keep this in your back pocket

my kitchen has gotten a workout this past week.

saturday: roasted a chicken
sunday: made banana cinnamon pancakes
monday: made chicken stock & pasta with peas, olive oil and parmesean cheese
tuesday: sauteed zucchini and summer squash
wednesday: made pappardelle pasta with sausage in a tomato sauce
thursday: made chicken salad using some of the chicken i roasted

i haven't cooked this much in months. it feels really good.

dinner wednesday night was totally made on the fly. i got home from the gym around 7:30pm and just wanted to watch the cubs game. but inspiration hit me, thanks to julia della croce. every now and then i hear her voice ringing in my ears, talking about how to use tomatoes or some other ingredient. last night i remembered her talking about how it's okay to use tomato paste and how using canned whole tomatoes can add a nice chunkiness to any tomato sauce.

so following her advice i came up with this dish. it's relatively easy and can be adapted to other meats, vegetables and pastas. it's a good recipe to have in your back pocket when it's a wednesday night and you don't feel like putting together anything too difficult. this is exactly what i needed. 

pappardelle pasta with sausage in a tomato sauce

2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (i actually forgot i had garlic and used garlic powder instead)
2 links of mild italian sausage
1 can of whole tomatoes (14.5 ounces)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
a couple pinches of salt and pepper
8 ounces pappardelle egg noodles (or any type of pasta)

place pot of cold water over high heat and bring to a boil. add a large pinch of salt to water. once water is at a rolling boil, add pasta. cook until al dente, 8-10 minutes. depending on the pasta you are using, it may reach al dente in about 5 minutes or 10 minutes.

while water is coming to a boil, place large skillet over medium heat. add the olive oil and chopped garlic. remove the sausage from its casing. once the garlic starts to become fragrant (2 minutes or so) add the sausage to the skillet. brown the sausage and break it up using a spatula or wooden spoon (or cut up the sausage before placing it in the skillet.) while it is browning, open the can of whole tomatoes. chop tomatoes to desired size (can be a rough chop or a dice, depending on how chunky you want your sauce). feel free to get rid of the water from the can. the tomatoes themselves should give a good amount of juice to the sauce.

drain sausage once browned. add chopped tomatoes to the skillet with the sausage. add tomato paste. if the ingredients in the skillet are too thick and not combining properly, add some water from your pasta. reduce heat. add salt and pepper and allow sauce to come together by letting it sit for 3 -5 minutes or so.

once your pasta is al dente, add directly to the skillet with the sausage, tomatoes, etc. gently toss to coat all of the pasta.

yield: 3-4 servings

the stock market

the market may be down but my stock is up! my first venture into the stock market and i come out a winner. you just have to listen to your advisers, follow the rules, trust your gut and all will be well in the end.

which stock did i invest in?

chicken.

okay, okay, so i'm joking. but in all seriousness, i had a breakthrough monday night. i made chicken stock for the first time ever. i'm quite proud. i've roasted many a chicken and have always discarded the carcass without thinking twice. well no more. my days of buying chicken stock from the store are over.

i would like to thank my personal adviser, mark bittman, for his coaching. i would definitely recommend him to anyone who is going to consider any kind of investing. 

investing in the kitchen, that is.

basic chicken stock
adapted from how to cook everything by mark bittman

there are many, many stock recipes out there but this is the one i had on hand. ingredients may vary, cooking time may vary, subtle flavors may vary, but i feel like any recipe will get the job done, really. also, when picking out fresh herbs at the grocery store make sure you come home with what you mean to get. i went to the grocery for the sole purpose of picking up some parsley but managed to come home with cilantro. i still have no idea what happened..

i used the leftover bones and carcass from the 5 pound chicken i roasted saturday night. it is important to have some meat on the bones in order to get a meaty flavor. makes sense.

3 to 4 pounds chicken parts and/or bones
1 cup roughly chopped onion
1 cup roughly chopped carrot
1/2 cup roughly chopped celery
1/2 tablespoon of dried parsley or 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley (see parsley note above)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt, plus more if necessary
about 4 quarts water (16 cups)

combine all ingredients in a large stockpot. bring just about to a boil, then partially cover and adjust the heat so the mixture send up a few bubbles at a time. cook until the meat falls from the bones and the bones separate from one another, at least 2 hours. (i let mine go for 3 hours.)

strain, pressing on the vegetables and meat to extract as much juice as possible. taste and add salt if necessary. (my method was to use tongs and pick out the large parts and set them in a colander in the sink. i then used a fine mesh strainer over another stock pot to strain all the little pieces.)

refrigerate, then skim any hardened fat from the surface. refrigerate for 4 to 5 days (longer if you boil it every third day, which will keep it from spoiling), or freeze.

yield: 3 quarts

bread with a side of soup

it's august. although the temp outside has cooled to a welcoming 80 degrees, my non-air conditioned apartment is still considerably toasty. so then why did i have hot soup for dinner? i blame anthony bourdain..

earlier this summer i read kitchen confidential and absolutely loved it. i've been a fan of tony for years but had never read any of his books. he's so crass, so honest. i love it. if you're interested in the goings-on in the kitchen world (and you don't mind profanity), then you should read his first book. it just reaffirmed my belief that chefs are total badasses.

"a day in the life" was by far my favorite chapter. i so wish i was one of those hard-core individuals who could survive the kitchen culture tony describes in his book. i wish i was that badass. to be honest, i'd probably end up in the corner of the walk-in, curled up in a ball, eating my own hair.

back to soup..

last week i started reading his tony's book a cook's tour (borrowed from my lovely local library). on the train home from work tonight i was reading about tony's visit back to the small french town where his aunt and uncle lived, where he and his brother spent their summers growing up. over and over again he referenced the thick, crusty, rustic bread they enjoyed as children. oh man, it sounded so good; i had to get me some. all i could focus on once i stepped off the train was getting my hands on some crusty bread. and we all know that soup is a wonderful counterpart to crusty bread. or wait, is crusty bread a wonderful counterpart to soup? you're supposed to focus on the soup, right? well i like to focus on the bread.

the bread may have been from the bakery at jewel and the soup may have been from a can, but it was still a nice dinner. even if it's technically still hot outside.

on another tony note, have you seen the elBulli episode of no reservations yet?? it's amazing. during their meal i found myself slowly leaning closer and closer to the television, enthralled by the food ferran adria has dreamed up. he's a character. thank goodness for creative people.

oh, and seeing jose andres together with tony was hilarious. you have to read their one-liners. go do it.

basil? no really, basil?..

when i first saw that basil was an ingredient in these cookies, i balked. why would anyone put basil in a shortbread cookie? that's crazypants. but then i thought more about it and i became intrigued. so this past saturday i made sure i came home from the green city farmers market with a bunch of basil.

i can't even tell you how hot it is in my apartment right now. my apartment which does not have air conditioning. we're in the middle of the standard chicago style july heat wave. we are hot. we are sticky. but we want cookies. the last thing you want to do in this weather is turn on the oven but what did i do sunday afternoon? i turned it up to 375 and made these cookies.

worth iiiiit.

these cookies have a great shortbread texture: firm, dense, not too crumbly. and the lemon-lime combination makes for a subtle zing when you bite into them. the hint of basil is a treat too, bringing these cookies from a standard shortbread to something special.

they're even better a day or two after you make them because the basil has time to make its presence known a bit more. just try them.

lemon-lime basil shortbread cookies
adapted from bon appetit magazine, july 2011

these cookies are so easy to make, all you need is a food processor. you dump all of the ingredients in and hit the pulse button a few times and bam! you gots you some cookie dough. they don't make cookies any easier than that, my friends.

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons sliced fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
     plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
sanding sugar (optional)

preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. place flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, butter, basil, both zests, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. pulse until large, moist clumps form. measure level tablespoonfuls of dough; roll between your palms to form balls. place on a large baking sheet, spacing 2" apart. (or place them around haphazardly as i know you really do. or at least that's how my mom does it.)

press cookies into 2" rounds. (i just used my fingers, but the original recipe says to coat the bottom of a measuring cup with powdered sugar and press down the balls of dough but that was too complicated for me. your fingers will work just as fine.) sprinkle tops of cookies with sanding sugar, if using.

bake until edges are brown, about 20 minutes. transfer to wire rack; let cool.

yield: the original recipe says about 16 but i only managed to get 12 out of one batch. plus i ate three while they were cooling, so my yield was considerably lower.

go with the oats

the beaches may be open and the wrigleyville streets filled with rowdy cubs fans, but it doesn't officially feel like summer until i have the smell of sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb making its way through my apartment. crumbles are wonderful because they're typically easy to put together and difficult to mess up. at least that has been my experience.

every time i make one of these i have to resist the urge to eat the whole thing. luckily i have friends who come a runnin' when the mere possibility of my making a crumble is mentioned. those are good friends to have.

this is my all-time favorite summer crumble recipe, so take care of her. she is a recipe to be cherished and made over and over again until there are no more stalks of rhubarb to be found at the farmers market.

and yes, i do have a favorite fall crumble recipe, in case you were wondering. just wait until november rolls around. i will be happy to introduce the two of you.

the best part of this crumble is the topping. the oats add a lovely density that i find other non-oat recipes lack. i recently tried a different recipe without oats, because i could not for the life of me remember where the following recipe was hiding, and i was greatly disappointed with the outcome. thankfully i remembered to look through my old bon app magazines and this recipe and i were happily reunited. 

so trust me, go with the oats. 

strawberry and rhubarb crumble
adapted from bon appetit magazine, may 2010. original recipe by tamasin day-lewis (daniel day-lewis' sister. seriously.)

the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of husked hazelnuts (toasted and coarsely chopped) instead of a full cup of oats. the first time i made this crumble i wasn't in the mood for nuts so i left them out and haven't felt like putting them back in. so if you want more crunch, by all means use the 1/2 cup of chopped nuts. i use an extra 1/2 cup of oats instead.

3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar (one for the topping and one for the filling)
large pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup old-fashioned oats (or 1/2 cup of oats + 1/2 cup of chopped nuts)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or 1/2 vanilla bean as the original recipe suggests. however, i know not all of us have vanilla beans at the ready.)
1 pound strawberries, hulled, halved (about 4 cups)
12 ounces rhubarb, ends trimmed, stalks cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
vanilla ice cream (most important)

combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. add butter. rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in clumps. mix in oats and nuts (if using). cover and chill. topping can be made 1 day ahead, if ya want.

preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. butter 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl. add vanilla extract (or vanilla bean seeds); whisk to blend well. add strawberries and rhubarb to sugar in bowl. toss to coat well. scrape fruit filling into prepared baking dish. sprinkle oat topping evenly over filling.

bake crumble until filling bubbles thickly and topping is crisp, about 45 minutes. let cool 15 minutes. spoon warm crumble into bowls. serve with ice cream. (highly recommended)

yield: about 8 servings (or less depending on how hungry you and your friends might be)

doughnut attempt no. 3 = SUCCESS!!

FINALLY! i have conquered the line that has kept me away from the sweet fried dough that is the product of the beautiful, hard working people behind the doughnut vault. no longer will i be thwarted by the hoards of people eager to get their own circular piece of heaven. i have finally stepped inside the vault and emerged victorious.

since we're friends, i'm willing to share the secrets to my success. listen up.

secret #1: get up early.
seriously, i don't have to be at work until 9am but my butt was getting off the brown line stop at the merchandise mart at 7:30am to make sure i got a good spot in line. in fact i was so early that there wasn't a line yet. ha, imagine that. but i didn't want to be that weird, eager-beaver girl (even though i secretly am), so i walked around the block a few times and eventually found myself 5th in line. "oh yes, this was happening," i thought to myself.

secret #2: bring something to keep you busy.
the doughnut vault doesn't open until 8:30am so plan on bringing a book, ipod, podcast, or just your friendly face because you will more than likely chat with the other people in line. typical conversations begin with: "so are they as good as they say?" "is this your first time?" "which one is your favorite?" prepare to bond with strangers over your shared love of doughnuts.

secret #3: don't be pushy or impatient when the doors finally open at 8:30am.
once you get inside, you'll understand why the line is moving so slowly. each customer is treated as an individual person, not a number or dollar sign. "first time here? welcome! let's chat for a bit. not sure which flavors to get? i can help you.." it's annoying when you're in line and it may make you anxious, but once it's your turn you'll be grateful for julie's phenomenal customer service. she's great. also, she's the only one behind the counter.

secret #4: be prepared to tap into your inner thug.
one thing i was not expecting as i passed through the worn blue door was to hear the beats and rhymes of the wu-tang clan. loudly. very loudly, actually. snoop dog is also known to make an appearance. so is house of pain. and outkast. the presence of hip-hop and rap makes me love this place even more.

secret #5: remember to bring cash.

the vault is cash only, folks. so be prepared. you don't want to wait in line for an hour, only to find out that you can't pay for the glistening mounds of fried dough sitting just out of reach behind the old fashioned cash register. how tragic would that be??

secret #6: try not to gorge yourself while you're enjoying your hard-fought doughnuts.

i know, it's difficult, but these doughnuts are ginormous. like, seriously big. like, the-size-of-your-hand-if-you-were-trying-to-palm-a-basketball kind of big. 

pace yourself! 

i walked away with one of each: buttermilk old fashioned, chestnut glazed, vanilla glazed, chocolate glazed and a gingerbread stack. my favorite by far is the buttermilk old fashioned. i'm pretty sure i could eat one every day for the rest of my life and not get sick of them. 

please promise me you'll brave the line and get these doughnuts. please, i beg you. and when you do get them, save a bite for me.

doughnut attempt no. 2 = failure

once again i have tried and failed. this time i waited in line for 40 minutes, only to walk away empty handed.

this was the line when i left. probably 50? 60 people deep? this is the longest i've seen it but i know that on the weekends the line can be 100 deep. yikes.

have no fear because i will press on! soon doughnut vault, soon..

saturday morning

seriously, is there anything better than fried eggs for breakfast? am i right?? except it might be better if i also had some fried potatoes. anything fried, really. but at least i had my alterra coffee. i swear this stuff is magical.

i have absolutely nothing to do today. nothing. whenever this happens, i try to come up with some brilliant way to spend my time. i should bust out my water colors! i should organize my closet! i should clean up the kitchen! i should catch up on all those podcasts i haven't listened to! i should finish those three books i'm reading!

and then when the day finally comes to a close, i find that i spent the majority of my day watching tv. what a waste.

so today, the tv is off! ok, so it was on earlier, but it's off now. time to find some trouble/inspiration i can get into.

doughnut attempt no. 1 = failure

we chicagoans take our doughnuts very seriously. i'm not talking about dunkin donuts here. i'm talking about good, old fashioned, hand-crafted doughnuts. there aren't many bakeries in the city that make good doughnuts, so we get excited when a new doughnut place opens up.

the doughnut vault opened on wednesday. hurray! leading up to the opening and the two days since it's been open, i have heard only wonderful things. i've been dying to go. since it's one block from my work, i figured i would leave a tad early this morning to pick up some doughnuts for a nice friday treat. apparently, i wasn't the only one with this brilliant idea.

this was the line at 8:30am. i have to be at work by 9am and i honestly thought i gave myself enough time. i just wanted three doughnuts. i would be in and out and on my way. it seemed like everyone else in front of my was walking away with boxes and boxes of doughnuts. no wonder this line was taking so long! i then started to worry that they might sell out. i've read that they've been making 350 or 400 each morning and that's it.

by 8:55am i was still 6 people away from the blue door. i waited three more minutes and then gave up, ran to work in a huff and sat at my desk pouting for a good five minutes. but then i got my coffee and i felt better.

but hey! i made the doughnut vault's tumblr page! that's me with the maroon umbrella standing under the gilt bar canopy.

and then that's me on the far left, giving up and leaving.

i had a laugh during my 30 minute, rainy wait in line. a car drove past with its windows down and the driver yelled, "it's only doughnuuuts!" he's right, but we really want these doughnuts!

this isn't over, doughtnut vault. someday i will be able to enjoy your fried dough. someday..

so. much. butter.

this morning i spent some quality time with the Word of God, a cup of coffee and marion cunningham.

i've been in a cooking funk lately. i haven't felt like making anything. it doesn't help that i haven't had a great deal of free time or that my pantry is rather sad looking. i try to muster up some creativity but it doesn't stick. i just give up and instead have three slices of banana bread for dinner. hey! i forgot i made banana bread recently! that must count for something?

i recently bought marion cunningham's the breakfast book. molly at orangette has been posting recipes from this book since the beginning of the year. i came across marion's name again in january while i was reading judith jones' book the tenth muse. judith takes several pages to describe her time with marion: from teaching cooking classes with james beard, to working on cookbooks together. i love that marion had this desire to follow her heart, even if it meant beginning her culinary pursuits at the age of 49. i soon realized i need to get my hands on any cookbook by this woman.

i've had the breakfast book for a while now but i haven't given any of her recipes a try. part of my problem is that i'm cooking for one here. i would love to whip up some pancakes or muffins but then i will be eating pancakes and muffins for the next week. this morning i was flipping through her book trying to find something, anything i could make that could be pared down to feed little ol' me with the minimal ingredients i have in my pantry. i decided on a frittata with cheese and crumbs. it seemed simple and i had most of the ingredients. so i gave it a go.

one thing to note about this recipe, it is buttery! like, wowza. for a while i wasn't sure why my eggs weren't cooking because they still looked runny. then i realized it wasn't the egg yolks that were runny, it was the butter!. i ended up draining some butter before sliding my frittata onto a plate. please don't tell my mother about the amount of butter in this frittata because she might kill me. or be jealous of me. either or.

the best part is the toasted bread crumbs on top. bread crumbs which were toasted in even more butter. (i told you there was a lot of butter.) i used my homemade bread crumbs and they gave the perfect amount of crunch to each bite.

usually when i make frittatas i cook them for too long and the eggs turn out rubbery. this frittata was light and fluffy and the eggs were just the slightest bit wiggly. (wiggly being the technical term.)

frittata with cheese and crumbs
adapted from the breakfast book by marion cunningham

the following is how i made the frittata today, by halfing the original recipe. the original recipe serves five so by halfing it this should serve two and a half. however, i ate the whole thing..

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 cup coarse bread crumbs
4 eggs, gently beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (i probably could have used more cheese)

preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. use a 10 inch ovenproof skillet.melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet over medium heat. stir in the bread crumbs and cook, stirring often, until they have absorbed the butter and are golden. remove from heat and set the crumbs aside. clean the skillet. (i'm not exactly sure why you need a clean skillet for the eggs, but i decided to do as marion says.) in the clean skillet melt the remaining butter (2 tablespoons) over low heat. sprinkle half the (very buttery) crumbs over the bottom of the skillet. (i swear, so much butter.)

pour the eggs on top, add salt and pepper sparingly. cook without stirring for a minute or two, until the bottom has just begun to set. tilt the skillet to make sure. do not let eggs overcook. put the skillet in the oven and bake for just 2 minutes. sprinkle the cheese and the remaining 1/2 cup bread crumbs evenly over the top. bake 1 or 2 more minutes and remove from the oven. loosen the edges and slide the frittata onto a large serving plate. cut into wedges to serve.

or just grab a fork and have at it. i will say, it is wise to have milk on hand for this frittata. all that butter and the bread crumbs call out for it.

things that make me happy: milwaukee

the more i visit milwaukee, the more i like it. granted, i've only been there twice; both times in the spring and both times i've only been downtown and closer to the lake. regardless, my affection is growing.

last wednesday, i drove up for the day. i had a couple presentations for work and my free time was limited, so i tried to make the most of it. i had to stop by and visit the calatrava designed art museum. and alterra was definitely a must. i actually went to two different cafes, the cafe in the 5th ward and the repurposed river flushing station by the lake. 

i spent some time driving around the 3rd ward trying to find a cafe or restaurant for a late lunch. (normally when i travel i'm prepared with a list of food places but this time i decided to wing it.) luckily, i found the coquette cafe. later on i found out that my friend allie has been there before and it has her approval. lovely! i enjoyed a quick, delicious, solo lunch and had the place to myself. seriously, nooo one else was there. (well, it was 2:00pm after all.) before i left i stopped by the milwaukee cupcake company which is right next door to the cafe. 

the weather couldn't have been more perfect and spring-like. it was wonderful. 

milwaukee, you're pretty great. i can't wait to visit again.

p.s. sorry for the link overload. sometimes i over do it.