A Costco Recipe

 Do any of you shop at Costco? We like to call it the hundred dollar store because it seems impossible for me to get out of there for under $100. And it doesn't do me one bit of good to go less often because then I just seem to be making up for all my "missed" visits.

Anyway, thanks to Costco, I think I have perfected the pulled pork sandwich. 

A few years back our Costco started selling a very eclectic variety of salsas under the brand name "Robert Rostchild Farms." They only seem to sell one kind at a time, but they keep swapping them out. In the winter time there is a darker red one that is cranberry-based (I think I haven't actually bought this one), in the summer it is more of a mango thing. A few months back they had a new one that is like pineapple-lime-tequila-coconut . . . yes, all of that is in there. Well, when I saw it, I decided to try it on my pulled pork.

The key to pulled pork is to use something on it that has a fair amount of vinegar. I also like a topping that can be used for pulled pork sandwiches or pulled pork tacos. I'm not a big fan of BBQ sauce, so I never cook it directly in the sauce, but add it later for those that do like it. Also, BBQ sauce burns to the side of your crock pot if it sits in there too long.

So this "recipe" is going to be less effective because it really won't include measurements, but here we go.

Pork roast--any variety. I like my meat a little paler and drier so I usually get a loin roast because it has more white meat on it. Get what you like! I usually get a pretty big one and cook a bunch, freezing the leftovers.

Funky salsa--I highly recommend the pineapple-lime-tequila-coconut stuff from Costco. If you cannot find it, a mixture of green tomatillo salsa and brown sugar is effective

Put the roast and about 1 1/2 cups of salsa in the crock pot on low for about 8 hours. Drain at least part of the juice off. Depending on how fatty your roast is, you don't want your pork soupy when you pull it.

Pull the roast with two forks until it is shredded and then add about another cup of your preferred salsa into the pork, stirring it really well. 

Toppings:

Onions are a must. For a healthy option, pickle a red onion in a cup of vinegar, half a cup of water and a few teaspoons of sugar. Seal the whole thing up in an airtight container, making sure all the onions are covered and leave in your fridge for several hours prior to putting them on your sandwich. For a less healthy option, and a real Southern-style sandwich, try these from Pioneer Woman.

Coleslaw is the next deal-breaker. I discovered coleslaw on pulled pork about two years ago and never looked back. To keep it simple I just buy a bag of shredded coleslaw mix cabbage and stir in a little bit of Lighthouse Brand coleslaw dressing. Again, a more healthy option is to add your cabbage to your pickled onions. It is less sweet and more tangy that way. 

Cilantro. There is a Vietnamese sandwich shop here in town that makes a great sandwich. They put a generous spring of cilantro on top of their sweet pork and pickled veggies.

The bread. I cannot overstate how important this is. Back to Costco and their bakery. You can buy sandwich buns in their bakery at about $5 for a dozen. They are very large and have the perfect texture for this sandwich. Especially when grilled a little bit. Oh. wow.

Plantboy didn't stop there. He added a sharp, creamy white cheddar (also from Costco). I opted out; I don't like cheese on sandwiches generally. He also put a large slice of red pepper right on top--more flavorful than a tomato this time of year. 

This school year I have found that anything that can be cooked in my crockpot is my favorite recipe. I only have one week of school left and dinners have been anything but consistent in recent weeks as I feel like all my domestic endeavors are coming apart at the seams. 

One week to go. I can do this. I can do this.

New beginnings

It seems like a good time to change the way things roll around here. I started work today, and though this is a thing I have wanted and worked toward for some time, it is not without its challenges. One of those is, naturally, finding ways to keep up with my hobbies. I will continue with full essays at Aspiring Mormon Women, but I think for the school year I am going to try a picture a day(ish). I may still write when the mood really strikes me, but I think a pictorial year in the life of Science Teacher Mommy could be fun.

This might be the last really great meal my family gets for a few weeks, but I wanted to try. Ratatouille over polenta with steak and salad.

The ratatouille was Padawan's idea. We will see if he likes it when he actually tries it!

YummOOOOOHHHH!

I have been meaning all year to send you to my husband's blog. This idea started in January. He is meant to be journaling (at least) weekly and recounting his garden adventures. Prep work. Planting. Growing. Harvesting. Cooking. Canning. And, bless his heart, we thought for two months this spring we might be moving and the garden went in late, then family came to visit twice and summer is his busy season at work. Oh, we are still gardening, and he has taken copious pictures, but the writing part has been a bit neglected. I think he still loves the idea, and maybe with mobile blogging he'll post more regularly. 

After an amazingly successful dinner tonight I decided it was time to post some of this stuff myself. Here I am, complete with the Florence Henson hairflip, the 1950's apron made lovingly by my mother. And barefoot. But decidedly NOT pregnant. Probably I'm just loaded up on good food.

For the 4th of July, the kids did their second annual produce and goodie stand. Jedi Knight worked in the garden for a couple of hours to help Plantboy get everything harvested and ready to go.

This is before the sale. I still have tons of onions, garlic and shallots drying on the back patio that I just use whenever. Because it has been hot this summer, our peas and beans didn't do nearly as well as they normally do, and the potato plant tops died off early, so while there are potatoes in the ground, they aren't really growing. Still, with all the sunshine and heat, the tomato crop is looking to be a bumper one. Every year brings a different experience and new things to learn. I think part of the reason Plantboy enjoys the garden so much is for the challenge of it.

 

 This was last Sunday's dinner offering: Crockpot roast, balsamic pesto, string vegetables over farfalle pasta. The roast was cooked in Plantboy's Italian style stewed tomatoes that he canned last fall. The pesto was made with basil and shallots from the garden. I used a cool shredder tool on three colors of carrots, zucchini and yellow summer squash (all from our garden) for the pasta. The pesto went on top of the pasta and veggies, but they were too pretty to photograph with anything covering them. When you add the vinegar to your pesto it loses some of that pretty green color, but it gains a huge amount of flavor. There are also red peppers in with the veggies, but not ours yet. We still have a couple of weeks to go on peppers. 

 This next meal is Plantboy's fresh caught salmon with two types of quinoa. The veggies include carrots and orange squash (cubed, purchased) that I roasted together in a pan with a teaspoon or two of brown sugar. There is also asparagus and roasted beets. This year we planted nearly all yellow beets because they can be cooked with other food without making everything turn purple!

 This next one is so pretty I could hardly stand to eat it. The meat is from my crockpot cookbook and is called chicken Provencal. Cook the chicken in a can of stewed Italian tomatoes (again, I used Plantboy's) and a can of paste. Add salt, pepper, onions and garlic to taste. About an hour before serving throw chopped red and yellow pepper. In the middle are Israeli couscous. Good luck finding these bad boys, but I think they are worth it. Market of Choice used to sell them in bulk, but this time around we had to buy them in a bag and they were pricey. They are just like huge couscous. They are awesome with Mediterranean food or to make into a lemony-pine nut pasta salad. Hot or cold. Whatever. The veggies here are shredded zucchini and yellow squash topped with fresh Parmesan. I sauteed them in olive oil for about three minutes. Fresh basil. Of course.

Padawan has taken to calling this pie Pentaberry Pie, rather than the traditional Razzleberry pie because it has FIVE different berries. Marion, rasp, blue, straw and black. Awesome. Just awesome. I followed the recipe I posted here before but used a deep dish pie plate and added about 50% more berries and corresponding flour and sugar. I also made a regular dish . . . which, truthfully baked up a little better. But honestly, there were two solid inches of berries in this thing when it was cooled and cut. It was so pretty I wanted to cry. 

 This next meal is boiled garden potatoes--two varieties, just whatever we had, fresh blueberries (picked at a local farm; our garden doesn't produce a lot all at once), green beans locally grown and Plantboy's salmon grilled with a hint of brown sugar and purple onions. His dipping sauce is one we found at Costco. Habenero something or other. I made my pulled pork in the stuff last weekend and it was pretty much the best ever.

 How is a dinner list complete without breakfast-dinner? Eggs and bacon NOT grown in the backyard. Not a real animal person here. Fingerling potatoes boiled for a few minutes and then fried in butter and olive oil with fresh shallot and rosemary. The waffle is a to-die-for liege waffle topped for dinner and not dessert--avocado, strawberries, and feta. There was a drizzle of reduced balsamic and/or olive oil for the waffle too. And if you've never had berries and feta in reduced balsamic, well, then, you aren't a true foodie yet.

 I end up with about ten of these pictures every year. Plantboy gets his carrots all harvested, cleaned and lined up and can't help but take pictures. If you are already growing carrots, then get a packet of COLORED carrot seeds next year. Really. It will make you so happy. And if you aren't growing carrots, then, seriously, get on it. What are you waiting for? These beauties are actually no bigger than my index finger. They were the ones Plantboy pulled up when he had to thin the crop. I didn't peel them (too small); I sauteed them as-is. Tops and everything. So lovely. That is a bit of spinach hanging out over on the side. In April and May we had garden salad just about every night.

  
The only thing from the garden here is probably the purple onion . . . we made these a little early in the season for them to be from our garden. Those are sweet potatoes (or yams or whatever you call the red garnet ones), not carrots. I boiled the s.p. and the red potatoes for a couple of minutes before skewering them. It is okay to point out here that somebody with skewers this organized probably has obsessive-compulsive disorder. Yeah. I know.

 An early strawberry harvest. During June we were picking almost this many about every three days. We picked up at a local u-pick farm also so that there were plenty for jam and smoothies for the next several months.

  
Okay, okay, these next two have absolutely nothing to do with the garden, and everything to do with processed sugar, but they are just so cute. I discovered a new kind of food coloring called color gels that are so much better than regular food coloring. The colors are more vibrant and there is no bitter taste. The Youngling got an Oregon Ducks cake for his birthday and Padawan took a Cookie Monster cake to the Blue and Gold banquet. The best part about Cookie Monster is that he was just as blue inside!

 This little creation is called Jarfait. Plantboy and I had this at a delightful restaurant in Newport in June, and then I came home and made up my own version. It is basically a personal trifle. I layered angel food cake, homemade custard (not too sweet) with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries from the garden. Oh, yeah, everybody loves a Jarfait.

The kids are getting to be better pickers. This was our u-pick haul in about 45 minutes at the farm. Plantboy found out when they were going to be the most "on" and he came home at lunch one day to help us. Freezer jam for a whole year, baby!

 This has been a wonderful year for our harvest. In every way. Although I'm beginning to feel the pressure that comes from beginning a new job and making life changes, I'm also feeling enormously blessed for the life we have here in Oregon. There is so much to see and do and love here. Happy eating!

What We Ate

I am thinking a lovely blog would involve me writing down what we eat from our garden each day/week and then taking pictures of it.

So many things to do. . . . so little time.

But this is the week in which I say we are really beginning to enjoy the goodness that is living in Oregon. So far this is what we had:

Saturday: Strawberry Julius with copious amounts of garden strawberries.

Sunday: Strawberry-rhubarb crisp. I usually just put in the latter, but Plantboy convinced me to add the berries because he thinks the rhubarb alone is too tart. And, honestly, the strawberries are coming out our ears. We also had balsamic vinegar roasted red and yellow beets. The beets were so tiny and tender and delicious that I nearly cried for joy. We've planted these in waves and I hope to enjoy them all summer long. I was meant to make Pioneer Woman's fried onion strings too, but I kind of forgot. These will have to make the menu later this week. Sweet and tender and crunchy and, oh, boy, they are good. I won't buy onions or garlic or shallots for the foreseeable future. I served two types of potatoes, neither of which are ready yet, but I did garden chives on the mashed sweet potatoes and rosemary in the fried fingerlings. Oh, and there was broccoli too.

Monday: Crispy Asian Salad. I used a combination of lettuce from the garden and store bought. Truthfully, we are a bit at the tail end of our lettuce. The butter lettuce all got to large and bitter. The mixed garden greens are still okay because it has been pretty cool. We've been eating lettuce for probably a month or more. Garden toppings for the salad included onions, colored carrots and strawberries. Okay, Plantboy had strawberries, I thought they were just a little much for the dressing, but he said the dressing was so good that once everything got coated in the stuff you couldn't really tell the difference anyway. Hmm....

Tonight: Lemon Rosemary bread with rosemary from the garden. I am serving a side of carrots with the lemon-cream sauce and grilled chicken, but my own are not quite ready. Yesterday's were a bit premature.  So close.

The brilliant thing about this time of year is just going out and seeing what is ready to pick. It is quite lovely really. Dinner plans shift around more this time of year because it just depends on what is "on." In a week or two I'm going to have so many potatoes that I'll hardly know what to do. Any suggestions for new and delectable ways to use them are welcome.

See wouldn't it make a lovely blog? It would require regular posting, focus to an idea, commitment to taking really good pictures . . . . yeah, so not for me. Maybe it would be a great project for Plantboy.

Experience the Divine

Today was just a lovely day. Start to finish. Busy, but interspersed with moments of delightful peace. Late in 2010, a few months of remarkable missionary work led some wonderful people to join the Church. The first, a single sister, who later married her member boyfriend, is now getting ready to go to the temple and will be sealed to her husband in June. I'll be going to Salt Lake for the sealing. They came over tonight for dinner and we worked through a couple of lessons in the temple prep manual. The others who joined the Church in 2010 were a remarkable family. They also hit an important milestone today of which Plantboy was blessed to play an important role. Today was just what Sunday should be.

And I made this for dinner. You should make it this week. Really, you should.

Bacon and Blue Cheese Wedge Salad

Iceberg lettuce
Bacon
Blue Cheese Dressing
Blue Cheese crumbles 
Thinly sliced Red Onion
Pepper

Wash and quarter your lettuce. It will seem like a lot, but trust me, it is hard to stop eating once you stop. Quarters it is.

I used half a package of bacon when I made mine. For ease in crumbling and cooking, don't separate the bacon, but cut the slices into 1/2 inch strips and throw them all into pan on medium heat. Use a spatula to stir the bacon often. It will cook beautifully. Drain onto paper towels and let it cool.

I purchased a good quality blue cheese dressing, and it was really thick. I wanted more drizzling than scooping consistency, so I mixed in a couple of teaspoons of milk.

Drizzle the dressing on the wedges. Sprinkle with onions, cheese crumbles and bacon. Liberally add fresh cracked pepper on the top.

Let's just say that bacon and blue cheese are pretty much the match made in Heaven. The above picture isn't mine, but my result was similar. I did not use tomato because they are so horrible this time of year. Late in the summer, when the cherry tomatoes start coming out our ears in the back yard, I would definitely add them. Other on-line recipes used variations with green onions, purple cabbage and cucumbers.

But really, just admit it, it's all about the bacon.

Not Yo Momma's Fruit Salad

Plantboy didn't trust me at first when he brought all of those delightful ripe berries in the house from the garden and I wanted to do more than just wash them and throw them on the table, but he learned to trust me. And you should too.

Not Yo Momma's Fruit Salad

* 2 cups of fruit in any combination of the following--kiwi (Zespri brand only, please), blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and/or raspberries
* 1/2 cup good quality balsamic vinegar (Costco actually sells an excellent one)
* 4 Tbsp white sugar
* Crumbled feta cheese



About an hour before serving, make a balsamic vinegar reduction by combining the sugar and the vinegar over low-medium heat, whisking frequently until the mixture thickens slightly. Take some time on this: you don't want to burn/crystallize the mixture. You want to just steam the moisture out of it. You also don't want to reduce it TOO much because then you end up with syrup. That is actually quite awesome too, but you want something that will cool to a dressing texture, not a solid.

When your reduction begins sticking to a spoon, put it in the fridge to cool. Slice larger fruit (strawberries and kiwi) into bite-sized chunks and toss it with the smaller fruit. Drizzle cool dressing down over the top and let it sit for about ten minutes before serving. The fruit will begin to lose some of its moisture to the dressing and make it fruity and tangy at the same time.

Just before serving, sprinkle the top with feta. (The cheese isn't as pretty if it absorbs the dressing.)

Other options:

Spoon the fruit over the top of pound cake, then drizzle generous portions of the dressing/syrup over the whole thing.

Dip anything you have on hand into the reduction. It is my new favorite thing.


The garden has been my best friend this week. Wednesday it was a delightful all-vegetable dinner--creamed peas with sweet onions over new potatoes, roasted golden beets and tri-colored carrots, salad from the garden. The night I served the above it was with bacon spaghetti (using Plantboy's canned Italian Tomatoes and loads of fresh basil) with lemon rosemary bread. Since I cannot get the balsamic vinegar reduction or my new crepe pan out of my head, Sunday is going to be grilled chicken and roasted vegetable crepes drizzled with the stuff with a side of caprese salad and green beans. And next time you have a hamburger, you must (MUST) add a thick slice of roasted red or golden beet to the top. It tastes like Australia.






I suddenly feel so hungry.

Should Have Taken a Picture

The roasted vegetable sauce last night wasn't good. It was awesome. The above picture? Not so much. It came from some where else. Though, on the upside, while looking for a great picture I found a whole blog that is great.

The recipe below made two generous helpings, so probably more like 4 if you are into something called "moderation." It is a radical idea I haven't quite gotten my head around yet.

Roasted Vegetable Sauce over Polenta

Polenta

3 1/4 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup cornmeal
3 Tbsp butter (plus more for frying polenta)

Sauce

2 Medium Tomatoes
1 large red pepper
2 small zucchini squashes
1 head of garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil


Boil water and salt (if your butter is salted, you my want to halve this amount). Add cornmeal and reduce heat to low. Whisk rapidly for two or three minutes until all water is absorbed, and the cornmeal is smooth and thick. Remove from heat and add butter, whisking until melted and creamy. Spread the polenta into a lightly buttered (or sprayed) 8 (or 9) inch square casserole dish, making the top as even as possible and of uniform thickness. Refrigerate until completely cooled so that it can be cut--about two hours.

To roast vegetables: Halve and seed the tomatoes and place them skin side down on a baking pan. Quarter the pepper and put it skin side down also. Cut the ends off the zucchini and slice length-wise and lay peel-side down. Cut the top of the head of garlic off, exposing the heads. Brush everything generously with a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add pepper (fresh, if you have it) and salt. Roast at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

To assemble your dish before dinner, remove the polenta from the fridge and cut it in to 8 rectangles. In a non-stick pan (iron skillet is perfect), heat (medium) a combination of butter and olive oil. Be generous. The butter will help flavor the polenta, but the oil will not burn as quickly. While your oil heats, peal the skin from your cooled peppers and tomatoes. It should come off easily. Place all of your tomatoes in a blender (I used a Magic Bullet because the amount was so small.) along with half of the red pepper and zucchini. Scoop the soft, sweet garlic from the heads and add it to the blender with the basil. Puree this mixture.

Add the polenta to the butter pan. You want to cook it fast enough that it gets a crusty shell instead of just being greasy, but slow enough that it doesn't burn. You should only turn it once. About five minutes on each side.

While the polenta cooks, puree your vegetables and add them to a sauce pan. Chop the remaining roasted zucchini and peppers to add some chunkiness to the sauce. When the sauce heats through, taste. Add ins for more flavor might include dried oregano (could also be added in the roasting phase), red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.

When the polenta is cooked on both sides, serve immediately with the sauce spooned on to the top (it will be thick). Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garnish with more basil.

We ate it with a side salad and homemade bread sticks.

AWESOME.

Oh, and I did find this. If you don't want to puree the veggies, just grill them and serve polenta by the slice (use a pie plate) with your favorite marinara from a jar. THIS is up for next week. And on a sciencey vegetarian note, serving squash and corn together makes a complete protein.

Recipe Help??

I am trying to switch our family over to a more vegetarian-based diet. Lots of reasons.

What I do NOT have a lot of are recipe ideas, or tricks for eating more vegetarian.

This week's vegetarian fare will include the following:

* Rolled Lasagne with meatless sauce, salad and rosemary-lemon bread

* Black Bean and Corn salad with quinoa

What have you got that I can try next week? I'd like to experiment with curries and polenta and squashes and beans. Tofu, not so much.

Breaking Up

I am so over you, Baked Cheesecake.

Do you remember ward parties growing up, and every get together in college, somebody would bring that Jell-O No Bake Cheesecake that tasted, well, like death? Especially when somebody had the brain wave to put a can of hypo-sugar cherries on top of it?

I was actually in college before I tried this horrible stuff. A roommate made it, and I ate it (it was SUGAR, after all), but the whole time I was wearing the you've-got-to-be-kidding me face. You see, the no-bake cheesecake recipe I grew up on is the one that used to be on the back of every can of Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk. Four ingredients. Ease itself. And a family of six who fought like gladiators for the last two pieces in the pie dish.

In fact, I was in college before I even realized there was a thing called "baked cheesecake." I thought cheesecake was my mother's divine simplicity or the Jell-O monstrosity.

Discovering baked cheesecake was like wandering in the wilderness for forty years and finally glimpsing the promised land. For years I have dabbled in different recipes, and I often get it at restaurants on those rare dessert-dates. I sometimes daydream about a springform pan, half a dozen eggs and enough cream cheese to satisfy even my lusts. I have imagined myself pulling the PERFECT cheesecake from the oven, waiting patiently for complete cooling, and serving it to awed guests from far and wide.

Am I crazy?

Perhaps. But that is neither here nor there.

But today. Valentine's Day. I have created the perfect . . . no . . . no. . . you didn't misunderstand. The PERFECT dessert. You never break up unless you trade up.

STM's No Bake Cheesecake

1 graham cracker crust (I did homemade this time; I think it would be divine to use one of those pecan nut-crusts also)
2 bars cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 large lemon
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

Beat your cream cheese with a mixer until it is fluffy and smooth. Slowly pour the sc milk into the cream cheese, continually beating. When it is smooth, add a teaspoon of lemon zest and then 2 Tbsp of fresh squeezed lemon juice. When the mixture is smooth and blended, pour in the cream, beating for another minute or two until everything is slightly fluffy. Add the vanilla and keep beating until everything is smooth. Spoon it into the crust, making sure to leave behind plenty in the bowl for liberal licking. And I mean VERY liberal.

Chill for at least five hours before serving.

Thank me later.

In other news . . . .

1- My 200-miler is now looking more like a half-marathon in July. We ended up a few short of being able to get a team together. I was rather relieved, truthfully. I started strong and then got sick for three weeks. The last week's exercise has felt a bit like starting over.

2- Our YW New Beginnings program was last Wednesday and it turned out completely cool. I wrote a really sweet little play for our girls to perform and it turned out nearly perfect. E-mail me is you do Young Women stuff in your own ward and want a copy of it.

3- I have braces. Hating that. There will not be pictures.

4- Our Relief Society teacher on Sunday quoted Hugh Nibley. Liberally. I LOVE her.

5- Wicked tickets arrived in the mail this week. Wa-hoo.

The cheesecake was the "frosting" on an amazing dinner (if I do say so myself). If you want more recipes, just let me know. I'm more than happy to share THE BEST CHICKEN EVER. Really.

A Fabulous Dinner

In an effort to cut through some of the drama, and because we've been sick all month here and food preparation has been bare bones, I really cooked last night. And it was good.

Tandoori Chicken
Spicy Cucumber Salad
Basmati Rice with golden raisins
Stir-fried Carrots with pine nuts
Naan bread

I didn't love my recipe for tandoori chicken. I wanted something that tasted like it, but created more of a sauce that could be used over my rice. I wasn't a big fan of the yogurt based marinades I found--they didn't add a lot of flavor and dairy doesn't really cook that well.

What I will try next time is stewing my chicken (we are strictly a boneless skinless family around here, but truthfully, thighs would probably work better) in a crock pot mixture of the following:

Lemon juice and zest
Cumin
Paprika (a LOT compared to other spices)
Coriander (my new favorite spice--bring on the experimental dishes)
Cardamom
Ginger
Garlic
Cayenne pepper (to taste)
Black pepper
Salt
A yellow onion
Tomato puree (not much)
Figs


I would let all this sit in the crock pot for several hours until the chicken can be shredded into the sauce. I want it to look like this:

Plantboy's rice concoction as a delight, as it always is. Here is a more precise recipe:

1 cup brown basmati rice
1 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cinnamon stick (remove when cooked)
Black pepper
Salt

Delightful! It was so good scooped up with the chicken (dry as it was!) and with the carrots, which were just large carrots, cut on an angle and stir fried in olive oil with a handful of pine nuts. And while we are on the subject: pine nuts make almost everything nicer. At $19/pound, they better!

We have been using a lot of naan bread lately. I discovered it last summer. Served from my cupboard or fridge it is so mediocre, but served after being warmed on the stove top . . . Oh, wow. I mean WOW. Like baked scones straight from Heaven. We are using the leftovers for pizza tonight.



The last thing (which is a salad, so it really should be first!) is this recipe. I also really like this blog that it comes from. She blogs about food and hiking in Boulder, Colorado. The writing is nothing fantastic, but her pictures are gorgeous and her recipes wonderful. I sometimes think I want her life, and then I remember that I find children so much more appealing than dogs.

The Perfect Fall Treat

As it turns out, there is more than one. I

Here are a few samplings. Each of these four pairings has something in common: they each include an ingredient that says "Autumn" like nothing else.

Apples.
Pumpkin.
Tomatoes.
Hazelnuts.

This first is an apple dip that can be made up in about 5 minutes, and everywhere you go, people will want the recipe and guess and guess about the ingredients without getting it right. Jedi Knight loves this stuff so much that when I start buying lots of really crispy new apples this time of year he begins asking for it every day. Years ago, I served it at a book group and when we polished the plate of apples off in about ten minutes, Plantboy came in, and with more than a little snark he asked if we just wanted spoons. I promptly replied, "Yes," and we finished the bowl so thoroughly that you could only hear clinking. We had too much dignity in front of one another to lick the bowl, but I believe if anyone of us had been alone the story might have been very different.

Apple Dip

1. Stir or beat two soft squares of cream cheese until smooth. (There are four here--none of today's pictures are actually mine.)



2. Add half a cup of packed brown sugar, stirring until well blended. The original recipe had a lot more sugar, but I really like being able to taste the cream cheese.


3. Stir in one bag of toffee chips. You can find these at the grocery store in the baking aisle, with the other kinds of chips. Heath sells both plain:


and chocolate covered:


Unfortunately (or not) my grocery store doesn't sell the plain ones. Therefore, we are forced to put chocolate in the apple dip. Too bad.

Any firm apple with some tartness to it works great in this treat. Our favorites are Granny Smiths:



And Yellow Delicious, of which I have to buy about a dozen a week this time of year (also, I said "Granny Smiths" as a plural. Should I say "Yellow Deliciouses?"):





Now wait, don't run to the kitchen just yet. We've got a couple more.




For my book group last week I served apple dip, but I wanted something to go with it. I settled on pumpkin bread. My bread turned out exactly as it was supposed to, and I used this recipe. It was entirely adequate, but not amazing. I cannot even say what it was missing, as the recipe was nearly identical to my zucchini bread, which I love. I even added that not-so-secret pinch of cardamom and it still didn't knock my socks off.


I want a pumpkin bread recipe so great that it makes me want to buy up canned pumpkin in great quantities in the fall so that I have it stockpiled for the off season, or in times of famine. I want it to melt in my mouth and leave me a little bit speechless with joy for the explosion of autumn in my mouth. Still, it was pretty remarkable when topped with the afore-mentioned apple dip. (Face it, dog poop might even be appealing topped with that stuff.) My favorite pairing for sweet bread, however, is with soft, spreadable cheese on it, like Laughing Cow; or in a tribute to my amazing grandmother--a thick slice of cheddar. But I can't bring myself to spread it with butter first the way she does!


This next recipe is for bruschetta. Now don't go scrolling ahead thinking you know all about bruschetta. I'm pretty sure you've never had Plantboy's bruschetta.

You have to start in the spring for his bruschetta--tenaciously hitting local nurseries for odd, heirloom tomato varieties. You have to plant them at exactly the right moment. It must be early enough for them to have the season to ripen, but late enough that the last spring freeze doesn't do in your tender starts. You must also put them in exactly the right spot. They need loads of sun, but you don't want to burn their leaves either. You must water and dig about them with organic fertilizer. You must whisper sweet nothings to them each long summer day.



Okay, maybe not the last, but I swear that is what Plantboy does.

I've had a half a dozen people this year tell me that they have NO tomatoes. Nada. Zip. Our vines are so full that Plantboy has taken to freezing them while we make time to can them.

When your heirloom and red tomatoes are ready to go, then you are ready to create Bruschetta that will make you believe any course beyond appetizer is over-rated.


Plantboy's Garden Bruschetta

2 cups chopped tomatoes (use a variety of types for colors and textures. Grape tomatoes, sliced in circles, are especially lovely!)



2 Tbsp really good olive oil. Costco sells an amazing one, when you unscrew the lid, it smells like a rich combination of flowers and fruit. I always feel like such a geek when I open it and just stand there for a few seconds, transfixed by the wonder and possibility of that smell.



3 tsp balsamic vinegar--the good stuff, old and syrupy

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (and while we are at it, we should just admit that any recipe containing the words "chopped fresh basil" is going to be awesome, and make your kitchen smell awesome. Please put this in your garden next year if you are able. Even the plainest spaghetti from a jar can pass for special if you add this crucial herb.)



3 diced shallots (we've discovered that using shallot instead of garlic still gives a wonderful, garlicky flavor without overpowering the tomatoes as much as raw garlic. And without giving you breath that could drive away any lurking vampires or eager spouses. If you like garlic, throw in a clove or two on top of the shallot, or instead of. I'm not fussy; it is YOUR food, after all.)




Fresh ground black pepper to taste (a LOT! I used to use more salt to flavor things, but the problem with using salt in plant-based dishes is that it causes the food to lose its moisture. The plant cells lose moisture to surroundings that are too salt. This causes the cell membranes to sag against plant cell walls, resulting in limpness. Even vegetables that aren't overcooked go limp if they are salted. Put the salt on the table instead of IN stir-frys, salsas, veggie side dishes, etc.)

Toss everything together and pair with french or artisan baguettes that have been drizzled with olive oil and browned in a broiler. It is just so good.



As for the last dish, you heard me correctly when I said "hazelnuts." These delicious nuts are a real Oregon favorite, and most of the hazelnuts in the world come from the filbert orchards right here in the Northwest. This one might not be quite as easy to have at your house, but I would like to point out that the offer to visit still stands.

This pairing is so awesome because besides hazelnuts,


it also includes, you guessed it, chocolate.


Hazelnut Fudge Ice Cream with Brownies

I have to admit to having no recipe for hazelnut ice cream. There are several recipes on-line, most of which include some cocoa in them, making them pale brown in color.



We bought a locally made hazelnut icecream that has swirls of fudge in it and chunks of hazelnuts. Think tin-roof-sundae-on-speed. I do, however, have a divine brownie recipe:


1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips or nuts (or both!)

Preheat oven 350 degrees, Grease an 8 inch square pan. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Add cocoa and stir until blended. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Stir in vanilla, flour and salt, stirring until just blended. Fold in nuts and/or chips. Spread in prepared pan and bake 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Don't worry, they'll still be very soft!




Oh, good grief, I'm hungry.