article, straight from my beloved Madison eatery! Since I had to work, I opted to change up the pork recipe slightly so that I could cook it in the crock pot during the day. I skipped the overnight brining, switched the cut from a loin to a shoulder, and omitted some of the liquid. I did, however, stay true to the fantastic mix of spices, including star anise, fennel, coriander, cloves, allspice, and juniper berries. The end result turned out deliciously, despite all my changes. The fennel salad was a perfect accompaniment, with the fresh fennel echoing the fennel seeds used to spice the meat. Nick and I made this following the recipe exactly. I can't tell you how fun it was to cook up a little piece of Madison, right in our own kitchen.

Turkey Laap with Sticky Rice - Jan 19, 2011

Ground Turkey Laap, Larb, Laab

This recipe appeared in the February issue of Food & Wine magazine in an article they did on the cuisine of Laos. I was excited because we were introduced to a very similar dish when we were in Thailand a couple of years ago. The Thais call this laab, or larb, but apparently it is known as laap in Laos. I followed the recipe closely, but had to omit the fresh mint since the co-op isn't currently stocking it. I substituted with extra cilantro and the result was very tasty despite the omission. To complete the meal, I even steamed up some sticky rice to serve along side the laap. It was truly delicious and quite simple to make on a weeknight, with the exception of the sticky rice, but one could easily substitute jasmine rice to make the preparation a little easier. The flavor packed into these simple Southeast Asian dishes never ceases to amaze me. I would highly recommend giving this a try.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies - Jan 18, 2011

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love cookies. They are a weakness of mine. I have a hard time refraining from eating five in one sitting. Needless to say, when I bake them, they go fast. This particular batch was inspired by some cookies at a local bakery. I used a recipe from my Foster's Market Cookbook and they turned out pretty well, although a little crispier than I'd hoped. I really love a good chewy center and these didn't quite measure up. Not that I had any trouble eating my fair share. Next time I think I will find a recipe with a bigger peanut butter to flour ratio. Although 'next time' is going to have to be a ways down the road for the sake of my girlish figure!

Cheesy Bean Enchiladas - Jan 17, 2011

Enchiladas with Avocado

I made a half batch of these enchiladas last week and as always, they were very tasty. This is a recipe we inherited from JJ many years ago in a homemade recipe book that we still consult often. It's a simple concoction of beans, onions and spices for the filling, wrapped in tortillas and set in a baking dish. JJ recommends Hatch enchilada sauce and so that's what I usually use, in it's 'mild' rendition. Then you just need to top the whole thing with cheese and bake for 20 minutes. It's quick and it's good, especially with a creamy avocado served on the side.

Congratulation to the Packers and the Steelers! This is going to be a great Superbowl!

Sunchoke and Cauliflower Hash - Jan 14, 2011

Roasted Sunchokes and Cauliflower with Bacon and Orange Zest

And my love affair with sunchokes (and cauliflower) continues. Nick and I whipped this meal up over the weekend. We cooked 2 strips of bacon first and reserved the fat for another project that I will write about soon. After removing the bacon from the pan, we added some onions. Once these were translucent, I added in the cauliflower and sunchokes in two batches so that we would get nicely crispy, browned edges instead of steamed veggies. We mixed everything together and seasoned with salt, pepper and some freshly grated orange zest. This was quite delicious and very easy, which was good since we spent the better part of the day with our butts planted on the couch watching football (after a lovely cross country ski outing in the morning). I am so excited that my beloved Steelers have moved on, as well as those talented Packers. I have not-so-secret hopes of the two meeting in the Superbowl this year. We will have to wait and see how the games turn out this weekend. I hope your team wins (as long as it's not the Jets)!

Spiced Lentils with Mushrooms and Greens - Jan 10, 2011

Spiced Lentils with Mushrooms and Greens

This recipe is from February's Food & Wine, which incidently Dinner Clubbers, has a full spread on our favorite Madison eatery, L'Etoile, complete with pictures on lovely Lake Mendota and many tasty recipes from Chef Tory Miller. I squealed in delight upon seeing it! Nick will verify that in case any of you doubt me. It's awesome and I'm so happy to see some glossy-paged culinary magazine love going out to my favorite little Midwest college town.

Okay, back to the dish at hand. This is not one of the L'Etoile recipes, but I still had high hopes because it was designated as a staff favorite. It was good, but not knock-my-socks off good. It's basically just lentil soup with the addition of mushrooms. Calling it 'spiced' is a stretch, since I felt it could have used significantly more cumin and coriander than it called for. Also, I'm a bit confused because the photo in the magazine makes this look like a fairly dry bowl of lentils, but I even cut back on the water called for and mine turned out like a soup, which is fine, just different than expected. So, if you go pick up a copy of this month's F&W, and you definitely should, you can skip this recipe and flip right to the L'Etoile article.