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Posts tagged ‘cooking’

Jun 27

Sweet and spicy caramelized pumpkin seeds (for salads, and otherwise)

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve probably noticed I like to use pumpkin seeds quite a bit (like with sunchokes, on free-form salads, with roasted vegetables, in muffins, always in my go-to granola, in chewy granola bars, in cookies). They’re the best substitute I can think of for nuts, which I can’t eat, and in their raw and unsalted form they’re easy to add just about anything for a little extra roughage, protein, and nutty flavor.

Caramelized_pumpkin_seeds

But these are no everyday pumpkin seeds. I mean, sure, you could eat them every day, and they’re by no means difficult to make. But these are are pumpkin seeds gone luxury, coated in a sweet and spicy mixture of brown sugar, butter, and spices and baked until toasted and caramelized. They emerge from the oven crunchy, buttery, sweet, and spicy, and completely addictive. I made this batch to put on a salad for a dinner party at a friend’s house, and together with leaf lettuce, roasted carrots, vinegar-soaked red onion, sugar snap peas, and a mish-mash of herbs from my mother-in-law’s garden they were perfect.  Read more

Jun 23

Smoky, spicy watermelon and prosciutto bites with goat cheese and mint

Watermelon_skewers

One of the weirdest things about this crazy year we’ve had is that my concept of seasons and time is completely off. We spent most of what should have been winter in South America and Southeast Asia, where it was plenty sunny and warm, then most of what should have been late spring/early summer in wet, cold, waterlogged Central Europe (aside from our last few blisteringly hot days in Budapest). We’ve been moving so much that we’ve become a little untethered, and I regularly find myself blanking on what day it is, what month it is, and sometimes even what city or country I’m in at the moment (that last one is a little disarming).

But now we’re back in the United States, and back for good, and I’m finally feeling a little more grounded in time and space. Here in Portland it’s definitely summer, despite a bit of rain. The markets are full of berries and tomatoes, there’s plenty of light late into the evenings, and the stores are full of supplies for picnics and camping and outdoor adventures.

So the recipe I’m sharing here is perfect for summer, wherever you are – quick and easy to do with no heat, great for entertaining or bringing to parties or picnics, and light and refreshing for when things are a bit hot and steamy outside. Read more

Jun 7

3 Comments

Roasted sunchokes with pumpkin seeds, pickled red onion, and shaved Parmesan

Duo_sunchokes

It took me years to take a serious look at a sunchoke (aka Jerusalem artichoke). I’d pass them by at the market, eagerly turning to more comprehensible things. I had no idea what they were, much less how to prepare them, and I wasn’t even sure if they were vegetable or some exotic form of ginger. I mean, look:

Sunchokes_board

Not exactly the sort of vegetable that inspires confidence. That peel. Those knobs. The sheer wall of intimidation, having no idea what one might do with such a thing.

But, boy, was I wrong. Despite their gnarly outer appearance, sunchokes are pretty fantastic. They have a sweet, nutty, almost creamy flavor that retains a hint of crisp even when thoroughly cooked, sort of like a water chestnut, and they’re lovely roasted or pureed or even deep-fried in thin slices like potato chips. There’s no need to deal with the peel, which is thin and edible, and cutting off the knobs is actually kind of fun. Should you find yourself facing a sunchoke, do not shy away! Go on in. Read more

May 31

10 Comments

Classic risotto recipe and caramelized onions (plus mushrooms and bacon)

Risotto_2

So you’ll have to bear with me a little, here. I realize risotto probably isn’t what most of you are thinking about, as you head into the warmer part of the year. Particularly one topped with things like mushrooms, caramelized onions, and crispy bacon. (Delicious as they are.) Vienna seems to be stuck in sort of a 55-and-raining holding pattern, and our compasses are set toward soups and stews and roasted vegetables and home-baked bread and other things that help our little apartment stay warm, instead of turning toward summer. But risotto is one of those things I keep in my back pocket through the entire year, an easy way to pull together something basic but a little extravagant at the first sign of a cool evening.

Risotto itself has a reputation of being particularly finicky or difficult, but I actually find it to be pretty straight-forward. It requires a bit of mostly dedicated time, yes, but it’s mainly a series of adding things to a pan and giving it some basic supervision until it’s done. And once you get comfortable with it, the process requires less and less supervision. What you get back from that bit of work is something comforting, hearty, and lighter and healthier than restaurant versions. I actually spent many years feeling meh about risotto after eating a series of heavy, filmy restaurant versions, and it wasn’t until I started making it myself that I realized what a different sort of creature it is when it comes from a home kitchen. Read more

May 27

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Simple garlic-herb yogurt dressing/sauce

Salad

This is another one of those deceivingly simple recipes that came about from improvisation and immediately wriggled its way into regular circulation. Some of the best ones happen that way, another testament to how important and fun it can be to develop and then rely on those kitchen instincts.

When we arrived in Vienna we had no olive oil or good vinegar in the apartment, but after a week in the Czech Republic I was dying for some salad – something cold, green, and crisp to counteract day after day of stews and dumplings and potatoes. So I combined what we had that seemed right – yogurt, garlic, parsley and thyme, and plenty of salt and pepper. It took two minutes to make, and we ended up cleaning the bowl out with our fingers, wiping up the last streaks and drips and smears. It was tangy and fresh and delicious and I’ve made it half a dozen times since, completely forgetting about oil and vinegar and switching entirely to this. Each time we remark on how it’s possible that something so simple could be so fantastic. Read more

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