summer at home 2

It seems I've taken quite a break from blogging! The summer has just flown by. Now we're entering the beginning of both the school year and the best time of the year food-wise. The farmer's market has finally broken out of its strictly green phase and now features melons, squashes, and sweet red peppers. Our CSA boxes are bigger now so I'm enjoying the slight panic I experience when I see four large patty-pan squashes come out of the box. Yes, enjoying. How else would I find out that chocolate zucchini cake turns out fine with patty-pan? And if I had used up my zucchini on cake, how would I have made a deliciously creamy zucchini basil soup? Ah, conundrums I'm happy to encounter.

I'm going to unload a few of my summer recipes, lazy style, before summer produce is gone like my lazy summer.

caprese frittata
with green tea in my Japanese house mug

roasted potatoes with sage and bacon, revisited

Sichuan-style braised eggplant

grilled tomatoes stuffed with goat cheese and sage

summer succotash with bacon & croutons
(steamed green & wax beans replacing lima and cranberry beans)

It's been so long since I last posted, you might think that I haven't been cooking much. On the contrary, despite busyness and colds, I've been determinedly cooking on just about every night of the week, armed with my shiny new stainless steel pan set that I got from my parents for Christmas.

Thanks to the Easy/Fast/Cheap Cooking tumblr, I've been discovering great new food blogs, some of my favorites being Smitten Kitchen and Love and Olive Oil. I've made several recipes from each site recently.

Smitten Kitchen
Sugar-and-Spice Candied Nuts
Mustard-Roasted Potatoes
Tequila Lime Chicken and Green Onion Slaw (the chicken was okay, but the slaw was very tasty)
Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp

Love and Olive Oil
Baked Panko Chicken Tenders with Basil Aioli
Farfalle with Chicken, Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onions (I used penne and frozen whole tomatoes from the summer instead of fresh ones, left out the chicken)
Mongolian Beef


Tips on the beef: I accidentally bought thin-sliced sirloin instead of a regular old sirloin (from the wonderful Amazing Grace farm). To say that it was an accident sounds ridiculous, because the packaging was clearly labeled "thin-sliced sirloin". What can I say? I'm a practically a virgin at purchasing steaks! Anyway, the pre-sliced steak ended up being fantastic. I just cut it into strips and it fried up beautifully. Very tender.

Another comment: I cut the brown sugar down to about 3/4 of what it called for, but I could have halved it. I don't like my "Chinese" food to taste like candy, but use your own judgment.

Finding and reading all of these great blogs has humbled me in regards to both my cooking and writing skills, but it gives me something to aspire to. Here are some other sites I've enjoyed that you might want to check out:
Not Eating Out in New York
Serious Eats (lots of variety, fun food-related content)
Closet Cooking (I'm looking forward to trying his recipe for okonomiyaki - Japanese pancake/omelet)

did you just say bacon?

It seems that Matt and I have practically lived off of bacon lately. In October, we bought 5 pounds of bacon from one of our favorite farmer's market meat vendors. After having their surprisingly smoky, thick, and fatty bacon, any other bacon is somewhat unsatisfying.

Here are a couple of recipes we've made lately. I didn't feel like typing them tonight, so you have the links.

pan roasted fingerling potatoes with bacon and crispy sage

This potato dish was very tasty, made with sage leftover from Thanksgiving dinner and the last local fingerling potatoes of the season. On the sandwich, a sweet and tangy caramelized onion thyme jam.

chocolate chip pecan bacon cookies

The cookies were a really nice sweet/salty combination. You might not know that bacon was the salty element--it had a texture somewhat like toffee. Matt used the thin cookie recipe, though I'm sure the thick ones would be great as well. I'd like to try some of the other recipes at the NPR site too.

The Waldorf: turkey burger with arugula, dried cherries, blue cheese, walnuts, and Dijon mustard
orzo with mustard greens, lemon, and parmesan

Here's another selection from the Cheese & Burger Society website. I recommend you listen to the humorous voiceovers that accompany the burger pictures and descriptions. The only alteration to the recipe was to use a turkey patty instead of beef. The flavors worked very well with the milder meat, though I'm sure beef would be fine as well.

arugula and strawberries

Tonight's dinner was a grilled chicken sandwich with roasted red peppers and arugula mayo on roasted garlic bread. Next time I think I'll include bacon too. The mayo would also be great on a veggie sandwich, with grilled zucchini, eggplant, and/or red onion.

I also made some oven fries, attempting to recreate the flavors in the amazing truffle fries at Dempsey's in Lawrence, Kansas. I sprayed the fries with some truffle oil (thanks, Mom!) and then tossed them in grated Parmesan and parsley.

grilled chicken sandwich with red peppers and arugula mayo
truffle and Parmesan oven fries

If you're looking for a way to use up a pile of arugula like we are (or even if you're not), check out the recipe for the mayo:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup (packed) coarsely chopped arugula leaves
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
from Epicurious.com

For dessert, we had one of my new favorite baked goods. Since it's strawberry season, I made these banana shortbread cookies to eat along with the fresh, local berries. The recipe is from Simply Organic: A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonal, and Local Ingredients.

banana shortbread cookie with ice cream and strawberries

spring meals

Here are a couple of meals we've made since the spring weather has returned (for awhile).

Chevre-Stuffed Chicken Thighs with Toasted Garlic and Sweet Pea Pappardelle

Spring Salad with Herb Butter Radish Toasts and Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage

The pasta was made with probably my favorite noodles, Trader Joe's Sprouted Wheat Pappardelle. The chicken sausages are from Al Fresco, and the dressing on the salad is a new favorite, Bolthouse Farms' Creamy Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing. The salad and chicken thigh recipes are from Simply Organic by Jesse Ziff Cool and the pasta recipe came from Express Lane Meals by Rachel Ray.

dinners

It's been quite awhile since I've posted about cooking. It's about time I share some tasty meals! Last night Matt grilled some marinated chicken breasts and I made a yummy quinoa side dish.

grilled chicken with yellow quinoa

Tonight I threw together some things I had leftover, making a zucchini side dish and putting it on a flatbread. It was pretty delicious.

flatbread with roasted lemony zucchini & red onions, chicken, pine nuts, and feta

Tomorrow it's off to California for us! Hopefully there will be great food and shopping to post when I get back.