Death, Taxes, & Dinner

"… in this world there is nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes [and figuring out what to eat for dinner]."

Welcome to My Kitchen

  • All the Green Food: Part 1 – Turmeric-White Pepper Chicken with Asparagus

    The color green could sponsor my cooking this month. Spring is here in full force with longer days, bursting schedules, and a sense of freshness and vibrancy. Our meals are following suit. I find myself craving light, fresh, flavorful food that is quick to prepare.  As I write this, I can’t help but hear the perfect sarcasm of Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep) in The Devil Wears Prada, “[Green]? For Spring? Groundbreaking.”

    Turmeric-Black Pepper Chicken with Asparagus is my first green-themed spring recipe. I was inspired by a photo from the New York Times cooking newsletter and was curious to try it after a quick skim of the recipe. Not only did the flavors seem interesting, but it also had great reviews. Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. However, I normally lack creativity and stick with the tried-and-true – roasting asparagus in the oven with a bit of salt and pepper. Mixing things up was overdue.

    The recipe came together in a blink. I loved the brightness of the yellow turmeric-coated chicken and crisp-tender asparagus. Plus, it made the house smell like a spice market. The recipe called for either canola oil or coconut oil. I opted for coconut oil. I also used rice vinegar rather than soy sauce, mostly to keep the yellow hue from the turmeric brighter. The only real substitution I made was swapping white pepper for the black pepper. The result was a dish with a balanced sweet heat and earthiness. My people enjoyed eating it at least as much as I enjoyed making it, so it is likely to become a regular on our spring table.

    On a side note, I was curious whether my pepper swap had a significant impact on the dish and went down a bit of a rabbit hole. It turns out black and white pepper are from the same plant. The difference comes with the way the peppercorns are processed. Black pepper is dried with the peppercorn’s outer shell intact. White pepper is soaked to remove the peppercorn’s outer skin before it is dried. Black pepper and white pepper can usually be used interchangeably. Black pepper is the backbone of many spice mixes. It can be fruity, earthy, piney and/or hot depending on the variety. White pepper is often preferred in lighter colored dishes and sauces when black flecks would detract from the presentation. It complements spices like ginger and anise. If you do make a substitution with any spices, it is good to start small and taste as you go. It is  possible to add more seasoning, but it is nearly impossible to take it away.

    https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020970-turmeric-black-pepper-chicken-with-asparagus

    https://www.seriouseats.com/black-pepper-vs-white-pepper-when-to-use-11977059

    Turmeric-White Pepper Chicken with Asparagus

  • Some Days We Just Want Cookies

    Sometimes I question why I subscribe to the New York Times Cooking newsletter. They put out so many things that pique my interest. Each day images of food flood my inbox. Often these recipes spark memories from places I’ve lived and visited.  Sometimes they simply inspire me to want to try something completely new. The NYT Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies took me back to when I first learned to bake.

    A few weeks ago, I saw a beautiful photo of a chocolate chip cookie as I skimmed one of the newsletters. It was a week where life is very full and time feels compressed – the kind of week that makes me want to bake something simple to make time slow down for a moment or two. When life feels rushed and scattered, I often find myself baking to pause (or procrastinate). Chocolate chip cookies are one of the first things I learned to bake from scratch on my own. I considered making my standby chocolate chip cookies from memory, but I really wanted to know if a cookie made with brown butter was truly more enchanting.

    The verdict: These are gooey and delicious straight from the oven. I made them about half the size suggested and they took about the full 15 minutes to bake. They were beautiful to look at, and the suggestion to bang the pan on the counter is spot-on. Next time I will level them up with a pinch of flaky salt on top.

    https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024108-brown-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies

  • Texas Hill Country Quinoa Bowl – Re-creating Vacation at Home

    They say everything is bigger in Texas. That seems a bit extreme. Yet waiting in line for nearly two hours for barbecue is also out of sorts. Vacation combined with nostalgia will entice people to go to great lengths for a good meal.

    Our trip to Texas was filled with so many good eats. From barbecue, to delicious Tex-Mex (oh, how I miss good Tex-Mex) and a variety of heavy and fried foods. After several days trying to eat our way through the Lone Star State and a very sluggish-feeling morning run, I craved something green and light.

    On our second-to-last day of vacation we sat down for lunch at a resort restaurant. I was planning to order a basic salad or soup. Then I saw a seasonal quinoa bowl on the menu. The avocado and spiced pepitas had me at first glance. It was just the kind of meal I wanted. It was substantial enough to get me through the afternoon, had lightness to cleanse my palate, and a hint of spiciness to keep it interesting. I enjoyed it so much, I tried to recreate it at home.

    The Hill Country Quinoa Bowl makes a great lunch or light dinner. Serve it alongside grilled shrimp, chicken or beef for a more substantial meal.

    Menu Description: Avocado, Spinach, Roasted Sweet Potato, Mushrooms, Shaved Brussels Sprouts, Pickled Red Onion, Candied Pepitas, Feta, Agave-Chipotle Vinaigrette, Tri-Color Quinoa

    At Home Attempt 1: Forgot spinach and feta. Substituted homemade honey-chipotle Vinaigrette and roasted Brussels sprouts.  

    At Home Attempt 2: Included spinach and feta. Increased the amount of dressing and pepitas.

    Future Attempts: Include all original ingredients on the menu version, more dressing than I think I need and extra pepitas for crunch (like Attempt 2). Used shaved brussels sprouts instead of roasted and chopped.

  • Breakfast for Lunch – or Anytime

    Spring break was a break from cooking this year. Part of our travels brought us to sunny San Diego where we walked many miles, visited the beach at Coronado for a day, and simply took some time to relax and enjoy being outside without a jacket.

    About 5 years ago, we spent a weekend in Coronado and happened upon a colorful little café for lunch. We were hot, tired and grumpy when we arrived. The youngest member of our party was a fairly picky eater and not easy to please. We ordered our lunch at the counter and sat at a table on the patio. The food arrived quickly. I remember the look of delight on her face when her order of almond butter toast arrived. She was expecting something along the lines of a regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This was something far more spectacular – a large piece of sourdough bread covered with a layer of almond butter and fresh berries, garnished with a few fresh mint leaves and edible flowers.

    The Parakeet Cafe is still there, so we stopped for lunch. The almond butter toast was not on the menu. However, there were plenty of other options (and the youngest is now a more adventurous eater). I ordered a yogurt and granola bowl, which was exactly what I craved. The bowl was beautifully presented, light, and fresh. I love to eat “breakfast” foods for any meal, but I am unlikely to grill up a steak for breakfast. The yogurt and granola bowl is the kind of thing I make myself at home, but the Parakeet Café’s is better (and not just because I don’t have to clean up).

  • Broccoli Redeemed!

    Spring announces itself with an alternating slow and sudden greening of the world. Life begins to get lighter and more colorful. Dinner follows suit with dishes like Pizza Cali from the Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow cookbook. Did I ruin pizza with broccoli? Not at all. Broccoli was redeemed via pizza.

    One of my favorite people used to rank broccoli towards the top of the list of “Offensive Green Things.” Two recipes changed that. The first was Broccoli Chevre Soup. The second was Pizza Cali. (Both recipes come from the same cookbook author). Pizza Cali looks like a St. Patrick’s Day parade on a pizza crust. Its stars are basil pesto, broccoli, zucchini and feta cheese. The bright, savory flavors of the sauce and cheese combined with the broccoli roasting as the pizza cooks work together to override the broccoli’s “offensive” bitterness, without sacrificing its crunchiness.

    Sometimes it simply takes a different preparation method to change a food from unpalatable to delicious.

    Round pizza topped with green broccoli.

  • Anti-Resolution Cookies

    Baking was my gateway to cooking. Growing up, my grandmother would bake up a storm before we visited to be sure at least one of our favorites was on her kitchen island when we arrived. She enticed us into the kitchen with treats and encouraged us to stay by not being too particular about holidays belonging in certain seasons. I remember decorating Christmas cookies on the hottest day of June! Like my grandmother, I love making everyone’s favorites. I also like to challenge myself with new recipes. Over the years some of my experiments have turned out beautifully on the first try, and others were completely inedible. (Note: I do not recommend broiling brownies).

    The past few Decembers I tried at least one of the recipes featured in The New York Times “Cookie Week.” This year we made Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies and Mortadella Cookies in December. Life got busy over the holidays, so we finally tried the Popcorn Bucket Cookies in January. I started calling them “Anti-Resolution Cookies” because they contain so many popular items to give up for new year resolutions.

    Anti-Resolution Cookies are ugly, yet delicious. They have a little something for everyone. We used Reese’s Pieces, M&M’s, toffee bits and Albanese gummy bears as our candy mix. I popped fresh popcorn for the outside, but it did not stick to the dough well (next time I will try to make the popcorn a bit drier and break it into smaller pieces). Despite following the advice to put gummy candy on the cookies after they came out of the oven, the bears still melted into blobs. I will experiment with harder bears, cooler cookies, or sticking them on with a bit of melted chocolate. The full recipe made more than I wanted, so I froze some of the dough (minus the popcorn and bears), which baked up nicely.

    https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1027501-popcorn-bucket-cookies

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