Watercress and Orange Soup

May 14, 2012 by 1 Comment

I realized I haven't done a cooking post for a while, so I thought I would honor the quite warm weather we are having in Portland (in the mid 80s) this Mother's Day weekend with a soup that can be served either hot or well chilled.

Overall the recipe only takes about 20-30 minutes and serves 4 as a main dish (total recipe yield is a little more than 5 cups).

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, chopped (I used sweet onion)
  • 2 bunches of watercress that have been chopped
  • 2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 orange – you will want to grate all of the rind, and also then squeeze all the juice
  • 2/3 cup of cream
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • Salt and Pepper

Directions:

  1. Saute the onion in olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat until it is soft and transparant.
  2. Now add the watercress and cover the pan. Wait about 5 minutes for the watercress to soften.
  3. Remove the pan from heat and add 2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock that have been pre-mixed with 3 tablespoons flour and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, as well as the juice and grated rind of one orange.
  4. Simmer the pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove and and let cool enough to pour the entire mixture into a blender or food processor and puree.
  5. Return the puree into the pan, and add the 2/3 cup of cream that has been premixed with the cornstarch. Bring the mixture to a boil on low heat. You can salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Now you can serve hot… or place in a container and chill in the fridge.
  7. When serving, you can add a swirl of cream or yogurt (about a tablespoon), and add an orange wedge, or croutons. Or, what I did… which is add a tablespoon of some crispy crumbled bacon.

 

 

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Mini Quiches

April 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

With my new lil pie maker! I hosted a Make Your Own Pie station, with insides options including sauteed spinach, mushrooms in a white wine and butter sauce, broccoli, diced turkey, crumbled crispy bacon, and sauteed onions, and then also options of grated Jarlsberg swiss and/or sharp cheddar cheeses. You then poured in the quiche mix so… ok, so maybe it was more a Make Your Own Quiche station. I originally thought I would do fruit pies too, but it ended up being too much prep with the other items I was already making.

Anyway, here are some examples I made to give away to my coworkers with leftovers afterwards. I had leftover mini pepperoni too from the Bloody Mary station. so threw those in when the ingredients ran low. I made some with tops at first, but found that these cook much better topless.

I have several recipe books for more mini-pies, which I love. I have never really liked baking much because it requires more precision and I'm an improv kinda girl. But, these are small so that I can make portions that I wouldn't feel so guilty about… or I can easily give away!

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Tofu Tasteoff- A Tale of Two Tofu Dishes, Round 1

November 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

One of the new things that I have been spoiled with is what fresh tofu tastes like. There are several companies in Portland that make tofu using family made recipes, and generally I have been purchasing from Bui Natural Tofu- my first vist there and the goodies I came home with were blogged about earlier this year in April– so since then I've been a repeat customer. I am not the only one- their parking lot is always busy each time I've been there, and I know to go earlier to get the fresh hot egg rolls. Don't be put off by the busy lot- people go in and out quickly from this barebones storefront.

I hadn't tried Ota Tofu or Thanh Son Tofu, so I thought I should give them a try. There's only so much tofu we can eat, so we decided the first faceoff round would be Bui vs Thanh, simply because they are located close to each other (within 1/2 a mile).

First tofu try- Bui Tofu in a curry. I like to buy the Maesri curry paste. I heated up the one small can of curry with one can of light coconut milk (I think the instructions make it too milky and wuss out the curry), threw in some additional chopped Thai chili peppers, and once those were heated through just added in the cut up fresh tofu uncooked and turned the heat off. This is a great use of fresh tofu because if you get the prepackaged tofu in liquid, you have to drain it by putting heavy objects on it and it ends up not quite tasting like anything. By using fresh tofu and putting it at the end you get bites of a light clean flavor with the chewy texture to contrast the richer curry.

Second tofu try- Thanh Son Tofu with Bow Tie Pasta in Chipotle Pesto. Cook the pasta, slightly saute the cubed tofu in olive oil, and then throw in the al dente drained pasta and the pesto in the pan and stir with the heat off to mix.

The Chipotle pesto is from Pesto Outside the Box containers of 5oz pesto, which I got from the Portland Farmers Market. As you would expect from the name, the owner creates interesting pestos using an more unique combination of herb and nut besides the standby basil and pine nuts (hey, pine nuts are expensive! And I don't like the parsley blends), such as using pistaschios and creating roasted asparagus hazelnut or a strawberry basil or pineapple macadamia version of pesto. He also makes other kinds of dips for sale sometimes as seasonal specials, varying from the cranberry port chutney to the smoked blue cheese dressing.

Pesto sauce is a nice emergency pantry item to have in the fridge that takes it up a level from just pasta with Ragu when you want a quick dinner and without even a need for cleaning up the food processor afterwards. You can throw pesto in on pasta, with meat, or just slather on bread. His chipotle pesto has a nice smoked flavor that I added in some additional red pepper in for a bit more heat. This is a light dish that tastes pretty good cold too.

Between the two, Bui Tofu wins according to our taste buds! Although we liked the firmness of Thanh Son, and both tasted pretty similarly, Bui had a slight edge in that the fact it wasn't so dense also meant it was lighter on the tongue and the flavor just seemed a bit fresher and appealing. So next round, we'll try Bui vs Ota.

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Pan Roasted Corn Salad with Mozzarella and Tomatoes in Lemon Dressing

September 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I learned at the Caprial + John cooking class that to add that taste of smoky char flavor to corn, I don’t necessarily need to roast it on the grill while on the cob. I put this new learned execution method to use yesterday when making a dish for a Labor Day barbecue.

I also made a dressing for this recipe modified from one on Food Network which I chose because the dressing uses lemon juice instead of vinegar, specifically what I wanted to give the greens zing without too much acid so it would be a counter to the babyback ribs I knew would be at the bbq and the fact that the weather would be more then 90 degrees. I thought that having the sweet and smoky corn with the burst of tomatoes and tartness in a salad would go well, and had mozzarella for some bits of creaminess and toasted almonds for crunch.

 Ingredients:

  • 6 cups of spinach and spring mix greens
  • 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 5 cups of sweet corn niblets
  • 2 cups of cherry tomatoes
  • Juice of 1 lemon or 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons (or to taste depending on what you use) of your favorite bbq seasoning. I used Weber Grill Kickin Chicken seasoning
  • Ground salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 pound of fresh mozzarella (optional).
  • 1 cup of unsalted almonds (optional)

Directions:

  1. First, I defrosted the frozen sweet corn and cooked it slightly by putting it in a wide pan with 1 cup of water and heating it on medium for about 15 minutes or so until all the corn is no longer frozen but still firm. This will take less time if you cut the corn kernals fresh from the cob instead. Drain the corn in a colander.
  2. In that same pan on med-high, I heated about 3 tablespoons of butter until it was sizzling and distributed throughout the pan. Pour in the corn and spread it out so the most amount of corn is touching the pan bottom and butter. Do not touch the corn for about 7 minutes or so in order for the corn to brown, and then stir to distribute the char and remove from heat. Pour into your planned serving container (I used a 4 qt dish) and let cool.
  3. I cut all the cherry tomatoes in half, and once the corn was cool, added it to the dish of corn kernals.
  4. Cut up the fresh mozzerella into small squares and add to the top (again to the cooled corn so it doesn’t melt)
  5. In a bowl, I whisked the lemon juice, olive oil, ground some salt and pepper, and the bbq seasoning to make the dressing
  6. Add the greens, and then the dressing and toss. When the greens and dressing mix it will wilt a bit, so depending on size of your container you may have to add, mix, and then add, mix like I did.
  7. Take the almonds and cut them into slivers or pieces toast them in the saucepan until golden brown and top them on the salad for more crunch – you can also add them raw but I like them warm and toasty to bring out more flavor while softening the nut slightly

The recipe above serves 6 as salad courses and fed 9 as a side the barbecue. Total time was 45 minutes, mainly as there was some waiting to cool time so it is easy to make this while also mulitasking another dish. While the corn is initially warming in the water step, cut your tomatoes. You can keep yourself busy and away from the temptation from touching your corn while it is browning by cutting and toasting your almonds if you don’t need them warm on your salad. Then while the corn is cooling spend your time cutting the mozz and making the dressing.

You can also make all of this ahead of time and just leave out the greens and dressing and combine right before mealtime. Or, you can skip the greens and dressing part and just use a handful or so of fresh basil and make it more focused on the corn and tomatoes and cheese. F is a baby and didn’t like the creaminess of the cheese, so another alternative woudl be to use fresh tofu instead to still get that texture and not the flavor (even though I think mozz is already a really light cheese). If you want more cheesy kick, try goat cheese, or feta.

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The Last Days of Summer: A cooking class with Caprial + John

August 31, 2011 by 2 Comments

I signed up for a cooking class last night with Caprial + John’s Kitchen. Last year I was able to attend one of their supper clubs, which was my first taste of their food in a family-style dining atmosphere in their beautiful backyard of their home (they usually hold it in their Kitchen, but circumstances had them move it to their backyard so it was like a wonderful summer party with friends). As fate had it, this class also would get moved to be held at their home instead of their kitchen/classroom, so I got to have another summer evening with food and friends and strangers thanks to Caprial and John. Even though it was unseasonably autumn chilly, John pulled out various sweatshirts for some of the participants, and there was warmth from their outdoor pizza oven too as well as their grill, burner, and various torches they had lit,

The cooking class gave me an opportunity to try another venue besides HipCooks, and also allowed me to dig into some Caprial + John Pence recipes which are more Pacific Northwest cuisine inspired. As a plus, the class offerings can be used to pace out a full formal meal (appetizer, salad, entree, side dish, and a dessert). Caprial and John are professionals- they used to run a quite famous restaurant, Caprial hosted a television cooking show and authored several cookbooks, and this duo is part of the movement and history that  helped give Northwest cuisine a name in American food.

The format for the classes is a demonstration by this husband and wife team that allows the participants to watch food preparation while asking questions and taking notes on their tips for variations or execution, and then dine one those products in a BYOB atmosphere (you can enjoy the BYOB from prep to dessert). It is also fun to be part of their banter and hear them tell their stories from their days working the line, running the restaurant, and making the dish for their family, all under the twinkling lights of their backyard and under the late summer sky with a glass of wine in hand.

On the list for the “Last Days of Summer” class included:

  • Slow Roasted Tomato Salad on a bed of Mozzarella with Warm Anchovy Dressing
  • Stuffed Grilled Pork Loin with Fontina, Roasted Garlic and Herbs
  • Corn Salad with Bacon Tempura
  • Potatoes in Parchment with Sweet Onions
  • Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone Bacon Caramel Sauce

Our first bites were enjoyed while still in the demonstration part of the class, the appetizer of slow roasted tomato salad with mozzarella and anchovy dressing. You can barely taste the anchovy… and I know when I make this salad to serve it with bread to mop up that dressing afterwards.

The highlight was making bacon tempura in their backyard kitchen/grill/pizza oven area for the corn salad with bacon tempura. We talked about lots of wonderfulness that can be made with the pan roasted corn niblets. But, watching that bacon tempura in progress was enough to make several of us pull out our cameras (after being discreet during the earlier part of the class) to capture that food pron…

We learned how to butterfly and stuff these grilled pork loins. John taught us the adult way to tie the loins, and then the children’s way involving a bunny, tree, and fox… which is totally the one I wrote down and still remember today. They came out of the grill all oozy like this

Dinner Plate for the dinner dining part

And finally dessert, the Grilled Peach with Mascarpone Bacon Caramel Sauce. Caprial carefully ensured we knew enough to be patient and leave the pot alone for the sugar browning, all saw the color for when to finally start stirring, and tales of smokestacks coming from the pot if you don’t keep your eye on your sugar.

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