Fun in the Sun!

So, the weather has been right at the perfect balance here between hot as *$%^ and just a bit too chilly so we've been taking advantage and spending the weekends at the beach. We say we're "going fishing," but we really sit in lawn chairs with our feet in the water holding a fishing pole, feeding shrimp to the fish every so often. They must bite I guess, since our line comes back sans bait, but we never manage to actually hook them and reel them in. They mush be smart fish because none of the other fishermen on the beach ever seem to be either.

But, alas, we still go and cast out and enjoy this bit of nice weather before the hotter than hot comes. It's fun, and I get to model a pretty sweet SPF fisherwoman shirt. It's cool and fashionable, I know. Nick takes care of the shrimp. If I do, I get too attached with their beady eyes looking up at me pleading for freedom.

Quick Fixin: Eggplant Pizzas

This meal is so utterly painless you'll wonder afterwards if you really cooked dinner. But the flavor will ensure your taste buds and your appetite that yes, you have.

The active cooking time for this dish is hmm...5 minutes? Ok, maybe 10 - if you use freshly grated cheese. It's just the type of dish that I've been looking for though, since the weather has started to warm. It's light, but flavorful. Served with a side salad (with fresh from the garden arugula) and some bread for dipping and you have the makings of a lovely meal.

Eggplant Pizzas
adapted from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom

Ingredients:
1 (or two) eggplant
salt
pizza seasoning
your favorite jar of tomato sauce
your favorite pizza cheese, grated  (I used a combination of Rustico Red Pepper and Cacia de Roma)

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Cut the eggplant into 1/2" thick rounds and sprinkle lightly with salt. Lay on towels so that the towels will absorb the moisture the eggplants "sweat" out. Let them rest and sweat their moisture for 20-30 minutes.

After the 20-30 minutes, pat the eggplants dry and place them on an oiled baking sheet. Brush the tops with olive oil and sprinkle on your herbs. Cover the baking sheet with foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until tender.

Remove the rounds from the oven, top with a spoonful or two of tomato sauce and sprinkle on some cheese. Broil the rounds until the cheese has browned. Plate and serve.

March Meal Plan



Click to enlarge

 
A little late, please forgive me. I just didn't want to interrupt those fabulous ladies last week. I hope you all enjoyed them and had fun visiting their blogs.

This month was a bit tricky! It's Lent! So, I switched around my normal categories so that Friday was now a Meatless Meal. Like usual, we end up with bits and pieces from other meals that we need to use up, so those will get used in the OPEN days. Nick was away for a few days also, and with some leftovers in the fridge, I was happy to have those days OPEN as well, so that's why it looked like I was a lazy cook Week 1.

I'm already happily planning next month because guess what showed up at my doorstep?! Presents! (Even though I ordered them, I will continue to call them presents since I bought them with a gift card. :-p)

I was so excited to get these. I had already purchased the samples on my kindle (and even tried a few recipes), so I was so excited to get the real deal.

In general, I have mixed feelings about cookbooks. With so many recipes from highly acclaimed chefs available on the internet, along with a host of blogs with even more recipes for free, I'm hard pressed to find the need for cookbooks. I have several, but they tend to hang out on a shelf as dust collectors the majority of the time.

But as I've gotten more experience in the kitchen, I've asked my cookbooks to do more than I originally intended. As I'm sure it is with most new cooks, I started out (in college) with a basic recipe book (Better Homes & Gardens) and a few others by some of my favorite TV chefs. I have used them, and still make some of the recipes (by now, memorized). Now, this time I wanted cookbooks that I could continue to learn from as well as keep me pursuing in my newest cooking categories (ice cream making and baking in particular).

I recently read Julia's Kitchen Wisdom and really enjoyed the set up of the book. While it is a bit hard to follow the recipes as it is really written like a novel, she gives many variations on a Master Recipe, essentially instructing you on the basics while also giving you the leeway to come up with your own variation.

It was the type I was looking for. I realized that the books I had, while the recipes were good, didn't really teach me much but to make that exact recipe. I like the idea of learning the basic recipe and then learning how to vary that recipe. That's essentially how you learn to cook anyway. So, I ordered some samples on my kindle (I just love that feature) and made a few recipes and ordered the books.

Which just dropped in on my doorstep, so you'll have to wait for a full review of these as I make more recipes, but from what I've made so far, these are keepers.

What are some of your favorite cookbooks? Have you started meal planning? If so, how's it going?

Food for Thought: Angie

To wrap up the series, we have Angie from Cocina Diary. She always has fresh, delicious meals posted on her blog that make me salivate every time I visit. Check out her Q & A post below and then go visit her blog.

Why do you enjoy cooking?

I enjoy cooking very much because it brings me back to my childhood. As a late bloomer in the cooking arena, my earliest memories are of my grandma and my mom cooking. And they were always laughing.  Cooking also relaxes me. I get lost in the preparation, the mixing of ingredients, and get so excited looking forward to the final product.  

How long have you been cooking? 

I have been cooking since my late 20s early 30s. Growing up I would help with preparing the food, but real cooking - by myself, was something that I was forced to do when I found myself living on the other side of the world with no mom or grandma in sight. Suddenly I needed to cook, and by that I mean something more than sandwiches and ramen noodles. So, I bought a cookbook (Art Smith’s Back to the Table), and started cooking.  

Who do you cook for?   

Honestly, as a single girl, I cook mostly for myself. I have come to learn with age that just because I am single doesn’t mean I have to eat like a college student. I do most of my cooking on weekends because I work about 15 hours a day. But my little ritual on Saturdays is preparing a fabulously and super time consuming recipe, and then having dinner with candle lights, my good china (right now I am using Ralph Lauren’s China in Cocktail Dress pattern…you have to check it out. It is so chic) and a glass of bubbly. It is my way of celebrating life. But by no means am I a selfish cook. I love cooking for friends and family. I just enjoy feeding people. 

What is important to you when it comes to food? 

My most important requirement is that it looks good…LOL. I have a thing with food that does not look good. If it doesn’t look good, I won’t even taste it. That is my thing. I will try anything once at least if it looks good.  The second most important thing is eating homemade. For some reason I find it very rewarding to eat something homemade, whether I make it or someone else does. It just shows caring. Plus you can really control the quality of the ingredients that go into each dish.

What inspires you in your cooking? 

Fresh ingredients. I love cooking with fresh produce and working in bringing out or enhancing their natural flavors. Also, celebrations. I love cooking for celebrations and for those special occasions I love complicated and fancy recipes. The more ingredients the better.

What is your favorite food or meal? 

Oh, that’s easy: linguine with white clam sauce especially if it is from this awesome restaurant in my town called Pierro’s. It is delicious! But the second best linguine with white clam sauce recipe is from Rachael Ray.  It is simple and delish!       

Linguine with White Clam Sauce
recipe courtesy of Rachel Ray

Ingredients:

1/2 pound linguine
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tin flat anchovy fillets (6 fillets), drained
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 cup dry white wine 
1 can whole baby clams (15 ounces), with their juice 
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Crusty bread

Put a large pot of water over high heat. When water boils, add salt and pasta. Cook until slightly underdone, about 6-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic and anchovies. Cook until anchovies melt into the olive oil, then add thyme and wine. Simmer to reduce, about one minute. Stir in clams with their juice and the lemon zest.

Drain pasta, add to skillet and toss with sauce. Cook 2-3 minutes until pasta is al dente and has absorbed some flavor. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread for mopping up remaining juices.  

 A Note from Jess:

First, I wanted to thank all the ladies that have written guests posts on The Saucy Kitchen this past week.

I hope that you have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them and finding some other blogs to enjoy. I'd love to hear your thoughts (yes, you, dear readers). What do you think about food? How does your food philosophy shape how you cook for yourself or your family? 

*If you want to contribute a guest post about your particular philosophy, bloggers and non-bloggers alike, email me at thesaucykitchen@gmail.com.

Food for Thought: Colleen

Today, Colleen, from Brunchner. I've known Colleen since highschool, when we both wore the same polo shirt and khaki uniform. She was also Nick's neighbor growing up. And now she writes about tasty, healthy food from her apartment in the Big Apple. She's still got some Pittsburgh in her though! Check out some of her tasty recipes (after you read her post below, of course).

The American culture has never before been so food-centric, and let’s not forget why: it is fun to cook! Fun to enjoy a meal with family and friends! Nothing else have I seen brings people together more quickly. It is this sentiment that drives my culinary fascination. An undeniable passion for sharing experiences is enforced by a healthy living mantra; one that celebrates nutritious food choices. This vibrancy provokes me to go beyond the norms of a young, novice home chef to satisfy a sheer curiosity of food; to simply enjoy the process of cooking; to steadily try to grow as an epicure while taking in nuances of the vast culinary world.

I like knowing the science and history behind food…it’s neat. And, chances are that I will share this unsolicited information while fully believing that everyone has the same burning questions. Did you know pectin in an apple can act as a natural thickener for fruit pie fillings? Or, that jerked beef can be easily made in your home oven, and then sent overseas without turning rancid? Or, that chocolate milk is the optimal workout recovery drink largely because whey protein is fast-acting, allowing amino acids to quickly reach muscle tissue? Snippets aside, I am lucky to have an eager cast of family and friends that are always willing to aide, initiate or reap the benefits of my culinary expeditions.  

In a society where food has become a drug-like emotional aphrodisiac I am pleased to find day-to-day excitement from fresh foods that are prepared in ways to enhance, not masque the flavors of their unadulterated form. Sweet potatoes: sliced, seasoned and roasted. Tricolor heirloom tomatoes: halved and tossed in freshly whisked balsamic vinaigrette. Watermelon: sliced, that’s it. Think about these few examples of earth’s delicious bounty to which we benefit. And, what little more, if anything, they need to be enjoyed. Alas, natural peanut butter is one of these things.

What good is there not to say about the creamy goodness that is peanut butter? It is a favorite – and I stress favorite – food of mine. A rare day goes by when a generous dollop is not spread on a crisp gala apple, ripe banana or toasted whole wheat product. Further exploring pb is both fitting and a reflection of my philosophy of taking excitement in healthy eats.

Peanut butter is a virtue rather than a vice; the latter of which it is often pegged because of the high levels of fat. It’s monounsaturated fat, c’mon people!  And, it is this fat – in the form of natural oils – that makes for the smooth creamy texture once released when ground. Same goes for any for any other nut. So, surprisingly or not, homemaking pb requires little more than pushing the “grind” button of a food processor. 

As for the palm oil, sugar and other preservatives found in processed peanut butter – tah. No, thank you! Who needs it? On its own, peanut butter is an excellent source of fiber, protein and other micronutrients; a dream food for fitness enthusiasts and my staple during any rigorous training regimen. Now, go on, make it for yourself…it’s fun! Oh, and by the way, a peanut is actually not a nut at all; it is part of the legume or “bean” family. 

Homemade Peanut Butter

Ingredients
15 oz roasted Spanish* peanuts, shelled and skinned
1 t kosher salt
1 1/2 t honey (optional)

*Spanish nuts higher oil content than other types of peanuts which some peanut butter producers find preferable. You’ll also commonly see Valencia Peanut Butter (like at Trader Joe’s). In short, they all have oils to create a creamy texture. Test out a few to find your favorite.

Place the peanuts, salt and honey (if using) into the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the lid back on and continue to process until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. 

To create a chunky peanut butter, simply follow the above instructions, and then mix in the desired amount of chopped peanuts. 

*Peanut butter can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months