Greek pasta salad [porter]

Greek pasta salad

To give full credit, I subscribe to a twice-weekly recipe newsletter from PureWow.  Usually I don't have good applications for these recipes because they are designed to impress friends at a dinner party (read: strawberry soup), and often times they call for expensive or rare ingredients.  Just when I thought I might unsubscribe, this Greek pasta salad popped into my inbox.  With relatively attainable ingredients and a prep time that fits into my schedule, I gave it a shot.  The grocery bill came out a bit steep (about $25 for the ingredients I didn't already have), but it fed 2 mouths last night and probably will make 3-4 more individual meals this week (fantastic leftovers for lunch!).  That math comes out to about $4 per meal per person...not too shabby.

Adopted from Susie Middleton's The Fresh & Green Table
Ingredients:
1/4 c olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
zest from one lemon
1 tsp honey
1 tsp dried dill (optional)
1 tsp salt, divided
pepper to taste
1 sm red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 can or jar of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (can use whole can...I wanted left over artichoke)
1 pint small grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 c pitted kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped and divided (dried will probably work, but the fresh was delicious)
12oz fusilli pasta (any curly pasta works)
5 handfuls of spinach
1/3 c chopped walnuts
12 small pepperoncini, drained and thickly sliced

The how to:
Combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, lemon zest, honey, dill, 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper in a large bowl.

Add red onion, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, olives, feta, and 1 tbsp oregano. Stir to coat ingredients and let sit for about 20 min.  Prepare pasta according to package instructions.  Right before pasta is done, add spinach, walnuts, and pepperoncini to the top of the large bowl (do not mix in).  Drain the pasta and pour on top of the ingredients in the large bowl.  Add remaining salt and oregano.  The heat from the pasta will slightly wilt/cook the spinach.  After 2 min, stir spinach and pasta to evenly incorporate and coat in dressing.

Side notes:
The original recipe called for some tapenade in the dressing, but since Fiance doesn't like olives that much, I left it out (I figured he could pick out the whole olives if inclined).  The first 8 ingredients make a great salad dressing on their own.    For the remaining ingredients, you can increase, decrease, or omit based on your tastes.  For example, I only used half of the artichoke hearts recommended in the original recipe because I hope Fiance and I will make chicken and artichoke pizza with the remainder.  I didn't think of it until I left the grocery, but cucumber might be a nice addition to this salad.  I also used more pasta than the original recipe because I wanted to make sure this made multiple meals.  Zesting the lemon and not using the juice seemed like a waste, so we made gin and tonics with the juice from half a lemon in each.  The gin competed a bit with the balsamic in the recipe so I'd make this a before dinner or an after dinner drink.  Lastly, we added sliced peppered salami to serve because the Fiance doesn't like to call it a main dish if there isn't protein.

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cucumber rosemary cocktail [porter]

The post is a little late, but we made this delicious Cucumber and Rosemary Cocktail for the 4th of July.  It tasted fantastic by the pool (though we had to serve it in a less enticing Solo cup), and it would certainly work well for a dinner party because it won't compete with the menu and it presents well.  Fiance wanted a fancy drink and this delivered!

Ingredients:
4-6 servings
4 med to lg cucumbers
1 tbsp fresh rosemary + sprigs for garnish
1 cup gin
1 cup water
2/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup simple syrup or agave nectar

The how to:
Peel and dice cucumbers.  Add cucumbers and chopped rosemary leaves to food processor and process until pureed.  Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl, pressing juice through the strainer if needed.  Combine remaining ingredients with strained cucumber mixture in a large pitcher.  Pour over ice, garnish, and serve.

Side notes:
I do not have a food processor large enough for 4 cucumbers so I used a blender, which was a lot of work.  I lost a wooden spoon to it.  I suggest adding some of the water to the blender to help it along.  Although any gin will work, we have Hendricks at home and the subtle cucumber and rose flavor complimented the drink well.  Also, substituting lime for lemon will play a stronger homage to the traditional gin and tonic.  Using honey in place of simple syrup would do nicely to round out the garden theme (half the amount if using honey).  I think I'll play with a fall version of this and work in a ginger flavor (maybe into the simple syrup).  The cucumber is a bit strong in this drink so if you are not a huge fan, consider halfing the cucumbers and adding more water/lemon in proportion.

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baked rosemary sweet potato fries [porter]

Baked rosemary sweet potato fries

Fiance and I had a very productive day cleaning the apartment, grocery shopping, ordering save the dates, and doing laundry.  Today is the kind of day where cooking dinner is the last thing we want to do, so we made it pretty easy on ourselves.  We had left over hamburgers from July 4th, boiled corn, and these sweet potatoes fries.  Okay, so these fries don't quite fit a "do nothing" menu, but we had sweet potatoes that needed to be used.  I started using the basic idea of this recipe a couple years ago after seeing it on the ginger cook. 

Ingredients:
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

The how to:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Chop the sweet potatoes into this fries.  Add to a boiling pot of water and boil for 5 minutes.  Drain water.  Add the remaining ingredients to the pot of drained potatoes and toss to coat evenly.  Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking pan and spread to one even layer.  Bake for about 30 minutes, flipping fries halfway through (watch closely, the time will depend on how thick the fries are cut).

Side notes:
The fries are essentially cooked after the boiling, but the oven gets them to the correct crispy texture.  Feel free to finish off with a quick broil if needed to get desired coloring.  Try finishing with freshly grated Parmesan for an Italian taste.

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velvety homemade coffee ice cream [porter]

It's officially summer, but you don't need any kind of solstice to tell you that here in Texas!  100 degree temperatures have become a mainstay.  I always have ice cream in the freezer, and summer is the perfect excuse to take the effort to make my own.  I took a Central Market class on cheeses several months ago and was introduced to Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams recipe for goat cheese ice cream with roasted red cherries.  The magic things about the base for this ice cream is 1) it is egg-less so you don't have to worry about accidentally cooking the egg while tempering in the custard-style base and 2) it uses corn starch as a stabilizer and cream cheese as a thickener, which means this all natural ice cream has a lovely, rich creamy texture that doesn't get icy in the freezer.

Though this goat cheese ice cream recipe is definitely worth making (and I have many a time), I wanted to get creative and use this base to make another flavor.  Shying away from a possibly complicated mint chocolate chip for my first made-up recipe, I thought coffee ice cream would be a somewhat safe and delicious application.  This recipe turned out very well and I had a small scoop for breakfast the next morning because I couldn't wait any longer!  Who says you can't have ice cream for breakfast??

Ingredients:
Makes a generous 2 quarts
2 cups whole milk
4 tsp corn starch
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup (Caro syrup)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 cup espresso grounds (freshly ground is better but not required)
3 tbsp cream cheese (1.5 oz) - slightly softened (~10-20 sec in microwave)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks optional (I used Nestle)
Large bowl of ice and a large baggie

The how to:
In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the milk with the corn starch and set aside. In a 4 quart pot, combine remaining milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Bring mixture to a boil and then remove from heat.  Add espresso grounds to the pot and let it brew for 5 minutes.  If you haven't done so already, you can use this time to place the cream cheese in a medium bowl and soften it.  After 5 minutes, strain out the coffee grounds using a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.  I don't have a fine strainer so I used a spatula and some patience to skim as much coffee grounds off the top as I could (the coffee grounds float for the most part).  Place the pot back on the burner over medium heat and add in the cornstarch/milk mixture (it might need a fresh stir to pour well).  Bring the pot to a ever so slight boil and stir for one minute.  Remove from heat and pour about a cup of the warm mixture into the cream cheese bowl and stir well, and then add the cream cheese mixture back into the large pot to fully incorporate.
     Chill the ice cream in the bowl of ice for 30 minutes by either pouring the mixture into a plastic baggie and submerging in ice or if you are lucky like I was, placing the pot in the ice bowl directly if the ice bowl is big enough (this may not be good for your pot if it has a lining -- mine is just plain metal).  Once chilled, pour into your ice cream maker and churn until it sticks thickly on a spatula.  I pause every 10 minutes or so and scrape down the sides, but this probably isn't necessary.  Also, add the chocolate chunks after about 10 minutes once the ice cream has set up a bit.  Spoon ice cream into a 2-quart freezer safe container.  Place wax paper flat to the top of the ice cream (this helps to prevent ice crystals) and place the lid on the container.  Freeze for 4 hours to set.  Remember to devour any remaining soft serve left in your ice cream maker.  Enjoy!!

Side notes:
For a lighter option, use sugar substitute (follow directions on package for replacing sugar) and agave nectar in place of corn syrup.  I strongly suggest fresh grounds to get a full coffee flavor because the natural oils diminish over time once ground.  I used the bulk aisle at my grocery store to freshly grind about a 1/4 cup of bold Nicaraguan coffee using the espresso setting for half and the Turkish coffee setting for the other half (the Turkish setting grinds it so small that you add it directly to hot water without straining - I did this so I could purposefully leave behind some grounds in my ice cream).  Warning: use decaf if you usually have ice cream after dinner!  In the future I will experiment mixing flavors with this coffee ice cream such as vanilla coffee, hazelnut coffee, coconut coffee, and almond coffee (maybe with toffee bits!).

If you are interested in the science behind ice cream, check out how stuff works.

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berry good salad dressing [porter]

Tonight I wanted my favorite salad as a side but did not have any fresh fruit which is a key ingredient.  I did have frozen blueberries though so I let my little brain wander, and I came up with this perfect dressing that I used to substitute for the sweetness in the quintessential spinach-walnut-fruit-and-cheese salad.  Many of these ingredients can be interchanged with similar ingredients making this dressing flexible to what you have on hand.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbsp Greek yogurt
1 tbsp agave nectar
2 tsp lime juice
pinch of salt

The how to:
Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend completely.  Feel free to adjust to taste.  The mixture will thin out as the blueberries melt.  If it is still too thick, add more agave nectar to get to the desired consistency.

Side notes:
Feel free to slip some ground flax into this dressing for more hidden health benefits without compromising taste.  Fresh berries can replace frozen (and may actually be tastier if they are in season).  Try any berry in place of blueberries.  I used plain Greek yogurt because it's what I had on hand, but non-Greek yogurt and flavored yogurts will work too--try to stick to plain, vanilla, or complimentary fruit flavors.  The agave nectar adds sweetness and helps to thin the dressing out.  Honey or sugar will work, too.  If using sugar to sweeten, try some water or milk to thin it out.  Any citrus will work in place of lime (think lemon or orange juice).  I used bottled lime juice, and it turned out fine.  The salt can be left, but it helps to cut the sweetness.  Another twist would be to create a berry vinaigrette: use red wine vinegar in place of lime juice, salt, and half of the agave nectar.

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salmon with mustard and ginger soy sauce [porter]

Alaskan sockeye salmon with soy-mustard-ginger sauce

I am on a major health kick this week.  Fiance and I took a Memorial day trip to New York City and dined our little hearts out on bagels, egg sandwiches, pastrami sandwiches, matzo ball soup, Patsy's pizza, Italian tasting menus, and exquisite Japanese food from Morimoto.  Now it's time to recover and put healthy food back in the system.  Having decided on fish as the main course for dinner last night, I could not pass up the wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon that was being freshly laid out behind the seafood counter.  It was just so red.  I did what I typically do for weeknight meals: threw a bunch of stuff together that sounded good.  Here is the end result...it takes less than 20 min and it's not too shabby if I do say so my self.

Ingredients (serves 2):
12 oz salmon, with or without skin (wild caught Alaskan is best and here is why)
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp lemon pepper
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp grated or minced ginger
optional:
2 tsp ground flaxseed
1 lemon

The how to:
Place the top rack of your oven about 10 inches from the top.  Set the oven to broil and place pan on the top rack to preheat.  A cast iron pan or other oven safe pan is recommended, but I don't have these so I used my thickest baking sheet (foil lined for easy clean up) that would retain heat the best.  While the pan is heating, sprinkle the garlic salt and then the lemon pepper on the top of the salmon (the non-skin side if applicable).  These amounts should be to your taste, but I like an even thin layer of this 2:1 ratio.  Remove the pan from the oven (use a hot pad!) and place the salmon skin side down on the pan and replace on the top shelf of the oven.  Broil the salmon for 7 min.  The salmon will cook on both sides from the pan and the broiler so you do not need to turn.  I checked mine at 7 min, but the thickness of this filet took 1-3 min longer.  The fish should flake easily and still be pink (not red) in the middle when done.  While broiling, combine the remaining  ingredients (including flax seed if applicable) in a small bowl.  Remove the fish from the oven and top with a thin layer of this soy-mustard-ginger mixture.  Let rest for 5 min to let mixture sink in.  Serve with optional half lemon on each plate and see additional serving suggestions below.

Side notes:
I served this on a bed of mixed greens with very thinly sliced (more like shaved) white onion and green bell pepper.  I kept it pretty basic to feature the salmon instead of feeling like it was a salad with salmon on top.  I used the left over topping I had and mixed in ponzu, honey and a little splash of yellow mustard and used to lightly dress the greens.  I also served a small portion of roasted broccoli - it was hard to resist when I already had the oven on high heat and broccoli in my fridge.

Now that's all out of the way, I want to share why this dish is so healthy.  You can click on any of the links in the ingredient list to see more in depth information from World's Healthiest Foods (a non-profit organization dedicated to making the world a healthier place).  The salmon in this dish (6 oz per serving) provides roughly 75% of the daily recommended need of omega-3's while the flax seed and mustard help to supplement this dish to provide roughly 100% of this important requirement.  Eating a meal of this nature as little as once per week can have significant heart-health benefits.  Also, ginger, flaxseed, and mustard (and possibly soy sauce - more research needed) all offer anti-inflammatory benefits.  Lastly, lemon and ginger offer immune-system-boosting effects, which is excellent for Fiance who caught a cold near the end of our trip.

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druzy on over [paisley]

Stitch and Stone Crystal Framed Druzy Earrings in White

Designer Michelle Leiser of Stitch and Stone moved from New York to Austin in September of last year in search of warmer weather and friendly people.  She brought with her these fantastic druzy earrings.  I instantly loved these simply elegant earrings as well as the Mesh Rose Stud earrings and Metal Lace earrings.  My first thought was, "When can I get down to South Congress to purchase a pair?" but my second thought was "What the heck is druzy??"

So I now you bring you this little mineralogy lesson:  Druzy is an alternative spelling of drusy, which is the adjective form of druse: an inner surface with a crust of tiny crystals (thank you Wiktionary).  Each drusa (singular form) is formed when silica from ground water is deposited into rocks; the quick cooling causes the little quartz crystals to form on the surface or inside the rocks (Bernardine Fine Art Jewelry).

With that said, most of the druzy jewelry sold is fake or lab created to create the glittering effect.  Jerry Burkhart harvests, cuts, and cleans druzy from the Nevada desert and shares tips to tell whether a piece of druzy is real and the downsides of fake druzy.  Though I am interested in seeing the real stuff, I personally do not mind fake druzy for everyday affordable fashion.  If anything, his site taught me never to put my fake druzy near Oxyclean or vinegar because it will lose it's color.  However, if I ever own real druzy, maybe I'll clean it with these agents.

Here's to being an informed fashionista!

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the famous michelada [porter]

Michelada at Hotel San Jose in Austin, Texas

Happy Friday! The michelada is by far my favorite summer cocktail and perfectly hits the spot while lounging by the pool or catching some live music.  There are so many ways to make this baby and even some mixes that will do the trick in a pinch, but the best version of this concoction that I have had is the michelada from the bar in the courtyard of Hotel San Jose on South Congress in Austin, Texas.  Often compared to a bloody mary, this semi-spicy, refreshing version offers almost no comparison due to the lack of tomato juice. Though we make several versions of this at home, I carefully watched the bartender during our most recent visit to Hotel San Jose and have been able to finally match theirs:

Ingredients:
1 Mexican beer (Modelo is my favorite for this, but Corona, Tecate, or Dos XX work as well)
2-3 tbsp lime juice (fresh is better, but those squeeze bottle versions work, too)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire
1-2 shakes of Tabasco (to taste)
pepper to taste (we like larger grain cracked pepper - a few twists of the mill)
salt (for rimming)
1 lime (for rimming and garnish)

The how to:
Run lime over the rim of a cup and dip in salt.  Fill cup with ice.  Add lime juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and pepper.  Mix with straw and then slowly add beer to fill cup.  Garnish with lime.  As you drink, continue to add remainder of beer.

Side notes:
I also enjoy this cocktail with a dark beer (Negra Modelo or Shiner) if I am using a thicker mix that typically contains tomato juice.  If doing so, I will typically cut the Worcestershire and soy sauce and add Zing Zang bloody mary mix.  A delicious pre-made mix for light beers is Dan's Prime Chelada mix that I pick up from Central Market.  Lastly, please do not confuse this drink with the pre-mixed beer options available (Bud Light Lime or Bud Light Chelada).  You would be doing yourself a great disservice if you hold this drink in that company.

Those of you 21+, please enjoy responsibly.

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