Meyer Lemon Mojitos

I recently received some goodies to try out from Frieda's, a specialty produce company based in California. Frieda's products can be found at Giant Eagle stores which are all over Pittsburgh, but there is also one located in Frederick, MD, for my more local readers. In the package were shallots, red pearl onions, and Meyer lemons. I decided to experiment first with the Meyer lemons, since I've never used them before. Meyer lemons are smaller and a little sweeter than regular lemons, making them a perfect option for preserving (next post!) and using in drinks. When coming up with ideas, I remembered that ancient saying: "When life hands you lemons, make lemon mojitos!" Yup, that was it.

The Meyer lemon is on the left!

I have to admit, I've had trouble making a great mojito at home, but this recipe, even though a slight twist on the regular lime mojito, really hit the mark!

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Farro with Apples, Almonds, and Smoked Mozz

So, I had 80% of this post written the other day and I accidentally hit my browser's back button a bunch of times, losing the entire thing. I thought there would at least be some of it saved, but no! None! So I threw in the towel. But I'm back and ready to post again, no longer angry at the computer. For the time being, at least. Anyway, to the foods.

Farro is another one of those ancient grains that is just now becoming popular in the U.S. It reminds me a bit of barley, but with more of a bite to it. It's hearty and healthy and a perfect alternative to pasta or rice in soups, bakes, or on its own as a salad. This recipe does just that - farro served with a delicious combo of apples, toasty almonds, dried cranberries, and smoked mozzarella. It would have been great as-is, but we were in a non-vegetarian mood so I baked some breaded chicken cutlets and served those on top. Delicioso! FYI the breaded chicken recipe is awesome in general for all your breaded chicken needs (chicken parm sandwich, salad, etc.).

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Oma's Gulyasleves (Goulash Soup)

Goulash is a staple in the Hungarian diet, and our family was no exception. Oma (my grandmother) always had a piping hot bowl of goulash ready for us, served with a heap of nokedli (like spaetzle noodles). She always knew to make extra nokedli when I was coming over, since I tended to have a bowl of nokedli with a dash of goulash on top. I've gotten a little better about that now, but still, goulash without nokedli is like summer without sand, or Ben without Jerry.

This soup is easy to make and has few ingredients, but packs a lot of flavor. Note that Hungarians eat their goulash as a soup, while Czech's tend to have it as a stew. We do it the Magyar way. This is the second recipe from Oma that I've posted. They are all near and dear to my heart!

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Seared Scallops over Celeriac and Rutabaga Puree

I've never cooked with celeriac (aka celery root) nor rutabagas, so this post can easily qualify as a "branching out" recipe. I haven't done one of those in a long time! I had a Groupon for Whole Foods, so decided to use it on fresh sea scallops, a treat in our house. Um, and $100 worth of produce and other goodies... but let's not split hairs. That's how they get ya!

Celeriac is an ugly, bulbous-looking root of a kind of celery plant. The greens that grow off it may look like celery, but they do not taste as good. I saved mine for chicken stock. Rutabaga is in the turnip family and also not very attractive, but fear not! Both are unoffensive yet have distinct flavors that are perfect for wintery soups, vegetable roasts, and purees. For an easy yet ridiculously fancy-shmance-sounding dinner to impress the in-laws, give this a whirl!

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Winter Sangria

I had this sangria at a friend's holiday party a few years ago and had to steal the recipe. The cinnamon and cloves just scream holidays and create a great new twist on a classic drink that I usually equate with summer. I served it at a party of my own and it was a hit there, too.

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Green Curry Quinoa with Cauliflower

This is an easy, healthy, and warming meal for fall or winter nights. Switch up the veggies to your heart's content; the green curry broth makes this dish. If you are familiar with Thai food, you will recognize the flavors. If not, become familiar with Thai food by making this right meow.

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Biscuits with Artichokes, Roasted Red Peppers and Feta

I know, sounds amazing, right?? They are just as scrumptious as they sound, too, and super easy! This is another one of those tailgating recipes I made last month but these biscuits would compliment any casual or fancy dinner.

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Goat Cheese, Fig, and Prosciutto Tarts

ok so those greens don't look very appetizing - next time will add after baking!

There is stiff competition between my love for crostinis and my love for puff pastry appetizers. There is just so much that can be done with both options! Come to think of it, the majority of things you put on/in a puff pastry can probably go right on crostini toast too. I just blew my own mind.

I reject the notion that tailgating has to equate burgers, hot dogs, and chili. Maybe I'm just getting old, but lately I love bringing some more fancy options to supplement the staples. When the opportunity arose to tailgate at Maryland's homecoming last month, I went full force on the appetizer/snack train. These tarts were one of my culinary contributions. Modified from a galette recipe to make them more finger-food friendly, they are sure to please a crowd for any fall event. Leave off the prosciutto for a vegetarian dish, if you must.

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Ravioli with Yogurt, Mint, and Smoked Paprika Oil

This recipe caught my eye while browsing through my blogs over the summer and I couldn't resist trying it. I don't usually go for pastas with little more than a dollop of yogurt for a topping, but this stuck out as being extra unique, or perhaps it was the smoked paprika that reeled me in - I LOVE that stuff. It goes with anything, I tell ya!

Anyway, this is a great, almost-no-cook, quick weeknight dish that was perfect for summer (oops, sorry) but would also be great on these still-warmish autumn days. It's ridiculously simple to throw together.

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Mahi Mahi with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Cilantro Pesto

I'm sure this recipe would work with any grillable fish; while the fish itself is delicious, the stars here are the roasted red pepper sauce and cilantro pesto. At the end of the meal, I ate the leftover sauce/pesto straight off my plate.

Served with some sauteed veggies and wild rice, this makes a well-rounded and healthy meal!

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Spaghetti Squash "Lasagna"

Forgive me if this post's writing is subpar, but I've been up since 4am and to Durham, NC and back for a meeting. I'm home now with a glass of wine and some delicious spaghetti squash leftovers. It would be cruel not to share.

For those who love baked pasta dishes but are trying to eat a little less carbs, this is a great stand-in for cheesy, gooey lasagna. Keep in mind that spaghetti squash doesn't taste like spaghetti, but it does have a nice texture and holds up to sauces quite well, making it a lovely substitute. I also used part-skim cheeses where I could, although I don't think it made much of a difference when I housed 1/4 of the dish in one sitting.

For the easy vegetarian recipe, read on!

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Breakfast Tortilla Pizzas

The one on the left has mozz cheese right on top, so it got a little burnt. The one on the right (ahem, mine), has the cheese craftily buried a little under the turkey.

Our ol' Saturday morning breakfast standby usually consists of eggs, veggies, and sometimes sausage or bacon wrapped up in a cheesy burrito. Don is a master at breakfast burritos so it can be hard to try something new. However, sometimes you gotta just take a breakfast-y risk! We did just that by making breakfast "pizzas" using flour tortillas instead of having to deal with dough. They came out delicious, and are super-easy to make. I will definitely experiment with different veggies/meats/cheeses in the future.

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General Tso's Chicken

Well, there went September, huh?? It's my favorite month of the year (and not just because it's my birthday month) yet it seemed to fly by in one blink! Then again, we're almost halfway through October and it feels like it just started. This summer was one of our busiest, with 5 awesome weddings scattered across the globe (okay, mostly the Northeast but Puerto Rico and Florida too!). We were traveling somewhere or other for 6 weekends in a row beginning in August and lasting through mid-September, so needless to say there wasn't much food photography going on midweek between laundry, errands, and packing. I feel like I'm finally back on my game and then some, trying new recipes most nights each week. I've got lots of great ones to share in the coming weeks, provided that I get back on my blogging game as well. That remains to be seen...

Don's favorite Chinese take-out item is General Tso's Chicken, so last month I decided to treat him to a homemade version. It was surprisingly easy and had relatively few ingredients compared to much of the Asian/Southeast Asian cooking I do. Probably not the healthiest, but worth the indulgence and certainly healthier than the take-out version. The original recipe called for deep-frying, but I pan-fried the chicken instead.

Have I mentioned Rasa Malaysia before? If you love Asian food as much as I do, then you must check out this blog. The recipes are easy to follow, contain ingredients that are easy to find (having an Asian grocery definitely helps sometimes), and result in some amazing, exotic flavors. Pad See Ew is another one of her recipes I've made. Recently I've also tried her Malaysian Curry Laksa... I can't remember if I took pictures of it but let's hope!

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Grilled Scallops over Quinoa Salad

Oops I took the picture before drizzling with balsamic!

We've cooked scallops at home once before, searing them and serving over an Asian salad. It came out great but we both agreed that we overcooked the scallops a bit in our novice fear of undercooking the middle. That just would not do this time! We decided to try grilling them on skewers instead, mostly because it's summer and any excuse to turn on the grill is a good one. This time I marinated them in a mint pesto first, then served over a salad of quinoa, greens, and tomatoes. Extra mint pesto plus some balsamic reduction made the dressing. So fresh and summery!

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Garam Masala Lamb Dumplings

I love dumplings - pretty much any combination of meat in a dough pocket is delicious to me and thankfully almost every culture has their own version! This particular recipe reinvents the Chinese-style dumpling by using lamb and Indian spices. The first time I made it, I made the dough myself but decided to buy the pre-made wonton wrappers for the second go-around and I didn't taste any difference (the only difference was the time saved!). I'll include the dough recipe at the bottom in case you want to go the 100% homemade route.

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Romesco Sauce

I hopped on the bandwagon and made myself some Romesco sauce a couple weeks ago, and boy was I glad I did! This Catalonian sauce combines roasted red peppers with almonds; add a serious smoky kick and you've got an incredibly versatile condiment. I served it with grilled salmon, spring onions, and broccoli, but the leftovers went on sandwiches, in salads (thinned out a bit with yogurt) and even just scooped up with crackers.

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Leek and Bleu Cheese Crostinis

Have I mentioned my love for crostinis? Well, here's another variation on the amazingly versatile and fancy-seeming appetizer. This one's topped with leeks, blue cheese, and bacon crumbles for good measure. Another gem from smitten kitchen (although the bacon was totes my idea - omit if you want vegetarian). I brought it to a fancy ladies' brunch and it was a hit.

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Broccolini Puff Pastry Galette

Last year, I made a zucchini galette that had me drooling for more. It was unbelievable. Only thing is that making the dough is time-consuming and a bit onerous in that all the ingredients need to stay cold in order to get the flakiest dough. This time, I decided to take a short cut and use puff pastry instead. The galette came out great! The dough doesn't hold together as well as the previous galette but it is definitely a good way to get the galette look and flavor without having to make your own dough. This time, I filled it with broccolini and feta cheese!

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Strawberry Bread

I first made this bread over 5 years ago when I had a ton of leftover strawberries from a planned strawberry shortcake dessert that never panned out. I was a pretty inexperienced cook but managed to pull of this simple and delicious bread.

It lasted surprisingly long, even coming with me to my first Bonnaroo, where I met Don. Perhaps this bread is what won him over! Eh, probably not... but it's still great! I made it again recently and remembered how delicious and easy it is, and perfect for a summer breakfast, dessert, or snack.

Usually, when I see that a recipe has you preheating the oven in the first step (as I often do in my own recipes - sorry!), I think "yeah, okay - I'll preheat when I think there's actually 10 minutes before it goes in the oven." But here, you can preheat the oven right away! By the time it's preheated you are actually ready to put everything in, provided you aren't using a knife one-handed or something.

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Chicken with Cornmeal Dumplings

I made this back in April when it wasn't quite 90 degrees out yet, but I would still recommend it if you're looking for an easy one-pot meal - even in the summer! Plus, it calls for beer which, really, you can't go wrong with. I modified the original recipe by adding some broccoli for a bit more veggie-ness.

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My New Outdoor Table!

Just wanted to brag about my fancy new table from World Market that I decorated with a runner and some hurricanes/lanterns, also from World Market. I love that place.

Gotta enjoy it before the devil mosquitoes take over the yard!

:-)

Crostinis with Rosemary, Roasted Tomatoes, Prosciutto, and Ricotta

I love me some crostinis. What a versatile, easy appetizer that can be thrown together with pretty much any combination of cheese, meat, and vegetables.

For my sister's bachelorette party we started off with a very mature, fancy cocktail hour, not long after which things obviously degraded into the usual bachelorette party shenanigans. But let's not focus on that, shall we? Back to the sober, adult-like part.

We snacked on homemade guacamole, sweet potato chips, a delicious cheese selection, and these crostinis topped with herbed roasted tomatoes, prosciutto, and ricotta cheese. A divine combination!!

Read on for the easy recipe...

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Asian Roasted Chicken with Rice and Asparagus

Sorry all, but I've been in a bit of a cooking rut lately. I've been making new things, things I enjoy, but I just haven't felt inspired to share the recipes with ya'll. So I apologize for the lack of posting, but I guess that means that I'll only give you the best! Of course, the "best" is entirely subjective to my tastes. Hopefully you agree.

The other night I was inspired to bring back the ol' spatchcock method when roasting a chicken. When deciding how I wanted to flavor the bird, I remembered an Asian marinade I made to go with chicken thighs a while ago and how delicious it was. Why not modify it and rub an entire bird? The rub has a spicy ginger flavor and is rounded out with miso paste (available in Asian markets). Miso paste, along with being the base of miso soup, can also be used to make dressings, marinades, and generally adds a nice touch to anything Asian you can dream up.

I served the chicken with rice, stir fried with asparagus and red bell pepper (of course). For the easy recipes, read on! Note that I made this up as I went, so measurements are estimated. Feel free to modify for your own tastes.

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Korean-Style Short Rib Soup

As one who loves lazy cooking, I'm always on the lookout for new and fun recipes to make in my slow cooker. I've made short ribs in the past and enjoyed them, so I decided to give this Korean-style recipe a go. I love all manner of Asian soups and stews, especially if they are served with fixins (uh, hello, Pho). This soup fit the bill quite well.

The flavors of the soup came out delicious, and the short ribs were perfectly melt-in-your-mouth tender, but I had the same complaint as I did with the Oxtail Ragu post - it was just too greasy! I even separated the broth from everything, refrigerated it for an hour, then scooped off as much fat as possible. I shredded the meat piece by piece, pulling out as much fat as possible. Even still, when it all came together it had an oiliness to it that was off-putting to me. I just don't know what to do!

I'm still posting the recipe because the spices were great and perhaps it's just my taste that's keeping me from totally loving it. I bet it would also be good slow cooked with chicken or another meat that is a bit less fatty than short ribs.

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Beef Empanadas

My sister is getting married in Puerto Rico next month, so my mom and I decided to throw her a Latin-themed bridal shower to get everyone pumped for the big tropical wedding weekend.

We had the entree portion catered by Manna restaurant in Takoma Park, a great authentic Dominican/Puerto Rican take-out joint. I had to test the food prior to hiring them so I went there for lunch once and had the mofongo, a dish that I fell in love with last time I went to Puerto Rico. It was bangin! Fried, mashed plantains served over a salad with all sorts of fixins and crispy pork. Delish. Mofongo isn't great for a catered event since it can get soggy if left out, so instead we got a mixed grill of seasoned beef, chicken, and shrimp along with some fried yuca, fried sweet plantains, rice and lentils, and black beans. Everything came out SO flavorful and the guests raved. If you are in need of authentic Latin catering, or are just driving through Takoma Park, I highly recommend stopping by Manna for a bite. They are so darn friendly too!

Anyway, back to the subject. For appetizers, my mom made tortilla roll-ups, a classic app in my family (perhaps I'll post it in the future), we had chips and a variety of salsas/guacamole, and I made beef empanadas. Smitten Kitchen never fails me!! I made the filling and the dough ahead of time so that the day of, all I had to do was roll out the dough, fill and bake them. Luckily I had my aunt as a helper, because this is time-consuming work, especially when you're trying to decorate a house for a shower at the same time.

You can buy pre-made empanada disks to save time, but if you do have the time to spend, homemade dough is much better. See below for the dough and empanada recipes.

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Everything Chickpea Crackers

Don't be fooled by the "Chickpea" in the title - these awesome crackers still have a bunch of butter in them so while they're healthier than many, they're still delicious crunchy flaky crackers.

I've made crackers once before and tried to top them with tons of goodies like poppy seeds, sesame seeds, chipotle powder, etc. but after they baked, all the toppings slid right off. This time, I brushed the crackers with an egg wash before sprinkling on the toppings. Worked like magic!

Don't be afraid by having to break out a rolling pin; these are incredibly easy to make.

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Valentine's Day

Every year, we decide last minute that we want to try to get away on Valentine's Day and make a feeble attempt at finding a good deal on a B&B within a couple hours of the DC Metro area. Needless to say, it usually falls through due to our lack of planning (note: it did work out excellently once, when we spent the weekend in a B&B near Luray, VA). Anyway, we inevitably end up staying in and cooking a delicious fancy meal. To be honest, cooking in is so much less stressful than planning a weekend away and ends up being more romantic!

Clockwise from left: roasted cauliflower, flowers from my honey, crab legs, and filet mignon

On this year's menu were Alaskan king crab legs, grilled filet mignon, and roasted cauliflower with dates. To start, we made a warm almond-crusted manchego cheese appetizer. Decadent, nutty, and unhealthy, it was the perfect way to start a romantic evening. I bought the king crab legs from Cameron's, a seafood market near my office. Don picked out the filets and decided to wrap his with bacon, obviously. The crab legs were steamed in beer, lemon, and garlic then served with melted garlic butter though they really didn't need anything. The filets were rubbed with a simple salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and olive oil mixture then grilled to medium-rare perfection.

For the appetizer recipe and meal pictures, see below.

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Woodberry Kitchen

My sister took us to this awesome restaurant last weekend when my parents were in town, so I thought it would be great if she were the one to post the review, having been there several times. Ladies and Gentlemen, enjoy her fabulous review of Baltimore's Woodberry Kitchen.

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Mozzarella Asparagus Crostinis

I had unexpected company come over one night, so had to make an appetizer from ingredients that were already in the fridge, since planning and shopping wasn't an option. Everyone has mozzarella cheese in some fashion or another, lemons, and bread. Add a vegetable and - voila! - crostinis! I used asparagus but really any tasty vegetable you like can be used (broccoli, spinach, or eggplant are some ideas).

For the simple recipe, see below:

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Avocado Henge

(a.k.a. Don's food art)


While we were waiting for a delicious Tex-Mex casserole thing to bake last night, Don cut the avocados for us and decided to really take his food art to the next level.

I almost didn't want to eat them! .....almost.

Mussels in Thai Red Curry Sauce

I love Thai curries, especially when mussels are slowly cooked in them and I have tons of crusty bread to use as a sauce vehicle. To satisfy one of these cravings a few weeks ago, I found a simple recipe on Epicurious and went with it. Mussels are cheap, seem fancy, and are ridiculously easy to cook, so it's a triple bonus!

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Ciabatta (Take 2)

I finally procured another jar of yeast from the store and, learning from my previous mistakes, immediately put it in the fridge. Those little buggers won't die on me this time!

First up with my KitchenAid is my favorite kind of bread for sandwiches: ciabatta. Having used my KitchenAid, I can't even imagine those dark ages when I actually had to knead the bread by hand for 10 minutes. The horror! All joking aside though, the KitchenAid is amazing! You literally just turn it on and walk away (keeping an eye on it of course). I think that housewives of the 1600s would have literally imploded upon hearing of this.

The ciabatta didn't come out exactly as I would have liked it; it was a bit thicker with less air pockets than in previous times. I probably need to get used to making bread in the KitchenAid.

Keep in mind that this bread starts with a sponge, so it takes over a day to make. Start ahead of time. It's super easy though, even without a KitchenAid.

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Ribollita

Ribollita is a Tuscan soup that is loaded with veggies and thickened with bread. There are three different kinds of greens. Three! Not to mention the rest of the vegetables - perfect for a cold wintry night at home.

The soup has to simmer for a few hours to really blend all the flavors, so it's more of a weekend soup than a weeknight one. One recipe makes 8-10 servings, so we froze much of it. I had some of the frozen leftovers for lunch today (2 weeks later) and it was still great!

If you follow the recipe exactly, it calls for dried beans which adds another day to the cooking process; if you want to cheat like me, just use 2 cans of beans instead.

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Fish Tacos

Swai was on sale at the store recently so, having never tried it before, obviously I bought a metric ton. According to Seafood Watch, Swai is a farmed river catfish and is more ecologically responsible than other white fish species. It's very similar to tilapia, if not a tad more fishy. We liked it but didn't love it. And now we have 3 more tupperwares of it in the freezer. It will be conquered!

Tacos are the perfect thing to make with simple white fish. We make them relatively often; this time, we breaded and broiled the Swai instead of grilling or pan-frying it. Don went for a double-dip bread method to get the crunchiest crust possible. It worked beautifully.

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Christmas 2010 - Spiced Nuts

I spent this Christmas with my husband's family and I wanted to give each in-law something simple but delicious. I got the idea for homemade spiced nuts from one of my food blogs and decided to go with it. I found adorable glass containers with green lids at World Market, filled them with the nuts, then used baker's string and little cardboard tags to create a no-fuss "wrapping." Easy and elegant!

The chipotle and rosemary spiced nuts combine herby with smoky with sweet in a perfect balance. They are amazing. Ina Garten has done it again!

If you aren't making Christmas gifts anytime soon (and if you are you're weird), these are highly recommended for any party. Serve them warm or cool; they are delicious either way.

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Branching Out, v3.0 - Oxtail!

I know Bourdain would be disappointed in how dirty this bowl looks. Whatevs.

I found a recipe for Oxtail Ragù, and figured that even though I've never cooked oxtail myself, it couldn't be that crazy. I love pho and oxtail is a main ingredient of the broth. The fatty marrow adds tons of flavor when you slowly braise the oxtails in a broth or sauce.

I have to admit that this recipe didn't turn out to be my favorite. We found it to be way too fatty with not enough meat, but the good news is that it can be solved. I suggest that instead of just skimming the fat while still hot, let the sauce cool for a while then skim the fat layer. Furthermore, make sure that you're getting good, meaty oxtails from the butcher. I bought mine at a local Asian supermarket and wasn't really paying attention to the amount of meat on each bone. We were disappointed with what we got.

I don't regret trying out the oxtails and will certainly cook with them in the future, provided that I can obtain bigger ones.

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Whoops

Sorry everyone who reads this blog through an RSS feed - you may have accidentally just seen a post with a bunch of random pictures. I was testing some html and accidentally published! I deleted the page but it still showed up in my google reader.

My bad.

KitchenAid

OMG I am the worst blogger ever, it's been almost a month! Don't hate me. It's not you, it's me.

I promise I will have more recipes in the coming weeks, but for now I just want to brag about my Christmas present from Mom and Dad: a KitchenAid!!

Isn't she beautiful? Pistachio, too! Matches my kitchen almost scarily.

I haven't cooked with her yet but I promise you'll know as soon as I do. First up on the list is ciabatta bread. I actually started it tonight but the yeast that has been in the cupboard too long is decidedly dead. My bad on the whole "refrigerate after opening" thing. So once I procure some yeast from the store, we will try again.

Until next time, friends! Happy New Year!!!