Cantaloupe and Black Pepper Sorbet and Ciao (for a bit)!

I hate to be that blogger that constantly apologizes for falling behind on posting. But....I'm sorry.

I admit that I've been really lax about posting for a few weeks...I'm further ashamed to divulge that it will be another few weeks before I'm back in the saddle, as it were.

Work has been, how shall I say this? Demanding. I have a horrible cold. I was out of town at a wedding. Etc. Etc. Etc. I could talk (type?) your ear off all day, but I'd still have to apologize. So I'm sorry, dear reader, I vow to get better.

However, not until mid- August.

Why will it be that long, you ask? Well, I'm about to go on a long awaited, much hyped, and hopefully fabulous, vacation. My best friends and I are going on a cruise around the Mediterranean, starting this Friday and lasting until August 9. During that time, I will devouring all of the delicious food I can find, drinking all the wine I see, and taking plenty of notes about everything to share with you all. However, the one thing I won't be doing, is blogging.

So for now, please accept my apology, enjoy the recipe, and get excited about the stories to come!


Cantaloupe and Black Pepper Sorbet



Ingredients

--5 cups cantaloupe chunks
--1/2 cup sugar
--1/2 cup water
--pinch salt
--1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
--2 tablespoons vodka

Directions:

1) bring sugar, water, and salt to a boil. Then, simmer, stirring often until sugar is completely dissolved. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly.

2) In your blender, combine cantaloupe chunks, sugar syrup, salt, pepper, and vodka and blend until smooth. For best results, refrigerate this mix for at least an hour.

3) freeze according to ice cream maker instructions

Notes:

Yes, black pepper and cantaloupe are delicious together, I promise. My family has always put pepper on cantaloupe (and salt on watermelon), and relished in the contrasting flavor. This sorbet takes this idea a bit further...and, man, oh, man, is it delicious. Sweet and smooth, with a subtle kick. Please don't be turned off by the idea of pepper in your dessert -- it really is good. :)

Oh, and the vodka? Keeps the sorbet from freezing too hard. Don't worry, it's not going to get you (or your kids or neighbors) inebriated!


And, the main part of that meal: Cockles with garlic and parsley, over whole wheat pasta.

And, on the side, sauteed squash and a glass of Prosecco with a raspberry. (Oh, yes, and a citronella candle -- we were eating outside, after all!)

On that note, I bid you farewell for a few weeks -- but, never fear, gentle reader, I'll be back soon enough, with lots of inspiration and plenty of tales to tell. Ciao!

Wrap-tastic

Have I mentioned how much I love the combination of mint, cilantro, and basil? Put those three herbs together and mix them up with almost any savory dish and I'll come sit at your table.

I buy mint, cilantro, and basil every week at the farmer's market and use them in summer salads, in any asian style soup, in tuna salad, chicken salad, in larb, in sorbet (no, really), and in a multitude of other dishes. Like I said, I adore the combination -- it is heady with fragrance, complexly nuanced, and fresh beyond belief.

Last night, D and M were coming home late from the airport, and I promised to have something yummy on the table when they got in. Because it was the end of the week, and the larder was on the empty side, I did not have much to work with. However, I did have the magical mix of herbs, a slab of marinated tofu, and a bag of chili flavored noodles.

Necessity being the mother of invention as it is, and those being the ingredients that I had on hand, this dish was created. It turned out to be a distant cousin to one of my favorite dishes, larb. D, M, and I all enjoyed it -- give it a try, it is another one of those fast, simple, healthy meals that you can get on the table in just about 30 minutes (and holds really well, you can serve it warm or at room temperature, or even cold).


Tofu Noodle Wraps



Ingredients:

--3 or 4 purple cabbage leaves per person, separated from the head and cleaned

-- 1 lb pasta (either soba noodles, udon noodles, or thin spaghetti noodles -- mine happened to be chili flavored spaghetti)

--1/2 cup total of liquid (your choice on the ratio, but I include: sesame oil, soy sauce, a bit of fish sauce, lucky boy soy paste, rice wine vinegar, and rooster sauce)
--2 cloves garlic, diced
--1 inch fresh ginger, dished
-- 1 8 oz package of baked tofu, sliced into matchsticks
--4 green onions, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
--1 cup sliced mushrooms
--1 cup diced herbs (basil, mint, and cilantro)

Directions:

1) put a large pot of water on to boil, and, when boiling, add your pasta. Cook until al dente and then drain.

2) meanwhile, heat the liquid mixture in a large wok until bubbling. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for about a minute.

3) add the tofu, onions, and mushroom, and cook, stirring regularly until mushrooms are done and tofu is heated through -- about 10 minutes. Then turn the heat off.

4) add the herbs and the drained noodles to the tofu mixture and stir until everything is incorporated and the noodles are slicked with sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning (at this point I added more rooster sauce)

To Serve:

Pile the noodle mixture onto a large plate, next to the plate of cabbage leaves. Let each person fill their own leaf to make their own wrap(s).

Just before the first bite. Yum!

In other (culinary) news, check out some of the first tomatoes from my tomato plants!

And, look at the delicious cupcakes I made for a 4th of July party -- they are the cupcake version of this cake. They were phenomenal, if I do say so myself, and were devoured in minutes after I brought them out. :)

Sucky Day Salad

Sometimes, you just have a sucky day. Or maybe you don't. Maybe it's just sometimes *I* have a sucky day. I doubt it though -- like death, taxes, and Paris Hilton, bad days are here to stay.

When I get home from an especially awful day (which for me usually includes: getting up early, horrible traffic, demanding clients, difficult bosses, and a late night) I need something easy for dinner. But more than that, I need something easy and good. No soup from a can or heated up pasta will do. I need something that will make me feel healthy, fill me up, and won't take me more than 15 minutes to prepare.

Enter, Sucky Day Salad.

There are a thousand variations on Sucky Day salad. The basic formula is this:

Your favorite salad greens (I like spring mix, spinach, and arugula) + assorted fresh veggies (I usually add tomatoes, mushrooms, and carrots) + protein source (for me, generally grilled chicken, tuna, tofu, or beans) + something a bit exotic (artichoke hearts, high quality olives, roasted peppers, etc.) + salad dressing of choice (usually a vinaigrette of some kind).

Simple? yes. But also, healthy, tasty, easy, and brightly colored. Certain to improve any sucky day.

My most recent example:

Mixed greens, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, cold, cooked lentils, roasted red and yellow peppers, and basil vinaigrette.

All of the ingredients live permanently in my pantry and refrigerator, and the entire thing takes less than 15 minutes to put together. Goodbye sucky day, indeed.

Chimichurri 2.0

Earlier this month, I was out to dinner with some friends from work. We were tired, hungry, and, for some unknown reason, talking about baseball. One of my cohorts, as they perused the menu, asked the table what chimichurri sauce was...happy that the conversation had moved from the Red Sox (of which I know nothing) and on to food (of which I know many things), I piped up with an explanation of the Argentinean sauce and its uses. In case you, lovely reader, are unsure, chimichurri sauce is usually made from chopped parsley, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, onion, and paprika. The herb mix is moistened with olive oil and a bit of vinegar, and the loose sauce is most often used to top steaks or as a dipping sauce for bread.
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I had this delicious mixture on my mind as I set about making dinner a few nights ago. I had some beautiful fresh, yellow wax beans, some adorable tiny potatoes, and a hunk of never frozen halibut. The yellow beans were on the receiving end of a hot bath in boiling salt water, and the potatoes were tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika and left to roast in the oven, while the halibut was sprayed with lemon juice and then dusted in salt and pepper before going on the grill. This meal was easy, healthy,.... and honestly, a bit boring. I needed something to liven up the lean fish, and provide a contrast to the simple beans and potatoes.

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I came up with this sauce, a first cousin of chimichurri, as a solution. It is so simple, I'm almost embarrassed to share the recipe with you, but its bright herby flavor was the perfect addition to our plates. I imagine that it would be delicious with anything grilled, from fish to chicken, and would also be wonderful as a baked potato topping or as a sauce to pour over sweet corn. Experiment -- and let me know of any other uses you find for it.

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Herb Sauce (Chimichurri style)

Ingredients:

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--1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonaded (I use thai purple basil)

--1/4 cup fresh cilantro, stems removed

--1/4 cup fresh mint, chiffonaded

--1 clove garlic, mashed into a paste with a pinch of salt

--salt and freshly ground pepper

--2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice)

--1 tablespoons olive oil (or more to taste)

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Directions

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1) grind all ingredients together with mortar and pestle until a loose paste is formed. Conversely, pulse all ingredients together in a mixer until a loose paste is formed. Add more oil or vinegar to correct consistency, if needed. The smell in your kitchen at this point will be fantastic, I promise. :)

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To serve:

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Spread thickly over the piece of grilled meat, vegetable, or bread. Eat. Sigh. Eat more.

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Notes: These pictures are kind of awful. I apologize. The yellow beans look oddly like french fries and all of the colors seem muted. I assure you, this dinner tasted 100 times better than the pictures indicate. As my friend J informed me, perhaps I need to work on presentation...

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The avocado dilemma

One avocado. Three people. Do you see the dilemma I was in? I felt like King Solomon -- should I cut the avocado into pieces or leave it whole? Would the avocado (and us) be better served by being sliced into tiny bits or by giving it to one person to enjoy? Did I mention that it was a small avocado to begin with?

Unlike King Solomon, I chose to cut up the baby. Erm, I mean avocado. Cut up the avocado, and then pulverize it. Because it seemed fairer...not that King Solomon had that choice -- pureed baby wouldn't have solved any problems.

Good God, what am I talking about? Forget it, I can't stretch this analogy any further, I've become (more) offensive (than usual).

Bottom line is, I chose to make avocado vinaigrette with our one sad, little avocado instead of slicing it up and giving us each a miserly portion.

Phew, are you still reading? Did I manage to not scare you away with all my talk of babies and pulverizing? Awesome. On to the recipe.

Avocado Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

--1 avocado, flesh scooped out

--2 tablespoons grapefruit vinegar (I buy mine at Trader Joes)

--1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

--1 tablespoon hot sauce (I use the green Tabasco)

--salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1) mash all ingredients together in a bowl. Add more vinegar or water until the mixture has a loose dressing type of consistency. (Do recipes get any easier than this?)

To serve:

Use as salad dressing or as sauce to pour over fish. I made a simple heirloom tomato salad -- just roughly chopped tomatoes, diced green onions, and a sprinkle of purple basil -- and served the avocado vinaigrette on the side. It was delicious -- and though it only contained one avocado, we each managed to satisfy our jones for the rich veggie.

Another pic of the tomato salad.

The rest of the meal -- seared tuna over mixed greens and couscous/red quinoa/baby garbanzo bean mix (from, where else? Trader Joes)

Nature's Viagra (no, really)

Once upon a time, D and M were traveling through Turkey (the country, not a particularly large fowl) and they ran across a fruit stand in the middle of nowhere. The side of the stand had a banner the size of a bus, saying "Nature's Viagra." D and M, being the curious folks that they are, set out to investigate. "Nature's Viagra" turned out to be Turkish Figs...large, luscious, and almost too sweet for word, figs. They bought a bunch, ate them all, and.....(I don't know what happened from here. I refused to listen to the story any further.)

Anyway, they were inspired to tell me this story after I made the salad described below. And, after smelling the sweet aroma of the ripe figs, breaking open their delicate flesh, and sinking my teeth into a their intoxicating flavor, I must agree. Figs are sexy. Dead sexy.

Make this salad for someone you love. Or someone you want to love you. Or just for yourself, to feel special. This salad would tempt a monk...

Fig Salad, with Walnut Oil and Aged Balsamic

Ingredients:

--1 to 2 figs per person

--2 cups salad greens per person (I used a mix of baby arugula and spring greens)

--1 tablespoon marcona almonds per person

--walnut oil (hazelnut oil would also be nice)

--pomegranate vinegar

--balsamic vinegar (the most expensive bottle you can afford. The tiny bottle I used was worth $150, and worth every penny. Aged balsamic tastes like normal balsamic multiplied by a million. sweet, complex, and wonderful.)

--salt and pepper

Directions:

1) quarter the figs

2) pile the salad greens onto a plate, place figs slices in a circle on the greens

3) sprinkle with marcona almonds

4) drizzle pomegranate vinegar and walnut oil over the plate

5) place one drop of balsamic on each fig slice

6) grind salt and pepper over entire plate and serve

Note:

This salad is a wonderful example of the the benefit of using high quality ingredients. Though the preparation is simple and there aren't many ingredients, this salad will seriously rock your world if you have perfectly ripe figs, fresh greens, a tasty nut oil, and some sweet fruity vinegars. And, like I said before, a very high quality balsamic will change your life (and palate) forever.

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Three more pictures of the fig salad...

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The rest of the meal, that night -- broccoli, roasted potatoes, shallots, and garlic, grilled pork chops. Delish!

The Edge of Reason

Sunday 17 June

9st, alcohol units 2 ( good), cigarettes 0 (v. good), instants 10 (v. bad, but flustered because saw Mark Darcy at market, and looked a mess), calories 1675 (excellent, considering), thigh circumference (18 inches, must go to gym), positive thoughts 2.

9:00, living room. Feeling v. full and v. pleased. I just ate yummy dinner (that I invented!), and now am watching brilliant new American t.v. show with dancing men in v. short shorts. Saw Mark Darcy earlier in market -- was total mess. Had just tried new curling iron on hair, and failed miserably with new style. Hair was sticking up, part curly and part straight. Attempted to pile on head in attractive messy manner, but ended up looking like an refugee from important BBC program. Was wearing tight yoga pants, but worried not as cute as Shaz in yoga pants. Possibly because Shaz does yoga and I don't. Face had spots, but had covered them (at least) before going to market. Anyway, saw Mark Darcy looking at me strangely from across the bin of rocket, and managed to squeak out, "Cheers, Mark" before he was able to ask what was wrong with my hair.

Chatted a bit about work, and then he asked if I was going round my mother's house anytime soon. Apparently, he actually *liked* my mother's turkey curry from the Turkey Curry Buffet this New Years and wanted the recipe. I told him my mother never shares her recipes, but that I had a better version for him to try. Of course, I can't cook a bit, but I bloody well had to come up with a reason to give him my number.

After running around the market like a mad woman, I came home with some powdered curry, some chutney, and some ground turkey, and managed to come up with a absolutely divine recipe. Just tasted one of the burgers, okay, two of the burgers, and feel positively giddy. Am splendid cook, like Jamie Oliver, but female.

Will call Mark Darcy straight away, show him my culinary brilliance, and cause him to fall madly in love with me.

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Alright, sorry about that folks. Once I determined that the dinner I was making involved turkey and curry, I couldn't stop giggling about the Bridget Jones connections. I indulged myself in a bit of imitation prose - I couldn't resist. For those of you who missed the Bridget Jones craze a few years ago (likely my male readers, though I hate to generalize), before Bridget Jones was played by Renee Zellweger, she was a character in a book. And, each new section of the book started remarkably as written above. The style always amused me, and I hope you enjoyed my toying with it. :)

Now, on to the actual recipe. I was working on a idea for a slightly different turkey burger, and was having a hard time coming up with anything other than an Asian inspired version. The curry idea came out of the blue, and once it lodged in my mind, I couldn't shake it.

I mixed the ground turkey with some garlic curry paste, mango ginger chutney, curry powder, and green onions. Shaped the mix into burgers, and grilled them until just done, then topped them with grilled eggplant slices and mango mint salsa. Man, oh, man, these were good -- or as Bridget would say, "Brilliant." The burgers were a bit spicy, but the mango mint salsa tempered the heat and the eggplants slices added a bit of smokey chew. The combination was wonderful -- next time you BBQ, I encourage you to give these a try.

Turkey Curry Burgers -- serves 4

The layers, in order, from the top -- whole wheat bun, mango mint salsa, grilled eggplant, turkey curry burger, more mango mint salsa, whole wheat bun.

Ingredients:

--1 lb very lean ground turkey

--2 tablespoons mango ginger chutney

--1 tablespoon hot garlic curry paste

--2 tablespoons curry powder (or less, to taste)

--4 green onions, finely chopped (green and white part)

Directions:

1) Mix all of the ingredients with your hands until fully combined. Don't over mix, or you'll have tough, chewy burgers

2) Shape mixture into 4 equal patties

3) Grill, on hot grill, for about 10 minutes (5 minutes per side) or until done. Don't overcook!

To Serve:

Top each burger with a dollop of mango salsa and a few slices of grilled eggplant (Slice an eggplant into 1/4 inch slices, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and grill as you grill the burgers -- 5 minutes per side or until done). Serve on a bun.

The burger, just before being put together. The bun, burger, and eggplant on the left and the mango salsa-ed bun on the right. Tomato/ cucumber salad in the background.

Sizzling on the grill....mmmmm

Lies, and the lying liars who tell them -- oh, and some food :)

Sorry for lying to y'all in my last post...I didn't update that night as I promised. Bad blogger, bad.

What can I say? Life got seven kinds of busy. However, on the plus side, I'm here now...right? And I have all sorts of things to post for you -- pictures, a recipe, stories, and more. So settle in for a good long post, full of all sorts of Kristel-approved fun.

First off, some seriously good banana bread. As you may remember, I have a thing about spotted bananas -- they totally gross me out. The cloying smell, the sick-sweet taste, the mushy texture...I wouldn't eat an overripe banana if you paid me. However, I'm also a farmer's daughter and I abhor throwing food away. So, when the repulsed get ripe bananas, the repulsed make banana bread.

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Now for the sad news -- I have no idea what recipe I used to make this bread. I remember it called for four smushed bananas, I remember I used part applesauce and part oil, and I remember I added cinnamon and nutmeg. The precise recipe, however, I have no idea. I'm sad I can't share a recipe with you -- this banana bread was wonderful. The crumb was dense and tender, and the walnuts crunchy, and the banana flavor just powerful enough.

Next, an simple and fast dinner. I usually get home pretty late from work, and I always try to get something on the table as soon as possible. I don't like to eat late, so the faster I get dinner ready, the better. This meal was made on a whim, but it turned out to be so tasty, that I felt obligated to take a picture. Curly pasta, dressed in a light tomato sauce, with mini sun-dried tomato chicken sausages, mushrooms, and olives. A simple side salad, with a dollop of homemade guacamole for dressing.

Next up, unique, spicy, complex and completely delicious shrimp.

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It started with a pound of shrimp and no ideas. D had requested black beans and rice as a side dish, and I had already made a mango peach salsa. I also knew I had some broccoli rabe to saute as another side, but what to do with the shrimp kept eluding me.

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Finally, I poked my head into the refrigerator in despair and my eyes landed upon a bottle of ginger beer. I poured the ginger beer into bowl, added a chopped garlic clove, some hot sauce, some fresh ginger, and the shrimp. I marinated the shrimp in the ginger beer mixture for about an hour, and then sauteed them in a bit of canola oil until just done. Then, I boiled down the marinade until it reached a sticky consistency. I plated the shrimp on a pool of the sauce, and surrounded it with a mound of mango salsa, a scoop of beans and rice, and a stack of broccoli rabe. Lucky for me, the gamble played off -- the entire meal was wonderful, but the shrimp were absolutely phenomenal. The sauce was exquisite -- the sweet and spicy ginger added an exotic bite, the garlic an earthy undertone, and the hot sauce a contrasting spice. yum!

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The shrimp and their sauce.

The rest of the plate -- the beans and rice, the mango salsa, and the broccoli rabe.

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Next, the roasted lamb. I butterflied a boneless leg of lamb, rubbed the inside with salt and pepper, and laid whole rosemary stems and garlic cloves across the meat. I rolled it up and secured the leg with metal picks, and baked it until it was medium rare. The lamb was served with mint pesto (mint, olive oil, salt, garlic), thinly sliced summer squash sauteed with lemon basil, and roasted potatoes. Everything was delicious, perfectly seasoned, and well matched. We *loved* this meal.

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And, last but not least, a recipe.

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I had picked up some green tomatoes at the Farmer's Market, with the idea of frying them. You see, I have southern roots (my mother is from Alabama), I love the move Fried Green Tomatoes, and I have a great cast iron frying pan. Surely I was destined to know how to make fried green tomatoes (even though I'd never tasted, made, or seen them before).

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I came up with the following recipe. I'm not sure how authentic it is, but it tasted pretty wonderful to us. Enjoy!

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Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

--4 large green tomatoes (or one for each person dining)

--1 cup flour

--salt and pepper, to taste

--4 large eggs

--1 tablespoon hot sauce of your choice

--1 cup cornmeal

--canola oil for frying

--hot sauce for serving

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Directions:

1) Slice the tomatoes into 1/2 inch think slices

2) pour the flour, salt, and pepper into one shallow bowl, the eggs (scrambled with a bit of water and the hot sauce) into another shallow bowl, and the cornmeal into another shallow bowl

3) heat an inch of oil in a large cast iron pan

4) dredge the tomato slices in flour, then dip them into the egg mixture, and then into the cornmeal (add more flour, eggs, or cornmeal to the bowls if you begin to run out)

5) as you take each slice out of the cornmeal, slide it carefully into the oil. Add each new slice as it is ready, being careful not to crowd the pan too much. If you add them too fast, the oil will drop too much in temperature and the tomatoes will get soggy instead of forming a crust

6) Check each slice periodically to see if the side in the oil has browned. If it has, turn it over and allow the other side to brown.

7) as each slice finishes frying, take it out of the oil with a slotted spatula and place on a plate covered in paper towels

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To serve:

Pile onto a plate, and offer hot sauce on the side.

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Note:

M likes them cold the next day, in a pita pocket with hummus.

Public Service Announcement

I am 26.

It is June.

Why do you care, you ask?

Well, those two clues should hint that the fact that dozens (it seems) of my friends are trotting down the aisle toward the altar. All of my weekends have been full of travel to bridal showers/weddings/bachelorette parties/sacred blood rituals. That means no trips to the Farmer's Market, no cooking on the weekends, and no time to cook during the week (because I'm trying to catch up on work to be ready to go out of town again the next weekend), and no blogging! I haven't done laundry in a month, haven't been grocery shopping in weeks, and haven't cooked a proper meal (other than breakfast) since mid-May. Boo.

Never fear, however, friends. I plan on catching up on some posting(s) tonight. You'll have plenty of pictures and recipes to entertain your mind and whet your appetite.

Until then...

But where has all the rum gone? (said in Cap't Jack Sparrow's slurring pirate accent)

Oh, the rum is right here, my friend, right here.

As I've told you all before, I'm not really big on desserts. However, I've been in the sweets-mode for a few weeks now....and all signs point to this trend continuing for awhile. My friends and co-workers have been lavished with leftover treats recently and now they won't stop pleading for more. What can I say? They're savages (scallywags?). :)

So, in my quest to come up with things that are delicious, I looked through my pantry.

chocolate.

rum.

pecans.

Oh baby, yeah.

Add these all together and discover a most luscious dessert. Yes, indeed, folks ... I'm talking about rum balls. The reason I embarked upon this particular (non)baking quest is simple. It was the last game of the kickball season and my team's name is Red Rum. Get it? Ball? Rum? :)

Rum Balls were clearly in order. Plus, inebriation via pastry is always fun.

The follow recipe is super simple. You can throw this together in just a few minutes and enjoy the rum balls immediately (or wait a few days for an even better treat). These are seriously good -- rich, chocolatey, with a hint of cinnamon, and a punch of rum. yum!

Be warned, however, that these things are super potent. Only serve to those of age (and not driving right away -- having just eaten one of these would make you fail a breathalizer test for sure!)

Rum Balls -- makes at least 40

Ingredients:

--1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans (toast the pecans first, let them totally cool, and then pulse very finely - if you don't let them fully cool they will get all pasty...which you don't want, I promise.)

--1 1/2 cups ground vanilla wafers (pulse into a fine powder in a food processor)

-- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus more for garnish

-- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

--2 tablespoons cocoa powder

--2 tablespoons corn syrup

--1/2 cup good quality rum (mix of your favorite -- I used spiced rum and stroh's rum)

Directions:

1) mix together all ingredients, in order listed, and chill until batter is cool (and less sticky)

2) roll dough into thumb size balls

3) toss them in a bowl with powdered sugar (enough to coat each ball)

4) store in refrigerator

Notes:

They're even better a few days later. My team adored them (and D and M made me promise to make more soon for them). Enjoy!