Pickled Onions

Hi. Sorry I have nothing really exciting to post. This past weekend involved quite a bit of dining out, so I didn't end up cooking much. The only noteworthy thing was the pickled onions I made Thurs. nite and have been using to garnish everything. Since I was kind of winging it, I only made 1/2 an onion's worth, but now I'm wishing I made more!

Pickled Onions

Bring to a boil:
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. dark brown sugar
1-2 Tbs. maple syrup
1Tbs. mustard seeds
few sprigs fresh thyme
1 bayleaf
salt and pepper to taste

Add 1/2 large sliced onion and return to boil for two minutes an remove from heat. Cool for 15-20 mins and then store overnight in an air tight container in fridge. Then add to sammies, soups, stews, omlettes, pizza. I made parsnip soup with gruyere, pear and pickled onion toasts on the side.

I would suggest starting w/ this quantity to gauge how much you like 'em and how fast you can eat 'em. I don't know much about canning/preserving, so I'd say these are good for a week or two in the fridge since they aren't "preserved" as far as I know.

ps. this is the time of year where I have to apologize for either the crappy quality or lack of photos for the posts(see no photo above) because there is not natural light left come dinner time. I am working on a solution for this. Part of this includes how much of my kitchen I want to look like a photo studio as storage and free space are pretty much spoken for in our kitchen already. Plus, some of the solutions can greatly change the aesthetic of the photos..blah, blah, blah..

One more thing about photos: my banner photo is part of a project I'm working on to be revealed soon!

Weekend wrap up with a birthday wish...

This past week has been a full fall assault--lots of rain followed by rain and then some rain. It kinda put us in full comfort mode, so we spent a good amount of the weekend at home. And comfort mode of course means comfort food.
Starting with Saturday's meal(it was so over the top, it really was the main meal of the day)...

I made a spread of onions, mushrooms and greens by sauteing them and then pureeing them. That was layered with Dijon mustard, Gruyere cheese, Spanish jamon, and day old French boulot. It was all dipped in egg, like french toast and grilled in butter to golden perfection. Served with a side of oven roasted fries, it was a really decadent and blissfully food-coma inducing. Mmmmmm.........

Gettin' golden in butter...photo by Kristin

Food coma on a plate. Jamon, cheese and onion, mushroom, greens spread with Dijon mustard....photo by Kristin

Today's birthday wish goes to G. She is spending her weekend at our fave place, the Or. coast. Last year, she found a gorgeous vintage roasting pan and bought it for me! Then her love traveled,by train, to Seattle to deliver it during a visit. I am soooooo lucky!
I use the pan to roast a chicken with rosemary and lemon between the skin and meat over a bed of rutabaga, cabbage, onions and carrots. Topped with a mustard gravy, it had us lapping our plates tonight.

Fabulous vintage roasting pan...photo by Kristin

Just out of the oven...photo by Kristin

Dinner time...photo by Kristin

And now for a treat for G.'s b-day, a behind the scene video of one of our shared favorite food celebrity. (ps. I think this repeats itself, so you really only hafta watch the first 3 min.)

J'adore...

J'adore dinner...photo by Kristin

things j'adore:

my man for working a 15 hr. day to get the job done
beets with olive oil and sea salt
omelette with gruyere cheese and fresh herbs with toast
a glass of white wine (ok, 2or 3)
a new issue of Vogue
working from home when I want to...(while having a j'adore dinner)
Bill Callahan
My man, an omelette and toast, white wine, Vogue, Bill Callahan...-- after a massage...

I dined alone tonight 'cause my other half had to work late:( he works very hard and i benefit by having things j'adore.

thank you!

ps. j'adore also my bff who is in france right now for a residency. in the champagne region!!!
j'adore her and this could explain my sudden french-yness...

TasteSpotting

A quick midweek post...

here is where I get a lot of my ideas from:

TasteSpotting

A HUGE resource for recipes, articles and info. Or , if you're just hungry and want to drool over food photos.....

More apple goodness...

More apples from Sage Orchards...photo by Kristin

Hi! Just stopping by for a rundown of another dish made with the apples T. brought back from Eastern Washington last week.

For dinner tonight, I roasted onion, cabbage, apples and bacon. Then tossed all of that in a horseradish cream and topped it with pretty pink pieces of broiled salmon and more horseradish cream. It was quite good!

Ok, that's all for now...maybe see you this weekend...

It's officially fall!

Cool weather? Check. Crisp blue skies? Check. Rain storms? Check. Apples? Check.

When I first moved to Seattle, I half expected to see apple trees on every corner full of fruit that was ready to be shipped to say, a little girl in Pittsburgh, watching a TV commercial about all the apples that come from Washington State. Lots of apples do come from WA--Eastern Washington. My other half traveled to the eastern part of our state for work this week. He was able to visit with a friend of his who recently moved there to help with the family orchard business. T. arrived back home with a giant bag of beautiful pink cripps.

Pink Cripps...photo by Kristin
I'm not really sure how I came up with the sandwich below, other than all the different types of crispness combined sounded fitting for the crisp fall day. I made a pesto out of some gorgeous kale, and spread that on toasted bread with bacon and slices of a pink cripp. It was really good! Salty, sweet, crisp, crispy (there is a difference between the two--crisp apples and crispy bacon are very different textures ) slightly crunchy and deliciously savory.

Bacon, apple and kale pesto sammies...photo by Kristin
The apple goodness continued this morning when I made stewed apples to top french toast. It made our whole place smell heavenly.

French toast with stewed apples...photo by Kristin
I expect there will be some more apple dishes on the way...

TTV apples...photo by Kristin

...and also dishes with the kale pesto.

Kale Pesto:

1 bunch of kale, washed and torn into pieces with the stems removed
1/4 c.-ish of garlic infused olive oil(grate some garlic into the oil and heat gently for a few minutes on the stove)
1/4 c. unsalted sunflower seeds
slpash of sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4c.-ish water

In a food processor, pulse the sunflower seeds and salt and pepper a few times. Blanch the kale in boiling water for a minute and then drain. Place kale in processor with the seeds and pulse a few times. Add the olive oil and sherry and process. When it starts to come together, stream a little water in at a time until you get the consistency you like.