Pasta with brussel sprouts and prosciutto

Look! Another recipe from The Intern and Kate! 

The Intern and I adapted this recipe from thekitchn.com based on what we had in the fridge and pantry. If you are a stickler for the original rules of the recipe, check it out here, and ignore everything I am about to write.

This is a really simple pasta that is quick, and calls for lots of brussel sprouts, which happen to be delicious, and in season right now. The ratios of vegetable to pasta is a little uneven, with more green than pasta. Don't fight it, just try it. The trick is to do everything quickly, and not let the brussel sprouts overcook, or you are going to get that stinky cabbage-y smell, and the brussel sprouts will be limp and not so good.

Pasta with Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Prosciutto

Ingredients:

1 pound brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil
Several slices of good prosciutto, chopped into thin strips
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 pound spaghetti or capellini pasta (we used trader joes lemon pepper pappardelle)
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted (we were out of pine nuts, but they really would have been delicious in this dish)
salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar
pecorino romano cheese

Directions: 
 
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Season generously with salt.

Trim the ends off of the brussels sprouts and remove the toughest outer leaves. Shred them in a food processor, using the slicing attachment (not the normal chopping blade), or slice them carefully on a mandoline. You can also slice them as thin as possible with a knife. (This may seem like a lot of brussel sprouts, and it is, but trust us, its good)

Heat a large skillet (14-inch if you have one) over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the prosciutto and cook until fairly crispy. Remove from heat, and set aside in another bowl to use at the end.

In the same pan and add the shallots and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the shallots are soft.
While the shallots are cooking, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente.

Add the brussels sprouts and the chicken broth to the large skillet, season with salt and pepper, and toss all of the ingredients together. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the brussels sprouts are tender but not too soft, about 5 minutes. (REALLY! Don't overdo it!)

When the pasta is finished cooking, drain and add it to the skillet. You can add a splash of the pasta water (or more broth) if the mixture seems dry. Add the pine nuts, toss everything together with a little balsamic drizzled over the top, and serve with Pecorino Romano.

Alimentación en España, Primera parte: Barcelona

Food in Spain, Part One:  Barcelona

As some of you may know, part of the Meals Across America staff recently went overseas.  We were instructed by the rest of the Meals Across America staff to not come back unless we brought some amazing food stories back with us.

Well, we're back.  Actually we came back a long time ago, but we've been in hiding while trying to figure out what to write.  We're ready now.  Hopefully we don't disappoint.

Maybe we will disappoint... because the only pictures we have are from La Boqueria.  This is the main market located right off of Las Ramblas.  Beautiful food in there... so, we'll sprinkle those pics throughout this posting.

Our trip started in Barcelona.  Although we arrived in the early evening, we were both pretty wiped out by the flight, so we just went to the hotel and crashed. We slept straight through the night and most of the next morning. Needless to say, we were famished... and lost.  So, we walked and walked and walked.  Eventually we made it to Las Ramblas and wandered there for a while.  As is my norm, I dragged G past many restaurants trying to gauge her interest.  As is G's norm, she also would not make a decision until she hit the proverbial wall.  At that point, we had ten minutes left before meltdown, so we backtracked and found the place with the least amount of wait and people who seemed to be enjoying their food.  We ate on the sidewalk at Ciutat Comtal.

This was our first foray into the world of Spanish restaurants and tapas.  As such, it was some work. Although the servers spoke a fair amount of English, we were unsure of ourselves, what to order, how much to order, what was appropriate to order at that time of day, and many other paranoia-enducing concerns. We ended up with patatas bravas, some chorizo and bread, croquetas, and some rose.  For me, the best part of the meal was the rose.

I have a special place in my heart for patatas bravas, but on this trip I found that none of the places I tried matched up with a place in Ballard that I can go to anytime I want--Ocho(http://ochoballard.com/).  Ocho has the right combination of spicy brava sauce, crispiness of the potatoes, and the aioli is present enough to make an impact, but the dish isn't drowning in the sauce.  Ciutat Comtal's patatas bravas was mushy and swimming in ailoi.

Unfortunately, this would be the theme for many of our stops in Barcelona.  I am sure that we simply ended up at the wrong restaurants.  They weren't horrible -- just pedestrian and certainly not up to the hype that we had heard regarding Spanish food.  Here's a quick rundown of some of the rest of the places we ate:

Daps:
We ended up here after trying to find another restaurant in the area that sounded delicious.  Unfortunately, it must have closed down because we could find no trace of it.  We had dinner at Daps which was more upscale with great wine.

Bilbao Berria:
This place actually had great pinxos, plus it's in a great location by the Cathedral in the Barri Gotic.  Later in the trip we went on to Bilbao and San Sebastian, so we were able to compare pinxos.  These were right up there in quality and variety.

Taller de Tapas:
We actually didn't eat here, but had some cava before taking in a classical guitar concert at a small cathedral nearby.  We met two friendly German women who shared their table with us -- much to the annoyance of the server. I'm still not sure why he was so put off and rude about it.  He was able to get more money out of the table than he would have otherwise.

Les Quinze Nits:
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Placa Reial where this restaurant was located.  We stopped here after the concert after walking for quite a while through the Barri Gotic.  Again, we had some decision making problems.  The info we had said that this was a great place to check out some more traditional Catalan food which we wanted to try.  The line to the restaurant stretched halfway out into the Placa though, so we kept walking around to try and find something else.  When nothing looked good after about 30 minutes, we wandered back and to our surprise the line was only about five people long.  We had no idea, but the inside of the restaurant was immense.  They had tons of tables spread throughout two floors and multiple rooms.  Unfortunately, instead of traditional Catalan cuisine, the food seemed more continental to us.  I fear that it was just too overrun by tourists and thus they had dumbed all the food down.

Sanshirou:
I think this was the last night we were in Barcelona.  I was pretty wiped out from our adventures and just wanted to rest before having to get up early to catch a train to Valencia.  So, I suggested that we just go to this Japanese restaurant by the hotel.  It received good reviews online, but coming from Seattle it just wasn't up to our standards.  It wasn't horrible, but it wouldn't be in the top 5 or maybe even 10 here in Seattle.

G would also want me to mention a great little cafe that was near our hotel.  Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it.  I tried to find it using Google Maps Street View, but at the time that they took the pictures it was a place that sold copiers.

Part Two will focus on Valencia where things definitely started to pick up!

Too easy beer bread

This isn't really a meal, but this recipe for beer bread belongs here just as much as a real meal does. This recipe is so easy, you could probably still pull it off if you've had a few beers first. Be careful with the oven if you choose this option.

ingredients:
1 1/2 c all purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 c wheat flour, sifted
1/3 c brown sugar, packed
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 beer (12 ounces) (it can be any kind of beer, even a really bad beer)
1/3-1/2 stick of butter (more is better)

directions:
set oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients together first in a large bowl, then mix in the beer and stir with a wooden spoon until a stiff batter forms. Pour batter into greased and floured loaf pan. melt butter and pour over the top of the dough, and bake for 50 minutes. The butter will make a thick crispy butter crust. Eat hot.

Better than Ocho- Fried Artichoke hearts with Za'atar aioli

We've all tried the fried artichoke hearts at Ocho in Ballard. They are really good, so we tried to recreate them. In the process, we made them much, much better. Sorry Ocho. The Intern made a mean Za'atar aioli to dip the fried artichoke hearts and zuchini rounds in... and oh boy, you should come over and have some. The beer batter is delicious, the aioli is delicious, we're fun.

Fried Artichoke Hearts with Za'atar Aioli

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen artichoke hearts-we like the ones from Trader Joe (don't you dare try to use canned artichoke hearts)
panko
flour
1 beer
salt
Vegetable oil

Directions:
-Defrost the artichoke hearts and set aside. Be sure to drain them, so they aren't soggy.
-Make a batter with flour, beer, and a dash of salt. Make sure your batter is thick, but not too thick.
-Roll artichoke hearts in batter until completely covered, then roll in panko. Be sure to do the same with the other vegetables you might also be frying (like zucchini, eggplant...)
-Fry the battered pieces in oil until golden on all sides.

While you're frying, your intern will be making the aioli. If you don't have one, ask your wife or husband, or special someone to help you.

Za'atar Aioli (from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:

1 large garlic clove, peeled
1 cup mayonnaise
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup za'atar

Directions:

-Mince the garlic, then just put all the ingredients together in a bowl and stir then keep chilled until it is time to eat (I think that is how the intern does it)

{Trust me, it is not the photo that is blurry, it's just your eyesight}

Enjoy with Vinho Verde and friends.

One Time when we were all together in one place...

One time, before we all went pro, we had a little dinner party. Four of us worked and cooked, the other lazy four just enjoyed all our hard work.

Yogurt-Marinated Lamb Kebabs With Lemon Butter

Active Time: 25 min

Total Time: 45 min plus overnight marinating

Servings: 4 to 6

Ingredients

2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt

1 1/2 cups water

2 pounds trimmed boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/2 teaspoons pure chile powder, such as ancho

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt

Six 1-by-2-inch strips of lemon peel

3 tablespoons ghee or unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk 1 cup of the yogurt with the water. Add the lamb cubes, toss to coat and refrigerate overnight.

Light a grill. Drain the lamb and pat dry with paper towels. In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 1 cup of yogurt with the chile powder, turmeric, garlic, cayenne and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the lamb, toss to coat and let stand for 10 to 20 minutes.

On each of 6 metal skewers, thread a piece of the lemon peel. Thread the lamb cubes onto the skewers and season with salt. In a small bowl, combine the ghee with the lemon juice.

Grill the skewers over moderately high heat, turning, until starting to char all over, about 3 minutes. Continue to grill, turning and basting with the ghee and lemon juice, until medium-rare, about 4 minutes longer. Serve the lamb on or off the skewers.

Vietnamese-ish spring rolls

We made this meal based on a recipe we found on the kitchn, but we modified it based on what we happened to have in our fridge. The intern did most of the chopping, and prepared the peanut sauce, I just sliced the tofu, and fried it.

Ingredients:
tofu- extra firm, pressed, and sliced into thin slices, and fried in the wok until golden (we sprinkled sesame seeds on ours)
carrots- sliced and baked for about 10 minutes to soften
lettuce
bell pepper
baked sliced eggplant- sliced into strips, salted and coated with olive oil, baked for about 20 minutes until tender
cilantro
rice wrappers- we buy these at Manila Oriental Market where we like to go on dates to watch people in the stinky meat department buy frogs to eat for dinner. Its very romantic. We recommend you buy your wrappers at a place with frogs.

While eating we realized we wished we had other vegetables in our spring rolls, like bean sprouts or asparagus, and maybe also some grilled chicken too.

The following recipe is mandatory. Blend ingredients in blender or mini Cuisinart (like us).

Peanut Sauce
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1 clove minced garlic

Once you've had someone else do all the chopping, slicing, and preparing, have a beer while complaining bitterly of hunger. Then, once they start moving faster, you can open the rice wrapper package, and be careful not to rip it open and hold it upside down so all the wrappers fall out. You're going to eat those, so be careful. Dip the rice wrappers in hot water for a few seconds until the wrappers are moist, then fill with your vegetables and roll. Dip in peanut sauce and enjoy.

I dare you to try and wrap your spring rolls to make them look like what you might get in a restaurant. The intern and I discovered we do not have a future in spring roll wrapping, but they tasted really nice anyway, just like the real thing. I can wrap spring rolls slightly better than the intern. If you are going to photograph your meal, be sure to stage the spring rolls in such a way that no one can see that it looks like the spring rolls were wrapped in the dark by a cat.

Son of Pike Place Dinner

When G when to the market last Monday she picked up some beautiful green beans -- about a pound and a half of them.  Thankfully, they kept well in the refrigerator and were still good last night when we finally decided what to do with them.  Unfortunately, our stomachs and the weather were not on the same page.  For the first time this year, G was EXTREMELY tempted to turn on the furnace.  It seemed like every news source was breeding fear about the weather change.  Still, G and I decided to make a nice cold salad.  We're livin' in the past.

The Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds slender green beans, trimmed, halved crosswise
• 3 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
• 2 large red potatoes, diced
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 9 ounces canned tuna packed in oil, drained

The Preparation

1. Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling water until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Using a mesh strainer, transfer the green beans to a large bowl of ice water to cool completely. Drain the green beans and pat dry with a towel. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the same cooking liquid and bring the liquid to a simmer. Add the potatoes to the simmering liquid and cook until they are just tender but still hold their shape, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to the ice water to cool completely. Drain the potatoes and pat dry with a towel.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, garlic, oil, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the tomatoes, basil and parsley in a large serving bowl. Add the tuna and toss gently to combine. Add the green beans and potatoes and gently combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.

Oh, and those wonton crisps look familiar, right?  They're just a modification of the wonton crisps we made earlier.  This time, with a little added parmesan cheese on them before baking.

Overall, the salad tasted pretty good.  We didn't end up using all of the dressing.  But, I would definitely hold off until next summer before we made this again!

(Thanks to Giada de Laurentis for the recpie)