Have you ever been on a culinary tour? It's the most amazing thing ever if you love food. My downtown just did their second Taste of Downtown (insert town here) recently. It was amazing. 11 restaurants served samples of their food to 250 people as we walked around our downtown. I had some of the best hummus I have ever tasted, tropical fruit soup, couscous salad, red beans and rice, smoked salmon, local brewed beer and wine, chocolate cake, and much much more. It was wonderful to spend an afternoon walking around with my parents and husband, eating yummy food. Anyway, if you like smoked salmon, a recipe follows:
This one is simple and can be done for a tapas dinner or an appetizer for a party. Please, please get ecologically friendly wild salmon from Alaska...the Washington population is being over-fished and farmed salmon isn't really good for you or the environment due to the salmon's vegetarian diet (they are carnivores people!) and waste issues.
Smoked Salmon with Dill Cream cheese Ingredients: 1 4oz pkg smoked salmon, 1tbsp dried dill, plus more for garnish, 4oz cream cheese, and whole grain crackers. Directions: Mixed the dill with the cream cheese. Spoon small amounts onto crackers. Cut salmon into the same number of pieces as you have crackers covered with cream cheese. Put 1 piece of salmon on each cracker. Sprinkle with a little more dill. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 hours before serving.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Have you read...: Pasta with Goat Cheese Marinara
Have you ever read...
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. I think this book was when I first started to really understand what it means to love food. Don't get me wrong, Julie Powell did a great challenge attempting (and succeeding in cooking) to cook through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking which officially resides on my cookbook shelf now. By the way, the filets de sole are amazing. But I realized all of the food that is out their.
And then I discovered "My Life in France"...it's funny, sweet, sad, and poignant by turns. And it is Julia Child's biography and makes her come alive. That's when I realized...I have more cookbooks than I know what to do with, I subscribe to Food Network Magazine, and I love food. If that is not the definition of a foodie, what is?
Molecular Gastronomy is the science of food. As a biology and chemistry major I find this field utterly fascinating. After all, what does make an egg do so many weird things...from meringue to boiled, eggs can change in texture and taste just by what you add to them. To understand more, Read Molecular Gastronomy by This.
Ruth Reichl...I don't know what to say except that Garlic and Sapphires is the funniest food read I have ever had...and her other books are pretty good too.
Anyway, those who love food should also love reading about food. But just to keep the recipe collection going:
Pasta with Goat Cheese Marinara (serves 4)
Ingredients: 1 box whole grain spaghetti noodles, 1 large fresh tomato or 3 roma tomatoes, diced, 1 8 oz can tomato sauce (unseasoned), 2 green onions, diced, 1 zucchini, chopped, 4 Tbsp goat cheese chevre, plain, 3 large fresh basil leaves,torn, 2 tbsp garlic paste, 2 sprigs oregano, torn into small pieces, 2 sprigs parsley,chopped, plus more for garnish.
Directions: Make pasta according to package directions. In a large saute pan, add the fresh tomato, onion, and zucchini. When it starts to simmer, add the garlic paste, oregano, parsley, and basil. Add sauce. Return to simmer. Slowly add in goat cheese. Pour over drained pasta and serve immediately garnished with parsley and more goat cheese if desired.
The zucchini adds a nice flavor and good nutrients, plus, I have way to much in my garden right now!
Enjoy!
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. I think this book was when I first started to really understand what it means to love food. Don't get me wrong, Julie Powell did a great challenge attempting (and succeeding in cooking) to cook through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking which officially resides on my cookbook shelf now. By the way, the filets de sole are amazing. But I realized all of the food that is out their.
And then I discovered "My Life in France"...it's funny, sweet, sad, and poignant by turns. And it is Julia Child's biography and makes her come alive. That's when I realized...I have more cookbooks than I know what to do with, I subscribe to Food Network Magazine, and I love food. If that is not the definition of a foodie, what is?
Molecular Gastronomy is the science of food. As a biology and chemistry major I find this field utterly fascinating. After all, what does make an egg do so many weird things...from meringue to boiled, eggs can change in texture and taste just by what you add to them. To understand more, Read Molecular Gastronomy by This.
Ruth Reichl...I don't know what to say except that Garlic and Sapphires is the funniest food read I have ever had...and her other books are pretty good too.
Anyway, those who love food should also love reading about food. But just to keep the recipe collection going:
Pasta with Goat Cheese Marinara (serves 4)
Ingredients: 1 box whole grain spaghetti noodles, 1 large fresh tomato or 3 roma tomatoes, diced, 1 8 oz can tomato sauce (unseasoned), 2 green onions, diced, 1 zucchini, chopped, 4 Tbsp goat cheese chevre, plain, 3 large fresh basil leaves,torn, 2 tbsp garlic paste, 2 sprigs oregano, torn into small pieces, 2 sprigs parsley,chopped, plus more for garnish.
Directions: Make pasta according to package directions. In a large saute pan, add the fresh tomato, onion, and zucchini. When it starts to simmer, add the garlic paste, oregano, parsley, and basil. Add sauce. Return to simmer. Slowly add in goat cheese. Pour over drained pasta and serve immediately garnished with parsley and more goat cheese if desired.
The zucchini adds a nice flavor and good nutrients, plus, I have way to much in my garden right now!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Happy Days: Take a dog to lunch
This is the story of a not happy day. But I hope the telling makes your day brighter...
Everybody has days when things just seem to go wrong. Recently, I was going to meet up with my husband for lunch. He works year round, whereas I am still in school with a flexible schedule so some days I go meet him for lunch. Anyway...Rags (my dog) was not cooperating. Amazingly enough, Price and I had picked a restaurant that allows dogs on the patio. It's a local sandwich shop that has a variety of yummy selections and Rags was supposed to come with us. I wasn't quite ready to leave, but I looked out on the porch and Rags was sitting there just like he was supposed too. I shut the door for a minute and finish up some things and then go to find Rags. Leash, check. Harness, check. Dog, ummm, where did he go!
So I call. Usually, especially when he only has a 5 minute window, he comes right up, tail wagging. Nope, not this time. I call and call and call. Finally, my landlords get tired of hearing "Ragsie, here boy, come on Rags, let's go for a ride!" (I would too, if I were them) and suggest I call a different dog he likes to play with instead. Well, there is no sign of Sophie either. So I call-on the phone-my husband to tell him that I won't being coming to lunch on time, if at all.
After giving up, canceling lunch, and getting ready to bake myself into oblivion (I cook when I'm stressed), here come's Rags, barking at my landlord's grandson on his bike. This earns him a doggie time out inside while I call Price to see if he can meet me for lunch. He can, and we meet at the restaurant. He gets our order, things are going well, Rags is finally behaving, and...
It starts to rain. We are outside...at a restaurant...with a dog...There is no getting out of the rain. After a very soggy lunch...I go to a store and buy Rags a dog toy. Yep, that's me, sucker to the very end. After all of that, I succumb to the puppy eyes of my two year old little gray furry creature...and buy him a dog toy. You can see which one of us is trained. And it's not the dog.
P.S. The food at this restaurant is amazing! The sandwich selection is unreal...in the winter they have marvelous soup, and I have never had better pita chips anywhere else in the whole world. Maybe soon I'll figure out the whole posting of a picture thing.
Anyway, Enjoy your food.
And Have a Very Happy Day!
Everybody has days when things just seem to go wrong. Recently, I was going to meet up with my husband for lunch. He works year round, whereas I am still in school with a flexible schedule so some days I go meet him for lunch. Anyway...Rags (my dog) was not cooperating. Amazingly enough, Price and I had picked a restaurant that allows dogs on the patio. It's a local sandwich shop that has a variety of yummy selections and Rags was supposed to come with us. I wasn't quite ready to leave, but I looked out on the porch and Rags was sitting there just like he was supposed too. I shut the door for a minute and finish up some things and then go to find Rags. Leash, check. Harness, check. Dog, ummm, where did he go!
So I call. Usually, especially when he only has a 5 minute window, he comes right up, tail wagging. Nope, not this time. I call and call and call. Finally, my landlords get tired of hearing "Ragsie, here boy, come on Rags, let's go for a ride!" (I would too, if I were them) and suggest I call a different dog he likes to play with instead. Well, there is no sign of Sophie either. So I call-on the phone-my husband to tell him that I won't being coming to lunch on time, if at all.
After giving up, canceling lunch, and getting ready to bake myself into oblivion (I cook when I'm stressed), here come's Rags, barking at my landlord's grandson on his bike. This earns him a doggie time out inside while I call Price to see if he can meet me for lunch. He can, and we meet at the restaurant. He gets our order, things are going well, Rags is finally behaving, and...
It starts to rain. We are outside...at a restaurant...with a dog...There is no getting out of the rain. After a very soggy lunch...I go to a store and buy Rags a dog toy. Yep, that's me, sucker to the very end. After all of that, I succumb to the puppy eyes of my two year old little gray furry creature...and buy him a dog toy. You can see which one of us is trained. And it's not the dog.
P.S. The food at this restaurant is amazing! The sandwich selection is unreal...in the winter they have marvelous soup, and I have never had better pita chips anywhere else in the whole world. Maybe soon I'll figure out the whole posting of a picture thing.
Anyway, Enjoy your food.
And Have a Very Happy Day!
Hello World!: Apple Zucchini Bread
So my husband likes technical things and whenever he is looking at a computer he types "Hello World!" Apparently it gives a good indication of the way the keys work. But it seems apt for my first post since well here I am on cyber-space. Anyway...I wanted to do this blog because of my huge interest in food...eating food, cooking food, growing food, anything that could possibly relate to food. I wasn't always this way. Once long ago I wouldn't eat anything other than chicken, corn and mashed potatoes for dinner. Definitely have moved beyond that.
Currently my excitement about food relates to my garden, my first! and all of the wonderful food that is in season that I can buy at the local farmer's market. Amazing lettuces, carrots, cucumbers...and just recently the first raspberries and blueberries for the season in my area! Speaking of my area...I live in the Appalachian mountains in North Carolina...no more details for you!
My garden is currently producing more zucchini than I know what to do with. My husband and I had zucchini soup yesterday...it tasted good but it was a disgusting shade of green. I think it would make a great dish for Halloween! A more promising recipe is one I adapted to make Apple Zucchini Bread today... I already had everything I needed so it worked out well. I'll paste the recipe below.
Apple Zucchini Bread
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 4 eggs, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon oil, 3/4 cup chai tea or black tea; unsweetened, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 2 cups shredded zucchini, 1 cup shredded apples, 1 1/2 cups granola
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine first 7 ingredients and set aside.
Combine eggs, oil, tea, sugars, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until well blended. Stir in zucchini, apples, and granola. Add to dry ingredients; stir until moistened.
Put into greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes.
P.S. you can adjust the baking time to make muffins...20 minutes. and nuts can be used instead of granola...but I like granola...and I already had it!
Enjoy
Currently my excitement about food relates to my garden, my first! and all of the wonderful food that is in season that I can buy at the local farmer's market. Amazing lettuces, carrots, cucumbers...and just recently the first raspberries and blueberries for the season in my area! Speaking of my area...I live in the Appalachian mountains in North Carolina...no more details for you!
My garden is currently producing more zucchini than I know what to do with. My husband and I had zucchini soup yesterday...it tasted good but it was a disgusting shade of green. I think it would make a great dish for Halloween! A more promising recipe is one I adapted to make Apple Zucchini Bread today... I already had everything I needed so it worked out well. I'll paste the recipe below.
Apple Zucchini Bread
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 4 eggs, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon oil, 3/4 cup chai tea or black tea; unsweetened, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 2 cups shredded zucchini, 1 cup shredded apples, 1 1/2 cups granola
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine first 7 ingredients and set aside.
Combine eggs, oil, tea, sugars, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until well blended. Stir in zucchini, apples, and granola. Add to dry ingredients; stir until moistened.
Put into greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes.
P.S. you can adjust the baking time to make muffins...20 minutes. and nuts can be used instead of granola...but I like granola...and I already had it!
Enjoy
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