I’ve been making homemade chicken stock pretty much since I started cooking. In college, it was just an economical way to stretch a $5 rotiserrie chicken. The problem is, I never graduated from my original technique: take all of the meat off a rotisserie chicken and reserve for another use; toss chicken carcass into giant pot with a halved onion, a carrot or two, and a stalk of celery; fill giant pot with water; simmer for hours; strain and freeze. The result of that method is certainly broth, it’s just not that good. Cloudy, thinly flavored, and a little gray – it’s fine for adding to a stew or sauce but certainly not something I would sip on it’s own.

It wasn’t until I spent six weeks in Asia last winter that I discovered that good stocks and broths aren’t only the backbone of a soup or a sauce, but culinary achievements in and of themselves. Of course, I knew this before going to Asia – I consume enough food literature to know that a good broth should stand on its own, needing no other embellishment to be enjoyed. But I didn’t really internalize how good a broth could be until I’d experienced the dumpling soups in Hong Kong, which consisted of broth, dumplings, maybe a few noodles, and that was it. No veggies floating around in these soups, or creams to thicken them, or salty slices of kielbasa. Then we moved on to Japan and consumed ramen for basically every other meal. There, broth took on another dimension of deliciousness – although for ramen it’s not so much about clarity and purity as it is about richness and salt.

Since coming home, over a year ago now, I have been pouring my heart and soul into making a perfect homemade chicken stock. I know precisely what I want to achieve: a stock that’s golden, clear, richly flavored, with just enough fat to lightly coat your mouth after a spoonful. I’ve been doing lots of research, and experimenting, and taking detailed notes on each batch.

After a recent batch, which I always seem to be putting away boiling hot at 10pm on Sunday night, Trevor looked and me and said “I can’t believe you make stock every weekend.”

“Not every weekend,” I corrected him. “But often,” he said. “It’s not like you tried it once and said ‘yep, I’ve made stock.’ You’re more like a Russian grandmother: ‘on Sundays I make stock, to feed the family and use up the chickens'”

That’s pretty much the long and the short of it.

Despite Trevor’s teasing, I persevered, and after a year of testing, I think I have it down. I’ve learned a lot of lessons on the way, helped by the notes and trials of more experienced chefs. Serious Eats taught me to cut my vegetables into small pieces instead of throwing them into the pot in chunks. Vietnamese Home Cooking taught me to blanch and rinse the chicken before starting the stock itself and to keep it at a low simmer to prevent cloudiness. I learned through trial and error that a 50/50 mixture of chicken backs and drumsticks or legs makes for the best balance of flavor, body, and affordability.

As far as aromatics, in my opinion, it’s the more the merrier. I always use 5 core vegetables: onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and one hot chile pepper. Beyond that, I’ve experimented with rosemary, parsley stems, shiitake mushroom stems, ginger, lemongrass and leeks. I find that the flavor only gets richer and more interesting the more I add. I always salt the broth at the beginning, which some experts say is a no-no, but I think it makes a big difference in the final flavor. And I use about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken for every quart of stock I want.

How I ever got any flavor out of a skimpy, already roasted, 1 pound chicken carcass without any meat beats me, especially since I was drowning it in a giant stockpot of water. I suppose I’m just glad that now I know better! Do you have any tips for making great homemade chicken stock? Although I’ve come a long way, I’d love to hear them. I’ll keep the recipe below updated as I find new tricks, but a year’s worth of testing went into it so far, so I can vouch that it’s a very solid recipe.

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Perfect Homemade Chicken Stock

Makes 3 quarts of stock.

• 2 lb. chicken backs or carcasses
• 2 lb. chicken drumsticks or legs
• 5 quarts of water
• 2 onions, skins on, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 3 carrots, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 3 stalks of celery, rinsed well, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 dried hot chile
• 6 cloves of garlic, cut in half
• 1 bunch of parsley stems
• Optional additions: handful of clean shiitake mushroom stems, 1 inch peeled and sliced fresh ginger, 2 sprigs rosemary, 2 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 1 TBS sea salt

1. Place the chicken parts in a large stockpot. Add cold water to the pot just to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 2-3 minutes – white foam should float to the top of the pot. Remove from the heat and drain the water out. Rinse the chicken with cold water two to three times, draining after each rinse. The goal is to get as much of the blood and foam out of the pot and off the chicken as you can.
2. After blanching and cleaning the chicken, add the 5 quarts of cold water to the pot with the chicken. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, hot chile, garlic, parsley stems, and sea salt to the pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Keep the stock at a low simmer until it is golden and color and the liquid has reduce by about half. This should take 3-4 hours. If the stock reduces too quickly without turning golden, add another 2 cups of cold water. Keeping the stock at a low simmer instead of a boil will help prevent the stock from getting cloudy.
3. When you think the stock is done, taste it to see if you are happy with the flavor and body. If it is done, let the stock cool for about 20 minutes, before straining it through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl, mason jars, or other storage containers. I like to ladle the stock out of the pot through the strainer as it gives me more control. If you disturb the vegetables too much while ladling or straining the stock, it may become cloudy.
4. Refrigerate or freeze the stock and use as needed for soups and sauces. Use the refrigerated stock within 3 to 4 days.

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When this time of year arrives – that first week when the trees have those few, glorious days of pale greenness, and all of the spring flowers that have been patiently waiting their turn through the cold spring bloom at the same time; when we shed our layers and revel in the feeling of fresh air on our bare legs and everyone lights their grills for their first time in months so that whole neighborhoods smell of smoky charcoal – I feel as though something that I’ve been waiting for, without even realizing how desperately I was waiting, has finally arrived. It feels as though things should change, routines should fly out the window, evenings should be reserved exclusively for long conversations on the porch with old friends and cold beers, and the biggest decision to be made during the day should be whether to spend it at the beach, hiking somewhere densely green, or simply sipping lemonade in the backyard. Of course, for most of us, routines don’t change just because it’s almost summer, as much as years and years of summer vacations may have conditioned us to feel like they should. But we can certainly try to do a little more to embrace the season, and let some of our responsibilities slide, just for a while.

I took yesterday off, partly to get my life organized between trips, and partly just to savor the day. I woke up early to long morning shadows, a cool breeze on my face, cool clean sheets, and the first chirps of birds. Waking up early is such a pleasure when it’s a choice and not a necessity. I spent the day doing a mix of chores and treating myself to small breaks, like a trip to the bookstore to pick up a stack of new paperbacks for the summer and an invigorating workout. I walked everywhere. Something about the day kickstarted my creativity again. By the end of the day I’d jotted 5 or 6 new recipe ideas in my notebook, something I haven’t done in months. It’s a good reminder of how important it is to rest – and that even days with chores and errands can be restful if you approach them with the right mindset. After a winter spent in a melancholy fog and a hectic spring, I need more days like this. Days that open me up to hope and possibility and peace again. Almost summer days.

I wanted to make something to celebrate this time – something light and effervescent, that would capture this fleeting, pale green moment. Perhaps it’s a bit literal, but asparagus souffles – pale green, quickly deflating – are what came to mind. With blanched asparagus, butter-sauteed leeks, and fresh tangy goat cheese pureed into the batter, these souffles are light, savory, and just slightly vegetal. They would be the perfect addition to a brunch or as a light lunch all on their own. Souffles can be intimidating but really, does it matter if they fall? They will still be just as airy and delicious. I promise you no one will complain.

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Asparagus, Leek, and Goat Cheese Souffles

Makes 8-10 souffles. Adapted from Simply Recipes and All Recipes. 

• 1/2 lb. asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 small leek, washed and sliced into half-moons
• 4 TBS butter, divided, plus more for buttering the ramekins
• 3 TBS cake flour (AP flour is a fine substitute)
• 1 1/4 c. whole milk
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 oz. soft goat cheese, crumbled
• 6 egg whites

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Generously butter eight 6-0z. ramekins and set aside on a baking tray.
2. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus pieces and cook for 2-3 minutes, until bright green and just tender. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water two to three times, until asparagus is room temperature. Drain thoroughly and place in a blender.
3. Return the small pot to the stove, over medium-low heat. Melt 1 TBS of the butter in the pot and add the leeks. Saute leeks until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add to the blender with the asparagus.
4. In a large pot, melt the remaining 3 TBS of butter over medium heat. Add the cake flour and stir into the butter, cooking until golden brown and nutty smelling, about 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking to make a smooth batter between additions. Once all the milk is added and the batter is smooth, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cook for 2-3 minutes longer over medium-low heat, then remove from the heat. Pour into the blender with the asparagus. Blend the mixture on high until smooth, then add the egg yolks and blend again. Pour the batter back into the pot (no longer over the heat), and stir the goat cheese into the warm batter until melted. Set batter aside.
5. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold 1/2 of the egg whites into the batter until incorporated. Very lightly fold the second 1/2 of the egg whites into the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins, filling 3/4 of the way to the top. Bake the souffles for 15-20 minutes, until puffed and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

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It’s been ages since I’ve done an Ingredient of the Week series, mostly because it’s been ages since we’ve had any hint of life in our garden. But even though the garden is several weeks behind where it was last year, thanks to the weirdly cold spring we had, it’s finally starting to move out of that frustrating stage where everything’s tiny and you use all your time weeding and waiting, into that lush, productive stage I dream about during the depths of winter.

The first crop to really come into its own this year was the strawberries. We planted 75 little plants last spring, and although it was torture to pick off the blossoms last summer, allowing the plants to establish themselves but forgoing the chance of fruit, we’ve been rewarded several times over for our patience, with pounds of fruit ripening on an almost daily basis this summer. In just a little over a week we’ve already picked over 8 pounds of gorgeous berries, which is a lot for just two people. I’ve done a little canning, a little baking, and a little drink-making, but we still have a lot of berries to work through, so we’re going to do strawberry week – i.e. I’ll be posting new strawberry recipes here every day this week, until you all are completely sick of hearing about them.

Although strawberries are usually recognized for their sweetness, we’re kicking things off with a savory recipe. Strawberry gazpacho is not a new idea, but it is certainly a good one, as the balance of acid and sweetness in fresh strawberries  is actually pretty similar to the balance in a very ripe tomato. I did a little research on strawberry gazpacho recipes, but ultimately decided that none of the recipes out there had quite the mix of flavors I was looking for, so I came up with my own. Fortunately, I was really pleased with how well it turned out. It has a little bit of everything red in it – strawberries, tomatoes, red pepper, red onion and red chilies, plus a bit of cucumber, garlic, and basil (not red, but very necessary). Marinated in olive oil and champagne vinegar, then pureed into a smooth and frothy soup, it’s well-balanced and refreshing.  I topped it with red grapes, for sweetness, a goat cheese cream, for richness, and a handful of toasted pine nuts. I liked it so much I had some for breakfast yesterday – it definitely meets my serving of fresh fruit or veggies at every meal requirement, so that’s an added bonus. It’s also super easy, so I imagine we’ll be blending up several more batches of this before the summer is over.

Past Ingredients of the Week

Rhubarb: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer; Rhubarb Custard Fool; Rhubarb Recipe Round-Up; Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice; Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

English Peas: Smashed Pea, Dill, and Feta Crostini; Green Pea Fritters with Herbed Creme Fraiche; English Pea Recipe Round-Up; Green Pea Rum Cooler; A Salad of Bacon, Peas, and Fennel

Carrots: Savory Carrot, Feta, and Almond Baklava; Carrot Cake Crepe Cake; Carrot, Grapefruit, and Mango Smoothie; Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade

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Strawberry Gazpacho with Grapes and Goat Cheese

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Serves 4-6.

• 3/4 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 2 1/2 c. sliced)
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped (about 3/4 c. chopped)
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (about 2 c. chopped)
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 large heirloom tomato, cored and roughly chopped (about 3/4 lb.)
• 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1-3 tsp red fresno chili, seeded and finely chopped (taste for heat and adjust amount accordingly)
• 1/2 c. packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. champagne vinegar
• 1 TBS sea salt
• 2 oz. goat cheese
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• 1 small bunch grapes
• 2 TBS pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet

1. Combine first 11 ingredients (strawberries through salt) in a large bowl and stir to coat all ingredients with the oil and vinegar. Cover and let marinate at room temperature for three hours. Transfer to a blender and blend on high until smooth and frothy. Serve at room temperature or chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Just before serving, whisk together the goat cheese and heavy cream until smooth. Pour the gazpacho into bowls and top each with a swirl of the goat cheese cream, a handful of grapes, and a few toasted pine nuts. Serve with crusty bread.

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I was planning to post this last night, but for some reason when I got home from my run in the 35° weather, I just didn’t feel like a cold veggie smoothie. I felt a lot more like this pumpkin, black bean, and chorizo soup (delicious, we added half a jar of tomato jam for sweetness and it was perfect). But this morning when I woke up, carrot-grapefruit-mango smoothies were the first order of business.

Some of you who follow me on twitter or instagram may have heard that I recently became the owner of a Vitamix. And a pretty fancy one at that. It was a bonus of sorts from my real job (I love the thing, but I can’t ever see paying $600 for a blender), and perhaps it’s just because it’s new, but I’ve been blending up a storm. Green smoothies (or orange ones as it may be), have become a daily treat, and I love starting my day with them – they’re so immediately energizing, I feel like I should make a video game powering-up noise when I drink them. I know a lot of people who think drinking green smoothies is a completely frou-frou thing to do, but I’ve been trying to convert them one sip at a time. Seriously, green smoothies taste like mangoes or bananas or apples, not spinach. The spinach is just a bonus.

Since I made drinks for both rhubarb week and pea week, I figured it was only logical to whip up a carrot based drink as well. Carrot juice and booze did not strike me as a stellar combination (although I think this could change my mind), so I decided to go the healthy route and turn my stubby little garden carrots into a frothy smoothie. The trick to making a smooth drink from whole, raw carrots is to peel and grate them first – a little time consuming, but worth it for the creamy texture you’ll get (and much cheaper than buying carrot juice!). The Vitamix could probably handle them just cut up into chunks, but I’m still getting the hang of the correct ratios for using it, so I grated them this time around as well. The result was a thick, vibrant, tangy breakfast full of beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber. Drink your vegetables!

Carrot-Grapefruit-Mango Smoothie

Serves 1. Inspired in part by this and the Carrot-Grapefruit Juice in Vegetarian Everyday.

Note: This can be made in any blender, but if you’re using a weaker one, you’ll want to chop up your grapefruit and blend on high. If you’re using a Vitamix, you could probably get away with not grating the carrots, but I like the extra smooth texture that grating them gives.

• 1 c. water
• 2 small carrots, peeled and finely grated
• 1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 c. frozen mango
• 2-3 ice cubes (only if using Vitamix)
• maple syrup or agave to taste (optional)

1. Place ingredients in blender in order listed. Blend on high until thick and smooth. Serve immediately.

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I took today off, not to do anything in particular, but just to have a whole day to myself, to catch up on things, clean, get organized, write, etc. A one day staycation, if you will. I love days like this. It helps that the temperature got up to 50 (50! Spring! I can feel it!) and that after a full week of sneezing I’m finally feeling better.

I wanted to ask – how were everyone’s Valentine’s Days? Mine was just right. Trevor brought me flowers (yellow, my favorite) and chocolate and 9 little airplane bottles of booze with 9 accompanying packets of hot chocolate – boy knows how I like to drink. We had planned on going ice skating, but I got home from work too late. Instead, we meandered downtown just to see if we could find space at a bar for a few drinks. We ended up at Saloon, a very hipster-esque underground bar/restaurant. They were having a singles Swing Dance night, and it was fun to drink our fancy cocktails and nibble on sliders and watch people. It was even more fun to be with my favorite person and just talk and laugh. I feel so lucky to have that.

Sorry, enough schmaltz, back to my staycation. No day at home is complete for me without a little bit (or a lot) of cooking, and today was no different. I made another batch of these grapefruit and ginger thumbprint cookies (note to self, always make extra dough so you can whip up a batch of these in 10 minutes!), I worked on a spring salad feature for an online magazine (which you’ll have to wait to hear more about), I’m in the process of testing out Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil‘s new book, Breakfast for Dinner, and I made this roasted carrot and tahini soup, the perfect healthy and tasty treat for an afternoon lunch at home. I’ve tried a lot of different carrot soups over the past years, and never found one that I liked, until I realized that the trick was in roasting the carrots first. Now, I use this technique with most vegetable puree-type soups that I make. This particular soup was inspired by Smitten Kitchen – I used slightly different amounts and spices, I roasted the carrots instead of boiling them, and I went for a yogurt-tahini sauce instead of a thinner tahini-lemon sauce, but the gist of the two recipes is basically the same. The flavors are lovely and bright, the puree smooth and the crunchy spiced chickpeas addictive. I might just have another bowl for dinner.

Roasted Carrot and Tahini Soup with Chickpeas

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen. Serves 3-4.

• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch slices
• 4 TBS olive oil, divided
• coarse sea salt, to taste
• 1 small onion, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. cooked chickpeas, or canned chickpeas, drained of their liquid
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 6-oz. container plain Greek yogurt
• 4 TBS tahini

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss the carrots with 2 TBS of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast the carrots for 25 minutes, flipping once, after 15 minutes of cooking.
2. About 5 minutes before the carrots are done, heat 1 TBS of the remaining olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, and saute for 3 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add the minced garlic, coriander, and red pepper flakes and saute for 2 minutes longer, until the garlic and spices are fragrant. Add the roasted carrots to the pot along with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add the cooked chickpeas to the same roasting pan you used for the carrots. Add the last 1 TBS of olive oil, to the chickpeas, then sprinkle with the cumin, paprika, and sea salt. Toss to coat evenly, then roast for 15 minutes.
4. Blend the soup in a blender until it is a smooth puree. If it is too thick, add more broth to the blender. Add the lemon juice to the hot soup and pulse a few times to incorporate. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon or salt if necessary.
5. Spoon the soup into bowls. Top each with a large spoonful of yogurt and 1 TBS of tahini, as well as a handful of the roasted chickpeas.

The post A Day Off // Roasted Carrot and Tahini Soup with Chickpeas appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I’ve been waiting for this meal for a long time.  Since February, to be exact, from the moment I put the first seed in the first pot to sit in my bedroom window absorbing the weak winter sun.  And by this meal, I don’t mean this dish exactly – I just mean the first meal where all of the produce (well, except the garlic, we don’t get to plant that until September) could be fresh-picked from the garden, moments before preparing it.  Accomplishing this was just as satisfying (and delicious) as I thought it would be.

The garden has been far more successful than I expected.  Our random assortment of pots with store-bought dirt have turned into a lush array of greenery, and I’m so happy about it.  The highest tendrils of the watermelon are beyond arm’s reach, the cucumbers have climbed all the way up the porch and threaten to overrun the grapes, the tomatoes (started from seed!) are turning red one at a time, and the kale finally battled off the last of the cabbage moths and could provide at least 5 batches of my favorite kale soup.  Even the lemon tree has made a comeback and is covered in new leaves (!) after losing almost all of them this winter.  (This lemon tree seriously toys with my emotions.  After all my painstaking work nursing it back to health from the mealybugs, it rewarded me with over a hundred blossoms – not a single one of which managed to turn into a lemon larger than a quarter before shriveling up and falling off the tree.  No lemons this winter – any citrus experts out there have advice for me?)

This is less a recipe than a suggestion for how to use whatever’s good in your garden now.  The basic process is this: gently cook your vegetables until they’re crisp tender, then toss with pasta, or rice, or leave them by themselves.  Smother the veggies with herbs, heated only for a moment or two just to release their flavor.  Then dress the dish – I went the luxurious route, with cream and cheese, but a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkling of salt would have an equally wonderful effect.  Maybe pour yourself a glass of white wine, and, if it’s a nice night, take your dinner out to the garden and enjoy all the goodness summer has to offer.  It can’t be beat.

I can’t wait to share more garden-inspired recipes soon!  Especially when the watermelons (and the figs, and the grapes) are ready.  Stay tuned.  And enjoy your weekend!

Creamy Spaghetti with Summer Squash and Tomatoes

Serves 4-6

• 1 lb. spaghetti
• 3 TBS butter
• 2 small summer squash, thinly sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 20-30 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 c. packed fresh parsley, thinly sliced
• 1/3 c. packed fresh basil, thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/3 – 1/2 c. packed grated parmesan
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• sea salt
• black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
2. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted.  Add the sliced squash and cook until tender and beginning to turn golden brown, about 7-10 minutes, flipping with a spatula once or twice over this time period.  Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer, until garlic is very fragrant but not browned.  Add cherry tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring.
3. Add the spaghetti to boiling water at about this point.  Cook according to package directions.  In an ideal world, you want the sauce to be ready as the same time as the pasta, but life doesn’t always work out like that.  If your pasta is done first, rinse with cold water or drizzle with olive oil to prevent it from sticking.
4. Lower the heat on the sauce and cook vegetables for 2-3 more minutes, stirring.  Add cream, parsley, and basil to vegetables, and cook, simmering gently, for 2 minutes.  Turn off heat, and stir in lemon juice and parmesan cheese.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary.
5. If your spaghetti is just finishing, add a few TBS of the pasta cooking water to the sauce, then drain the spaghetti and immediately toss with the sauce.  If your spaghetti has been finished for a while, add as much of the spaghetti as will fit to the saucepan and heat over low heat for 2 minutes, tossing spaghetti with sauce.  When spaghetti is just heated, add it all back to the pot to mix thoroughly.  (The goal here is to get the sauce to adhere to the spaghetti and both to be hot when served).
6. Serve hot with additional grated parmesan.

The post Garden: Spaghetti with Summer Squash and Tomatoes appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

So here I am in Maine.  On vacation.  My first ever real-person vacation, to be exact.  It’s been really nice, with just the right amount of activity, and just the right amount of rest… and there’s still four whole days left.  Tomorrow my 3 best girlfriends from Duke begin to arrive, and things will be a little busier, but in a good way.  I’m envisioning margaritas, long tanning sessions, catching up on love lives and gossip, and some wholesome Maine activities for good measure.  So far though, other than Trevor’s too-short visit, things have been quiet, rejuvenating.  Just me and the fam.

I’ve gotten up to a little bit of everything while here.  I learned to wakeboard, which is a major accomplishment, given my track record with sports where you’re dragged behind a boat.  I also ran 8 miles down the most beautiful stretch of road I’ve seen in ages, another major accomplishment – the last time I ran anything more than 5 was in October.  It feels really good to know that I’m capable of running that far.  It helped that I took my camera along to take pictures of the butterflies and wild turkeys.  I also giggled through 21 Jump Street with Trevor.  I ate bowlfuls of the sweetest, creamiest mangoes I’ve ever tasted that our Indian friends brought during their visit.  I had piping hot popovers slathered with salty butter and strawberry jam at Jordan Pond House, after a gorgeous 7 mile hike in Acadia.  (You know, it just feels great to have moved that far before noon!)  I picked blueberries even though they’re not quite ready, because I couldn’t wait until next time.  I sat on the sandy beach of a deserted island and read my book and ate a turkey sandwich, then watched a curious seal check out our boat.

I’ve also devoted a fair amount of time to checking out some cookbooks that have been gathering dust on my bookshelf, updating my recipe lists and plans, and of course, cooking.  I’ve made Bailey’s ice cream sandwiches that were a total pain in the ass, but worked out in the end, a bubbly stone-fruit crisp, arugula salads with hearty chunks of avocado, Mexican stuffed sweet potato skins, and a handful of other recipes I’ve been wanting to try.  Tonight, after a long day on the water, dinner was a simple bowl of cold, sesame noodles with crisp veggies and honey-roasted peanuts.  They were super yummy, and just the kind of simple, cooling, flavorful dinner that’s perfect for a hot, summery day.  I served them with this warm cucumber and coconut dish, which was also quite good.  Enjoy this for now, and I should be back soon with more shots of Maine, and maybe even some ice cream sandwiches.

Cold Sesame Noodles

A hodge-podge of these three recipes (one, two, three).  Serves 4-6 as a main.

• 1 lb. soba noodles
• 2 TBS vegetable oil
• 3 TBS minced garlic
• 3 TBS minced ginger
• 4 TBS sesame oil
• 3 TBS soy sauce
• 3 TBS rice vinegar
• 3 TBS sugar
• 3 TBS peanut butter
• 1 1/2 TBS sriracha sauce or other hot sauce (taste as you go!)
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 5-8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 5 scallions, trimmed and sliced thinly
• 1/2 c. chopped cilantro
• 1/4 c. sesame seeds
• honey-roasted peanuts, for garnish (about 2-3 TBS per serving)

1. Cook soba noodles according to package directions.  Drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, and set aside.
2. In a small frying pan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and ginger and saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant and garlic is just beginning to brown.  Remove from heat and add to a medium bowl.  Add sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, peanut butter, and sriracha to bowl with garlic and ginger and whisk vigorously to combine.  Sauce should be smooth.  Taste for flavor and heat and adjust ingredients to your taste as necessary.
3. Pour sauce over cooked noodles and stir to combine.  Stir in cucumber, carrot, scallion, cilantro, and sesame seeds.  Serve chilled.  Garnish with peanuts.

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Before leaving for Miami I thought that going a full week without access to a kitchen was going to be horrible.  That I would come back dying for something freshly prepared with my own two hands.  That I would feel gross and weighed down by too-hearty breakfasts and unhealthy dinners.  For most people, a week of fully-paid-for restaurant food would be a cause for celebration, not concern, but I was seriously worried.  Turns out I was being a little bit ridiculous.  The breakfasts are a little bit on the heavy side, but seeing as it’s a buffet, it’s totally within my control.  The buffet lunches actually have a surprising number of fresh and interesting dishes – yesterday they had three separate dishes incorporating three of my favorite foods –  pesto, chickpeas, and avocados – and today spinach ravioli and a chorizo bar.  Last night, we had an incredible dinner at Red Fish Grill – I was really stunned by how much flavor each of the ingredients in my salad had (super sharp and creamy blue cheese, slightly smoky and slightly sweet candied pecans, smoky smoky smoky bacon, and crisp-tart apples) and the key lime pie was perfect.  Literally, perfect.  Plus, having a gym a 60 second walk from my bed and my “office” right downstairs decidedly increases the frequency of my visits to the gym.  So, really, not much to complain about here.

Still, I do sort of miss the act of cooking.  It’s one of my favorite ways of unwinding on weeknights.  Occasionally on weekends when the cooking I’m doing is for the blog and I’m racing against the daylight, it gets stressful, but I still enjoy it.  And it’s certainly nice to have homemade food for lunch every day (well, most days… sometimes it’s nice to just get pizza).  Since starting work, as you might have noticed, I’ve been concentrating a little more on quick and healthy recipes – recipes that I can make before I leave in the morning, and that counteract the serious increase in eating out that I’ve experienced since moving to the city … and having an income.  This recipe is one of my favorites for fulfilling both those purposes – with the added bonus that I find it absolutely delicious.  The idea for this comes from Let’s Dish, but I’ve tailored it to my own tastes – which is sort of what the original recipe encourages you to do, anyways.

This recipe was also the first way that I tried brussel sprouts, about 2 months ago.  Brussel sprouts have never been on my family’s table, because my mom absolutely hates them.  I think it’s because she was forced to eat them in a very unpleasant, boiled soggy, flavorless form as a kid, and swore never to force her own children to eat them.  I’m the complete opposite though, and absolutely love them, enough to have made them several times since first trying them.  I always blanch them in water or broth before caramelizing them with butter, half because I love the flavor the caramelization gives them, and half because that ridged golden brown effect makes them so pretty!  For this dish, I then toss them with hot quinoa, a bit of cream cheese, a sprinkling of parm, and whatever other vegetables happen to be in my kitchen at the time, briefly sauteed with garlic – I’ve included carrots, green beans, asparagus, and onions, but the brussel sprouts are so far the only mandatory vegetable.  I brought this along to Vermont with us, but we didn’t have a microwave in our hotel room, and it’s really best heated up.  Also, cooking the quinoa in chicken broth seriously ups the flavor because it absorbs so much of it – water is OK, but definitely inferior.  If you don’t like brussel sprouts, give the original recipe a try with whatever vegetables you do like, and enjoy a quick, healthy lunch!

Quinoa and Brussel Sprout Primavera

Adapted from Let’s Dish.  Serves 2.

• 1 c. quinoa
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 3 oz. cream cheese
• 3 c. fresh brussel sprouts, washed and halved
• 2 c. other vegetables, cut into small chunks (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 TBS butter
• parmesan cheese, for topping

1. Bring chicken broth to a low boil.  Immediately upon boiling, add halved brussel sprouts and blanch by cooking for 2 minutes, then removing with a slotted spoon and rinsing in cold water.  Add quinoa to boiling chicken broth and turn heat down to medium.  Cook qunioa for around 15 minutes, until it has absorbed all the broth and the “tails” of the quinoa grains have unfurled.
2. While quinoa is cooking, heat half the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the garlic slices and cook for 1 minute, until golden.  Add the brussel sprouts and let cook without disturbing for 2-3 minutes, then flip sprouts so that both sides can brown.  Remove brussel sprouts when they are golden-brown in places, and set aside.  Add remaining butter to pan along with other vegetables, if using.  Cook veggies until they are just a bit more tender than when fresh, about 2-7 minutes depending on the vegetables.  Toss brussel sprouts, vegetables, and quinoa together.  Stir in cream cheese until melted throughout.  Top with parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper, if needed.  Serve hot.

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We’ve reached that point in the semester that’s like the Wednesday of a busy week – fall break already seems like it happened months ago, Thanksgiving is about 30 midterms away, the excitement of being back at school has worn off, and we’re tired.  We need to be re-focused.  We need a detox – a mental, physical, and emotional detox.

My physical rejuvenation is getting a kick-start with my mom’s vegetarian chili.  It’s one of my favorite recipes of all time; long before I was doing my own cooking, or actively consuming vegetables, I frequently requested this for dinner.  It’s really, really good.  Like, it’s so good that I had some for breakfast this morning.  Vegetables?  For breakfast?  Katie?  Yeah, now you know it’s delicious.

I’ve been wanting to share this recipe pretty much since I started this blog, but I’ve been waiting for the right time, and now is definitely the right time.  It’s just starting to get chilly and crisp outside, it’s getting dark earlier, and a bowl of hot, nutritious chili is about as appealing as it gets.  This particular recipe is full of vegetables, beans, and nuts, so it’s super flavorful, energizing, and full of nutrients.  So that after you eat it you can continue your physical detox by ellipticalling infinity miles at the Belmont gym while watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall on TV.  Man I love those new ellipticals.  But seriously, I really can’t describe it adequately – you have to try it.  Served over rice or fresh cornbread and sprinkled with shredded cheddar, it’s perfection.

And you know what?  Making this chili and some corn-thyme biscuits was kind of an emotional detox too.  There’s something very therapeutic about being tired but calm and making something wholesome that takes time and patience.  And I also have this weird thing for cutting butter.  Literally, one of my favorite food memories is of sitting at our kitchen table in Prague, cutting sticks and sticks of frozen butter into little pieces for our Thanksgiving pies.  Maybe that’s beside the point.  The point being, make this chili.

Mom’s Vegetarian Chili

Serves 6

• 1 T olive oil
• 3/4 c. chopped celery
• 3/4 c. chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 oz. beer
• 1/2 c. cashews
• cheddar cheese

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot.  Add celery, onion, and garlic, and saute until softened.
2. Add tomatoes, beans, raisins, vinegar, bay leaf, and spices.  Stir to mix, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Slowly stir in beer (it will bubble) and cashews.  Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.
4. To serve, remove bay leaf, and spoon over rice or cornbread.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

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