Over the Stove and in the Icebox

I'm back! I'm finally settled into my new kitchen and cooking up a storm. The summer season has provided some much needed encouragement to break out of my cooking habits and try lots of new recipes. Because I have been gone so long, I have decided to reinvent this blog and will be taking on a new title! Please join me at my new location: Over the Stove and in the Ice Box

The Cookies I Should Have Made

Yesterday I made a batch of really disappointing chocolate brownie roll-out cookies. It was completely my fault. I did not make the cookies properly, and due to the exacting nature of baking they did not turn out well. I decided to halve the recipe on sight and since I wasn't paying attention and added an excessive amount of cocoa powder. As a result the cookies were tough and dry. The thing is, even if they had turned out perfectly, as they have when I have previously made them, they still wouldn't have been as good as the cookies I should have made. Sure, they would have been mildly chocolate-y, toothsome, tender, and cakey, but they wouldn't have been goey and intense, the cookie equivalent of a flowerless chocolate cake. That would have only happened if I had made the other recipe.

So what led to my decision? Why did I make the ok cookies instead of the better ones in the first place? Maybe I was trying to save money. Cocoa is cheaper than chocolate, and I already had a tub in my pantry. Perhaps I didn't think I should make something so decadent and good for myself. I would definitely make them for my mom (I have), and I would absolutely spend the time and money that these require if my boyfriend requested them. Then why, I wonder, would I not do the same for myself?

I read an article in the Times a couple of weeks ago on how important it is to be kind to yourself, and how American's have a particularly confused relationship when it comes to self-compassion. Unfortunately, due to my apparent need to beat myself up over my poor decision to bake and then consume a sub-par cookie seems to indicate that I myself have a very deficient in the self-compassion category.

So this is what I am going to suggest to myself. In the future, when you want a cookie, make a good one. Enjoy it. Enjoy the fact that you are enjoying it. And leave it at that. That seems reasonable right?

About these fabled chocolate cookies: these chocolate-y chocolate chip studded cookies are enhanced with espresso which really makes their chocolate flavor shine. Instead of being cake-y like the cookies from the brownie roll-out recipe, these could be compared to brownies in that they have the same sort of papery thin chocolate crust and the same gooey richness and deep chocolate-y flavor that really good chocolate brownies have. My mom, who loves chocolate more than anything, was unsure about the espresso at first, and did not want to try the recipe. Since devouring the first batch, her only complaint has been that I have not posted the recipe yet and that I have not been regularly making batches and sending them to her in the mail. Gourmet was right when it concluded "this recipe could be the only one a chocolate lover needs."

Mocha Cookies

From Gourmet's Cookie Archives

Makes about 36 cookies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (chopped)

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter (diced)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 large eggs (at room temperature)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp instant espresso powder

2 tsp vanilla

Either in a double boiler or using a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt the unsweetened chocolate, 1 1/2 cups of the semisweet chocolate chips, and the butter. Stir the mixture until it is smooth and remove it from the heat and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture is pale and thick, then beat in the espresso powder and vanilla. Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, fold in the flour mixture and stir in the remaining chocolate chips. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 350

Drop heaping tablespoons of the batter onto parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the centers puff and they are shiny cracked on top. Err on the side of under-baked, they are best goey rather than dry. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets, and then transfer them on to racks - they need to set up a little bit to move them easily from the pans to the sheets, one way to get around this is to pull the whole sheet of parchment paper onto the cooling rack so that you can re-use the baking sheet, once they have cooled enough they can be removed from the parchment paper and put directly on the racks. Let them cool completely (or eat them hot from the oven).

Pasta with Braised Kale and Homemade Ricotta

I have been sitting on this kale recipe for a while. I keep thinking of sharing it, wanting to even, but for some reason I keep putting it off, saving it for a special occasion. But now is the time to close the kale chapter, so to speak, and that cannot be done without first sharing this recipe. Suffice to say, kale chips are fun and clever, but pasta coated with freshly made ricotta mixed with braised kale, laced with mild garlic, is deeply satisfying.

I originally found the recipe on Racheleats, one of my favorite blogs. It is delicious. In fact, if I wanted to be honest, which I do, I would have to admit that this recipe is the #1 reason why I have been obsessed with kale for so many months. Those other recipes are good, and I like them well enough, but this recipe is the best, and I love it.

Unlike Rachel, I do not live in Italy and therefore do not have access to the amazing fresh ricotta that I like to imagine is widely and cheaply available there. Out of thriftiness, I decided to make, instead of buying, the fresh ricotta.

Luckily, making ricotta may be one of the easiest things I have ever done. Which is unusual. Most of my so called thrifty schemes are stressful, time consuming, multi-dish dirtying and probably not recommendable. But this is not one of those. This is a keeper. It's simple, quick, requires only two ingredients, one pan, and one strainer lined with one paper towel. If you can boil milk then you are capable of making fresh homemade ricotta. And if you are capable of making fresh homemade ricotta, then you are capable of impressing quite a few people, including yourself. Plus it's actually really good.

Pasta with Braised Kale and Homemade Ricotta

Adapted from RachelEats, Ricotta recipe adapted from Gourmet

Spaghetti (I prefer something toothsome and thicker to pair with the earthiness of the kale)

Parmesan

Braised Kale

Large Bunch of Kale

2 Tbsp Olive oil

2 Garlic cloves (peeled and smashed)

Homemade Ricotta

3 cups of whole milk

Pinch of Salt

1 Tbps Lemon Juice (vinegar can be substituted)

Rinse the kale well, then remove the tough stalk either by pulling the leaves off of it or cutting alongside it to remove it. Then chop the leaves either into ribbons or relatively small pieces, I find that the type of kale I am using determines how I cut it - curly kale is not quite as amenable to neat ribbons as tuscan kale. You want the pieces big enough that you can really taste the kale, and small enough that it is easy to eat. At this point, warm the olive oil and garlic in a skillet and add the kale along with a pinch of salt. Let it wilt, uncovered, for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Then add a cup of water, partially cover the pan, and simmer on low for another 30 minutes, until the kale is tender.

While the kale is cooking, make the ricotta* and the pasta. Put a pot of water on for the pasta, and when the kale has about 10 minutes left, go ahead and cook it. Meanwhile, bring the milk to a boil in a small pan. Add a pinch of salt, and when it is boiling stir in the tablespoon of lemon, and turn the heat down. Continue to stir, the lemon should cause the milk to curdle and separate fairly quickly, if it seems to be a little slow you can add a little more lemon. Take the milk off of the stove and pour the mixture into a strainer lined with a paper towel (or cheesecloth), set aside to allow the liquid to drain.

Once the pasta is cooked al dente, stir the fresh ricotta into the braised kale. Add a little bit of the pasta water to loosen the mixture, it should be creamy and saucy. Toss the pasta in the sauce in the sauce, mixing thoroughly. Serve topped with grated parmesan.

I am a Kale Addict

I am very much a creature of habit, and one of my most beloved rituals is my weekly grocery trip. I try to plan ahead so that we get enough ingredients for breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks for the upcoming week. Often another grocery store visit is necessary midweek, but I usually get most things covered in my main trip.

There are certain things I always get on these trips. Like onions. Also, garlic. If I've run out of fresh ginger I get some more. The same goes for Jalapenos, carrots, and celery. For some reason these things seem like normal staples to me. They are simply basic ingredients that I frequently use in a number of different dishes. The consistent presence of Kale on my weekly list seems a little less normal. And the fact that I have been buying several bunches of kale every week now for months, strikes me as perhaps a little obsessive. I could brush it off, blaming it on the fact that the grocery store I frequent has an amazing deal on kale (69 cents for a huge bunch!), but really, to can't deny that I have come to rely on a substantial amount of kale being in my refrigerator at all times. I actually get a little anxious when I want to make a kale recipe with the kale I have on hand, because it won't be there for me to use it for something else later.

The thing is, I really like kale. And I like it in a variety of ways.

Since the beginning of January I have begun every day with a nice big frothy mug of kale-spinach-apple-banana smoothie. Weekly, I also like to make a big batch of spaghetti with braised kale and homemade fresh ricotta for dinner. My stand-by snack is crunchy kale chips. And now, after taste-memories of a lemony raw kale salad I got from Whole Foods nagged me into tracking down the recipe so that I could make it myself, I have been making big bowlfuls of kale salad, which seem like they should last for days but which I chomp my way through extremely rapidly.

Perhaps this is one of those food phases I will have to appreciate while it lasts, appreciating that my the object of my obsession is reasonably priced and full of vitamins and minerals. Which, really may be the reason I crave kale in the first place. Maybe my body is simply thrilled to be getting so much of a good thing.

As I've already shared my recipe for my kale breakfast smoothie, I will now add my new favorite kale salad recipe, which I found on gourmet's website. It comes from a restaurant in New York, called Lupa.

This recipe is extremely simple - quick and easy. It tastes delicious right away, and is still fantastic the next day. I love the taste and texture of the uncooked kale, there is something so robust about raw kale, it is fantastic. The flavor is surprisingly mild, also. When I was growing up I associated kale with a very strong bitter flavor, but that flavor is not present here. If anything it is a little grassy, but not overly so. The lemon and olive oil dressing give it a little bit of a Mediterranean flair, along with the addition of ricotta salata (or in my case, feta). Try it, if you don't like it I will finish it for you.

Lacinato(or curly) Kale and Ricotta Salata (or feta) Salad

Adapted from Gourmet, whose recipe was inspired by Lupa

I large bunch kale (tuscan kale is recommended, but I use the more pedestrian curly kale)

2 Tbsp shallot (finely chopped)

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice*

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

2 oz ricotta salata or feta (crumbled or coarsely grated)

Wash the kale thoroughly, then remove the leaves from the tough center stem. I do this by holding the base of the stem in one hand and running my other hand up the stem, pulling the leaves off in one motion. Additionally you can simply tear the leaves off of the main stem in pieces, or run your knife along either side of the stem to detach the leaves. Either way, once the leaves are stemless, chop them into thin slices.

Mix the chopped shallot, lemon juice, salt and pepper together in the bottom of a large bowl (whatever you plan to serve/store the salad in). Add the oil slowly, whisking until the mixture is combined. Add the kale to the bowl, and toss it in the dressing, mixing it well. Sprinkle the ricotta salata or feta on top, and dig in.

*I was tempted to just use a whole lemon and forgo the precise measurement, but I found that the salad is much better with the proper amount. Depending on how juicy your lemon is it might be 1/2 a lemon or it might be closer to a whole lemon, but regardless, using too much lemon in this recipe does not enhance the salad, it overpowers it.

Turning a New Leaf

It's been too long since I last posted! Oh well - it's a new year so I can begin again with more resolve (and recipes) then ever.

I made many, many batches of delicious cookies for christmas. I even discovered a chocolate cookie that my mom says is THE BEST EVER. But sadly, that was then, and this is now. Or to be more precise: it's January! I've been trying very hard to put an end to the holiday overindulgences. Number 1 on the agenda is not to bake any cookies for at least the first week of January (mission accomplished!). Also, I am trying to eat more vegetables.

Which brings us to today's recipe: the Kale & Spinach Smoothie. I know, it sounds gross. Even my mom, who still claims that the awful tofu cake she made me for my worst birthday ever was edible, responded to my description of this green smoothie with a resounding "Ick." But please don't let that dissuade you from trying this at least once. It's fresh and filling and full of good things and the flavors of green apple, banana, and orange juice dominate. It's surprisingly fruity and not vegetable-y. Plus it feels great to start the day on such a very brightly healthy note. I feel like no matter what I do wrong for the rest of the day, at least I started off right.

Testimonial: My boyfriend was a little doubtful when I first brought it up. At first he thought I was joking (kale smoothie! HA!), but when I told him I wasn't he got a little worried. However, once I got all of the ingredients and confirmed that I was going to make it the very next morning for breakfast, he actually pulled me out of bed early to ensure that I would have enough time to make it before he left for work. He described it as "good, better than what you can get from the store" (ie. green machine superfood).

We've been having it for breakfast every morning since then.

I made some changes to the original recipe, which I found on Joy the Baker. I substituted orange juice for almond milk - I like both the taste and the idea of having some of my breakfast OJ in my breakfast smoothie (more vitamins!). A nice side affect of using the orange juice is that you no longer have to add any sweetener (honey). Also, I swapped green apples for the pear. Personally I find pears to be a little bit grainy sometimes, and also a little bit pricy. Again, I really like the fresh bright favor that the apple gives the smoothie.

Kale and Spinach Smoothie

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Serves two

1 cup (packed) kale leaves, roughly chopped or torn

1 cup (packed) spinach leaves, roughly chopped or torn

1 1/2 cups orange juice

1/2 green apple, peeled and cut into chunks

1 banana, peeled and sliced

Wash the spinach and kale really well to get rid of all the dirt, sand and bugs that might be clinging to them. Remove the stem from the kale and rip of chop the leaves. Pinch the stems off of the spinach leaves, and rip or chop them up. Blend the spinach and kale with the orange juice until the leaves are well processed (I use my immersion blender so mine stays chunkier than if you use a blender, in which case all of the little bits should be blasted away). Add the chopped up apple and banana and blend again until a uniform consistency is achieved.

Pour into two glasses and drink away!

A Pizza of Figs

Ok, now that everybody has the basic homemade pizza recipe down pat, we can move on to more exciting variations. Like grilling (on the barbecue!), adding fresh herbs to the dough (rosemary!), turning the whole thing into a fancy tasty plate for a fresh salad (arugula!), and taking advantage of fresh seasonal produce (figs!). What's great about this is that it is fancy and tasty but still affordable and healthy. Oh, and my mom really really likes fig pizza.

I've been wanting to try grilling pizza for a while, and I'm glad I finally took the plunge. It's really not complicated once you figure it out. One of the really nice benefits of grilling pizza on the barbecue is that you can avoid the awful overheated kitchen (or whole house) that comes from cooking a pizza indoors. As my dad pointed out, mine was a very successful "maiden voyage." As I suspected the whole process wasn't too difficult, and the combination of the rosemary in the pizza dough, and the sweetness of the figs with the tartness of the goat cheese all topped off with the peppery bite of the arugula was pretty perfect. Especially eaten in the backyard with a glass of wine on a warm evening.

Whole Wheat Herbed Pizza Dough

Makes 2 pizzas (enough for 4 people)

3/4 cups warm water

1/4 cup white wine

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (or 1 tsp instant yeast)

1 tsp honey

2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups all purpose white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1-2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and wine, then stir in the honey, salt and olive oil. Add the flour and rosemary, stirring until it comes together. Sprinkle your workspace with flour (I prefer using whole wheat), dump the dough out onto the flour, and knead it for a couple of minutes, until the texture is smooth and uniform. Form it into a nice, neat ball.

Coat the inside of a large bowl with olive oil, and place your dough ball in it, coating the dough lightly with olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for an hour or two until it has doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled, place it back on the floured work surface and gently deflate it. Using a sharp knife, neatly slice the dough in half. Form each half into round balls, pinching the seams of the cut sides together. Wipe the excess oil out of the large bowl and turn it upside down over the dough and let it rise, covered, for 15-30 more minutes. After this step, you will stretch or roll the dough as thinly as possible, at which point you will be ready to grill them.

In order to grill the pizzas you will need to have your barbecue to be hot, and you will need to have your toppings prepared.

Toppings

Figs (I used 8 figs, sliced into rounds)

1/2 small Red onion (thinly sliced)

5 oz soft goat cheese

Arugula

Balsamic vinegar & olive oil

Put together all of your toppings so that you can spread them on your pizza quickly and easily while it is on the grill. Slice the figs into nice little circles (I recommend eating the little bottom pieces, just to remind yourself of how good they are). Break the cheese up into small chunks with your fingers. After thinly slicing the red onion, soak it in some hot water to help take the bite off since it won't be cooked very much (you can skip this step if you don't mind raw onions). Wash and dry the arugula and lightly dress it with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

By now you should have all of your toppings prepared, your pizza dough should be stretched to it's desired thinness & shape, and your grill should be hot. I recommend having an extra plate, a pair of tongs, a brush (for the oil), and a hot pad handy.

When you are ready to get started, spread a little bit of olive oil on one side of the pizza dough and flip the dough over, oil side down onto the grill surface. Close the lid and wait for a few minutes, until you can see some nice grill marks on the bottom. At this point you can either oil the top and flip the pizza over, or you can forget to flip it and just rotate it and top it (like I did, with much success). Spread half of the toppings evenly over each pizza, close the top and keep cooking it until the dough is cooked all of the way through, and the cheese is meltingly warm.

Slide the pizza onto a plate (or cutting board) and slice it up! Top it with a handful of the dressed arugula if you like.

Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!

As I have mentioned previously, my family lived in a relatively rural area when I was growing up.  This meant that it took half an hour to drive to school (both ways!), 15 minutes to get to the closest grocery store, and 20 minutes to get to my best friend's house.  It also meant that we could not get pizza delivery (or any kind of delivery for that matter).  On the plus side we had a huge garden with lots of fresh vegetables, but while my brother and I may have enjoyed eating lemon cucumbers and cherry tomatoes straight off the vine, the elusive pizza held a special place in our imaginations.  

  Delivery pizza is the epitome of parents giving up all pretense of putting together a healthy meal - giving up so fully that they're not even pretending to get into the kitchen (or even the car).  Unfortunately for us, our parents were organized and unflagging in their efforts to provide us with healthy well balanced homemade meals.  On the few occasions that we went out for pizza, my brother would go all out, ordering "double cheese" and the ever exotic "hawaiian" pizza.  Our family's healthy eating habits often left us longing for a taste of all those things that normal parents let their kids eat.

When we finally moved to the "city" when I was in high-school, the revelation that we could have pizza delivered made us giddy at first.  We ordered some pizza, ate it, bemoaned how full and greasy we felt and promptly never did it again.

I think that I have finally found a way to bring pizza into our home: make it from scratch.  It's fresher, tastier, and healthier.  Plus it's really easy.  

Whole Wheat Pizza with Homemade Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Smittenkitchen

Serves two

6 Tbsp warm water

2 Tbsp white wine

3/4 tsp active dry yeast (or 1/2 tsp instant yeast)

1/2 tsp honey

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and wine, then stir in the honey, salt and olive oil.  Add the flour, stirring until it comes together.  Sprinkle your work surface with some flour (I like to use whole wheat), dump the dough out onto the flour, and knead it for a couple of minutes, until the texture is smooth and uniform.  Form it into a nice, neat ball.

Coat the inside of a medium sized bowl with olive oil, and place your dough ball in it, coating the dough lightly with olive oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for an hour or two until it has doubled in size.  Alternatively, you can make the dough in the morning and put it in the refrigerator for the day for a very slow rise. It should be ready for the second step by the time you get home from work in the evening.  

Pre-heat the oven to 500.

Once the dough has doubled, place it once again on a floured work surface, and gently deflate it by pressing down on it with the palm of your hand.  Form it back into a ball, and leaving it on the work surface, cover it loosely with plastic wrap, a dishtowel, or an upside down bowl.  Leave it for another 15 minutes or so, then roll it, stretch it, or press it out into as thin as you can get it without ripping it.  

Put it on a the surface you want to cook it on with a little bit of cornmeal sprinkled on the bottom to keep it from sticking.  Top it with your homemade sauce and some shredded mozzarella cheese (not too much).

Bake it on whatever surface you have available (pizza stone, baking sheet, large cast iron skillet), for 10-15 minutes or until it is done.  You want to make sure the dough cooks completely - you can lift a corner of the pizza up and peek underneath to see if the bottom is still doughy or beginning to crisp up if you are having trouble telling if it is done.

When the pizza is done, take it out, slice it, and top it with fresh basil if you have it.

Pizza Sauce

You can start making this sauce while the dough is rising.

4 medium or 3 large Tomatoes or 1 can of tomatoes (with their juice)

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

Splash of white wine

Salt to taste

You can remove the skins from the tomatoes if you want, but I actually don't think it is necessary.  If you want to, just x the bottoms of the tomatoes and submerge them in boiling water for about a minute - the skins should peel off easily.

Put a small pot on the stove over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil.  When the oil is warm, add the minced garlic, and cook it, stirring for a couple of minutes - until it is fragrant (don't let it brown though, that will make it bitter).  Add the tomatoes and the wine, and simmer for 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.  It should be very juicy at first, and but by the time it is done it should have thickened up quite a bit.  Once it's done, add salt to taste and then spread it on your pizza.