honey balsamic blue cheese candied pecan apple salad

heaven in a salad!

serves 2 for dinner, 4 for pre dinner. 

• mesculin greens
• 1 tart apple chopped into pieces
• blue cheese crumbles
• a shallot sliced
• handful pecans
• 4 T sugar
• 4 T water
• ~ 1/8 cup honey
• ~ 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 smashed and minced garlic clove
• ~ 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp favorite mustard

Make candied pecans:

boil 4 T sugar and 4 T water and pecans on the stovetop while stirring from time to time until liquid is mostly evaporated. Let it dry before using.

Make the dressing:

Dressing is kind of to taste. I made up approximate amounts, but it really depends on how you like your dressing. More olive oil than balsamic though always. Put honey, balsamic, garlic, olive oil, and mustard in a jar and shake. 

SALAD TIME!

Mixx leaves, shallots, apple, pecans, blue cheese crumbles and dress and feel really happy.

Glorious Mac & Cheese

Adapted from GQ

Serves 2

• 1/2 lb elbow pasta
• 1/2 lb cheddar cheese grated
• 1-2 cups of milk
• 4 T butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 beefsteak tomato sliced
• sourdough breadcrumbs

Preheat oven 375.

Boil pasta. Drain.

While that’s boiling melt 3 T of butter and add all the flour. Whisk for about two minutes. Slowly pour in milk while whisking rather vigorously. When it’s your preferred consistency add the grated cheese in batches and stir. Add salt & pepper to taste. Turn off heat and stir in the pasta. Pour this concoction into a bake pan.

Melt 1 T of butter and stir in breadcrumbs. 

Cover the Mac & Cheese with tomato slices and then breadcrumbs on top. Bake for about 30 minutes. Delicioso!

Summer Israeli Couscous Salad

I’ll make a big batch of this on Sunday and then eat it for lunch the rest of the week. It’s amazing because you can keep it at room temp and there’s no reheating!

• 1 package of israeli couscous
• 2-3 cups of chicken stock or water
• 1 can of artichoke hearts 
• sun dried tomatoes
• crumbled feta
• 1-2 lemon
• 1 T favorite mustard (I use Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy)
• minced garlic clove
• 3 T olive oil
• salt & pepper

Prepare the couscous according to package instructions. Replace water with chicken stock. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Tear artichoke hearts, slice sun dried tomatoes (I just cut them with kitchen shears), and add them to the couscous with feta. The amounts of these ingredients depends on how chunky you like your salad. 

Prepare the dressing:

Whisk together lemon, mustard, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper. The proportions can vary depending on what you like. Toss into the salad and serve!

Garlic Scape Pesto

One of my favorite things about going to the farmer’s market is encountering a vegetable that I have never cooked before. Garlic Scapes (the tops of the bulb) are currently in season and they make a really amazing pesto!

• 1 bunch of scapes
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• olive oil
• grated parmesan
• salt & pepper

Chop the scapes into 2 in pieces. Add the scapes & walnuts to a food processor and chop until it turns into a paste. Add parmesan to taste. Turn on processor and slowly pour in olive oil until it becomes smooth. Salt & Pepper. Server with bread or pasta!! 

Passover: Charoset

I could eat this any time, but for some reason I wait until Passover every year.

• 2 apples chopped
• 1/2-1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup Manischewitz
• sprinkles of brown sugar & cinnamon
• Matzoh

Toss. It’s like magic.

Simple Kimchi

No earth burial required. Just some rinsed mason pasta jars.

If I were you, I’d start collecting jars. I really like the Classico brand pasta sauce and they come in these amazing mason jars, so you get to eat some pasta and have a perfect thing for brewing some kimchi. This is pretty simple, but it’s a multi-day recipe.

• 1 head of napa cabbage chopped into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/8 cup kosher salt
• 2 scallions cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4-5 garlic cloves minced
• 2 inches of ginger (about 1 T) minced
• 2-3 T of Korean Chili powder (be sure to use the Korean kind)
• 3-4 anchovies mashed into a paste

Rinse cabbage. Dissolve salt in water. Put cabbage in a large bowl or pot and pour salt water over. Let it sit overnight. Toss once and a while.

The next day, drain the cabbage and reserve the water. Return the cabbage to the bowl and add scallions, garlic, ginger, anchovies and chili powder. If you like it extra spicy lean on the 3 T side. Toss using tongs until it is well coated. Pack very tightly into the jars leaving about 1 inch from the top. Pour salt water over to cover and then close the lid tightly.

Let the kimchi brew on your counter in a dark corner for about 3 days if you like it really sour. Stick it in the fridge on the 3rd day and be careful when you open the lid. It’s bubbly inside!

Homemade Pappardelle with Sausage and Peas

The idea of homemade pasta is definitely scary, but if you spend Sunday making a go of it, you will be so delighted at the end result.

Serves about 2

• 1 1/4 flour
• 2 eggs

• 2-4 pork sausages, casings removed
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4-1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parm

MAKE THE PASTA:

Create a mound with the flour. Make a well. Break the eggs into the well. Use a fork and lightly swirl the eggs in a circle. Support the wall of flour with your hand and slowly incorporate the flour into the egg until a rough mass forms.

When the dough becomes a firm ball sweep the rest of the flour to the side. Work the flour into the dough until it is no longer sticky. Knead for 8 minutes adding flour if it is too sticky. The dough should be elastic. Divide into three pieces and wrap tightly in plastic. Rest for 20 minutes.

Flour a surface and add dough ball. With a rolling pin, roll away from you as you flatten the dought. Dust it with flour as you continue. The sheet should be thin enough that you can see the shadow of your hand (pretty thin!!). Repeat with other balls. Let them dry  on a floured surface (or wax paper) for at least 20 minutes flipping once. 

Cut into 1 inch wide strips. 

MAKE THE SAUCE:

Add a little bit of olive oil to a pan and fry up the sausage. Break them apart. Drain excess oil after the sausage is browned. Add cream, peas, salt and pepper and simmer for about 5-7 minutes until slightly thickened. 

Boil water with a little bit of salt and olive oil. Cook the pasta until they float. Drain and add to the sauce and toss. Add cheese. Eat. Feel full, satisfied and happy. 

Rice Soup with Meatballs and Cilantro

serves 2

• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 T tamarind paste
• Fish sauce to taste
• 1/4-1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 cup cooked rice
• cilantro
• scallions sliced
• chili oil (optional)

Salt and pepper the ground beer and form tiny balls. Bring Chicken stock and tamarind paste to a boil and then reduce heat. Add the meat balls and cook for about a minute. Then add the rice until the soup thickens a little bit.

Ladle into bowls and top with a little bit of fish sauce if you want it salty, cilantro and scallions and a dash of chili oil for spiciness. So simple delicious!

Beer Braised Beef

served with saffron risotto and garlic string beans for 2

• 3 lbs chuck cut into chunks
• 16 oz Beer (I used Miller High Life)
• 3-4 carrots
• 2 small onions chopped
• whole garlic cloves

Season Beef with Salt + Pepper (and throw in some paprika and cayenne if you want a kick). Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat and sear the beef on all sides and remove. 

Pour in a little bit of beer and scrape up the bits. Add the Veggies and cook on a low flame for 45 minutes.

Oven 350. Pour veggies into a tall oven proof dish and nestle the beef chunks in between. Pour in the rest of the beer or until it comes about half way full. Cover and cook in the oven for three hours. Strain the veggies out and return the liquid to the meat and enjoy! 

Chicken Avgolemono Soup

I’ve made avgolemono as a sauce, but it makes an excellent soup as well. 

Serves 2-3

• 1-2 lbs chicken legs
• garlic
• a sugar of sorts (white, maple, honey)
• balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper
• any kind of beer
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup rice
• 1 lemon

Marinate the chicken in a ziplock bag for a few hours: splash vinegar, mince garlic to taste, sprinkle/drizzle sugar (about 2 T), salt and pepper.

Boil and then simmer chicken broth reserve 1 cup. Add Rice for 20 minutes and turn off heat. 

While that is simmer, heat some oil in a pan on medium and add the chicken legs and its marinade. Pour some (about 1/2 cup) of beer over and cover.

Use a blender to beat the eggs and slowly add lemon juice and 1 cup of broth. Return to the broth and rice pot and simmer (DON’T boil).

When the chicken legs are finished, remove the meat and add to the soup and partake!

Cheddar Ale Soup with Croutons

serves 2 people dinner

• day old bread, butter, garlic clove
• 1 12 oz bottle of India Pale Ale
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
• 4 cups of cheddar cheese
• 1 medium onion diced
• 3 T of butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• your blob of your favorite mustard
• pinches of cumin
• salt and pepper

Heat the 3T of butter in a pot. Fry onions until clear.  Add flour and mustard and cumin and mix well, it should be dry. Stir in the stock and simmer until it is thick. Add the ale and then cheese and stir constantly.  The cheese should melt in about five minutes. Pour the soup into your blender and blend.  Return to the pot and reheat on low adding salt and pepper.

Make croutons! Tear bread, rub with garlic clove, heat butter in a pan, toss the bread in the butter and brown.  If you want, throw some crunchies on top, maybe corn or chives or scallions? And for the record, this soup is extra tasty with a beer on the side.

Chicken Caesar Salad

Every restaurant does this classic American salad a little bit differently and I imagine the homemade versions vary just as much.  This is my first attempt at the recipe and it came out really well! 

serves 2

• day old bread
• butter
• about 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast tenders
• about 2 lemons
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp warm water
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (make sure it’s a flavor you love and not just an oil you cook with)
• 6 anchovy fillets
• 2 large garlic cloves
• salt & pepper
• 1-2 hearts of romaine
• grated parmesan

Marinate the chicken with 1/2 of a lemon, salt, and freshly cracked peppercorns.  Heavy on the pepper. 

Time to make the dressing. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolk with the tsp of water. Whisk in the olive oil drop by drop until it thickens.  Then whisk in the rest of the oil as a steady stream and the dressing should be thick.  Crush or mince the anchovies, one garlic clove and a large pinch of salt into a paste. Whisk the paste into the dressing and then add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.  Add freshly crushed pepper at the end.

Croutons! Tear the bread into bite sized pieces and rub the second garlic clove on the bread.  Heat an appropriate amount of butter in a pan and add the bread bits.  Toss to coat the bread and brown them. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same hot pan fry the chicken.  If they are thin they shouldn’t take very long at all.

Tear the lettuce and add chicken, croutons, grated parm and drizzle the dressing. Wonderful!

Iceberg Wedge Salad

This salad tastes great with fried chicken and it’s super simple and quick.  It’s not really a recipe, just three ingredients that taste great together!

serves 2

• half head of iceberg lettuce
• several slices of smoked prosciutto 
• chunky blue cheese dressing

Chop the 1/2 head of lettuce into quarters. Use scissors to cut the prosciutto into bits and fry them in a little bit of olive oil until they are crispy. Sprinkle over the lettuce and drizzle the blue cheese dressing over it all. 

Potato Leek Puree Soup

This is great for a dinner party of if you want to eat the same lunch for five days straight.  I kind of threw the ingredients together and they came out pretty tasty.

serves 4-6

• 5 medium potatoes
• 1/2 large onion sliced
• 6 gloves of garlic
• 4 roma tomatoes 
• 3 leeks sliced up to the hard green part
• 8 cups chicken stock (any stock is fine!)
• 1/4 of a large lemon
• cumin
• some saffron threads
• s + p
• 1-3 T butter

Chop potatoes and tomatoes into chunks, peel garlic, slice onions and leeks.  Heat up stock in a pot and add potatoes when it’s simmering.  

Heat about 2 T of butter in a large pot and add all of the veggies.  As it simmers, squeeze lemon and  Sprinkle a bit of cumin, salt and pepper over the veggies.  Add more butter as needed.  

When the veggies cook down a bit (about 5 minutes), transfer the stock and potatoes to the large pot and simmer.  Add some saffron threads.  Simmer for 30 minutes.

Turn off the heat.  Use your food processor to blend the soup and transfer it to a soup tureen and serve with whatever you please (bread! croutons! cheese! scallions!).