Thai Style Green Curry Pork

We love Thai food.  Seriously.  We have a giant Thai cookbook on our kitchen counter.  And we have galagal, kafir lime leaf, and ginger in our freezer along with fish sauce in our fridge and powdered lemongrass and fermented shrimp paste in our pantry.  Spring rolls are a staple in our diet.  Peanut sauce has morphed into a Thai peanut salad dressing in our house.And while we go out for Thai on occasion it's usually take-out and it's usually because we're lazy. 

So, since we also usually have a can of coconut milk in the pantry as well, little green curry paste was all that we needed to do up some Thai style Green Curry Pork with Quinoa.  Most of these things can be found at a large grocery store with a good Asian/Ethnic isle.  Fresh galangal may not be available to you but fresh ginger root can be substituted.  It won't taste quite the same as galangal has that floral aspect that ginger just doesn't posses.  Same goes for kafir lime leaf.  Lime zest can be subbed but it isn't quite as sweet or perfumed as kafir lime leaf.  We're fortunate enough to live in an area with a decent southeast Asian community and a Co-op that carries a lot of Central and Southeast Asian ingredients so I stock up on the good stuff when it's available.

So this curry sauce is classic Thai flavor and you can serve this with any steamed grain you like.  We went with quinoa because it's what we had in the cupboard.  Same goes for veggies.  Onions, carrots, pumpkin, and bell peppers are all traditional Southeast Asian curry ingredients but use what you have or what you like.  We tossed in some cauliflower and zucchini because we had it in the veggie drawer. Also, we didn't do much heat in this.  This is very mild as curries go so zip it up if you like.  Slice up a jalapeño or serrano and toss it in.

So, Guttermouth goes with Thai food, right?  And this was blasting in the car around the time I made this dish.  Love me some old, raw, hardcore Guttermouth.  Never got to see em live, though.

Thai Style Green Curry Pork
Time:  
Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup onion, sliced thinly
• 1 tbsp galangal root, grated (ginger root can be subbed if you can't find galagal)
• 2 tbsp green curry paste (in the Asian food isle of the grocery store)
• 1 Kafir lime leaf (1 tbsp of lime zest can be subbed if you can't find Kafir lime leaf)
• 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped into 1" pieces
• 1 cup zucchini, chopped into 1" pieces
• 2 cups cauliflower, chopped into 1" pieces
• 1 cup carrots, chopped into 1/2" rounds
• 1 cup acorn squash, chopped into 1/2 pieces
• 1 lb pork shoulder chopped into 1" cubes
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 14 oz can coconut milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 3 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
• basil and/or cilantro chiffonade for garnish

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Toss cauliflower, carrot, and squash in 2 tbsp of the canola oil (set the remaining 2 tbsp aside for later), salt and pepper.  Spread evenly on a foil lined baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and the onion and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often.   

When onion is translucent and fragrant, stir in the galangal, the kaffir lime leaf, and the green curry paste.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often until the aromas are strong and a paste is formed.

Stir in the red bell pepper, zucchini, and meat and stir to coat with the onions and spice paste.

Add the water, coconut milk, brown sugar, fish sauce, and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until the meat is cooked through. 

Stir in the roasted veggies, lime juice, and taste for any final salt and pepper that may be needed.

Serve with rice, quinoa, or your preferred steamed grain and garnish with basil and/or cilantro.

Zuppa Bianca (Italian White Soup)

From what I've read, traditionally a zuppa bianca is creamy from the white beans in it, often part of them being blended to thicken the soup.  I didn't want to use that many beans in mine, so I thought I'd try my own spin on the soup and it came out fantastic!
I started with homemade stock that Justin had made the day before.

I'll remind you again - SAVE ALL YOUR VEGGIE ENDS AND BONES!  Every time we cut off broccoli stems, carrot ends, onion ends, herb stems, and leftover bones we throw them into a Ziplock bag and stick 'em in the freezer.  Sooner or later you've got a full bag and you can put it all in a stock pot, add water, and make your own stock!  It's so easy, you're using every bit of the vegetable, and it's worth it to make homemade stock!

I also wanted to add anchovy, pepper, fennel and mushrooms to my zuppa bianca... also not traditional as far as I can tell, but man, they were a killer, tasty addition!  Served it up with some crusty bread and that was all you needed!  It might have been good with a little fresh Parmesan grated onto it, but we didn't have any.

This recipe makes a huge batch... you could probably half the recipe and it'd be fine, but being that I made it in a huge batch, that's the quantities I'm throwing at you.  I say make a huge batch and you can freeze the leftovers to pull out later when you don't feel like cooking.  That's what we do.

I love punk rock.  But there's a lot of old music that I really love too - I think I can sing more songs from the 60s than most people who lived through the 60s... though drugs might have something to do with that for a lot of folks.  So when punk bands cover songs from the 60s, it's no surprise that I usually love them.  (I never even stood a chance with the Gimmes.)  So let's listen to the Adolescents covering Eric Burdon and The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun"... the only song I was ever able to play on the organ, but probably can't now.  Plus... how many punk songs can you name with a harmonica solo?  -jen

ZUPPA BIANCA
Time:  about 1 hour
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes: 

• 1 pound ground spicy Italian sausage
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 anchovies packed in oil
• 1 cup diced celery (about 2 large stalks)
• 1 cup diced carrots (about 2 medium
• 1 cup diced fennel bulb (about 1 medium), reserve 1/4 cup of the fronds, chopped
• 1 cup diced green bell pepper (about 1 large)
• 2.5 cups diced onions (about 1 large)
• 3 cups diced crimini mushrooms
• 1.5 tablespoons minced garlic (about 5 medium cloves)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt plus extra
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3 quarts chicken stock
• 2 cups 1/2" cubed potatoes (about 1 large potato), skin on
• 1 can (14oz) white beans, reserve liquid
• 3 cups chopped kale (remember to remove stems)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup chopped basil
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• lemon wedges

In a large stock pot over medium-high heat, brown the Italian sausage.  Remove sausage and set aside.  Leave 2 tablespoons of the sausage fat in the pot, discard the rest.  (That was all I actually got out of my sausage, but some sausage is fattier than others.)  Add olive oil and the anchovies to the sausage fat in the pot and cook 1 minute.  Add celery, carrots, fennel bulb, bell pepper, onions, mushrooms, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, white pepper and 1 teaspoon salt.  Cook, stirring intermittently, until vegetables begin to soften and onions are just turning translucent.  Add white wine and cook another 2-3 minutes.  Add chicken stock, potatoes and the liquid from the beans (don't add the beans yet).  Turn heat to high and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.  Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes (fish one out and test it).  Once potatoes are tender, add cooked sausage, beans, kale, heavy cream, basil, parley and the reserved chopped fennel fronds.  Taste the soup and add salt or pepper if necessary.  Serve each bowl with a wedge of lemon to squeeze onto the soup.

Bruschetta

I had a craving for bruschetta, so we grabbed the ingredients to make it today.  Really... basil, garlic and tomatoes are one of my most favourite flavour combos!  They're so perfect together.  I didn't realize we didn't have a recipe for bruschetta posted!  You don't really need a recipe for bruschetta, you can make it any way you please.  But if you need a base recipe, this is a great one.  It's how I make it!

Fast and easy and a great way to use up tomatoes if you're one of those lucky people with a garden!  Or if you've been gifted with a bagful from a friend that's lucky enough to have a garden.

I don't think we've had any Ten Foot Pole with our recipes.  You might have known them in their previous incarnation of Scared Straight.  We're getting our rock on with their "Final Hours".  -jen

BRUSCHETTA
Time:  15 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  about 12

• 1.5 pounds of tomatoes (about 4)
• 1/2 cup finely diced red onion (about 1/4 onion)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 large cloves)
• 1/4 cup julienned basil
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus extra
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 10 cranks of fresh ground blacked pepper
• dash of balsamic vinegar
• fresh mozzarella sliced thinly
• 1 baguette loaf

Julienned basil

Cut tomatoes into quarters and using your thumb, scoop out the seeds and juice.  (You can save this for a different recipe later or discard.)  Small dice remaining tomato meat.  In a mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar.  Toss and set aside.

Turn your oven onto broil.  Slice baguette on the bias to make large ovals.  Brush both sides with olive oil and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Toast one side under the broiler until golden brown, watching closely (it only takes 1-2 minutes to brown).  Flip and toast the second side until browned and remove.  Top toast with a slice of mozzarella and the tomato salad and serve.

Buttermilk Biscuit Chicken Pot Pies

Crossing biscuits and gravy with chicken pot pies!  Our deconstructed pot pie?  Or our open-faced pot pie?  Whatever it is, it's freaking delicious.

Justin had been wanting to do pot pies recently; the traditional kind with a pie crust.  We even bought a perfect sized ramekin to make a family-size one in.  But... he's been on another Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuit kick and made such a perfect, huge batch.  We'd recently seen some traveling food show where a restaurant was known for their chicken pot pie biscuits and gravy and we both drooled on ourselves a little when we saw it.  We had the biscuits, we had the chicken, we had most of the vegetables... it was on!

I just roasted some seasoned chicken thighs at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes.  I leave the skin on while cooking and it comes out ridiculously crispy, like cracklins or chicharrones.  Then I removed it before pulling the meat off the bone.  I'm not going to lie... I ate 2 of the skins straight up and felt guilt.  Massive, delicious guilt.  I just threw the remaining skins into our freezer bag of broth-makin' scraps, but I kind of wish I'd kept one of the super crispy ones to chop up and sprinkle on top of the plated biscuit pot pies.

The potatoes I cooked real quick while I was chopping up and sauteing the veggies, it doesn't take too long to cook them.  The instructions are below.

This recipe makes a large amount of gravy/pot pie filling.  If it's more than you want, you can always freeze it.  Or just cut the recipe in half.  Or make somebody's day by sharing it with them... that's what we did.  Justin took most of the batch to work to share with his coworkers since it's just the two of us at home.

Going back a little ways with some Stiff Little Fingers doing "Straw Dogs".

BUTTERMILK BISCUIT CHICKEN POT PIES
Time:  about 35 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  about 10 cups (10 servings - large batch!)

• 12 tablespoons butter (1.5 sticks)
• 2 cups carrots, diced 1/2" (about 3 medium)
• 1.5 cup celery, diced 1/2" (about 2 stalks)
• 1.5 cup onion, diced 1/2" (about 1 medium)
• 1.5 cups crimini mushrooms, diced 
• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional for colour)
• 3/4 cup flour
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups potatoes (about 1 medium), diced 1/2" and cooked (see How To below)
• 1 cup peas, frozen
• 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed 1/2" (about 4 thighs or 3 breasts)
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/4 cup packed basil, chopped
• salt to taste
• Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits (see recipe here)

In a large skillet or stock pot (that holds at least 4 quarts), melt butter over medium-high heat.  Add carrots and celery, cook about 5 minutes.  Add onion and mushrooms, cook 3-4 minutes until onions are translucent.  Add sage, black pepper and turmeric, cook 1 minute.  Add flour and stir until incorporated, cook 3-4 minutes.  Pour in chicken broth and whisk until thickened, about 5 minutes.  Turn heat to medium and stir in heavy cream, potatoes, peas, chicken, hot sauce and basil.  Add salt to taste and serve over Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits.

How To Boil Potatoes
Dice potato into 1/2" cubes.  Place potatoes in a large pot.  Add cold water to cover 1" above the potatoes.  Add a generous amount of salt.  Bring to a boil and cook about 6 minutes.  Potatoes should be cooked through but still firm.

Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Hummus

I was feeling like making a hummus lately and Justin had grabbed ingredients to make our Pasta Puttanesca tonight, so I swiped some of his sun dried tomatoes and basil for my hummus.  So good.  

David Bowie died yesterday.  He's all I've been playing today.  I can't bring myself to choose some punk rock tunes for this recipe.  -jen

SUN DRIED TOMATO AND BASIL HUMMUS
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  about 3 cups
Need:  Food Processor

• 1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium clove fresh garlic (2 if you like garlic a lot, which we do)
• 4 whole sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
• 1 medium green onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• juice of 1/2 a medium lemon (about 1.5 tbsp)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine garbanzo beans, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, green onion, salt, lemon, and sesame oil in your food processor.  Process until vegetables are chopped fine.  Add all remaining ingredients except the olive oil and turn processor to a medium.  While processing, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until a smooth dip (most processors have a lid where you can drizzle through the top while it's processing).

Serve with pita or tortilla chips, fresh vegetables, or use as a sandwich spread.

Italian Orzo Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

We do a lot of salads similar to this, but Justin was specifically craving an orzo salad.  We thought we'd use the cherry and yellow tomatoes out of our garden, as well as the poblanos Justin grew.  (Poblano taste real similar to green bell peppers, and I figured most people are more familiar with bell pepper, so I put that in the recipe.)  What I really love about this salad, though, is the Lemon Basil Vinaigrette!  I so love making my own salad dressings.

I know I just used Op Ivy a few recipes ago, but we were listening to them in the car whilst running errands this morning, and so all day I've been singing "Bombshell".  Actually, I've just been singing the "Oh yeah!" backup vocals part.  I'm really good at that part.  -jen

ITALIAN ORZO SALAD
Time: 40 minutes (mostly just chopping veggies)
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  6-7 cups

• 1.5 cups dry orzo pasta
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup cucumber, seeded and diced (about 1 medium)* 
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced (about 1 small pepper)
• 1/2 cup green onion, diced (2-3 medium onions)
• 1/2 cup carrot, shredded (about 1 medium carrot)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup green olives, rough chopped
• 6 oz mozzarella cheese, small cubed
• 1/2 cup Lemon Basil Vinaigrette (see recipe below)

*  To seed a cucumber:  Cut off both ends.  Cut cucumber lengthwise.  Run a small spoon down the length of the seeds, scooping them out. 

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large pot.  Stir in orzo and cook 10 minutes, pasta should be al dente.  Drain in a strainer and transfer to a large bowl.  Set aside to cool slightly.  (Good time to cut veggies and make the Lemon Basil Vinaigrette!)

Add all remaining ingredients to cooled orzo and toss.

LEMON BASIL VINAIGRETTE
Time: less than 5 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  about 1/2 cup

• zest of 1 lemon (about 1/2 tbsp)
• juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, packed
• 1 small green onion
• 1 large garlic clove (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• pinch of red pepper flake

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until combined.

Basil Hollandaise Sauce

Justin and I aren't really breakfast eaters, but sometimes one of us will crave it, and then we'll go out somewhere and over pay for eggs and toast and poor service.  This morning, I really wanted breakfast, and we almost went out for it, but in the end, I was like, "Screw that!  I'll make us some eggs Benedict!"  Topped 'em with Asiago cheese.

I've heard trained chefs scoff at hollandaise made in the blender... but we've done it the traditional way plenty of times, and we both agree that in the blender is just as tasty and super easy.  My Benedicts were definitely not traditional.  I used some pastrami that we had and decided that I wanted to use up the egg whites, so I scrambled them with a few whole eggs and basil (instead of the traditional poached eggs).  So I decided to go with some basil hollandaise too, and it was great!

No idea why I was singing this in the kitchen this morning while making these, but I had a broken record in my head with this lyric, "...it's already better than last time I ruined another girl's life..."  Lagwagon's "Dinner And A Movie".  -jen

BLENDER BASIL HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
Time: 3 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes: about 3/4 cup

• 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons)
• 4 large egg yolks
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons
• 1 small garlic clove (about 1/8 teaspoon)
• dash of Sriracha 
• 3-4 large basil leaves 
• salt and pepper to taste

In a microwave safe container that you can pour easily out of (I use my glass measuring cup because it has a pour spout), melt butter for 30 seconds, then 15 additional seconds at a time as needed, until entirely melted.

In a blender combine egg yolks, lemon zest and juice, garlic and Sriracha.  Roughly tear up basil leaves and add them.  Begin blending on lowest speed.  While blending, slowly drizzle in melted butter then blend for 5 seconds more.  Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.  (If you use salted butter, you may not need to add additional salt.)

Tip:  Wondering what to do with those egg whites?  I add 2 whole eggs to them and scramble it up with some more torn up basil, which makes enough for 2-4 folks (depending on how much you can eat at breakfast, I guess!  It makes enough to top 4 English muffin halves.)

Pastrami and basil scrambled eggs with basil hollandaise sauce on English muffins topped with Asiago cheese.

Pasta Puttanesca

We don't eat a lot of pasta, but lately I've been craving a lighter pasta dish.  Generally, I love marinara and bolognese sauces, but don't really dig putting them on pasta - I'd rather put them over some spaghetti squash.  This time, I felt like pasta, but didn't want one of those heavy sauces, so I did my own version of Puttanesca.  It's mostly traditional, but a little of my own preferences thrown in there.  Came out really delicious.  When I minced together the garlic, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes and olives, it looked like a tapenade of the Gods!  I just wanted to spread it on some garlic toast!  Admittedly, I was spooning some of it onto the tomato halves, sprinkling some basil on top, and munching them that way as I was cutting them in half, heheh.  The dish was really quick and easy to make!

I was reminded the other day that I hadn't used anything from Rancid's new album with one of our recipes.  So here is another Rancid Recipe - the title track, "Honor Is All We Know".  -jen

PASTA PUTTANESCA
Prep Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time: 10-15 mimuntes
Difficulty:  Very easy
Serves:  4-6, depending on serving size

• 6 large garlic cloves
• 6 anchovy filets (I'm inclined to use the whole 2oz can)
  
• 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives (or green, or black, or D-all of the above)
• 12oz dried pasta (your choice: spaghetti, bow tie, rotini)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4-5 large scallions, diced (about 1/2 a cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 
• 3/4 cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 1/4 cup pasta water
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup basil, chopped or julienned
• 4oz Romano cheese, crumbled

Bring large stock pot of salted water to a boil while preparing the following steps.

Mince together garlic, anchovies, and sun dried tomatoes.  Roughtly chop the kalamata olives right into the minced mix.  Set aside.

Add pasta to boiling water, bring back to a boil, and then turn down to a low boil, cooking 6-8 minutes until al dente (still slightly under-cooked.  Pasta will cook more in skillet.)  Drain and reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep skillet.  Saute scallions and red pepper flakes for 1 minute.  Add white wine and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until wine has cooked down by half.  Add grape tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the minced garlic, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes, olives and the rinsed capers.  Cook for 2 more minutes or until sauce is reduced and thickened. 

Add pasta to skillet mixture with 1/4 cup pasta water.  Cook another 1-2 minutes (sauce will mostly absorb into pasta).  Remove from heat and toss with lemon juice and zest, basil, (a dash more of wine, if you like,) and crumbled Romano.  Add salt and pepper to taste (careful with the salt since the olives, capers and cheese will add a lot of salt).  Serve immediately while hot, however, it is quite tasty left over cold, straight out of the fridge.

Tomato Gratin

I'd like to take credit for this awesome dish, but I really feel like I need to give credit where it's due - Ina Garten's Scalloped Tomatoes.  I went through and added what I wanted, subtracted what I didn't want and my methods were a little different.  But I still wouldn't feel right if I didn't give Ina credit, as her recipe is great.  Ours is just better.  (Sorry, Ina!  We love you!) Justin was baking us a loaf of boule the other day, but whether it was due to temperatures or humidity, it just didn't rise as much as he'd hoped, so it came out a little dense.  I'd remembered seeing Ina make her Scalloped Tomatoes recipe and thought our dense bread would be perfect for this... and it was! 

I wondered why this dish was called "scalloped"; it was my understanding that meant a dish was made with a cream sauce.  So I did a little researching on the magic interweb and it seems there are a few different definitions of what "scalloped" means in the culinary world.  While I didn't find a solid answer, I did find this article that summed up the variances nicely.  Still, I didn't know if I really wanted to call this recipe Scalloped Tomatoes - I didn't know if it would really explain what the dish was to someone browsing recipe names.  Now, the same website that broke down "scalloped" has this to say about "au gratin":  "Au Gratin means garnished with crumbs (usually bread) and grated cheese, then baked or grilled (aka broiled.)"  I think this definition fits the bill for my recipe more.  Now, because I don't speak french, I don't know if it's grammatically correct to call the dish a "tomato gratin" or "tomatoes au gratin" and I couldn't find an answer on that.

I'm not sure how we've done all these recipes and not used a Black Flag song yet.  What the hell is going on?!  Rectified now... Black Flag (with a long-haired Rollins) doing "Nervous Breakdown".  -jen

TOMATO GRATIN
Prep/Cook Time:  25 minutes
Bake Time:  35 minutes
Difficulty:  Medium
Serves:  6-8

• 2.5 pounds (10-12) fresh Roma tomatoes, diced (1/2") 
• 2 teaspoons salt
• olive oil
• 2.5 cups cubed artisan bread (1/2")
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup rough-chopped green or kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic (5-6 cloves)
• 1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped or julienned, packed
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a shallow 2-quart baking dish (8"x8") with non-stick cooking spray.

Place diced tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl.  Toss with salt and set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat.  Add the bread cubes and toss in the olive oil to coat.  Let cubes toast into croutons, stirring often, until dark golden-brown and crispy, 5-8 minutes.  Add drained tomatoes, sugar, black pepper, olives, onion and garlic.  Cook an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in basil.

Transfer mixture into prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle Parmesan over the top, and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the Parmesan.  Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes.  Serve hot.

Bloody Mary Dill Pickles and Sour Herb Dill Pickles

We've posted a couple of pickle recipes on here already: Refrigerated Dill Pickles and  Refrigerated Rye Pickles.  When we were at the farmer's market, we grabbed a bunch of pickling cucumbers and I decided to take our base recipe and twist it into a Bloody Mary pickle recipe.  Man... these pickles... awesome!  A little spicy, but not super hot.  Lots of flavour.  We had so many cucumbers that Justin decided to do his own twist on our base recipe and his sour pickles came out delicious.  He added nasturtium leaves because he did some research and found that nasturtium leaves can help keep the pickles crispy longer.  We have a big plant right off our front porch. 

So here are two more refrigerated dill pickle recipes that are quick and easy.  I don't know who this band is, but I stumbled on them because I saw their name pop up on some search and I had to check it out.  Like... Tom Waits' rockabilly brother.  The Hillbilly Moon Explosion doing "My Love Forevermore".  -jen

JEN'S BLOODY MARY DILL PICKLES
Time:  less than 10 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes: 1 quart

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic 
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons dried dill
• 2 teaspoons dried chives
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon pickling spice
• 1/2 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon whole celery seeds
•  3-6 pickling cucumbers (depending on size) or 1 large English cucumber
• 1/4 teaspoon horseradish
• 3 teaspoons Demitri's Bloody Mary Seasoning (or your favourite)
• 1 shot (3oz) vodka
• 3/4 cup V-8 (or tomato juice)
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar

In a quart-sized jar,  combine garlic and all of the dry ingredients and shake jar to mix well.  Arrange cucumbers in jar.  (For pickling cucumbers, put in whole, halved or quartered.  For English cucumber, cut into long spears.)  Add horseradish and remaining liquid ingredients.  Fill to the top with water.  Refrigerate for 3-5 days. 

JUSTIN'S SOUR HERB DILL PICKLES
Time:  Less than 10 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes: 1 quart

Nasturtium

• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh nasturtium leaves, chopped (optional)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon dried dill
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon pickling spice
• 1/2 teaspoon whole yellow mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf, whole
• 3-6 pickling cucumbers (depending on size) or 1 large English cucumber 
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup white vinegar

In a quart-sized jar,  combine basil, garlic and all of the dry ingredients and shake jar to mix well.  Arrange cucumbers in jar.  (For pickling cucumbers, put in whole, halved or quartered.  For English cucumber, cut into long spears.)  Add vinegars.  Fill to the top with water.  Refrigerate for 3-5 days.

Parmesan & Basil Zucchini

Served with Mushroom & Onion Smothered Chicken

People always tell us that they don't have time, money, patience or know-how to cook a good, healthy dinner at night.  We call bullshit on that!  We're broke people who stick to a weekly budget and we cook simple, healthy meals several times a week after both of us working a full day (usually with enough leftover to eat a healthy lunch the next day, saving even more money).  A lot of the recipes we post on here are our "splurges" away from our regular, simple roasted protein/veggie dinners.  I was about to make one of those simple dinners tonight, but then I thought I'd "get crazy" by doing a sauce and cheesing up the veggies.  I wasn't really considering posting the recipes, they seemed too simple.  Justin asked, "Why not?  People like fast, easy and cheap recipes and it was really good!"  So it's coming at you... basic stuff!

This tune's been going through my head the last few weeks as I've seen a lot of The Transplants' recent tour pics.  Elvis Cortez, lead singer of Left Alone, was touring with them.  So I've found myself listening to some Left Alone in the last few days, and this is them doing "My Whole Life".  -jen

PARMESAN & BASIL ZUCCHINI
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Serves: 2-4

• 4 medium zucchini, sliced about 1/4" thick rounds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese 
• salt and pepper

 In a large bowl or plastic zip bag, combine zucchini and olive oil to coat.  Turn oven to broil.  Arrange zucchini in an even layer on a large baking sheet (I always line it with foil for ease of clean up!)  Sprinkle basil and Parmesan evenly over zucchini.  Broil for 3-5, until cheese browns.

 

Italian Sausage & Lentil Soup

The lentil soup was really new for me.  I'm sure I'd had lentils in soup before, but I have no immediate memory of it.  I know we didn't grow up eating lentils.  Believe it or not, we DO try to eat healthy at home most the time.  And in an effort to better our carb intake (which means cut out the bad carbs and add in the good ones that are low on the glycemic index - ooh, science!), we picked up some green lentils.  They sat in our pantry for a couple of months before I pulled them out and just decided to throw together a random soup... which was deliciously successful.  I'm not even sure it's fair to call this a "soup".  I wanted something a little thicker and hardier, so I suppose it's almost stew-like.  Whatever it is, it's good.  And that's what counts.

We rocked out with our friend Betsy's excellent Boston choice - The Unseen, singing "False Hope".  -jen

ITALIAN SAUSAGE & LENTIL SOUP

• 1 pound Italian sausage (I used 1/2 mild, 1/2 hot)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 Anaheim peppers, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1.5 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 can (14.5oz) peeled tomatoes
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups lentils
• 1/4 cup sherry
• dash of hot sauce
• dash of Worcestershire
• salt and pepper to taste

In a stock pot over medium-high heat, brown sausage.  When nearly cooked through, add 2 tablespoons of butter.  Then add onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, Anaheim peppers, and jalapeño.  Cook until onions are just becoming translucent.  Add garlic basil, thyme and rosemary, cooking for another 2 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over vegetable and sausage mixture, stirring to mix in and cook 5 more minutes.  Then add tomatoes, chicken broth, lentils, sherry, hot sauce and Worcestershire.  Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes until lentils are tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Served here with kale chips!

Bloody Mary Soup

First thing first - I feel it's important to note with this recipe that 3.5 pounds of heirloom  tomatoes cost us $12 at our Farmers' Market.  If you're on a budget, you can always use plum tomatoes in this recipe instead.  But the heirloom are so very, very awesome.  It makes a ton of soup, so I'd say it's well worth the cost!  And most likely, you're going to have some delicious leftovers.

We make a pretty solid Roasted Tomato & Basil soup, and that was my game plan when I started.  But like most things I cook, I decided to try a few different ingredients.  It really just depends on what we have on hand and what kind of mood I'm in!  As I added the carrots and celery, which don't go in my normal recipe, I started thinking about Bloody Marys and thought, "Why not?!"  We really liked how this soup came out!  I was so bummed we didn't have any vodka on hand!  And we were broke, so we couldn't even run to the corner store for a little bit.  The sherry was quite delicious with it, just the same.

As you may or may not have noticed... we've pretty much always posted punk rock music with our recipes.  But let's be real - our music preferences are way more diverse than just punk.  I suppose I could just choose a random punk song that I like to go with the recipe, but really, I was listening to Glasvegas the entire time I was making this soup, trying to sing along in my best Scottish accent (at least the words I understood, which is only about half of them), so it seems like the thing to post.  Here's "Geraldine", off their first album.  -jen

BLOODY MARY SOUP
Prep Time: 20 minutes  
Cook Time: 2 hours 
Difficulty:  Medium
Serves:  10-12  

• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3.5 pounds (7 medium) heirloom tomatoes, quartered
• 1 head garlic
• salt and pepper

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 can (28 ounces) whole, peeled tomatoes
• 1 large bunch basil, chopped (2-3 cups packed leaves)
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon green Tabasco (or your favourite hot sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
• 1 teaspoon Accent/MSG (optional)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup sherry (optional)*

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Chop the top off of the garlic head to expose the cloves.  Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper.  Wrap in aluminum foil.  On a baking sheet, toss the quartered tomatoes with the remaining olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place the garlic foil packet in the oven for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, add the baking sheet of tomatoes to the oven and roast for 45 minutes.  (The garlic will roast for 1 hour total.)  When cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted garlic out of its paper right onto the roasted tomatoes and set aside until ready to use.


In a large stock pot, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil plus butter over a medium-high heat.  Add red onion, carrot, celery and red pepper flake.  Saute for about 10 minutes, until onion is translucent.  Stir in flour and cook an additional 5 minutes. 

Stir in the chicken stock and milk, using a whisk to break up any flour lumps.  Add the roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic, the canned tomatoes, basil, green onions, minced garlic, dried thyme, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Tabasco, horseradish and Accent.  Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for about 40 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir in sherry right before serving.

*Note: I think this would probably be delicious and more true to a Bloody Mary is you used vodka instead of sherry... but we were out of vodka!