Best Things in Life

First of all, I'd like to welcome new folks visiting from Bob's Red Mill! And dear readers, make sure you check out the wonderful collection of gluten-free, casein free recipes they've compiled in honor of Autism Awareness Month.

Secondly (and I realize without a proper segue), I'd like to just get to business and say that the soup I made the other night (also gluten free, by the way), is the third best thing to have ever happened to me--it closely follows marrying my husband and birthing my perfectly perfect children.

No joking here....It is that good.

I imagine sipping it, beach-side in some fabulous Thai resort. It's hot and sultry...but I've got a beer in hand and the water is steps away. This soup will take you there (no sunscreen required). It's incredibly aromatic with the perfect hint of spice. The bright and zingy broth is tamed with the addition of coconut milk (light is fine) and it's finished off with a handful of fresh cilantro, Thai basil, and sliced red chiles.

I could eat it for lunch, eat it for dinner, eat it every single day. Phuket, here I come.





Thai Chicken Coconut Soup
Adapted from Epicurious
Printable Recipe

Don't let the length of the ingredient list scare you. It's a simple soup to make, with incredibly complex flavor.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: serves 4

Ingredients:

4 ounces Thai rice linguine noodles (for Pad Thai)
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1–2 red Thai (or jalapeño) peppers, seeded and finely chopped (plus slices for garnish)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
Juice from one lime
4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, divided
1/2 pound brown button mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, cored seeded and sliced
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 1/2-inch-long by 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 cup light coconut milk
2 cups baby spinach
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped Thai basil (or regular basil) leaves

Preparation:

1. Place noodles in a bowl; add enough boiling water to cover and let sit until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Drain.

2. Combine broth, chile, garlic, ginger, lemon zest, lime zest, lime juice and 3 tablespoon fish sauce in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer.

3. Add mushrooms and bell pepper to broth, simmer 3 minutes more. Add chicken and coconut milk and simmer, stirring, until chicken is just cooked, about 3 minutes. Stir in spinach until it begins to wilt, about 1 minute.

4. Add chopped cilantro and season with remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce. Using tongs, divide noodles among 4 bowls. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sprigs of cilantro, basil and slices of chile.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

What do you do when you have piles of strawberries and rhubarb leftover from jam making (because you forgot to bring the recipe to the market and therefore erred on the side of caution...)? You make strawberry rhubarb compote of course! It takes almost no time to whip up and has an outstanding flavor. You can serve it over pancakes, ice cream, crepes (pictured below) or even lemon cake (I did that for book club and the ladies went wild). Doesn't matter what you put it on--could even be a spoon--I hope you'll try it, and soon.





Look for me tomorrow over at Bob's Red Mill. I'm a guest blogger there and I developed a gluten free, casein free recipe (those crepes) in honor of Autism Awareness Month. Chances are Autism has impacted someone in your family or circle of friends. Take a moment to learn more about it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
Printable Recipe

Put this on everything. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 12 minutes, plus time to cool
Yield: about 2 cups

Ingredients:

2 cups of rhubarb, sliced 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 pounds strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced

Preparation:

1. Place rhubarb and sugar in a medium size pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat and continue to simmer for about 7 minutes, until the rhubarb is tender.

2. Gently stir in the strawberry quarters and pour into a bowl to cool the mixture slightly. Stir in the mint leaves, and drizzle over warm crepes (or refrigerate for later use).

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Strawberry rhubarb jam is arguably the best jam that I make. It's a perfect mash up of sweet and tart and its glorious ruby red hue looks so lovely on top of a cream biscuit, or a vanilla scone...or even a plain ol' slice of toasted bread. We go through gobs of the stuff every year, my own homemade supply supplemented with jam from the Green Briar Jam Kitchen in Cape Cod.

Jamming is simple (really) and though it's best done with a few useful tools, you can usually make do with what you have in your kitchen already. I have a large jamming pot, but I don't use it for small batches of jam because it is so huge and takes so long to heat up. Instead, I process my jams in my pasta cooker (with an insert). It holds exactly 7 half-pint jars, which is perfect for many of my recipes. If I have any extra jam, I just pour it into a sterilized jar and place it in the fridge. It's ready to be eaten immediately and will last for about 3 weeks (but your family will devour it way before then).

Like knitting, this old-timey activity is once again gaining steam for good reason--there is nothing sweeter than something that's homemade, with love.








Fruit, sugar and a little patience is all that's required for good jam. It's also helpful to have a candy or digital probe thermometer, a ladle or flat sieve for skimming, a funnel for filling your 8-ounce canning jars and a jar lifter (or jar tongs) to help you lift the jars from a simmering water bath. Most, if not all of these items can usually be found at your hardware store, or in the canning section of your grocery store (yes, there is probably a canning section in your grocery store...and you've walked by it about a thousand times without noticing it!). I sterilize my clean jars, bands and new lids (never re-use your lids) by placing them on a cookie sheet in a 250 degree oven for at least 10 minutes. You can also boil them in water for 10 minutes to sterilize them. They should be hot when you fill them with jam.


Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Preserves
Printable Recipe

This brightly colored, soft-set jam is sweet and tart and perfect for spooning over cake, toast or a scone. It fills about 7 half-pint jars, with a bit left over. Just place any extras in a sterilized jar in the fridge and consume it within 3 weeks.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: about 1 hour
Yield: 5 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

2 pounds strawberries
1 pound rhubarb, sliced into 1/2 inch lengths
1 cup water
zest from one lemon
juice from one lemon
2 cups sugar

Preparation:

1. Rinse and drain the berries. Remove the stems and hull them. Cut berries into a uniform size and place in a heavy, non-reactive 8-quart saucepan. Add the rhubarb, lemon zest and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

2. Add lemon juice, and then sugar in 1/2 cup increments, waiting until the liquids come to a simmer before adding more sugar. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes longer, stirring regularly to prevent sticking. Jam will reach a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When bubbles are thick and the jam spits when stirred, turn off the heat.

3. Skim off foam. Fill hot, sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe the rims clean (with a clean cloth), attach new lids and screw on caps tightly. Process in a pot of boiling water, submerged by one-inch for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool on a towel. Jar lids should produce a "ping" sound when they vacuum seal is complete. Store any un-sealed jars in the fridge and consume within 3 weeks.

Meatless Mondays...Meatless Everyday?

This is Bodhi doing what Bodhi does best...enjoying long naps in his cozy bed of hay. You should hear him sigh contentedly, and you should hear the way he saws logs--puts my husband's snoring to shame.

Bodhi lives at The Gentle Barn an animal rescue farm that takes in severely abused animals and rehabilitates them with medical care, massage, acupuncture, good eats and lots and lots of love.

Perhaps you've heard a little about the The Gentle Barn from Ellen DeGeneres, who recently auctioned off a hunk of Justin Beiber's hair as a fundraiser for the organization. The winner paid $40,000 for the...um...memorabilia (?) and all proceeds went to The Gentle Barn.

Founded in 1999, by Ellie Laks (now married to Jay Weiner), The Gentle Barn seeks not only to rescue animals, but also educate children, especially those at high risk. Each week, groups of troubled kids visit the barn to interact with the animals and learn a little about the sanctity of life, treating others with respect (humans, animals and themselves), and responsibility. On Sundays, The Gentle Barn is open to the public from noon to 4, and folks can brush, give belly rubs and feed the animals for a $5 per person donation. There's a snack bar, and picnic tables where you can bring a (vegetarian only out of respect for the animals) lunch.

When we went on a recent Sunday, the kids fed the horses carrots in the barn...


And went to the gated area to feed and love the chickens, turkeys, goats, lambs, pigs, emu, peacock and more...



And we didn't leave before they hugged two adorable baby cows....


Everyone was encouraged to hug a cow that day. In return, The Gentle Barn received a $1 donation for every cow hugger, and we each got a bracelet that said, I hugged a cow at The Gentle Barn.


Shortly after our visit, our daughter declared that she didn't want to eat animals any more, though she did admit that quitting the bacon and sausage was going to be hard. I always make an effort to buy meat that is raised as humanely as possible, but I support her in this journey and had an inkling that her tender heart would lead her in that direction sometime anyway. And since we try to go meat-free at least a few times a week, this will encourage us to do it more often, which is good for us, good for the planet...and good for Bodhi and his animal friends too.

Last night, I re-instituted our Meatless Mondays with an incredible roasted tomato soup, served with grilled cheese sandwiches. My mom had made the soup earlier in the week, and said it was the best tomato soup she had ever had. She's right. The smell of the roasting veggies was enough to make me swoon, but their deep and earthy flavor lended a satisfying heartiness to a totally vegan dish. I've added this soup to the short list of favorites. And it's great to make with "off season" tomatoes (even ones from the farmers' market aren't that great this time of year), because the long and slow roasting brings out their richness and makes them taste....well, taste more like tomatoes.



So did my newly minted vegetarian daughter love this soup as much as I did? Not so much. In fact, she didn't like it at all. Sigh. This is going to be a long journey and an exercise of patience on my part--but that's parenthood, right?

I hope you can visit the The Gentle Barn and see all their wonderful animals in person!

The Gentle Barn
15825 Sierra Highway
Santa Clarita, CA 91390

Or follow them on Twitter or Facebook!

Roasted Tomato Soup
Printable Recipe

By slow roasting the veggies, this soup has an incredible richness and depth of flavor. Though I chose to top it with a bit of shaved Parmesan cheese, this soup is otherwise completely vegan...and completely fabulous. Though sugar wasn't in the original recipe (adapted from here), I added a pinch because my tomatoes were a bit on the acidic side. It was enough to take the edge off. I also added additional salt, because I used low sodium vegetable stock.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Yield: serves 6

Ingredients:

3 pounds of Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded
2 red bell peppers, quartered and seeded
1 medium onion, quartered
8 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons, chopped fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1 (6 ounce) can of tomato paste
6 cups of vegetable stock
Pinch of sugar (optional)
Basil leaves, thinly sliced (for garnish)
Shaved Parmesan (for garnish)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic and thyme on a sheet pan and toss them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Flip the tomatoes and peppers so they are skin side up and roast for 45-50 minutes until they are lightly charred and tender.

3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large stock pot. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Scrape the veggies (and any juice) into the pot and stir to combine. Add the stock (I added 6 cups of water and 3 packets of veggie stock concentrate) and stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Let the soup cool for at least 10 minutes. Blending hot soup is very dangerous, so do not skip this step. Transfer the soup in batches to blender (or use an immersion blender). The blender should only be about 1/3 full. Carefully vent the corner of the lid to allow steam to escape and pulse until the soup is blended thoroughly. Pour blended soup into a large bowl and continue blending the rest of the soup until it is all smooth.

5. Pour soup back into the large stockpot, and taste for seasoning. Add a pinch of sugar (if using), salt and pepper to taste. Heat the soup to warm through, ladle into bowl and top with basil and Parmesan cheese if desired.

Risotto Cakes with Crispy Cheese Curls

I promised you a recipe for leftover risotto. And I thought I'd drop by and share it with you before I trot off and enjoy my 36th birthday. I don't have much planned...just a quiet day with my loves. I was greeted in bed with some homemade cards (aren't those the best?) and some hot coffee too. And now I'm enjoying the peace of the morning, sitting at my sunny kitchen table and listening to my favorite Pandora station. Life is good.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and wish you a very happy FRIDAY.





Risotto Cakes Topped with Crispy Cheese Curls
Printable Recipe

These are perfect for lunch, as an appetizer or for a light dinner. It works well with any kind of leftover risotto, cold is best so they hold together better. I used this recipe. I served these crisp cakes on a bed of arugula that I tossed with some olive oil and orange muscat vinegar. It was a simple and satisfying meal...and one that I could eat a lot more often.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: serves 2 as a main portion, 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked, leftover risotto
1/4 cup fine dried breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
8 tablespoons of finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

1. Using damp hands, shape the risotto into 8 small patties. Place the breadcrumbs on a plate, and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Dredge each patty through the crumbs, coating both sides. Set the coated patties on a plate.

2. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Drop in cheese by the tablespoonful and cook until golden brown and melted, about 1-2 minutes. Then flip and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes more. While cheese is still hot, shape around a chopstick into a spiral shape, if desired. They will crisp up like crackers as they cool. Set aside.

3. Heat olive oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add risotto cakes and cook for 3-4 minutes, carefully flipping when they are golden brown. Cook for 3-4 minutes more on the second side.

4. Serve over a bed of arugula, tossed with olive oil and vinegar, if desired. Top with cheese curls.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcake

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! If you've been around this blog for any amount of time, then you know that we love to celebrate just about anything. Saint Patrick's Day is no exception--after all, who couldn't use a little luck of the Irish every now and again? And there is a wee bit of Irish blood in running through our veins too...just enough to make it official. (And I've heard somewhere that my ginger-hued hair makes me related to the Leprechauns.)

And like those crafty little Leprechauns, I've been making a little mischief myself--in the kitchen. The plan is to have corned beef and cabbage for dinner, as always, but this year I've thrown in a side of colcannon made with both kale and cabbage, and for dessert...Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.

Have you ever had an Irish Car Bomb? I really have no idea where they originated, but they are probably a riff on the popular Sake Bomb. Basically you fill a pint glass 3/4 full with Guinness then sink a shot glass that's half Irish Whiskey and half Bailey's into the beer. Then the lucky imbiber must guzzle the entire thing, before the Bailey's curdles (which doesn't take any time at all). I've tried this once in my life--and once may be enough. The flavor is really surprisingly good, but drinking such a heavy beer so quickly is quite...the challenge.

An Irish Car Bomb tastes like dessert...almost like a Mudslide. It's thick and creamy and its flavors lend very, very well to these cupcakes. The cake batter is made with chocolate and Guinness, then after they are baked they're filled with some ganache spiked with whiskey. Finally they are topped with a butter cream frosting made with Bailey's. The resulting (adult-only) cupcake borders on being obscenely rich, but it is unbelievably delicious too. One of these Irish Car Bombs is most certainly not enough. Well, on second thought, if I want to fit into my jeans, one is most definitely enough.






Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Printable Recipe
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Oh my goodness. This cupcake is really the best cupcake I've ever made...and I've made a lot of cupcakes. It's so moist, in part due to the injection of whiskey-spiked ganache, and the Bailey's butter cream frosting is simply out of this world. Make these for Saint Patrick's Day--or for your birthday. Or both! The Guinness in the batter will bake off, but the alcohol is very much present in the other parts of the cupcake. If you are serving these to children you may want to omit the whiskey in the ganache and substitute regular cream for the Irish cream in the frosting. Or not.

Prep time: 1 hour
Total time: 2 hours
Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients:

Cupcake:
1 cup butter
1 cup Guinness beer
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup sour cream
2 extra large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Ganache:
2/3 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon Irish whiskey

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin tins with paper liners. You will need 20-24.

2. Make the cupcakes. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. When butter is just melted, remove from heat and stir in the beer and cocoa powder. Cool to room temperature. Whisk in the sour cream and eggs until smooth.

3. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the chocolate/beer mixture until smooth, taking care not to over-beat the batter.

4. Fill paper muffin cups 3/4 of the way full with batter. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

5. Meanwhile make the ganache. Heat the cream to almost simmering a small pot. Place chocolate chips in a small bowl and pour the hot cream over them. Whisk until chips have melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the butter and whiskey. The ganache should be smooth and glossy. Carefully transfer the mixture to a piping bag, fitted with the long, narrow attachment.

6. Insert the piping tip into the center of each cupcake and fill slowly with ganache until you see the top of the cupcake begin to swell a bit.

7. Make the frosting. Beat the butter until smooth. Sift in 3 cups of the powdered sugar and add the Bailey's. Beat until frosting is smooth and a spreadable consistency. If necessary, add up to 1 cup more of powdered sugar.

8. Frost each cupcake sparingly, using a piping bag (or otherwise just small plops of frosting will do). These cupcakes are best eaten the same day...but will last up to one day more. Store in the refrigerator.

Yes, Peas!

A season of change is upon us. My rose bushes are in full bud, the peas are ready to harvest, and the days are longer and warmer and sunnier. I love this time of year--the time when I can open the windows and let in the breeze which smells of jasmine, cut grass and citrus blossoms. The birds feel it too and are a mass of righteous chirping in the trees (and pooping on my window box).

Spring is nature's way of extending her hand, offering up the promise of much bounty in the months ahead.


There's the promise of cooking and eating outdoors...of late bedtimes, and fireflies, and sandy toes. The promise of family time and leisure after so much hard work. And the promise of renewal and restoration after loss, heartache and tragedy.

The clustercuss of events in Japan has captivated my attention these past few days, as I'm sure it has yours. It is unfathomable that life and livelihood can be lost in an instant. And it has been an poignant reminder that life is all too short and all too fragile.

If you haven't already, please make a contribution to help the survivors of this horrific triple-punch of quake, tsunami, and nuclear catastrophe. And then, after you've made that donation, you must make this risotto which is for me, the paramount comfort dish.




This risotto is so rich and creamy, and each tender bite is chock full of the springtime tastes of wild arugula, leeks and home-grown peas. And it's topped with crispy bacon...need I say more? The recipe makes a lot (we are big fans of leftovers for lunch), and I will post a recipe tomorrow showing you how to make this leftover risotto, or any leftover risotto, into something really, really special.


Spring Pea, Leek and Arugula Risotto
Printable Recipe

Freshly picked peas, leeks and wild arugula are the stars in this creamy spring risotto. Risotto is very simple to make, though it does require one to stir the pot. I highly recommend that you turn on some music, pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the process--pour, stir and simmer (and sip). Repeat.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Yield: serves 4 with leftovers

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups arborio rice
1 quart chicken stock, simmering (I heat mine in a pyrex pitcher in the microwave)
1 cup freshly shelled English peas
3 large handfuls of arugula, wild or otherwise.
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper, to taste
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat butter and oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the shallot and leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Add rice and stir until grains are coated with the oil and butter. Add the wine and simmer until it is almost completely absorbed.

3. Add one cup of warmed stock to the rice. Simmer gently, and stir occasionally, until broth is almost absorbed. Continue in this way, adding broth in one cup increments until all the broth has been used, and rice is tender and creamy. It should take around 20 minutes.

4. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, stir in the peas. The heat from the rice should cook them sufficiently. When the rice is done, stir in the arugula, one handful at a time, until it is wilted. Stir in the cheese and taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary.

5. Serve the risotto immediately in wide bowls, topped with additional Parmesan cheese and crispy bacon if using.