Irish Coast

It was o so lovely to have our first meal at the new irish coast furniture dining table. I hope yours is delivered soon, Stephen.

Flowers at the Food Bank Farm

Somewhat food related as we were at The Food Bank Farm and took these shots today

Mama's Tomatillo Salsa Verde

The Food Bank farm was overflowing with tomatillos last weekend.
Yes, I went a little overboard with the tomatillo picking

I was very excited to make and freeze tomatillo salsa verde
I admired the beauty...

And set about preparing the salsa:

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

1 pound tomatillos (about 15), husked, rinsed and roughly chopped (really, if you have a decent food processor you can cut into quarters)
1 jalapeno (slice)
3/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. You could fully puree, but I "almost" puree the salsa

If you are packing the freezer, maybe you do this four or five more times.

I'll be doing some recipe adjustments in the near future as I didn't manage to fully take advantage of the mounds of tomatillos. Perhaps I'll try basil instead of cilantro and add cipollini onion. Not mexican...but, really, one does need to find some more than one use for this husky guys.

No Knead Bread - Fresh Out of My EZ Bake Oven

Ah memories! I remember being a kid and secretly coveting all my girl friends in school who had EZ Bake Ovens. As much as I wanted one I would never have dreamed of asking for one. The last time I did such a thing I paid dearly for it. When I asked my mother to teach me to knit I found myself the very next morning on the ice of our local hockey rink at 5:00 a.m. a newly signed up and reluctant member of the Dorchester Youth Hockey League. Many of you that know me would doubt it but I was decent on right wing defense -- for all of maybe one season or less.

Anyway, my dreams of baking were dashed for many years and it's only now that I've taken some steps towards baking bread. The results I get have always been lackluster at best until my good friend Donna (my blog partner Christine's lady) forwarded a recipe for no knead bread to me last week. The no knead recipe is a formula and process created by Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan St Bakery in NYC. And from what I can tell, everyone in the blogosphere has heard of this recipe and his bread, except me. Anyway, I'm now on my third round of making this bread and the results are just amazing. Primarily because they are so consistent and in my opinion it's so fool-proof you don't need to be a master baker to turn out a loaf that will have your friends oohing and aahing.

In this case, the EZ Bake Oven is a cast-iron pan and the loaf is baked inside the pan covered for 30 minutes. This does something magical to the bread. If you've never thought you could make bread I encourage you to give it a try. The only difficult part of the process is the handling of the dough as it is very watery (about 42% water I'm told). The recipe says to form it into a ball, which I don't seem to be able to do but still have gotten great results. I have read that any combination of flours will work (whole wheat, white, etc) but haven't tested that out. I will with my next loaf and let you know how it comes out. Here's the recipe....truly revolutionary!

Formula and process created by Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan St Bakery.

Formula 3 cups (430g) flour 1½ cups (345g or 12oz) water ¼ teaspoon (1g) yeast 1¼ teaspoon (8g) salt olive oil (for coating) extra flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (for dusting)

Equipment Two medium mixing bowls 6 to 8 quart pot with lid (Pyrex glass, Le Creuset cast iron, or ceramic) Wooden Spoon or spatula (optional) Plastic wrap Two or three cotton dish towels (not terrycloth)

Process Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water and incorporate by hand or with a wooden spoon or spatula for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Lightly coat the inside of a second medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 18 hours at room temperature (approx. 65-72°F). Remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice. Let the dough rest 15 minutes in the bowl or on the work surface. next, shape the dough into ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal; place the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with flour. Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let rise 1-2 hours at room temperature, until more than doubled in size. Preheat oven to 450-500°F. Place the pot in the oven at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and place the dough in the pot seam side up. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes Then remove the lid and bake 15-30 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.

Pasta with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Gorgonzola Sauce

Over the last couple of months I've been trying to eat healthier but have refused to give up my love of cooking, eating and great food. The added focus and exercise has paid off in my waistline and I feel like I've never eaten better. I discovered this dish in Cooking Light (September 2008) and have made it twice. It's delicious and goes so well with some fresh baked bread. I wouldn't eat it every night, but it's a healthy splurge meal for once in a while. It's also very easy and quick to make. The original recipe called for ziti. Any tube shaped pasta would work well. I didn't have any penne, rigatoni, or ziti so I used riccetti (which my better half tells me means "little curls" in Italian).


Ziti with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Gorgonzola Sauce
(From Cooking Light, September 2008)
2 Servings (serving size is 1 1/4 cups)

4 ounces uncooked ziti
1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
6 tablespoons of half-and-half
3 tablespoons of gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 cup fresh spinach

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add cherry tomatoes, salt, crushed red pepper, and minced garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

Stir in half-and-half and Gorgonzola cheese; cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in spinach and pasta; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts, tossing occasionally.

If you're following Weight Watchers one serving of this is 7 points. Calories are 335; fat is 10.4 grams; Protein is 12.3g; carb 49.9 g; fiber 3.6 g

Bring the broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the evaporated skim milk, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

Blueberry Land

Here is a pic of Blue in front of Blueberry Land. This is the place to be for all things blueberry. Blueberry Land is in Washington County, Maine, where 90% of the world's wild blueberries are harvested.

I picked up some lovely blueberry sauce to send to my dear friend Lele who is a huge aficionado of the maine blueberry.

Meat Raffle

I couldn't resist stopping to get my pic next to this meat raffle sign at a church in Maine. Everyone loves a meat raffle! At least everyone in Maine, Minnesota and the UK. I recently heard of meat raffles in a Chris Bohjalian novel. Highly recommended author! So, you buy your tickets at the meat raffle to win a variety of cuts of meat (including pork chop on a stick in the Bohjalian novel). Money usually goes to a local charity

One of these days, I'm going to make my way to a meat raffle...