Monthly Archives: July 2011

The Thursday Stash and Potatoes-Beets au Gratin

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Ashley| 3 Comments

Some Stash

It’s another Thursday where I have produce aplenty to share with you!  I’ve got some repeated vegetables from last week, and then a few new ones.  Also, I received two juicy peaches (one of which I immediately devoured all by itself).  And I’ve got high hopes for baking that other peach.  I’m completely into the idea of making a brown sugar crumble inside of it.  Ah, in short I am just giddy on my post-CSA retrieval high.

Veg

So this week I got more green beans (still have to come up with something killer to do with them- I’m not good with green beans), more corn (that’s easy!), garlic, green bell peppers, and a pretty little basket of cherry tomatoes.

I already made a heartstopping salad last night with the corn and some of the tomatoes, which I will share with you soon.  And tomorrow I’m making a vegetable tart for a work party.  I really want to use up the basil quickly because it’s already picked, and who knows how long it will last.  I could always dry some, of course, but the faster I can eat it fresh the better.

Yum

Also, I’m going to be spending some time at my parents’ house for the next two weeks or so, so I’m feeling like I should use up my stash pretty quickly and then bring the rest with me.  Luckily, my planned veggie tart should handle the bell peppers, some corn, and the tomatoes.  Too bad you can’t put green beans in a tart… can you?  I don’t think I’m going to go there…

Beets

I also wanted to include a recipe for a meal I’ve been eating for the past week.  I used up the rest of my beets and potatoes from my last Thursday Stash by making a filling, creamy, and lightly spicy Potatoes and Beets au Gratin (or Potato-Beet Casserole?).  And when I say that I’ve been eating it for the past week, I really mean it.  That’s no exaggeration.  I made a big dish (which lasts one person for quite a while) that I haven’t gotten sick of yet.  It’s eggy, cheesy, spicy, and filling.  And it makes the perfect lunch, dinner, or breakfast.  Here she is:

Au Gratin

Recipe: Potatoes and Beets au Gratin

Ingredients

  • 2 cups potatoes sliced (that was two medium potatoes and 6 small ones for me)
  • 1 cup yellow beets sliced (about two medium ones for me)
  • 1 white onion sliced
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheese (sharp white cheddar was delicious)
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. Slice your vegetables.
  3. Whisk eggs into the milk, and then add cheese.
  4. Stir in the spices.
  5. In a casserole dish, layer half of your potatoes, beets, and onions.
  6. Pour half of the egg mixture evenly over the veggies.
  7. Layer the rest of the potatoes, beets, and onions.
  8. Pour the rest of the egg mixture over the dish.
  9. Place in oven for about 45 minutes.
  10. Remove when a fork easily pokes into the potatoes and beets.

Quick notes

There is not a lot to the egg mixture, in fact it’s quite sparse. The idea is to have a dish that mostly features the potatoes, beets, and onions, rather than a dish that is mostly eggy. You, of course, can increase the amount of egg or milk.

Preparation time: 10 min

Cooking time: 45 min

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Spicy Summer Corn

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Ashley| Leave a comment

Corn

Woah it’s been a busy week!  I’m finishing my summer job tomorrow with a big celebration, so we’ve been working really hard to get everything together.  Then, from Monday to Tuesday, I had a reunion of sorts with some of my ladies who have been out of town for the summer, and one who was abroad this past spring.  It’s been exciting, but definitely busy.

Because of all this, I’ve been making a lot of really boring meals, and have even been straight-up lazy and hit up my neighborhood taqueria…  And, to be perfectly honest, I’ve been making some dishes that were simply not blog-worthy.  It’s embarrassing, but true.  You know when you have high hopes for a meal and then it just lacks something?  Well, I’ve had a few of those.  I’ve also made some big meals that have turned my fridge into leftover city.

Wrap

But regardless of the little disappointments, I have found a really fabulous success.  And that is what I’m here to share with you.  This is a perfect side dish that takes extremely minimal effort, yet manages to make your tastebuds dance with joy.  I’m not kidding, and that is not hyperbole.  It also takes advantage of one summer vegetable that I’ve been seeing in my CSA box for the past few weeks, and therefore am trying to gobble up.

So what is it?  Well I can tell you that it’s the kind of summer treat that will be perfect by the grill or accompanied by some cold summer tea.  As you may have guessed, it’s roasted corn.  But not just any roasted corn.  This corn is rubbed in olive oil, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper, and then rolled in aluminum foil and roasted in the oven until it’s tender and spicy.  And although that may seem simple, you have to trust me when I say the results are genius.

Fresh

Roast this corn up alongside some homemade fries!  (I’ve been making some fat fries lately, as well as the thin ones :)
But whatever you pair it with, I’ve no doubt you’ll be pleased with this spicy, summery treat.  You wont even mind the corn and spices stuck in your teeth after gobbling it off the cob, promise.

Tasty Corn

Recipe: Spicy Summer Corn

Summary: The perfect summer side dish, this corn tastes like mid-July and smiling faces. No kidding.

Ingredients

  • Corn on the cob
  • Olive Oil
  • Black Pepper
  • Salt
  • Cayenne Pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Cut out a piece of aluminum foil for each cob.
  3. Place corn on the foil and then drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.
  4. Sprinkle a generous amount (teaspoon each) of the black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper onto the corn and then rub it in.
  5. Wrap the corn up in a nice little aluminum burrito and then place in the oven.
  6. Leave alone for about 45 minutes.
  7. Remove corn from oven, unwrap, let cool for a few minutes, and then dig in.

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

 

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Summery Tomato Sauce

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Ashley| 2 Comments

tomtp

So what did I make with those beautiful tomatoes from last Thursday??  Well, I knew that I wanted their flavors to be a huge part of whatever I did.  They were too bright and  deliciously soursweet to simply become another veggie in the mix.  No, these guys needed to be large and in charge of a dish.

On the other hand, though, I didn’t want to just cut them up and add them as-is to a salad.  Of course they would have made a splendid addition, but I also felt that they deserved some fun process.

Beautiful Tomato

So I decided to make a pasta sauce.  But it was hot outside and I didn’t want to simmer and bubble the tomatoes into a hot sauce.  Instead, I blended those babies with some zucchinis (to thicken) and spices.  It was a cold pasta sauce that I was extremely pleased with.  It had a nice kick of freshness that perfectly dressed some simple noodles. In addition, it was the quickest preparation ever.  Ten minute meal for sure!

Blend

This is the best sauce for a hot evening where the amount of heat generated by a boiling pasta pot is already too much and you just want something cold, fast, and easy.  My tomatoes were really juicy and I didn’t need much oil to thin out the sauce, so this is also pretty healthy.  (Gotta be healthy when you’re pounding down the pasta haha).  Anyways, I’m not a wine-pairer (by any means… I’ve just recently begun attempting to step away from the two-buck chuck display into the $3.99 section of Trader Joe’s), but I had this pasta with a glass of (not so bad, actually) Chardonnay and was pretty stoked.

So go!  Find an especially weird looking pair of heirloom tomatoes and make some summer tomato sauce!

Pastas

Recipe: Summer Tomato Sauce

Summary: A cold tomato sauce that lets heirlooms reveal their fresh, summery beauty.

Ingredients

  • 2 heirloom tomatoes (reserve a quarter of one)
  • 2 small zucchinis (I used a green and a yellow)
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • sprig of dried sage
  • dash of black pepper and salt

Instructions

  1. Chop both tomatoes (reserve about a quarter of one of the chopped tomatoes) as well as the zucchini and then add to a blender.
  2. Add the olive oil, yeast, sage, and spices.
  3. Blend until you get a thick sauce. Can add more or less oil/zucchini to either thicken or make more watery.
  4. Dress your pasta with the sauce and add the extra chopped tomato.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

pasta

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Posted in CSA, Dinner, Lunch, Noodles, Recipe, Snack, Ten-Minute Meal

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Real Butterbeer

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Ashley| 8 Comments

Butterbeer

So maybe you’re tired of hearing about this everywhere, but I’m one of those kids that wished and waited for an owl acceptance to Hogwarts and broke off many tree branches in order to find the perfect wand.  I had Harry Potter shirts, backpacks, and bookends, and couldn’t wait for each new book release.  When I was eighteen years old (and thought of myself as pretty mature and cool), I left a rockin’ party in order to hang out at Borders at midnight to get the FINAL book.  And then I proceeded to stay up into the wee hours of the morning reading.

So you’re probably not surprised that I went to the midnight showing of the movie.  And then decided that I had to make something Harry Potter themed.

 

Mix

I’ve seen a lot of fabulous Potter-themed treats out there in the food blog world.  Everything from chocolate frogs to acid pops.  And then, of course, there’s butterbeer.

Butterbeer always fascinated me in the HP books.  House elves got drunk off of it, yet these kids got to drink it?? Cool!  I always likened it to a kind of low-alcohol cider-like draaank.  But then I saw that all of the recipes basically just make a butterscotchy cream soda.  And that just doesn’t seem true to form.  Butterbeer’s supposed to be a little bit illicit, right?  Does cream soda really capture the coolness that is butterbeer?

I don’t think so.

Foam

So then I saw (on the almighty wikipedia, of course.  what a great use of legitimate resources…) that a real butterbeer drink used to exist!  And yes, it had beer in it.  So I located this great youtube video, and this random message board thread and decided to check it out for myself.

I don’t know if you’ve checked out the ingredient list yet, but it is a little bit scary.  Egg yolks, sugar, beer, and butter…  This is definitely not going to turn into an everyday drink.  But, hey, you only get to celebrate the official end of Harry Potter once.  It’s super rich, but if you get a few non-calorie-counting Harry Potter fans together I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.

So, without further ado, I give you (the real, non-wussy, alcoholic) BUTTERBEER!

Beer

Recipe: Real Butterbeer

Summary: This ain’t cream soda… this is rich, creamy, and a little boozy.

Ingredients

  • About 17 oz. beer (About 1 1/2 beers)
  • 2 whisked egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • dash of nutmeg or cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Heat a pan on medium heat. Once it’s heated add the beer.
  2. SLOWLY add the whisked yolks. You don’t want them to turn into scrambled eggs, so stir continuously.
  3. Add sugar and butter and stir into mixture.
  4. Finally, add your nutmeg or cinnamon.
  5. You can either let it cool or serve heated.

Quick notes

I used a sweet, malty beer, which helped the rich taste. Experiment with other kinds!
Because this is so very rich, I suggest that you get some people together to share.  This recipe could serve four small glasses.  And that amount would be more than enough for everybody.
Enjoy!

Drank

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