When life gives you lemons...

... make Triple Meyer Lemon Cupcakes.

Have I mentioned I love lemons? And that certainly includes anything made with these terrifically tart treats. Here's a recipe for a damn fine dessert that should please anyone with taste buds that work properly. I'm highlighting the recipe for cupcakes (as pictured above), but it can easily be converted to a 3-layer cake by using cake round pans rather than a cupcake tin in the cooking process (see my note below about converting the recipe to a 3-layer cake).

Lemon Curd (make a day ahead of time, if possible)
See my previous post on making Lemon Curd.

Making the Cake
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
zest of 1 Meyer lemon
2 large eggs
2 c cake flour (sift before measuring)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c whole milk
2 1/2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate, large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer until it's light in color and fluffy (2 minutes or so). Gradually mix in sugar until light and fluffy (another 2 minutes). Then add lemon zest and each egg, one at a time. Mix until combined.

Mix together milk and lemon juice (mixture will curdle a bit, but it's no big deal). Then alternately add flour and milk mixture to creamed butter mixture on medium until everything is just combined. Be careful not to over mix.

Divide between 15 cupcake molds* with paper inserts. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Making the Icing
1 stick of butter, softened
1 3/4 c powdered sugar
2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 tsp lemon extract
zest of 1 Meyer lemons

Mix butter with an electric mixer until it's light and fluffy (1 minute or so). Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice, extract, and zest and mix until smooth (about another 2 minutes).

Once the cupcakes have cooled, fill a pastry bag (fitted with a regular, round frosting tip) with the Lemon Curd. Insert the tip of the pastry bag into the cupcake as much as you can without piecing the bottom. Gently squeeze lemon curd filling into each cupcake, removing the tip of the bag as your squeeze. Then frost the cupcakes and pipe a little more lemon curd on top for a pretty flourish. It's fine to refrigerate the finished product, but definitely serve these little treats at room temperature.

Notes
* Converting this recipe to a 3-layer cake is pretty easy as well. I just had to scale up the cake ingredients and double the icing ingredients. Here ya go:

Cake Ingredients (for 3-layer round cake)
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 c shortening
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
zest of 1 Meyer lemon
3 large eggs
3 c cake flour (sift before measuring)
1 1/8 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
3/4 c whole milk
3 3/4 tbsp Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Mix as detailed above. Then split the batter between 3 round cake pans that have been buttered and dusted with flours. It's also not a bad idea to line the bottom with parchment paper, though that step is not absolutely necessary. Bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes, but check the cakes regularly after 15 minutes to prevent over-baking.

Lemon Icing (for 3-layer round cake)
2 stick of butter, softened
3 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/4 c Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 tsp lemon extract
zest of 2 Meyer lemons

Mix as detailed above. To assemble the cake, spread a generous layer of Lemon Curd (no changes) between the bottom and middle layers as well as the middle and top layers. Frost the cake with the Icing and you're done. Enjoy... it's truly a delicious cake.

Bon appetit!

Heavenly Pillows of Deliciousness

In preparing for my first try at gnocchi, I read many recipes for these pillows of loveliness. Recent fall editions of my fave culinary rags (Bon Appetit and Food & Wine) contained recipes for your typical potato gnocchi as well as variations like sweet potato gnocchi and even a carrot version. Then I turned to epicurious.com for their take. That's where I ran into recipes for ricotta gnocchi. As soon as I read through a few, I realized these gnocchi are made almost completely of cheese! Uhm, sold. The following is my adaptation of two recipes I found on epicurious.

Ricotta Gnocchi

1 lb fresh ricotta (from your local cheese store or Trader Joe's carries a nice variety)
1 tbsp melted butter
2-3 egg yolks
1/2 c (appx) all-purpose flour
1/4 c Parmesan
1/2 tsp salt
grated lemon rind

Depending on the type of ricotta you start with, you might have to let it sit in a sieve over a bowl in the refrigerator for at least an hour until it loses some of the liquid. You don't want to start with "wet" ricotta... so, let it drain prior to making the gnocchi dough.

When the ricotta has drained sufficiently, drop it in a bowl and whisk fervently until the cheese is mixed well. Add the butter and whisk like crazy. Then add 2-3 egg yolks, depending on the size of your eggs, plus the Parmesan; then whisk some more. Next add the flour by the heaping spoonful and mix. You'll probably only need to add about 3 heaping spoonfuls of flour. Add just enough to pull the dough together, or until the dough changes color from slightly yellow (from the eggs) to slightly white. Then mix like crazy again. You should have a fluffy dough that resembles a texture somewhere between mashed potatoes and cake icing.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and prepare a plate with a shallow layer of flour. With a small spoon, scoop up about 2 teaspoons worth of dough. Then push the dough off the spoon with your finger into the flour. You can drop upto 4 pieces of dough into the flour at a time. Then shake the plate a bit to flour the sides of the dough. Flip each piece of dough over to cover the other side in flour. Then pick up one piece at a time; shape it into an oval pod by slightly rolling and cradling it in your palm. Gently place each gnocchi on the baking sheet. When you've shaped all the gnocchi, place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil (you might need two pots depending on how many gnocchi you cook at once). Reduce the water to a slow simmer and drop in the gnocchi. Cook at a gentle simmer (a hard boil will make the gnocchi cook too fast and explode). At first the gnocchi will sink to the bottom of the pot, but after they float to the top, cook for about 3-4 minutes more. Finally, remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and serve immediately with browned butter and Parmesan or lamb ragu.

Bon appetit!

Comfort Food

My all-time favorite comfort food meal is definitely meatloaf with mac and cheese. Interestingly it's not something I had very frequently as a child, so I'm guessing there's some inherent quality to the dish that makes it super-duper satisfying.

In this recipe, I make mini-meatloaves that cook in just 20 minutes (I, admittedly, have to give credit to Rachel Ray for that idea... simply brilliant). And the mac and cheese is so decadent and easy, you'll never have to make it from the box again.

Mini-Meatloaf with Mac and Cheese

For the meatloaf (makes 4 loaves):

1 1/3 lb ground beef (or ground turkey for a lighter version)
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
4 tbsp tomato paste, divided
1/4 c Parmesan, grated
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/8 tsp each of dried oregano, parsley, and basil (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
olive oil

Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil in a small skillet and heat on low to medium. Add onions and bell peppers; saute until translucent. Then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Turn off the heat and set aside. Next, empty the ground beef into a bowl. Make a well in the middle of the ground beef. Into the well, add the egg, 2 tbsp tomato paste, Parmesan, bread crumbs, dried herbs, sauteed onion mixture, salt and pepper (4 or 5 turns of the mill should do).

Mix the ingredients well (although messy, your hands really are the best tool here). Next divide the ground beef mixture in four and shape each half into a wide, flat loaf, kind of like a flattened football. Place each on a baking sheet. Brush the remaining tomato paste all over the top of each meatloaf (see picture). Finally, lightly brush a bit of olive oil over top of the tomato paste (this step gives the cooked meatloaf a delicious crispy, crunchy outer layer). Cook in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Mac and Cheese

1/4 box of elbows or cellentani (spirals, my favorite!)
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 c low-fat milk
1 c cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 c Parmesan, grated
1/4 c Cheese-of-your-choice (I've used gruyere, fontina, asiago, and romano... all with great success)
pinch of white pepper (freshly ground black pepper works too)
1/8 c Italian bread crumbs
pinch of fresh parsley, chopped fine
1/2 sprig of thyme, chopped fine
1/4 sprig of rosemary, chopped fine
olive oil

While the meatloaf is in the oven... Boil the pasta to al dente. Drain and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, make a roux in a small saucepan by melting the butter and then adding the flour, whisking constantly. Whisk for 2 minutes or so, but don't allow the roux to brown. Then start your bechemel sauce by adding the milk. Whisk fervently to incorporate your roux with the milk. Allow the bechemel sauce to begin to bubble and thicken*. Then add about a 1/3 of the cheeses and stir until completely melted; repeat until all the cheese is incorporated. Lastly, whisk in a pinch of white pepper.

Add pasta to the cheese sauce and mix well**; then pour that cheesy goodness into a casserole dish. Whisk bread crumbs, fresh herbs, and 1 tsp olive oil in a small bowl until olive oil is evenly distributed in the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over top the mac and cheese in the casserole. Place under the broiler until the bread crumbs turn golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Each mini-meatloaf is about a single serving. So, plate one with a heaping spoonful of mac and cheese and enjoy a comforting meal that just might remind you of Sunday night dinners when you were a kid.

Notes:
*I've played around with the desired thickness of the bechemel sauce. And I found that the thicker the bechemel the gooier the cheese sauce... so I let my bechemel become quite thick to where it's just about the thickness of white gravy.
** You can absolutely stop here and forgo the bread crumb topping with splendid results.

All Hail the Mighty Chicken

Do yourself a favor and roast a chicken.

If you've never embarked on this wonderfully delicious adventure, I can't encourage you emphatically enough to do so. I've never in my life garnered this much joy from cooking any other dish, honestly. There really is a sweetly intangible feeling to taking a whole bird, prepping it, roasting it, and ultimately ending up with a show-stoppingly golden brown main dish.


For those of you who might shy away from cooking a whole chicken due to a perceived difficulty level, let me tell you this is a fool-proof recipe. Also, this particular cooking method (using a foil-covered brick on top of the roasting chicken) literally cuts the cooking time in half. You can have the bird on the table in under an hour!

Brick-Roasted Whole Chicken

1 whole chicken* with the backbone cut out (most butchers will do this for you)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 sprig of rosemary, chopped
2 lemons, juiced
olive oil
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper flakes
chopped parsley (optional)

This recipe is most delicious if the chicken marinates overnight. First, rinse and pat dry the chicken. Then place the bird inside a large zip-lock bag. Rub the minced garlic and chopped rosemary all over the front side of the bird. Add the lemon juice and 1/4 c of olive to the bag. Then, rub that chicken down one more time. Place the whole bag in a large bowl (in case it decides to leak chicken juices you won't be faced cleaning it out of your fridge later) and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large oven-safe skillet (I've found that a cast-iron skillet works the best), heat 2 tbsp of olive oil on the stove. Place the chicken, breast-side down, in the skillet and allow to brown for about 7 minutes. Then carefully place the skillet on the over rack (make sure there's plenty of room between racks) and drop a foil-covered brick across the top of the bird (position it such that the ends of the brick are resting on the underside of either thigh). Cook for 30 minutes. Then remove the brick from the chicken and take the skillet from the oven. Flip the chicken in the skillet (be extra careful here to ensure the skin stays stuck to the chicken and not your skillet). Place the skillet back on the oven rack, and replace the brick across the top of the chicken, for another 15-20 minutes of cooking.

Remove the brick from the chicken, and chicken from the oven. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes and, if you'd like, squeeze a little more lemon juice on top and sprinkle on some chopped parsley. Of course, it's always a good idea to allow the bird to rest at least 10 minutes so the juices don't run out when you cut it.


Finally...



Slice that sucker up and serve it with roasted veggies (pictured: julienned parsnips and carrots) or a beet salad.


Note:
* Whole chickens are surprising inexpensive. I bought my organic beauty at whole foods for just over $10, AND there was enough meat on it for two meals plus extra that I'll probably use for the filling of chicken enchiladas or chicken tortilla soup!

Last Chance Summer Harvest

I admit it. I panicked a wee-bit at the farmers market this weekend. I was looking around at the tomatoes, sweet corn, and strawberries and noticed a lack of abundance. A sadness enveloped me. The days suddenly seemed a little less sunny. Indeed, I had begun to mourn the loss of peak-season produce... but decided instead to make one last homage to summer vegetable season. This one's a beaut and oh-so-delicious with roasted chicken or grilled fish.

Stuffed Late Season Heirloom Tomatoes with Corn and Zucchini

4 large, slightly firm heirloom tomatoes (or any variety 'mater will work)
olive oil
1 corn on the cob, kernels removed
2 cloves of garlic, minced and smashed into a paste
1/2 onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced in smallish cubes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp fresh cilantro or basil (or both!), chopped

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut a small hole, about 2- to 2 1/2-inches, in the tops of the tomatoes and remove the tops. Using a small spoon, hallow out the insides of the tomatoes into a small bowl and reserve. Place each hallowed tomato openside-down on a towel to drain any remain juices.

In a medium skillet, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add corn kernels and cook until they just start to change color, about 3 mins. Remove the kernels from the skillet and add them to the bowl with the reserved tomato pulp and juice. Add 2 tbsp more of oil to the skillet, then add the onions. When the onions begin to turn translucent add the smashed garlic. Cook just 1 or 2 minutes more until the garlic begins to become fragrant. Then add the reserved tomato juices, corn kernels, zucchini, dried oregano, and fresh herbs. Cook on medium until the zucchini becomes tender, about 6-8 mins. Then remove the skillet from the heat.

Arrange the hallowed tomatoes in a baking dish*. Generously spoon the corn/zucchini mixture** into the tomatoes. Bake for 20 minutes.

I hope this recipe helps you celebrate the wonders of summer vegetables too!

Bon appetit!

Notes: * I found that positioning the tomatoes right next to the wall of the baking dish as well as right next to each other helps them retain their shape during cooking.
** If you have some of the corn/zucchini mixture left over after filling the tomatoes, it's delicious on top of grilled/roasted chicken or grilled fish... it's sweetly reminiscent of a ratatouille, but far less time- and effort-intensive.

Autumn - Soup #1

My dear readers, please forgive my absence. It's been too long since I last posted. Hang in there with me, as I have been very busy with life stuff and have been lacking a bit of inspiration, culinarily-speaking. But... with the new season, most certainly comes new inspiration.

Here in SoCal, we had our first crisp day with temperatures dipping around 67 degrees. Just lovely cooking weather, and especially ideal for soup. May I present to you:

Vegetable, Bean, and Toasted Bread Soup

Extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 quarts chicken broth or stock
1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of whole tomatoes, quartered, plus 1/2 the juices
2 c leafy greens, like swiss chard (I used the leaves from the end of a bunch of beets!)
1/2 loaf of crusty, day-old bread, ripped in large pieces
salt and pepper
1 tbsp each of fresh basil and cilantro (optional)
parmesan cheese

In a large stockpot, heat the oil and cook the onions and garlic until transparent. Add carrots and celery and cook for 5 min. Add chicken stock and beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add tomatoes, juice, and chard. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then bring the soup back to a simmer for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, turn the oven to 350 degrees. Spread out the bread pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toast for 10 minutes.

To serve, top each bowl of soup with a sprinkle of basil and cilantro. Top with toasted bread and shredded parmesan cheese.

This soup should keep you warm all through the fall and winter. Bon appetit!

Splendid Summer

The last few weeks have been wonderfully cooler than is typical around this time of year. Instead of conforming to the usual Southern California-way of complaining about the weather (still can't understand how anyone could ever complain about the weather here... it's perfect 98% of the time), I'm super stoked. Some might wonder why I would be so excited about a cool summer... not the best beach weather, maybe even need a sweater in the evenings. Well, my answer for that is: I can actually bear to turn my oven on, and see picture below. Typically around this time of year, cooking on the stove top or in the oven is the last thing on my mind. This summer has been kind to my inner cook, however, and I've been able to take advantage of summer's bounty. This week: peaches.

I love peaches. Love, love, love. During the summer, I eat them nearly every single day. And I have reveled in the opportunity to bake them into pies and cobblers. Yay, summer! I had forgotten how easy peach cobbler is even with a homemade buttermilk biscuit topping. Please to enjoy my best dessert of the summer... yet. Traditional Peach Cobbler

1 1/2 to 2 lbs of ripe peaches, pitted and sliced*
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
zest of 1 lime
pinch or two of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into large cubes
3/4 c buttermilk

2 tbsp melted butter
extra sugar for sprinkling

Combine the peach slices, sugar, cornstarch, lime zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix well, yet delicately, as to not bruise the peaches. Let that hang out while you prepare the biscuits.

In a food processor (or with a pastry knife, the old school way), pulse the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are no bigger than pea-sized. Dump this mixture out into a large bowl and create a well in the center. Pour in the buttermilk and begin to work it in from the sides with your hands. Kneading 6-8 times. Don't be afraid to get dirty here!

When the flour mixtures just comes together with the buttermilk, creating a very wet and messy dough, dump the peaches in an earthenware or casserole dish. Then, pull large pieces from your dough (less than 1/4 cup each time) and pat down to about 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick disks. Drop each disk on top of the peaches in the baking dish, positioning them tightly so they just touch one another. Finally, brush the tops of the biscuits-to-be with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Pop in a preheated 375 degree oven for 45 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream. Yum, yum, yum.

Notes:
* You can choose to blanch and remove the skins on the peaches if you'd like. I didn't this go around but will probably take the extra step next time, because it makes for easier slicing through the finished product.

Using Pantry and Freezer Staples

One of my favorite ways to make use of the food staples I keep laying around my pantry and my freezer is this ravioli recipe. The raviolis are cooked, then tossed in browned butter, and finished in the pan with a splash or two of balsamic vinegar. If you're like me and you love pasta, it makes a great main dish with a side salad, but you can also pair smaller portions with pan-cooked chicken breast marinated in balsamic, fresh rosemary, and olive oil.

Brown Butter and Balsamic Ravioli

1 pkg frozen ravioli (flavor of your choosing)
2 tbsp butter
2 or 3 splashes of balsamic vinegar (this is a good recipe for your run-of-the-mill balsamic from your local grocer. save the good (and pricey) aged balsamic from the specialty store for the side salad)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
freshly cracked black pepper

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the raviolis as directed. Drain the pasta and set aside. Next, you can use the same pot you cooked the raviolis in, washed or not. Melt the butter on medium heat. Whisk frequently and allow to brown slightly. Add the raviolis to the browned butter and coat evenly. Then add a couple of splashes of balsamic vinegar and allow to caramelize, cooking for 2 minutes more or so. Plate the raviolis and top with a generous sprinkling of parmesan and season with pepper to taste.

I enjoyed my ravioli with a lovely summer salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, and goat cheese with an aged balsamic dressing. Refreshing and easy for a warm summer night.

Bon appetit!

Breakfast of Champions...

or at least the pancake-crazy.

To this day, I contend that I am one of the most discerning pancake consumers in the world. I have looked high and low, tasted pancakes in many-a state, and tested a recipe box-full of recipes, all in search of the perfect pancake. And funnily enough, when I would end up being served a chewy, heavy specimen, I would be on the verge of personally offended. Nothing is worse that being served and paying for something you can make better at home.

Indeed, I fancied myself spoiled as I grew up with the pancakes of the Dairy Palace, a local favorite in my hometown. The Dairy Palace, I was convinced, had the best pancakes I'd ever tasted. Unfortunately when I was living in my little town, the Dairy Palace, open 24 hours, only served pancakes from midnight to 11am. As I was not much of a morning person, I found myself visiting the DP with my crew of girlfriends after midnight nearly every weekend! Over the years I had become more and more convinced that I would never find a pancake as good as the ones I was served at the Dairy Palace. I tried. Believe me, I tried.

Finally, thanks to Alton Brown, I may have found it. In addition to producing pancakes that are light and fluffy, this recipe is another time-saver: the dry ingredients can be made in bulk and stored for another morning... or, if you're like me, another late-night pancake craving.

Pancake Mix

6 c all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar

I like to spoon all the ingredients in a large zip-top bag or reusable airtight container for storage and shake to combine.

Pancakes for 2

1 c prepared pancake mix
1 c low-fat buttermilk
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter

Heat the griddle and put some extra butter aside for greasing the pan. Crack the egg in the buttermilk and whisk briskly. Slowly whisk the melted butter into the buttermilk-egg mixture. Next, combine the liquids with the pancake mix in a medium bowl stirring until just incorporated (and I'm sure we all know not to over-stir batters, as it makes the end product tough/chewy).

Once your griddle is cooking, grease it up and drop a 1/3 cup of the mix on. Now's the time to throw on any fresh fruit and/or goodies: blueberries, strawberries, bananas... or chocolate chips, of course. Just drop the extras on top of the uncooked side of the pancake and press lightly with your finger to submerge it in the batter. After 2 minutes or so, flip and in another 1 or 2 minutes, you can move on to the next batch.

As you may be able to see in my picture above, I don't typically put fruit in my pancakes, I just pile it up on the side. And of course ya gotta have a strip of bacon or two... the saltiness of pork just goes so well with maple syrup.

Please to enjoy!

a Quickie

Not like that! Get your mind outta the gutter. ;-)

Last semester was crazy busy for me. I was deep into data collection for my dissertation as well as planning teaching a research methods course and working part-time at UCLA to qualify for tuition remission. I soon realized that due to my packed schedule I regrettably did not have much time to spend in the kitchen. While this realization was an unfortunate one, it got me thinking about how to prepare quick, easy meals without sacrificing freshness, healthfullness, and deliciousness.

Around the same time a dear friend gave me Nancy Silverton's latest cookbook, A Twist of the Wrist: Quick Flavorful Meals with Ingredients from Jars, Cans, Bags, and Boxes. In the book's introduction, Nancy talks about the guilt she felt when she didn't have time to go all out and cook a huge involved dinner. I could relate. I, like Nancy, thought that anything less than "from scratch" was not good enough to feed my family and me. Luckily, my busy schedule and her cookbook helped me see the error in my thinking. Her theory is simple: one can combine a couple store bought, lightly-processed ingredients with other fresh ingredients and end up with a lovely time-saving meal. I was inspired by two recipes for corn soup in her cookbook, which utilized boxed soup, and I came up with this one of my own.

Roasted Corn and Split Pea Soup with Dungeness Crab.

1 quart boxed corn soup (I like Imagine's Organic Creamy Harvest Corn Soup from Whole Foods. The key is to try out a couple different brands until you find one you like. An additional advantage to this particular brand is it is low in sodium, always something to look for when cooking with processed goods).
1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper
5-8 oz fresh Dungeness crab meat

Heat the soup in a saucepan and add peas. Once the peas have warmed, use an immersion blender to puree the peas into the soup (if you don't have an immersion blender, a regular blender works just as well, even if a little messier). Season with salt and pepper. Pour the soup into serving bowls and top with the crab meat.

This meal serves 4 and comes together in less than 15 minutes! And better yet it's easy on the wallet, ringing in at about $4 per serving. The flavor of the corn is refreshing; the peas add an interesting depth to the soup; and the crab meat is a simple delicacy that elevates the soup to entree-worthy.

Enjoy and lemme know what you think!

Fish Freaking Tacos!

The most unfortunate thing about my first 3-4 years living in Southern California is that I was blithely unaware of the deliciousness that is fish tacos. Fish tacos were, as legend has it, created just south of the border here. Someone decided to fry up a piece of white fish, stuff it in a tortilla, and top it with cabbage slaw and a decadent white sauce. So, perhaps, the original has evolved as food often does once it crosses our border and becomes somewhat Americanized, but I can't imagine a taco superior to this.

The key is fresh ingredients. I know, I know. You should always work with ingredients that are as fresh as you can find. But here you can definitely tell the difference because so little of this dish is cooked, with exception of the fish of course. And I like to use beer to make my batter for the fish. The carbonation gives the batter a light, crispy texture, reminiscent, I think, of tempura.

Fish Freaking Tacos for 2

For the fish:
1 lb flaky white fish (I love to use halibut, but my wallet does not. So in these penny-pinching times, I've found that tilapia works nicely too.)
1 c flour, packed
1 c or less light beer
2-3 c canola oil
corn tortillas

For the pico de gallo:
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 red onion, diced
cilantro, chopped
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt

For the white sauce:
1/4 c sour cream
2 tbsp light mayo
zest and juice of 1 lime

For the cabbage slaw:
1/4 red cabbage, sliced into ribbons
juice of 1 lime
salt


Heat the canola oil in a deep pot, filling it only about a quarter of the way up. I always end up burning myself here (I'm a bit accident-prone in the kitchen), so please be careful.

In the meantime, toss the cabbage ribbons, lime juice, and salt together and set aside. I like to make the slaw first, because allowing it to marinate in the lime juices softens it a bit and gives it a gorgeous flavor. Then, for the white sauce, combine the sour cream, mayo, lime zest and juice. Refrigerate until ready to use. Next, toss together the chopped tomato, jalapeno, onion, cilantro, lime juice, season with salt, and set aside.

Whisk the flour with salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the beer to combine. The batter should be quite thick. Next, cut the fish fillets into strips about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide and 3 or 4 inches long. Dip each strip of fish in the batter and coat thoroughly. When the canola oil is ready to go, carefully drop a couple or three strips of battered fish into the oil to cook. It takes only about 4 minutes per batch and I always try to turn the fish at least once. Once neat trick to use when frying (that I saw on television the other day) is to carefully drop in the food away from you, or release the food into the oil toward the back of the pot of oil. That way if the oil splashes, it splashes away from you and not on your delicate arms or clothing.

So, once you've worked through your batches of battered fish, it's time to assemble the taco. In each corn tortilla goes 1 or 2 pieces of fish, depending of how big you cut your strips. Next pour on a spoon-full of the white sauce, and top with pico de gallo, and cabbage slaw. A couple extra squeezes of lime juice here never hurts too. And it's fiesta time!

Pizza Night!

Who doesn't love pizza? I grew up on Pizza Hut and Jerri's Pizza (a local joint in my hometown). The maker of a better pizza was high debated among Cantonites (is that what we call ourselves?). I was always a huge fan of Pizza Hut. What can I say? I like deep dish. But in retrospect Jerri's was a damned good pizza. When I moved to Los Angeles, I couldn't get a good deep dish to save my life. Even the cheese bread sticks via P.H. delivery were sub par. Admittedly, there are a couple of good New York style places, but I sadly found that post-delivery the thin crust was too soggy for my tastes. So, I stopped ordering out pizza altogether.

It dawned on me one day as I was milling around my neighborhood Whole Foods that I could just make my own. So, I sauntered on over to their hot food counter and purchased an order of their pizza dough (apprx. $3.50). I've never had much luck with quick rising yeast, so I like to just purchase fresh dough. Since then, I've tried lots of different pizzas. Caramelized onion pizza (no sauce). Margherita. Pepperoni, of course. This week I found my fave though.

Besides the dough, this beauty was made with stuff I already had in my kitchen. I love that!

Prosciutto and Pepperoni Pizza

1 store-bought pizza dough
6+ slices of prosciutto, ripped into smaller pieces
1/4 lb of sliced pepperoni
1 cup of fresh mozzarella pearls
Parmiganio-Reggiano
For the sauce:
1 can diced tomatoes
6 oz of tomato paste
1/3 c water
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp of dried oregano
pinch of sugar
1 clove of garlic, minced
a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Apparently it's best to always work with room temperature dough. I had no idea until I spent one fine evening at Mario Batali & Nancy Silverton's Pizzeria Mozza. We were lucky enough to sit at the "bar," giving us a front row view of the woodfire oven and the lovely, hard-working folks responsible for making the pizzas, assembly-line-style. The dude responsible for "rolling" out the dough was inspiring. He was so cool and calm, almost zen-like, stretching out each dough with his fists right in front of us. I learned a lot that night about rolling out dough, including to work with dough at room temp for easier manipulation.

Back to assembling my pizza. Oven to 450. For the sauce, just combine all the ingredients and mash up the diced tomatoes at bit with a fork. Let it set while you're dealing with your dough. So, after rolling out my dough, I brush it with olive oil to create a nice crisp and brown crust. Then it's pizza assembly time.

I like a lot of sauce, but even after a liberal application of sauce, I had enough for another pizza left over, so I froze it for next time (we'll see how it turns out after being thawed). Then I strategically placed the pepperoni and mozzarella pearls around the dough. Next went the prosciutto, and then I grated a liberal amount of parmesan over the top. I happened to have a really nice sharp sheeps milk gouda in the fridge too, so I just grated some of that on top as well (why not, right?!). After about 18 or so minutes in the oven, we had a homemade pizza that cost way less and tasted way better than delivery.

The Brunch Club

This Sunday I hosted two dear friends and their significant others for brunch. As my two girlfriends and I share a palpable passion for food, we have instituted a monthly Supper Club. Personally I really like breakfast and brunch foods, so I toyed with the theme a bit and hosted Brunch Club this month. My spread was, unfortunately, poorly documented; I was far too into the hustle and bustle of hosting to worry about snapping pictures. But here's a recap of the menu featuring a recipe for one of the highlights (for me, at least).

To wet our whistles, I brewed a lovely pot of Testa Rossa coffee from Caffe Luxxe and mixed up a pitcher of spicy Bloody Marys. And because brunch is the perfect excuse to carb-load, I baked jalapeno and cheddar scones (the texture really was more like a biscuit in retrospect) and buttermilk biscuits. For the main meal, I baked a caramelized onion, prosciutto, and gruyere quiche with pat-in-the-pan dough. This was lovely. So savory and rich. I also served roasted asparagus topped with fried eggs.

To end things, I served DIY crepes with fresh berries, lemon curd, and whipped cream.

Crepes
2 eggs
3/4 c milk
1/2 c water
1 c flour
3 tbsp melted butter

I just throw all the ingredients in a blender and whip 'em up until they're thoroughly combined. Then refrigerate for an hour or so to let the bubbles subside (this facilitates easier crepe-making in the pan). Heat a small nonstick skillet and coat with cooking spray or butter. For each crepe, pour about an 1/8 cup of batter in the skillet and swirl it around to coat the bottom. Cooking for about 3 minutes or so on one side, flip it and cook it about a minute on the other. Then repeat until all the crepe batter is gone.

I just think lemon curd is one of the most delicious dessert foods in the history of world. The tartness over the sweetness is absolutely mindbogglingly awesome.

Lemon Curd
3 eggs
1/3 c sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

In a stainless steel saucepan (never, ever, ever cook very acidic ingredients like lemon juice in or with aluminum; it'll give your once delicious dessert a whack metal taste and will probably make you cry), whisk together the eggs, sugar, and zest for a while, or at least until your arm muscles start to cramp. Then add the lemon juice and butter and heat the pan on medium. Once your butter melts, whisk constantly until the mixture thickens considerably. At the very end, allow it to simmer for no more than 10 seconds. Finally, press the mixture through a sieve, let cool, and refrigerate to finish the thickening process.

For brunch on Sunday, I served the crepes with sliced strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries along side the lemon curd (to offset some of the tartness of the lemon curd, sometimes I fold in a couple of heaping tablespoons of fresh whipped cream), and extra whipped cream. I like to serve all the components separately, so everyone can assemble their own crepe. DIY!

A Kelly Classic

I'm a Texan, so, almost by default, I love Mexican food. When I lived in Massachusetts I would go nearly weekly to my favorite transplant Tex-Mex chain. You know, the kinda place that gives you free chips, damn spicy salsa, and handmade tortillas. But, in general, it was difficult to find comida excellente. I have to say that moving to California, for many reasons, was the right call. Fresh produce, abundant Mexican food, and fish-freaking-tacos! I'm in my culinary sandbox here and I'm loving it.

So, the Kelly Classic isn't fish tacos (though, a recipe for those will no doubt come very soon; I'm getting hungry just thinking about them)... it's chicken enchiladas con salsa verde.Making these bad boys takes some time. So, it's not a recipe I like to conquer unless a) I'm not exhausted by the days' activities, and b) I know I've got a good 1.5 hours.

Chicken Enchiladas con Salsa Verde
1-2 chicken breasts (Note: I like to buy organic. So, these days I've been getting the chicken breast with the rib bones and skin still attached, 'cause it's waaaay less expensive. Once cooked, the meat is easy to remove from the bone and the skin comes off just as quickly.)
8 oz jar of tomatillo salsa
1/2 an onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic, sliced
1 big handful of fresh cilantro
8 or so corn tortillas (or however many enchiladas you want to make; this recipe makes great leftovers, so I always cook more than we can eat in one night)
1/2 cup chicken stock/broth
1 1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
chili powder

Throw the chicken breasts in a pot to boil for at least 25 minutes until they're cooked through. Set aside and let cool. In the meantime, put your salsa, onion, garlic, and cilantro in a food processor or blender and go at it until the all ingredients are totally pureed. Pour about half of it in a mediumish bowl.

Then, shred your chicken, discarding the bones and skin. Using a couple of forks makes this a pretty easy task, plus you don't have to wait for the chicken to completely cool. Place the shredded chicken in the bowl with the salsa mixture, and add about a 1/2 cup of your cheese. Mix that all up and set aside.

To prepare the torts, heat the chicken broth in a shallow saute pan on medium heat. Dip each tort quickly, just enough to make it pliable. After all your torts are prepped, get out your favorite rectangular baking dish and start assembling! Stuff each tortilla with the chicken cheese mixture, roll it over once, and place it in the dish so that it won't roll open during cooking. Once all your torts are stuffed, pour the other half of the salsa mixture over top the naked enchiladas. I tend to get better results if I pour the salsa deliberately over each enchilada rather than dousing the whole dish. Then, sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and, finally, dust each enchilada with chili powder.

Bake these babies in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown around the edges of the dish. Don't forget to let them sit several minutes after you take them outta the oven, or your beautiful enchiladas will fall right apart. They're great with sour cream, spanish rice, and, of course, cervezas!

Full Professor Celebration

My advisor was promoted to Full Professor this week! So I baked.

For those of you not planning a career in the professoriate, becoming a full professor takes a loooong time. Generally, here is the timeline: If one is lucky-enough to find a tenure-track Assistant Professor position at a university, the first 6-7 years of one's career is spent working one's ass off, researching, publishing, teaching, researching, publishing, teaching, etc. If all goes well, you'll be promoted to Associate Professor with which comes your first substantial pay increase.

The next 5-10 years are spent, again, working one's ass off researching and publishing, and, to a lesser extent, teaching. To be promoted to Full Professor, your university surveys many of the scholars in your field to see if you and your research are nationall and internationally known. Yes, that's right: internationally known. So, it seems like (the process is still very mysterious) the next promotion hinges on whether your university concludes that your work is good enough and you're famous enoughto be promoted. Talk about stressful.

I figured, after what was probably 15 years of working balls-to-the-wall, my advisor deserved a party to celebrate her achievement. So in our research group this week, my labmates and I each cooked up a little something special for her. I made Lemon Cream Tartlets topped with whipped cream and a rasberry.

I like mini-sized things, plus, I don't have a large tart pan, so I just used muffin tins to make these tarts. I adapted a recipe from the cookbook Tartine. The cookbook is named after a bakery in San Francisco, which apparently serves the most heavenly pastries. I'm going to try croissants for a Brunch (supper) Club I'm hosting next week. I'll be sure to post the results of that adventure.

Whole Trout with Asaragus

What do you do when your neighbor gives you a 4-lb whole trout he just caught in Big Bear? Accept the challenge and have an amazing dinner!

I've never cooked a whole fish before. The funny thing is I've been considering giving it a go, but I had yet been brave enough to actually buy one from my local fish monger.

Enter: my neighbor. This weekend I gave him a few sprigs of basil from an enormous bunch I'd bought at the farmers market, and I guess he thought a fish would be a good way to repay me. Thank you, neighbor!

(It appears that simplicity has been a theme of the food portion of this blog so far and it continues with tonight's meal.)

This little monster came together lickity-split! He was given to me already scaled and gutted (thanks again, neighbor!). So, I just stuffed him with a sliced up lemon, an orange, and a bunch of parsley. Then I rubbed his skin with olive oil and sprinkled on a generous amount of salt and pepper. He went in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

After he was set to cook, I trimmed the asparagus and placed it on a baking sheet. To season it, I like a healthy squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Then that went in the oven with 15 minutes to go on the fish.

The result: a delicious, fresh, and healthy meal. This one was interesting for me, too, because I usually don't like really fishy fish; trout, like cod, can be quite fishy. But the freshness of the little guy won me over as soon as I tasted it. My belly is happy.

A Burger the Size of My Head

If there's one thing I've learned in graduate school, it's that cooking is the BEST form of procrastination ever.

To be fair to myself, I was uber-productive today. I had 2 home visits for my dissertation, and I ended up getting more data than I had expected because I talked a father of twins into joining his wife in being part of my study (for some godforsaken reason I've decided to add dads to the mix to compare the way moms help their children talk about the past with the way dads help). So good news is I was able to round up 4 dyads in 1 home visit (yay for me!).

But as soon as all that data collecting was over, I needed a break. So, following my weekly grocery trip to whole foods, I embarked on a burger journey the likes of which I have never seen. Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but really, look at that thing. Homemade. Here's what I did.

Sunday Burger
1 poblano chile
1 lb ground beef
Salt + pepper
Olive oil
Cheddar cheese, sliced or shredded.
Guacamole (I make mine super simple with avocado, red onion, tomato and salt)
Burger buns

So, I fired up my grill to full heat and threw on the chile until it got blackened on all sides. After I removed it from the grill, I let it sweat in a bowl sealed with plastic wrap for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I seasoned the ground beef with salt and pepper, formed my patties, and brushed them with a little oil; the oil creates a nice crisp exterior when cooked. Those went on the grill next. I'd say about 5 minutes or less on each side, depending on thickness of your patties and your doneness preferences. While those are working, I assembled the guac.

A minute or so after I flipped the patties, I turned off the heat, threw the cheese atop the patties, placed my buns on the grill to toast, and closed the lid once more. Three minutes or so later, I took it all off the grill and let the patties set while I worked on the chile. This is easier than I expected; the skin of the chile slid right off and it wasn't too much of a pain in the butt to seed either. Then I just sliced that sucker up and began stacking up my bodacious burgers. As the picture above illustrates, I slathered guac on the bottom bun, followed by the pattie glistening with melted cheddar, then the chile slices, and finally the topper bun.

Holy guacamole chile burger! And it took all of 30 minutes before I was enjoying my first homemade burger of the season.

Nothing like firing up the grill

Tonight, I'm tired. Long, stressful day. So the menu is tres simple.

Chicken-cilantro sausage
Corn on the cob
Greens beans with shallots

With the exception of a few rainy days, here in beautiful Southern California, one is able to grill nearly every single day of the year. It's quite a privilege and I fully admit that. But there's just something about firing up the grill for the first time of the year when it really feels like summer. A day that makes you want to crack a beer and look through all your grilling mags to find that perfect menu for your next summer BBQ.

Like I said, though, I'm tired today. So throwing store-bought sausages and corn on the cob on the grill was still quite satisfying. The prep for the sausages and the corn on the cob is self-evident. What makes this dinner a little special is the verde salsa butter for the corn and the green beans.

Special butter
3-4 tbsp of butter, softened
1-2 tbsp of salsa verde
Mix them together and you get a spicy treat to spread on your grilled corn.

Green Beans with Shallots
1 large bunch of green beans, trimmed
1 shallot, sliced thin
Olive oil
Sea or kosher salt (iodized just won't do here, imo)
Par-cook the beans in boiling water for 3 minutes max. Drain. Heat the oil in a saute pan, and add the shallots. When the shallots just start to brown, add the green beans and toss around. Once plated sprinkle as much salt as you'd like on top.

I love grilled corn. The charred sweetness is quite a treat. And the green beans are a dish I make year-round, given the availability of beans here. And really who doesn't love a good sausage. ;-)

Tastes Like Summer

One of the many reasons I love California is TOMATO SEASON. For dinner tonight I made a whole wheat angel hair pasta dish with fresh tomato sauce and bruschetta.

The pasta sauce may be one of the simplest things I make but it is without a doubt also one of the most pleasurable, especially when tomatoes are at their peak in the summer. I have to admit that I cheated this week. I picked up my tomatoes from Whole Foods, because I missed the farmers market this weekend. No biggie, though, tomatoes are becoming so abundant that even the ones I get from my grocer still taste oh so sweet.

The bruschetta is made from heirloom tomatoes that I also poached from the store. It's still too early for heirlooms to be at the farmers market, but once summer arrives I can hardly bear to wait. (Last year, heirlooms came super late into the summer. It was a miserable wait, but they ended up sticking around until nearly Thanksgiving!)

Pasta Sauce

4 ripe on the vine tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (I like to stick them over an open flame until the skins pop right off the flesh, becoming super easy to slide off the 'mater; also I seed the tomatoes over a bowl through a sieve to remove the seeds but retain the juices)
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt + pepper (if you haven't treated yourself to freshly ground pepper, then do yourself and your loved ones a favor and go get a pepper mill immediately... best kitchen related purchase I've ever made.)
Several basil leave, torn or chiffonade
Parmiggiano-Reggiano

Throw together the tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil; let it sit while you cook your whole wheat noodles.

Heirloom Bruschetta

2-3 heirlooms of different varieties, seeded and chopped with skins on
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt + pepper
Basil leaves, chiffonade yet again
Baguette, sliced on a diagonal
Olive oil

Drizzle olive oil on the baguette slices and toast them in the oven or over a grill. Meanwhile, throw the tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper together to marry.

Once the noodles are al dente and the baguette slices are toasty, toss the noodles and pasta sauce in a bowl; sprinkle with more basil and a nice parmesan cheese. Finally, spoon your bruschetta topping on your baguette slices; add more basil and olive oil if you like.

Ah, I just love the simplicity of a meal like this... where it's all about the flavors of the fresh ingredients. I wouldn't be surprise if this becomes a regular week night meal at the Kelly house.

Should be working right now...

So, the cool thing about being a student is that I should be working right now but, instead, I am creating this blog. Or maybe that's not so cool. You see, I am easily distracted, and since most of my work (paid or otherwise) occurs around a computer terminal, I find myself drifting (frequently) to gmail, facebook, twitter, and now this blog. But you know what they say about all work and no play...

Which brings me to this. I dedicate this site to the documentation of my life on a day-to-day basis for anyone who gives a shit. I will post a pic (hopefully) daily to give a little bit of insight into just what the heck the final year of a grad student's life looks like.

And if I'm lucky this new endeavor won't get in the way of my current endeavor of completing my dissertation in less than a year.

Ready. Set. Go!