meat happening

While Madison is on tour with Coasting, I have two dude roommates, which is a first. It's kinda like the opposite of three's company. I'm always churning out something crazy in the kitchen and Eli is salivating while simultaneously declaring he's done working and mixing us drinks with lemonade and strawberries. Suddenly, Alex Craig comes home and says something ridiculous (cue canned laughter).

We conceived "Meat Happening" some weeks ago and last Sunday actually made it happen. The idea was to have a crazy surplus of meat products and grill/eat them all in one giant meat happening. Naturally, I went to the Meat Hook and spent a completely ludicrous amount of money on "responsible" meat. It was kind of embarrassing--

Me: I'll have a pound of ground chuck and a pound of ground sirloin, please.

Butcher: Anything else?

Me: Yes, three hanger steaks, please.

Butcher #2: Are you being taken care of?

Me: Yes:

Butcher #2: Do you need anything else?

Me: Yes, 10 hot dogs, please.

Butcher: [returning from grinding beef] Is there anything else?

Me: Yes, six thick slices of bacon, please.

I made slightly fancier-than-normal "chili cheese dogs"(pictured above), meatloaf sandwiches with gravy, and grilled hanger steak with poblano peppers and onions. My friend Chris brought a chicken he had brined overnight with shallots and anchovies, among other things.

I will share the chili recipe with you in an upcoming post, because with or without meat it is fantastic. The meatloaf involved 2 lbs of ground beef, chuck and sirloin in my case, mixed with 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1 medium onion finely diced, 1 egg, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1 tsp sea salt, a lot of coarsely ground black pepper, and a few liberal dashes of soy sauce. I mixed these together and formed the loaf in an 8x8 roasting pan, baked it for 15 minutes at 350, and then topped with a mixture of ketchup, sriracha, honey, and soy sauce, the sliced bacon, and after twenty more minutes in the oven, I added additional glaze. It was the hit of the party, especially after I made a gravy from the drippings and dressed the sandwiches with that. This was the meatloaf hot out of the oven:

For dessert, my lovely friend Amy made cupcakes, and may I say it was quite the barbeque.

this was delicious! you've done it again, smitten kitchen!

concord grape and rosemary focaccia

this is delectably sweet, savory, and herbaceous all at once. (i substituted soymilk, it turned out great)

eggplant is so good

whenever i've made eggplant dishes for people they usually say "i usually don't like eggplant, but I like this." what the eff? eggplant is delicious and i love when it's in season. let me just say though, that if you don't treat it right it will taste like crap, and that's why people don't think they like it when they really do.

if you decide to buy one before it goes out of season, slice the eggplant and put slices in a colander, salt liberally, and let sit for 30 minutes. then rinse off the salt. that's how you make it tasty. eggplant is a nightshade, it has bitter juices that need to be drawn out. that's what the salt does. after salting and draining eggplant it can be turned into moussaka or caponata, simply roasted with oregano and a medley of seasonal veggies, or lightly breaded and baked on an oiled baking sheet and topped with chopped herbs, olives, veggies, and hummus.

tomatoes pt 3: peas and tomatoes should be seasonally in sync and it's not fair that they're not

It isn't really fair that the best peas come in spring and the best tomatoes in summer, but frozen organic peas can actually taste nearly as good as the fresh ones and honestly, when combined with tomatoes, oh my god, let's just say it's a match made in heaven. My friend Fiona, who has loyally eaten almost everything I've ever made, remarked about a recent pea and tomato ravioli (details below) that it was the best thing I've ever made. But first the pizza, which was way easier to make and I would absolutely recommend making in your own home next summer.

3) Pizza with mozzarella, pureed peas, tomatoes and pecorino

The key to great pizza at home is allowing the dough you either make or buy to rise in your refrigerator for a couple of days. It really makes for a lighter, crispier end product in a home oven that can only responsibly reach around 500 degrees. I bake mine at 450. Allow the dough to reach room temperature and knead it on a floured surface, begin to roll it out into the shape of whatever pan or stone you have. I use a rectangular baking sheet usually, and apply olive oil to the sheet and spread it around before plopping my stretched dough over that and spreading it out to nearly reach the corners. I then add whatever toppings I desire and add a little extra oil and salt to the outside edges. This pizza involved a puree of peas sauteed with garlic over sliced local mozzarella, sliced heirloom cherry and green tomatoes, and a liberal application of grated percorino romano over top. Peas with pecorino is one of the best flavor combinations I've ever tasted, and combined with garlic, sweet and tart tomatoes, and rich mozzarella, it was absolutely delicious!

4) Minted pea ravioli with slow-roasted cherry tomatoes (vegan)

Peas with mint is also a classic combination, so I decided to stuff eggless ravioli with a puree of peas, mint leaves, toasted pine nuts, and a touch of organic tofu cream cheese and top that with garlicky roasted cherry tomatoes. Note that rolling and punching out individual ravioli takes forever, and that I want a pasta machine for Christmas.

I was cooking for around 10 or more people, so I made a huge pile of ravioli, with about a cup of roasted pine nuts, a very loosely packed half cup of mint leaves, two packages of organic peas, a quarter cup of tofu cream cheese, and salt and pepper in the filling. I used two cartons of local heirloom cherry tomatoes and two cloves of garlic for the topping, slow-roasted with a bit of olive oil to coat at 250 degrees for around an hour. I garnished this with additional mint leaves. Apparently this is the best thing I've ever cooked, and it was a huge hit at Coasting's west coast tour kick-off dinner party. If you have a pasta maker, have at it. If not, you must love your friends as much as I do.

Summer tomatoes pt. 2 (also vegan)

2) Bread salad with sweet corn, tomatoes, and herbed nut puree

Vegan cooking doesn't have to be boring or incorporate suspicious faux-meats. There is plenty of protein readily available in the plant world, and though it might seem like more effort to season and puree a mixture of cashews and walnuts in a food processor than to simply throw a chicken breast in a pan, it is infinitely more environmentally responsible to buy walnuts than Purdue. That being said, I am a carnivore who delights in all-vegetable-and-nut meals. This is one I came up with while vacationing in Wisconsin.

I had stale bread on hand (many commercially available artisinal breads are vegan) and toasted thick slices of it in a pan, then rubbed the slices with garlic, and cut into cubes. I dressed sliced local tomatoes and freshly-cut sweet corn kernels with white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dill, a touch of salt and pepper, and topped with a nut puree made of cashews, walnuts, oregano, hot red pepper flakes, and the same white balsamic vinegar. The nut puree I made in advance of assembling the other ingredients, and allowed it to drain over the sink in a strainer to remove excess liquid. The sweetness of the nut puree was an excellent contrast to the salty/vinegary vegetables and the garlicky croutons, and there were several delightful textures at play in this dish. Had I any arugula, I would have thrown that right in the mix.

summer tomato recap, pt. 1

I don't know if I've told you, but tomatoes are my favorite food. I mean in-season tomatoes. I feel a little sad when I can't have them, which is most of the year, and try to convince myself that parsnips are equally as versatile and delicious. Which simply isn't true.

I got sort of busy this summer, or at least distracted, by rock music and road trips and gardening, which is why I haven't posted in so long. My apologies! I will be vigilant henceforth.

Promises I may not keep aside, the next few posts will serve as a logue of a few of the recipes from this summer's tomato season which has, sadly, come to a close.

1) Heirloom cherry tomato sausage bake with fresh herbs

After a rather awful house party experience here at Pizza Forest, my dear friend and facebook spouse Alex Iezzi owed me an apology. I won't say for what, but he apologized with an a

repa from Caracas and 2+ lbs of heirloom cherry tomatoes, which are surely, if nothing else, the keys to this girl's heart. They were beautiful, and are pictured above.

I tossed the cherry tomatoes in my dutch oven with parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme, a bay

leaf, salt, pepper, and one chopped clove of garlic with the oven pre-heating to around 350. I put some locally-sourced, sustainable hot Italian sausages atop the tomatoes and roasted in the oven for about 35 minutes, uncovered, turning the sausages once, and giving the tomatoes a little stir a few times, until I had this delightful dish. I made a simple greens salad and had a baguette on hand. This was a spectacularly rustic mid-summer supper.