Soup for Joyce

At the start of the school year, each grade level signed up to bring one of our staff, Joyce, dinner. Joyce is going through chemotherapy right now, and on the weeks she has treatments, we are all making sure she has a good dinner on the table the night before they begin. Being new at the school, I have only just met Joyce. It didn't take long, however, to see the compassion she has for the students, and the great knowledge she has from her years of experience.

Joyce is our media specialist, and for anyone who is a teacher, you know this position is at the heart of the school's functional system. She has dropped everything to help me find a book, she has talked to our team at length about creating lessons to support our grade level's curriculum, and she has helped me out of technology jams more than once. All of this, while she is going through what must be a very difficult, scary, and challenging time in her life.

I decided to make soup. Soup always builds me. It makes me feel nourished and stronger, and that's what I wanted for Joyce. I thought about exactly what kind of soup I would make for awhile... but, I ended up deciding on minestrone. A soup so simply stuffed with every possible vitamin- what else could be better?

Soup is decidedly simple. It's one pot. It's chopping and some seasoning and some broth and it's eating. But, I had to put more than that into this pot of soup. Somehow, I had to get every positive thought, every ounce of strength, and every bit of extra energy I had into this soup. I started by chopping the freshest organic vegetables I could find.

Leeks, green beans, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, yukon potatoes, zucchini. As I chopped, I thought about Joyce and thought about her full recovery. I saw her be able to stop wearing her handkerchief- which I must note- she rocks- I saw her with her family, I saw her busy putting away books, I saw her teaching media lessons, working with the 5th graders on morning announcements, and reading stories to the kindergarten students... I saw her strong.

Into my Le Creuset all the veggies went along with a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil, a hearty couple pinches of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. I added in 2 bay leaves (this was a lot of veggies), a few pinches of thyme, a few shakes of ground fennel, and a few shakes of hot pepper flake. On medium, I allowed the veggies to sweat out and begin to soften. I also added a small rind I cut from a wedge of parmesan cheese.

When they had about 10 minutes or so, I added in a bunch of chopped kale and a can of whole tomatoes with their juice. I gave the tomatoes a quick chop before adding them. I also added 4 cups of veggie stock, a can of cannelloni beans, and a couple handfuls of whole wheat orzo pasta. From here, it just needed time. I allowed it to come to a rolling boil for about 3 minutes, before backing it down to a slow simmer. About 20-30 minutes later, I scooped out bowls for Scott and I to have for dinner, and packed a large container to take to Joyce the next day.

I also packed her a small container of basil pesto and some freshly grated parmesan cheese. Soup is great, but the garnishes make it fabulous. The pesto was extra special, as it was from a jar of homemade that Rachel gave me. She'd canned loads of pesto in August when her garden overflowed with basil.

The soup was good. Really good. I hadn't made a minestrone in awhile and Scott and I were in heaven. It was tomatoey, brothy, veggie heaven. We ate it along with a chunk of sourdough bread, and I would allow the corner to soak up the soup until it was practically falling apart... delicious. I was happy that this was the meal I was passing on to Joyce and her husband.

After I ate, I felt nourished and strong- and convinced Joyce would feel the same.

Stuff Yo' Peppers!

A dreary rainiy day makes it easy to want comfort food, but I had to choose something on the lighter side since I gained a few pounds my last few weeks at Hondos. (Why not have a drink 0r two every night with co-workers and eat french fries as if they were carrot sticks?!) Comfort food for most people includes the foods they grew up eating. For me, that would include lasagna, goulash, pigs in a blanket (NOT hot dogs wrapped in frozen bread dough, btw), fried chicken, ham and bean soup, stuffed peppers...

Yes! Stuffed Peppers!!! We used to have them at home ALL the time. My dad would stuff green peppers with white rice, ground beef, onions, tomatoes... and then top it with a little cheddar cheese and bake them in a light tomato broth. I knew I could top the PA version by making it healthier and just as good (if not better!)

I started by toasting some brown rice with a bit of evoo, then adding water and getting it to a simmer. I'd have used vegetable stock if I had any. In a saute pan, I added another glug of evoo and threw in a chopped onion, half of a diced red pepper, 4 minced garlic cloves, and a big handful of grape tomatoes that I'd quartered. I gave it time to get soft and just a little caramelized. I then diced 2 Quorn 'Turkey' burgers and added it to the veggies along with a generous amount of Penzey's Spanish Smoked Paprika and some cumin. I coated all the veggies evenly while allowing the spices to toast up a bit. Then I added a few splashes of Habenero hot sauce for some heat. Next was a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste... I incorporated that into the mix to give it some heat and mellow it out some, then added water a little at a time until I had the consistency I wanted. I adjusted the seasonings with a little more salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

When the rice was done, I added about a cup to the mix. I stirred it all together, tasted once more and was very happy with the outcome. I turned off the heat and just let it do it's thing for about 30 minutes while I puttered around and got the peppers ready. I cut the tops off 2 orange and 2 yellow bell peppers and hollowed them out. I coated my small Le Cresuet baking dish with a little evoo and set the peppers inside. Then, I spooned the mixture to fill each pepper and topped each with a small amount of shredded pepper jack cheese. I covered the dish with foil and placed it in a 400 degree oven while I worked on my "TRAILBLAZERS" sign for my new school. I quite like that as a mascot. I like that purple is the school color even more! When the peppers were soft, I removed the foil and allowed the cheese to brown just a little.

When they were done, they were gooey and so so comforting! The paprika, cumin, and pepper jack cheese gave them a perfect smoky flavor and the hot sauce gave it a bit of heat... the peppers are sweet though, so the contrast was perfect! I had to blog about these quickly because I have to remember how I made them! I have to say I think I exceeded the PA version... they were definitely healthier and I must admit, I think I liked them better... So happy there are 2 leftover for our dinner tonight!

Birthday Dinner

When I was growing up, we ate dinner pretty much every Saturday night with family. It was a mix of family, but it was perfect. It was my mom's brother, Frank, his wife, Carol, and their two boys, Travis and Jason. My Aunt Carol's dad, Ray, and her Aunt, Fay, were always there as well, along with my parents and my Dad's mother, Phoebe. Other random friends and family could also show up on any given weekend. We would eat and usually play Trivia Pursuit, or other games, afterward. Even as I got older, I loved these dinners. Mom and Dad would request that I wait until after dinner and visiting for awhile before I went off with my friends. I never minded a bit and some of my favorite growing up memories are these dinners.

Well, when it was your birthday, you got to pick what you wanted- the whole thing- from start to dessert. It was fantastic. I usually chose beef on wick and french fries or spaghetti with Italian sausage. I remember that Travis always chose pancakes and Jason always wanted my mom's pineapple upside down cake. Funny I don't recall what the adults ever wanted. Travis and Jason and I were 3 peas in a pod growing up. They are 6 and 8 years younger than me, respectively, but they lived 2 houses away and were my brothers full stop. Travis is a father now, and Jason's been to Iraq 3 times. How'd we grow up so fast?

I digress. This post is really actually about Scott's birthday dinner... I got a little sidetracked by my memories.

I didn't give Scott a choice of what he wanted me to cook because since starting his new job, I think this was one of his busiest weeks. He was up at 4 or 5 in the morning every day and traveling around with another sales guy and working until quite late in the evening. I also worked every single night and before his birthday at dinner time on a Thursday, hadn't seen him awake since Sunday afternoon. So, I was going to pick for him.

It was a random assortment of food, but it actually came together rather well. Brussels sprouts were the easiest choice. He didn't know how much he loved them until I roasted them once for him. Now he asks for them all the time. For potatoes, I decided on making homemade potato chips and blue cheese dressing since homemade potato chips in any form on restaurant menus always has him wanting some (even if I'm stubborn and don't give in most of the time) and he especially likes the ones from Harper's in Greensboro that are served with a blue cheese dressing. I chose Salmon because we needed a protein and it's been awhile since I've made it. To personalize it a bit more, I did bread and pan fry it. Every guy likes fried stuff and Scott is no exception. I slaked on dessert mainly because I did not want to have leftovers taunting us! Thank you Whole Foods for the lovely cupcakes!

Prep on the salmon and Brussels really isn't that exciting or difficult, so I'll focus on the chips. I used my mandolin on a fairly thin setting to slice a huge russet potato. I used russet because they have a lot of natural sugars and therefore get really brown just like we like them. (My dad and I used to literally ruin bags of chips fighting over the "burned" ones! If only Utz made their bag of russet kettle chips back in the day... a whole bag of "burned" chips... it's heaven.) I put all the sliced potatoes in a tea towel and dried off the excess water. I set the oven on 400 and placed the cookie sheets inside to get hot. When the oven was ready, I covered the cookie sheets with parchment and brushed the paper with canola oil. I spread out the chips in one layer and gave the tops another brushing of oil. After that, I just had to keep my eye on them and flip them when they were golden. I guess it took about 10 min on the first side and just a few on the second. I worked in batches until they were all done. As soon as I removed them, I placed them on paper towels to remove the excess oil and gave them a generous sprinkling of salt. For the blue cheese dip, I mixed about a half cup of a Danish blue cheese, some Duke's mayonnaise, sour cream, a little milk, a few dashes of pikka peppa, (think Worcestershire) and salt and pepper. After some counter time to come together, it was perfect.

With all the fried foods, it wasn't long before we were full and there were loads of leftovers! If you saw my status update on Facebook, you know how the reheating of the leftover chips ended... we decided the toaster oven would crisp the chips back up... and that it did when the entire thing caught on fire. Thankfully, Scott had his eye on things and the fire did not spread beyond the toaster oven itself, but it did create enough smoke to set off the fire alarm! We were bummed that we didn't get to eat the leftover chips.

I wonder what Scott will cook me for my birthday? :)

Friday Night In

Jason and Melissa are friends we've made in our building, and after spending a few nights together heading out and about for food and drinks, we decided to have a night in. We thought we'd play games- I'd make some food to munch on and they would bring the drinks.

Well, games never happened, which is not surprising considering the strength of Jason's cocktails and the fact that the four of us don't shut up long enough to actually get out a game to play. Five hours into our evening we realized it actually just felt like half that time. This is a nice discovery to make with new friends.

Jason made two different cocktails. One was called a Transfusion and was 1 part vodka, 1 part grape juice, and 1 part ginger ale. It was fantastic. On the second round, we used a little soda water to lighten the grape juice flavor. The other drink (in picture) was 2 parts Absolute Acai, a touch of simple syrup and lemon juice, and topped with blueberries and mint. It packed quite a punch as you might imagine.

Dinner was on me. Initially, I was just going to make some heavy snacks, but pizza was calling since JB's recent post. I made the dough from Tyler Florence's recipe this time. I will use it again. The only change I made was using a lot more evoo- that tip being from Amber- she says you can't use too much, so I was generous throughout the entire process. The crust was crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle- perfect. It was also much thinner than the crust I made on my last attempt and this is an improvement in my book.

For the tomato sauce, I used a can of tomato paste, a few glugs of evoo, water, oregano, fennel, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flake, and two garlic cloves that I grated with my microplane. I made it in the morning and gave it all day to sit on the counter and blend and blend it did- quite nicely in fact.

I roasted broccoli, zucchini, squash, asparagus, a red, yellow, and orange bell pepper, a head of garlic cloves, and a red onion. I just chopped them all into big pieces, coated with evoo, and roasted them on 425 til they were golden sweet delicious. After allowing them to cool a bit, I prepared them to top the pizza by giving them a really good coarse chop.

I layered the sauce, veggies, and- STOP. WHOLE MILK MOZZARELLA. The 2% part skim crap you buy in a bag is disgusting in comparison. I can't even remember when/who/how I was enlightened to only use whole milk mozz, but I am thankful for the experience. (I buy the big pack, grate it all in my food processor and freeze half) I finished topping the crust with some freshly grated aged Parmesan and into the oven it went. When it came out, I garnished with chopped scallions and of course- my homemade ranch dressing. Please see my AMB post for that recipe... it blows everyone away- and Jason and Melissa were no exception.

For dessert, I made chocolate peanut butter swirl brownies. I really like baking, I just don't do much of it. I have a cook's mind, not a baker's, and all the exactness is just too much for me sometimes. I used a recipe from my Martha Stewart holiday magazine. It's my go to for cookies/bars, etc... the empire that is Martha has never let me down. The chocolate part was bittersweet chocolate, butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and flour. The peanut butter part was peanut butter, butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla. With Haagen Dazs, whipped cream, and some candied cashews I had in the pantry, it made for a terrific late night snack.

The food was a hit- everything was just really super good. Melissa fretted about how much I had done until I convinced her that nothing makes me happier. I love it so much... really. Having Jason and Melissa as new fans of my cooking is also quite nice. They offered to always bring the drinks. Deal. Maybe next time we'll actually play a game.

Egg it up.

I really enjoy eggs. I always have, but I went a good long while without eating them. I'm glad I got over that. Eggs have been a very controversial topic over the years, but it seems it has settled down. Most nutritionists say one egg per day will not elevate cholesterol- if you don't follow it with loads of other high cholesterol foods and if high cholesterol isn't a problem for you. An egg has 270mg of cholesterol and we're supposed to keep it under 300mg per day.

When you just use the whites- which I do about half of the time- you get plenty of protein, but not much else. When you include the yolk, yes, you get cholesterol and fat, but you also get a ton (around 25% or more of your daily value) of Vitamin B6 and B12, folate, Riboflavin, Vitamins A and D, Selenium, and Phosphorus and quite a few others...
For more go here.

I've done my research on the purchasing of eggs and feel it more than necessary to be very picky. This also tends to mean I buy the most expensive- it's more than worth it. Not only do they taste a million times better, but it is much, much more humane. I won't go into detail about why battery cages (you know, where they are all cramped and can't move) are so horrible, I enjoy writing my blog and thinking of the research I've done and what I've learned brings tears to my eyes and I'm not even actually typing it. Spend a second looking it up- The Human Society has good information. Parts of Europe have already banned battery caging. Hopefully we will follow suit.

Cage Free isn't always cruelty free either, but it's a better bet. They can at least lay their eggs in nests and spread their wings. Know your company. I've found Organic Valley to have a very good reputation from my research. I also prefer the chickens be fed an organic vegetarian diet and I get all of that with Organic Valley. I'd eventually just like to find a farmer I can buy from directly.

So, that said, here are some ways I prepare eggs... I'm not going to go into technique, because honestly, it's just practice and every one likes their eggs a little differently anyway. Eggs are super fun to cook- I was surprised when I heard Bobby Flay say eggs were his favorite food to cook because I really just thought it was me being sort of... I don't know- fascinated with everything? :)

The top picture is a fried egg. I love fried eggs. Sometimes I just smash one up with a fork and put it on toast. But, I really love to put fried eggs over food. Here I put it on top a garden burger on Ezekiel bread. Romaine and Duke's brought it all together. Putting fried eggs over leftovers for breakfast is awesome. My favorite is any type of tomatoey pasta warmed up in the skillet so it gets a bit of crust... and then a fried egg on top... omg, tomato eggy pasta heaven. Try it on something you have leftover in the fridge right now- I promise, it will rock... I've never been let down and I have tried it on a lot of different foods.

Next is an omelet. Most of the time when I make omelets or scrambles, I use like 2 whole eggs to 1 egg white. For this particular omelet, I'd sauteed jalapenos, tomatoes, and onions. I'd also crisped up some Tofurky Italian Deli slices. My daddy taught me everything I know about making omelets. And rule #1 is that you ALWAYS cook everything you put in an omelet first. He was very persistent about this rule and after having a few in restaurants where they do not follow this procedure, I more than agree on its importance. For the cheese, I used a pepper jack. They were spicy and perfect for a morning following a few margaritas.

I will also say this about omelets. Beat the hell out of the eggs with a splash of cream or milk. You have to get some air into it and you have to have the whites and yolks come together for a nice even light yellow color. Watch some You Tube videos on the details if you are not comfortable with making omelets- they aren't hard, it's just practice and a good pan.

Up next was a soft scramble. I follow the same prep as mentioned about omelets- the cream and the whisking is also important here. I put smoked salmon and cream cheese in this scramble and topped it with fresh scallions and lots of smoked paprika. Killer.

The last picture is a rougher scramble. I used a smaller whole egg to egg white ratio b/c I was only cooking for myself, so it was one to one. I'd sauteed a bunch of veggies, reserving most for other uses, but leaving some in the pan for my current breakfast situation. I added in the egg and let it sit much longer than I would for a soft scramble. Once the egg browned a bit- I just like this consistency sometimes- I broke it all up and let it finish cooking. I ate rye toast slathered with Earth Balance alongside and it was heavenly.

Eggs are just such a great food companion. There is so much you can do with eggs. So many ways to prepare them. You can put anything in a scramble, omelet, or fritatta. You can put a fried egg on whatever you'd like or just eat it alone. Hard boiled and soft boiled just make salads more dynamic and interesting- no matter what other ingredients are along for the ride. Eggs are often called the perfect food because of their vitamin and mineral makeup and because they have all 9 amino acids, but I'm not sure that's the only reason.

Taco Night in 1241

Even though Trader Joe's is a 2 minute walk from my apartment, I don't go too often. I love it there, but it's more of a novelty grocery store vs. the place where you pick up your weekly groceries. When we go, we spend a lot (not that it's expensive!) on stuff we probably really didn't need, but is super fun to have around. I mean, I can buy some of the basics that I need there, but I inevitably end up with things like Baked Jalapeno Corn Puffs and such.

The other day I had a huge craving for Pizza Fusion's previously mentioned roasted beet salad, so we popped in there, ordered it to go, then did some shopping at Trader Joe's while it was being prepared. This led to the discovery of their soy chorizo. I said I would make some tacos one night soon. The chorizo was sold in one large link, just like the real stuff. We wondered if removing the casing would allow it to crumble as the real stuff would...

I started thinking about these tacos and I decided I was going to make my own corn tortillas. Could it be that hard? If I messed it up, we could always just have taco salads, right?

I went right to the source of all that is Mexican cooking- Mr. Rick Bayless. The man is not only an amazing chef who specializes in Mexican cuisine, he is an absolute presence. Even from seeing him only on TV, you can tell you'd be better just for knowing him.

Well, corn tortillas really were no big deal. Unless you were going to grind your own corn, and that was not what I was going to do. You only need masa flour. A tortilla press would be great, but a rolling pin would work. I have Grandma Phoebe's rolling pin, so I was ready.

A cup of the masa flour, some water, some salt. You mix it with your hands, then divide it into 8 balls. Keeping a wet tea towel over them is crucial. You must cut a large plastic zip lock bag on 3 sides so it's like a book and you put the ball of dough in between when you roll it out. I heeded the warning: Don't even consider not using the bag. This is apparently the way it is done. Even if you use a press. After a circle is rolled out, (well, mine weren't exactly circles- the pic I'm including in the blog was honestly the best one!) it goes in a dry skillet for a minute on each side and that's IT!!! SO easy! Next time I might make them bigger, but they were sort of cute all tiny too. As I did each one, I added it to the pile I had wrapped in another wet tea towel. When I prepared everything else, I would warm them in the microwave before serving. They were tasty- way better than any I'd purchased from the store. I would be making my own from now on.

I made some pico de gallo with exactly what is in pico de gallo. I decided to stay true to form. Mr. Bayless says this is called Salsa Mexicana and that we're the silly ones who gave it the head of the chicken name. I make salsa often, and I always find when I just stick to the simple ingredients in Salsa Mexicana I am most pleased. Yellow onion, plum tomatoes (seeds squeezed out), jalapenos, lime juice, and cilantro, and salt.

Next up was the Soy Chorizo. I expected it would taste pretty good, and I figured I'd doctor it up to make it taste really good. I sauteed some yellow chopped onion in a good bit of evoo until they were soft, then added in the chorizo. It did crumble easily outside of the casing. I let it warm through just enough for a tasting and exclaimed, "HOLY HELL!! THIS STUFF IS FREAKING GOOD!" I may have used curse words. I made Scott try it right away. He yelled about it too. I honestly was way impressed. Other than the onions and salt I added to them, I didn't touch it. It was fantastic as it was... perfectly spiced.

I shredded some romaine lettuce, got out the pepper jack cheese we also purchased at Trader Joe's, and sour cream. I wrapped the tortillas up in the wet tea towel and put them in the microwave for 20 seconds. They were pliable and soft and ready to be topped with lots of goodness.

If you have a Trader Joe's near you, buy the soy chorizo, I don't care if you are fine eating the real thing- just buy it anyway. It really is crazy good. I believe I might become a more frequent Trader Joe's shopper based on this ingredient alone. If this means I buy a tub of chocolate cat shaped cookies and blue cheese frozen pizza as well, then so be it.

On a Saturday.

I don't have a picture of the final product because I accidentally deleted it. Damn. I've posted a cute picture of Henry instead. He got very excited during cooking.

We went to Maymont Park on Saturday to run. We hadn't been before. Maybe people don't normally go to Maymont to run or work out. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there, but no one was exercising. There were tons of families and groups of friends walking around, having picnics, lounging on the grass... We dodged a lot of people as we ran- maybe it was just that it was Easter weekend, but it was sort of strange.

It's a huge city park and includes a nature center/zoo, Italian and Japanese gardens, a waterfall, mansions, a view of the river, lots of interesting little paths and nooks and crannies, trails through bamboo... and that's just what we could cover in the hour I had to spare since I had to work that day. On the outskirts of the park there seemed to be an Easter egg hunt. There was also an Arbor Day Festival where I watched tree maintenance guys up in a HUGE tree trimming branches and stuff. They had safety ropes on and were climbing all over the place. I couldn't walk away, I was enthralled with this job and honestly feel like I could put this on the list of career change interests.

After the park, we were, of course, starving. Scott said he wanted citrus something. I wanted shrimp something. Luckily these two things are easy to put together.

I made a marinade from the zest of a Navel orange and a lemon, the chopped up fruit and juice from each, about 2-3 tablespoons of evoo, a few good shakes of extra hot crushed red pepper, a large minced garlic clove, ground black pepper, and salt. I added about half a pound of shrimp and let it hang out on the counter soaking up the spicy citrus goodness for about a half hour while i got ready for work.

I roasted some asparagus simply with evoo, salt, and pepper. I made some whole wheat couscous then added chopped toasted walnuts, evoo, pepper, and shallot salt to the finished product. The shrimp cooked in no time- I threw the marinade and shrimp all in the pan and allowed them to cook in the juices. When the shrimp were done, I removed them and reduced the remaining marinade down until it was a saucy consistency. Spicy sweet sour goodness...

A nice pile of the couscous, a few asparagus spears balanced across, and the shrimp and sauce on top. It was pretty and if I knew how to work my camera by now, I could share.