a short time out.

I should have posted this earlier... but things around these parts have been quite busy. So I am writing now to tell you that there will be a small pause in posting. My husband and I finally sold our house and are moving back to the home state of Nebraska. Which means the next few weeks are going to be filled with moving and cleaning and painting and such... oh, and a short little trip to Scandinavia with my dad and little sis. Plus, we have canceled the internet at home in the hopes of saving some cash-ola, which means all the photos on my computer and stranded there unless I can get it into work, which is difficult on crutches. Oh, yeah, did I mention that I am on crutches? A lovely stress fracture has decided to grace my shin and I am supposed to crutch around for two more weeks. Awesome.

So, dear friends, I will post when I can, but my guess is it won't be until our internet is turned on at the new house. So expect something new at the end of August. Maybe the awesome ribs I made for the 4th of July! I will have lots of time since I will be working from home. Hooray!

celebration in a bowl.

It is time to celebrate, people. It has been a big week. We finally sold our house here in Minneapolis and we got approval on our house in Lincoln after 9 weeks of waiting. These things together than allowed me to quit my job. Hooray for the week! I am going to celebrate tonight with a big Juicy Lucy from The Nook and a Sam Adams with my dad. Things are happy.

For your celebration, I give you pasta salad.


Tuna and White Bean Pasta Salad

1/2 a box of curly pasta
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans white tuna
a small handful of capers
a handful of green beans cut into inch pieces
the juice of one lemon
a few glugs of good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta until almost al dente and then add the green beans. Cook together for a minute or two until the pasta is done and the beans are green and still crisp. Drain and move to a large bowl. Add the beans, tuna and capers. Squeeze on the lemon juice and pour on the olive oil. Mix and season.

Nice and simple.

the chance meeting of me and a pork chop.

Hi. So I had written a lovely little post about these pork chops. Eloquent and witty and stuff. And then something happened and I lost the whole thing. And I don't want to write it anymore because I'm peeved. So I am giving you the recipes and a lovely photo and you will have to wait until next post for more words from me. I'm upset with the computer. I need to take a moment.

Try these pork chops. They are really yummy.

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops
adapted from Cook’s Illustrated and SmittenKitchen

Serves 4

4 boneless center-cut pork chops, 6 to 8 ounces each, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (or a chunk of a nice italian loaf)
1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
3 large egg whites or one whole egg
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Lemon wedges

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about eight 1-second pulses (you should have about 3 1/2 cups crumbs). Transfer crumbs to rimmed baking sheet and add shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss until crumbs are evenly coated with oil. Bake until deep golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. (Do not turn off oven.) Cool to room temperature. Toss crumbs with Parmesan, thyme, and parsley.

3. Place 1/4 cup flour in pie plate. In second pie plate, whisk egg whites and mustard until combined; add remaining 6 tablespoons flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining.

4. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in rimmed baking sheet. Season chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in flour; shake off excess. Using tongs, coat with egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of chop with bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so that thick layer of crumbs adheres to chop. Transfer breaded chop to wire rack. Repeat with remaining 3 chops.

5. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of chops registers 150 degrees, 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on rack 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges.

Garlic-y White beans and Spinach

1 can white beans
3-4 cloves of garlic, diced
a couple handfuls of spinach
lots of good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet and lightly sauté the garlic until fragrant. Add white beans and heat through. Add spinach and toss until wilted. Finish with more olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

garlic in its birthday suit.

I love the farmers market. It has brought so many new and yummy things into my life. Fresh things that you just can't find and any old supermarket. Things like green garlic. It wasn't until this year that I even new green garlic existed. I mean, I knew that garlic as we know it had to come from somewhere, but I never gave it a thought. I wish I had because green garlic is lots of fun. I wish it had come into my life sooner, but since I have it now, I am making the most of it. Mostly with this soup.

See, when I first read Orangette's blog about this soup, I kind of dismissed the part about the green garlic. I figured that if I wanted to make the soup, which I wasn't too hyped up on, then I could just use regular garlic. But then the farmers market intervened... there, at the lovely Loon Organics stand was a huge pile of green garlic. So I bought some and went about making the soup. And it is amazing. So I went back the next week and bought double the amount... and made double the soup. And this week I bought some more! But I still have some soup left since I made so much, so this batch is going into a green garlic soufflé!

It really is great stuff, people. If you have a farmers market near you, go and see if they have any left. It is nearing the end of its time, so you may have to wait until next year, but it is worth a shot. You might also want to ask for some garlic scapes... the flower stem that the garlic plant puts out. I just bought some on Saturday and they are going to be eaten soon. I'll let you know how that goes. Until then, here is the soup!


Spinach and Green Garlic Soup
adapted from Orangette

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
½ to ¾ lb. green garlic, thinly sliced (white and pale green parts only)
Salt
1 qt. vegetable or mild chicken broth
8 to 10 oz. baby spinach leaves
3 Tbsp. crème fraîche

Warm the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the green garlic and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until it is soft and translucent. Also, as the garlic cooks, you should notice that its scent changes from raw and sharp to sweeter and more mellow; that’s what you’re after. When the garlic is ready, add the stock, raise the heat a bit, and bring it to a boil. Then adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and continue to cook for about 15 minutes. Add the spinach, and immediately turn off the stove. Let it sit for 5 minutes – not too long, or the spinach will lose its color – and then, working in batches, purée the mixture in a blender, regular or immersion. The soup should be a rich shade of green and as smooth as you can get it.

Return the soup to the pot, and place it over low heat to rewarm gently. Add 1 Tbsp. crème fraîche and another pinch or two of salt. Taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Serve warm or hot, with a drizzle of olive oil or a dollop of crème fraîche, if you like.

Yield: 4 servings

catching up.

So. I have quite a few things that I have cooked in the past few weeks that I haven't posted about. Today is the day that I catch up on these, because this week has been a big week for cooking and I will need to post on the newer stuff soon enough. That makes today catch-up day. The day when you get a lot of photos, some recipes or links to them and not too many words. Words aren't my strong suit anyway. I cook.


Number one on the list it the fabulous steak sandwich that I found on The Kitchen Sink. I knew when I saw it that I would be making in for the husband, as he loves the mix of steak and blue cheese.


It was awesome. I highly recommend it as an alternative to the normal grilled burger. Find the recipe here: Grilled Flank Steak and Blue Cheese Sandwiches


Keeping with our grilling theme, we will move onto number two for the day. Chicken and Vegetable Kabobs with Hoisin BBQ sauce. I'd had a jar of hoisin sauce in our fridge for a while and this seemed like the prefect way to put it to use. I good way to spice up chicken and veggies. Yum.

Find the recipe here: Hoisin BBQ Sauce

Now, onto the sweet stuff.


My freezer often gets a bit crowded. I make a lot of stuff and save a lot of stuff and buy a lot of stuff... and lots of this stuff ends up in the freezer. Since some of the stuff that I have been making included ice cream, I've ended up with lots of frozen egg whites. What better way to put them to use than to make meringues. Simple, slightly low-fat, tasty. What more could you ask for?


I decided on a brown sugar version and kind of made the recipe up as I went. I don't really remember it too well, but I will do my best to give it to you here:

Brown Sugar Meringues
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 140°C (285°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

Place the egg whites in a large, clean bowl (i.e. dry and with absolutely no trace of fat). Using an electric whisk or the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whisk until soft peaks form.

Keep whisking continuously as you add in the sugar, one tablespoon at a time: wait until each tablespoon is fully incorporated before you add the next. Once all the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is smooth and firm and glossy gorgeous, whisk in the vanilla until incorporated.

Using two tablespoons, form pingpong- to golf-ball-sized blobs of meringue and drop them on the prepared baking sheet, giving them some space (roughly their own width) to expand.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 45 minutes for soft centers, 1 hour for fully baked centers. If you prefer soft, remove the baking sheet from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the meringues delicately to a rack to cool. If you prefer fully baked, turn the oven off, open the oven door just a crack, and let the meringues cool inside for a couple of hours.

And onto our last recipe for the day:


I saw these on SmittenKitchen a while back and they immediately went on my list to bake. I knew there was some cocoa powder hanging around in the cupboard that was longing to be used (it was pretty old) so one evening some lovely Brownie Roll-out Cookies were born. A lot of them, in fact. I stashed some in the freezer while we were out of town last weekend and they are still being eaten.


These really are what they sound like... very dense brownies pretending to be cookies. They are great. Even right out of the freezer. And although I was hesitant to make a roll-out cookie because I am lazy, they were really easy to make and the cookie cutter use brought me back to childhood.

How is that for a cheesy line to end this post?

where does the time go?

It has been a long time since I posted... not since I've cooked, but getting the posts up has been tough. We got rid of our internet connection at home, which leave me only work as a place to post. Which wouldn't be bad except then I have to get my photos here. And I have been lazy. And last week my kitty went missing and I could focus on anything. I spent three days walking the street of my neighborhood searching for her, only to have her re-appear out of nowhere. We think she was hiding in the basement for three days. Scared me half to death. I am going to do my best to get back to it. I am going to bring in my camera tomorrow to download photos and get some stuff up. I have been making good things too! I can't wait to share them! And so much more plannned for this week. There will be lots of entries coming. I just have to get to it.

sweet pea.

Yay! It's Pea Dumpling time!

I'm sorry for my absence in the past two weeks. I was running on a huge lack of sleep from press checks for work and a really fun but really hot trip to New York City. It is really difficult to sleep when you feel like you are on fire. Just so you know.

Anyhoo... on to the peas. I saw this recipe on 101 Cookbooks and new immediately that I had found a home for the bag of frozen peas that had been living in my freezer for a while. I was so excited about making these I just can't express it! A quick and simple filling and pre-made won ton wrappers. Easy, right? Well... don't get your hopes up. Filling these suckers is a task. And your counter gets kind of gummy from the water/flour-ness of things. But it really is worth it. I made a double batch and have had them in the freezer ready to pop in a pan at a moments notice.


Plump Pea Dumpling Recipe
101 Cookbooks
The instructions here are for steaming the dumplings, but I prefered pan-frying them. Use just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the skillet. Cover and cook in a single layer until the bottoms are deeply golden, flip, cover and cook until the other side is browned. I really liked the crispy skin that is created from the frying.

2 cups (about 10 ounces) cups peas (freshly shelled or frozen)
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
scant 1/2 tea spoon fine grain sea salt
1 small shallot, minced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
zest of one large lemon

1 package of wonton wrappers, or round wrappers

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Salt the water (as you would pasta water) and add the peas. Cook until bright green in color and puffy, about a minute if the peas were frozen, less if you started with fresh ones.
Drain the peas and run under cold water for one minute to stop the cooking.

With a food processor (or hand blender) blend the peas, ricotta cheese, olive oil, and salt into a puree. I like a bit of texture, so I don't go too far. Return the mixture to a big bowl and stir in the shallots, Parmesan, and lemon zest. Taste. Add more salt if needed.

Fill the dumplings using an assembly line technique - a dozen at a time (for the most part following the instructions on the wrapper packaging). Place twelve wrappers out on the counter, drop a very scant teaspoon of filling onto each wrapper, rub the perimeter of each wrapper with a wet finger seal, fold (most packages have diagrams), and set aside on a plate. Do the next dozen and repeat until all the filling is used up.

Set up your steamer, rub each dumpling with a bit of olive oil, arrange the dumplings in a single layer (being careful not to overlap), and steam for about three minutes - until the dumplings are tender and transluscent. Sprinkle with a touch of salt and enjoy.

Makes about 4 dozen dumplings.