blueberries

Browned Butter Fresh Blueberry Muffins

7 Tablespoons salted butter

1/3 cup whipping cream

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½  teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

Topping:

3 Tablespoons cold, chopped

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 ½ tablespoons sugar

dash of cinnamon

Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and allow to cook down until it starts crackling and little brown bits appear (watch and stir attentively during this process). Remove from heat.

Whisk milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.  Add the browned butter and stir to combine.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the blueberries.

Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

To make the topping, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and cut together with a pastry cutter (or two forks). Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then remove from the pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook by Joy the Baker then me. Makes 12 muffins.

fried chicken and honey butter biscuits

My big brother has a great camera.

He also has:

an inborn talent for art

a job

a bat-mobile (okay, a Camaro)

and Vibram Five Fingers shoes.

When he came over for dinner Saturday night, I asked him to bring at least the camera (to photograph our fried chicken, of course). Nice break from the iPhone photo shoots, I’d say. Thanks bro.

Fried Chicken

For brine: buttermilk, bayleaf, salt, peppercorns, garlic, honey, thyme

For coating: flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, paprika

To fry: peanut oil

I loosely followed Thomas Keller's recipe (but used my own recipe for the brine) which can be found at http://passthesushi.com/kiss-the-cook-for-thomas-kellers-ad-hoc-fried-chicken

Honey Butter Biscuits

2 cups of flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons salted butter, cubed

2/3 cup of buttermilk

Honey

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, sift in flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Mix in 2/3 cup of buttermilk and combine well with a large wooden spoon.

Place dough on floured service, roll out and cut into circles with a biscuit cutter (or the lid of something).

Cook for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and promptly brush with more butter then honey over the tops. Serve immediately and with honey to pour over or dip!

Pappardelle with Beef Ragu

By the end of this week, husBen was feeling overwhelmed (for some legitimate reasons) and I was at a loss as to how to comfort him. My love language towards others is food (oh, is that not one of the five?*) and Ben unfortunately does not seem so famished when he is down. Standing on the outside of anxiety, one can usually see the validity behind the idea that worrying is truly futile…but under the mind-warping pressure of worry’s real powers, this truth is hard to grasp. I recently came across the phrase “Que sera, sera” (okay, Kanye used it in a lyric on his new album with Jay Z, Watch the Throne) and I must admit, I plan to fully adopt this mantra. We can only try as hard as we can in life, then the rest (illness, unfairness, pure madness) is out of our control. What will be, will be (translation of “que sera, sera”) and sometimes we need to acknowledge with humility that our worries are not going to be any significant agent of change on their own. Prayer seems to work in these moments, as an effective action when no other path seems possible, especially when we cannot single-handedly fix all the problems that burden us (or a spouse). This phrase does not mean to suggest a fatalist mindset, but rather a position of comfort in the larger Hands I believe we are all in.

* The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (good book to read before you get married)

Homemade Pappardelle and Braised Beef Ragu

I had some boys over for beef ragu. There is just something wholesome about a roast that starts its journey in your oven 7 hours before it hits the table, paired with homemade pasta (and with so few ingredients!). Wouldn’t it be nice if we could always recognize (heck, even pronounce) all of the ingredients in a meal?

Braised Beef Ragu:

1 pound of homemade Pappardelle (recipe below)

1 ½ pounds of beef roast (I used eye of round)

1 can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes

8 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup of red wine

1 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

6 fresh basil leaves, julienned

parmesan cheese for serving

Sauce: Place the beef in a large Dutch oven (Le Creuset worked great) and pour over the crushed tomatoes, San Marzanos (hand crush them), garlic, wine, salt and sugar. Place in your oven at 250 degrees for 7 hours. This really perfumes your whole house. In the best way.

Remove from the oven and let it slightly cool. Shred the beef with two forks (keep it in the juice, it should be super tender and shred-able).

Place the pot on the stove and simmer the sauce until the desired thickness is desired. Keep it covered and on low until you are ready to serve.

Cook the fresh pasta in a large pot of salted, boiling water for just 1-2 minutes... the pasta will float when it is ready. Remove it from the water with tongs and place it immediately into the beef ragu. Toss to coat and add parmesan cheese and fresh basil just before serving.

(feeds 4 with leftover ragu)

Homemade Pappardelle Pasta:

1 ½ cups flour

2 eggs + 1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon olive oil

Start with a KitchenAid mixer fitted with the dough hook. Dump in the flour, then top with the eggs. Put the mixer on medium and add in the olive oil. Allow a ball to form and “knead” in your mixer on low power for 7 minutes. Wrap dough baby in plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.

When it is finished kneading, turn the dough out onto a floured board and kneed it by hand a couple of times.

Next roll dough out with a rolling pin (takes some muscle) or put it through a pasta rolling machine (if you own that?) to 1/8^th an inch thickness. Cut it into 1 inch wide pieces with a sharp knife.

Bring about 4-5 quarts of salted water (throw in about 2 teaspoons of salt) to boil. Cook pasta for 2-5 minutes. This is quick! It should float to the surface when ready.

Transfer from water directly to beef ragu sauce (use tongs). Serve up into deep plates and top with grated Parmesan and basil.

Ice Cream Pie

I went through this phase of my life where I liked to wear overalls. Shorts overalls. Everyday. I had to wear my uniform to school of course (private school, cerca 4^th grade) but as soon as I came home, that plaid and polo came off and the overalls went on. I fear I was a bit of a tomboy too, so my chili bowl hair do and tough girl attitude really complimented this fashion choice well.

I recall a few times that my mother actually bribed me out of these overalls and into something a little more appropriate to my sex…say, anything besides grimy blue jean overalls… by promising me a girls’ lunch at our favorite spot in Fredricksburg- The Peach Tree. I still vividly remember how clean it felt in there, how many done-up woman (as done up as you can be in the quaint little German town of Fredricksburg) would sit lunching around us as we chatted about some mother-daughter type things. And I most specifically remember The Peach Tree’s ice cream pie, which my mother would always let me order. As daintily as I would try to eat this pie (with manners appropriate to this tea party-esque setting), the crust always seemed to resist my refugee like strength. You will quickly learn that this dessert demands to be eaten slowly, not only so that you can fully appreciate its flavor, but also because you must approach it with a strong and patient fork (and all the poise you can muster).

Now that I can make it myself, I do not even have to give up my preferred attire for the chance to eat it (just for the record though, I did graduate from that phase of my life and no longer have any desire to wear denim shorts overalls). I am still fairly certain, however, that this pie tastes better when shared with your mom or if you are a mom, with your daughter.

Thank you, Mom, I truly appreciate that time and pie with you.

Ice Cream Pie

(from The Peach Tree cookbook)

7 tablespoons melted butter

¼ cup brown sugar

2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 cups corn flakes

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, optional

1 ½ quarts ice cream (vanilla or coffee flavor)

1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar, unsweetened chocolate, and chocolate chips over low heat. Stir constantly until thoroughly mixed and sugar is dissolved.

2. In a large bowl, place corn flakes and nuts. Pour warm chocolate mixture over the corn flakes, gently stirring until flakes are THOUROUGHLY coated.

3. Spray 9” pie plate with vegetable coating. Gently press coated flakes evenly into pie plate. Place in freezer until firm.

4. Fill frozen chocolate pie shell with slightly softened ice cream. Freeze until firm. Top with fudge sauce and candied pecans.

Candied Pecans

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon bourbon

2 tablespoons honey

dash of salt

dash of cinnamon

1 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt first 6 ingredients together in the microwave (and whisk to make sure all are combined well). Pour in pecans and stir to coat. Spread coated pecans evenly on parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

mushrooms + fontina + truffle oil

To whom it may concern:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom*, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James 1:2-5

*wisdom: enables one to face trials with pure joy (absurd, but gifted perspective)

The recipe below boasts a popular combination. My favorite place to nosh on this particular pizza is Benjy’s in the Village, surrounded by chatty girlfriends (and during Happy Hour, it is only $6!!). Now that school has begun its slow and steady consumption of my free time, however, I decided this pizza would be most enjoyed in-house. It was looking so tasty through the oven window that I rather hastily pulled it out and it slid right off my pizza stone, face down onto the open oven door. We still ate it, of course. I hope this doesn’t happen to you (or with any regularity at Benjy’s). Enjoy.

Mushroom and Fontina Pizza with White Truffle Oil

½ recipe of pizza dough

1 tablespoon white truffle oil to brush the dough

1 cup fontina cheese, grated

2 cups porcini mushrooms, sliced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons white wine

pinch of truffle salt

Heat about 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat. Saute the mushrooms and shallot in about 2 tablespoons white wine and a pinch of salt for about 8-10 minutes (until they loose some of their moisture). Follow directions for dough (detailed in earlier blog post) then brush with truffle oil, top with mushrooms/shallots, and finally sprinkle with cheese. Briefly bake on your pizza stone for about 5-8 minutes or until crust looks crispy and cheese is bubbling. Oh so carefully remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Sprinkle with truffle salt and slice to serve.

roasted vegetable flatbread

Store bought Naan

Olive oil

Pesto

Roasted vegetables (like red bell pepper, red onion, garlic, and eggplant)

Feta

Chunks of roasted chicken

Preheat oven to 400º F. Lightly spray (or rub) naan with olive oil. Spread naan with pesto. Then top with roasted vegetables (your choice of type, roughly chopped, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted in your oven also at 400º F for 30 minutes), feta, and chicken. Bake flatbread in oven for 5 minutes. Eat warm!

brain food

Big week up in our little corner of the fourplex. Ben started his on campus interviews for his job next summer…which could lead to his real life job when he graduates. I have been trying to be the supportive wife in this scenario, which means feeding him well and keeping my nervousness for him to myself. Below is some brain food, or my version of moral support!

maple mustard salmon

For the glaze:

1/3 cup maple syrup

3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard (or use Dijon for more of a bite)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

Pinch of kosher salt and pinch of freshly ground black pepper

For the fish:

4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, skin on

olive oil, for oiling the grill and the fish

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill to medium high

Place all of the glaze ingredients in a medium oven-safe frying pan and whisk until combined. Heat until slightly boiling on your stovetop then set aside.

Pat the salmon dry with paper towels. Brush both sides of the fillets with vegetable oil and season both sides generously with salt and pepper.

Rub the grill grates (or grill pan on your stovetop) with a towel dipped in oil. Place the salmon on the grill (or grill pan) skin-side down, cover the grill, and cook undisturbed until grill marks appear and the skin is starting to crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes (mine took about 4 on the grill pan). Using a flat spatula, carefully flip the fillets over and brush the skin with some of the glaze. Cover the grill and continue to cook until the salmon is just opaque in the center, about 2 to 4 minutes more (mine took about 4 more). Flip once more, brush with glaze (on fleshy side this time), then quickly transfer to a serving plate and serve immediately.

just plain good for you Quinoa

2 cups cooked quinoa

2 broccoli crowns

olive oil, salt, and pepper (for roasting)

¼ cup crumbled feta

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon olive oil

6 basil leaves, finely sliced (julienned)

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Prepare broccoli by tossing with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasting at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (stir/flip around once halfway through). Combine cooked quinoa, roasted broccoli, lemon juice, zest, 1 teaspoon olive oil, feta, basil and pine nuts in a bowl and toss gently to combine. Serve at room temperature.

fig and goat cheese crostini

Slice up some crusty bread.

Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.

Top with sliced fresh figs.

Bake for about 10 minutes on 400 degrees.

Remove toasts from oven and drizzle with honey. Turn broiler on high and stick toasts back in for about 5 more minutes (watch them so they do not burn!).

Eat warm!

prosciutto wrapped ogen melons

As second year medical students, we plan and execute a retreat for the incoming class. Our beloved professors (that we can now appreciate more genuinely since we passed their class) give opening speeches to really rev up the new students for their first year…or rather emotionally prepare them for the tidal wave ahead. As I was sitting there listening to these speeches, my heart was heavy with an intense gratitude, and a single thought replayed in my head: thank God I am not a first-year! I do believe that was the hardest year of my life thus far and I am wonderfully and fearfully grateful that it is over. Time passed so quickly since last year when I was sitting at retreat listening to those same professors give those same speeches. Without the nervous angst clouding my brain this time around, I was actually able to hear the words the professors were saying. Here are a few ideas they touched on to ready the mind for yet another year of this whirlwind.

Humility: the notion of who you serve. As a Christian, I serve a big God. One that I both expect and fear will use me. I recognize my minute role in His overall intentions with this world, but I do hope to play that minute role well. Medical school humbled me a few times last year (and I expect this humbling will continue) but the humility I now think of hinges more upon the idea of one’s stature in comparison to another. My posture before God, the highest and grandest, is naturally one of humility. I can adopt no other status besides his lowly servant. But I covet no other status more proudly.

Mojo: that which is best in you that shows on the outside. Busy lives often mask the best inside of us due to the tough resolve our daily tasks demand. Last year, I more often than not silenced my inner desires to spend a little time with a friend or do something special for Ben. I am embarrassed to say that my once-servant-like-heart was buried under books until it hurt a little. These little decisions not to volunteer my precious time became a habit of self-focus. Yes, medical school often requires this sequestering of self in order for effective studying, but I still need to make more of an effort to love on others more frequently and intentionally. Most people we run into on a daily basis only see our exterior: our body language and tone of voice, how we interact with others, etc. I suppose the goal would be to cultivate a sound and happy inner self to a degree that it overflows to our exterior, with the result that our “mojo” is something positive to anyone we encounter.

The Ogen melon is an Isreali variety (kind of like honeydew or cantaloupe). I met a little man at the Farmer’s Market selling these beauties. His warm eyes and genuine smile showed me how truly exited he was about his produce! After he told me all about the sweet taste and heirloom seeds (in his Rhodesian accent), I just had to buy one. Wrapping melon in prosciutto balances salty and sweet and makes for a super easy appetizer.

Zucchini Bread

Yields a little over 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

3 eggs


1 cup vegetable oil


1 can crushed pineapple

1 ½ cups sugar


3 cups grated zucchini


2 teaspoons vanilla extract


1 ½ cups all-purpose flour


1 ½ cups bread flour

3 teaspoons cinnamon


1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda


1/2 teaspoon baking powder


1 teaspoon salt


1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup dried dates, chopped in food processor

Streusel topping:

1 stick of butter

½ cup sugar

½ all purpose flour

pinch of salt

1 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans or line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Prepare streusel topping by cutting together chilled butter, flour, sugar, and salt with a pastry cutter (or a knife and fork). Mix in walnuts.

Beat eggs in the bowl of your mixer. Add in oil and sugar, then zucchini, pineapple, and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nuts, and dates.

Stir this dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix just until combined. Divide batter amongst baking pans (loaves or muffins) and sprinkle with streusel topping. Bake loaves for 60 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. You only need to bake the muffins for about 20 to 25 minutes.

granola bars

Mothers are a special breed. Our relationship to them is so tied up with our very existence that we probably just assume we know each other equally well. Truthfully, they do know nearly everything about us, as they have followed us (sometimes more closely than others) throughout our entire lives. Conversely, we probably know about 42% of what we possibly could about them. We sometimes forget to ask for stories about their life preceding the time we invaded it, about their time growing up, about their newly wed years, about their dreams when they were young. We really could stand some exposure to the experiences and relationships that affected their role as Mom now. These conversations could be pretty enlightening. Especially if they are our mother-IN-LAWs and not even our own birth mother.

Ben’s parents visited us in Houston this past weekend. Since the boys went to play golf on Saturday, I got some quality alone time with Mrs. Patti. We went to the Farmers Market (great one at 3000 Richmond!), did some baking, hit up an antique store (The Guild on Dunlavy, also great!), lunched at Tiny Boxwoods and explored their nursery, stopped in Anthropologie, and finally cruised through the Central Market. This time was laced with intermittent conversation about family, how Mrs. Patti grew up, what her parents and grandparents were like, and more (the lot of which I had not previously known). I once again found myself grateful for having married such a good mother-in-law (as you really do get the whole family package with that husband you choose).

Below is the recipe for the granola bars we made together. I hope you get some interesting conversation going while you bake them too!

Granola Bars

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats


1/3 cup almond flour

½ teaspoon salt


¼ teaspoon cinnamon


2 to 3 cups nuts and dried fruit (I did chocolate chips, walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts)


1/3 cup smooth peanut butter 


1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


1 tablespoon water


1/2 cup honey or corn syrup (or mix of the two)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, oat flour, salt, cinnamon, and dried fruit/nut mix. Add the peanut butter, vanilla extract, water, and honey. Stir with a spatula until the entire mixture is well combined.

Spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray and line with parchment in one direction. The parchment should extend over the sides of the pan to help you lift the bars out of the pan once they have cooled.

Pour the granola bar mix into the pan using the spatula to get all the crumbs. Now use your muscle to press the mixture firmly into the pan to ensure that it will really bind together while cooking.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges have browned. Allow the bars to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes then slowly remove the bars using the parchment paper overhang as handles. Let them cool on a rack for about 30 more minutes and then place them in the refrigerator for at least an hour or so. When you are ready to cut, remove bars from fridge and set on a cutting board. Use a serrated knife and go slow to avoid crumbling! Keep bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Adapted from http://www.thecitysisters.com/cooking/granola-bars.

cured salmon

1 pound fresh salmon sockeye, deboned, skin on

1/3 kosher salt

1/4 light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup fresh dill, minced

zest of 1 large lemon, then wedges for serving

1/4 cup vodka

If your piece of salmon has bones, use kitchen tweezers to remove them. In a bowl mix together, salt, sugars, dill and lemon zest. Put the salmon in a big Ziploc bag, and coat it well with the salt/sugar mixture (really press it on to the fish, forming a crust around it). Gently pour the vodka all over the top. Squeeze as much air as you possibly can out of the bag and seal it shut. Lay bag in the fridge for 24 hours. After that time is up, redistribute the salt mixture and try again to coat it all over the salmon. Again squeeze any air out of the bag and let the salmon sit in the fridge for 24 more hours. Finally, two days into this project you are ready to eat! Remove salmon from bag and rinse with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Slice salmon very, very thinly and serve with bagel chips, cream cheese, capers, red onions, and lemon wedges. I just arranged all these components on a big wooden cutting board in front of Ben…tapas style dinner!

Adapted from Chez Us blog