Fasst Focaccia

Believe it or not I've NEVER made bread from scratch. It's lame I know. There's something about all that waiting while things rise that make me lazy and honestly, impatient. But the other day I found this recipe and literally had 3 hrs before dinner time so I decided to give it a try. 

It was easy, not a lot of waiting around and I was able to make it work even without having a bread mixer. After a few days, when it was a little stale, I cut up the rest and made croutons for salad. Give it a try tonight - you still have time!

Here is the recipe from the Blog Becoming Chef Nini

FAVE THINGS: Trader Joe's

I don't knot about you, but I can't do all my grocery shopping in one place. I go to different places for different things. Safeway is where I get my basics, New Seasons is where I get fish, fresh bread and special ingredients, and Trader Joe's is where I get special treats. I want to share with you a few of my fave things from TJ's, staples I think you should get everytime you go there:

_Blue Corn Tortilla Chips & Pico de Gallo Salsa

I love these chips because they are really thin, have great flavor and are not too salty. I haven't found a better Pico de Gallo anywhere, it tastes SO fresh so can take it to a party and tell people you made it! Usually get 2 at a time.

_Pot Stickers

These are great to have when you have unexpected guests or when you want to add a little something to your dinner. I make a simple dipping sauce for them: Mix 2 tbs soy sauce + 2 tbs water + 1/8 tsp peanut oil + Sriracha sauce to hotness desired. Mix and serve.

_Edamame

Edamame is a great snack to have around because it's high on protein and super easy to make. For an easy lunch, make some miso soup, edamame and a few pot stickers.

_Nuts

Cashews, almonds and trail mix galore. They have the best selection!

_Peanut Butter
They have tons of options (roasted, salted, crunchy) and they are all really good. It's my fave brand peanut butter brand.

_Frozen Fruit

It's well priced and they have great varieties. I love the mango and the mixed berries to make smoothies.

_Other goodies:

Wine (they have bottles from $4!), flowers (pretty cheap and usually last the whole week) & cookies (tons of varieties to choose from - but not good if you're on a diet).

Do YOU have any TJ's favorites? Tell me about them!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

For the past few weeks, a couple of friends and I have been doing something called CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from a farm called Gardenripe here in OR. How does it work? We get one box of produce a week with a variety of organic veggies, mostly leafy greens (kale, rainbow chard, lettuce) and sometimes some amazing berries. 

My favorites where the blueberries, I froze some (see best technique for freezing berries here) and made some baked goods. First I made some blueberry/corn muffins and they where great. But then I made these blueberry crum bars that where just amazing!

Here is the RECIPE (from Smitten Kitchen), it's super easy and i just loved the crumb mix - you can use it with SO many other fruits, cherries would be great... maybe peaches? Hurry up and make some today!

NOTE : Keep them in the fridge - they will last longer. Also, I warmed them up a bit at night and served them with ice cream as dessert! 

Crabs with fennel & tomato broth

Last weekend I was going through one of my Sunset Magazines and saw this super yummy picture of crabs with a tomato stew. My hubby took one look and agreed with me: we HAD to make it that night. We both love crabs and we've had it many times but never cooked them ourselves or bought them live.

We decided to get them from this asian fish market, they have a great selection of fresh crabs, lobsters and fish. We picked our 2 crabs and home we went. We pretty much just googled "how to cook live crabs" and found a super easy way to do it. Then I followed the recipe from the mag and added some delicious crusty bread. 

FOR THE CRABS

_We followed this directions on boiling live crab.

_We also follows this directions on how to remove the crab meat from the shell. It's messy and weird but go for it! We added the meat from the shells to the sauce, and kept the legs and claws on the side so we could crack them individually and dipped them in the sauce.

FOR THE FENNEL-TOMATO BROTH

Ingredients::

_ 3  celery stalks, trimmed and cut in half

_ 1/2  small white onion, quartered

_ 1  small fennel bulb, quartered (I only used half, not crazy about the licorice smell)

_ 1  tablespoon  olive oil
_ 1  cup  dry white wine

_ 1  can (14 oz.) fire-roasted diced tomatoes

_ 1/4  teaspoon  red chile flakes

_ 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt

_ 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

_ Handful flat-leaf parsley leaves

_ 2  cooked crabs (1 1/2 lbs. each)

Directions::

_ In a food processor, chop celery, onion, and fennel

_ Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, add vegetables, and cook until softened, stirring often, about 7 minutes 

_ Add wine, 1 cup water, tomatoes, chile flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook, covered, 8 to 10 minutes to let flavors develop 

_ Add the crab meat (from the shell) and cook, covered, stirring often, until warm and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large serving bowl and top with parsley

NOTES::

_ We served this with a nice baguette that I warmed up in the oven, great for dipping in the sauce!

Overall it was SUPER easy and didn't take too long. If you like crabs I totally recommend you try this recipe!

TOP CHEF TOUR

Even if you're a big fan of the show you might have not heard about this awesome Tour they are doing, there's not a lot of press for it. I found out about it on bravotv.com and read about it on how2heroes blog - it sounded super fun and a great way to learn more about my fave show so I had to go.

This is how it works: Two chefs from past seasons show up, demo a dish and then let you ask them ANY questions you want. The set up is small (no more than 60 people) and everyone gets to try the food. I grabbed a front row seat and really enjoyed watching them cook and talking about the show. They also sell tons of merchandise, have some games, and silly cut ups of Padma & Colicchio you can take pictures with.

The two chefs that came to PDX where from season 3: Brian Malarkey and Chris "CJ" Jacobsen. They where super nice and laid back. CJ was the one that cooked, his dish had a LOT of components but it was all really good:

_Slow cooked Lamb

_Apricots with a bacon, sugar and sheri marinade

_Salad of radishes, parsley, lemon and olive oil

_Sauteed garlic spears

_Wilted lettuce

Want to know some of the show inside scoop?

_They are totally sequestered throughout the show, no TV, no music, no books, no magazines... NO phone calls home! After they get kicked off they move to another house and its pretty much the same until they're done filming.

_The challenges are pretty much back to back, they don't get ANY days off (my question).

_The's a lot of "hurry up and wait". After they're given a challenge, they might wait up to 2 hrs in the van while the camera crew sets up at the Whole Foods before they can go in and buy t. They said it messes up with them because they have way too much time to over think their dishes.

_Food gets cold by the time whey present to the judges and they just have to deal with it.

_The judges deliberate for hours... at least 4-5. They are stuck in that room with tons of alcohol and nothing to do... how boring is that?

_They said they where going to try and check out Pok Pok and Le Pigeon while they where in town.

That's pretty much it! It was super fun and I can't wait for next season... starts next week!

Thanks to my girl Amanda from meals apart for getting us tickets :)

The Pound Cake

I absolutely love pound cakes, it just reminds me of home. My mom always made them growing up, not necessarily for a special occasion, just to have around the house for "merienda" (our middle of the day snack) and cafecito (a small cup of coffee, our Venezuelan espresso).  So the other day I just woke up wanting to have this delicious cake around the house, for breakfast, snack and dessert.

If you've never made pound cake you'll find the ratio kinda weird, but trust me i'll be perfect! Here's my mom Anamelia's recipe:

Ingredients::

_ 6 eggs

_ 3 sticks of butter (softened)

_ 3 cups of sugar

_ 4 cups of flour
_ 1/2 cup of milk

_ 1/2 lemon zest

Directions::

_ Preheat oven to 350º

_ Mix the butter and sugar until nice and creamy

_ Add the eggs, one by one

_ Slowly add the flour and mix. Add the lemon zest

_ Pour into a buttered and floured pan (that's the way mom does it!)

_ Bake for 1 hr or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean

Topping::

_ You'll have to eye ball this one: Start with 2 cups of confectioners sugar and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and mix. Keep adding lemon juice or water until you reach the right consistency, you want it to be a little runny but not too much, kinda like honey. Pour all over the cake and top with some more lemon zest!

I love it with coffee in the morning, its so nice and dense you can actually dunk it in your cup... yum!


NOTE: After reading this post, my friends at how2heroes.com asked me to make a video of it, of course I said yes :) Check it out: Anamelias Pound Cake!

Perfect Granola

I LOVE love love granola. Specially on top of some plain yogurt, fruit and honey. But every time I think about buying one at the store I just can't get over the amount of sugar and crazy calories that they usually have. So I've been making my own for a while. I remember my mom making it at home growing up and just loving the smell of it in the oven. I finally found a recipe that I totally love and always comes out perfect. Its a mix of ingredients I like, and this Honey Almond Granola recipe. 

Ingredients::

_ 4 cups rolled oats

_ 3/4 cup of almonds (I like buying them whole and chopping them myself, but you can just get the silvered ones)

_ 1/4 cup sunflower seeds

_ 1/4 cup chopped cashews

_ 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut 

_ 1/2 light brown sugar

_ 1/2 tsp salt

_ 1 tsp cinnamon
_ 1/2 cup of honey 

_ 1/3 cup vegetable oil

_ 1 tbs vanilla extract

Directions::
_ Preheat oven to 325º
_ In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients.

_ In a small bowl, mix all wet ingredients. Pour it on top of the nuts and mix well.

_ Spread into 2 baking sheets, it's better to separate the mix in 2 so the granola cooks evenly and gets crunchy, not soggy. 

_ Bake for about 10 min, mix, then cook for another 5. Keep an eye on it, you don't want it to burn!

_ Let cool completely, then transfer to a tupperware and keep covered. I've read it keeps well for 2 weeks only, but I keep mine for about 4 weeks. Just cover it well.

You can also add dry cranberries, raisins or even chocolate chips. Also, if you don't have all the ingredients i have in here don't worry — use what you have, just make sure you have about 5 1/2 cups total of nuts/oats so the balance is right with the wet ingredients. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup!

Rain, rain, rain... that's how it is during wintertime here in PDX —but it's ok— perfect weather for making soups and yummy slow roasting things. A few weeks ago I was watching the food channel (shocker!) and Ina Garten made this Butternut Squash soup that looked SO easy and comforting I had to try it. 
I waited for the perfect super rainy day and got to work. It took me about 1 1/2 hrs start to finish, and half of that time it's just letting the veggies roast in the over.
Here is my adapted recipe:

Ingredients::

_ 3 to 4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded (about 1 big one)

_ 2 yellow onions

_ 2 McIntosh apples, peeled and cored (I got granny smith, still delish!)

_ 3 tablespoons good olive oil

_ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

_ About 4 cups chicken stock 

_1/2 teaspoon good curry powder

Directions:

_ Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

_ Cut the butternut squash, onions, and apples into 1-inch cubes. Place them on 2 sheet pans and toss them with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer — you want them to roast and not steam (which can happen if you put too many in one pan). Roast for 35 to 40min, tossing occasionally.

_ Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock to a simmer. When the vegetables are done, dump them (in batches) in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add some of the chicken stock and coarsely puree. When all of the vegetables are processed, place them in a large pot and add the rest of the chicken stock (if you like it thicker add less). Add the curry powder,  salt and pepper to taste.

I served ours with spicy grilled shrimp and slices of toasted baguette. Sprinkle it with red pepper flakes and if you have, some sea salt, you'll love it. It makes about 8-10 servings so you'll have plenty of leftovers to share or eat later.

Xmas Cookie time!

Last Thursday I got together with 3 awesome friends to make 4 different kinds of cookies & a toffee/chocolate bark. The day started at noon with yummy lunch of homemade lentil & ham soup (thanks Mo!), right after that we got to work — our cookies to make: Sugar (double recipe), Chocolate-dipped Peanut Butter (double recipe), Gingersnaps & Linzer — a nice mix! We fist made all the batches of dough because they needed to chill for about 1 hr. 

B planned ahead and made the Linzer cookie dough at home, which was great coz they took a while to make. We started cutting them up, making sure we got even number for the tops and bottoms. As you can see the tops get cut on the inside too so the jam comes through. Bianca melted the blackberry jam a bit and topped the bottom cookies, in the meantime, I sprinkled the tops with lots powder sugar. Look how pretty these are!



Then we moved to the Gingersnaps, which where super easy to make. The only thing I did different was adding more sugar on top after they came out of the oven. These cookies are super crispy and taste like the holidays. 

Mo worked her magic on her toffee/choco bark. She learned how to make it at a class she took a few years ago. I just watched her make it — you have to move fast and make sure you have a candy thermometer!

Then was Peanut Butter time, which where also super easy, just had to scoop them, make balls and flat them out a bit. After they cooled I dipped half of each one in chocolate which makes them even more heavenly. 

Mo & B worked on the sugar cookies making them into tons of cute xmas shapes. By this time it was almost 6pm and I had to run, so I took some dough and made & decorated them the day after.
Overall it was a SUPER successful cookie day :) we got a lot done and all the cookies came out fabulous. Thanks to Mo for hosting, B for finding the amazing Linzer recipe and J for helping out and taking pictures. Oh, and of course thanks to little C for being such a good baby. Hope we do this every year!!