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Trash Saver Salad

Ok, maybe not the most appetizing title, but I promise to explain!

We had friends over for a cookout on Memorial Day and they brought a very interesting orzo salad that had black olive slices, feta cheese, yellow raisins and pine nuts in it (along with a few other things I can't remember exactly). It sounds crazy when you describe it. There are so many different flavors and textures going on, but it was yummy and unique.
I used that as an inspiration for my own version on another warm day this week. This type of salad is perfect hot-weather cooking because you can make it in the morning before the mercury rises too far, or even the night before after the day's heat has subsided. These things are always better after sitting a few hours or even overnight in the fridge. They are also great because it's what I call a "trash saver" and by that I mean, it's a wonderful way to use whatever produce you have that needs to get eaten or it will end up in the trash.
For this particular one, I went with mini cucumbers, chopped cashews, craisins, feta, shaved carrot, and scallions. To dress it, I made a simple lemon vinaigrette. Making your own vinaigrette is also something that can be done hundreds of ways and so you can experiment and find what you like. For this one I used a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, squeezed one lemon, a teaspoon or so of sugar, dried thyme and basil, and then I drizzled in olive oil while wisking vigorously until it thickens and becomes creamy (emulsified).

The end result for this salad was pretty sweet, but with a twang of lemon, bite of feta and oniony scallion flavor. I loved the chewy craisins and crunchy cashews mixed in, and there is something that just feels "fresh and clean" about cucumber, no?
There are an infinite number of yummy combinations to this type of Summer salad. Experiment and find some you like :)

Baking the Winter away

Spring is having a hard time getting through this cold, wet Winter. As a result from the extended time indoors, I baked... a lot.
If you don't have The New Best Recipe book by Cooks Illustrated, I highly recommend it. They have great recipes, but also explanations for why they do what they do. It's super informative and I learn a lot both from their magazine and this book (which is my new go-to for things I've never made).
My two biggest adventures in baking were soft pretzels and cinnamon buns. I have finally decided to stop being afraid of yeast doughs! That said, I actually opted for the non-yeast cinnamon bun, because the recipe takes 6+ hours and I just didn't have that kind of commitment in me. But the book had a solution! They specifically mention "go see this recipe" if you don't have that kind of time. It was in the quick-bread section. Technically, I would call these "cinnamon roll biscuits". Their texture was less flaky like a cinnamon bun and more dense and crumbly like a biscuit. I thought they were fantastic though- so long as you aren't expecting a yeast-dough cinnamon bun. They were certainly a super special addition to our weekend breakfast, and really not too hard to make!






Soft pretzels are a favorite among my husband and boys, so for a special treat, I decided to try them. And I have to say, don't fear the yeast people! It's really not that hard. Slightly scary in that, if you made the water too hot, or your yeast was too hold (ie dead) then you've just wasted that 2 hours waiting for your dough to rise, 'cause it ain't gonna! But other than that, it was fun and the boys had fun playing with the dough with me and rolling it out. We learned a valuable lesson too: pretzels need to be _much_ thinner with larger holes in the twists than you think! We made our way too fat and as you can see, when they bake, they puff up (duh you say... I know)! So ours were really more like buns than pretzels in the end, but they were tasty! The recipe comes with a great honey mustard dipping sauce option, which was very sweet and tangy. The boys ate them with just Kosher salt sprinkled on them before baking, and I made mine dipped in cinnamon sugar after brushing with butter. Any way you go, they were yummy! On the salt thing- I did not bother to go find "pretzel salt" which I personally don't like anyway. Kosher worked just fine for us.

Early St Patty's Day

I was inspired by the displays of cabbage, carrots and potatoes at the store today, but didn't realize it was still several days before St. Patty's Day. Whoops! If I bought a corned beef it would have been fine, but since Erik doesn't love that style I figured it wasn't worth the nitrites and additives if it wasn't something we both loved, so I got a plain beef brisket cut and parted from the traditional New England boiled dinner. I didn't want to keep that fresh cut of beef in the fridge for more than a couple days, so it was early St. Patty's Day at our house!
For the brisket, I put a dry rub on it with some salt, garlic powder, cumin, Old Bay... and possibly some others, sometimes I just grab what I see in the spice cabinet and don't keep track. Then I put it in a dutch oven with some red wine and beef broth and had it in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours. The liquid in the pot made a fantastic finishing sauce for the meat. It could have been thickened like a gravy too, I just didn't bother. The rest of the dinner consisted of boiled yukon gold potatoes, onions, carrots and green cabbage.

Pulled Pork

I LOVE pulled pork. I don't exactly remember where this love affair began, but it's only been in my adult life. I almost always order it when it's presented on a menu and only a couple times has it ever left me wanting.
Browsing through the meat aisle the other day, there were these little cryo-vac packages of pork with a label that read "for pulled pork". With my re-invigorated crock pot usage in my head, I thought, can I do this in my crock pot? The answer, is YES! And it was De.Lic.Ious. Granted, this is not BBQ pulled pork, there is no smoking involved. Of course that adds another dimension to the dish that is amazingly good. Sadly, I have not yet taken the leap into backyard smoking (it's on my list), but until I do, this will satisfy any pulled pork urge I have.
To make this pulled pork I put a dry rub on the meat and let it set in the fridge overnight. My usually go-to dry rub is a recipe from Alton Brown's "Who Loves Ya Baby Back", which can easily be tweaked with whatever spices you prefer. Then I set it in the slow cooker (juices will be produced over night so make sure it's a vessel to catch those and go ahead and pour them in the cooker) on low for about 4 hours, until I pierced it with a fork and it fell apart. Then I pulled the pork with two forks and slathered with BBQ sauce. A bulkie roll is a great way to go with this, but I also like it on a green salad. Sounds weird, but I had it at a BBQ joint once and now I'm hooked.

Slow-Cooker Chicken: Mexican Style

A friend emailed me an easy slow cooker recipe for a Mexican pulled chicken dish. I was so happy to get some other ideas for the slow cooker which I mostly use for pot roast or beef stew (which, let's be honest are almost the same thing). The recipe is this: 4 chicken breasts, a jar of salsa, a can of black beans, and a can of corn. Dump in the slow cooker until the chicken shreds with a fork. I used a pineapple salsa which added a nice sweetness to the spiciness. I also used some frozen corn instead of canned corn. It took about 3 hours for the chicken to be easily shredded. I served it on a tortilla with some lettuce, scallions and cheese.

Not Your Average Sloppy Joe

I have been inspired by the Food Network show "Aarti's Party" which is the first show of the Next Food Network Star winner, Aarti. She is from India and some of her recipes are American favorites with an Indian twist. I purchased some Indian spices to be able to try some of her recipes, namely Turmeric, Cardamom, and Garam Masala (an Indian spice mix). She also uses a lot of fresh ginger and had a great tip that you can peel and grate or mince fresh ginger and freeze it in that form. This was super helpful because I don't use it all that often and would get frustrated throwing away half of "hand" of ginger.
You can see her Bombay Sloppy Joe recipe. I used it as inspiration, but changed it up quite a bit. Mostly because I didn't have a lot of the things she uses on hand (like pistachios and serrano peppers) and just to suit my own tastes (Raisins, Aarti? Really?). But that's the great thing about cooking! You see something you find interesting, use what you like, change what you don't. I loved the Indian spice twist that this recipe provided. I think this was my favorite batch of sloppy joes I've ever made.
I decided to do it all in one pot instead of cooking the meat and sauce in separate vessels. I also used ground beef instead of ground turkey, because that is just what was in the fridge. For the sauce, I like the depth and richness of tomato paste in my sloppy joes so I used that instead of tomato sauce, but then added a can of diced tomatoes for a brighter tomato flavor and variety of texture. I garnished with some Muenster cheese for some creaminess and spinach to add some texture and make it feel a little healthier :)