The Best of 2014: Winter to Spring

2014 Roundup: January, February and March

Favorites from the internets:

- Melissa Clark's Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp as interpreted by the Wednesday Chef is a winner of a sheet pan supper for a busy weeknight

- This Thai baked salmon in a lime-coconut cream sauce from She Simmers is absolutely addictive

- This is the Hungarian Bean and Ham soup of my childhood (Csülkös Bableves)

 and it is soooo good, a perfect winter dinner. Thank you Saveur!

- This spicy pork and mustard green noodle soup from Bon Appetit is the perfect use for farm box mustard greens in the dead of winter: I decrease the soy sauce, increase the fish sauce, and use white pepper in place of Szechuan peppercorns when I'm out of the real stuff.

- Or use your mustard greens in the Hawaiian Ginger-Chicken Stew from Eating Well

- Eating Well also created a hit with this Green Vegetable Minestrone -- even better with a Parm rind simmered in the broth

- Serious Eat's radish salad is a great option with arugula, radicchio, or another chicory

- This Splendid Table recipe for cauliflower or broccoli rabe with sausage and orecchiette is a great skillet dinner

- This Persian Chickpea and Noodle Soup from the LA Times is a great Sunday Soup dinner

- These Ham and Cheese Quinoa Cups from Iowa Girl Eats can be cooked in baking pan and reheated by the slice for an easy, delicious weekday breakfast. I used the whole eg and addd 1/4 c milk for a more solid texture

- Serious Eat's Arugula Pesto* is a great topping for salmon, grilled meats, or steamed vegetables

- Here is the BEST way to make steel cut oats, toasting them adds a nutty flavor -- Orangette adapts this recipe is adapted from Whole Grain Mornings**

From my cookbook collection:

- The Caramel-cooked tofu from Herbivoracious

- For the Best Oatmeal, be sure to toast the oats first, from **Whole Grain Mornings

Recipes to keep track of...

- My shredded collard salad with black-eyed peas and spiced peanuts was a great way to start the year 

- Bake a ham with a glaze of soy sauce, mustard and honey, not too sweet 

- Make a kale salad with thinly sliced radishes and carrots, with dried cherries, toasted pepitas, and a vinaigrette from that *arugula pesto

... and in the Meh category:

- Bon Appetit's Vietnamese Pork chops (serves me right, with so many Vietnamese cookbooks to choose from)

- Eating Well's pinto bean and andouille sausage stew was unexpectedly bland and watery

The Best of 2013: Summer

Recipe Roundup 2013: July, August, September

There were some good late summer finds this year...

On the way out the door for the July 4th holiday, I made Smitten Kitchen's pickled vegetable sandwich slaw with a mess of leftover vegetables -- 1/2 cabbage, onions, carrots, and some red peppers. An easy pickle (especially if you have a mandoline) that's great on sandwiches and especially burgers and sliders.

This Vietnamese flank steak with cucumber radish salad from Melissa Clark via the Times was outrageously good on a warm evening.

If you get kohlrabi in your farm box, or you seek it out, don't forget about this recipe, which appeared in the Mariquita Farms newsletter, the Ladybug Postcard: Roasted Kohlrabi with Crunchy Seeds

This Smitten Kitchen recipe for one-pot farro is a keeper! I used my summer farm box bounty: roasted roma tomatoes and shredded zucchini.

August tomatoes are perfect for panzanella and the Barefoot Contessa recipe is a good one!

Make this Zucchini and Green Chile Breakfast Casserole for a casual brunch or to eat for the week.

A really good Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

This spicy Moroccan carrot salad from the LA Times

Chickpea of the Sea vegetarian "tuna" is great for sandwiches or on toast for breakfast

These Japanese Stuffed Peppers from Just Hungry are a great technique for a cute app or easy dinner, but the filling needs punching up a bit

From my cookbook collection:
- I adjusted the zucchini bread recipe in the America's Test Kitchen healthy family cookbook to great effect: use coconut oil, sub out full cinnamon for 1/4 t cinnamon, 1/8 t each allspice and cardamom, and 1/4 c shredded, unsweetened coconut

- A refreshing smashed cucumber salad with garlic and ginger from Ottolenghi's Plenty

- the Moroccan Green Bean Tagine from Splendid Table How to Eat Supper

- Many moons ago, when our kiddos where very small, two amazing moms in our neighborhood produced a community cookbook, Bernal Eats, and a third contributed a recipe for a tasty ground pork and longbean stirfry that has become a family favorite.

Recipes to keep track of...
I made up a recipe for curried grated kohlrabi with yogurt, which was a great vegetable side with grilled meat and chapati. I used a mandoline to cut the kohlrabi, which I sauteed with chopped onion, garlic and ginger as well as curry powder, and finished it with some nonfat yogurt.

Zucchini risotto was hit, the zucchini was almost undetectable and my family ate this up -- I just added 4 medium grated, salted and vigorously squeezed zucchini to my basic risotto recipe, and finished it with lots of parm.

... and in the Meh category:
- The Kohlrabi Salad in Ottolenghi's Jerusalem cookbook

The Best of 2013: Spring into Summer

2013 Roundup: April, May, June

--> April
Turkish-spiced Halibut Skewers with Yogurt Sauce: Another winner from David Tanis' City Kitchen column, a 3-generation favorite.

Salmon Cakes with Capers: I used the Cook's Illustrated salmon cake recipe for a quantity of leftover grilled salmon, adding capers in place of pickle relish. Finally, a fish cake that meets with MZ's approval.


Smitten Kitchen Carrot Salad with Harissa, Feta and Mint tasted as good as it looked, and held several days for a great addition to packed lunches.

Another winner from the Times, this time Lox Chowder from the estimable Russ & Daughters.  I made this with my dad's hot-smoked salmon, delicious!

Cod Steaks in Spicy Tomato Sauce (Timatar wali macchi) from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking.

Pork Neck Gravy, a long-cooked Italian style tomato sauce with pork neck bones from Linda's Tasty Pork.  I combed several recipes to come up with this one: Saute two diced yellow onions, 1 shredded carrot, 6 minced cloves garlic, oregano, thyme. Add 1 c red wine, reduce by half, stir in 1/4 c tomato paste, 1 c chix broth, 2 large cans roma tomatoes, crushed, and 2 bay leaves. Simmer to taste and serve over pasta or polenta.

Mark Bittman's Miso-Ginger (carrot) Dressing, a marvelous way to use a glut of carrots and excellent on salad, rice, summer/lettuce rolls or grilled fish.

I saw this recipe for a beet green and rice gratin in the Times and brought it to a school potluck. It was a great use of the Portuguese kale from my farm box, and a filling and tasty dish with the addition of 1.5 c cooked flageolet beans, if a bit too Moosewood for 2013.

And to welcome Spring, I made a variation on this soupe a pistou from the Kitchn, using leeks, snap peas, new potatoes, asparagus, and baby turnips, topped with arugula pesto.

May
Sarsong ka Saag: This Indian mustard greens dish from the Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook was delicious, one of the best greens dishes I have ever made. And that's saying something.

A friend made Roasted Lemon Chicken with Zucchini and Feta and it was delicious. She gave me the recipe, I can share it with anyone who wants it, but it's a photo of the page, so let me know and I'll email it.

Dinner a Love Story's Macaroni and Cheese: MZ generally despises homemade macaroni and cheese but she enjoyed this one, as long as her serving was completely breadcrumb free.

Okonomiyaki from Mark Bittman's Best Recipe in the World cookbook was enjoyed by all.

And the discovery of the month: Brining beans. Who new? It results in lovely tender beans. Brine 1 lb. dried beans in 6 T kosher salt mixed with 4 quarts water for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain, rinse and proceed with preferred cooking technique. Wonderful!

June
A Little Yumminess Curry in a Hurry: This recipe can be adapted to virtually any protein/vegetable combination. I am particularly crazy about this dish with thinly sliced new potatoes

Sumptuous Spoonfuls Candied Kumquats: I found myself with more kumquats than I could use and recalled a panna cotta recipe from a Splendid Table podcast that had my mouth watering on my commute home. This recipe was perfect with the addition of a split vanilla bean and two cardamom pods. I inadvertently cooked it nearly to the jam stage, but no matter, I'm enjoying it stirred into Greek yogurt and drizzled on ice cream, and maybe I'll even make that panna cotta before it's gone...

Cook's Illustrated recipe for Pan-Seared Scallops: Perfection.

Pioneer Woman Onion Blue Cheese Sauce: Decadent.

Pasta with Yogurt, Peas, and Chile: This is an Ottolenghi recipe riffed on the Orangette blog. The pine nut/Aleppo oil combination is delicious! I used edamame because I had them, and since they are more bland than peas, I added a handful of basil to the sauce, as well. This was unusual, delicious and made great leftovers for lunch. A keeper.

Japanese Cucumber Salad with a new vegetable from my farm box, oshiru uri, or Japanese pickling melon.  Since the melon has a more mild flavor, I added spring onions and ginger, and a teaspoon of dashi miso instead of the dashi granules. I might maintain all these changes for a straight cucumber salad.

Martha Stewart's Gnocchi with Quick Meat Sauce: A friend made this for dinner and it was definitely a keeper.

Smitten Kitchen Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw: I made this with the random vegetables I had in the produce drawer before we left on vacation. I can't wait to try it with pulled pork or a fish taco!

Kale Salad with Chevre Dressing
Made this up with what I had in the vacation kitchen, based on a memory of a recipe I couldn't find anywhere. Here it is:
2-3 T red wine vinegar
3-4 T EVOO
1/2 t sugar
1 t mustard
2 scallions, sliced thin on diagonal
4 oz chèvre
1/4 c chopped salted roasted cashews
1/4 c dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds or diced cherries

Combine kale with 2 T vinegar, 3T EVOO, mustard, sugar and a generous grinding of salt and pepper. Massage leaves to tenderize them. Taste and adjust vinegar and oil as needed. Add goat cheese and scallions and combine until both are worked into kale mixture. Toss with cashews and choice of fruit and serve. 

The Best of 2013: Winter to Spring

2013 Roundup: January, February, March

I can't believe I never posted a recipe in 2013, but I did a lot of cooking and here's what I would cook again broken into the four seasons of the year.

January
This New Year's Day I diverged from the normal ham-rich collards and black eyed peas and instead made the Goan black-eyed peas from Ruta Kahate's 5 Spices, 50 Dishes, adding q bunch chopped collards and doubling the spices.

I had leftover peas, so I made the hot and cheesy Zannie's black eyed pea dip from the Pioneer Woman, which was delicious but a bit muddy to look at.

Serious Eats' shrimp scampi with artichokes is a quick and delicious pasta option for weeknight dinner or anytime you want dinner on the table in ~20 minutes.

The dandelion and pumpkin seed pesto from the Kitchn was a perfect use for my farm box dandelion greens.

Turkey keema needs to be on regular rotation -- so easy with ground turkey, and a complete meal with the addition of some brown basmati rice.

The napa cabbage salad with buttermilk dressing from Smitten Kitchen was so good I made it over and over again, and enjoyed it with fennel, too.

"Lively Up Yourself Lentil Soup" with saffron yogurt from 101 Cookbooks -- yes, please.

The Spanish chorizo, prawn and clam stew from the SF Chronicle Cookbook, Vol. II is reason enough to keep this book on my shelf.

America's Test Kitchen's oven fries were a hit, and so easy to make.

Cook's Illustrated Lightened Scallop Potatoes were delicious -- somewhere between a light gratin and the real thing, but with lots of flavor.

This is the year I rediscovered ricotta salata, and loved it especially grated on broccoli di cicco sauteed with garlic and chile and tossed with lemon juice

Dinner a Love Story always comes through with family favorites, and their stromboli was the perfect thing to take along to a friend's to enjoy with a football game -- just don't stretch the pizza dough too wide or the roll will split when baking -- and be sure to line your baking pan with foil for easier clean up.

February
Smitten Kitchen's Buttermilk Roast Chicken thighs were a huge hit -- need to make these again and again.

Button Mushrooms a la Creme: David Tanis writes an excellent weekly column in the New York Times called City Kitchen. I bookmark most of his recipes, and they're usually keepers. This one is so simple, I made it over and over all winter.

A colorful and delicious salad of radicchio, shredded carrot and blue cheese with a tangerine vinaigrette.

Cook's Illustrated's red beans and rice, as well as their country potato leek soup, to which I added a celery rib, diced, and a dash of cayenne pepper.

There were two notable recipes that I would not repeat, both from Smitten Kitchen which is unusual since I generally love her recipes: the sausage lentil soup was simply bland, but the tantalizing clementine cake was disappointing in every way: odd flavor, unpleasant texture and not terribly enticing to look at.

March
My farm box included spigariello and I sauteed it with a lot of garlic and finished it with Meyer lemon juice -- so good I hope we get more in 2014.

We also got puntarelle a few times, the vegetable requires a fair amount of prep but is absolutely delicious with a lemon garlic anchovy vinaigrette, or sauteed with fish sauce and finished with lime juice.

I got better about prepping lunch items in 2013, and this miso lime vinaigrette was a winner on roasted vegetables.

Smitten Kitchen's egg salad with pickled celery is so good that I now maintain a jar of pickled celery in the fridge at all times.

This SW Chopped Salad with Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing is irresistible -- and the dressing itself is a condiment worth keeping around for easy, delicious lunches.

Banana Oat Muffins with Two Bananas

Awkward title for a recipe, yes, but we LOVE banana bread around here and my regular recipe calls for four very ripe bananas. This is a great back up recipe for when the others aren't quite ripe enough, plus it's quick to put together, and the yogurt keeps them moist for several days. The most recent version of this recipe contained 1/4 cup each shredded coconut (not sweetened), dried chopped cranberries and white chocolate chips -- maybe a little more of these, I was using up odds and ends. I also used coconut oil in place of vegetable oil. They were tender, flavorful, and moderately healthy, a great afternoon snack with a cup of tea or glass of milk. This recipe typically makes 12-14 muffins.

3/4 c each white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour and quick rolled oats
1/2 c sugar
1 t ea baking powder and baking soda

1/4 c milk
1/2 c nonfat yogurt
1 T butter
3 T coconut oil
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup assorted dried fruit and/or nuts (toasted pecan pieces, blueberries and cranberries are particularly good)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line muffin tins.

Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl, whisk. In a separate medium bowl, melt butter and stir in coconut oil till smooth. Beat in eggs, milk and yogurt. Add vanilla and bananas, beat till smooth.

Mix wet ingredients into dry in two batches, stirring till just combined. Add optional nuts or fruit. Fill muffin cups and bake 15-20 minutes, turning once. Cool a bit before digging in.

The Best of 2013: Fall to Winter

The Best of 2013: October, November, December

Wrapping up 2013 with a few good dishes -- it was a good year for discovering new recipes and my resolution for 2014 is to come back to some favorites.

- In the make over and over again category: Melissa Clark's Garlicky Chicken with Lemon-ANchovy Sauce -- it comes together in just 25 minutes and the sauce is great with anything!

- A good choice for a weekend dinner on the grill: Fine Cooking's Hanger Steak with Spicy Miso Glaze

- This sheet pan supper of Curried Chicken Drumsticks from A Little Yumminess were a hit, I substituted winter squash for the carrots

- My family loves flatbread of all kinds and this Socca recipe from The Kitchn did not disappoint

- We're also a fan of virtually every version of chicken and rice, including this easy recipe from Dinner a Love Story

- Chowhound's Braised Pork Chops and Fennel was a hit

- Smitten Kitchen's German Pancakes make a great weekend breakfast

From my cookbook collection:

Recipes to keep track of...

- Roast carrots tossed in olive oil, pepper, salt, and cumin seeds, in the last 10 minutes toss with some honey and ground coriander, serve with chopped cilantro and garlicky yogurt 

- Slow cooker Kahlua pig (MomoNotes)

- Kale Salad with Goat Cheese dressing (MomoNotes)

... and in the Meh category:

- Saucy Shrimp over Lemon Quinoa from The Kitchn 

New Year's Day Salad of Collards, Black-eyed Peas and Spiced Peanuts

This salad is something of a riff on a recipe that Saveur Magazine posted just before New Year's Day. Like kale salads, it benefits from being made in advance so that the vinaigrette can help to break down the sturdy greens. It is gorgeous and delicious and a refreshing change from the ham-laden peas traditionally served to bring good luck in the new year. A lot of the produce prep can be accomplished while the peanuts are roasting and cooling; although the prep may look daunting, this salad comes together fairly easily.

3/4 c peanuts, raw or roasted and lightly salted
3/4 c grapeseed oil
2 t smoked paprika
1 t sugar
1/2 t ea ground cumin and coriander
1/4 t aleppo pepper
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
2 shallots, finely diced
2 small garlic cloves, grated on a microplane or pounded to a paste
6 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 t dijon mustard
1 bunch collards, well-rinsed and drained
3 rainbow carrots, peeled
1 red or yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup mined cilantro (optional)
1 c cooked and drained black eyed peas

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a nonreactive bowl, toss peanuts and 2 T oil with spices, 1/4-3/4 t salt (depending on type of peanuts being used) and 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper. Reserving bowl, spread peanuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

In the bowl used to season the peanuts, combine shallot and garlic with vinegar, 1/4 t salt and dijon mustard. Stir to combine and allow to sit at least 10 minutes to mellow the alliums.

Cut collard greens from the stem and slice lengthwise into 2-3 inch widths. Stack the strips and cut into thin ribbons from the short end to create 2-3" ribbons of greens. Cut peeled carrots to a julienne or run through a mandoline.

When peanuts have cooled, chop coarsely and reserve. Scrape up any spice mixture from pan and add to shallot mixture. Whisk in remaining oil to taste. Toss vinaigrette with collards and carrots, working vinaigrette thoroughly into mixture, using hands if necessary to gently massage collards. Add diced pepper, black eyed peas and cilantro, if using, and toss to combine. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes; adjust salt and pepper and top salad with chopped peanuts prior to serving.
 

The Best of 2012

I diligently planned our meals thorugh 2012, and along the way I had the idea that I might post our favorite discoveries each month. Well, first I thought I might post what I cooked/where we went each night on a monthly basis, but that completely eluded me. So then I thought about sharing the best recipes I tried, and when months went by, I considered doing it quarterly, and here we are with an annual round up.

Looking through these, I hope that having these here will jog my mind, there were some great finds in 2012! And if anyone else enjoys them, I'd love to know.

Where possible, I provide a link directly to the recipe. Where I used a cookbook, I provide a link to the Amazon site, but only because the Indie Bound website is lighter on content -- should you choose to acquire a book, here's a plug for your local bookstore!

January

● A beautiful recipe for wine jelly, which I made as a gift for my workmates to rave reviews! -- from the blog Eating from the Ground Up

● America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution brisket

● David Lebovitz's roast chicken with caramelized shallots -- I need to make this again! That sauce! And so easy.

● Nigel Slater's cod with parsley brown butter sauce from his Real Fast Food

● Brooklyn Farmhouse ginger syrup + crystalized ginger -- perfect for homemade ginger ale
● Chinese Beef Noodle Soup from the Gourmet Cookbook -- MZ loved this one and so did we, that soy-ginger-star anise combination works every time

● Spaghetti with radicchio and caramelized onions from The Ferry Plaza Cookbook
● Princess Leia cupcakes for MZ's birthday 

February

● Tuesday Recipe's Lightened Up Chicken Breasts Braised with Escarole with the following note: Decrease cooking time, salt/pepper chix before browning

● Cook's Illustrated Basic Risotto with Beet Greens -- a great technique for making risotto an easier weeknight meal

● The Dinner Files' asparagus -- a great basic recipe, we enjoyed this throughout the season
● Real Simple's lemony Barley and Lentil Salad

● A curried yellow split pea soup to which I added kohlrabi greens and wild rice -- I should try to make this again, I assume I made a pretty basic veg split pea soup with curry spices and added cooked wild rice and chopped kohlrabi greens

March

● Smitten Kitchen Double Coconut Muffins -- another recipe worth a return engagement

● The lamb, chicken, and carne asada marinades from Rancho Cooking -- this is a great cookbook for early California cooking. I added 2 t soy sauce to the carne asada recipe 

● Velvety Broccoli and Feta Pasta from the Kitchn -- delicious and it freezes well

● Irish vegetable barley soup made with the leftover stock from cooking corned beef
● Miso-Ginger Glazed Salmon from Chow -- a great dish for a group, I made this several times this year

● Buttermilk-marinated Chicken Thighs from Smitten Kitchen -- this marinade is infinitely adaptable, and is particularly good with Balti seasoning from Penzeys Spices

● Kohlrabi Pickles from Serious Eats -- these are outstanding on turkey burgers!

● Ginger Applesauce Cake from the Kitchn

● Shortbread Jam Tart from the Kitchn -- so easy, especially with a food processor, this was a hit with MZ and H

● Grilled Chorizo-stuffed Poblano Peppers from Serious Eats -- I used soyrizo and we cooked these on the grill up in the snow. They were delicious! Should be a summer staple

And one very Meh recipe:

● kitchn's 4-ingredient Banana Oat Bars

April

● Conch ceviche made in Belize with fresh conch and this ceviche recipe

● Dinner a Love Story (DALS) shrimp tacos

● Mariquita Farm's Greens Tacos made with lamb's quarters and Bolani/East West Gourmet's yogurt cheese

● Lemony Pickled Cauliflower from Serious Eats -- be sure to use the zest only, the jar with white pitch still attached carried an unpleasant bitter hit

● Spicy Rutabaga Pickles -- these had a nice flavor but next time I'll omit the ground spices, which make the finished product cloudy and slightly sandy

● Saveur's pickled cauliflower

● For a Belizean-themed dinner upon our return I marinated chicken in this excellent recado rojo, and served it with Rice and Beans from a now-defunct website called belizeanpride.com

● Pook's Hill banana bread -- the banana bread that sustained us during day trips from our excellent lodge

● The household was split on Smitten Kitchen's riff on Ottolenghi's Cauliflower Parmesan Cake, a little goes a long way

● An oddly delicious Black Bean Cauliflower Spread from the Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans cookbook

May

● Cook's Illustrated arugula pesto

● Dinner a Love Story's kale salad -- among many kale salad recipes, this is a keeper

● "Sauterash" -- we had extra grilled hot dogs from a barbecue so I made an Hungarian-influenced staple of my childhood: long grain white rice cooked with sauteed onions and green peppers, diced canned tomatoes and paprika, with sliced hot dogs folded in. I can't say MZ was as enamored as I was but we all ate it up.

● bay area bites Fava Ravioli  -- this is an outstanding recipe! Made it with wonton wrappers, MZ did the stuffing and folding

● Carrot refrigerator pickles from Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it -- Karen Solomon is a local treasure!

June

● Momofuku bo ssam (pork shoulder) from the New York Times -- delicious! And that ginger scallion sauce is to die for!

● Serious Eats grilled smashed potatoes

● Barbara Kafka's Chinese Chicken in the Pot on Serious Eats -- this was a slam dunk -- ready in 30 minutes and again with the soy-ginger-star anise combination. I need to make this again.

● Blueberry Oat Muffins -- riffed from an easy, lower-sugar quick bread recipe from the Kitchn, I made variations on this recipe all year long, subbing whatever fruit was available, from cherries to chopped pears. I added 2 T grapeseed oil to make the cake more tender and baked the muffins for ~20 min.

● Mark Bittman's Fast Scallion Pancakes -- I added 2 T milk and 1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, these were a great use of some extra scallions, and were delicious as a modified wrap with grilled steak, shredded lettuce and hoisin sauce

● A Dinner a Love Story twofer: the yogurt-marinated chicken breasts with Phoebe's spice mix stirred into the marinade

● A riff on a Dinner Files favorite, winter tomatoes in yogurt sauce with leftover roasted zucchini added

● My favorite jam so far this year: Nectarine Lime Ginger riffed from a recipe from the wonderful Food in Jars cookbook

● Zuni Cafe's Zucchini Pickles -- these are the addictive pickles served with their fantastic burger -- we enjoyed these on sandwiches and burgers, with sausages and cheese plates. I will make these every summer.

● I started making yogurt this year from a recipe on the Food in Jars blog -- so easy. I follow her recipe, and use a smallish soft-sided cooler packed with 3 mason jars of yogurt and 3 filled with an even mixture of boiling water and hot tap water, allowed to sit for 10 hours. Delicious and no plastic containers.

July

● Dinner a Love Story's Back Pocket Turkey Bolognese -- quick and delicious

● Terry's TX pinto beans from allrecipes.com - a good basic taco bean made in the slow cooker

● A made up and highly addictive recipe for Oregano-spiced Pickled Carrots

● A leftover melange of barley, grilled corn, cherry tomatoes and chickpeas w torn basil and a  lemon-sherry vinegar-shallot-Dijon vinaigrette 

● Roasted Mushrooms with Herbs from the Kitchn

● Lebneh from Flavors of Aleppo -- my favorite thing to do with extra yogurt, delicious spread on toast

● Ricotta Cheese from Smitten Kitchen

● A delicious marinara-style sauce with lightly roasted tomatoes from SF's Square Meals-- scroll down to Mariquita Tomato Sauce -- I made and froze several batches with my Mariquita tomatoes and we're still enjoying it 

● After running out so quickly last year, this year I canned a big batch of Parsi tomato chutney, originally from Niloufer Ichaporia King's My Bombay Kitchen. This chutney is good on everything, from scrambled eggs to grilled cheese sandwiches

● I riffed the earlier Kitchn buttermilk-based oat bread with 101 Cookbook's My Special Zucchini Bread, adding zucchini in place of blueberries as well as crystalized ginger, poppyseeds and 1/2 t curry powder (in place of cinnamon) - it was delicious!

● More breakfast baking: zucchini and olive breakfast cake (savory) from the Kitchn

● A delicious leftovers salad of grilled chicken, shredded and squeezed zucchini, grated parmigiano, chopped kalamatas and couscous with lemon Dijon vinaigrette 

● A great veg lasagna with homemade ricotta, roasted mushrooms, chard, shredded zucchini and that Four Square Mariquita tomato sauce

August

● Bon Appetit's Perfect Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs are both perfect and very easy

● Miso Ginger Chicken Legs: marinate chicken all day in this, drain. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, line baking pan w foil, place rack on pan. Roast legs 30 min, broil 1-2 min to brown if needed. Rest 10 min. Serve

● Stirfried celery w onion and red pepper  -- simple and suprisingly good

● Salsa Verde from the incomparable Tamar Adler's An Everlasting Meal

● Cook's Illustrated's Israeli-style baba ganoush (a long-time favorite)

● Mariquita Farms' pickled carrots

● Pickled red onions using a basic brine from Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it

● I experimented with lactofermented carrots and cukes, more to come in summer of 2013

● A basic plum jam spiced with cinnamon, star anise and a touch of cardamom turned out very nice

● I used a tested recipe to can tomatillo salsa and we've been enjoying it on everything -- MZ loves it

● A recipe from a friend (Hi Judy!) that is ridiculously good: boiled corn sections served with lime and small piles of salt, chile powder and cumin for dipping

● A Southwest Shredded Carrot Salad made withgrated carrots, slivered scallions and Penzeys southwest seasoning in a lemon vinaigrette

● Smitten Kitchen's zucchini bread pancakes (adjusted to 1/4 t cinnamon, 3 T brown sugar)

● A quick weekday meal: Chicken and Artichokes in Wine Sauce over pasta from the Kitchn, with a few mods: small dice and sauté 1/2 onion, use 3 T flour: 1 chix breast, finish the sauce with 3/4 c wine, 1/2 c pasta water, and 2 T chicken stock

● Tomatillo jalapeño jam from the Homesick Texan Cookbook

● Tomatoes dressed with soy sauce, sesame oil, cilantro and black pepper inspired by Mark Bittman

● Outstanding baked feta w tomatoes and olives from Smitten Kitchen -- OMG this is addictive

● Eggs poached in tomatillo sauce from Rick Bayless' Mexico: One Plate at a Time on sauteed polenta rounds with crumbled cotija cheese
● Chow's sesame-cucumber salad

September-October
Meh: Tamar Adler's veggie stem pesto -- I'm going to be okay throwing away stems

● Giant runner beans cooked in a slow cooker, then baked in a puttanesca sauce with browned diced eggplant, topped with feta -- great on on toast!

● "Millet latkes" from the quinoa cakes recipe in Supernatural Everyday, with extra cheese to bind

● Quick eggplant red curry from Hot Sour Salty Sweet

● Braised coconut spinach with chickpeas and lemon (made with kale) - a great veg dinner over brown Basmati rice from the Kitchn

● Friends made the Barefoot Contessa's Sunday roast beef for us and now I want to roast a beef

● They also made something called Prairie Market carrot soup for which I must find the recipe

October

Meh: Buoyed by my last kitchn artichoke success, I made the barigoule, which was easy but weird -- the carrots threw it out of balance

● The ricotta pie with leftover veggies from An Everlasting Meal is a new standard, good with string beans, greens, broccoli or cauliflower

● Turns out blanched chard stems and green lentils make a lovely salad with a garlicky red wine vinaigrette

● Mark Bittman is genius at developing shortcuts that don't sacrifice flavor. His chicken adobo from the How to Cook Everything app did not disappoint

November

Several Mehs this month:

● Molly Watson's Tomato Confit -- this was just really oily. I prefer them brushed with olive oil and slow-roasted

● The kitchn's ham bone, bean and green soup needed a lot of punching up

● NYT's savory cottage cheese pancakes had a lovely texture but way too much garam masala, I'd adjust the seasonings on the next try

And a bunch of successes:

● America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution is a great cookbook. I made the Asian ribs recipe with a pork butt and wow, it was good

● That ricotta pie with roasted tomatoes and leftover roasted broccoli 

● The Kitchn redeemed itself with Double Spinach Pasta Casserole, next time I'd decrease the oil but this was popular with the whole family

● The America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution pork posole was also outstanding -- no carrots, though, I served it with shredded cabbage, minced white onion, slivered radishes and crumbled dried oregano instead

● Tamar Adler's lettuce and rice soup from An Everlasting Meal is perfect comfort food

● The Dinner a Love Story cookbook is also a favorite, and the recipe for Grandma Turino's tomato gravy is a keeper

● The red pepper jelly from the Chronicle Cookbook Volume II worked spectacularly with fresh cayenne peppers, chile flakes and pomegranate seeds

● NYT Potato, Salmon and Spinach Patties W Garlicky Dill Cream (using my dad's smoked salmon, beet greens, and no dill)

●  Look, with this much cheese it isn't going to be *bad* but the kitchn's easy prosciutto pasta bake was a hit

December

● Cook's Illustrated winter squash calaloo with Portuguese cabbage from our farm box instead of chard -- a great combination of flavors

● Quick Oat Bran and Banana Muffins from epicurious, made with rolled oats and the full egg

● Yemeni chicken soup from Faye Levi's International Jewish Cookbook was good health in a bowl: thin egg noodles, chickpeas, diced chix, carrots, celery, Portuguese cabbage, cumin, turmeric and black pepper

● "White Bolognese" from An Everlasting Meal

● White bean soup w Mariquita ham hock soup

● Chorizo and potatos from our CSA -- time to make empanadas with storebought Salteña wrappers

● Dry-fried string beans from the Sunset Cookbook

● Chicken and choy sum stirfry from Breathe of a Wok

● Frijoles de la Olla  from Rancho Gordo pinquitos in the slow cooker

● And the capper to the year: fancy jello shots made with with homemade melon liqueur

A riff on Monggo Guisado (Filipino Mung Bean Stew)

There are a lot of foods we don't eat these days because they are so far beyond MZ's tastes: hot Thai curries, pungent Korean and Filipino stews, even omelets for dinner. So last night when MZ had a dinner-hour birthday party and we were completing a massive gardening project, I pulled out a recipe I have been eyeing for months: A recipe from favorite blogger Jun Belen for Monggo Guisado, a shrimp and mung bean stew that seemed to offer the pungency we often crave, combined with a the quick simplicity required.

I modified the recipe quite a bit based on what I had on hand, so I can't really call it authentic. But it absolutely fulfilled the desire for "adult" food and I can't wait for the opportunity to make it again. I served it over steamed white rice, and we liked it so much we had it for breakfast.

Not Quite Filipino Shrimp and Mung Bean Stew

1.5 cups dried mung beans
8 cups shrimp stock or 7 cups water + 1 can fish broth + 2 t fish stock base
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t shrimp paste (I had Thai shrimp paste in soya oil)
1/4 t chile flakes
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, drained and tomato water reserved
3/4 pound frozen langoustine, thawed and halved
3 tablespoons fish sauce, more to taste
2 t soy sauce
8 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
Juice of 1-2 limes

Rinse and sort the beans. Soak the beans overnight or all day in cold water, enough to cover the beans with several inches of water. (This speeds up the cooking process considerably)

Drain the beans and discard the water. Place the beans and shrimp stock or water/broth in a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until beans are tender, about 30 minutes if soaked.

While the beans are cooking, sauté onion over medium-high heat till just translucent, add garlic, shrimp paste and chile flakes and saute till fragrant, then add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, halve the shrimp and squeeze out the frozen spinach. Add the shrimp and sauté until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add shrimp mixture, fish sauce and soy sauce to the beans, stir, and cook for ten more minutes, stirring frequently. Add more water if the stew becomes too thick.

Add spinach leaves and lime juice right before serving. Adjust balance of fish sauce, soy sauce/salt and lime juice as necessary. Ladle into bowls over freshly steamed rice. Great with a nice cold beer.

Peruvian Ceviche for Deb

Deb is getting married, and of her course her shower had to be fabulous. Fortunately she has creative friends to make this happen: a sparkling wine tasting event in six courses. I was tasked with bringing lumpia and making ceviche. We decided

#1: Prosecco
Matches well with fried foods, was divine with Goldilocks' Lumpia Shanghai, little finger-food sized lumpia filled with ground pork and shrimp.

#2: Cava
Matches with seafood, delicious with Peruvian ceviche, as adapted from Epicurious recipe by Gaston Acurio.

#3: Blanc de Blanc
Best served with salty foods, we loved it with aged gouda and Noreen's tiny balls of goat cheese rolled in crushed pistachios and pretty squares of manchego and membrillo skewered between a folded watercress leaf. This wine was completely overpowered by the salumi and prosciutto, I want to try this with a blanc de noir to see if it comes off better.

#4: Sparkling Rose
Noreen pulled out all the stops for this one, a perfectly roasted beef tenderloin with arugula, a creamed horseradish sauce and a mustard-tarragon remoulade, with crusty bread for making small open-facd sandwiches. This was delicious and addictive, I want to remember this one for a cocktail party in the future. One thing I'd add: a small bowl of good salt to top the beef.

#5: Moscato
This wine was the most gorgeous orangy-pink and while it was painfully sweet on its own, it was lovely with chocolate-covered strawberries.

#6: Asti
The Cinzano Asti was a good bit better than the spumante of my youth, even more so with a mini cupcake.

I fiddled with a few recipes to get the ceviche, ultimately settling on a "leche de tigre" puree as the marinade. Since this was going to be sitting for a while (on a bowl of ice), I didn't go through the step of blending with ice and then straining. I used a red jalapeno, which I wouldn't do next time, as when blended with the cilantro the marinade was brownish. A green jalapeno would have made for a brighter color.

Peruvian Ceviche with Leche de Tigre
Serves 4-6 as an appetizer, or

Leche de tigre:
2/3 cup fresh lime juice
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 c fresh cilantro leaves and stems
1 t ground ají amarillo (available from a Latin grocer specializing in Peruvian items or from Spice Hound)
1 green jalapeno, seeds and veins removed
1/2 small red onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 c bottled clam juice

Ceviche:
1 small sweet potato (about 8 ounces)
1 cup cancha (available from a Latin grocer specializing in Peruvian items)
1 green jalapeno, seeds and veins removed and minced
1 red bell pepper, seeds and veins removed, fine dice
1 pound super-fresh red snapper or halibut, or in combination with lightly steamed mussels
1 small red onion, quartered and thinly sliced, divided
Kosher salt
2 T coarsely chopped cilantro

Steam the sweet potato approximately 20 minutes until tender and allow to cool. Then peel and dice into ~1/2" pieces.

For leche de tigre:
Purée all ingredients but clam juice together in a blender until smooth. Taste, add clam juice and adjust salt. Cover and chill until needed.

For ceviche:

Dice fish into small squares, combine with 3/4 onions and peppers in a large non-reactive bowl and gently fold in leche de tigre; stir well. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes, until fish is visible cooked at the edges.

For the cancha: 
Toasted cancha doesn't puff up like regular popcorn, it just becomes slightly puffy. Heat 1 T vegetable oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium heat. Add 1 cup cancha and heat, shaking the pan occassionally, until the kernals start to pop. Cover loosely with a lid and cook, shaking constantly, until the popping stops and the color has turned to deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, allow to cool and store in an airtight container until needed.

To serve:

Remove ceviche from refrigerator; adjust salt, and add additional aji amarillo if desired. Using a slotted spoon, divide ceviche onto plates. Drizzle with leche de tigre from bowl; garnish with remaining onion and cilantro and serve alongside a few pieces of sweet potato and kernels of toasted cancha. Alternatively, serve in a bowl over another bowl of ice, or in endive leaves as a finger food.