On Monday night J. and I went to a great cheese tasting led by Taylor Cocalis of Murray’s Cheese. I have to mention her by name because she was full of cool bits of information and great tips about cheese selection and tasting. For instance, she touched on the impact of retro-nasal input on cheese tasting — if you aerate your cheese by opening your mouth slightly and breathing in while the cheese is on your tongue (similar to the way you taste wine), you’re both smelling it and tasting it at the same time, which is a much more full experience than sniffing it first, then putting it into your mouth and tasting it afterward. It was a surprisingly huge difference! I love learning tips like that. There’s a good explanation of retro-nasal smell, albeit in wine tasting, at The Wine Tasting Or, Should We Say, Wine Smelling Experience.
She also shared a good device for remembering how to choose a variety of cheese for a tasting plate: something old (a cooked pressed cheese, like Gruyere or Parmigiano-Reggiano), something new (fresh, like chevre), something stinky (washed rind, like Taleggio), something blue (a blue cheese, like Stilton). Buy about 1 oz. of each cheese per person if you’re doing a tasting of 3-5 cheeses.
In order, we tried:
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November 13th, 2008
This is a post I started over the summer, when we were receiving lots of cilantro from our farm share.
J. and I both make guacamole similarly, which is unusual for us — we tend to each have our own way of doing things, and we also have our own areas of specialty (he wouldn’t bake; I don’t grill — could we fall into more stereotypical gender roles?).
Every time we receive a big bunch of cilantro from our CSA, I can’t help but think: guac! Of course, I’ve found plenty of other dishes to make with cilantro: Spicy Sauteed Chickpeas, Beef & Cilantro, Corn, Avocado, & Tomato Salad, Vegetable Jalfrezi, and Tandoori Tofu are just a few. Still, guacamole remains my favorite. This is how we make it.
Guacamole
3 Haas avocados, peeled, pitted and cubed
1 small onion, minced (about 2 Tbsp.)
handful fresh cilantro, minced (about 2 Tbsp.)
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 lime, juiced
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
kosher salt to taste
Lightly toss all ingredients in a bowl, leaving the guacamole as chunky as you like (we don’t break up the avocado much at all). Serve immediately, or bring to room temperature after refrigerating if you must make it ahead.
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November 13th, 2008
Another day, another chocolate chip muffin. I’ve come to realize that as long as two criteria are met: 1.) smooth batter (no lumps of fruit); and 2.) chocolate chips are included, my boys will eat anything I can pack into a muffin, even if they’d never touch it otherwise (carrots, peanut butter, bananas, etc.). Today it was pumpkin. I had intended to throw some flax meal in at the last minute but I forgot. Next time.
These are a nice, simple, slightly-dense muffin that I am comfortable serving for breakfast with a cup of milk. It beats crackers or pretzels, which is what G. has otherwise been requesting after I turn down his pleas for ice cream or cookies.
Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Kid’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 24 muffins
3 c. white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 c. white sugar
1 15-oz. can pure pumpkin
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. canola oil
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except chocolate chips until they are just combined. Mix in chocolate chips.
Line or grease muffin tins, and fill each cup generously with batter. Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
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November 9th, 2008
Another super-simple week. My menus have been feeling a little repetitive, but the boys are eating (for the most part) so I’m not complaining. We have no farm share pick up this week, so I have some wiggle room in incorporating last Wednesday’s shares into this week’s meals.
Monday: J. and I are at a cheese tasting; boys eat with grandparents
Tuesday: Whole wheat spaghetti & meatballs in sauce (from the freezer), steamed carrots
Wednesday: Chicken soup with noodles (make a new batch), edamame
Thursday: I’m out to dinner; pizza for the boys
Friday: Roasted chicken with parsnips, carrots, and onions, challah
Saturday: Leftovers or eat out/take out
Sunday: Winter Lentil Soup (thanks for the recommendation, Heather!), Italian bread or rolls
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.
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November 9th, 2008
My three-year-old may be absconding with the carrots, but I assure you he won’t eat any of them unless they’re pureed and baked into a muffin with lots of chocolate chips.
This week we received 2 of the largest beets I have ever seen in my life, a quart of potatoes, Toscano kale, a small cabbage, the carrots, parsnips (yum), and 2 carnival squash.
I have 4 carnival squash now (2 from a previous week), so I’m thinking I may just hold onto them and make something with them for Thanksgiving. I’ll definitely roast the parsnips. Otherwise, I’m undecided on how everything else will be used. I’ve got an extra week to finish it all up, as there is no pick up next week. And after that, just two weeks left in our 2008 share. I need to get my 2009 forms in before I forget!
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November 6th, 2008
This was one of those dishes I never would have tried if it were not for my CSA, which pushes me outside my comfort zone while I try to use up the vegetables from my share. I had read a recipe for a Savory Carrot & Tarragon Tart in Eating Well magazine, and since I am a bit overrun with carrots right now it seemed a good choice for a light dinner.
I ditched the crust entirely and simplified the rest of the instructions: in a small saute pan, I cooked the onions in a drizzle of olive oil until softened, then added 2 cups of shredded carrots (2 enormous carrots) and cooked those down with the onions for 5 more minutes. I patted that mixture into a 9″ non-stick round pan, and then combined and poured the following over it:
1 Tbsp. dry sherry
2 tsp. whole grain mustard
1/2 c. shredded cheddar
1/2 c. non-fat ricotta
1/2 c. 1% milk
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
salt & pepper
I baked it all in my toaster oven for about 35 minutes at 375° F.
All in all, it was an acceptable dinner. The onions and carrots made the dish surprisingly sweet (which made me wonder about the “savory” claim in the original recipe’s title) but pleasant. I should have used a smaller pan — the slices had little height and just weren’t that appealing on the plate because of it. In fact, the fritatta was so flat the boys mistook it for pizza, albeit “not the kind of pizza I like,” according to G. My dad had some leftovers for dinner tonight, and he liked it, too. In the future, though, I’ll stick to fritatta/quiche/baked egg dishes that use greens like broccoli or swiss chard to bulk them up rather than carrots.
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November 6th, 2008
- Last night the boys ran ahead of me to get to the table, which was already set for dinner. I heard G. let out a big “Ewwwwww!” when he saw something green on his plate. A. said, “Don’t be silly! That’s yum yum edamame!” And A. ate it all up. (G. of course did not eat any.)
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November 5th, 2008
Lately, I have not been reading recipes all the way through before I’m ready to cook. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I bookmarked Mashed Potatoes With Kale — not only is it dairy (both milk and butter are added, so not a match to serve with chicken), but the instructions seem unnecessarily complex for a dish that’s so basic. What I took away from the recipe was that I wanted to combine the red potatoes and Toscano kale I had from my CSA, with scallions for a punch of flavor.
I microwaved four medium potatoes until tender and set them aside, and simmered the kale (once the ribs had been removed) in salted water for about 5 minutes. I ran the kale quickly under cold water just to cool it down, then squeezed out as much moisture as possible with my hands and threw it in my food processor. Using a chopping blade, I pulsed the kale a few times until it was finely minced. Then I mashed the skin-on potatoes with the kale, plus a small bunch of finely-chopped scallions, some olive oil, and salt and pepper. It was really delicious — really, how could mashed potatoes not be? J. liked it too, but the boys wouldn’t touch it. It was good as cold leftovers today, too.
The best news of the evening, though, was that both boys ate the roasted chicken! G. has been hit or miss eating “big chicken” — aka drumsticks — lately. He ate the better part of both drumsticks this time. A. normally will not eat chicken at all, but tonight when I put it on his plate he tried it and said he’d like more! Specifically, he asked for more “smooth chicken” — I’d pulled some medium-sized, skinless pieces of meat off the bone for him. It was incredibly satisfying to me to have them both eat and enjoy the main part of this dinner.
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November 4th, 2008
This past week my goal was to lighten my dish-washing burden for a bit, and that led to another bonus I didn’t expect: I only went to the supermarket once, since I was using a lot of food from my freezer and farm share. I really enjoyed not having those almost daily quick trips in my schedule. Even though I plan my meals a week in advance, I wind up popping into the supermarket near G.’s school all the time to grab an item or two. I don’t really mind it, except that it’s just another errand to run in the short time the boys are not with me.
Also this week, my mom and I enjoyed the Vegetarian Navy Bean & Kale Soup, while the Triple Tomato Sauce with Ziti was a hit with J. The Baked Sweet Potato Fries were also yummy, though the boys wouldn’t try them. They may make a nice side for Thanksgiving, though.
We have a lot of planned eating out this week, which I’m looking forward to both for the respite from coming up with a dinner plan, and for the good company I’ll be keeping!
Monday: Roasted chicken, Mashed Potatoes with Kale, carrot sticks
Tuesday: Savory Carrot & Tarragon Tart (I’ll make a crustless version), broccoli rabe in garlic and oil, rolls
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: I’m out to dinner; eggplant parm (using Dominex eggplant cutlets), spaghetti, farm veggies for everyone else
Friday: Dinner out in the city with J.; order in pizza for the boys
Saturday: Nothing! Everyone is someplace else
Sunday: Barley Risotto with Chanterelles (intended to make this months ago but never did), farm share veggies
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.
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November 2nd, 2008
My friend Alison, who is known for making gorgeous, decorated cupcakes, cookies and other desserts, also cooks a lot for her family, as I try to do. She forwarded this recipe to me recently, and I thought J. would love it — I was right.
Triple Tomato Sauce uses fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, and tomato paste for a super-simple uncooked sauce that is whipped up in a blender or food processor, and mixed right into hot, freshly-cooked pasta.
This sauce has a really fresh, herbal flavor thanks to the uncooked tomatoes and fresh basil, which gives it a totally different taste than a cooked sauce, even one that’s homemade. I thought it was even better before it went over the hot ziti, which led me to wonder out loud if it would be nice for a cold or room-temperature pasta salad in warmer weather. J. insists absolutely not, but I still might try it next summer.
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November 2nd, 2008
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I'm Dara, the chick in the kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 3 and 5, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Reach me at .