trying new things

I've been trying to use seasonal and locally sourced ingredients when I can. I have learned that spring is dandelion season. I've never had dandelion greens before. I just remember how the milky liquid smelled when I picked them as a kid and how they are a "weed" and therefore "bad". It would have never occurred to me that they are edible. I ordered some last week, not quite knowing what I might do with them, but determined to give them a try. They arrived, a stunning shade of dark green with deep red stems and larger than any dandelion leaf I could remember seeing. I still didn't know what to do with them. A little browsing on the internets suggested using them like most other greens--sauteed with lots of garlic, chili flakes and bacon.
That left me a little disappointed after a long winter of greens in every form--sauteed, pureed, roasted into chips...
After a few days I decided they weren't going to be good in any form if I just let them sit in the fridge and wilt until the dandelion green light bulb went on over my head.
So, using the white beans I cooked earlier this week, I made a white bean soup with bacon, dandelion greens and fried sage.

White bean, bacon, dandelion greens and fried sage soup...photo by Kristin
We were not disappointed with the result. And, I can say that I would not only use, but seek out dandelion greens again. They were great in the soup and I'd love to try them on their own.

As I mentioned the other day, I made ceci snacks. Or that's what I'm calling them. Ceci means garbanzo bean/chickpea in Italian. I don't like the word garbanzo. It conjures up images of dried out beans sitting in a brown plastic container on a salad bar. Chickpea is ok, but I love saying ceci. Chay-chee.
Anyway, I've been seeing roasted ceci recipes around and wanted to try my own version. These are best eaten the day they are made, otherwise they loose their crisp. They do an amazing job of satisfying that craving for crunchy, salty nibbles.

Curried ceci snacks...photo by Kristin.
In a bowl I mixed up about 2 tbls. of garam masala, pinches of salt, pepper, cayenne (to taste), 3 tbls.olive oil and about a tbls. of dark brown sugar. Then I tossed about two well drained cups of ceci beans in this mixture and roasted them in a 400 preheated oven for about 30-50 mins. I'd start to check at 30 and keep an eye on them until they are golden and slightly crispy on the outside. Let cool. They are pretty addictive! There are probably a lot of flavor combos that you could make for these. I'll let you know when I try my next mixture.

Catch-up (ha-ha, there's no ketchup in this post)

If it seems like I've been neglecting my food blog, it's only because the weather in Seattle is getting a little better and I try to soak up as much of it as I can.

Yesterday was a busy day in my kitchen though. I did a morning run to the store to pick up some items for the pantry, cleaned out the fridge and freezer, made hummus and curried ceci snacks, soaked and cooked a gazillion cannelini beans to freeze and decided to make biscotti. I think I saw them being made on a cooking show recently.

Hazelnut and dark chocolate chunk biscotti...photo by Kristin
They were pretty simple to make: whole wheat flour, flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, hazelnuts, and dark chocolate chunks. I didn't even have to break out the mixer. They were comforting this morning with my coffee as it was a little cool and overcast when I woke up.

Have you ever tried making baked eggs? They're great for when you don't want to be standing over the stove scrambling/frying/poaching. I made them on Sunday for our brunch, but they definitely would be a satisfying lunch or dinner.

Baked eggs...photo by Kristin
As a base, I made a hash of bacon, potatoes, asparagus, leeks and peas. Start by rendering the bacon and then remove it from the pan. Add diced potatoes and leeks and when they're almost finished, toss in some sliced asparagus and peas and the bacon(after crumbling it a bit). Or, skip the bacon part and use a little olive oil and/or butter. The potatoes brown better if you stir them around only every once and a while. I let them do their thing while cleaning up around the kitchen a little. At this point, you can let everything cool a little, or use right away. Preheat oven to 400. In an oven safe bowl(for individual servings) or a shallow baking dish, put a layer of the hash on the bottom. Pour in just a little cream maybe 1-2 TBLS. (optional, but sooo tasty). Crack two eggs for each serving on top. Place bowls in a shallow dish with hot water that comes halfway up the sides of the bowls. Carefully place this in the oven and cook until the eggs are set. I start checking after about 20 mins. Five minutes before they're done sprinkle some shredded cheese of your choice over the top. Be careful taking them out when they're done too! To remove the bowls from the dish with water, I use a large spatula to get under the bowl and some tongs to grab onto a side. And I really take my time transferring them to a plate. Serve warm.

I didn't forget the roast chicken from the last post... I really need to do this more often. I've just been putting the whole chicken on the table, cold, so we can take little bits to have with whatever. Roasted veggies, chunks of good bread, served with pasta. It's such a great no brainer for busy weeknights. My new favorite combo is dijon mustard mixed with a little mayo to dip chicken and veggies in.

Rost chicken...photo by Kristin
You could also heat up some of the leftovers to make tacos and pasta dishes etc...

I wanted to mention the ceci snacks, but I have to run. Next post....

It's finally time...

...for iced coffee! It was beautifully warm and sunny early this week. Perfect for sitting in the garden with an iced coffee.

First iced coffee of the year...photo by Kristin
But coffee and I have a complicated relationship. I can drink a limited amount before my heart starts palpitating and I can't decide if I want to laugh or cry or both while pacing back and forth in our apartment sweating a lot.
When I first started drinking coffee, it was a vehicle for cream and sugar. Then I had Dunkin' Donuts coffee when I moved to Providence, R.I. to go back to school. When you order a "regular" coffee, they add the cream and sugar for you (I think common on the east coast?). Let me just say that I may have come as close as I ever will to experiencing crack. Unless you include Peete's coffee( but that is a different beast). I have learned to moderate my love of overly creamy and sugary coffee by including just a little of both in my cup. Where is this all going? I wanted a way to have more of the refreshing-iced-coffee-goodness without having the cardiac incident that comes with it. So I started thinking....and I thought of the coffee syrup that has it's roots in Rhode Island. It's like Hershey's syrup, but coffee flavored. They add it to milk to make "coffee milk"--the official drink of the state of Rhode Island, I just learned. Now I have my starting point. Coffee syrup is pretty sweet, a little too much so, otherwise, I would order a case for twenty bucks and call it good. I also haven't had a glass of milk since, um, since...ew.

Coffee cremosa....photo by Krisitn
To make a long story short, I have begun experimenting with my own coffee syrup. The first attempt turned out pretty well. It doesn't quite have the consistency of a syrup yet. I was trying to avoid using any heat. A lot of recipes I found on the net to use as reference basically kept cooking coffee over and over. Too much heat+oils in coffee=bitter. Last summer, I heard about the NY Times recipe for iced coffee. It is uh-MAZE-ing. The flavor of cold brewed coffee is sublime. Rich, complex, caramel-y and velvety yet refined and balanced without a hint of bitterness. I was trying to replicate that in my coffee syrup. I cold brewed a really strong ratio (1/2 c. grounds to 1 1/2 c. water) for a little over a day. After filtering the liquid from the grounds, I stirred in 1/2c. brown sugar until it was dissolved. Oh, the other thing about me and coffee is that white sugar is not at the top of my list for preferred sweeteners. Turbinado sugar, brown sugar, honey, agave--yes, yes, yes and yes. White sugar only if any of the aforementioned are not available. I would rather drink it black if my only choice was artificial sweetener.(I would maybe rather do anything than consume that stuff).
Back to the syrup...
The flavor is great, pretty much everything I was looking for, so now I'm trying to decide if I need to tweak the consistency.
To solve the "full glass of milk=ew", I thought of creamosas, or more commonly known as Italian sodas. They are basically two glugs flavored sugar water added to club soda/sparkling water with a little tiny splash of cream over ice. You can probably see where this is going...
My first coffee cremosa was flavorful and refreshing without giving me a heart attack. For now, I will use up this batch and let you know if I make any adjustments.
Other uses for coffee syrup?
Over ice cream
In a cocktail, maybe with Bailey's and/or Frangelico or Grand Marnier or creme cacao and/or vodka...
Stirred into yogurt

I would try to think of more, but I have a roast chicken ready to come out of the oven!
(Foreshadowing???)

Succulent,crunchy,crispy,sweet,peppery,salty goodness

Orange, fennel, arugula salad with scallops...photo by Krisitn
A light meal for a Saturday of bike riding... Orange, fennel and arugula salad with almonds, pancetta, radishes, garlic croutons and scallops and a basil vinaigrette...

Saving more than we spent...photo by Kristin
...and then we restocked our pantry a little and saved more than we spent at the local Grocery Outlet! Organic olive oil, local chicken, pasta, olives---the list goes on. This will take us through the next few weeks!

taking a page...

A few years ago, I picked up the above book second hand for maybe five bucks. I was drawn to the cover because it reminded me of my early days of art making--hanging out at my friends house, drinking wine, and making water color paintings of fruit. Her mom has one of my cherry paintings hanging in her kitchen. And I think I thought the sound of "summer cooking" just sounded maybe a little romantic or nostalgic or something. Like swimming and bug bites and late summer afternoon sun. I had an interest in cooking then, but I really didn't know what I didn't know then.
I started reading through it again this week and it's such a different book to me now than it was then. Funny how that happens.
The author wrote it in 1955, with an emphasis on local, seasonal ingredients that are quickly prepared and perfect for savoring the sun while having some great food.
I was thinking of this when I made my lunch yesterday. I saw the pretty purple, red and white radishes I had and knew that I had to put together something mentioned in the book. A chunk of baguette, some butter , sliced radishes and some salt.

Spring radishes...photo by Kristin

It was surprisingly delicious and took 2 minutes to make.

In the coming weeks, I hope to feature more from this great book. It just makes you want to pack a picnic basket and find a shady tree next to the water and watch the sun go down.

Spring treats

Strawberry scones and tea...photo by Kristin

This past weekend I decided to try a little baking. My friend sent me a recipe from her sister's bed and breakfast in Vermont. Although I haven't yet been to the Ardmore Inn in Woodstock, Vermont, I've been to Vermont in the fall and it's as amazing as they say. I'd love to stay at the inn sometime and take a zillion photos of the fall foliage.

I pretty much followed the recipe as follows, except I added fresh strawberries in place of the dried fruit and nuts.

"Ardmore Inn Scones

2 c. flour (i do half ww and half white, what i have on hand)
1 T. baking powder
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
mix the above together and cut in:
1 cube* butter until the flour mix is like the size of rice grains or a little bigger.
mix up:
1 lg. egg and
1/2 c. light cream (i use 1/2 and 1/2 or milk)

before you mix the wet in add whatever you like. this am we had cranberries and pecan pieces in the scone.
then mix the wet in until just mixed. knead a few times and pat out into two circles. cut the circles in fourths, you'll end up with 8 scones.

bake at 400 or 450, depending on how hot your oven is. ours does well at 400 for 12 minutes.

then major yum.. "
* 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)

The scones were slightly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They weren't so dry that I needed to immediately take a drink of something after a bite, like some scones from some coffee places. I will definitely make these again, maybe with some different fillings. I will also store them in a location out of reach from our dog! He thought they were irresistible!

Eating out at home on a budget

We like to eat out. A lot. Recently we've cut back. Partially because I'm home more now to cook and partially because of trying cut back on spending.
Tonight I trotted down to the local Grocery Outlet, which happens to be less than two blocks from our place, to see what I could find for dinner. I usually can find frozen, uncooked shrimp for a really good deal and that's what I was holding in my mind as the starting point. See, if you go to G.O. looking for something in particular, they won't have it. Murphy's law or something like that. So, I go, knowing what they almost always have, look for that, and go from there. It's like a treasure hunt, or finding out what's behind door number 1,2,or 3. At times you can't find anything and sometimes you hit the jackpot. You just never know.
Tonight was a jackpot night. Not only did I find the shrimp, but scallops and crab claws as well. I found the major players for my quick-but-bistro style dinner. I may have paid ten bucks for the bag of shrimp, but I know that I'll get several meals out of it.

Saffron in warm water... photo by Kristin

I had all the other ingredients to make a Mediterranean seafood stew, at home.


Harissa photo... by Kristin
This is another reason why I like to keep a well stocked pantry. It's something that I don't supply all at once, I know what I use on a regular basis and just buy a little of this and that whenever I'm out. Some things like the harissa and saffron, I get when we go to my favorite Spanish market. Other times I'll see tuna or pasta or canned whatever, or dried mushrooms etc. on sale, and I'll pick some up. For now, it's all in my head--the whole inventory of my kitchen, and I usually just know what I need when.

From the kitchen window... photo by Kristin
There was the added bonus of a beautiful evening sky from the window as I was cooking...


Mediterranean seafood stew... photo by Kristin

It should come as no surprise that I started by sauteing an onion(most of my dishes start here!) along with a finely chopped carrot with fresh thyme, garlic and olive oil. After about 5 mins. I added a little dry vermouth (I sometimes use this instead of white wine) and harissa. Harissa is a spicy tomato based condiment with garlic and preserved lemon. I think it's Moroccan. I know that I looove it. When the liquid evaporated, I added some saffron that had been soaking in a little warm water,with the water and a can of San Marzano tomatoes. My hubby was still on his way home so I held it at a simmer while enjoying the spring evening and catching up on some dishes. When he arrived home, I added the shrimp(shells removed) scallops and crab claws and covered the pan. In about 8 mins. everything had cooked/heated through and I stirred in some chopped flat leaf parsley.

Our own bistro dinner... photo by the Hubby
Served with some white wine and toasted baguette, we were at our own little bistro on a pretty spring evening.

For my lil' bro or anyone else that doesn't like seafood, you can easily add some cubed chicken(you can cook it in the sauce, or add pre-cooked towards the end) or some garbanzo and/or white beans.

a melting pot...

This post is a melting pot since I'm going to throw random things into it and call it done...

I'm still moving into/unpacking my new studio space, and it seems like that's where most of the creative energy is going. Sometimes I have to pick what is going to get full attention, and the last few days, food has not been it. It's times like these when I actually forget to eat, or wonder why the carrot sticks and hummus I ate four hours ago aren't giving me the energy required to move six shopping bags of coffee-table-sized art books.

Tonight was no better and I was faced with figuring out something to make for dinner. Now, today was not all sweat and hard work. It was 70 and sunny. The second of such days after months of cold, grey rain and snow. I was distracted to say the least. So, late in the afternoon, when a friend that I haven't seen in a while texted and said she was going to be in the neighborhood, possibly with a chilled bottle of white wine, I headed home and cleaned off some chairs for us to sit on in the garden. Yay! The first spring garden party! (more on our"garden" in a future post).

Back to dinner...

It's time again for "what's in the pantry?" Unfortunately, I don't have photos of tonights feature. The dish I made, is one I make for myself for lunch or sometimes even for breakfast because it's pretty easy and is satisfying. I think it's pretty good for you too.
To start, I sauted green onions, shiatake mushrooms, garlic and ginger together. In the same pan, I scrambled some eggs and then tossed it all with green tea buckwheat noodles with sesame oil and tamari. Start to finish, it took maybe 14 minutes. The noodles only take about 4-5 mins. to cook, so the longest portion of cooking is waiting for the water to boil. Not all that exciting, but it tastes good and feels substantial without being heavy.

This week I need to restock the pantry. I've been relying heavily on it and it doesn't just replenish itself.

I do have a few photos of our Sunny Seattle Sunday(yesterday) from Pike Place Market.


Falafel from Mr. D's photo by Kristin


Table and chairs, Pike Place Market photo by Kristin

I hope to have a few more posts this week...

Hope it's sunny and warm where you are!

to distract you...

apples with a ttv camera photo by Kristin
... a food photo! I've been busy moving my studio to it's new location. So, I may be absent from this blog for a little bit. Or not, just depends! See you back here soon, though!