Summer Fruit Tart

I've met very few wedding cakes I've actually liked (most of them are either too dry or have too much fondant), so we eschewed cake for our wedding.  We asked a bunch of friends to bake dessert for our wedding, and some of them brought beautiful looking fruit tarts!

Too bad we didn't get to try all the desserts on the day of our wedding, but it did inspire me to want to bake a fruit tart of my own.

And now I'm armed with a brand new tart pan, so I took it for a spin on a Thursday night after work.  (And managed to almost set off the smoke alarm.... sigh).  At least the final product was very tasty!

It is the height of summer, so of course I wanted to bake with some stone fruit :)

Nectarine and raspberry tart from David Lebovitz's website:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/summer-fruit-tart-berries-almond-cream/

 

Sorrel

It's been a while since I've posted anything.  We've been busy with wedding planning, the actual wedding, and honeymoon.  And being tired from all of that and just trying to get back into a more normal rhythm of things.  And on top of that, I've been getting pretty ambitious with weeknight dinners and trying to use as many bowls as possible to up my presentation game.  Luckily G can just put all of them in the dishwasher, so he's not complaining too much.

Ok, so last weekend's new find at the farmer's market.  Sorrel!  Herb or green, or both?  It was straddling the border of the greens and the herbs at the stand.  G asked what it was, and I had no idea, so of course I bought a bunch! 

According to the internet, sorrel is an herb.  When eaten raw, the leaves taste sour, with a flavor kind of like kiwis.  I verified this.  To me it tastes kind of like lemon but more grassy and pleasant! 

So now onto recipes: most of the things that turned up in a quick search involves making sorrel into sauce to go with salmon or protein, sorrel pesto, pureeing sorrel into soup, or just putting some sorrel leaves into a salad to give it a more citrusy brightness.

Here's a long list of ideas: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/ingredients-fine-foods/50-things-to-do-with-fresh-sorrel/

So I decided to make a sorrel pesto, and mix it into a wild rice blend and serve it with poached eggs on top.  I looked at enough of the pesto recipes and they all looked pretty similar, but I had to improvise based on the ingredients we had. 

Sorrel Pesto: (makes about 8 oz)
2 cups sorrel leaves, packed
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup walnuts
[freshly grated parmesan cheese <-- this is what we were missing!]

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it's a paste,  Then slowly drip olive oil in until the pesto is a consistency that you like.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I mixed about half of the pesto into steaming hot rice, and let it sit until it was warm.  The rice with pesto ended up almost like a risotto because of the creaminess of the pesto.  But a risotto without having to stir it constantly over the stove.  Win!

And it got even better topped with 2 poached eggs!  (we sous vide the eggs for 45 mins at 145  deg F, and then poached them in simmering water for 1 min to solidify the outside skin of the tight white)

Zahav cookbook, Day 2: Shakshouka

** Leftover from March (before things got hectic!!)  **

The Zahav book says that Shakshouka is a simple North-African stew with poached eggs and tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices.  Lucky for us, a present came super early in the mail and we now own a 8" cast iron pan.  Perfect vessel for attempting shakshouka for two!

Came out awesome.  Even better with leftover baguette from farmer's market yesterday.

First try cooking Israeli food

Some time ago (not sure, maybe half a year, give or take), my brother told me that Zahav is a good Israeli restaurant in Philly.  The last time I went to the public library, I took my usual route and wandered by the cookbook section, and the Zahav cookbook stood out with it's colorful cover so I had to borrow it.  And then I spent a whole evening skimming through the book, marking the recipes that look not too intimidating (aka not too much work, or doesn't have too many ingredients) with post-it notes.  So of course, when I try something, I try a whole bunch of it at once, and three of the recipes all on Sunday was quite an ambitious undertaking (and ended up taking more time than anticipated, even though I had picked what I had thought were the not-too-complicated ones.

So here goes.  All three turned out very tasty, but I'll have to say the carrots are the winner for best taste per time spent cooking them.

Kale, walnut, apple, and sumac-onion tabbouleh:

Morroccan carrots (cumin, garlic, cilantro, lemon and orange juices):

Green beans, mushrooms, lentils with tahini and garlic:

And as with any other of my ambitious cooking projects, I made way too much food.  So we'll be eating these for a while...

It actually feels like fall (or at least not summer anymore)

I bet other parts of the US are already in full swing of fall and/or entering winter already, but we live in California.  I was wearing t-shirts up until a week or so ago in the 70+ deg sunny weather!  Now when I bike to work in the morning and come back in the evening, it's actually a bit chilly with a jacket on...

In honor of fall, I have been inspired to make tasty things in the oven (and stove).  No need to turn on the heater just yet :)

A friend had sent me the Smitten Kitchen cookbook a couple of years ago, but I haven't gotten really into it until now.  Many of her recipes are pretty easy on a weeknight!

Sunday night's dinner:
Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette
recipe here: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/10/butternut-squash-and-caramelized-onion-galette/

Monday night's dinner:
Apple Cider Pork Chops (with sauteed Swiss Chard on the side)
recipe here: http://kitchensinkdiaries.blogspot.com/2014/11/pork-chops-with-cider-horseradish-glaze.html

Tuesday night's dinner:
Roasted Chicken with Kalamata Olives and Grapes (with roasted potatoes and sauteed kale on the side)
recipe here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/11/smitten-kitchens-harvest-roast-chicken-with-grapes-olives-shallots.html 

Salad with peach, tomato, mozzarella, and farro with balsalmic vinagrette

The fresh fruit and vegetables at the farmer's market have been amazing lately.  So why not mix the best of it all together?

Toss some cherry tomatoes, summer peaches, salad mix, and mozzarella balls with farro and sliced almonds with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil vinagrette.

Eat and enjoy!  This tastes like the epitome of summer :)

Chile Verde (with pork)

I recently went to a Mexican restaurant around here for lunch.  Looking at the menu, I saw that they had Chile Verde and got super excited because the only time I've ever had it was a couple of years ago when a coworker made it and let me try a bite of her lunch.  It was amazing, and had a complex layer of flavors I didn't understand (because I haven't ever attempt to cook Mexican food).  AND IT WAS GREEN!

So I ordered the Chile Verde, daydreaming of the green sauce and tastiness of years before.  No such luck.  I mean, it was ok, but it was brown and not what I was hoping for.  So I made it a goal to attempt to make it!  And I think I got pretty darn close :)

Now I know what tomatillos are and that they are sticky and kind of weird to peel.  And having learned the hard way once, I'll always remember to wear gloves when cutting chili peppers!

Tomatillos before peeling:

After peeling:

Adapted from here: http://food52.com/recipes/21128-slow-cooked-carnitas-chili-verde 

Sauce:
1.5 lb tomatillos, peeled and rinsed
4 cloves garlic
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
1/2 can Hatch chilies (I didn't have this, so I just left it out)
1 bunch cilantro

Make the sauce:
Put the tomatillos (you can cut them in half if you want, or leave them whole) and garlic onto a baking sheet and broil until slightly blackened (about 10 mins).  Let it cool down, and then put all the above ingredients into a food processor and blend until well mixed.

Chile:
3 lb pork shoulder
2 tbs oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I used berbere because that's what I have)
1/4 t cloves
1-2 tsp oregano
2 cups chicken stock

Make the chile:
Cut the pork into 1" square pieces, salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a dutch oven to high and brown the pork in batches.  Remove the pork, lower the heat to medium, and add the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally until they are soft and translucent.  Put the pork back in, along with the tomatillo sauce (above) and all the other ingredients.  Bring the mixture to a boil, and then lower the heat so that it's just simmering.  Cover, and simmer for a couple of hours (2-3?) until the pork is tender.

Serve over rice!