Summer Veggies and Soba Noodles

I heard a sad thing on the radio today.  A sad thing and a scary thing.  "It's warm out there folks, so enjoy it! Before you know it, it'll be November, December, January, February, and it's going to be a cold one this year!"

Please answer me this.  Who says that in the first week of August??  You don't spend your time thinking of the miserable, dreaded cold of a dark Midwest winter in the first week of August.  August should be a happy, snow-free time!

I'm sorry.  I talk about the weather a lot.  I try not to, but it's like the queen of small conversation.  But maybe you all should talk back to me.  Then I can stop this small convo stuff.  Ok, that was a plea for attention, I admit it.

Anyways, I'm stalling here.  That's the real reason.  Cause here I am loving summer and praising the sunshine and blue skies and I want to put off telling you that I didn't like this.  It could very well be my fault.  It started promising.  There are beautiful fresh veggies that are chopped and diced and coated in a tasty Asian vinaigrette.  That mysteriously get eaten by wandering fingers.  See, promising?

And well, then I think I screwed up the soba noodles.  And then I messed up more and tried to convince myself that if I just tossed them with the yummy veggie mixture, it'd be ok.  It wasn't.  I really wanted it to be, but it wasn't.  The sad thing is, I know I will never try it again.  It could totally work.  I see that.  If you are better than me and can cook noodles into something other than a gummy, gooey mess, go for this.  Enjoy it for me, please.  Cause unfortunately I've already filled it into that special, round filing cabinet.  But let me know.  Please?  And I swear the weather talk will stop...

Summer Veggies and Soba Noodles
Adapted from Bon Appetit's July 2012 issue

1 medium red bell pepper
4-5 large radishes
1-2 large carrots
1 large cucumber, halved and seeded
1/3 c. unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. Sriracha
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
8 lz soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat noodles)
Scallions, thinly sliced
Cilantro, slivered
Black sesame seeds

It all starts with some chopping.  Chopped all vegetables into matchsticks.  Be super happy if you have a mandolin and break it out.  Once all the dicing is done, you should have about 8 cups of little veggies.  It's a lot, I know.  Put in a large bowl.

Start the noodles going in a large pot of salted water.  Stir occasionally and cook until al dente.  Don't trust your package, use your judgement.  Overcook and you're going to have an unpleasant gooey gummy mess.  Trust me here.  Drain and run under water to cool noodles.  Keep running if you want cold, we went with lukewarm.

Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, oils and Sriracha.  This is a wonderful sauce by the way.  Drizzle over cut veggies and toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.  It's ok to eat a lot of this right now, without the noodles even.  It's veggies and a vinaigrette.  Totally good for you.

Toss in noodles when they are done.  Season with salt and pepper if needed and top with scallions, cilantro and sesame seeds.  Eat with chopsticks if you are adventurous!

Boston Baked Beans

I stress out.  Like crazy.  And rarely over seriously things; instead, it's over stupid little things that are completely out of my control.  I don't stress out over things at work, but instead over whether a 6 year old is going to like her birthday present enough.  I don't stress over bills, but believe you me, I will stress out if my monthly Bon Appetit is even just a few days late in the mail.  It's ridiculous and makes little sense, but it's what I do.  And when I do it best, it's over food.

Mostly whether or not people are going to like it.  It may not seem like it, but I am in serious stress mood the first time I bring cookies into work.  Or bring a buttermilk cake to a cookout.  Or share my food with Ben's family.  I know it's not really true, but at the same time, I very much feel like everyone that tastes my food judges me on it.  It's why if that first batch of cookies isn't good, I won't bring them to work.  And it's why I made my favorite stand by cake the first time meeting Ben's coworkers instead of trying a new recipe.  And it's also why these beans came about.

Ben and I will be retiring to a cabin in the woods of Minnesota in a little while to hang out with his family for half a week.  Every day at noon, fish are fried and everybody brings a potluck dish to share.  Since I didn't want to spend my mornings in the kitchen, I brilliantly thought I would bring my crock pot to help out.  I decided baked beans would be a hit, plus who doesn't want to be the girlfriend who makes amazing baked beans from scratch?  I just couldn't let the first time I tried the recipe though be in a cabin in the woods of Minnesota.  

So I did a test run.  And I am glad I did.  These beans are great, don't get me wrong.  Sweet, with salty goodness from the bacon, the taste you really can't beat.  My crock pot, on the other hand, is probably what I should be stressing over.  This is my third batch of beans and my third time of having slightly crunchy beans after 10 hours.  I needed to cook the beans on a high for 3 more hours to get them tender.  But after that?  These are beans I don't need to stress over sharing. 

Boston Baked Beans

From Simply Recipes

1 lb. dry white beans (I used Great Northern)

1/3 c. molasses

1/3 c. brown sugar

4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp. ground clove

3 1/2 c. hot water

1/2 lb. thick, smoked bacon, in 1 inch chunks

1 medium onion, diced

Rinse and sort beans, discarding any stones.  Put in large pot and cover with at least 2 inches of water.  Leave to soak overnight.

Drain beans.  Line the bottom of the crock pot half of the bacon, using the fattiest pieces.  Layer on half of the beans, followed by all the onion.  Add rest of beans, followed by the rest of the bacon.  

Into the hot water, mix molasses, brown sugar, mustard and ground cloves.  Pour over beans, making sure liquid covers beans.

Cook beans on low heat for 8-10 hours, until tender.  Adjust seasoning with salt if necessary (I didn't think it needed it).

Ancho Chicken Tacos

When I was in school, I used to have these great fantasies about all the extra time I was going to have once I was in the real world.  There would be no more homework, no more study groups, no more intermural flag football practices and games.  Instead of managing a schedule of two different and distinct tutoring jobs with a full class load, I would only have work.  Oh, the things I would get done!  Cooking every night, delicious paper bag lunches every day.  I'd buy a sewing machine and I would use it.  Maybe I would actually get serious about learning German and take a class or two.  And, oh yeah, start a little thing called a blog and blog at least once a week!  Sigh... life was going to be some much more blissful once I was in the real world.

We all know where this is going.  Somehow, even with having only 1 job to be responsible to I still end up feeling as if there will never be enough time for accomplishing both enough sleep and my ever growing pile of laundry.  Yes, maybe intermural flag football was replaced with co-rec work softball.  And study groups replaced with volunteering for SWE.  And, having a larger living space does in fact mean that cleaning it takes exponentially longer to clean than previous living quarters.  And the blog thing, well, that actually happened, and who would have thought, it actually takes some time.  All those fantasies of me having nothing but buckets of free time have vaporized.  It is shocking, although I probably really shouldn't say surprising.  And let's face it, it's also probably a good thing.  I've never really been good with free time, I usually just use it to get caught up on Everybody Loves Raymond reruns.  

This has nothing to do with ancho chicken tacos, which by the way, were delicious.  Instead, it has everything to do with the fact that I have a public forum in which I am allowed to lightly complain occasionally... even if my mother and college roommate are the only people that ever read it.

Ancho Chicken Tacos
Adapted from BA's June 2012 Issue

The fact of the matter is, you can't go wrong with cumin + ancho + tacos.  I would imagine this would taste equally amazing whether chicken thighs, chicken breasts, shrimp or tilapia were used as the taco filling vehicle.  This one is a keeper, a BGCB-er.  A you-should-make-this-for-dinner-tomorrow-er.  Ok, that was a stretch.  But still completely true.

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chx. thighs (~6)
3 Tbsp. ancho chile powder
3 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. kosher salt
Canola oil, for frying
Corn tortillas, for tacos

Place chicken thighs in large bowl with lid.  In small bowl, mix together ancho chile powder, cumin and salt.  Sprinkle over chicken thighs, toss to thoroughly coat and pat in.  Cover bowl and refrigerate, letting marinade for at least 2 hours.

Pour enough oil into large cast iron skillet to completely cover bottom by at least a quarter inch.  Begin to heat over medium high heat.  Once oil is hot, lay chicken thighs in skillet in a single layer, being careful not to overcrowd.  If necessary, cook chicken in batches.  Let chicken cook 6-7 minutes undisturbed so crust forms.  Flip chicken and let cook an additional 5 or so minutes, until chicken thighs are cooked through.  Remove from pan and let rest on paper towels, to drain oil, about 5-10 minutes.  Shred chicken.

Load shredded chicken up in corn tortillas.  Top with any combination of the following, or your favorite taco topping: queso fresco, onions, cilantro, radishes, etc.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Crumble Meringues

The other day while shopping I came across blueberry crumble bread, just sitting there all nonchalant next to the cinnamon raisin bread, as if it had been there all it’s life.  I admit, I gaped at it a little while.  I couldn’t believe it at first.  Blueberry Crumble Bread?  Where had this been all my life and why was I just finding out about it?

Of course I bought a loaf and of course I had eaten two slices, toasted, with a small smear of butter, before I had even finished unpacking groceries.  And it was good, it really was, but by the time I bite into slice number two, I was thinking “ha.  I could so do this better”.  

Needless to say, since then, I can not get that combination out of my head.  Brown sugar! oats! blueberries!  It will be mine!  But, seeing as I am impatient (as well as unwilling to make bread when it is flirting with triple digits outside), I had to find a more practical way.  And then, well, by golly, then I remembered my love of meringues.  I think it was meant to be.  Gah, sometimes I even surprise myself with ideas of pure perfection.

If we were dating, you totally would realize how often I have these ideas of pure perfection and you might blow this one off too, like some people did...  Because of all of my ideas of pure perfection, this is one of the very, very few I've actually ever acted on.  What?  It's just rare that the stars line up in such a way that I have an idea of pure perfection roughly around the same time that I'm actually motivated to do something besides sit on my butt and read all night.  So, it's pretty exciting when it actually does.  Even if an idea of pure perfection works out to be an actuality of slightly less than perfection, like these did.  These have great potential, they just aren't there yet.  Maybe a crumble isn't supposed to be a meringue... but it is very much supposed to be a bread, coming soon to an oven near me

.Blueberry Crumble Meringues
Based on Deb's Chocolate Chip Meringues

If you're a fan of previous meringues found here, don't expect these to be the exact same.  They are tasty, but are different consistency-wise.  The hollow crunch of the chocolate chip meringues is not present; rather, these guys are much more marshmallow like.  I'm thinking the moisture from the brown sugar is the cause of this, but not sure.  Just a heads up!

2 egg whites, room temp
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. dried blueberries, chopped
1/4 c. pecans, chopped
1/4 c. oatmeal

Preheat oven to 300°.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In small pan over medium heat, toast chopped pecans for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Toast oatmeal in pan until fragrant, about 1 minute, watching carefully so it doesn't burn.  Remove and set aside.

In clean mixing bowl, whip egg whites till frothy.  Add salt, baking powder and vanilla, continue to whip until egg whites hold soft peaks.  In small additions, start adding in sugar, letting mixture whip a few seconds in between each addition.  Whip until stiff.  Gently fold in blueberries, pecans and oatmeal.  Spoon batter by rounded tablespoon onto a prepared baking sheet.  Bake in over for 25 minutes, till undersides are browned and tops are golden.

Raspberry Gin Fizz

When I first introduced my summer drink quest last month, all there was were visions of me sipping happily away on my adult beverage, book in hand, sitting on my porch in the late afternoon soon.  Happy, content, with a cool breeze coming along and tying the whole picture together.  

Unfortunately, this weather, today and now, in a word, sucks.  I am an Arizona girl at heart (even if my license plate no longer has a cactus on it... but that's a sad story for another day) and even I find this heat punishing and unbearable.  Dreams of sipping a cold drink outside waft away like the heat waves rising up from the asphalt.  I wish I was exaggerating here, but the unhappy truth is that there will be more perspiration on you then there will be on the outside of your glass.  While this doesn't make for the end of the world, it also doesn't make for a dry tank top.  

Lucky for us though, berry happy gin has a way of making problems like this melt away.  As long as it is consumed ice cold, in a tall glass, safely in the vicinity of functioning AC and (if you are lucky enough) an overhead fan.  I stuck with the fresh, seasonal berry + liquor motif for round 2 of "Let's find Liz a good summer drink" with similarly happy results.  Here, beautiful raspberries are pureed with sugar, mingled with fresh squeezed lime juice and then the whole lot gets together with some gin and the happiness begins.  Top it off with a pour fizzy and you are in for some good summer drinking.

Raspberry Gin Fizz
Adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2012

In regards to my summer contest, blackberry mojitos are still on top, but just barely.  Maybe the fact that they were consumed on a porch pushed them just ahead of the competition.  The one thing that these gin fizzes really have going for them though (and the reason I will come back to them again, very, very soon), is that unlike the mojitos, these very easily are made in a batch.  I had a small pitcher of the raspberry, lime, gin in the fridge all weekend and was never a pour of some tonic away from a wonderful summer cocktail. It was a very good weekend.  

For 8 servings:

6 oz raspberries, well washed
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. gin
1 c. fresh lime juice (about 12 limes)
Mineral Water, club soda, tonic

In blender (or magic bullet) whir raspberries and sugar until pureed.  Let stand, shaking occasionally, until sugar is dissolved.  Meanwhile, juice limes into pitcher.  Set a fine-mesh sieve over pitcher and slowly pour raspberry puree through.  Discard seeds remaining in sieve.  Pour gin into pitcher and mix into all components are incorporated.

In tall glasses with ice, pour about 1/2 cup of gin mixture.  Top with whatever fizzy you like best.  Enjoy immediately, preferably in a tank top and flip flops.