Cooking from the Farmers Market

When I embarked on my journey of cooking through three cookbooks in 6 weeks, I was looking forward to this one the most. Jodi Liano has done a marvelous job incorporating education with delicious recipes. To add to this, Cooking from the Farmers Market is also a beautiful pictorial representation of seasonal food from the Farmers Market. Most recipes are pretty simple, flavorful, and healthy, but will also impress a wide variety of dinner guests.

The first part of the book lays out what the rest of the book will look like, as well as several pages of very well organized charts indicating when specific fruits and vegetables are in season. I found this particularly helpful, as I am often lost as to when fruits and veggies are at their peak.

After all of the initial information, the book delves into specific foods. Organization wise, it could not have been done better—like foods grouped together in chapters with helpful tips in buying, storing, and cooking. For example, citrus is together, and within the chapter oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and limes are all discussed. Each specific food has 3 recipes to get you started, typically pretty simple, but accentuating the ingredient you are using.

I made many, though not nearly all, of the recipes and want to highlight 4 of my favorites. My favorite vegetable sides were Broccoli with Red Pepper Flakes and Green Beans with Walnuts. Each was incredibly simple and fast, easily made in a few minutes on a weeknight, but a delicious addition to any dinner. For a fancier side or appetizer, try the Tomato Tart. I used store bought puff pastry, making this a pretty simple recipe, yet impressive to anyone who tries it!

Saving the best for last, her berry cobbler recipe was fantastic. I was a little more rustic with the dough, just dropping pieces haphazardly on individual ramekins full of the delicious blackberries. The whole dessert took maybe 20 minutes to prepare, baked while we had dinner, and finished off our dinner marvelously. I can imagine with a little bit of ice cream or fresh whipped cream it can only get better.

Overall, I highly recommend this cookbook, even if just for a better understanding of what is in season and how to pick the best produce. If you leave it out as a coffee table book, I can almost guarantee your guests will pick it up and enjoy looking through the book as much as you will.

I was given a digital copy of this cookbook to review, but was not required to write a positive review. All opinions in this review are mine.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

This is my first dish from Giada's cookbook, which, may I say, I am extremely excited about! When we requested that I review her book a few weeks ago, we figured it would be a "no" since she is so well known, and I've never reviewed a cookbook before. Two weeks later, I still didn't have an answer, so I requested the other two books I am reviewing. Shortly thereafter I got an email that Giada's was approved and I have now spent hours pouring over all of the books, making a plan of action for the summer.

I have made many of Giada's dishes in the past and I'm rarely disappointed. This dish pleased everyone who ate it and I'll admit, I was nervous. I have a tendency to steer clear of brussels sprouts, mostly because when I was a kid my mom hated them, so she never made us eat them when she would make them for our dad. Funny thing, that wasn't true with anything else--we even had to eat liver when she made it. But brussels sprouts? Nope. In my mind that meant they were worse than liver--not true.

The key to using brussels sprouts here is cutting them into thin strips, that way it isn't as though you are eating an entire head of little cabbage. Along with the lemon and mushrooms, this dish, in the words of my husband, "tasted like summer". I added some ground turkey to the portion I made for my boss, and they ate everything I left for them. Even the little one loved it--just stuck his in the food processor until chunky. Parmesan is expensive (use fresh, not the shelf stable dried cheese), so I only used a little more than half of what is called for. Using an entire cup would be phenomenal!

To get around my copyright worries, I am linking directly to the recipe. Giada is great like that, with most of her recipes online, I can give credit where credit is due! Play around with the recipe if you want, but it is great as written. Adding a little meat is also great (I hear), but the vegetarian version is really yummy. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

Cooking through three Cookbooks

In an attempt to set goals for this summer and see myself as being productive as well as enjoying myself, I am currently reviewing three different cookbooks and cooking from each of them at least twice a week. Joshua will be gone for two separate weeks this summer on top of studying for the Bar almost every day. Each weekend day and evening is now an adventure in finding ways to occupy and enjoy myself.

Cooking is not always an evening activity, often it is my afternoons at work as Little One sleeps, but with many evenings free now, there is no better time to try out new recipes for our lunches and snacks.

The three cookbooks I am reviewing are Weeknights with Giada by Giada De Laurentiis, Meals that heal Inflammation by Julie Daniluk, and Cooking from the Farmers Market by Jodi Liano, Tasha DeSerio, Jennifer Maiser. Over the next several weeks I'll try to post how we liked each recipe. I'm still trying to figure out the copyright stuff--my conscience doesn't feel great about posting full recipes that belong to someone else who just printed a cookbook. As soon as I figure that out I'll let you know, but if you are interested in any of the books, click the links above and feel free to get a copy. The pictures in the first and last books are incredible--I am really enjoying them!

Butterflied Rosemary Chicken with Fig Dipping Sauce

I made this several weeks back when my boss's mom happened to be staying the night. She asked for me to send her the recipe and I finally got around to typing it up. I figured I would post it, that way everyone can enjoy this yummy dinner!

I am going to teach you something fancy today. Butterflying a chicken. Sounds fancy, but it's super easy:

1) Place your chicken breast side down

2) With kitchen shears cut along both sides of the backbone, removing and discarding the bone. 3) Flip the chicken over and push the breast bone down with the heel of your hand until you hear a snap, or just think it's snapped.

4) Your chicken should now be laying pretty flat and look very loosely like a butterfly.

Let's get cooking:

Butterflied Rosemary Chicken with Fig Sauce (Adapted from Parents March 2012)

Chicken:

2 Tbs Olive Oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1 Tbs minced fresh rosemary

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

1 Tbs finely zested lemon peel

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 3.5-4 lb chicken, butterflied

Sauce:

1 cup fig butter (I got mine from Trader Joe's, a butter just means that there is more fruit than any other ingredient, mostly sugar)

3/4 cup apricot preserves

2 Tbs lemon juice

1/2 stem fresh rosemary (keep on the stem, you'll remove before you serve)

1 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less depending on the level of spice you like)

1) Set a rack in the middle of a 400F preheated oven.

2) Line baking pan with foil and then spray with non stick cooking spray.

3) In a bowl mix together 1 Tbs oil and the following 7 ingredients. At this point I smell and kind of taste the seasoning, if you think it needs anything, add it now.

4) Loosen the skin over the breast and legs of the chicken and really massage the mixture into the chicken under the skin. Place the chicken breast side up on the pan and drizzle the remaining oil over the skin. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper, this makes the skin crispy and super yummy.

5) Roast uncovered for 45 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 170 degrees. Let rest for 10 minutes after it has been removed from the oven, before cutting into it. This lets all the juices redistribute throughout the chicken, making it super moist.

6) While your chicken is cooking put all of the sauce ingredients into a pan on medium and bring up to a boil. This is where you adjust to your tastes, if you think it needs more fig, add more, if it needs more apricot, add more. When it comes to this kind of cooking you are the cook, so make what tastes good to you! Let it cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let all the flavors develop for about 5-10 minutes (or until the chicken comes out). Remove the rosemary stem before serving with your chicken.

7) Cut the chicken into 8 pieces and enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili

Both of my bosses love turkey chili. I do mean love--I could probably make it almost every night and they would be happy. When I made the pasta sauce last week, I am pretty sure my boss thought I was making chili, but, sadly, I was not.

To make it up to them I decided today felt like a chili day. For some reason winter seems to be making a small appearance, pretty sure I saw a few snowflakes this morning when we were grocery shopping. Maybe 3, maybe 4--nothing to get excited about, but, definitely chili weather.

Mondays are our grocery shopping day, which always takes much longer than it should with two stores to visit and a little one in tow. I try to make something quick and easy, then, so I can have 5 minutes to sit and breathe when little one takes a nap.

I think I have adapted turkey chili into veggie chili for Josh and I at least once before today. It's so yummy, though, I had to share. I thought I would really miss the meat, but this is chunky enough that it is really satisfying. To round out the meal I normally make a batch of cornbread, sometimes from scratch, sometimes plain old Jiffy.

*Note: Please adapt how much cayenne and chili powder you use based on how spicy you like things! It is always better to start with less and add more. This is about a medium spiciness, you don't taste it much at first, but there is a big kick in the back of your throat. Cayenne adds most of the real heat and Chili powder is more of a subtle heat, so if you have a real aversion to spicy things, reduce the cayenne by half or so, if you love spicy things, add another 1/2 tsp. Again, it is always better to start light, you cannot make this less spicy if it gets too strong for you.

Also, you have to wait a good 10 minutes or so to really taste the spices, so don't taste immediately and decide you need more. Chili powder gets stronger the longer it sits.

Vegetarian Chili:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 onion, roughly diced

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 small box mushrooms, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes

1 28 oz can Tomato Sauce

1/2 28 oz can water (I use the water to get all of the tomato out of both cans and to thin the chili a little)

2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes (I get no salt added, the other two cans have plenty of salt)

1 28 oz can black beans

1 14 oz can kidney beans

Shredded Sharp Cheddar (optional)

1) Chop/dice all veggies and set aside.

2) Heat Olive oil over medium high heat in large sauce pan. Add onions, celery, and carrots. Saute until onions are soft, about 4-5 minutes.

3) Stir in mushrooms and garlic.

4) Add spices and thoroughly cover the veggies.

5) Pour the cans of tomatoes and extra water in the sauce pan.

6) Drain the cans of beans and rinse well. Add to the pot.

7) Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, then taste. Add cayenne for more spiciness or chili powder for a stronger "chili" flavor--it won't add very much spiciness to the dish, though.

8) Let simmer another 15 minutes or so, long enough for all the flavors to meld. Serve sprinkled with cheddar cheese.

This is a forgiving dish, you can let it simmer for an hour if needs be, or serve it pretty quickly. The longer it simmers the stronger and better it tastes.

Vegetarian Pasta

As my parents go through the journey of my dad dealing with cancer, they are trying to cut out more animal protein. It isn't easy to go from eating a lot of meat and dairy to finding healthy vegetarian recipes that actually taste good, so I am starting to send them some of the recipes I modify on the job for Joshua and I. I thought I'd share tonights, mostly because it literally took 15 minutes to make, has lots of veggies, and is yummy.

I call it "Dinner":

Any pasta you want (I used whole wheat Rigatoni--whole wheat has more fiber, but I'm not sure there are many other advantages in pasta form)

1 bottle of a yummy red sauce you like

1 yellow onion

1 or 2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 container mushrooms (any kind you like, I get what's on sale and already sliced--and Josh would tell you, I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms, but they don't overpower in this, so I can do it)

1/2-1 bag baby spinach (up to you)

1 can black beans

1/4 cup Red wine (or white)

1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning (little tip with dried seasonings, if you rub them in your hand as you dump them in, it helps release more of the oils into your food and give better flavor)

1 tsp Dried basil

1/2 tsp or so of garlic powder

Fresh parmesan cheese

Boil the noodles in salted water, drain, set aside.

Dice the onion and mushrooms. Tear the spinach in half or thirds.

Saute the onions with a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large saucepan (yes, saucepan, this is so it will be all in one dish, I used the pan I had boiled the noodles in once I drained them--cut all the veggies while the noodles were boiling).

Once the onions are transparent, add the italian seasoning, basil, mushrooms, and spinach. Saute for about a minute, until the spinach is wilted and the mushrooms seem kinda soft.

Add the wine and bring to a simmer (just a minute or two). Add the bottle of spaghetti sauce and the black beans. Bring to a simmer.

Turn off the stove, add the noodles, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Garlic toast is always yummy as a side...

Side note--I used what veggies I had in the fridge, cut up carrots, celery, bell peppers, etc would all work. Use what you like, leave out what you don't. The goal is to get a good 2-3 servings of veggies in this one dish, trust me, your body will thank you!

Second side note--While making my own sauce works sometimes, I have decided I like doctoring up bottled sauce, because canned tomatoes leach BPA out of cans, which is not good, so I tell myself all the bottled sauces were only in the fresh tomato form. This is possibly not true, but, my mind likes that idea better. Oh, and it's quicker.

Enjoy!

Goals for 2012 revisited

It's that time. I am long overdue looking at all of my goals to see how I have been doing the past month and a half. This is my evaluation of the nine I set and how I might adjust to do better in each.

1) Begin to learn Spanish: I feel pretty confident this one is going very well. Joshua and I are enjoying our Spanish class on Wednesday nights and, though I only know simple questions, my desire to learn more is growing.

2) Read the Bible every morning: weekday mornings have been pretty consistent, I am less faithful on the weekends, but Joshua has been helping us read on Saturday and Sunday mornings more consistently. What I am not doing well here is enjoying what I am reading. I have been completely exhausted the last several weeks, for some reason, so getting up has been very difficult, and too often I look at this as just a task that has to be done. My attitude is what needs to change here.

3) Yoga every weekday morning: Hmmm, I was really good at this the first couple of weeks in January. Now 5:30 is SO early and all I want to do is set my alarm until 6. I am thinking about changing this up a little and stumbling out of my nice, cozy, warm bed into the cold, dark gym in the mornings, so I get a little more exercise. I think my exhaustion is probably, at least in part, due to the lack of exercise I am getting, so this needs to be a priority.

4) Be a better listener to both my husband and others: Ugh, I thought I was doing well at this, but I think I am not doing as well as I should. I react too quickly in emotion, especially to Joshua, and don't really talk through things. And I am still saying "no" too often in disagreeing with him instead of allowing him to speak, so that he feels I really do value his opinion. Hopefully I'll train my mouth to not open and talk quite so much, so I can listen better.

5) Be more selfless and giving in my actions: To be honest, I don't feel that I am doing poorly or well in this area. What I'm trying to say is, I don't know if I have had too many examples, at least that I remember. Though, I do need to be more selfless with Joshua. Last weekend, though, we had several friends over, and I do feel the Lord worked on my attitude a lot to be happy people were here and not secretly wishing I could go to bed! (I like my sleep way too much)

6) Learn to care only for God's pleasure and then my husband's: Obviously I still need work on this one, but I will say I am slowly seeing progress in my bad habit of comparing myself to others and the normal emotional breakdowns Joshua would have to listen to (though, he may not agree with this...). This one is a constant work in progress, but I'm hoping through a lot (a LOT) of prayer and disciplining my mind, I will stop worrying what other people might think so much.

7 & 8) Have a firm understanding of where most all of our products come from and buy more local produce: This one has not stuck yet, but I really wasn't sure it would until we moved in August. Since my job is to cook for my employers, I don't have a lot of freedom to buy exactly what I would if it was just Joshua and I. Which means, there are a lot of things I buy that I wish I wasn't buying, but I do it to save money and to make my life a little easier as I try to cook and take care of a little one.

9) Be more comfortable being quiet with myself: I am having a very hard time with this, but I do think I am somewhat better with trying to give Joshua quiet time and having it be quiet around the house while I work a lot of the time.

10) I am adding a tenth, because I want to. I want to begin doing research on gardening and which foods to plant when for the area we are moving to, with the goal that I could possibly have a garden this fall.

Overall, I think I am doing well, but there is definitely room for improvement. I do have another 10 months to really work at this, though, so I feel pretty confident that I will continue to get better. I will continue over the months to look at my progress, though, for accountability as I grow in these areas.

Mission Statement

This afternoon I was reading an update on one of my favorite new blogs. The writer was sharing her goals for this year and mentioned having a mission statement. At first it sounded like something a business would have, but as I read her purpose behind the mission statement I was hooked. I have definitely needed help focusing on what is really important to me and where the Lord has gifted me.


One thing she said really grabbed me. In quoting a talk given in 1976 by Clyde Kilby, "I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood." (if you have time go read all 10 steps laid out from this lecture, they are all encouraging and convicting-I'm thinking about printing them out for our bathroom mirror). 


 It is so easy for me to wake up in the morning and think "Just get through today and you can come home and see Joshua and go back to sleep!" I've known for awhile that I wanted to intentionally enjoy each day, I was just unsure how to begin. I decided to take advantage of the fact that Joshua is in class all evening and I have the apartment to myself. I went through the steps laid out in Lindsay's blog, and I'm going to give a short synopsis of what I have worked through thus far. 


My 5 main roles in life right now are:
1) Christian
2) Wife
3) Cook
4) Nanny
5) Friend (sister/daughter)

If I was to pick a few words to describe what my ideal in each of those roles would be they would be:

1) Christian--prayerful, passionate, and unashamed

2) Wife--listener, selflessly loving, tireless service, and organized

3) Cook--healthy, creative, local and in season produce, wise food choices

4) Nanny--selfless patience, gentle correction, and faithful prayer

5) Friend--interested, invested, and joyful

As a mission statement I came up with:

I desire to grow in prayer into a passionate woman who loves the Lord in an unashamed manner.

I long to selflessly love my husband through focused listening, appreciation, tireless service, and home organization.

I want to make creative, healthy dishes that use local, seasonal, and wise ingredients to care for my family's health.

I desire to show Aiden selfless patience in gentle correction and faithful prayer for his future.

I long to show family and friends I am interested and invested in their lives as a joyful friend. 

I wrote down some actionable steps for each of these and I plan to put a written copy up so I can remind myself often of where my focus truly should be. Though I am not a huge fan of technology, I am very thankful for women who post things that are such an encouragement to grow in my ability to fulfill what God has called me to. I pray that your heart is stirred towards those things for which God has uniquely equipped you! If you have a few minutes, take the time to at least think about your "mission statement". 

Books to Read in 2012

One thing I want to be better about this year is reading. I have read significantly more since getting married, but I still think I could use my time more wisely through reading books and not watch television. So, here's is my working list of books to read, excluding the Bible, in 2012:

1) Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

2) Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

3) Eliminate Chaos -Laura Leist

4) Created to Be His Help Meet - Debi Pearl - this is a re-read of a book I have probably read twice in the last year, but it has some great reminders in how to be a godly wife and I want to revisit it quite regularly, even if just to skim.

5) The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien

6) Five Weeks in a Balloon - Jules Verne ( or one of his books, at least)

7) Biography of Barbara Bush - I meant to read this last year, but never got around to it, I have heard from many people it is a great read.

8) A Marriage Carol - Gary Chapman

9) Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

10) Dug Down Deep - Joshua Harris

11) Lit!

12) Everyday Talk - I'd like this to read this during the coming year, but mainly just before we have children. The premise of the book is to help you talk with your children about God in a comfortable and normal way.

13) A Mother's Heart

14) Real Food for Mother and Baby - Basic nutrition during pregnancy and your babies first year. I'd love to have a refresher on this before getting pregnant.

15) Confessions - St. Augustine

16) Sherlock Holmes

17) The Sanctuary of Outcasts - I've added this one, suggested by one of our friends from our Friday Night Literary Gatherings. I started it almost immediately and am quite captivated!

18) The Great Divorce - CS Lewis is, as usual, fantastic.

That's all for now, I'm sure I'll come up with more as the year progresses and I'll add them to the list at that time. Happy New Year!