Quickies but Goodies Archive

  • I know, i know, I’ve been gone and didn’t even post this past week’s foodblog-a-round. Can I use the excuse that I was too busy stuffing my face with Singaporean / Malaysian specialities during a whirlwind trip to Singapore? I was and I’ll see if I can dig up any pics of that for later this week. In the meantime, we’ve been trying to get back to cooking more at home in the cJ household. Tonight we’re headed out to dinner (I <3 Camino) but I thought I’d throw in a quick bonus post on a lusciously lovely pasta we...

    Vodka-Shocked Mushrooms with Parmagiano Reggiano Pappardelle

    Posted on 2010.04.25 | 1 Comment
    I know, i know, I’ve been gone and didn’t even post this past week’s foodblog-a-round. Can I use the excuse that I was too busy stuffing my face with Singaporean / Malaysian specialities during a whirlwind trip to Singapore? I was and I’ll see if I can dig up any pics of that for later this week. In the meantime, we’ve been trying to get back to cooking more at home in the cJ household. Tonight we’re headed out to dinner (I <3 Camino) but I thought I’d throw in a quick bonus post on a lusciously lovely pasta we...

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  • Spring is sprung, and berries are all over the market (at least here in California… maybe where you are too). And as the weather gets warmer a nice refreshing dessert is in order. This is a great fruit salad — easy to make, not even any chopping or slicing since it’s all berries whole. You can make variations of course with strawberries (I’d cut them in half or quarters in that case) or other fruits. Of course, you want to start with great berries. But the element that brings it all together is aged balsamic vinegar. Make sure to choose...

    Very Berry Marinated Salad

    Posted on 2010.04.07 | No Comments
    Spring is sprung, and berries are all over the market (at least here in California… maybe where you are too). And as the weather gets warmer a nice refreshing dessert is in order. This is a great fruit salad — easy to make, not even any chopping or slicing since it’s all berries whole. You can make variations of course with strawberries (I’d cut them in half or quarters in that case) or other fruits. Of course, you want to start with great berries. But the element that brings it all together is aged balsamic vinegar. Make sure to choose...

    Continue Reading...

  • Here we go, continuing our quest to cook our way through Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express with Winter recipe #89. The colors are really beautiful, and the combination of the beans, the meat and the toothsome pasta give it some heft as well. Not to mention the addition of the greens, which pretty much means nearly all the food groups are included. Multiple sources of protein and the potential to include whole grains? Healthy, tasty, and fast? (Don’t lecture me on whether the Italian sausage is healthy… substitute your sausage of choice, chicken or even fake sausage, as long as it’s...

    Pasta with Garbanzo Beans, Sausage and Greens

    Posted on 2010.03.10 | 2 Comments
    Here we go, continuing our quest to cook our way through Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express with Winter recipe #89. The colors are really beautiful, and the combination of the beans, the meat and the toothsome pasta give it some heft as well. Not to mention the addition of the greens, which pretty much means nearly all the food groups are included. Multiple sources of protein and the potential to include whole grains? Healthy, tasty, and fast? (Don’t lecture me on whether the Italian sausage is healthy… substitute your sausage of choice, chicken or even fake sausage, as long as it’s...

    Continue Reading...

  • I don’t have enough ambition to cook my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking or through The French Laundry Cookbook or definitely not through the Alinea cookbook. These women are the few and the brave. But the other day after prepping another quick and easy meal from Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Expresss, my husband announced, “Hey, we could cook our way through this book!.” And actually, we are, if in a random, disorganized manner. Now that we’ve set it as an actual goal, watch this space for more and more Bittman recipes. The other day we whipped up a...

    Kitchen Express White Bean Stew

    Posted on 2010.03.03 | No Comments
    I don’t have enough ambition to cook my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking or through The French Laundry Cookbook or definitely not through the Alinea cookbook. These women are the few and the brave. But the other day after prepping another quick and easy meal from Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Expresss, my husband announced, “Hey, we could cook our way through this book!.” And actually, we are, if in a random, disorganized manner. Now that we’ve set it as an actual goal, watch this space for more and more Bittman recipes. The other day we whipped up a...

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  • We try to incorporate a lot of interesting whole grains into our diet — and quinoa is one of our favorites. But just boiling it up and tossing in some salt, pepper and oil is not that interesting, and even the lusciousness of tossing in some easily melting cheese like crescenza gets repetitive. So when I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Fine Cooking, I couldn’t wait to try it. I whipped up a batch as the side dish for our dinner tonight (braised short ribs again — I meant to do tequila-braise but we ended up with...

    Sunday Dinner: Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Dried Fruit and Lemon-Cumin Vinaigrette

    Posted on 2010.01.31 | No Comments
    We try to incorporate a lot of interesting whole grains into our diet — and quinoa is one of our favorites. But just boiling it up and tossing in some salt, pepper and oil is not that interesting, and even the lusciousness of tossing in some easily melting cheese like crescenza gets repetitive. So when I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Fine Cooking, I couldn’t wait to try it. I whipped up a batch as the side dish for our dinner tonight (braised short ribs again — I meant to do tequila-braise but we ended up with...

    Continue Reading...

  • On Sunday it was rainy and dreary and we just didn't feel like heading out for lunch. All the fresh ingredients in the house were destined for other meals this week. So I decided to put my "semi-homemade" hat on and see what I could whip up just from what was in the pantry. The result was farro spaghetti tossed in brown-butter-sage-butter-fried white beans and butternut squash sauce. It was luscious, rich and hearty… with a touch of sweetness from the squash, and nuttiness from the brown butter. Actually, it tasted sort of like inside-out butternut squash ravioli. Yum. Quick...

    From the cJ Pantry: Butternut Squash Brown Butter Sage Love

    Posted on 2010.01.24 | No Comments
    On Sunday it was rainy and dreary and we just didn't feel like heading out for lunch. All the fresh ingredients in the house were destined for other meals this week. So I decided to put my "semi-homemade" hat on and see what I could whip up just from what was in the pantry. The result was farro spaghetti tossed in brown-butter-sage-butter-fried white beans and butternut squash sauce. It was luscious, rich and hearty… with a touch of sweetness from the squash, and nuttiness from the brown butter. Actually, it tasted sort of like inside-out butternut squash ravioli. Yum. Quick...

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  • I’ve been in love with Fine Cooking’s Cauliflower Soup with Marcona Almond and Piquillo Pepper Relish since finding it in the December issue last year and whipping up a batch for the holidays. Who wouldn’t love a recipe that’s super easy to whip up but tastes elegant and exquisite? With the added bonus of being “customizable” to taste with your personal amount of relish? The recipe suggests orange cauliflower, but when I saw this beautiful head of purple cauliflower at the store, I couldn’t resist the thought of a bowl of lavender soup.  The only question was, would the color...

    Sunday Dinner: OMG What’s That? Soup

    Posted on 2010.01.18 | No Comments
    I’ve been in love with Fine Cooking’s Cauliflower Soup with Marcona Almond and Piquillo Pepper Relish since finding it in the December issue last year and whipping up a batch for the holidays. Who wouldn’t love a recipe that’s super easy to whip up but tastes elegant and exquisite? With the added bonus of being “customizable” to taste with your personal amount of relish? The recipe suggests orange cauliflower, but when I saw this beautiful head of purple cauliflower at the store, I couldn’t resist the thought of a bowl of lavender soup.  The only question was, would the color...

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  • They may not look very attractive, but they smell AWESOME. Recipe adapted using Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio cookbook. Slightly less butter because I wanted less spread. 1 1/2 sticks of butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 large egg I didn’t have any vanilla left or ordinarily I would have added it. Next time. all mixed up, and then folding in 1 1/2 cups of flour Pinch of salt 1 tsp of baking powder and then folded in 1 cup of Recchuiti’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pearls. I wanted to make smaller cookies so I went with heaping teaspoonfuls...

    Mini-Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Pearl Cookies

    Posted on 2009.12.16 | No Comments
    They may not look very attractive, but they smell AWESOME. Recipe adapted using Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio cookbook. Slightly less butter because I wanted less spread. 1 1/2 sticks of butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 large egg I didn’t have any vanilla left or ordinarily I would have added it. Next time. all mixed up, and then folding in 1 1/2 cups of flour Pinch of salt 1 tsp of baking powder and then folded in 1 cup of Recchuiti’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pearls. I wanted to make smaller cookies so I went with heaping teaspoonfuls...

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  • Simple dinner tonight brought to us by Fatted Calf — chanterelle-and-sausage stuffed quail. Since they were pre-seasoned / stuffed, they were super easy. First step, get them out of the fridge and bring them to room temperature. Oven pre-heated to 425 degrees, per instructions of the nice guy @ the farmers’ market. I buttered a sheet to make sure they wouldn’t stick, and then placed them breast side down and let them go for about 8-9 minutes. I flipped them over and then let them go the balance of the time to a total of roughly 25 minutes (so maybe...

    Sunday Dinner: Stuffed Quail from Fatted Calf

    Posted on 2009.10.11 | No Comments
    Simple dinner tonight brought to us by Fatted Calf — chanterelle-and-sausage stuffed quail. Since they were pre-seasoned / stuffed, they were super easy. First step, get them out of the fridge and bring them to room temperature. Oven pre-heated to 425 degrees, per instructions of the nice guy @ the farmers’ market. I buttered a sheet to make sure they wouldn’t stick, and then placed them breast side down and let them go for about 8-9 minutes. I flipped them over and then let them go the balance of the time to a total of roughly 25 minutes (so maybe...

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  • I love corn. Pop corn, corn kernels, cornbread, corn tortillas… but none of these can beat a nice young ear of corn on the cob. Good lots of ways, from grilled to boiled, from plain to slathered in chili lime butter. But I don't cook corn the way my mom always did. There seems to be a divide on whether corn should be boiled a long time or a short time… I always err on the shorter. It takes away the raw-raw flavor, but leaves the corn crisp and sweet. It's so simple, it doesn't really qualify as a recipe....

    Sunday Dinner: Corn on the Cob

    Posted on 2009.10.04 | No Comments
    I love corn. Pop corn, corn kernels, cornbread, corn tortillas… but none of these can beat a nice young ear of corn on the cob. Good lots of ways, from grilled to boiled, from plain to slathered in chili lime butter. But I don't cook corn the way my mom always did. There seems to be a divide on whether corn should be boiled a long time or a short time… I always err on the shorter. It takes away the raw-raw flavor, but leaves the corn crisp and sweet. It's so simple, it doesn't really qualify as a recipe....

    Continue Reading...