Chickpea & Kale Soup

Without a doubt, one of the best parts of my job is getting to cook everyday; the downside being that I'm not cooking for myself and I don't get to eat the fruits of my labors--But that's a minor detail. Unfortunately my everyday life has become so busy that cooking is a luxury often relegated to the weekends. However cooking is a *requirement* for work, and with open-minded adventurous eaters, I couldn't be happier.

I think of the work kitchen as my test kitchen, a place I can buy unusual ingredients and try out new recipes with abandon, and with the goal of improving my skills and building my recipe resume. When you have dreams of opening a restaurant someday, there could be no better situation; unless of course I was independently wealthy and able to bypass that whole "job" thing, but that's not the case.

One of my proudest accomplishments in the test kitchen is begin to perfect the art of Soup. Soup is something my Gran always fell back on for a simple supper, but it seemed so elusive and down-right difficult to me. I now see what she was talking about all those years, and darn I wish I could re-live our conversations about Soup and take notes!

For supper the other night I decided to try a simple Chickpea & Kale soup I adapted from a recipe I found online. The good news if you don't like chickpeas or kale is that their flavors can easily be toned down by simply pureeing the soup as a final step before serving. In this way the flavors just meld together and become nice and creamy. Yum!!

I'm not strict on recipes, so the loose guidelines are below...

Saute:
-2 medium onions, a couple stalks of celery and a couple tablespoons of garlic for 10ish minutes until they are soft & fragrant.
Add:
-10 to 12 Roma tomatoes roughly chopped and turn up the heat cooking for another 10ish minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and become juicy.
Add:
6 or so cups of chopped kale, 2 large boxes of vegetable broth (or chicken/beef broth if you don't desire a vegetarian soup) and 2 drained cans of chickpeas.
Season:
with salt & pepper, thyme, herbs de Provence and a little paprika for some zip. Simmer for 40 minutes or until the kale is tender and the flavor has come together nicely.

If you like your soup broth-y you can leave it as is. Alternately, you can partially or wholly puree the soup with an immersion blender to create a creamier version.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! It's been a hectic few weeks around here, and I've found very little time to be in front of my computer. I mentioned my brother was here for a visit, and during his visit we threw the pre-Thanksgiving bash. It was a great time, and a great excuse to have yummy Thanksgiving fare twice in a month. Two days after he left, my sister and nephew arrived. Having a two year old around is nothing less than a whirlwind of chaos. Having a sick two year old around is nothing less than a nightmare. I quickly realized how accustomed I'd grown to living on my own, and living without children. Consequently, I've been spending a LOT of time at the gym! But, having said that, there isn't a little guy any cuter than him, and having him around is fantastic, especially now that he's feeling better.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I decided to cook another turkey (pictured above) for us and a few friends. I didn't realize how gross turkeys look pre-roasting until I saw that picture. Unfortunately I forgot to take another picture after the roasting, but I can promise you that it was nothing short of perfection! Our day was filled with lots of friends and eating and drinking and general merry-making- a perfect day in my opinion!

So, just wanted to give you a little update on my whereabouts. I hope that those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful day! My sister & nephew will be leaving next week, which will give me plenty of time to get back to being a blogging nerd again! Till then...

to do #146: celebrate Thanksgiving

Corn & Pasta

Corn and pasta are two ingredients I wouldn't think of pairing, but tonight I did so with fabulous results. The inspiration for this dinner came from a recipe on Amateur Gourmet, one of my favorite food blogs. I read about it last week, and have been salivating thinking about it ever since. Tonight I had a friend over for dinner, and it seemed the perfect occasion to try this simple pasta dish.

Adam's recipe came from the Alice Waters cookbook Vegetables and is called Summer Squash and Corn Pasta. I deviated from the recipe quite a bit to use what I already had, but the structure of the recipe is basically the same. Corn, zucchini and mushrooms were surprising bedfellows in this dish, but complemented each other amazingly well. The smoothness of the zucchini, the crunch of the corn and the juiciness of the mushrooms collaborated in each bite, not to mention the beautiful contrast of color and texture. Though summer is coming to an end in most parts of the country, it's still in full swing here in Phoenix, so this dinner felt like the perfect summer meal- nice summery ingredients in a light sauce.

See Adam's website for the original recipe from Alice Waters' cookbook. What follows is the modified recipe I prepared.

Zucchini & Corn Pasta

3 zucchini, diced
8 crimini mushrooms, diced
3 ears of corn, corn cut off the cob
1 jalepeno pepper finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
a handful of Italian parsley, chopped
1 box of fettucine pasta

Saute the zucchini in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for several minutes and season with salt & pepper. Add the corn, garlic and jalepeno and continue cooking for several minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, the parsley and 4 tablespoons of pasta water (the water the pasta is boiling in). Cook for another minute or two and then add the cooked pasta.

Though I love to cook, I'm not very adventurous when trying new recipes. I tend to stick to my arsenal: the recipes I've been making for years and know like the back of my hand. My excuse is that when cooking from a recipe I end up spending a fortune on groceries I don't already have around the house. However, that wasn't the case tonight. I had all the ingredients on hand except the corn, jalepeno and parsley, and at .59 cents each for the corn, .50 for the jalepeno and .50 for the parsley, I'd hardly qualify that as spending a fortune. This dinner certainly opened my eyes to combining ingredients I wouldn't have traditionally thought to combine, and also allowed me to cross off #57 on my list: add another recipe to my arsenal.

Elderberry Blossom Wine, Wildlife & Produce

I'm back from summer vacation, and as suspected spirits run higher whilst anticipating, versus reflecting on, vacation. Nevertheless, my spirits are in pretty good shape after having had a wonderful time.

Though it was just a trip back to the heart of the Midwest to visit my place of birth, and the city most of my relatives still call home, it was as enjoyable a vacation as I've had. The weather was a perfect respite from the furnace I now call home, with daytime temperatures in the mid-70's and nighttime temperatures in the mid-50's. I quickly adjusted to the cooler clime, and was even beginning to be convinced of an impending fall season, however that rug was pulled out from under me when I stepped onto the jetway back in Phoenix to a 99 degree evening.

I spent my vacation days sleeping in, lazing around the house, visiting with family and eating copious amounts of locally grown produce. This is a distinct advantage to Midwestern small town living that I had somehow overlooked on my previous trips, but that made quite an impression on me this time. It seemed everywhere I turned there was an abundance of local produce being offered up. Family or neighbors with too many zucchini or tomatoes or sweet corn that were happy, almost grateful, to share it with you. And these weren't your grocery store variety produce, these were zucchini the size of my calf and super flavorful tomatoes and corn on the cob that was juicy and sweet. I was in heaven.

Apart from the local produce, I was also treated to some local wildlife. I had my first encounter with a mole, and it scared the shit out of me. I actually screamed when it ran past, I kid you not. If you've never seen one of these creatures for yourself, click here. I think you can understand now why I screamed, right? Creepy! I was also treated to a visit from a opossum. It wasn't as close range as the mole, and it wasn't my first time seeing one, but man are they creepy too! As my gran accurately pointed out, they look prehistoric.

Another highlight of the trip was hearing about, and sampling, elderberry blossom wine* that my gran & grandad brewed themselves back in 1949. I think at this point it would be more accurate to call it liqueur, or extremely strong alcohol, rather than wine, but it was tasty nonetheless and certainly the oldest (or should I say the most aged?) alcohol I've ever sampled!

Though my vacation is over, it feels great to be back knowing that I spent some good quality time with family, and so I'll go ahead and cross that #159 off my list: go on summer vacation.

*Note: The picture above is of the elderberry blossom wine, specifically, of us filtering out the sediment from the wine. The green bottle is the original bottle. Cool, huh?

Crying Over Burnt Rice

Lately, I've been making an effort to be more self-aware. I'm already a pretty cognizant person, but I've been trying to learn and appreciate a little more about my strengths and my flaws--to examine the inherent parts of my personality better, and take them less personally. My approach, thus far, has been two-fold: first, I've tried to slow down a bit and really be aware of what is going on around me and my part in it, and second, I've tried to spend more time reflecting on my day and the things that have taken place in it. If I haven't lost you yet, then you are probably thinking that I am spending way too much time thinking. And you are probably right. But nevermind that, it's been interesting, and I've been enjoying it! Which brings me to the subject of this post...

Last night I had the opportunity to cook for friends again. I decided to make kung pao chicken and fried rice. This is a relatively easy dinner, and one that I've cooked a million times. The key to these two dishes is preparation. They cook fast, so it's imperative that you have everything organized and ready to toss into the respective pans at the proper times. Fortunately for me, organization is one of my strengths! I had everything organized: my vegetables were chopped, my ingredients were pre-cooked, measured and mixed. I even had the ingredients separated out, with those for kung pao chicken on the left side of the stove and those for fried rice on the right side. Like I said, organization is one of my strengths.

Things were going well. My friends were keeping me company in the kitchen. We were drinking wine and talking and laughing (they a little more than me, I did have to concentrate on the cooking!). They were commenting on how delicious everything smelled, how effortless I was making it look, and how they felt like they were at one of those restaurants where they cook the food at your table all fancy-like (aren't my friends sweet?!). I was soaking up the compliments, multi-tasking between the two sizzling pans, and all the while insisting this was an easy dinner anyone could whip up. It was about this time that the chicken required more of my attention. I took my eyes off the rice for only a few moments, but in those moments rice began to burn. By the time I got back to the rice and stirred, the bottom of the pan was scorched. I grabbed the pan off the burner and began picking out the burnt bits, but there were too many. I dumped the unstuck rice into another pan, and resumed the cooking.

But in my mind, it was too late. My friends continued to drink and chat and laugh and effuse on the delicious smells, but I was far far away. I was sulking in the corner of my mind, so pissed that I had just ruined a perfectly simple dish to prepare, and that I was going to have to serve the resulting ruined dish to my friends, the friends who were going to be too nice to tell me how disgusting it tasted, because they were already being too nice about how delicious it smelled. Suffice to say, my night was ruined. I was pissed. And all over a little burnt rice. Then something miraculous happened. We sat down to eat with plates full and dug in, me a little less heartily than them, because I was of course anticipating the worst. But the worst didn't come. The rice tasted perfectly delicious. I was shocked, and relieved, and embarrassed. I realized at that moment that my friends had surely noticed my change in mood, and why? Because of a little burnt rice? I also realized at that moment that I am a terrible sport when things don't go my way. As laidback and flexible as I try to be, when I have a well-laid plan, I expect it to work! And so I shared these revelations with my friends. We laughed about them and they commiserated, and then we went on to enjoy a great night.

But they've stuck with me, much like the rice that was still stuck to the pan the next morning after soaking all night in water. Though I can appreciate the side of my personality that is an optimist and has very high hopes and expectations, I know the result can be immediate and overwhelming disappointment at the first perceived flaw in the plan. So I've got something to work on. Fortunately for me, I also love a challenge! I'm going to continue crossing off #119 because I'm enjoying it and learning so much: dissect my personality.

*I have to mention we drank the most excellent bottle of wine. Not sure about the pairing with kung pao chicken & fried rice, but none of us were complaining! The wine was a Louis Jadot Beaujolais, 2003 vintage. I highly recommend you go out now and buy a bottle of this wine, and then come directly to my place to share it with me!

**For the record, I didn't actually cry after burning the rice. I just want to clarify that.

Pork Perfection

I realize the picture above looks a little more disgusting than delicious, but you're just going to have to trust that it depicts absolute pork perfection, if I do say so myself. No one likes a braggart, I know, but maybe this is because they haven't tried said braggart's delicious pork tenderloin. Maybe if they sampled the tasty pork, not only would they like the braggart, they'd love the braggart and beg her to invite them over to her meager digs in order gorge themselves on copious amounts of pork tenderloin. Hmm, okay, I think I'm going way off on a self-indulgent tangent here...

Last night I had the pleasure of cooking dinner for a few dear friends. All week I excitedly mulled over possible menu choices, and finally settled on a pork tenderloin as the main course. It's a dish I've been making for ages, but I couldn't recall the last time I'd made it. (Cooking a whole pork tenderloin isn't exactly something I'm in the habit of making just for me!) I thought I remembered the details of the 'recipe', but there was one hitch: I was to be working in the office the day of the dinner and wouldn't have time to cook the pork in the oven as per my usual habit. But by mid-week when I realized the hitch, I was really set on making the pork. Then I remembered a little-used cooking apparatus housed in my kitchen's lazy susan, the crock pot. Some people swear by these appliances, but I hardly use mine, and hardly know how to use it. Surely, I thought, it would be capable of cooking the pork, but would the recipe need to be modified to include more liquid? Would cooking it on the low setting all day be too much time? Would the pork release too much juice and overflow the pot? Would the pork even taste the same as my tried and true oven method? I agonized over these questions, but in the end decided the pork was worth it, and I'd just do the best I could.

I prepared the marinade the night before and tried to make a little extra in order to have enough liquid for the cooking process. This plan worked beautifully and there was no need to add any extra liquid for cooking. I marinated the meat overnight and then cooked it all day on low. I arrived home to an apartment that hadn't been burned down by the crock pot and hadn't been flooded by any excess crock pot juices, but it smelled deliciously, as if I (or some magic cooking fairies) had been slaving away in the kitchen all day long. When I finally served the meat to my ravenous dinner companions, it had been cooking a full 12 hours. It was so juicy and flavorful it nearly melted in your mouth- no knife required. We all agreed it was tasty as hell, though I effused a little less than them, for modesty's sake.

Here is the recipe for my pork tenderloin if you'd care to duplicate pork perfection in your own crock pot (after seeing how well it turned out in the crock pot, I'd highly recommend it over the oven). Please be warned that this is a very loose 'recipe', and I'm just estimating on the quantities. Use your best judgment if the consistency of the marinade isn't quite right, or if you are making a smaller or larger quantity.

Teriyaki & Orange Pork Tenderloin

2.5 lb pork tenderloin trimmed of really excess fat (do leave some fat because it contributes to the tastiness factor!)
whole cloves

marinade:
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice from 3 juicy oranges and some of the pulp and zest too (why waste all that yummy orangeness?!)
2 tbsp orange marmalade

Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and set aside. With a sharp knife pierce the tenderloin all over. Insert whole cloves into the holes. (I'd suggest maybe 10-20 whole cloves, depending on how much you enjoy their flavor.) Place the meat in the marinade and leave in the refrigerator overnight. The next day place the meat & marinade in the crock pot and cook on low for 12 hours. (I'm sure you could get away with cooking it a lot less than 12 hours, so just use your best judgment here.) Serve & enjoy!

With a belly full of leftovers, I cross off #99: prepare pork tenderloin for wonderful friends and savor their compliments as much as the pork itself.

*I paired the pork with mashed potatoes** and green beans*** for the ultimate 'comfort food' dinner. We also drank a bottle of Blackstone Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 vintage. Though the wine was delicious, it was a bit full-bodied and a tad dry for my taste. I'd recommend Blackstone's Syrah over the Cabernet.

**I used organic white creamer potatoes and boiled them (skin on) in free-range organic chicken broth with a little water, then drained and mashed with a stick of butter, several spoonfuls of sour cream and a bit of salt. Yum!

**I used fresh organic green beans, trimmed the stem end, parboiled for 2-3 minutes, drained and sauteed with a little olive oil, shallots and the juice of 1 orange for 2-3 minutes and then served topped with toasted pine nuts. Yum!

Pesto

I'm no expert, but I consider myself to be pretty competent in the kitchen. Most dishes I try turn out successfully. I can follow a recipe with ease, and know how to make educated decisions when it comes to measurements and substitutions. Having said this, one dish I've never felt comfortable tackling was pesto. It looked difficult! I was aware it had only a few simple ingredients, but it seemed that there must be magic involved to turn them into something so rich and delicious. I couldn't have been more wrong. I'm now embarrassed to tell those of you that have made pesto that I used to buy the jarred stuff. The jarred variety barely resembles the real thing, which is far more peppery and flavorful. It's so simple to prepare, and nearly impossible to make a mistake. If you add a bit too much of one ingredient or not enough of another, it's likely no one will ever notice. The uses and possible variations are endless. I'm begging you, if you've never made fresh pesto give this recipe a try. You won't believe how simple and delicious it is.

Pesto

3 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh basil
3 tbsp pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

In a food processor (I used a mini one), blend the ingredients in the order above, adding one by one. If the pesto is too thick you can add a little pasta water (if you are making pasta to go with the pesto) or just plain water. Serve as a sauce for pasta or pizza, or as a dip with bread or crackers.

Thanks to a dear friend who opened my eyes to the ease of pesto, I can see this being the year of pesto for me. If you invite me to your house, I'm bring pesto. If I invite you to my house, I'm serving pesto. I can't imagine myself ever tiring of the flavor or the aroma. I'm already thinking of making it again. And thus I cross off #229: learn how to make pesto.

*I'm no expert on wine pairings either, but we drank an excellent Sauvignon Blanc with the pesto from Blackstone Winery (2004 vintage) which I would highly recommend.

Orzo + Fruit = ?

Orzo + Fruit = ?, originally uploaded by carriemcm.

I've had a box of orzo in my pantry for about a year now. When I saw it on the shelf at the grocery I couldn't resist buying it- a tiny box of even tinier pasta- it was so cute! But, I had no idea what to do with it. I'd never made orzo, except in the form of my favorite Lipton Rice Sides mushroom packet with rice and orzo. So to the back of my pantry it went never to see the light of day until...

Last weekend in a fortuitous conversation with my sister she told me about a new favorite recipe she was making for fruit salad featuring an unusual ingredient, Orzo! I was instantly excited to try it because I love fruit salad, and I already had the star ingredient. But, I had none of the other ingredients, and we all know of my recent issue with going to the grocery in a timely manner. With each passing day I dreamt about the fruit salad: how delicious it would be, and how great to have finally found a use for my beloved orzo!

Last night I began part one of the fruit salad recipe since it required an overnight chilling in the refrigerator. I had high hopes, and was actually a little ticked that I couldn't eat it right away. But, I was patient. This morning I completed part two of the recipe, and still, I had to wait for it to chill another 2-3 hours. Finally after an hour I was fed up of waiting and dug in. But to my surprise and disappointment, I didn't like it! I couldn't identify what it was I didn't like, but there was a flavor I just wasn't crazy about. All day I moped over the fruit salad- what was I going to do with the vat of it in my fridge, how could I not like it since I liked each ingredient individually? I mourned the disappointment and started plotting how to pawn it off on friends. Then I decided to give it another try. Low and behold, I liked it much better this time. I didn't love it, but I think the flavors had more time to mellow and get to know each other a little better, and it resulted in a pretty interesting dish. So while this won't be my go-to recipe for orzo, I will keep it in mind. And for all my friends who are nearby, look out- a tupperware full of fruit salad will be coming your way!

In case I've whet your appetite with all this orzo talk, following is the recipe. And caution, I halved the recipe and it still made a huge quantity. Those orzo may be tiny, but they soak up liquid like a sponge and become quite plump little fellows.

Rosa Marina Fruit Salad

1lb box orzo 2 large cans crushed pineapple 2 large cans mandarin oranges 2 beaten eggs 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 tbsp flour 1 tsp lemon juice 1 large tub cool whip

Cook & drain orzo. Combine eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and the juice from the canned fruit in a saucepan. Heat until boiling. Combine with the orzo and refrigerate overnight. Next day, mix in fruit and coolwhip. Refrigerate another 2-3 hours (or longer, that made a huge difference to me).

I will continue looking but for now I cross off #289: find a use for those adorable boxes of orzo.

UPDATE 6/28/05:
The salad is getting better each day, or maybe I'm just getting used to it. A few suggestions though, if you're going to try the recipe: Unless you really love canned pineapple, you may want to try fresh pineapple and supplement some pineapple juice for the liquid portion of the recipe. Or, I can see it being really yummy with no pineapple and double the amount of mandarin oranges. Or maybe a variety of fresh fruit and some fruit juice for the liquid. Mix and match, and let me know how it works out!

Cherry Chocolate Chip Bread

Cherry Chocolate Chip Bread, originally uploaded by carriemcm.

It all started last week when I bought a bag of cherries, an innocuous purchase, or so I thought. The gorgeous bag of cherries quickly turned into The Cherry Dilemma: what is one person to do with so many cherries?

They were delicious- juicy and sweet with an ever so slight tart tang. A few days and a few handfuls didn't make a dent in the bottomless bag of cherries, so I turned to friends and the internet for ideas. I found there are surprisingly few recipes featuring fresh cherries, most call for the jarred or dried variety. And so it was with a leap of faith that I decided to re-work my favorite banana bread recipe into cherry bread. Then I remembered one of my favorite icecream flavor combinations: cherries & chocolate. Cherry bread evolved into cherry chocolate chip bread.

I had originally thought all my friends were going to be receiving a loaf of my experimental bread, but once pitted (my fingernails were stained red for days) the yield was far less than I expected. It was just enough to produce twin loaves. However, as you can see, the loaves are most certainly fraternal twins. The first loaf was the guinea pig, and though it left half it's goodness in the bottom of the pan, it paved the way for a near perfectly formed second loaf.

With crumbs on the keyboard and chocolate on my fingers I cross #79 off my list: what to do with way too many cherries.