meatballs 101: for soup, subs & spaghetti

Meatballs are a staple in our house. When my three year old turns into Mr. Contrary, I turn to meatballs. Here's my go to recipe:

Tools:

1-4 sheet pans Oven mits 1 large mixing bowl 2 gallon freezer bags Food processor - otherwise you'll have a lot of chopping to do!

Ingredients:

1 pound (or so) Ground Turkey 4 Italian sausages 1 egg 3 cloves of garlic 1 shallot 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan 1/2 cup of shredded asiago cheese (if you're feeling indulgent) 1 cup blanched/frozen chopped greens (spinach, radish tops, beet tops, etc.) 1/3 cup Olive oil 1 cup bread crumbs Dash of dried oregano, thyme, and/or rosemary Salt & Pepper

Method:

-Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees & place racks on the 2nd and 4th rung -Lay out all of your baking sheets near your work station -Blitz the Parmesan in the food processor and grate the asiago, reserve -Put the garlic cloves, shallot and a sprinkling of kosher salt into the foo processor, pulse it a few times, then add the greens. Pulse a few more times then reserve in the mixing bowl -Add the meat, olive oil, dried herbs, both cheeses, breadcrumbs, and eggs ino the bowl -Mix with your hands unil the ingredients are combined -Start making the meatballs, about golf ball size -Once you have 2 baking sheets full, pop them into the oven for 15 minutes, then swap and cook for another 15-20 -Keep rolling meatballs while the others bake -When they come out you'll have moist (because of the greens & shallot) yummy, caramelized, cheesey meatballs

Note: remember to wash your hands after handling raw meat, and consider setting up & portioning out ingredients beforehand to minimize cross-contamination!

After the meatballs cool, pop them into the freezer bags and freeze them flat for easy storage. Now they're ready for numerous recipes. Favs in my house are meatball subs, kale and meatball soup, and of course spaghetti and meatballs!

Sunday Morning Pumpkin Muffins

This morning was clear, cold, and just right for pumpkin muffins. But - I don't have any pumpkin purée in the cupboard. What I do have is a pumpkin bread mix, eggs, water and olive oil. Muffins here we come!

After adding an extra teaspoon of cinnamon, half a cup of white chocolate chips and half a cup golden raisins we're ready to bake!

I love the scent of cinnamon throughout the house, it's a great way to start the day. We took half a dozen over to my inlaws, and my son will nosh on them for breakfast most of the week. Hope your autumn baking season is off to a great start!

warm up with csa minestrone

Last Friday I came home with my last CSA pickup from Gorman Farm. It was full of veg and I didn't want to waste a thing, so I made CSA Minestrone. You can make this with virtually any veg on hand. Here's what I did:

Tools: 1 Baking sheet 1 large dutch oven or soup pot

Ingridients:

1 large red onion, sliced into half moons 5 cloves of garlic, pulverized 3 large carrots, chopped 2 stalks of celery, chopped 1 small cauliflower, large chop 1 bunch of baby turnips, quartered 3 sweet potatoes, large dice 16 oz of garbonzo beans, (I buy mine dry, cook and reserve in the freezer) 2 quarts of chicken stock (homemade) 1 large jar of tomatoes (canned this summer) Lots of olive oil Bunch of dried herbs (2 tsps each: rosemary, thyme, oregano & a bay leaf) Pinch of dried red pepper flakes Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit -Place rack in center position -Chop vegetables and toss them onto the baking sheet, cover with olive oil, all herbs except bay, salt and pepper -Roast the vegetables for 30-40 mins -Meanwhile, put the stock, bay leaf, pinch of pepper flakes, tomatoes, beans and a pinch of salt into the soup pot and slowly warm up the liquids -When the vegetables are done, add them to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally

We served up the soup with a yummy Trader Joes baguette, but some ditalini noodles or tortelinis would be a great addition too. Enjoy this for lunch, or like we do as a quick dinner throughout the week. Mangia!

easy chicken stock

It's a cold sunny day, so I'm going to catch up on some music, running, and refill my chicken stock reserves - all at the same time!

Tools: 1 Crock Pot 4-5 Plastic Quart Containers (look for BPA-free and freezer safe) 1 strainer

Ingredients:

2 frozen chicken spines (from spatchcock roasted chickens) 6 peppercorns 1 star anise 2 rough chopped carrots 3-4 small celery stalks, rough chopped 4 cloves of smashed garlic 1 quartered onion 2 bay leaves Bouquet Garni: fresh sage, thyme, rosemary parsley Water

Recipe: Put the first 9 ingredients into the crockpot, and then cover with water. Set your crockpot to "high" for 2-3 hours, then turn down to low. Check the progress at 5 hours, if its super bubbly, and the stock is golden, turn the crockpot off and let it cool down for 30-45 minutes.

Fish out all the chunks of veg - I reserve the carrots and celery for my cooking companion, and adorable Scottish Terrier Jay - and strain the stock into a large heat-safe bowl. Allow it to cool down for another 30-45 minutes, then store in the quart containers and pop them into the fridge or freezer.

No Crockpot? This method can definitely be replicated on your cooktop. The only big drawback, you can't head out for a jog or any excursions. When the cooktop or oven is on, you've gotta stay home. When the crockpot is on, you're free to move about your day! Mine crockpot was a birthday gift from my Nana. It only has two settings,looking a bit ick, and honestly has seen better days, but it's still working. Crockpots come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and price-points.

So What to Cook? Chicken stock is versatile. It shows up in my soups, risotto, pan-sauces, rice, among many other dishes. It also freezes beautifully.

Ready for Halloween!

Ten tons of candy - ✓ Orange lights - ✓ Pumpkins - ✓ Lots of spooky festive books - ✓

The kids will be flooding the streets of my neighborhood on Monday, and I am prepared! The last thing to finalize is our mini-party menu. Last year we made lots of Trader Joes ours devours, this year Im thinking homemade pizza, crudités with hummus and mulled cider.

the pizzas:

• First up is a butternut squash and goat cheese pizza, inspired by We, The Pizza
• Second is a classic pizza margarita (sauce, mozzerella, and basil)
• The third is a wild card. Ill pick up a bunch of meats, veg cheese and let my hub decide,(especially since hes cooking!)

For the crust, you can pick up a pre-made, get a pre-made ball of dough, or make your own crust. Over the summer we fell in love with Mario Batalis pizza dough recipe. Its a great basic dough and method that we always use. Its the bees knees. Easy, yummy and nothing smells better than dough baking in the oven.

Etc... I'm still undecided on hummus flavors. The crowd fav is roasted red pepper. But theres a good chance that Ill chump out and buy some from Trader Joes. Come to think of it, their spiced cider is pretty yum. All I need to add is a touch of spirits (tuaca, or maybe amaretto depending on my sweet tooth) for the adults!

This Halloween is shaping up to be lots of fun. Hope you have a blast however you decide to celebrate!

chili powder for jeff

This week I harvested the last of the hot peppers to make chili powder for a dear friend. Starting last year, I made a special batch of chili powder and Im continuing the tradition. Ripe/unripe fish peppers, jalapeños and cayennes made their way into my dehydrator on Saturday. After 3 days of drying out, I popped the peppers into my food processor and promptly began to cry and choke on the capsaicin filled air. But my work was not done. The food processor only crunched and chopped the peppers - I sought a finer powder. After digging in my cupboards, I found an old coffee grinder! The (old, out of service, aka not used for grinding coffee beans) coffee grinder is perfect for pulverizing the bits of chili into powder. Fifteen minutes, and several crying sessions later, I had one and a half jars of chili powder. For you Jeff, I make this chili powder annually with literally my own peppers and tears.

soups for busy mamas (part 1)

Anytime of year is soup-time in my house, but inspiration strikes ten-fold when the leaves start to change and the temperatures drop. Over the next few weeks Ill be sharing my arsenal of veg filled yummy soups satisfies the tummy of my carbaholic toddler, as well as my meataholic husband. The trick is to find a little time on Saturday or Sunday with your cooktop, and a glass of wine doesnt hurt either. The quantity of each soup/stew makes 10 servings devoured over the course of 3 days (Monday-Wednesday).

#1 tortilla soup

• 3 roasted chicken breasts (see note)
• 2 cups sliced baby carrots
• 1 large diced red onion
• 5 chopped garlic cloves
• 1 cup of frozen corn
• 3 chopped roasted red peppers (opt for pequillo)
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 4 corn tortillas
• 2 dried chilis, whole
• 2 cups of beans: black, pinto, or bortolli work well
• 1 quart of chicken stock (homemade is best)
• couple of tablespoons of olive oil
• salt pepper to taste
• teeny pinch of saffron threads (optional)
• garnishes: cilantro, lime, sour cream, extra hot peppers, avocado, and/or chalula hot sauce

Note re: roasted chicken

• preheat oven to 425
• in a sheet pan rub the chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper paprika
• roast the chicken for 45-50 mins depending how much chicken and how large the pieces are
• allow the chicken to cool down, then remove the skin and pull chicken from the bone (reserve both for later) and shred the chicken with your hands
• I always use bone-in w/ skin chicken, whether it is dark or light meat. The flavor is better and you want to use the skin and bones when simmering the soup.

On to the soup:

• In a large dutch oven or stock pot, add olive oil and reserved chicken skin. Warm pot to medium high, and while the fat renders and oil heats prepare the soffritto - chop the onion, carrots, roasted red peppers and garlic.
• Toss in the soffritto and give it a stir. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and paprika and cook until the vegetables soften (10-12 mins)
• Add stock, dried chilies, tortillas, saffron, chicken meat, chicken bones, beans, and 1 quart of water.
• Bring to a boil and simmer for an hour
• After an hour check the seasonings and either simmer until dinner time or cool off before storing in the fridge.
• When youre ready to dig in; garnish with cilantro, lime, sour cream, extra hot peppers, avocado, and/or cholula hot sauce

I store left overs in the pot I cook it in, just remember to let it cool before it goes into the fridge. This soup is gobbled up (speaking of gobble Turkey is a great substitution for chicken!) quickly, but will keep 3-4 days in the fridge.

other soup recipes: #2 chili #3 minestrone w/ tortelini

Is Trader Joes Cheating?

I'm gearing up for the autumn baking marathon....but I'm still a little short on time. The first big baking deadline is looming - my son's preschool fall festival. Of course I volunteered to make copious amounts of baked goods but there are restrictions - no nuts allowed, something gluten free and something egg-free. So far I've committed to: three types of cupcakes, gluten-free brownies, and shortbread cookies. The only thing I'm making from scratch are the shortbread cookies. Everything else is coming from TJs. A part of me feels like this is cheating...but once the holiday season swings into high gear there'll be no opportunity for shortcuts. To head-off any other guilt, I'll be adding white chocolate chips to each of the cupcake mixes in addition to making homemade frosting. That counts, right?!

Where did September go?

The summer garden is winding down, and I've been wrapped up in my day job. While much of September was spent in the office or on travel, I did find some time to can tomatoes, dry herbs, dehydrate hot peppers, and stockpile pesto in the freezer.

My cucumbers are long gone, bell and hot peppers have stopped ripening, and tomatoes are hanging in there but have slowed to a crawl. Any greenies I find, come inside to ripen on a sunny windowsill.

A few crops like salad greens, radishes and beets are making a comeback! And my golden chard, cilantro, and chives love the cooler temps.

(cilantro)

(chives)

(golden chard)

This lone bee in the marigolds reminds me that I'm six months away from doing this all over again. I do enjoy all of the fall crops, but there's nothing like sowing the first seeds of spring and the anticipation before plants flower and veg ripens.

In the coming weeks I'll attempt to clean up the garden, can applesauce and plant some garlic bulbs...results coming soon!

How did you wrap up your summer?

One Butternut Squash

From February seed, to slowing September plant, I harvested one (measly) butternut squash. At first I was a little bummed, but one is better than none, right?

So, I'm trying to come up with a knockout recipe for my singular beauty...not risotto (though it's a fav in my house)...not soup, I've been asked to whip up a pumpkin soup next week...so what should I make? My garden gave me one and I feel compelled to make something completely brilliant, I just don't know what...

CSA Pickup * August 19, 2011

This week's CSA pick up at Gorman Farm was the first "tomato-heavy" pick up. In addition to 3 pounds of red tomatoes 2 pints of cherry tomatoes, and 1 pound of green zebra tomatoes, I brought home 2 pounds of poblano peppers, a pound of yellow beans and a watermelon.

The poblanos have already been roasted and frozen, (they'll make a killer tamale pie around thanksgiving,) the watermelon will be snacked on all week, and the green beans will be blanched and smothered in herb-butter.

On to the tomatoes - since I'm not ready to can marinara sauce, I have been using the tomatoes from the CSA for fresh sauce. This week, I was thumbing through the latest Williams-Sonoma magalog and noticed a recipe for pasta e ceci soup. Sounds like the perfect way to use up three pounds of red beefsteak tomatoes!

Using up the green zebras will be a little trickier. This morning we feasted on green zebra BLT and egg sammies, and I think a little bruschetta with green zebras, olive oil and parm will make for a great lunch. These tomatoes seem best served raw. Green zebras are bright and zesty tomatoes, I wonder if they'd be good pickled. I don't know if I would add them to my to-grow list, but they are definitely on my to-eat list.

The cherry tomatoes are destined to be roasted and served with steak au poive along with gnocchi. And then I have my own tomatoes to contend with...

Rainy Day, Canning Day

I love rainy days. Growing up in Southern California, I had few gray, rainy summer days. In the days of my youth, those sunny summer days were spent poolside or on the volleyball court. These days, rain or shine, I'm thinking about gardening and preserving the harvest that doesn't make it to the table. Rainy days make for the best canning days. The house doesn't seem quite so hot and you can feel just a touch of autumn in the air.

The garden has been very productive this year, especially the hot and sweet peppers, and I'm always looking for new inspiration in the kitchen. Three canning books have been especially helpful this year, Canning For a New Generation, Canning and Preserving, and Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It. Each book inspired me to expand beyond tomato sauce, and try new techniques. If you're looking for some canning guidance, check them out from your local library or hit up Amazon or a copy for your bookcase!

Peppers from the garden and the CSA

Peppers roasting under the broiler

Jalapeño slices ready for some pickling liquid

Now if only I could score another rainy weekend this month, I'd love to try this ketchup recipe!

Hot Pepper Jelly

(Fish Peppers)

2011 has been a great hot pepper year. Currently I'm growing cayenne peppers, jalapeño peppers and fish peppers. Last year I had a lot of success with drying peppers, but I really wanted to try to make pepper jelly this year. It pairs well with a variety of soft cheeses, and is dynamite on english muffins. Since this was my first attempt, I followed a recipe, though I doubled it.

(Peppers growing in containers)

Tools for the job: Canning Pot Canning Rack Food processor or Blender Spatula Wooden Spoon Ladle 8 oz canning jars (5-10) and new lids Large non-reactive pot Small stock pot Candy Thermometer Funnel sheet pan Jar holder

Ingredients: (doubled recipe) 1.25 pounds of red peppers (I used fish peppers, cayenne & red jalapeño) 4 packets of jelly pectin 12 cups of sugar 4 cups of cider vinegar

Method: (adapted from the Ball green jalapeño jelly recipe)

1. Fill the canning pot with water and sterilize the jars while it comes up to a boil, place lids in a small sauce pan, cover with water and bring up to a simmer to sterilize.

2. After removing stems from jalapenos, puree in food processor with 2 cups cider vinegar.

3. Combine puree, additional 2 cups cider vinegar, and sugar in large saucepot. Bring to a boil; boil 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Stir in liquid pectin. Return to a rolling boil and boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

5. Skim foam, if necessary, and stir in a few drops of food coloring, if desired.

6. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

I ended up with 8 jars of pepper jelly, some will turn into gifts come holiday time, while others will be a treat for me come winter time. This season I've made a big effort to space out my canning projects throughout the summer. Instead of canning everything in September and October, I've already got a head-start and it's only August!

Grilling Pizza

Over the past year, my husband became quite the pizza maker. Since the oven is off (as much as possible) this time of year, we took the process outside.

We start with a basic pizza dough recipe, Josh is partial to Mario Batali's recipe. These days, you can even get pre-made dough balls at places like Trader Joes and Wegman's. The next step is to think about sauce, cheese and toppings. We made a pepperoni/margarita pizza and a caponata and taleggio cheese pizza. While I made the sauces and sorted the toppings, Josh got the grill going/charcoal smoking, you want the fire nice and hot!

After your dough is rolled out, cover both sides with semolina flour and olive oil, then toss it on a hot grill. The first side takes about 5 minutes to cook.

When the first side was done, we brought the pies in for toppings. We did a reverse topping style, cheese, sauce, then meat. It seemed to help melt the cheese, but I think we'll test the traditional topping order next time.

Our three year old was involved in each step of the process, grilled pizza is fun for everyone in the family. Even the family dog, who scored a few pieces of cheese and some salami.

Grilled pizza has become one of our summer staples, I hope it becomes one of your favorites too!

Sunday Dinner

The basil is taking over! Recently a friend shared her signature pasta recipe with me. When her cherry tomatoes are taking over the garden, she sautées them in olive oil, tosses them with spaghetti noodles, and dinner is served. Since we have an abundance of basil I wanted to try something similar.

Step one: Raid the herb garden, and search for all the ripe tomatoes.

Step two: Find some pasta, and get the pasta water hot. While cleaning out the pantry today, I found some tortellinis from Italy.

Step three: While the pasta boils, and the tomatoes sauté in olive oil, blitz the basil in a food processor with some more olive oil. Stir the basil mixture in with the tomatoes. Salt & pepper to taste. Thin out the sauce with a ladle of pasta water. Let it simmer gently while the noodles cook.

Step four: Drain the pasta, turn off all burners, and toss the pasta with the sauce and let it mellow for 5 minutes. Top with a little pecorino romano, chili flakes and serve. Voilà - a dinner my three year old will eat on his own!

Saturday Feast

We'll be hosting a big family dinner in August. This month I'm testing meals that will serve 10-12 people. First up is Flank Steak with Chimichurri sauce, grilled yellow zucchini, mixed vegetable stir fry with rice and a carafe of malbec from Argentina. Here's how it turned out: