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Dinner last night was exactly what I needed to get me back here. It was good. No, really f*ing good. Other things I have been making lately have been fine, meh, okay, but not enough to inspire me to download the pictures and write about them.
But then this smoky carrot puree comes and blows me out of the water.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we went to dinner with friends at Nopa (consistently some of the best meals – highly recommended to those visiting SF) and I haven’t been able to get one of the starters out of my head.
It was grilled sardines on toast with a carrot hummus. Out of this world. The carrot when combined with the sardines gave it an almost uni-like quality. Ah-mazing.
And then my friend Kimberley posted a smoky carrot hummus on her blog a few days later. Obviously carrots have been stalking me.
I finely decided to give in and try out my own version, and now I am wondering why I waited so long.
Combined with a combination of spices that were subtly sweet, spicy and smoky these carrots became things of dreams. And topped with a quick pan-roasted hake (quite possibly my new favorite fish — it has large flakes and is mild and a barely sweet, similar to black cod), it became the best dinner we could remember having.
So good, it even held up to its original inspiration.
As a quick aside, this puree is also great cold as a dip. I may or may not be munching on the leftovers with sesame rice crackers while typing this. No, I would never resort to snacking between breakfast and lunch.
Smoked Carrot Puree
Isn’t it funny how some foods are elevated to tradition for holidays, and others are just there, when often enough we like the ones best that are more common. Take corned beef – there is corned beef and cabbage and corned beef hash. I would always pick corned beef hash over corned beef and cabbage, yet the former is the one most associated with a holiday (St. Patrick’ Day, of course).
Being that I am part Irish (well, as much as I am anything – true mutt status) and the fact that my mom loved decorating for and celebrating just about anything, we sometimes had corned beef and cabbage on March 17, but it wasn’t necessarily a tried and true. But who can blame her – boiled beef and cabbage don’t exactly make my heart skip a beat. And so up until now I had never made it myself.
That is until yesterday.
Last Sunday was spent with family, and when they got to our apartment, they came with gifts – corned beef, a head of cabbage, a few carrots and potatoes to be exact. So here was my chance to try my own hand at tradition.
Thankfully when looking for a recipe, I found a baked version on Simply Recipes that seemed a bit more inviting than boiling then 4 pounds of meat in a vat of water and spices.
As for the cabbage, I took also took her lead and sauteed it, although I added a few grated carrots, and held back some of the diced cabbage and carrots and tossed it in at the end, to keep it a bit more fresh. With a bit of vinegar, some parsley and a touch of mustard and brown sugar, it was a cross between sauteed cabbage and coleslaw. And just about right.
If you are planning on making corned beef tonight, I would definitely recommend following Elise’s recipe, and in particular, the VERY IMPORTANT step about boiling it first to remove a bit of the salt. This coming from a gal who likes things “well seasoned.” I skipped that step because I was in a hurry and maybe didn’t realize how salty the corned beef would be, and I am still paying the price. Let’s put it this way – I was so dehydrated this morning that I felt like I woke up from a 3 day bender.
But those often are pretty fun, so it’s not all bad. 
Do you have any ways you have updated holiday meals? Or do you like them just for tradition’s sake?
Note on the corned beef:
For some reason, I have been struck with a major case of blogger’s block – with cooking, writing, photographing, creating – you name it.
So here are a few pics of things I have made recently, but that for some reason or another never made it up. Hope you enjoy these little snippets, and that I get my mojo back soon!
xxo
C
One Saturday I was craving and egg salad sandwich, but we were out of bread. So I made Kim Boyce‘s Oatmeal Sandwich Bread. And I was fairly insufferable the rest of the day, feeling smug and proud that I made bread just like that.
I don’t make pasta all that often for dinner, but when I do, this Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage is my go-to. My love of broccoli rabe {or rapini} knows no bounds and it is fast and easy for a weeknight dinner. You can of course use pork sausage, but I usually do turkey here – and of course hot italian!
My dad made an amazing crown pork roast, but unfortunately I only snapped a few pics.
I know that over the year I have had crown roast of beef and lamb (great holiday dinners), but to my recollection, this was my first with pork. He made herb garlic crust and we served it with a fennel orange salad with warm prosciutto dressing and {surprise, surprise} sauteed broccoli rabe with garlic and chile flakes. Will definitely be making this again…if only I knew what recipe he used!
And to change things up ever so slightly, I swapped by favorite roast chicken for one that added lemon and garlic. While it didn’t move into first place, it is fun to change it up – and I loved using the roasted garlic and lemons for a salad dressing that accompanied the chicken.
And of course, lots of messes have been made!!
Thursday night, B and I went to dinner at Nopa with our good friends Catie & Jimmy, and while at dinner, the boys made plans to go out on Saturday night. By the time Saturday rolled around, their ‘wild plans’ had morphed into cooking at our house with a few beers and the UNC/Duke game.
It was a joint effort, as C+J picked up some some surf and turf (by way of skirt steak and sea bass) at the Ferry Building, we sort of split the veg based on our respective fridge’s, the farmer’s market selection (or lack there of) and the corner market, we covered drinks and sides and our friend Mike brought some goodies as well.
The spread turned out as follows:
Spicy roasted chickpeas, vegetable quesadillas and Micheladas {with a half-salted rim} à la Nopalito to start.
Steak tacos with grilled grass-fed skirt steak, quick-pickled onions, avocado and cilantro.
Fish tacos with sea bass that was so fresh it tasted like it was caught 5 minutes before dinner. The bass was grilled with a chile-cumin-aleppo pepper dry rub {with a teeny dash of cinnamon} and piled on tortillas with everyone’s FAVORITE chipotle-lime cream and cabbage.
Rice, Beans and salsa ~ brown rice, Rancho Gordo cranberry beans, and store-bought fresh salsa doctored up with some of the leftover chipotles, to be exact.
Salad of butter lettuce, radishes, tomatoes and pepitas with cilantro-lime vinaigrette
Whether or not we made Kim Boyce’s oatmeal cookies later while watching a movie, I’ll never tell. But what is more disturbing, is that for what is possbily the first time ever, people were able to drive home from dinner at out house. That combined with boys night equaling dinner and movie means I am likely much older than I think.
Don’t worry, I don’t expect this sort of maturity to last long. And at least it tastes good!
My love of a good dinner party is well documented. As much as I love restaurants, nothing beats eating with friends and/or family in the comfort of your (or their) home. You can sit and linger and open another bottle of wine long after the meal is finished, without worrying that someone is waiting for the table.
You can laugh loudly at stories without disturbing the awkward second date two tables over.
You open the wine during the cooking, so by the time we get to dinner, everyone is happy and relaxed. Restaurants and good chefs give me new ideas and turn out food that can be just about perfect, but it never feels as good as at home.
So if you don’t yet have plans for this weekend, invite a few friends over for dinner. Good peeps, good food & good tunes – what more could a gal want?
Ahhh … a menu perhaps!
May recommend this arugula lasagna? Since it can be assembled in advance, it is a perfect when having friends over, as the work is done before they arrive. And unlike a traditional lasagna, this one is light and almost delicate – both from the fresh pasta and the ricotta tempered down with some milk and cream – but still bright and interesting – from the peppery arugula and the gorgonzola in the cheese mixture.
To keep it a vegetarian dinner, just serve it with a simple salad or roasted cherry tomatoes (for some color too) – but if you have meat or fish eaters in the crowd, it pairs nicely with mussels or a thinly sliced steak would also be great.
But let’s be honest, this lasagna is best complimented by good wine and friends. And sitting at the table much longer than planned, enjoying the combination.
But then, that is {likely} why you are at home in the first place!
I’m going to let you in on an embarrassing secret. I will sometimes count vegetables in a meal and if there is a high enough number, I feel like I won a prize. Am I 10? Am I lame? Please, don’t answer! :)
For instance, that spaghetti with roasted vegetables, there were five different veggies. Not bad, I guess, but nothing special.
If you really want to win the lots-o’veg award, soup is a really good way to go.
Take this vegetable soup. I think there were 10 different vegetables – all different types and colors – with enough vitamins and minerals to counteract any chocolate cake that could follow. Serve it with a glass of red wine and a garlicky tapenade (+2 for the antioxidant list) to keep the meal from feeling too ‘diety’ and leaving you unsatisfied.
This counting trick also works particularly well when say adding something (or things) green to macaroni and cheese or pizza. Almost makes ‘em health food, right?
This soup I guess is minestrone-like, except without the pasta (because I abhor pasta in soup), and because I can make no claims to authentic Italian, I feel silly calling my vegetable soup by a real name.
Again, like many things I cook – there is no real recipe, particularly as the time changes based on the ingredients you have. I always start with the basics – onion, carrot and celery in olive oil – and from there is really depends. If I have fennel or leeks, I will add them a bit after the mirepoix, but before other veg. Things like potatoes and cauliflower take longer than zucchini, so they go in next. I like to add them with the aromatics before any liquids to caramelize a bit and develop more flavor. Then maybe a big can of whole tomatoes, smushed up a bit and a can or two of water, depending on how much I want to make. After that, any other veg that take more than a minute or two – I hold the leafy greens until the end so they stay more vibrant. Don’t forget, salt and pepper at each stage – seasoning throughout is important!
My favorite little trick for a soup like this is to add beans for protein, but using a food processor or even a few forks, mush about half of the beans to add some thickness to the soup. Here I use canned white beans, but things are always better if you have the time to make your own. Cranberry beans would be super great here too.
Then, just let it all simmer for 15 minutes to develop the flavors – but not too long as you want all the vegetables to hold up.
Finally serve it with crusty bread, with maybe a quick tapenade or a pesto, a drizzle of olive oil and a few shavings of pecorino.
And of course, give yourself a quick pat on the back for having 1,000 vegetables for dinner!!
