When the Cat is Away by Violet

What’s a girl to do? While there are a great many things that Joseph and I see eye to eye on but there are a few particular food quirks that we each have. Joseph only like potatoes in fry or chip form, he dislikes peanut butter and frankly most baked goods outside of cookies. The thought of scrambled eggs makes my stomach turn and I like my fruit fresh or fermented (no pies, jams or jellies of any kind).

This means we’ve learned to cook somewhere in the middle ground, taking into account each of our unique tastes.

Every once in a while, Joseph goes out of town for a few days and I’m left with the prospect of cooking dinner for one. Typically this usually means making a vat of mashed potatoes and finding meats and veggies to accompany them. But after a bit of a perfect storm, not only was Joe out of town for the weekend but he had been out of town for work a few days before and during that time I had satisfied my mashed potato craving for the next few months (Thanksgiving isn’t too far away right?).

And wine. Of course lots of win.

So I started rolling through my recipes to see what might catch my eye, baked potato soup, veggie pizza, asparagus and shrimp, tomato and corn pie, mac and cheese, eggplant parmesan…wait…tomato and corn pie? Bright summer flavors all wrapped up in a delicious biscuit like crust? Done.

This is a gem that I found through Smitten Kitchen and made for one of our Kentucky Derby parties a few years back. I remembered it as being a little labor intensive (because frankly you have to make the dough and roll that bad boy out) but worth the effort.

Adapted, barely, from Gourmet’s adaptation of Laurie Colwin’s and James Beard’s versions

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons or 3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 teaspoons melted

3/4 cup whole milk

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 3/4 pounds beefsteak tomatoes

1 1/2 cups corn (from about 3 ears), coarsely chopped by hand or lightly puréed in a food processor, divided

2 tablespoons finely chopped basil, divided (skipped this, no harm was done)

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

7ounces coarsely grated sharp Cheddar (1 3/4 cups), divided

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt in a bowl, then blend in cold butter (3/4 stick) with your fingertips or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk, stirring until mixture just forms dough, and then gather into a ball.

Divide dough in half and roll out one piece on a well-floured counter into a 12-inch round (1/8 inch thick). Either fold the round gently in quarters, lift it into a 9-inch pie plate and gently unfold and center it or, if you’re using the plastic warp method, remove top sheet of plastic wrap, then lift dough using bottom sheet of plastic wrap and invert into pie plate. Pat the dough in with your fingers trim any overhang.

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. If your kitchen is excessively warm put the second half of the dough in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice.

Cut an X in bottom of each tomato and blanch in a large pot of boiling water 10 seconds. Immediately transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to cool. Peel tomatoes, then slice crosswise 1/4 inch thick and, if desired, gently remove seeds and extra juices. Arrange half of tomatoes in crust, overlapping, and sprinkle with half of corn, one tablespoon basil, 1/2 tablespoon chives, 1/ 2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and one cup of grated cheese. Repeat layering with remaining tomatoes, corn, basil, chives, salt, and pepper. Pour lemon mayonnaise over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round in same manner, then fit over filling, folding overhang under edge of bottom crust and pinching edge to seal. 

Cut 4 steam vents in top crust and brush crust with melted butter (2 teaspoons). Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes, and then cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I skipped blanching the tomatoes and peeling them because I remember from the last time that step was a lot of work and I didn’t really see what the heck was the point. I did end up with a puddle at the bottom of the pie when I pulled it out of the oven. But the bottom crust wasn’t really much worse for the wear. If you want to take that step on then, by all means.

I also know that a lot of people get nervous about dealing with dough. This one is pretty cooperative. It comes together really easily and isn’t hard to work with. So don’t let it freak you out.

Highly recommend making this if your neighbor just came over and dropped off more tomatoes from their garden . It also feels like you should try out your best southern accent while eating this pie, ya’ll.

At bacon's altar. by violet

Bacon seems to be everywhere these days, in mayo, envelopes and band-aids. It has me wondering what the heck all the fuss is about. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some bacon but does is really require that we all worship at its altar?

Back from our unexpected adventure to California and with a few extra days off, I was on the hunt for something delicious to make. Something that would require more time and effort than I would normally put into your average weekday meal.

When Alexis shared this recipe with JP and me, I knew I would be making it, as it combined three of JP’s most favorite things in the world - pasta, tomato sauce and bacon. It seems incredibly decadent to have bacon in both the meatballs and the sauce – the perfect thing to eat right before the New Year’s diet really starts to kick in.

Spaghetti and Meatballs All'Amatriciana

Meatballs:6 ounces uncured applewood-smoked bacon (about 6 slices), diced
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 pounds ground beef (15% fat)
2/3 cup chopped drained roasted red peppers from jar
2/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup coarsely grated onion
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced fresh marjoram
2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice (preferably San Marzano)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
6 ounces uncured applewood-smoked bacon (about 6 slices), cut crosswise into thin strips
1 tablespoon (or more) extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups finely chopped onions
1 1/2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper
2 cups dry white wine
1 tablespoon minced fresh marjoram

Pasta:
1 1/2 pounds spaghetti
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh marjoram
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
For meatballs:
- Place bacon in processor. Using on/off turns, grind to coarse paste. Transfer to large bowl. Using garlic press, squeeze in garlic. Gently mix in beef and all remaining ingredients. Let stand 15 minutes.
- Line large rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Using moistened hands and scant 2 tablespoonfuls for each, roll meat mixture into 11/2-inch meatballs. Arrange meatballs on sheet. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap; chill.

For sauce:
- Puree tomatoes with juice and garlic in batches in blender until smooth.
- Cook bacon in large pot over medium heat until crisp; transfer bacon to plate.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil to drippings in pot and heat over medium heat. Add half of meatballs. Cook until brown on all sides, turning carefully with small metal spatula, about 9 minutes. Transfer meatballs to baking sheet. Add more oil to pot if needed and repeat with remaining meatballs.
- Increase heat to medium-high. Add onions and crushed red pepper to pot.
- Sauté until golden, about 6 minutes. Add wine; boil until reduced by half, stirring up browned bits, about 8 minutes.
- Add tomato puree and marjoram. Boil until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Mix bacon into sauce.
- Add meatballs; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until meatballs are heated through and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

For pasta:

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain; transfer to large bowl. Toss with 2 tablespoons oil and marjoram, adding more oil to moisten, if desired. Divide spaghetti among bowls. Top with meatballs and sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and serve, passing additional cheese separately.

The whole recipe is rather labor intensive - I dirtired just about every kitchen contraption that I have. But let me tell you – totally worth it. The smoke from the bacon just puts the whole thing over the top. It also makes a HUGE batch which in the end I was incredible grateful for because JP and I were eating leftovers like it was going out of style.

Also, I chose to ignore the part about pureeing the tomatoes with garlic. Number one, because that seemed silly to me, I like my pasta sauce chunky. Number two, I only have a small Cuisine Art and no blender. So there was no way I was going to do 25 small batches of sauce. Not happening. But in the end that sauce turned out a little runny and I wished I had blended it.

Also my first batch of meatballs would not stay together. I ended up making the second batch smaller and they seemed to stay together better – so pay attention when the recipe says to make them small. They aren’t lying.

If you are looking for a lovely Sunday dinner dish and you can devote and afternoon to frying bacon and rolling meatballs, this surely comes highly recommended. I now worship at the altar of bacon.

Violet in Ugg Cozy Knit slippers in brown

Caramel Corn. by violet

There’s a few food blogs that I trust inherently. Smitten Kitchen and Orangette. These are two blogs that have never steered me wrong. When they tell me something is awesome and, that, I simply must drop whatever my plans were for dinner and make something, I do.

So when Orangette said she had been coveting this recipe for years and that she had become addicted to it. And I wanted something tasty to take into the office for people for the holiday. I knew that I had to try it.

Caramel Corn

• 1 (3½-ounce) package plain (unbuttered natural flavor) microwave popcorn, or about 10 cups fresh popcorn popped by any method, lightly salted
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup lightly salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

If using microwave popcorn, pop the popcorn according to the package instructions. Coat a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and dump the popcorn into the bowl, taking care to pick out and discard any unpopped kernels.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer, whisking often, until the mixture reads 250°F on a candy thermometer, about 3 to 4 minutes. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the baking soda and vanilla. Quickly pour the hot caramel over the popcorn. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the caramel into the popcorn, taking care to distribute it as evenly as you can. Stir in the peanuts, and transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring and turning the popcorn with a spatula every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Gently break up the popcorn, and serve.

I was a little confused by the ingredient list. Didn’t I need caramel to make caramel corn? Apparently not, apparently I was making my own. I also used stovetop popcorn because I love it and think it tastes way better.

As Molly suggested, I measured the vanilla and baking soda before I stared and chopped the peanuts too. It’s like she knew I’m one of those people who does the chopping and the measuring as I go – guilty.

I had never attempted anything that required a candy thermometer before. I don’t even have one – I had to fake it with a meat thermometer.

I was really concerned about how the caramel would come together – seriously uncharted territory. But I melted the butter and added everything together. Next thing you know – boom – caramel.

I thought it tasted delicious before I even put it in the oven for another hour (I was confused why it need another hour to cook but again, I’m trusted my guide). Pretty soon my house smelled like the best part of carnival.

The verdict: Amazing, as always. It’s crispy, crunchy, salty and, honestly some of the best caramel I’ve ever had.

So drop whatever you had planned and make this.  Trust me. 

Fondue Night. by violet

Right on schedule it was time for my monthly dinner with Cathy. While she and I met up for happy hour at Palomino we also scheduled a Top Chef Finale viewing and fondue party at our place with J.

Have I mentioned before that Cathy is amazing? Oh, yes? Well she is. She showed up with fixins for two kinds of fondue. We had cheddar beer and Swiss with white wine.

The cheeses

There was bread, apples, carrots, zucchinis, mushrooms, cucumbers, broccoli and sausage.

The spread

We sipped on wine and devoured the cheese. While sharing a meal is definitely a communal thing, there’s something even more so about fondue. Perhaps it harkens back to a time when we really did sit around a fire together cooking whatever had been hunted or foraged that day.

Some may say it’s an “cheesy” (ha!) 70s trend. But I thoroughly enjoy it. First off, there’s cheese involved so you know I love it. Second, you can bring in a bunch of different things to dip from veggies to bread that variety keeps things interesting.

Now I’ve been a big fan of Top Chef for awhile now and rarely do I ever feel what I’m eating measures up. While is certainly wasn’t Michael’s squab with mushroom puree, the fondue was certainly up for the occasion.

Thanks for Cathy and J. for a lovely evening. Can’t wait to do it again.

kim can cook #2 - YUMM. by orange

I'm proud of myself for a few reasons:

1) prepared a meal without calling any of my friends for "how to" questions
2) first time cutting an avocado went very well!
3) remembered the recipe without haveing to look anything up online (ok it's pretty simple, but still!)
4) made a fantastic meal in about 15 min!

Welcome to Yumm Sauce:

The "Yumm bowl" consists of the following:
- rice
- avocado
- beans
- tomatos
- cheese
- sour cream
- cilantro (oops! forgot this in mine tonight!)
- olives
- and of course, Yumm Sauce

Granted you can really add what you want.  The husband and I opted in some corn instead of olives. 

Recipe:
- make rice
- while rice is cooking cut up the avocado & tomato
- heat up beans and corn
- grate cheese
- once rice is cooked, add Yumm Sauce
- then layer away!

Very Simple and Yummy!!

To find locations of where you can purchase the Yumm Sauce, see here

kim can cook #1. by orange

alright friends, i've headed into the kitchen. and without a microwavable dinner. i was on a "last minute lasagna" mission...and it worked out!

of course there were some minor speed bumps. such as:

- can you use fresh spinach instead of frozen spinach?

- where in the store is frozen spinach?

I definitely had some Jessica Simpson "tuna" moments.

here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 26-ounce jar pasta sauce
2 30-ounce bags frozen large cheese ravioli, unthawed
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
1 8-ounce bag shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Heat oven to 350° F.

Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and spoon in a third of the sauce.
Arrange 12 ravioli on top and scatter the spinach over them.

Top with half of each cheese.

Cover with another layer of ravioli and the remaining sauce and cheese.
Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes.

Uncover and bake 5 to 10 minutes more or until bubbly.

tah-dah!

the husband helping out. welcome to the gun show.

and the frozen spinach

putting on the 2nd layer

the end!

cooking basics. by orange

with the new violet on board we have devised a plan for getting me to cook. as mentioned in previous posts my cooking skills consist of lean cuisines, grilled cheese sandwiches and "skillet sensations." the husband is a-okay with this situation, however, would of course not mind at all if i started to whip up some things in the kitchen. my parents on the other hand, might be a bit disappointed in me that i do not cook. evidenced by the cooking classes they offered me when the husband and i moved in together :).

well, as violet is an excellent cook and has patience for the novice cookers out there, we are starting a new series called "Kim Can Cook."

i've learned through a couple tries at cooking - it's not just about having the proper tools, recipes and ingredients. there is also tribal knowledge. for example:

- how do you cut an onion?
- how do you know if you are buying good asparagus?
- how do you tell if a recipe calls for a red onion or yellow onion?
- how do you cut an avocado?

luckily, violet withstands my texts as i'm headed to the grocery store or about to start cooking. otherwise i think i'd already be throwing my hands up in the air and calling it quits.

look out soon for the first post of "Kim Can Cook."

do you know any basic/tribal cooking knowledge that might be helpful for me to know during my cooking escapades?

just call me Julia. by violet.

so, I’m doing this new thing lately… it’s called cooking? you heard of it? well, I’m new and suddenly super excited about trying my hand at it. it could be due to the fact that I now have an adorable & supportive accomplice in my experiments (the BF)… but I also like to think it’s in my blood. both my mom and my dad are phenomenal cooks and I believe I might have picked up a few things by osmosis. so in the midst of all the changes in my little world, i have been drawn to the more domestic side of myself- cleaning, nesting and cooking. i think it is grounding me in a sense, so i’m just gonna go with it.

last week, i made an andouille sausage and red pepper pasta which was a huge success! and Wednesday night, i made the BEST meatloaf ever (voted on by the BF). as my roommate can attest, i have been working on this recipe for about 4 years with many failed attempts. but i keep trying, because everyone knows there is nothing better than leftover meatloaf sandwiches! plus, it’s a childhood fave. i think i’m going to stick with this recipe.

since the cooking piece is a new frontier, i’ve been blog-sleuthing for recipes and inspiration. i came across The Catskill Kiwi , an NYC gardener, chef and artist. she has an amazing garden, so she uses a ton of fresh ingredients in her meals. Since we all know I am trying not to kill my little basil plant I am very encouraged by her green thumb! And she has a very unique collection of recipes (I will be trying the double-stuffed potatoes and possibly even the ginger beer next week). check her out!

i’ll keep you posted as i continue my culinary journey… stay tuned.

date night. by orange

So the husband and I tend to both work a lot, which unfortunately means during the week we don't get to see each other as much as we would like. So we decided that a date night on a school night was absolutely necessary. There are so many fun things to do on a date night...captured below are some of my favorites that I've recently heard of, thought of, etc.



What's your favorite date night activity?

1) cooking a meal together...possibly this recipe: last minute lasagna

2) eatting take-out together by candlelight

3) going kayaking together and then eatting at agua verde (in seattle)

4) having a picnic together at one of many local city parks

5) the office or 30 rock marathon

an inspiration: here's to happiness. by violet.

10 things that make me terribly happy.

1. swimming in the lake.

2. uncontrollable giggling.

3. early morning drives, a good soundtrack and a big cup of coffee.

4. trying my dad’s gourmet meals.

5. 30 rock.

6. that uninterrupted smile when you feel smitten.

7. a campfire, a cooler full of beer, a sunburn and a hoodie.

8. morning coffee with mom, watching breakfast at tiffany's.

9. clean sheets.

10. sitting on a deck during a warm summer night.

for more amazing lists and the story behind this inspiration, read this.

*** photo compliments of abless on flickr. ***