I would not have come up with this on my own...

Thanks to Jamie Oliver for the inspiration. Once again, I've taken an existing recipe and made it my own. This was one of the tastiest things I've eaten in ages!

Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad

Carrots
Avocado
Spring mix of greens
Chili peppers
Cumin seeds
Coriander seeds
Thyme
Salt and Pepper
Garlic
EVOO
Red wine vinegar
An orange and a lemon 

Cut carrots to even sizes and par boil until barely tender.

While carrots are boiling, pull out your mortar and pestle (or whatever is around that you can mush things up in).

Grind 2 chili peppers, about six cumin seeds, salt, pepper, a couple stems of thyme, and about five coriander seeds. Then add a clove of garlic and mash more. Add enough EVOO to cover and a splash of red wine vinegar. Grind some more.

Drain carrots and coat with marinade. Spread them out on a roasting pan. Cut an orange and a lemon, and place each, cut side down, on top of the carrots. Roast in oven at 325 for about 25 minutes.

Dressing:  Remove the orange and lemon and carefully squeeze them into a bowl. I used tongs to hold them and a strainer to catch the seeds. To the orange/lemon juice, add any leftover drippings from the roasting pan. Whisk in EVOO and a splash of red wine vinegar. 

Cut avocado into slices.

Load plate with a mix of spring greens. Top with carrots and avocado. Drizzle dressing over it all.

Enjoy!

Whole Foods Salad

I combined several things I found on the salad/food bar at Whole Foods, then added some EVOO, lime juice, and S&P, at home. The result was delish!


Wheatberries
Shelled edamame
Chickpeas
Grapefruit, fennel, and red onion salad
Green onions

Cooking Therapy

I've had several cooking therapy sessions lately. They solidified for me that preparing comfort food (with a twist) satisfies not only my basic need for yummy food, but also my need to be creative and need to nurture.

I find as much joy in creating as I do in seeing someone enjoy something I prepared. It's a win-win!

Cheese Glorious Cheese

I made a grilled cheese sandwich like none I've ever made before ...

Two slices Parmesan foccacia

Brie
Fontina
Cheddar

Cheese between the slices of bread - butter the bread - grill until crispy on the outside.

Mmmmmmmmmm.

Easy Tuscan Soup

As always, I started with an existing recipe and then made it my own. Thanks to Giada for the start on this Bean and Garlic Soup.

Add a turn of olive oil and a couple pats of butter to a heavy bottomed pot.
Dice two shallots and add to pot. Saute until soft.
Add 2 sage leaves and 2 large cans of Cannelloni beans - drained and rinsed - stir.
Add 6 cups chicken stock and 4 cloves of garlic.

This is where it starts to vary - Giada uses only four cups but simmers for only ten more minutes. I like to let it simmer for an hour or so.

I also saute about 10 sage leaves in butter until crisp. Remove to paper towels and crumble for topping on soup.

When you are about 10 minutes from serving, turn heat down to low, break out the immersion blender and blend the soup.

Add about a cup of half and half, some ground black pepper, stir, and let sit for a couple minutes.

Ladle soup into shallow bowls and top with crumbled sage leaves.

Feijoada

MP’s Version of Feijoada

It’s long and involved, so bear with me. This will feed about six people, so double or triple as needed.

NOTE: This meal is a labor of love. Don’t even think about making this for people who will not appreciate what you put into it.

MP’s Feijoada has six required parts:

Meat

Beans

Rice

Greens

Farofa

Oranges

And if it is served any time after 1:00 p.m., it must be accompanied by caipirinha.

Preparing Feijoada goes much easier if the cook begins with a caipirinha, so let’s start with that recipe.

Caipirinha

• ·         Cut half a lime into four or six pieces and put them in a short glass
• ·         Add two teaspoons of sugar
• ·         Mash with a wooden spoon or muddler
• ·         Fill glass with ice
• ·         Add Cachaça (I buy PITU but I think 51 is another good brand)

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOEar1woto&feature=related

Meat

Traditional Brazilian Feijoada calls for all sorts of crazy pig parts like tongue, ears, and other odd things that we don’t normally eat. There are many versions of Feijoada and it is a dish that most cooks adapt to their own style. Here is mine:

·         Four beef short ribs

·         One meat dept. sized pork shank

·         One meat dept. sized ham hock

·         One package smoked sausage

·         I have also used chorizo, pork shoulder, thick cut bacon … any meat is fine, but it should include several types and one of them should be some sort of salted pork.

Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy pot with vegetable oil.

Coat ribs with flour, salt & pepper.

Ribs should sizzle when you put them in the pan – don’t put too many in at a time or they will steam instead of getting brown and crispy.

Brown all sides then remove to a large plate.

Without the flour coating, brown the remaining meats one at a time and move them to the holding plate. The smoked sausage should be sliced before browning.

Remove excess oil from the pot – leave only a couple tablespoons in there.

Add ½ of a medium onion - chopped, 2-3 cloves diced garlic, and 2 bay leaves. Sauté until onions are soft.

Deglaze pan with a little of a 26 oz. container of Swanson beef stock.

Put all meats back in and add remaining beef stock.

Add enough water to cover meat. Add salt & pepper.

Cover pot and simmer on low for at least 3 hours.

Regularly skim ‘scum’ that rises to the top. Add water as needed to keep the beef submerged.

As meat starts to fall off the bone, remove bones from pot. Cut large pieces of meat into smaller pieces and remove excess fat.

Beans

If you want to go to the effort, you can soak and simmer dried beans. I just open two large cans of black beans – drain and rinse them. When meat has simmered for several hours and meat is cut off the bone, add beans.

Also add one small can of diced tomatoes. I like Giant brand organic. If you don’t use those, try to get tomatoes that don’t have a ton of crazy additives.

I add the beans and tomatoes to the meat. Some people like to serve the meat and beans in separate bowls. If you do this, add the tomatoes to the meat and add some garlic and onion to the beans.

Rice

·         Melt two tablespoons butter in a saucepan.

·         Add about ¼ of a medium onion - diced. Sauté until tender and add 1 cup of rice. Stir to coat.

·         Add 2 cups of water, a pinch of salt, and return to a boil.

·         Reduce to a simmer, cover, and let it go for 17 minutes.

·         Remove from heat. Do NOT open lid until time to serve.

Greens

·         Collard greens are traditional but I used kale because I like it better.

·         Heat a large frying pan to medium or medium high and melt three tablespoons butter – I also add a little olive oil.

·         Chop two cloves garlic and add to hot oil.

·         Add a 16 oz package of Glory Foods pre-cut and washed kale (or equivalent).

·         Salt & pepper to taste.

·         Toss until it starts to wilt.

·         Add a ¼ cup of water (or more if needed) to help steam and wilt kale.

·         DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Farofa

·         Brown about six slices of thick cut bacon until very crispy. Set aside.

·         In a medium sized frying pan, melt three tablespoons butter.

·         Add ¼ of a small onion – diced. Sauté until translucent.

·         Crumble bacon and add to butter and onion.

·         Stir in about 1 ½ cups of manioc flour (can be found in Brazilian food stores or online).

·         Coat manioc with butter and let it brown. Stir occasionally.

·         Take off heat and set aside.

Oranges

Whew. This is the easy part.

Slice oranges. That’s all. I sliced two for the four of us and there was some left over.

It’s a meal that takes a lot of love and stamina to produce. I think it’s worth it.

My New Favorite TV Food Star

Nadia G.


Trained at the culinary institute of Hard Wooden Spoon Whacks, Nadia G. grew up in a boisterous Italian family that never quite gave up the belief that Casalinga-style cuisine is the center of the universe. "You don't have to look far to taste some of the best food the world has to offer," Nadia says. "I'd pit my grandmother against a 3-star Michelin chef any day."

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/nadia-g/bio/index.html