Stir fried noodles with shrimp, green beans, and carrots

I am so excited about this recipe. This is the first time that I've been able to make a stir fry that actually tasted like something from our favorite Thai spot. Now, I have no idea if our local Thai place makes authentic food or not - I just know that it is tasty. My favorite thing to order from there is the drunken noodles - spicy stir fried noodles with veggies and shrimp. Contrary to what you might expect, there's no alcohol in drunken noodles - one theory about the name is that the noodles are so spicy that you need to drink beer to cool down. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I was craving drunken noodles and decided to see if I could make a decent version at home. I did some recipe research, and used this one as a starting point. The result wasn't quite what I wanted so I made some modifications and came up with the version that I'm sharing here, which is the perfect blend of sweet, salty, and spicy. It came out just as I had hoped and I love that I can make a homemade version of my favorite takeout dish. Now I just have to figure out how to make Andrew's favorite fried rice...

Potato salad with pickled celery and hard-boiled egg

I received a few new cookbooks this holiday season, including Jerusalem, Heart of the Artichoke, Bean by Bean, and Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream at Home. I've already had a chance to try a couple recipes from these books and I can't wait to try more. No matter how many recipes I make, there's always so many more creative ideas out there that I have to try. But before I get to recipes from my new books, I want to share this one from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. This potato salad has pickled celery, grated hard-boiled eggs, and a mustardy dressing. If you're a pickle lover like me and prefer your potato salads mayo-free, this is something you should definitely try.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2013!

Broccoli rabe, sun-dried tomato, and Fontina frittata

Andrew and I had some friends over for brunch today. It reminded me of how much I enjoy hosting brunch, mostly because I get an excuse to make some fun treats (today's big project was apple cider doughnuts - recipe coming soon!). However, treats alone don't make a meal. I personally enjoy savory brunch items more than sweet, and I made sure to include something eggy and relatively healthy in the menu along with the more indulgent items. A frittata is a great selection when serving brunch to a group - it comes together quickly and can be made ahead of time and served at room temperature. This frittata includes broccoli rabe and sun-dried tomatoes along with melty Fontina cheese. I loved this recipe - I especially enjoyed the flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes, and the texture of the eggs was perfect - tender and not at all dry. I need to cook recipes like this more often, whether or not we are having guests!

Baked eggs with greens, yogurt, and spiced butter

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple weeks. Things suddenly got very busy, due to my job search as well as a number of social and family commitments, and I was having trouble coming up with good recipe ideas. But after a very, very relaxing few days at my parents' house, I'm ready to get cooking again! There's nothing like being spoiled by my parents to get me re-energized =).

I have been having a lot of fun creating original recipes lately, but it's still always nice to get back into my cookbooks for a while and get new inspiration from there. If you are a regular reader, then you know that I am a big fan of Yotam Ottolenghi, the author of Plenty. Flipping through Plenty always gets my mind buzzing with interesting ideas and flavor combinations, and I seem to come across something new every time I look through the book. This time I was drawn in by a recipe for baked eggs with arugula, yogurt, and chile oil. A variation of the same recipe appeared in the January 2012 issue of Bon Appetit, and I decided to mix and match components from the two Ottolenghi recipes along with a couple twists of my own.

We loved this dish - with some toasted crusty bread, it made a wonderful dinner, and would be equally good for brunch or lunch. It's got spinach and arugula, which makes it perfect for spring, and the creamy yogurt is the perfect complement to the spiced butter that is drizzled over the whole dish.

Moroccan ragout with poached eggs

When I saw this recipe highlighted on Food52, I knew that I had to make it soon and I knew it was going to be amazing. Sausage and tomato sauce with Moroccan spices and poached eggs? Yes please. I changed the recipe a bit, reducing the amount of oil, using Spanish chorizo instead of merguez sausage, and substituting potatoes for half the sausage. It really was fantastic - we gobbled up half of it for dinner on Saturday night and the leftovers were even better for lunch the next day. And I might have eaten the last remaining bit for breakfast today. This is one of those standout dishes that I'd happily eat for every meal of the day - I already can't wait to make it again!

Salad with tahini-sriracha dressing

My Ph.D. thesis defense is in 2 weeks. Needless to say, this is pretty much the only thing occupying my mind these days. I've even been dreaming about my thesis at night. Like literally, dreaming about specific paragraphs in the actual document. Today I told one of my labmates about a recent dream, and he just looked at me for a minute and said "Maybe you need a break. Have you been cooking much lately?" And well, the truthful answer to that is no. Ever since I returned from Singapore & India last week (hopefully I'll be posting some recipes inspired by the trip at some point), I haven't had much time or energy to spare. But my friend is right. I do need to clear my mind. So today, I went for a nice run to take advantage of this ridiculously great weather, and then started thinking about dinner. I was in the mood for a hearty salad and I decided to try creating a new dressing inspired by this recipe on Eat, Live, Run. I started with the flavor profile in that recipe and made a dressing with tahini, white wine vinegar, sriracha, and a bit of yogurt. It was delicious. I used it to dress a nice big salad of spring mix topped with chickpeas, artichokes, hard boiled eggs, and roasted sweet potatoes. Substantial enough for dinner and very healthy - the perfect meal to fuel me up to dive back into that thesis tomorrow!

What are your favorite ingredients for main dish salads?

Salad with tahini-sriracha dressing
This dressing recipe makes enough for about 3 dinner-sized portions. Salad ingredient amounts and proportions can be adjusted to your taste.

Salad greens (I used Olivia's Organics spring mix with herbs, which I love)
Frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
Chickpeas
Hard boiled eggs, chopped
Roasted sweet potato cubes
2 tbs tahini
1 tbs white wine vinegar
1/2 tbs sriracha sauce (or more if you want)
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbs yogurt
3 tbs water

Put salad greens on a plate and top with artichoke hearts, chickpeas, eggs, and sweet potato cubes. In a small bowl, whisk together tahini, vinegar, sriracha, olive oil, yogurt, and water. Drizzle dressing over salad and serve.

Sweet potato and kale hash with baked eggs

In my last post, I mentioned that with some busy weeks ahead, I need to have quicker solutions for weeknight dinners. Well, breakfast food is always a good source of inspiration for simple meals - most people (myself included) don't have the energy to create elaborate meals first thing in the morning! And of course, breakfast food is just as good, sometimes better, at dinner time. Something like hash is easy as well as very versatile - it can be made with whatever ingredients you prefer. I must admit that this sweet potato and kale hash is not particularly quick, but all the cooking happens in the oven, leaving plenty of time for watching Glee doing important thesis-related work. Versions of hash have been all over the blogs lately, and I was definitely inspired by Cara, Jen, Emily, and Kerstin when I created this one. It's got sweet potatoes lightly spiced with coriander and smoked paprika, roasted with kale and bacon, and topped with baked eggs. It's a complete meal in itself and involves almost no active work.

What is your favorite starch for a fall hash: potatoes, winter squash, or sweet potatoes?

Butternut squash souffles

Here's another fun squash dish from this month's Cooking Light. I never would have thought to make a squash souffle (or put squash in cinnamon rolls, for that matter), which is why I love turning to magazines and cookbooks for ideas. I'm no expert on souffle making, so mine is not as pretty as the one in the magazine, but it sure tasted good. Airy and light, like eating a squash flavored cloud, if such a thing were to exist. Hehe. Anyway, this makes a lovely light dinner with a side salad.

Now on a separate note, I need your help. I have a busy couple months ahead as I finish up (!) my Ph.D. thesis. While I love cooking dinner from scratch after work and find it to be great stress relief, it doesn't work so well when I come home late, already starving. I still want to eat home-cooked food, so I'm planning on spending some weekend time cooking make-ahead meals as well as some freezer-friendly dinners. I have a tendency to want to make things that really do not fill these criteria (like um, souffle, for example), so I clearly need your ideas! I'd love to hear about your favorite recipes and get some new inspiration.

What are your favorite make-ahead or freezer-friendly meals?

Gorgonzola-apple quiche

I love apples. When I was a kid, my dad would let me pick out 5 or so items (anything I wanted) from the supermarket as incentive for keeping him company while he did the grocery shopping, and a bag of apples was always in my top 5. I realize now that I was a really weird good kid - I can only hope that my future children will be just as good at choosing healthy food over junk! Anyway, fresh apples is one of the things I love most about fall in New England. So many varieties to try, each with unique flavors. Last weekend, after I picked up several pounds of apples from the farmers' market, I realized that I'd never get through them all unless I started cooking with them in addition to just eating them plain. This Gorgonzola-apple quiche from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table was the first recipe that caught my eye. I love the combination of Gorgonzola cheese and apples in salads and now I can report that it works just as well in quiche. The quiche really was lovely - very tasty, though not quite traditional, with chunks of sweet-tart apple, salty cheese, and sweet onions. It only used up one apple though...I might have to make it a few more times to get through the rest of the ones I bought!

Do you have any savory apple recipes to share?

Asparagus salad with bacon and eggs

In spite of the fact that the sun has barely shown its face in the last couple weeks, growing season in Massachusetts has officially begun. I got some fresh asparagus and salad greens at the farmers' market on Saturday and decided to use them for this salad, which is a simplified version of a recipe from Around My French Table. I knew the salad would show off the quality of the vegetables, plus the recipe included bacon, which is always a bonus. This was my first time trying soft-boiled eggs, and I loved them - the set whites are perfect as a salad topper and the runny yolks become part of the dressing. We really enjoyed this salad, which we had as a light dinner last night - the combination of asparagus, bacon, and eggs is fantastic and perfect for spring.

Eggplant and summer squash terrine

Andrew and I went to Italy about 2 years ago, where we experienced a great many culinary revelations - the fact that pasta soaked in oil could somehow not taste oily at all; the comforting taste of soft, creamy polenta; the idea that lasagna could be made with very little cheese and not a drop of tomato sauce; the pillowy, light texture of perfectly made gnocchi; and the discovery that one can never have too much gelato, to name a few. I have memories of a simple but delicious lunch of crusty bread and cheese in Venice (and being attacked by pigeons, but never mind that), a dinner of baby octopus and pea soup in Pisa, freshly caught anchovies in Cinque Terre, grappa in Florence, and hot espressos everywhere. I remember realizing that wine in Italy is often cheaper than soda, and noticing that people looked at us strangely if we didn't drink wine with lunch. In Florence, we marveled at the fact that goat cheese, prosciutto, and arugula were normal, everyday sandwich ingredients, not fancy ones. And then we ate more gelato.

Anyway, before I get too caught up in the reminiscing, let me explain that this rush of memories comes as a result of flipping through The Silver Spoon, which is a giant tome of an Italian cookbook that a friend (thanks Brian!) recently gave us as a wedding gift. This book is packed full of recipes that got me remembering (and hoping to recreate) the flavors of our trip to Italy. 

This eggplant terrine recipe caught my eye right away (I seem to be a bit obsessed with eggplant at the moment). It is time consuming to make, but definitely worthwhile - it is all kinds of delicious. Not too eggy, not too cheesy - it really shows off the flavors of the vegetables. With eggplant, summer squash, red bell peppers, and tomatoes, it is absolutely perfect for this time of year.

Some recipe notes: The original recipe used just eggplant, but I used a combination of eggplant and summer squash, which was great. Make sure to cut the eggplant and squash into uniform, thin slices so that they cook evenly and quickly. I used a mixture of cheeses (noted below), based on the odds and ends that I had in the fridge - I'm sure there are other cheeses that would also work well. Last thing, just so you know - the terrine doesn't look very pretty once it is turned out onto a plate. Still tastes great though!

Summer vegetable frittata

A frittata makes a nice quick dinner (or brunch), and can easily be adapted to use whatever ingredients you have on hand - this is a great way to use up odd bits of vegetables you might have in the fridge. This one included zucchini, tomatoes, and bacon and was based on a recipe from Gourmet Today (seriously, this book is amazing). I made a bunch of substitutions with the ingredients, and really liked the resulting combination of flavors. You can certainly adapt this recipe to accommodate your taste, and a vegetarian version without bacon would be delicious as well. I'd love to hear about any variations you try!

This frittata is packed full of vegetables and isn't too eggy, which is quite nice. It is a bit watery because of the zucchini and tomatoes, but that isn't really a problem, just something to be aware of. The recipe below includes a couple tweaks that should help fix that. Also, the cheese topping is really tasty, but was a bit much for me - I'll probably cut down on the amount next time.

Quiche with summer greens

I buy a lot of vegetables that have greens attached, like turnips, beets, radishes...these greens are all edible and have interesting flavors, and I try hard not to waste them. But I'm really not that good at cooking greens and often struggle with finding ways to use them. Well, I have officially found one really, really good (albeit time-consuming) way - I ended up using last week's turnip and radish greens in a variation of Julia Child's spinach quiche recipe, and it was so good. This preparation took the bitter edge off the greens, embedding them in a creamy custard baked in buttery pastry - it's hard to go wrong when cheese, cream, and butter are involved.

I'm pretty new to Julia Child's recipes, and to French cooking in general. I received Mastering the Art of French Cooking as a wedding gift a few months ago and so far have only made the quiche recipe. That recipe alone is enough to convince me that this book will be a great addition to my cookbook collection - not so much for everyday cooking, but definitely for guests and weekend cooking projects. I made the blue cheese quiche a couple months ago, and had made some extra pastry dough which I stored in the freezer. I thawed it in the fridge for this quiche, and it tasted every bit as good as the freshly made version. I also used 50% whole wheat pastry flour for this dough, which worked really well. This pastry dough requires blind baking (pre-baking, weighted down with dried beans, so that it doesn't get too soggy when you add the filling), which is a bit of a pain - make sure you budget enough time for everything.



 

Tuna nicoise salad

(My hand looks freakish in that photo...sorry)

This recipe is perfect for late July, when the market is full of fresh green beans, potatoes, and tomatoes. This version is adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook -- I took out the lettuce because I think the salad is great (maybe even better) without it, and also took out the green pepper. I added the olives, but not capers, because the two of those together is a bit too strongly flavored for my taste. I also changed the cooking process a bit to cut down on the number of dirty dishes, and a number of smaller adaptations are noted in the recipe...this isn't the quickest salad to put together, but it makes a filling, complete meal.

Tuna nicoise salad
Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

I don't measure my ingredients for recipes like this -- I just use what we have on hand and estimate the amounts needed to make the dish balanced. Its hard to go wrong with this one.

Dressing:
3 tbs chopped shallots (I used onions instead)
1 1/2 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 tbs good quality extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbs coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Salad:
1 pound fingerling potatoes or small boiling potatoes
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed (I cut these into approximately 2 inch segments)
Salt
3 hard-boiled large eggs*, cut into wedges
2 (6-ounce) cans tuna in oil, drained and broken into chunks (I only used 1 can, Genova brand)
1/4 cup Nicoise olives (I used Kalamata)
2 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

Dressing: Blend shallots with lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender. With motor running, add oil in a slow stream, scraping down sides of blender as necessary, and blend until well combined. Add parsley and blend until finely chopped. (I used my mini chopped for all of this, and added the oil all at once. Everything came out fine)

Salad: Combine potatoes and cold well-salted water to cover by 2 inches in a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, until just tender, 15-20 mins. Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander.

Add beans to the same saucepan and boil until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking, drain and pat dry.

When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes (if you want, I never do) and halve or quarter them, depending on their size. Toss potatoes with beans and 2 tbs dressing in a large bowl, and salt to taste. Top with eggs, tomatoes, and tuna chunks. Drizzle more dressing (as much as you want, you don't necessarily have to use all of it) over salad, and top with olives and parsley.

This is best served immediately, but makes a decent cold lunch the next day.

* To make the perfect hard-boiled egg, according to Gourmet, and tested by me with success, put the eggs in a large heavy pot and cover with 1 1/2 inches of cold tap water. Partially cover the pot and bring water to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot completely, and cook eggs for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and let eggs stand in the hot water, still covered, for 15 minutes. Then run the eggs under cold water for about 5 minutes to stop cooking and prevent yolk discoloration.