Fresh Ricotta Cheese, Homemade Crackers and a couple stories from the last 7 months

Wow has it been a long time since I have written a blog post.  My life has been all over the place with changes and I feel like I am just finally getting a breather since May.  This summer I had some good outdoor adventures including going on the annual Timothy lake trip with my family and my mom and I hiked the entire circumference of the lake, 13 miles.  Below is a picture of us at the end looking ever so proud.  My mother, aunt, and I had another successful pickle fest this summer and canned about 50 lbs. of pickles.  I went peach picking, ate at a lot of awesome new restaurants, grew a fair amount of tomatoes that I processed and made into sauce, and made Giardiniera for the first time.  I had another amazing time in New Orleans and finally got to eat some real po-boys, can't wait to go back in March!  Oh and I made silly video of the mentioned ricotta cheese and crackers.  I will definitely have a few more of these posts in order to catch up before I begin my real cooking posts again.  Hope you all had a fabulous summer and fall!

Ham and Cheese Soup

What a whirlwind life has been, last week I was in Florida for work, often working 15 hour days, but at least I ate very well.  We lucked out and the hurricane never hit us which was good for our conference but I personally wanted to experience one.  It was also amazing seeing one of my best friends and catching up, I sure do miss having her around.  I got back to PDX on Friday and my boyfriend was waiting for me with a dozen roses which was so so sweet and it was very nice to have labor day weekend to catch up on my sleep.  Sunday was pickle fest 2015 with my mom and aunt (pictured below), and we made 55 pounds!  My sauerkraut also just finished up and I have a bunch of fresh kraut to eat up before we leave for Europe.  Speaking of Europe we are now down to 9 days away and for some reason I still can't believe we are going.  I am SO excited!  I will try and get as many posts in as I can before we leave but you know I will have tons to write about when we get back.  I don't think I could make a dish more American than this, and with that said it was super delicious.  I adapted this recipe, enjoy!

Serves 4-5

The Ingredients
2 cups diced yellow potatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% milk
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 can peas
Plain yogurt for garnish


The Process
1.  In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, broth, and onion. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender.

2.  Meanwhile, in another saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add the milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted. Stir into undrained potato mixture. Add ham and peas; heat through. Serve with a large dollop of plain yogurt.

Chicken Cutlets with Lemon Garlic Sauce

This past weekend was Pickle Fest 2014.  Again my mother and I went to the Beaverton Farmer's Market to gather all of the pickles, dill, and red peppers we needed.  This year we even came across white pickles, I haven't ever seen or heard of them but they were perfect size for pickling so we bought several pounds.  This year we ended up only pickling 25lbs because we have so many left over from last year, so hopefully we don't run out!  After a long, boring, taxing, and uneventful Tuesday I decided I needed to go to the gym and then go home and cook a lovely meal.  No matter how lame of a day I have when I go home and cook and create a delicious and healthy meal it always turns it around.  Creating a meal isn't only an accomplishment, it is immediately satisfying, and a way to express love to your significant other.  I adapted this recipe for the chicken, as for the wilted 4 cups of spinach and 1 cup tomatoes in 1 1/2 Tbsp. pesto...well just do exactly how it sounds and add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

Serves 2

The Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper
1/3 cup arrowroot powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 egg
1/3 cup almond flour
1 tsp. paprika (or Creole seasoning)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
2-3 Tbsp. bacon fat (or olive oil)

Sauce
1/4 cup broth or stock
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, pressed
Italian parsley to garnish


The Process
1) Pound the chicken breasts to about 1/2 in. thick using a meat mallet.  Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt and fresh cracked pepper. Set aside.

2) Get out 3 shallow bowls and line them up next to the stove. In the one furthest from the stove, mix the arrowroot powder with the garlic and onion powder. In the middle bowl, lightly whisk the egg. In the bowl closest to the stove, mix the almond flower with the paprika, thyme, and salt.

3) In a bowl or measuring cup, mix the broth with the lemon juice and garlic cloves. Set aside until the chicken is cooked.

4) Melt 2 Tbsp. bacon fat over medium-high heat in a large non-stick pan. Lightly dredge the chicken in the arrowroot mixture, shaking off any excess. Dip it in the egg, then dredge it in the almond flour mixture, again shaking off any excess, and lay it carefully in the hot pan. Do the same with the other chicken piece.

5) Cook chicken for about 5 minutes each side until golden brown, crispy, and cooked through. If the pan is dry when you flip the chicken, add the additional bacon fat. Once cooked, remove to a plate.

6) Quickly add the sauce ingredients to the pan and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom. When the sauce has reduced a little, this takes about 30 seconds, pour it over the chicken, sprinkle on the Italian parsley, and serve.

Grilled Steak with Tapenade

First of all my mom and I had our 2012 Pickle Fest this past weekend and it was awesome.  We didn't have time to pre-order our pickling cucumbers so we went to the Beaverton Farmers Market early Saturday morning and we ended up getting some amazingly small and perfect cucumbers for our day of pickling.  We only pickled 35 lbs this year but I think it will be enough for the year, in the past we have done 50 lbs of cucumbers and that is definitely a longer day.  From shopping to jar lids popping it took us 6 hours and I had fun every second of it.  In other news it is still very hot here in Portland, Oregon so I continue making lighter meals.  I adapted this recipe that came from the Food Network site and I will definitely make it again because it was so refreshing and delicious.

Serves 2

The Ingredients
2 petit sirloin steaks 
1 medium shallot
2 cloves garlic
1/2 sprig rosemary
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, halved
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
Salt and Pepper

The Process

1.  Preheat a grill or grill pan to high. Pulse the olives, shallot, garlic, rosemary, red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons olive oil and the juice of 1/2 lemon in a food processor; season with salt and pepper.

2.  Pierce the steaks all over with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Rub 1 heaping tablespoon olive mixture all over the steak, then set aside, about 10 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile, toss the remaining olive mixture with the tomatoes, parsley, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the juice of the remaining 1/2 lemon in a small bowl.

4.  Grill the steaks until browned on one side, about 7 minutes. Flip and cook about 7 more minutes for medium rare.

5.  Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.  Thinly slice the steaks against the grain and top with the olive-tomato tapenade.

Per serving: Calories 361; Fat 26 g (Saturated 6 g); Cholesterol 43 mg; Sodium 283 mg; Carbohydrate 7 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 25 g
 

Pickle Fest 2011

That's right another very successful pickle fest!  Pickle fest = scrubbing, persevering, and transforming over 40lbs of cucumbers into pickles!  This is the 4th year now that I have participated in the "secret recipe group", it started with my mother, the original recipe creator, her daughter, and I.  Then the last two years have just been my mother and I, and then this year we added my aunt who just moved up to Portland from San Francisco and that is how the group will remain for a long long time.  My mother has been pickling with the recipe's creator for about 10 years now so she is the veteran and the only one who knows the secret recipe because she was sworn to secrecy by the creator.  These pickles are absolutely amazing! They are spicy dill pickles and my friends are continually begging for "just one more jar."  And the thing is I love the pickles so much too, but I might love sharing more...and these pickles are something to be proud of so why not share the love!  It was pretty amazing because this year it only took us a short 5 hours...in the past it normally takes the entire day, so we are obviously learning how to perfect the group members and process more each year.  I think my favorite part about the whole process is clipping and smelling the mass amounts of fresh dill...that smell mixed with the vinegar brine smell in the air just makes for a perfect pickle fest! SUCCESS! Now make sure and be nice to me and you may get some more pickles ;)