first taste of santa fe
Day 1 in Santa Fe has been an eating success!
We arrived with hunger pains so we drove straight into town and ate on the back side of the Plaza at Cafe Pasquale. What a treat! The menu was full of “diner food” but it was all organic and local. I had a housemade chorizo and egg burrito with mole. I have never had such great mole in my life. It was rich and had heat but wasn’t overly spicy. Whit had brioche French toast that was covered in thinly sliced almonds before cooking — it tasted like wedding cake French toast!
We spent part of the afternoon wandering through town and ended up in a grocery/kitchen store with a huge (and tempting) selection of dried ground peppers and Southwestern mixes like Habanero chili powder, blue corn meal, sopapilla mix, Cascabel chili pods, Pasilla Negro powder, carne adovada sauce mix, mole mix, Chipotle powder, Mexican oregano, and green chile ranch mix. I might gave to head back before the weekend is over for some blue corn meal!
After a relaxing afternoon, we had dinner at the restaurant at our hotel, Terra. I am not sure we’ll be able to beat tonight’s meal on this trip!
The bread basket was a great indicator of things to come– with roasted scallion and tomato lavash as well as cheddar and scallion biscuits.
I ordered the wild mushroom ravioli with rabbit ragu and black truffles. I loved the ravioli and the rabbit, but the truffles (uncharacteristically) had no flavor and seemed like an unnecessary addition. Whit’s appetizer, pumpkin soup with chipotle crema and lime dusted pumpkin seeds, blew us away. I want to recreate it soon!
For dinner, Whitney had the Chipotle short ribs with Poblano mac and mushrooms. The short ribs just fell apart– he could barely keep them on his fork. They were his favorite part of the plate but I loved the Poblano Mac and mushrooms. It was a fun combination!
I had a Kobe beef hangar steak with caramelized Brussels sprouts. The meat was really tender– and the marbling of the cut made it really flavorful. But the star of my plate was the Brussels sprouts. Wow! I could have eaten just a plate full of these and been happy. They were nutty and slightly sweet.
We finished by splitting housemade churros with caramel dipping sauce. They didn’t taste heavy with oil– instead they were light and fluffy. Perfect ending.
I think we’re in for a lot of good eating over the next few days! Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions of what to do in Santa Fe!
pumpkin apple bread
Momma and I found this recipe circa 1994. We think I was in 4th grade. I had an assignment from school to bring a fall-themed dish to class and after making this recipe, we knew it was a keeper.
I’m talking to Mom about this right now and we are thinking it could have been third grade because I had Mrs. Suzy Smith for a reading teacher that year and she had us do all kinds of things like this. In fact, my most vivid memory of her class is when she made everyone eat sardines after reading a book in which the characters ate them. This is a really gross memory of mine.
Anyway, this bread marks the beginning of fall in our house. This year, I got the opportunity to make it with Momma, which we haven’t done in years because we have been in different states.
Now that it is getting cold (in Texas and Louisiana — I understand it has been cool in NorCal and the NE for months…don’t make me bitter) it is the perfect time to make a few loaves of pumpkin apple bread! Here is what you’ll need:
In a bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. When its well-combined, it should look like the picture on the top right below. Make sure to beat the lumps out of the mixture.
Then add the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt. You should probably mix these in another bowl first so they are well-combined but I was feeling adventurous (read: lazy) so I just threw them all in on top of the pumpkin mixture. Beat well.
Peel and dice the apples into 1/4″ inch pieces. Add to the batter and fold to combine.
Pour the batter into loaf pans — don’t fill them more than halfway or they will overflow.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and softened butter. Sprinkle evenly over the batter.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes (40 minutes if you are using a smaller loaf pan). Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.
Cut a slice from the end of the loaf and spread with a thin layer of butter. Do this before anyone else comes into the kitchen looking for a slice — because everyone knows the ends are the best pieces.
Pumpkin Apple Bread
3 cups flour
¾ tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
¼ tsp. allspice
1 16 oz. can solid pack pumpkin
¾ cup oil
2 ¼ cups sugar
4 large eggs, beaten lightly
2 cups peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples
Mix flour, salt, soda and spices. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture. Fold in apples. Sprinkle with topping. Bake at 350º for about 50 minutes in two greased 9 x 5 x 3” loaf pans. Let cool in pans for about 30 minutes before removing and slicing.
Topping
1 tbls. flour
5 tbls. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbls. soft butter
Mix together until crumbly.
s’mores bars
People, my gosh, I cannot begin to describe how incredible these are. They are gooey and the kind of rich that should preclude you from eating more than one — but of course I put down a lot more than that. They aren’t beautiful, and they kind of fall apart. But when you put one in your mouth, you will. not. care.
I was a bad food blogger again and got too busy to take pictures, so I am just posting the recipe below. I can’t remember where I got it, so if you know, let me know and I will link up.
Make these soon.
S’mores Bars
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
corn, shitake mushrooms and proscuitto pasta
This is a variation on a dinner Whitney and I have often. Pasta with fresh-whatever. It is usually birthed out of extra produce in our fridge and the desire for an easy dinner. The basic recipe is chop veggies, saute and add pasta. And cheese. I usually throw in a little mozzarella, goat cheese, or parmesan at the end for the gooey goodness factor.
Here are the ingredients I used to make this pasta, but it really lends itself to substituting ingredients. Use zucchini or eggplant pieces instead of the mushrooms. Fresh mint would be really good if you didn’t have basil. You could also use sausage or bacon in place of the proscuitto.
Tear the French rolls into pieces and put them in a 300 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place the pieces in a food processor. Chop until they become crumbs.
Lay the crumbs on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.
Prepare the ingredients for the pasta — chop the proscuitto and mushroom caps, cut the kernels from the cob, julienne the basil, cut the mozzarella into strips, dice the tomatoes.
Saute the proscuitto in olive oil until it starts to brown. Add the mushroom pieces and saute a few minutes longer until they are softened.
Remove the proscuitto and mushrooms from the pan and add a little more oil, the corn kernels and the dried red peppers. Add salt and pepper and saute for 5-6 minutes.
Discard the red peppers and add the proscuitto and mushrooms back to the pan. Also add the breadcrumbs, basil, tomatoes and mozzarella. Stir to combine then add the pasta to the pan. Add salt, pepper and olive oil and toss to coat.
Corn, Shitake Mushroom and Proscuitto Pasta
2 ears corn, kernels cut from cob
3 oz Shitake mushrooms (about 10 mushrooms), caps cut into pieces
4 dried red peppers
1/4 c grape tomatoes, diced
4 oz proscuitto, cut into small pieces
6 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into strips
6-8 fresh basil leaves, julienned
1-2 small French rolls
pasta
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Strain and set aside.
Tear the French rolls into pieces and put them in a 300 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place the pieces in a food processor. Chop until they become crumbs. Lay the crumbs on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.
Chop the proscuitto into small pieces and saute in olive oil until they start to brown. Add the mushroom pieces and saute a few minutes longer until they are softened. Remove the proscuitto and mushrooms from the pan and add a little more oil, the corn kernels and the dried red peppers. Add salt and pepper and saute for 5-6 minutes. Discard the red peppers and add the proscuitto and mushrooms back to the pan. Also add the breadcrumbs, basil, tomatoes and mozzarella. Stir to combine then add the pasta to the pan. Add salt, pepper and olive oil and toss to coat.
simple sunday: whole chicken in a crock-pot
Don’t y’all love those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store? The ones under the heat lamps that are so tender that they fall apart when you look at them?
I pick them up all the time to use when I am running short on time but need cooked chicken for a dish. In fact, our H-E-B just started selling rotisserie breasts! Which I love because I am not a dark meat person.
Anyway, my favorite thing about them is the way they fall apart and though I love a good oven-roasted chicken, I can’t get the meat quite as tender as the store-bought ones.
After telling a friend about my feelings on this topic, she suggested I make my roasted chicken in the crock pot. I had never thought of that but I got just the results I was looking for. The chicken was tender, flavorful and incredibly moist. The best part is that I also got 6 cups of homemade stock out of it.
Here’s what I did:
Cut an onion into large chunks and scatter them on the bottom of the crock pot. Salt and pepper the chicken and add any other spices you would like all over the outside of the chicken. I used salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and red pepper flakes. You could do anything you want here — cumin and chili powder with limes for a Mexican chicken, herbs de provence and dried lavender for a country French taste, or make Greek chicken with a rub of yogurt, garlic, oregano and Cavender’s Greek seasoning.
Place the chicken on top of the onion pieces, breast side up. Quarter the lemons and squeeze some of the juice on the chicken and throw the lemon quarters around the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours. The legs should pull off of the chicken easily when it is done. Remove the chicken and let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
After you have removed all of the meat from the chicken, put the carcass back into the crock pot with the lemons, onions and remaining juices. Add bay leaves, celery, carrots — whatever you have on hand. Fill the crock pot with water and set it to cook on low for another 8-10 hours.
Strain the carcass, lemons, onions and other vegetables out of the stock. Let the broth cool and then spoon it into gallon ziplock bags. Freeze until needed.
Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot
1 whole chicken (4 lbs.)
2-3 lemons
4-5 garlic cloves
1 yellow onion
spices (you can use whatever you want – some ideas are thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes)
salt and pepper
Cut onion into large chunks and scatter them on the bottom of the crock pot. Salt and pepper the chicken and add any other spices you would like all over the outside of the chicken. Place the chicken on top of the onion pieces, breast side up. Quarter the lemons and squeeze some of the juice on the chicken and throw the lemon quarters around the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours. The legs should pull off of the chicken easily when it is done. Remove the chicken and let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
After you have removed all of the meat from the chicken, put the carcass back into the crock pot with the lemons, onions and remaining juices. Add bay leaves, celery, carrots — whatever you have on hand. Fill the crock pot with water and set it to cook on low for another 8-10 hours.
Strain the carcass, lemons, onions and other vegetables out of the stock. Let the broth cool and then spoon it into gallon ziplock bags. Freeze until needed. This makes a great base for soups or can be used to cook rice or risotto for extra flavor.
Tip: when freezing broth, soup or other liquids, put it into a gallon ziplock and freeze it on its side. It can then be stored more easily (can be shoved into a small corner of the freezer) but it also has the benefit of defrosting more quickly than if it is frozen in a big block (like in a tupperware).
spiced pumpkin seeds
I think I have mentioned before how much I love holidays and everything that goes with them. I love baking for holidays and decorating in the theme of each one. So today, Whit and I carved pumpkins!
Can you tell who each one belongs to? Hint: I don’t swim, bike, or run. But my handsome husband does!
Anyway, our pumpkins were loaded with seeds so we decided to roast them so we could have yummy snacks this week. Did y’all do this when you were younger?
We made salted, spicy, and parmesan-pepper. Except, as you can see from the picture above we didn’t have any parmesan, just a collection of other semi-hard cheeses. So we used ’em. I think it was manchego, parrano, and I actually have no clue what the third one is. We eat a lot of cheese around here and it is hard to keep it straight.
If you wanted to try other spices, you could do cinnamon-sugar, garlic and worcestershire, or cumin and chili powder.
Lay the coated seeds on a cookie sheet and roast at 300 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, stirring them around the pan with a spatula every 10 minutes or so.
Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy! These will last for a month in an airtight container.
Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
3 c pumpkin seeds (this is about what 2 pumpkins will produce)
5 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tbs. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c finely grated parmesan (or other hard cheese)
Dry the pumpkin seeds on paper towels for an hour or so.
Melt 5 tbsp. butter and pour it over the pumpkin seeds. Sprinkle them with 1 tsp. kosher salt and stir well.
Divide the seeds into three 1-c portions. Leave one cup as is. Mix the paprika, red pepper flakes and cayenne with another cup of the seeds. In the last cup, mix the black pepper and cheese.
Lay all of the seeds on a cookie sheet and roast at 300 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Let cool before eating.
cheese for dinner
Enjoying cheese for dinner is totally underrated. We are having great weather in Houston so tonight Whitney and I are sitting outside with apples, cheese, salami, mustard, hummus and wine. What a perfect night!!
steak fajita marinade
I’m a bad food blogger because I forgot to take pictures of this recipe. But my pictures aren’t usually great anyway so I am sure no one misses them.
Does it even look appetizing when there is no flash and the food is really washed out? I need to learn more about taking pictures.
So this recipe for steak fajita marinade stemmed from the surplus of garlic I currently have. Caninos farmer’s market on Airline was selling a dozen heads of garlic for $2. I am not sure how much garlic is worth — maybe this is an average price. I don’t know, but it looked like a deal to me and I was thrilled to take advantage of it.
And I was serving fresh margaritas the night I made these so I started with a garlic-margarita base (lime juice and tequila). Throw in some Mexican spices and this one is a keeper.
Steak Fajita Marinade
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tbsp tequila
10-12 cloves chopped garlic
2 tbsp cumin
5 tsp salt
4 tsp pepper
1-2 tsp cayenne
flank steak
Combine all ingredients in a ziplock and mix well. Add flank steak and marinade for up to 12 hours. Grill flank steak for 6-7 minutes per side. Let rest for 10 minutes and then slice against the grain.
simple sunday: restaurant salsa
Where the heck have I been? People, graduate school is a time suck. They really undersell you on the amount of time it takes to be a good passing student.
Enough complaining because really, life hasn’t been that bad. I haven’t been blogging but I have still been eating really well. Whitney, as it turns out, is an awesome cook. He has taken the reins on making dinner Monday – Wednesday nights and its been great.
Usually, when I make salsa at home, I make my mom’s recipe. Which is awesome because it doubles as pico de gallo and can be used as a topping on tacos, fish, etc.
But my favorite restaurant salsa in the world is the one at Javier’s in Dallas. We had dinner there when we went to the LSU-Oregon game in Dallas over Labor Day weekend and I had forgotten how much I loved it. They serve the salsa warm and it is pureed to the perfect consistency. Not too liquidy but no big chunks.
In other news, my spell check is saying “liquidy” is not a word.
So anyway, after we got back to Houston from the football game, I looked all over the interweb for a smooth salsa recipe. I found a few and made some adjustments and here we go:
Halve the tomatoes and jalapenos, quarter the onion, and peel the garlic. Lay it all out on a cookie sheet.
Roast the veggies at 375 degrees F for 1 hour or until they look like this:
You want the tomatoes to look sorta caramelized and the onions to just start to brown. The jalapenos and garlic will look like they are dried out, but don’t worry, they aren’t.
So in small batches, throw the vegetables into a blender.
IMPORTANT note: do not put the lid on your blender. Put a towel over the top and put your hand on the towel to keep it on there. The steam from the vegetables will make the top fly off of your blender and then the salsa will be on your walls. This is for real y’all.
I pulsed the blender instead of just flipping it on so that the veggies retain a teeny-tiny bit of chunkiness. You want this to be liquidy (here we go again) but not completely smooth.
After blending, throw each batch in a bowl. Once you’ve got all of it in the bowl, add the olive oil, some cumin and some cayenne. I’m not telling you how much to add bc this is a taste thing and its up to you. I’d start with a 1/2 teaspoon of each and go from there. Honestly, I just sprinkle straight from the bottle until it looks good and doused.
And another note: if you don’t want it too spicy, remove the seeds from the jalapenos before roasting. Alternatively, if you think my salsa is too wimpy, add more jalapenos. Or serranos.
Restaurant Salsa
20-25 Roma tomatoes
3 jalapenos
1 yellow onion
10 cloves garlic
1/4 c olive oil
cayenne pepper, to taste
cumin, to taste
Halve the tomatoes and jalapenos, quarter the onion, and peel the garlic. Lay it all out on a cookie sheet. Roast the veggies at 375 degrees F for 1 hour or until the tomatoes are caramelized, the onions to just start to brown and the jalapenos and garlic look dried out.
In small batches, throw the vegetables into a blender. After blending, throw each batch in a bowl. Once you’ve got all of it in the bowl, add the olive oil, and the cumin and cayenne to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.
warm chicken tostada
Tonight was my first night of grad school! I loved class and quickly remembered how much I liked being a student.
Whitney is so sweet and offered to make dinner on class nights.
This warm chicken tostada was his first effort and it was fabulous!
Warm Chicken Tostada
4 corn tortillas
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup grated jalapeno jack cheese
1/2 small red onion, diced small
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
breast meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, torn into bite-size pieces
sea salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
2 cups mixed greens
3/4 cup grape tomtoes, halved
1 cup guacamole
Fresh cilantro, for serving
Preheat oven to 400. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with 2 teaspoons oil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden and crisp, 10 minutes. Divide cheese among tortillas and return to oven. Bake until cheese is bubbling, about 3 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high. Add the red onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add chili powder and garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add chicken and cup water and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is warmed through and water is almost evaporated, 2 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon lime juice and remove from heat.
In a large bowl, combine lettuce and 1 tablespoon lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Toss well to coat and divide among tortillas. Top each tortilla with chicken mixture, tomatoes, guacamole, and cilantro.
recipe adapted from marthastewart.com
Is there any wine left? 