Friday, January 30, 2015

Scones, Granola, Cauliflower, Grapefruit wine, Calamari Nicoise, Homemade Feta and good old Avocados.... My week in cooking.

Did a lot of cooking this week- sometimes life's just like that

Found this awesome recipe from Goop's annual detox- which i highly recommend... I did it for a week and felt great at the end.... This is the Cauliflower 'Fried Rice' and it's the jam...

I was eating alone that night- so I had leftovers... and for me, little is better then some black beans and a fried egg... topped with a little salsa.... epic


I had a little time off so i made feta.... Feta keeps a long time, so I make it about twice a year, it's SO good and salty and great on a salad or with crackers... I gave it as xmas gift last year... and it was a big hit. It's important to start with an organic whole goat milk... spend the money here... it's worth it. I haven't used this kind before- I'll let you know how it is...
Next you add the coagulant and let it set- then you spend 36 hours letting it settle and drain all the whey... 
As you can see here the cheese is ugly, I flip and smooth every 12 hours... because when it comes to food: pretty counts
Then you slice them up and salt them... these suckers need to sit out for 2 or 3 days depending on the weather... 

Once they are dry you pop them in brine and jar them. They will mature in about a month and they will last in the fridge for about a year. (although in my fridge they don't last 5 minutes....) 

Made Coconut Granola... so easy- SOOO good... I may never go store bought again!

I love the winter citrus season... So i popped open Kevin West's 'Saving The Season' and decided to give Vin De Pamplemousse a go. Was fun and easy- it won't be ready for a month... thats exciting... I'll report back...

I felt the need to use the slow cooker, and so i grabbed the The French Slow Cooker and made us a little Calamari Nicoise... put it over a little saffron rice... was fairly epic.

Tate was shooting all week, and i felt the need to spoil him for working so hard. His all time favorite is scones, and I had never made them before. I couldn't find recipes that I had all the ingredients for, so i did some thing I never do in baking- I made up the recipes for something I've never made before. Now in a stew or a salad or whatever- who cares- make that shit up, explore ... but with BAKING? I feel like baking is chemistry, science... I feel like you shouldn't fuck with that shit... but you know what? I was feeling frisky... so I went for it: First I made Banana Blueberry scones... I looked over several recipes, to get the basic tenants and then had a go.
They came out perfect... I was feeling terribly pleased. Normally I don't eat what I bake (because my ass grows exponentially, so I have to curb that shit...) but I did eat one of these- a) I needed to make sure I wasn't gonna poison someone, and b) that shit was fuckin good and way worth it!


I'm big fan of making things pretty so i surprised my man when he got home with scones and tulips...

I mean seriously... is there anything prettier then a fucking tulip??

Tate took the scones to work, and I received several texts from his co workers thanking me and asking for more... so fuck it- I made more. This time I did raspberry coconut... I invented this recipe too... too much moisture... I need to tweak these. They tasted great, but they were a little flat. Let me say only they taste better then they look:


And finally- with all the cooking and learning and trying new shit, I thought I'd give a shout out to the simplest MOST delicious thing of all. 

A perfect avocado and Stoned Wheat Thins

In all my years of cooking, few things are this easy, this simple and this good...





Greens, Mushrooms and Fried Eggs with Thai Chili Fish Oil


This is one of those meals that after i make it my husband says.... Can we have that again tomorrow?

Which I of course respond hell yes- because not only is is super delish and healthy, but it's wicked fast and easy to make... I call that a home-run.

I originally found it from my girl Martha

But I've made some revisions (like adding the chili fish sauce and reducing the butter considerably...) i encourage you to try both!

  • For Thai Chili Fish Sauce- this will make extra- it's a killer condiment for many many meals
  • 4 tablespoons  fish sauce  (avail at most asian markets)
  • 4 Cloves garlic- minced
  • Juice from one lime
  • 4 Thai Chili Peppers- thinly sliced

  • For the Sage-Chile Butter 
  • 4 tablespoons salted butter 
  • 1 teaspoon ground sage 
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes 

  • For the Eggs and Greens
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
  • 10 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced 
  • Coarse salt 
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 
  • 6 cups greens (rough chopped) I've used a bunch of different types here, Kale, Chard mustard greens... You can totally cheat and use an entire bag of pre chopped kale or whatever...
  • 4 tablespoons water 
  • 4 large eggs 
  • Grated Parmesan cheese
  • Directions:
  • Make the Thai Chili Fish Sauce:
Mince garlic and slice chili peppers. Combine all ingredients. Jar and keep in fridge.

  • Make the sage-chile butter: 

Melt butter in a large heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium heat. Add sage and red-pepper flakes. Simmer about 2 minutes until butter is melted. Put in bowl and set aside.

  • Make Greens and Eggs:

In same skillet, add oil over high heat.  Cook mushrooms with 1/2 teaspoon salt until golden and tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in garlic, then greens and water. Cover for aprox 30 seconds and stir, until greens wilt. Add 2 tablespoons sage butter, and combine. Push greens to make 4 wells. Crack 1 egg into each. Season with salt. Cook for till egg is to your liking.  Drizzle eggs with sage-chile butter. Drizzle everything with Chili Fish sauce. Garnish with cheese.