If spring has sprung for you anything like it has in San Francisco, I would recommend calling up your friends and having an impromptu dinner party tonight!  And maybe have platters around for lettuce wraps.

This version is a simple adaptation of an old Gourmet recipe, Cellophane-Noodle Salad with Roast Pork.  I first made it a few years ago, and when ripe mangos popped up in the market here, I knew it needed to be on the menu again soon.

This time, I used brown rice noodles instead of the cellophane (or mung bean) and loved the change.  A mandoline makes quick work of all the chopping, but I have done it by hand as well, and it’s really not too bad.  Also, to fit the warm weather, I grilled the pork this time — and didn’t miss turning on the oven.

The sweet, spicy, crunchy and cool combo is just perfect – and the hands on makes for a fun presentation.  It also goes particualrly well with a few cold beers!

Hope you have a great weekend and there is some sunshine your way!

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

NOTE:  I did absolutely no measuring when I made this, just eyeballed it all – no surprise there.  But it is too good not to share as a “recipe” – so this is my best guess.

Also, next time I will make a much larger batch, as I would love to keep it on hand in the fridge for quick snacks. For a dinner side, I would plan on about 2-3 (good size) carrots per person.

If you don’t have smoked salt, do not increase cumin to make up for it – it is a different kind of smokiness.  Smoked salt has more of that “beach bonfire” wood-smoke taste.  It is something I love having on hand to use as a finishing salt.  You can find it now in some grocery stores, specialty food stores, Williams-Sonoma and online.

• 1½ pounds carrots, peeled
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon aleppo pepper (a few red pepper flakes would also work) :: aleppo pepper is slightly smoky and moderate heat
• smoked salt
• kosher salt
• pepper
• water

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Chop the carrots into 2″ pieces, keeping them equal so they roast evenly.  Toss with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil (just enough to coat all the pieces), cumin, cinnamon, aleppo pepper.  Add a pinch of both kosher and smoked salt and a few grinds of freshly cracked pepper.

Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 25-35 minutes, until golden and soft, tossing once during roasting.

Once the carrots are roasted, transfer to a food processor.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and ¼ cup water and puree, adding additional oil and water (a tablespoon at a time) until it has the desired consistency.  Taste and adjust for seasoning, perhaps adding a few more flakes of smoked salt.

To serve, use as a base for your favorite chicken or fish, or as a dip with bread or crackers.  Top with a small drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of smoked salt.  Can be served at any temperature.

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:

Mine was a bit larger than the original recipe, so I cooked it for about an extra 20-30 minutes for it to become tender.  Also (as you can see from the pictures) I realized (too late) that I was out of whole cloves, so I just rubbed the top with a teeny bit of ground clove {not too much, it is potent!} and then studded the far with bits of garlic.  I also mixed up a honey mustard, as I did not have one on hand.

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!!

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!

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The original recipe says serves 8-10.  I would be more comfortable saying 6, as it is pretty thin and inspires seconds!

Also, the recipe called for 1 pound fresh pasta, but my package only had about 9 oz. (which I realized too late), and I finished the pasta at the same time as the filling.  And I was able to squeeze out 5 layers rather than 4- so I really don’t know how she fit in that extra pasta.

And as I am typing this up, I realize the fresh pasta should have been pre-cooked. Oops, I missed that step and did think it was a touch dry, so cooking them in advance would likely eliminate that.

• 1 pound fresh lasagna sheets, cooked briefly or soaked in hot water
• ½ cup gorgonzola cheese
• ½ cup milk, divided, plus extra if needed after cooking
• ²⁄3 cups ricotta
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1½ cup grated fresh Pecorino, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• freshly cracked black pepper
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 12 ounces Arugula
• 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for buttering casserole dish
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ teaspoon red chile flakes
• ½ cup toasted pine nuts (I only used ¼ cup)
• 2 shallots thinly sliced and sauteed in butter

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Prepare 13 inch x 9 inch casserole dish with butter.

Mix together gorgonzola and ¼ cup milk. Add ricotta, heavy cream, ½ cup Pecorino, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Chop the arugula thinly, reserving about 12 leaves for garnish (I only had baby arugula, so I saved about ½ cup to layer on top). Sauté arugula in 2 T. butter just until wilted. Add minced garlic and chile flakes sauté for about one minute. Add arugula mixture to cheese mixture.

Add ¼ cup milk to buttered casserole dish. Cover bottom of casserole with a layer of prepared lasagna noodles.

Top with a quarter (or less) of the cheese and arugula mixture (as I mentioned in the notes, I ended up with 5 thin layers). Continue layering, ending with cheese and arugula mixture.

Top with remaining 1 cup Pecorino, pine nuts, reserved arugula leaves and sauteed shallots.

Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and cook for an additional 15 minutes. When you remove foil, if corners look dry, add a little milk to each corner.

Let lasagna rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

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!!

Happy Friday my dears!  If you can believe it, there are rumors that it may SNOW this afternoon/evening in San Francisco.  I took this picture about 13 seconds ago from our roof (not bad, right?) and it doesn’t seem to me to be a snow day, exactly.  But, I of course have been wrong before.

To kick off the weekend a bit early, last night I met up with some SF blogger gals at LaLoLa for sangria and snacks.  I said ‘hello’ to some lovely ladies, like Lisa (whose cookies I might be making for Oscar night), Caitlin (the consummate lady who planned the lil’ bash), Alicia and Taylor (who both take effervescence, glitter and cheetah to a whole new level), and the always darling Amber to name a few… And I even came home with some snazzy Elva Fields earrings, to boot!

As for the rest of the weekend, I plan to see a few friends, work on invitations with Kimberley for a fun surprise we have up our sleeves, maybe see at least one movie that is up for Best Picture before I tune into the show. And I’m sure find a way to tuck in some good eats and bubbly along the way!

Hope you have an enchanting weekend as well! xx

February can be a bit of a ‘tweener month.  Straddling between braises and the cold (and warm) comforts of winter and the peeks of spring that are just around the corner. To add to the confusion, every once in a while a day or weekend will pop up that feels almost like summer.  At least in they happen in California.  But I know that sunny days will surprise everyone, even if they aren’t quite at all summer like.

And while I can easily find rosé and a place outside to enjoy it all, I have a harder time figuring out what to eat. Sunshine like that makes me crave tomatoes and corn, knowing that we still have all the good spring greens first, and my market is still showcasing beets.

In times like this shrimp rolls are perfect.  They don’t require seasonal ingredients, but definitely taste of warmer times.

As I have mentioned before, I always have shrimp at the ready in the freezer.

Traditionally, shrimp for this preparation are boiled, but I prefer to roast them. But then again, I almost always prefer roasting to boiling. And since I am not a native New Englander, I don’t have any real allegiance to seafood rolls, and so in addition to switching the native cooking method, I can doctor them up  any way I please with zero guilt. I actually keep these pretty traditional, I think, but that is the beauty of it – my final product is a verdict of taste rather than nostalgia.

One thing is for sure though – there is no changing the buttered hot dog bun.  Anything else would just be a sandwich.

And we don’t need to wait for warm days for any old sandwich!

Plate check – These were my great-grandmother’s dishes, and I am not sure of the maker or pattern.  If anyone knows (GG?), please let me know in the comments!  xx

Shrimp Rolls

NOTES:  Shrimp are measured by count (ex: 21-25),  which means the number of shrimp in in a pound – the smaller the number, the larger the shrimp.  This count is based on shrimp without heads but with shells.  When buying fresh or frozen shrimp, avoid shrimp which has the shells removed, as that can negatively affect the taste and texture.  Also, the weight of the shrimp will change without the shells and once cooked.

A quick estimate is 1 pound raw shrimp in shells = about ½ pound cooked peeled shrimp.

Regarding amounts, the key here is really full rolls – this is not the place to skimp!  However, depending on the size of your buns, this amount of shrimp will yield about 2-3 shrimp rolls.  If you can get 4, they are not filled enough!!  :)

Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Toss peeled and deveined shrimp with olive oil, salt and pepper and arrange on a single layer on a sheet pan.  Roast in a hot oven until just cooked through and opaque, about 5-6 minutes. I begin checking at about 4 minutes, as shrimp can become overcooked quickly, at which time they can get tough. Set aside to cool.

Once shrimp is cooked and cooled, chop into large chunks and place in a mixing bowl.  Add 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, lemon juice, zest and herbs and stir to combine.  If needed, add additional mayo {it most likely will need it} – the dressing is key here, but also should not be overly dressed.  Some of my least favorite shrimp and lobster rolls have way to much mayonnaise, and this one still has less than most.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a skillet and add butter (about ½ tablespoon per bun), toasting hot dog buns until just golden and toasty.

To assemble, fill hot dog buns with the shrimp mixture and tuck in a lettuce leaf.

It happens to everyone, and some of us more often than others.

It is dinner time, with no real plan in sight and a hodge-podge of half used vegetables beginning to languish in the crisper.  In our house, these mis-matched bits often end up in a frittata, soup or a big grain salad. But last night as the rain came down and the wind whipped at the windows, I wanted something else.  Something comforting, warm and truthfully, gooey. Something that satisfies your heart like macaroni and cheese, but is a bit more mindful of my hips.

I remembered an image that has stayed in my mind for months from Cannelle et Vanille.  It was a spaghetti, with bacon and roasted baby beets.

I took the amalgam of vegetables I had on hand and roasted them – squash, carrots and sweet potato together for about 30 minutes, and broccoli thrown in for the last 10.  At the same time I sautéed a few strips of bacon with garlic and chilies, and then decided to cook the mushrooms the bacon grease.  I mean, let’s not be wasteful, right?

As the spaghetti was just finished cooking, I poached a few eggs.  To bring it all together, the pasta, veg and bacon were tossed together with a ladle of pasta water and generous shaving of parmigiano.  And of course the egg, which gave it all that gooey-goodness that I was craving. Plus, what isn’t better with an egg on top?

I attempted to write up a some-what proper recipe for this, but as it was based 100% on what was lurking in my fridge – half a sweet potato, bits of a left-over acorn squash, 1 small head of broccoli, etc., I had no clue where to begin with measurements and amounts.  But a meal like this is infinitely flexible – and that is the beauty of it.

So have at it, let me know what you think, and don’t forget the egg!