Meyer Lemon Pasta Sauce

Here is another recipe snatched from my new favorite food blog, Rachel Eats.

The Intern and I made this pasta a few weeks ago to go with our homemade pasta. We didn't really measure anything, and we've made it several times since, again without really doing any real measuring. You're going to have to experiment here, and trust my non-measurements.

You'll need a few small lemons from our meyer lemon tree, or maybe your meyer lemon tree, or maybe your local Town & Country market, or wherever you happen to find meyer lemons these days.

This pasta is quick and ridiculously delicious, so be advised, you will get hooked, and we're not even sorry.

Ingredients: (approximately for two people-ish)

-pasta
-1/3 cup good olive oil (or whatever)
-1 cup of grated pecorino romano or parmesean, although seriously, just use pecorino romano.
-zest and juice from 2 small backyard lemon trees... or maybe near or less than 1/4 cup of juice
-salt and pepper

Directions:
-As the pasta water boils, prepare all the ingredients
-Warm a bowl with hot water and dry, then quickly whisk together the juice, oil, and about 1/2 of the cheese.
-Be prepared, things are about to get delicious.
-salt and pepper to taste, then as the water boils and pasta is ready, drain pasta and toss with the lemon & oil.
-top pasta with remaining cheese, and serve.

Homemade Crackers

Hello again, Kate here. The only motivated blogger on this blog team. Everyone is getting a demerit, except for me. I get a gold star, and a beer on you all, soon.  One nameless couple is sort of failing right now. NOT A SINGLE MEAL from those two. Don't blame the cat. Don't blame the camera, I know you two are eating. I am not here to nag though, I am here to change your life.

"Homemade crackers? What! Just buy crackers at the store, don't waste your time slaving over crackers! They can't be that good! Thats what stores are for!"

Ok, smack yourself if you just said something like that. You are the crazy one.

These crackers are going to change your life. The intern and I worked tirelessly through three different crap cracker recipes before we stumbled upon these crackers. These crackers are bomb.com, although the Intern would never agree to such a statement, he would agree that these crackers are really, really good.

Here is the recipe, adapted from Rachel Eats. We converted all the measurements, and added tons of cracked pepper to our dough, which made the crackers peppery and wonderful.

Olive Oil Crackers

ingredients:
2 cups sifted White flour
1/2 cup of water plus 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt

Sift the flour into a bowl, and if you have a kitchen aid, mix the ingredients slowly with the doughhook. Otherwise, use your hands to mix the dough, and knead til the dough is smooth, but not too much! Cover with a damp tea towel and let rest in the fridge for an hour.

Set the oven to 400 degrees or so, and if you have a pizza stone, throw it in there and let it get really nice and hot. Once the dough has rested, pull off small pieces (like the size of a finger) and roll into little snacks with your fingers. On a floured surface, roll the dough really really thin, like paper. Brush with olive oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt, and put in the oven for a few minutes. Watch the crackers carefully so they get golden and crisp, but not brown.

The crackers cook quickly, maybe 6-10 minutes. Make the crackers in batches, and as you work you'll figure out how thin you need to roll the dough. When the crackers come out, brush with a little more olive oil, and try not to burn your mouth as you eat them hot.

Beer or Wine with Indian Food?

Kate and I are cooking indian food tongiht, and I'm begining think about beer and wine pairings.  Do you have any opions on the subject? Garret Oliver, a renowned brewer, definitely has his opinions, and believes "wine does not go well with Indian food." 

Read the artricle here. 

Warm Butternut Squash and Arugula Salad

This recipe comes from The Kitchn we've made it a few times, and each time we make it, we love it, then we forget it completely for a few weeks until it magically pops back into one of our heads. I love it when that happens, because I really love this salad. It is great served warm, but it is also very nice the next day cold.

Warm Butternut Squash and Arugula Salad
serves 4

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (have a strong intern do this with a very sharp knife)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Fresh black pepper
Kosher salt
2 small bunches arugula, washed and torn (alternately we use spinach if we have it on hand)
1 cup walnuts, toasted (we also sometimes use pine nuts mixed in, or like last night, mostly pine nuts because we were all out of walnuts)


Dressing
1/4 cup apple cider (we never have this on hand, so we ignore this ingredient, and we like the recipe anyway)
1/8 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the cubed squash with the oil, spices, salt and pepper. Spread thin on a large cookie sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, or until browned at the edges.
Let squash cool for five minutes then toss with the arugula and walnuts. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and drizzle over to taste. Grate Pecorino Romano over the top, and if you're not doing it already, start grating it over every meal from now on. It is delicious, you're welcome.

If Kate's Gonna Go to School... We're Gonna Go to School!

We're not really that petty.  In fact, we didn't sign ourselves up for a class.  We were gifted a trip to a local kitchen store in Magnolia to attend a special class/demonstration.  Thanks to Bonnie, Rick, London and Leo for feeding our minds and our stomachs.

Dish It Up! has a full schedule of cooking classes and demonstrations.  Our particular class was a Winemakers' Dinner featuring the wine of Efeste and food from the Executive Chef of the Barking Frog.  Here's the description of the class:

Chef Bobby Moore from Barking Frog and Efeste Winery winemaker Brennon Leighton will pair up to present a delicious three course winemakers dinner featuring Efeste wines and signature Barking Frog dishes. Menu: Seared Scallops & Butternut Squash Soup, Braised Oxtails & Pappardelle, and Molten Chocolate Gateau.

The demonstration was pretty much what I've seen after watching countless hours of the Food Network. But, it was great to be able to see everything happen live and to get a better sense of how to make corrections and adjustments as you go along.

This was my favorite part of the meal by far:

That's the pan-seared scallop (a U-10) resting comfortably in a bowl of butternut squash soup.  These scallops were so perfectly cooked and it really seemed to sink in that I could successfully make scallops at home.  Someday...  The soup was infused with jalepeno, red pepper, and vanilla beans.

The main course was the braised oxtail served with pappardelle, mushrooms, and braising greens.

Unlike the SFO arm of Meals Across America, I've never made pasta before.  This was nice to see the whole process and take away some of the mystique.  Brennon, the winemaker, actually rolled and cut all of the pasta proving that you don't have to be a chef to prepare it.  Gina was a little put off by seeing the chef butcher some fresh oxtail, which I can understand, but at the same time I was fascinated.

It's a real shame, but I don't have a picture of the molten chocolate gateau dessert.  Chef served it with a chantilly cream, powdered sugar, and toasted hazelnuts.  Honestly, I was so anxious to try it that I ate it before I could remember to take a photo.

I am a huge fan of cooking classes and would love to take more...

Butternut Squash Soup
(serves 10)

• 2-3 butternut squash peeled, split, and seeded
• 1/2 bottle of white wine (any will do)
• 1 1/2 vanilla beans
• 3 carrots
• 3 celery stalks
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/8 cup poached garlic
• 1/2 T. chili flakes
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, stemmed and split
• 1/2 bunch thyme
• 1 T. black peppercorn, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 4-6 cups heavy cream

Spread 1/4 cup butter on the split side of the squash and start by roasting it split-side down on parchment paper.  Roast it at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  Flip near the end of roasting so that the deges can develop a medium dark caramelization.

In a large stainless steel pan, caramelize carrots, deglaze with water, add celery and onion and lightly caramelize.  Add garlic.  deglaze with the white wine and bring to a full boil.

Add sachet (chili flakes, japaeno, thyme, peppercorn, and bay leaves), roasted squash, vanilla beans (split and scraped) and 4 cups of water to the pan.  Simmer until the squash is tender enough to blend.

Remove sachet and vanilla pods.  Blend soup (in blender or with an immersion blender) until smooth.  Add cream to taste and season with salt and pepper.

Seared Scallops

Add canola oil to a hot pan.  Dust U-10 scallops with salt and place salt side down into the hot oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Sear the scallops for about 4 minutes to develop a rich brown sear.  Remove from pan.

At this point, you can let them sit until you're closer to serving them.  Once you're ready, place them on a sheet pan and put them in the oven for about 2-3 minutes at 350 degrees.

They Meet

The scallops are then placed on top of the soup, drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil, top with grey salt and microgreens.

Delicata Squash

Kate bought two delicata squash recently, although she wasn't quite sure what to do with them. With a little bit of sleuthing on the internet, she found out she should barely do anything to them at all!

After relaying the simple instructions to the Intern, the squash was sliced into quarters, deseeded and coated with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. One smashed garlic clove was added to the center of each, popped into the oven for about 30-40 minutes, and served with baked lemon-salmon and steamed kale and spinach with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

The squash is delicious. and simple. and cheap. but delicious.

Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Sauce

We put on some weight with our recent trips to Spain and San Francisco.  So, we've been eating in a lot and making constant reference to Cooking Light.  What I liked about this meal is that it didn't taste like it came from Cooking Light at all... not that their recipes normally taste bad or anything, but this one really pulled the wool over my eyes.

Yield:
4 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup beef mixture and 2/3 cup noodles)

Ingredients:

• 2  cups  uncooked egg noodles
• Cooking spray
• 1 pound top sirloin steak, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
• 1 (8-ounce) package presliced baby bella mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Preparation:

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
2. While noodles cook, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak; sauté 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan; cover.
3. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in soy sauce. Sprinkle flour over mushroom mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Add pepper, salt, and thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Return beef to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Discard thyme sprigs. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.