Panettone French Toast

Since I've been in a new relationship this year, I've gone out to breakfast more in the past year than probably all the previous years put together.  One of my favorite things to order is french toast.  I've become particularly obsessed with french toast made with unusual types of bread.  I've had french toast made with banana bread, blueberry muffins, zucchini bread and cinnamon rolls.  In honor of the Christmas season, I decided to make my own french toast using Italian panettone.

Panettone is a sweet bread that's usually around at Christmas time.  There are lots of different variations, but they usually include some sort of candied citrus peel and raisins.  

For my french toast I used the whole panettone and that made enough for 4-6 people.

Slice the bread into 3/4 inch thick slices.  Then prepare the french toast batter.  You can use your favorite or I used 6 eggs, about 3/4 cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla and a heavy pinch of salt.

Butter or grease a griddle and cook the slices until golden brown on the outside.  I like to pull my french toast slices off the heat before they are fully set and keep them warm in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve.  Since the batter is basically a custard it will continue to set up even after it is removed from the pan.  

Serve with powdered sugar, maple syrup or like my family does it with lots of butter and white sugar.

Blender Soup

Last Christmas I received the Cuisinart Blend and Cook blender, but I had yet to make soup in it.  Last night I was in a soup mood so I decided to finally try it out.  I couldn't find the recipe booklet so I improvised with what I had on hand.  And voila...Spicy Tomato Soup!

Spicy Tomato Soup
This is a very tomato-y tasting soup.  It would be awesome with garden tomatoes, but all I had was canned. Still tasted great though.

Add about 2 tablespoons olive oil, a clove of garlic and about half a chopped onion to the blender.  Season with salt and pepper.  Turn the heat to medium and cook for 15 min or until the veggies are soft.

I have a terrible problem with crying when I chop onions.  Nothing I have ever tried to make it easier has worked so a couple years ago I gave up completely and started buying pre-chopped frozen onions.  So much easier!  You can put them in without thawing but be prepared for clouds of fog to start pouring out of your blender.

 After the onions and garlic have cooked, add one 28 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes.  

Then add 1-2 tablespoons of chilpotle sauce.  This is what I always buy when a recipe calls for chilpotle in adobo.  I like that it is all smooth and I don't have to fish out and chop slimy, saucy hot peppers.  

Cook on medium for 30 min or until hot.  Use the stir button occasionally.

Once the soup is hot all the way through, add 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  Then cover the lid and blend the soup until it is the consistency you like.  I like it completely smooth.

This recipe makes about a quart of soup.  I'm going to freeze half for later.  I love a nice grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup on the first day it snows.  Yum!

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

I honestly don’t know what we all did before we could get recipes on the internet.  Don’t get me wrong, I love cookbooks and I own a ton of them but it’s so great to be able to find thousands of recipes online whenever I want them.  This Thanksgiving I was looking around for some interesting dessert recipes to try.  My sister doesn't like pie so I always try to make something that she will eat.  And I also wanted to try something new.  So here are the recipes I tried and how they turned out for me.

Cranberry Crumble Bars

http://www.marthastewart.com/938889/cranberry-crumble-bars

I loved this recipe!  The bars were super easy to make.  I used the canned cranberry sauce and they came together really quickly.  I didn't read the pan preparation instructions very carefully so I didn't notice the whole bit about using butter and parchment paper until after the bars were already in the oven. I just gave the pan a quick spray with PAM.  Whoops!  They still came out perfectly though so I think there is enough butter in the dough to help them not stick.

Pumpkin Tiramisu

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/desserts/pumpkin-tiramisu/

This recipe was not as much of a success.  I loved the idea of it because I’m a huge fan of pumpkin and my family all loves tiramisu.  But it just didn't work as well as I’d have liked it to.  First, I found it impossible to find lady fingers anywhere.  I did a quick search online for substitutions and read that I could use pound cake instead.  Then while I was making it, I was really worried about it tasting good.  I tasted each layer as I made it and wasn't loving how it all tasted.  I put it together anyway and hoped that an overnight stay in the fridge would help everything come together.  And it did mostly.  The layers tasted much better together than separately, but I still thought the balance was off.  In my opinion it needed much more cake and much less filling.  So next time I make it I’ll play around with the ratios.  Also, I thought 1 tsp of cinnamon was way too much. And I love cinnamon.  I’ll cut it in half next time.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

Now that it is officially Fall, I'm in full on "pumpkin flavored things" mode.  I love seasonal things and since Fall is my favorite anyway I'm all pumpkin, all the time.  I recently used some of the pumpkin puree I made with the pumpkins from the garden and baked these pumpkin oatmeal bars.  They were really good on their own and I suspect they would be even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch ginger
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (homemade or canned)
1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish.

Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl.

These are rolled oats because I like the texture, but quick cooking oats would be fine too.

In another bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

I used dark brown sugar here because I like the flavor more, but light brown sugar works equally well if you prefer  it.

Add in egg, pumpkin and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches and mix until just combined.  

Stir in butterscotch chips.  If butterscotch chips aren't your thing, use about a cup of whatever you like.  Raisins, nuts, dried cranberries or chocolate chips would all be good here.

Spoon into baking dish and bake about 30 min until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool and cut into bars.

Making pumpkin puree

When I decided to grow pumpkins this year I knew I wanted to try growing sugar pumpkins since they are excellent for making pies.  Fortunately, they did very well and I ended up with lots.

I researched different ways to make the puree and found tons of different ideas and tips.  I decided to go with roasting.  Mostly because it seemed easiest, but also because I thought roasting the pumpkin would give it extra flavor that just steaming would not.

Here is what I did:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Remove stem if still attached and cut pumpkin in half.
3. Scoop out seeds.
4. Place pumpkin cut side down on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil.  Make sure to use a baking sheet with a rim on it.  The roasting process generates some liquid and you don't want to make a huge mess in your oven.
5. Roast for about an hour.  The skins should look slightly darkened and papery and the flesh should be soft.
6. Cool until you are able to handle and scoop flesh into a food processor.
7. Process until smooth.

I used 2 pumpkins and ended up with about 4 cups of puree.  I'm freezing some of mine until next month when I make pumpkin pies.  I love these freezer containers from Ball.  They come in a bunch of different sizes and are really sturdy.

Mini Caprese Salad

I've always loved miniature things.  When I was a kid my parents' used to get these dollhouse furniture catalogs and I would spend hours looking at tiny sofas and kitchen tables.  So it makes sense that I'm a sucker for miniature versions of classic foods.  This mini caprese salad was inspired by the tiny leaves on my spicy globe basil plant, but if you can't find this type of basil you can just use regular and chop it into small pieces.

Mini Caprese Salad

For each salad you will need about 10 cherry tomatoes, 6 small fresh mozzarella balls (called bocconcini), 6 spicy globe basil leaves, salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil.


Layer into a bowl or a martini glass if you are feeling fancy.  Serve at room temperature.

Herb Biscotti

I really love recipes that lend themselves to lots of variations.  These biscotti can be made with almost any type of herb you like.  I used cinnamon basil, but you could also use regular basil, any variety of mint, thyme (add in a tsp grated lemon zest to this if you want), tarragon, lavender and rosemary (add a tsp grated orange zest, it goes great with rosemary).  These cookies are not too sweet so they are perfect for dunking in a cup of coffee or glass of wine.  Don't be afraid of using herbs in sweet foods.  It is not overpowering when combined with all the other ingredients.

Herb Biscotti

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup white sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt

Chop herbs.  Try to get them chopped as fine as you can.  They will distribute better throughout the dough.

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add in eggs, vanilla and chopped herbs and mix until combined.  Don't be afraid if your dough looks a little green from the herbs.  Once you get all the dry ingredients mixed in it won't be noticeable.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet a little bit at a time until it is all incorporated.  Place dough on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.  Form dough into a flat loaf shape about 4 inches wide and 1 inch tall.  The dough might be a little sticky so if you are having trouble just put some flour on your hands.

Bake about 35 minutes.  Let cool 30 minutes.  

Biscotti means twice cooked so the large loaf we have created will need to be sliced and baked again.  Using a serrated knife, slice the loaf on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices.  Don't worry if it crumbles.  Biscotti are supposed to be crumbly.

Place the slices on the same parchment lined baking sheet you used earlier and bake another 15 minutes, turning them over halfway through.  Let cool completely on a rack before eating.

Cinnamon Basil Sweet Tea

After I posted a few drink recipes a couple weeks ago, my friend who is expecting her first child in November asked if I would do some drink recipes that were alcohol free.  Of course I will!


This recipe uses cinnamon basil, but you could also make the simple syrup with lemon basil or mint.  Just keep everything else the same.

Cinnamon Basil Sweet Tea

Iced tea (made anyway you like)

2 tablespoons cinnamon basil syrup (recipe follows)

Ice

Place syrup in a tall glass and add ice and tea.  Stir to combine.

Cinnamon Basil Simple Syrup

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups water

5-6 large sprigs cinnamon basil

1 vanilla bean

Combine sugar, water and vanilla in a large pot over medium heat.  Cook until all the sugar dissolves and the syrup isn't cloudy anymore.  Remove from heat and add basil sprigs.  Let basil steep in the syrup for at least 30 min.  Strain and store in the fridge.

NOTE about herb varieties.  I've found it is really easy to find a lot of these more unusual herbs. I don't shop at fancy nurseries, just a regular Home Depot and I've seen lots of cool varieties there.  So don't be scared to grow something a little different than the standard types of herbs.  I'm loving experimenting with my cinnamon basil and orange mint.

Farmer's Market Number 2

What a difference a couple weeks make!  Last Saturday I went to the farmer's market again and it was so different that the first time I went.  For one thing it was packed!  And all the stands were completely bursting with all different kinds of fresh fruits and veggies.


My strategy for navigating the farmer's market is I try to stay away from the huge stands because they are usually the most crowded and the people selling the produce are too busy to talk.  I like to search out the smaller stands.


It was one of the smaller stands where I found these gorgeous cherries.

They were so sweet and juicy and didn't last long before I ate them all.


I also found these...

They are garlic scapes.  Garlic scapes are the top part of the garlic plant and are usually cut off as the plant is growing.  But now they are becoming popular for cooking.  Its one of those ingredients that I've been seeing popping up lately in food magazines and cookbooks so I was excited to try cooking with them myself.  So I decided to make a quiche.

Garlic Scape Quiche

Pie crust (either homemade or store bought)
5 garlic scapes chopped
1 tablespoon chopped chives
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a 5 cheese Italian blend)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  


Saute chopped scapes in a little olive oil until they start to soften up a little.  Set aside to cool slightly.


Place pie crust in pie pan and prick bottom and sides with a fork.  This is called 'docking' and lets the steam escape so the crust doesn't puff up.  Bake crust for 15 min.


In the meantime, make the filling.  Mix eggs, cream, chives, salt, pepper and paprika together.  Spread cheese and scapes over prebaked crust and pour filling over the top.  Bake for another 30-40 minutes.  Since it is technically like a custard, I like to pull my quiche while the center is still slightly wobbly.  This insures I never end up with rubbery eggs.  Let the quiche rest for 15-20 min before serving.

Aphids of Doom

WARNING!  This post contains some gross bug pictures so if you are squeamish, scroll past them really quickly.


Last week was kind of a bad week for my garden.  Seemingly overnight my pepper and tomato plants became totally infested with aphids.

I tried a bunch of different things to get rid of them starting with a homemade garlic and dish soap spray I found online.  After that didn't work, I actually broke down and bought commercial pesticide even though I don't like to use it.  Nothing worked and my plants were getting totally destroyed.  


Finally, they were so damaged that I had to pull them out.  This was beyond frustrating because before the aphid attack they actually seemed like they were doing pretty well.


I rallied quickly though and bought some new plants to take their place.  This time I decided on more herbs.  One of the things I was trying to accomplish in my garden this summer was to experiment with what types of plants I could actually grow in the conditions I have (part shade, limited space).  Now that its already late June, I decided to focus my energy on growing plants that I knew would do well.  The herbs I already have growing are doing really well so I bought a few more varieties.  I added rosemary and two more types of basil.

Spicy Globe Basil and Cinnamon Basil

I've never tried either of these types of basil before.  I usually just grow the standard Genovese basil which is what you would use for pesto or caprese salad.  My boyfriend experimented with the spicy globe basil and made this pasta dish.

Sorry no exact recipe because it was kind of an experiment, but it has chipotle pasta that we got at the farmer's market, alfredo sauce, lots of garlic and red pepper flakes, parsley and spicy basil from my garden and shrimp.  Very spicy, but very delicious!

Deviled Eggs

This weekend I was really in the mood for deviled eggs so I decided to make a batch.  Of course a whole batch of deviled eggs is kind of a lot for one person, but I'm not complaining.  I've been bringing them for a snack at work and they are definitely better at keeping me from being hungry than my usual granola bar or 100 calorie pack.  


This is kind of an unusual recipe for deviled eggs because it contains no mayo.  I am not the biggest fan of mayo and it kind of grosses me out to see it in large quantities.  So I substitute cream cheese instead.  This recipe also gets a lot of flavor from a double dose of chives both in the cream cheese and fresh chives from the garden.

Chive Deviled Eggs

10 hard boiled eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons onion chive cream cheese
1 tablespoon honey mustard
2 teaspoons fresh chopped chives
salt and pepper to taste


Split eggs in half and remove yolks.  Mash yolks with remaining ingredients.  Spoon filling into egg whites.  Top with more chopped chives if desired.

An Accidental Rachael Ray Sighting

This past Saturday I attended the Printer's Row Lit Fest in Chicago with a friend.  Lit Fest is a really cool yearly event where tons of authors from all kinds of different genres give talks or demos (in the case of cookbook authors).  And its free!  So anyway, my friend and I were planning on seeing some Young Adult and Children's authors because that's her field.  In between events she suggested that we go into the library to use bathrooms that weren't port-a-potties.  This turned out to be a really smart idea because as we were headed downstairs to the bathrooms, a Lit Fest volunteer handed us tickets to the supposedly sold out Rachael Ray event.  It was less than 5 minutes before the talk was supposed to start and the only seats left were in the first and second rows so we got to sit nice and close to the action.  We were definitely in the right place at the right time!


As for the talk itself, it was pretty interesting.  Rachael was there to promote her new book The Book of Burger which is a really fun concept for a cookbook.  One thing I can take away from her talk is how she feels about food photography.  She thinks that food pictures should look a little bit messy and like you could dive right in and eat them.  Now that I've had a chance to page through her book, I totally agree.  Those burgers look delicious!  Its really great that she embraces the idea of home cooked food even down to the food actually looking like it was prepared at home.  I read a lot of cookbooks and I really admire how her food always looks like something I could do myself.


On a non-food note...she also looks amazing!  I can only hope to look as good as she does when I'm in my 40's.  If that is what cooking with so much EVOO will do for you, I'll start buying it by the gallon.


So in honor of my unexpected encounter with Rachael Ray and her burger book, I'm sharing my recipe for Jerk Chicken Burgers.  These use lettuce and flat leaf parsley from my garden.

Jerk Chicken Burgers

This recipe makes about 3 medium sized burgers.  


1 lb ground chicken
2 tablespoons jerk seasoning
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Pepperjack cheese
Sliced pineapple rings
Sliced tomato
Any variety soft lettuce (I used butter crunch because that's what I was growing)
Sandwich sized Hawaiian buns


Mix chicken with jerk seasoning and chopped parsley and shape into patties.  Grill or fry patties until thoroughly cooked.  Meanwhile, throw the buns on the grill too to toast them lightly.  You can grill the pineapple rings too if you like.  Top burgers with a slice or two of cheese and lettuce, pineapple and tomato.

Farmer's Market

It's finally June and the farmer's market has opened.  I went to the market in my town last weekend and got so much cool stuff.  I haven't been to a farmer's market in several years and the last time I went I was underwhelmed.  It seemed like there were more craft stands than produce stands.  I like crafts as much as the next person, but they aren't what I'm going for.  So I tried out a different market this year and was much happier.

I was open to getting whatever they had there, but I was hoping to see lots of fresh strawberries.  I've been really wanting strawberries ever since mine got eaten by birds.  Fortunately, I was not disappointed.  Almost everyone had strawberries for sale.

These nice ladies let me take a taste so I knew I was getting really good stuff.  I could have gone crazy and bought way too many.  I controlled myself though and brought home three baskets like this.

Aren't they pretty?  Fresh picked berries like these go bad a lot faster than the berries you get from the grocery store so I knew I had to use them up right away.  Luckily for me, that wasn't a problem.

First, I made a strawberry shortcake using some of the leftover lemon thyme cornbread from the other night.  It might seem a little weird to use cornbread in strawberry shortcake, but it really works out great.  The cornbread is a little drier on the second day so it soaks up all the yummy juices from the sugared berries.  The lemon in the cornbread is a really nice compliment to the berries.  Plus, I got to practice my fancy plating skills and slice it into pretty wedges like this...

I still had berries left that I needed to use up so I decided to make jam.  Most jam recipes call for a ton of fruit and I only had about 3 cups so I decided to just make a really small batch.  I made a variation of the Strawberry and Lavender Jam from Canning For A New Generation by Liana Krissoff.

This stuff is so good!  Unlike a lot of jams it isn't too sweet so you can still taste the fruit.  The lavender adds just a little something in the background.

Strawberry and Lavender Jam

I only made a third of the real recipe so these measurements yield about 1/2 a pint of jam.

3 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried lavender or heaping tsp fresh

Mash the berries with a potato masher.  I like to leave it pretty chunky.  Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until mixture is thickened stirring often.  Let cool slightly and ladle into a jar.  Store in the fridge.

Last, but not least, the farmer's market also had several fresh flower stands and places to buy plants and herbs to plant in your garden.  I resisted buying anything new for the garden, but I didn't come home empty handed.  My boyfriend bought me this lovely bouquet.

This type of flower is called Sweet William and in Victorian times it symbolized gallantry.  Sounds good to me!

Lemon Thyme Cornbread

One of my favorite foods is cornbread.  A little weird for someone in Illinois probably, but I've always loved it.  My mom used to make the Jiffy cornbread mix from the little blue and white box when I was a kid.  Now I like to play around with different flavor combinations.  Here is one inspired by the abundance of thyme growing in my garden.

Lemon Thyme Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
3/4 powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/4 buttermilk
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
zest of one lemon
7 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl combine eggs, buttermilk, honey, thyme and lemon zest.  Pour liquid ingredients into dry and mix just enough to combine.  Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter and add to the batter.

Pour into greased pan.  I like to use a springform pan because it looks pretty, but you could also use a square baking dish or cast iron skillet.

Bake 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  While cornbread is still hot brush the top with the remaining tablespoon of butter.

Gettin' My Drink On

It's almost summer and time to kick back with a refreshing summer cocktail.  Here are two recipes I've been playing around with using herbs from the garden.

Orange Mint Mojito

This recipe uses the orange mint that I've been growing, but regular mint would work too if that's all you have.


5-6 fresh orange mint leaves
1/2 lime, cut into wedges
1/4 orange, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons white sugar
ice cubes
2 ounces white rum
club soda


Place mint, lime wedges, orange wedges and sugar in a glass and muddle until the the citrus juices are released and the sugar is dissolved.  Don't rush this step or your finished drink won't be as good.  Fill the glass with ice.  Pour rum over the ice and top with soda.  You can do anywhere from just a splash of soda to a 1/2 cup depending on how strong you like it.  I tend to like a little more soda, but I'm also a bit of a lightweight.

Madagascar Sunrise

This drink gets its name from the combo of vanilla vodka and citrus.  It doesn't taste strongly of any of its individual ingredients.  It is just sweet, light and fruity.  Some of my favorite adjectives!

1 1/2 ounces vanilla vodka

1/2 ounce orange liqueur

2 ounces lemon juice

1/2 to 1 ounce lavender simple syrup, to taste (recipe follows)

In a shaker, combine all ingredients with ice and shake until well combined.  Strain into a glass and garnish with a lemon twist or small sprig of lavender.

Lavender Simple Syrup

1 cup white sugar

1 cup water

3 tablespoons dried or fresh lavender buds (Note: You can use either fresh or dried lavender.  It will be less strong with fresh)

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until all sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add the lavender.  Let lavender steep in the sugar mixture until cool, then strain to remove the buds.  Store in the refrigerator for about a month.

Syrup can also be used to sweeten tea or lemonade.  It doesn't taste overly strongly of lavender to don't worry about overpowering your drinks.  It just adds a nice floral element to the background of whatever you are making.

Sweet Feet

Lt. Dan Taylor: Two standing orders in this platoon. One, take good care of your feet. Two, try not to do anything stupid, like getting yourself killed.
~Forrest Gump

It's almost Memorial Day which most people consider to be the official start of summer.  This means it is also sandals weather for us girls.  I've always been one of those people who is kind of weirded out by feet so I try to keep mine looking cute.  I've started making this easy foot soak.  Its a great way to keep my feet refreshed and pedicure ready and also a great way to use up some of the giant mint plant in my parent's garden.  Mint is naturally soothing and deodorizing so its great for tired summer feet.

All you need is some epsom salt and plenty of mint.  I used orange mint in this picture because it was what I had handy, but you can use any kind.

Fresh Mint Foot Soak

1 gallon warm water
1/2 cup epsom salt
As many sprigs of mint as you want.  At least five, but really you can't have too many.  I leave the leaves on the stems because it makes it easier to fish them out when I'm done.

Crostini with Microgreens

When one of my plants dies, I die a little inside, too. 
~Linda Solegato

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I might have overplanted my lettuce a bit.  This is definitely true because now it looks like this.

It’s like a tiny delicious jungle.  I knew I had to start thinning out the lettuce plants if I wanted to give any of them a chance to actually grow to full size.  I hate thinning though because it feels like such a waste.  And I always get this weird paranoia that somehow I’m jinxing the rest of the garden if I start just throwing away perfectly healthy plants.  Clearly I’m terrible at sacrificing a few individuals for the greater good.  This is one of many, many reasons why I’m not president or a general or cult leader or something.

Luckily, inspiration struck me after reading The Beekman 1802 website and seeing the lovely spring salad the guys made using a whole bunch of untraditional and foraged ingredients (like forsythia flowers and pea shoots).  I decided to use the seedlings that I was removing to top a simple crostini.  They are perfectly edible so not only was I able to add something fresh from the garden to my meal, I was able to thin the lettuce ‘crop’ at the same time.  Being a garden wimp does occasionally pay off.

Crostini with herbed cheese spread and microgreens (this recipe also uses chives and dill from the garden!)

For the cheese spread:

8oz. Neufchatel or cream cheese softened

About a cup ricotta cheese

1-2 tablespoons finely chopped chives (my chives are still pretty young so I used more.  If your chives are really strong you can use less)

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill

1 clove garlic

1 tsp grated lemon zest

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and let sit in the fridge for at least half an hour before using

To assemble the crostini:

Slice a baguette into half inch slices and toast.  I brushed mine with olive oil and toasted them on the grill, but the oven works just as well.  Spread each piece of toasted bread with some of the cheese mixture and top with a few of the washed greens.

With the combo of chives, lemon and fresh greens this tastes like Spring on a plate to me.  Any leftovers can be used as a dip for veggies.

Earth Day

There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew. 

~Marshall McLuhan Communications theorist, educator, philosopher

Happy Earth Day!

As a garden blogger, I can’t let Earth Day pass unacknowledged.  It’s become very trendy in the past few years to be ‘green’ but I don’t think enough people really think about what it means to them personally.  The fact is everything we do on this planet affects it in some way.  If we decide to only buy organic, then we might spend more gas driving to the Whole Foods than if we just stayed closer to home and bought regular produce.  If we use only cloth diapers to keep disposables out of landfills, then we are using more water to keep then clean.  So I think the best thing we can do is make a difference in small ways that are meaningful to us and not get too caught up in doing things perfectly. 

For me, it’s about not being wasteful.  So in the spirit of not wasting things I’m sharing my ‘recipe’ for slow cooker stock.  This is a great way to use up those odds and ends of vegetables and meats.  It’s not so much  a recipe as a method so feel free to substitute what you have.


Slow Cooker Stock

• Start by adding 5-6 cups of water to a slow cooker
• Then add any odds and ends from vegetables, any leftover herbs, shrimp shells, chicken bones, Thanksgiving turkey carcass… basically whatever you have.  I keep a bag in my freezer and when I’m finished chopping vegetables or herbs and just have the ends of carrots or onions or whatever left I toss them in the bag.  When the bag is full, I make stock.
• Add salt if you like.  This is totally optional.
• Cook on low for about 6-8 hours.  Strain into quart jars (makes about 2 quarts) and use within a few days or freeze.

Attack of the Killer Mint

I think you should send us the biggest transport plane you have, and take this thing to the Arctic or somewhere and drop it where it will never thaw.
~The Blob, 1958 version

While this is the first year I am gardening on my balcony (mostly because this is the first year I’ve had a balcony), I am not entirely new to the whole garden experience.  I’ve shared a medium sized garden with my parents at their house for the past few years.  My favorite area is the herb garden.  In the past few years I have tried (unsuccessfully) to grow mint in a container.  I envisioned an endless supply of mojitos to enjoy all summer.  However, we have never had luck growing mint (or really any herbs) in containers so last year we made the bold and potentially foolhardy decision to grow the mint directly in the ground.  If you have never grown mint before you might not know that it is extremely invasive.  Invasive being a nice way of saying that it will take over the entire garden if you turn your back for 5 minutes.  Fortunately we were able to keep it mostly in check last summer.

However, last weekend I went to look at the planters because my mom told me quite casually that “the mint came back this year” and I noticed that we had a situation happening.

Mint explosion!

More mint...Yikes!

I had no idea that it would not only survive the winter, but would have taken over so much by the middle of April.  So needless to say, even after pulling a lot of the more scraggly looking runners out, I had quite a lot of mint to use up.

Since I think my liver would have an issue with me drinking enough mojitos to use all this mint, I decided to make ice cream.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (Adapted from Martha Stewart’s recipe for Fresh Spearmint Ice Cream)

Ingredients

   1 cup packed fresh mint (next time I’ll add more mint as it wasn't quite minty enough for me)

   1 cup whole milk

   2 cups heavy cream

   2 large eggs

   3/4 cup sugar

   Pinch salt

   About a cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

   1.     Prepare an ice-water bath. Cook mint in a small saucepan of boiling water until bright green, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer mint to ice-water bath. When cool, drain, and squeeze out excess water.

   2.     Puree mint and milk in a blender until mint is finely chopped. Transfer to a medium saucepan, add cream, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

   3.     Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and sugar in a medium bowl.

   4.     Gradually whisk 1/3 of the cream mixture into the egg mixture, then pour egg-cream mixture into the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture. Add salt.  Set over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 8 minutes. (Do not let the mixture come to a simmer.)

   5.     Strain through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl, pressing on mint to extract liquid. Set bowl in ice-water bath. Let cool completely, stirring occasionally. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Add in chocolate chips in the last 5 minutes of churning time.  Transfer to an airtight container, and freeze until firm.