A Potato Salad Summer

When I promised to bring the potato salad for a BBQ we were invited to last month, I forgot that my usual go-to recipe called for red-skinned spuds and all we had were russets. Oops. So off I went to look online for another recipe, because I just love making something for the first time at the last minute... don't you? (that was just the tiniest bit of sarcasm)

Martha Stewart came through (as she so often does) with a delicious and oh-so-beautiful potato salad recipe featuring good old russet potatoes. So colorful, it's worthy of the most festive of picnics and other summer events. It's practically a party all by itself. I was entirely pleased with how it came out, which is, of course, a good thing. So I made it again last weekend for our church picnic... as far as recipes go, it's definitely a keeper.

Festive, delicious, and easy to put together, this potato salad is both familiar and a little special at the same time...

Summer Garden Potato Salad  
adapted from Martha Stewart Living magazine (June 2000) and The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook (page 226)

3 large eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
8-9 russet potatoes
3 T apple cider vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp dry mustard
kosher salt & black pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
2 Tblsp chopped fresh parsley
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, shredded
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced

Hard-boil your eggs first...
Place the eggs in the bottom of a pan and fill with cool water, covering by 1/2 to 1-inch. Bring to a boil, remove pan from heat, cover and let sit for 12 minutes. Carefully transfer eggs to a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking further. When eggs are completely cooled, tap them all over against the side of the sink and peel under cool running water. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Cook the potatoes...
Scrub the potatoes and place in a large pot. Cover with at least 2-inches of water and bring to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt and turn the heat down. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until a paring knife slides easily to the center. Drain the potatoes and very carefully remove the skins with the paring knife, protecting your hands with gloves or towels. Cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes, place into a bowl and sprinkle the vinegar over them.

Make the dressing...
Chop the hard-boiled eggs and add them to a large bowl along with the mayonnaise, mustard, 2 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp black pepper. Whisk together. Add the potatoes, herbs and vegetables, stirring well to distribute everything. Taste it and add more seasoning if needed. The flavors will benefit from some time together in the fridge, so try to make this the day before you want to serve it. Serves 10-12.

My Notes: I initially chose this recipe because it used russets (which I had a lot of) instead of red-skinned (which I had none of). But what was unexpected was how great it was to use some things from my garden and also how much better it tasted because of the homemade mayo.  If you have the few minutes it takes to quickly make up a batch of mayo, I truly think the potato salad tastes better for it.

Putting The Corn in Corningware

Have you seen the "Easiest Way To Cook Corn"? It's from Cait Hates Cake and is all over Pinterest (which is where it caught my eye). I wasn't even looking for a new method for cooking corn... we always just grill them on the Weber alongside the rest of the meal. They're pretty darned awesome that way, but a bit of work to remove the silk while leaving the husks on and then re-wrapping. And that was precisely what intrigued me about this oven method... the simplicity. The corncobs cook whole and un-shucked, and  separate easily from both husk and silk when they're done... oh yeah, and they're cooked to perfection.

Salty Like The Sea

Sea salt is, at its most basic, just evaporated seawater. What makes the different types of sea salt stand out from each other are factors such as where it's harvested, how it's harvested, and what kinds of trace minerals and other elements it contains. All these things will influence it's color, moisture content and flavor (oh yeah, and price).

The one thing that all sea salts will do is make your food taste better. The larger crunchier crystals tend to dissolve slower than table salt and provide little bursts of flavor that make food really sparkle. If you've never done a side-by-side taste test of salts, now is the time. Start with the sea salt, putting a few grains of it on your tongue. Let it dissolve some, then start noticing the taste of it. Have a sip or two of water and then do the same thing with a bit of table salt. The difference should be pretty obvious.

Fan Of The Cran

Back in November I was delighted to find ginormous bags of fresh cranberries at our local Costco. Hubs convinced me to get two bags—they were a great price, only available for a short time, and I could freeze any I didn't use for later—all the criteria necessary for justifying a bulk grocery purchase.

Forward to January and we still had quite a few of those tart little jewels socked away. While I could never have foreseen the big roasted turkey we now have in our midst, it's truly delightful to have some cranberry sauce with it and really do things up right. Cranberry sauce is the perfect counterpoint on a plate of turkey, mashed potatoes and rich gravy (and it goes great with a pork roast too).

For this cranberry go 'round, I wanted something quick and easy but a little bit special too–just not so special that I'd have to make a trip to the store...

The Christmas Dinner That Was

There's nothing like planning ahead. Or not. Last Wednesday we poured through my cookbooks looking for recipes, Thursday we bought the ingredients, Friday we did all the prep and went to a lovely candlelight service, Saturday we cooked and feasted, and Sunday we slept in  and then attacked the dishes. All in all, pretty darned glorious...

So, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good bite.

Slow & Saucy Faked Baked Beans

Not too long ago we had another potluck BBQ to go to. It's not always easy to decide what to bring to these get-togethers, but this time it seemed obvious. With grilled chicken, coleslaw and cornbread already on board, it was like one of those test questions that have you "complete the set". Seriously, what else would go so well with that line-up? Yep, this menu needed baked beans in a "you complete me" kind of way. In fact, what would Autumn barbecues, potlucks, and tailgating be without baked beans? They're such a hearty and satisfying side dish and perfectly complement just about any grilled meat. So how is it that I've never made them before now? Just another of life's little mysteries I guess.

Unconstrained by any set-in-stone ideas of how they ought to be done, I looked through what seemed like a thousand recipes for one that would work within my time frame and (most importantly) my budget. The most promising recipe was made and foisted upon my friends. It was pretty good. But not great. I made a few changes here and there, then cooked up another batch the following week. What I ended up with was a pretty tasty pot of beans. Unfortunately my friends didn't get to taste those. I wish they had. That second batch had just enough sweetness, just enough tang, and a heap of smoky depth. But they'll just have to take my word for it.

 

The real beauty of these Slow & Saucy Baked Beans is that they aren't baked at all; they cook in a Crock Pot while you do other fun things. Unorthodox cooking method aside, they're far more "from scratch" than most baked-bean recipes since they start out with dried beans instead of canned. While canned beans are certainly a convenient choice, that convenience comes at a price.* If you're making a big ol' pot o' beans for a crowd, it just makes sense (or should I say "cents") to start with dried.

Slow & Saucy Baked Beans
Adapted from: Saucy Baked Beans on page 129 in the BHG Biggest Book Of Slow Cooker Recipes (2002)

1 lb. dry navy beans or other small white beans
8 cups water
6 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1-1/4 cups water
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1. Pick over the dried beans for any broken ones or any pebbles. Rinse the beans well and drain.
2. Add the beans and 8 cups of water to a Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Take the pot off the heat, cover with the lid and let stand for 1 hour. Stir beans occasionally and check for doneness.
3. While beans are soaking, cook the bacon in a skillet. Put the cooked bacon into the slow cooker. Sauté the chopped onion in the leftover bacon fat in the skillet, then add it to the slow cooker. Next, sauté the chopped red bell pepper in the same skillet and add it to the slow cooker too.
4. When the beans are tender, drain them well and add to the slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the soy sauce and vinegar. Stir well.
5. Cover the crock pot and cook on Low for 8-10 hours, or on High for 4-5 hours. Just before serving, stir in the soy sauce and apple cider vinegar.

Other baked-bean recipes that look really good...

• CrockPot Boston Baked Beans from AYear Of Slow Cooking 
• The Best Baked Beans Ever at The Pioneer Woman Cooks start with good old baked beans from a can... but that's only the beginning
• Kemp's Black Beans on epicurious.com have a short but intriguing list of ingredients

*For roughly the cost of one can of beans, I can get a pound of dried beans that, once cooked, will yield the equivalent of 3-4 cans. Just how much is that "convenience" worth?

Summer's Last Hurrah

Next summer, when we have more tomatoes than we'll know what to do with*... I'll know exactly what to do with them. I will make this tart. I will make this tart over and over and over, all summer long... and we will never tire of it. It's that good. There is so much going on in this tart I can't even begin to describe it. So I won't. I'll just let the ingredients speak for themselves: some homegrown tomatoes, fresh herbs, a smear of homemade mustard, a drizzle of olive oil, tangy goat cheese, a touch of honey... all caramelized, concentrated, cozy and warm, and in the loving arms of a crisp pastry shell.

I rolled the pastry dough out quite thin so I could make two tarts and use up all the tomatoes we had picked. We'll still get more tomatoes over the next few weeks, but not in this quantity. This was summer's last hurrah. Here, baked together in a tart shell, were our Sungold, Early Girl, Juliette, and Sun Kiss, snuggled up cheek-to-cheek.*

Maya's Quinoa Salad

When I first saw this salad late last May, I couldn't wait to make it. But while the calender said it was virtually summer, we were still being rained on and ripe tomatoes were months away. All summer I have impatiently waited for both good weather and the perfect occasion to make this salad. Last weekend was it: sunny and warm, and our cherry tomatoes* were at their peak. The salad was not only worth the wait, but I think it tasted even better the next day.

Click on over to the lovely Maya*Made blog for this super healthy Quinoa Salad recipe, and if you're feeling a little crafty, make a few of Maya's Picnic Bowl Scrunchies too... they're fun, easy, and the perfect thing for potlucks and picnics!

My Notes: Used red quinoa. Shredded the carrots instead of dicing them. Zested the limes before juicing them for the dressing. Added the lime zest, a splash of basil oil and a couple cloves of minced garlic to the dressing. 

Here are some other quinoa recipes that look good...

• A tasty Quinoa Salad (plus tips and ideas for hot weather meals) at Peace Love & Muesli
• Seven Quinoa Recipes from The Kitchn
• Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad from Mark Bittman
• Quinoa Tabbouleh also from The Kitchn... one of my favorite salads made even healthier 
• Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Dried Fruit, Toasted Almonds, and Lemon-Cumin Vinaigrette at FineCooking.com

Pronounce it: Quinoa = KEEN-wah 
*"Sun Gold" cherry tomatoes... little bursts of sunshine. Even this year, this very weird-weathered year, they out-produced all the other tomatoes we planted.

What To Make When You're Out Of Dough

Friends and family (thinking I've gone 'round the bend): "You're making what?!"
Me (not having noticed whether I'd rounded any bends lately or not): "Um, hamburger buns."
Friends and family (certain that I've gone 'round the bend): "...from scratch?!"

Admittedly I get kind of a kick out of hearing that response, especially when I know that it's not exactly rocket science that I'm engaging in. Anyone can make these. Just why are we incredulous? Is there a great shroud of mystery around the creation of hamburger buns that only the commercial bread manufacturers know the secrets behind?

I probably used to think that. Or rather, I probably never thought to even think that they could be made at home. Not until the Hubs came home the other day with a package of ground beef, but no buns... and wanting hamburgers for dinner. He thought we could save money* and use our sourdough bread instead of buying buns. I couldn't do that though. I've just never liked hamburgers on bread.

Hamburgers and hot dogs require buns for a reason. Juicy burgers and condiments soak right through regular bread and it falls apart before you're halfway done eating. It's a mess. Sliced bread is for sandwiches and toast and even toasted sandwiches. But not burgers and dogs. We were almost out of bread anyway, and frankly, it would be irritating to use up the last of my nice whole wheat sourdough that way.**

So much for my motivation. The results were... surprisingly good! Somewhat smaller than store-bought buns but bigger than sliders, they had a nice dense crumb that would hold up against the juiciest burger out there. It's getting close to backyard BBQ season, and you can bet I'll be making these more than once this summer. Now I just need to find a whole-wheat version...

Hamburger Buns
adapted from: page 34, BH&G Homemade Bread Cook Book, 1973

8 cups all-purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110°)
3/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3 eggs

In large mixer bowl whisk together 4 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a separate bowl, combine the warm water, oil, sugar, and salt. Add to flour/yeast mixture, then add in the eggs. Beat at low speed just until combined. Scrape the bowl and beat for 3 minutes at high speed (med-high if using a stand mixer).

By hand, stir in the remaining 4 cups all-purpose flour to make a soft dough. Turn out on floured surface; knead till smooth and elastic. If using a stand mixer, replace beater with dough hook and add remaining flour one cup at a time on low setting. Continue until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise in warm place till double (about 1 hour). Punch down, then divide dough into 3 portions. Cover again and let rest 5 minutes. Divide each portion into 8 balls of dough.

Shape into buns by folding edges under to make even circle. Press flat between hands. Place on greased baking sheets (or use Silpats), pressing to 3-1/2 circles. Let rise till double (about 30 minutes). Bake at 350° about 20 minutes, rotating pan half way through. Let buns cool completely before slicing and serving. Makes 24 (smallish) hamburger buns.

My Notes: Recipe makes 24 which was way more than we needed for just the two of us, so I planned on halving the recipe. Note the use of the word "planned". Yep, I forgot. I guess we'll find out how well they freeze. I overworked the dough by using the dough hook to mix the last four cups of flour in and then hand-kneaded it afterwards. Do one or the other, but not both! 

The original recipe said to bake for 10 minutes at 375°, but they were way too pale after 10, so I ended up keeping them in for closer to 15 minutes. By the last batch, I lowered the oven temp to 350° and baked them for 20 minutes. That seemed to do the trick, and while they were too soft and doughy to use right away, by the next day they were perfect. Yes, I used the P-word. Buns were somewhat small. Next time, I'll try making 18 larger ones instead of 24 and adjust temp and time accordingly.

*Hmm...kind of funny how the words dough, bread, and scratch have all been used at one time or other as slang for "money".
**Go ahead and say it... sounds like I'm a bit of a bread snob. Really it's more a matter of wanting to use "the right bread for the right job". It's about form following function ...even when it comes to food.

Eat More Greens

It was a whim, pure and simple. And green. Very green. There was some fresh basil in the fridge (leftover from the bruschetta we made), and it needed to be used up fast. It wasn't getting any younger, if you know what I mean. Not enough left to make pesto with and too early in the year to start thinking about Caprese salads... why not try making colored pasta with it? So on the most spontaneous of whims, I began mixing up and rolling out beautiful, basil-y green pasta dough. The perfect thing for no longer spring but not yet summer.

Basil is one of those smells and tastes that seem like the very essence of summer. My dream garden would have basil, rosemary, sage and (of course) lavender are planted to form a labyrinth* with the tomatoes growing at the very center. Imagine it: walking and picking herbs in deep profound contemplative thought, then plucking ripe tomatoes and journeying back out, followed by cooking something wonderful and eating outside.

Of course, in the winter it would look like hell. Let's just say that my dream winter garden involves a plane ticket, a hammock and Piña Colada. Oh, but I digress. And yet, that really is the point of it all. Digression: to turn aside, to stray.  I made basil pasta yesterday and my mind digressed for a moment to summer days ahead and Caprese salads on the patio...

Basil Pasta
Makes 4 - 8 servings (depending on whether it will be a side dish or main dish)

1 big handful of washed and dried basil leaves
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
3 eggs, lightly whisked
a good drizzle of olive oil
3 oz. water

Pulse the basil in the food processor until it's chopped up really fine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour, salt and pepper, pulsing a few times to mix the dry ingredients together. Add the eggs and olive oil and start up the machine again. After a few seconds, begin adding the water slowly and process until everything is thoroughly combined and dough looks like very course, pebbly sand.

Dump the dough onto a floured board and start kneading. Knead until extremely smooth, at least 10 minutes. Divide dough into quarters, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30-45 minutes.

Working with one piece of dough out at a time, knead it until it's smooth and pliable. Begin rolling it out, brushing it with flour if it starts sticking. Flip the dough over periodically to work each side and roll out as thin as possible; you should practically be able to see through it. Dust a little flour over it and fold it in half twice, then make 1/4" - 3/8" slices across it with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Unfold the strips of pasta, toss in flour lightly and pile into "nests". Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Start boiling a big pot of water. As soon as it is at a rip-snorting boil, toss in a tablespoon of salt and gently drop the pasta nests in the pot. If you're cooking all of the pasta, you may want to cook it in two batches depending on the size of your pot. Stir pasta often and check for doneness at 3-4 minutes.**  Drain pasta, toss with a little olive oil and serve immediately with your choice of sauce.

If you won't be cooking it right away, you can freeze it for up to a month. Place the uncooked pasta nests on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Place the frozen nests into a freezer bag, removing as much air as possible and put back in freezer. No need to thaw them before cooking either, just drop them straight into the pot of boiling water.

My Notes: We cooked half of it right away, and froze the rest for later. A little of the color came out during cooking but overall it was still plenty green. I think I'd like it even more basil-y though, so next time I'm putting a lot more basil in it. The dough might need more flour and/or liquid with the addition of more basil, I'll update this post with my notes the next time I make it.

• Read about how to make other colorful pastas in this article from The Kitchn.

*The first time I walked a labyrinth, I was blown away by the "distance" you could walk in such a relatively small space. I mean that both physically, and poetically. I thought them silly before I walked one, but they really are quite calming and focusing.

**The only accurate way to test pasta for doneness is to bite it. Fish a piece out of the water with a fork, let it cool for a second and take a bite. The "flinging it on the wall" technique is by no means accurate but must be done once, in your first apartment, when you're 18 and sharing a giggle-fit with your roommates.

Crazy Good Crock Pot Stuffing

This is what results from having to drive 5 hours away for Thanksgiving dinner with the family, not having a working oven at home, no oven-space available at our destination, and yet... still wanting to bring something homemade towards the meal. Sometimes great things are born of these situations, sometimes disasters are. This, thankfully was one of the great things.

I did all the prep the night before we left, bagged it all up according to dry, wet, refrigerated, etc. In the morning we packed it all in the cooler with ice packs, chucked the crockpot in the back of the car and hit the road.

Stuffing saves the day... after!
As it turned out, we didn't arrive in time to heat the stuffing up before dinner. But before you get all weepy and dejected (like I did at first), there was another stuffing already there (yes, I think they were just humoring me) so our Thanksgiving was not stuffing-less. The important thing to note though was that there was none of that other stuffing left at the end of the day. (Can you see where this is going yet?)

...I cooked up my well-traveled crockpot stuffing the day after Thanksgiving and there was enough to keep up with all the other leftovers for the next three days!

Crazy Good Crock Pot Stuffing
Adapted from: Perfect Homemade Stuffing Crockpot Recipe on A Year Of Slowcooking blog; and from another recipe I found on my frantic Google search but can't locate anymore*; and also from various stuffings made over the years by the fabulous women in my family.

Ingredients
1 loaf of bread, lightly toasted in the oven
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup green apple, peeled and diced
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth (plus 1/4 cup, if needed later)
1 T ground sage
1 tsp ground marjoram
1/2 tsp savory
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions
Use a 6 quart crockpot. If yours is smaller, toss everything together in a large mixing bowl, then put into your crockpot later when it's time to cook.

Toast the bread slices in the oven at 300 degrees 15 - 30 minutes, checking often. (I didn't have an oven, so I had to toast the whole loaf in my toaster, 4 slices at a time. (I do not recommend this method except in cases of extreme emergency.)

While the bread is toasting, chop up the onion, parsley, celery, apple and dried apricots. Add parsley, celery apple and apricots to the bowl or crockpot.

Crumble the sausage and brown on the stove. Remove meat from pan and pour off any excess fat. Saute the onion in the same pan just until it starts to show color.

Add sausage and onion, seasonings, and melted butter to bowl or crockpot. Stir well.

When the bread is done, cut into 1/2 inch size-or-so cubes. Add to the bowl/crockpot. Toss it all together thoroughly. Now is the time to transfer the mixture into the crockpot if you've been using a large bowl up to this point. When the bread is coated nicely, pour in 1 1/2 cups of broth. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

When done, the bread will have browned a little on the top and around the edges, and it will be hot throughout. It can stay on warm for another 2 hours, if needed. Stir before serving. If you'd like it a bit more moist, you can add a 1/4 cup more or so of broth.

My Notes (Thanksgiving 2008): In the original recipe there was a bit about starting the day before and combining everything on the day of. That was what really sold me on trying this.  Everybody loved it and it was completely devoured. The sausage was plenty spicy, and I think I may use "mild" next time or a combination of the two.

*Oh, I know I've got it somewhere. This is why I started this blog... to put all this stuff in one place!

Beans, Beans...

My sister taught me a charming little poem when we were children*, which I will not repeat (oops, pun!) Unfortunately, it's been stuck in my head as I collected the following recipes. I apologize profusely. Terribly embarrassed and all that. If you don't know the poem, ask a little kid (or a big kid). You won't read it here. I am grown up now and am above that type of humor. Really. Where was I... Oh yes...

Beans are really good for you in lots of ways, and if you cook them up into something delicious, it's a win-win situation all around. And they're inexpensive too (win-win-win). Here are some raved about recipes and techniques to try...

• Kemp's Black Beans at Epicurious
  
• Cooking Dried Beans In The Slow Cooker at A Year Of Slow Cooking
  
• "The Best Baked Beans Ever" from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
• A dozen or so chili recipes from BH&G
• Indian Spiced Lentils With Chicken from A Year Of Slow Cooking
• Also from A Year Of Slow Cooking: Salsa Chicken & Black Bean Soup
  

*Mom doesn't think that I need to use the past tense there.

Cipollini and Mushroom Tart

The first time I ever had cipollini onions was the year we did a whole Martha Stewart Living Thanksgiving dinner. I was in charge of some of the side dishes and so became introduced to the lovely little cipollini. Normally, I'm not one to wax poetic about onions. They have their place but they're not a star on their own. These were. Pardon the pun, but they were gobbled up. Every last one of them.

This is not that recipe.

When I find it again, I'll definitely add it here. In the meantime, this dish sounded really really good. It's autumn after all, and my thoughts are turning to onions and mushrooms and other earthy delights...

• Cipollini and Mushroom Tart ...from The Kitchn

Updated this to include links to these Martha Stewart onion recipes...

• Balsamic Glazed Cipollini Onions
• Pan-Roasted Balsamic Onions
• Sauteed Cipollini Onions

These all sound great and would no doubt taste good too. If the recipe I made was one of these, it was probably the Pan-Roasted Balsamic recipe. Don't quote me on that though. I can't be sure until I make it again!

Roasted Veg & Creamy Polenta

• Roasted Veg on Creamy Polenta from The Kitchn

Notes: Made this for a potluck. Twelve people. Tripled the polenta, ended up with a little left over. Used real butter and real cream cheese. The polenta was kind of firm, not so creamy. Maybe too high of heat? Too long of cooking time? Checked other recipes after and they all call for more liquid. That's got to be it. Tasted good though. Def needed the salt to give it any flavor. Next time stir in some Parmesan or other cheese. 

The veg shrunk down quite a bit, but had plenty. Some took longer to cook than others so I made up one pan for the fast cookers and one pan for the slow. Bell peppers took the longest to cook (and were the most expensive! who knew?). Zucchini cooked the fastest. Don't cut the zucchini so thin next time. If they're small, cut in to spears instead of slices. Try sprinkling on a little balsamic at the end for more flavor.

Vegetables I used:

• 5 sm zucchini (cut into lengthwise strips)
• 5 slender carrots (cut in half, length and width-wise)
• 2 sm red onions (cut into eighths)
• 2 lg red bell peppers (cut into large strips)
• 2 pkg mushrooms (left whole)
• green beans (ends trimmed)

Rosemary Lemon Couscous

Couscous has got to be the world's fastest and easiest side dish. That's why I love it. The Hubs is not so enamored of couscous in general, but he liked this one. That makes me happy because I like to make couscous. It was the rosemary and the lemon that did it of course. Did I mention how fast it cooks? Five whole minutes... five unattended minutes. You just gotta love that.

• Page 137 of Gourmet's Quick Kitchen, 1996 (or try this similar one at Epicurious)

Kale Chips

I'll admit it: I'd never had kale before I made these. This recipe (and all the others like it) made me want to try some. What can I say? I'm a sucker for phrases like: "We didn't stop eating them until they were all gone... they were that good." Well, with that kind of statement thrown down, I just have to try it for myself. Besides, it's another way to get more veggies in my diet, and I like that they're crispy without actually having to fry them. Win-win.

The original recipe that I found online (and know not where) was identical to the one linked below, with the added instruction to "flip halfway through the cooking time" and not to "overcook or allow them to become completely brown as they will taste bitter".

• Kale Chips at ChowMama

Notes (9/21/09): I finally got some kale! Only two leaves, but they're pretty darn big (and besides, if I don't like them I won't get stuck with a lot of leftovers). The two leaves (cut-up with my kitchen shears) completely fill one baking sheet. I set the oven for 10 minutes, then took them out to flip them. I started to flip them in the oven with my long handled tongs, but the heat coming out was just too hot, and the tongs were overkill. Those sturdy leaves were already delicate and crispy so I just flipped them with my fingers (works fine as song as you don't touch the hot pan). I put them back in for the last 5 minutes after flipping them.

The verdict? They weren't brown at all, but they do have a hint of bitterness to them. I also made the mistake of salting them again after I flipped them, so they were way too salty... oops. Hubs tried them and said: "huh, that's kale alright", "tastes burnt", "too salty", and "leaves an aftertaste. I knew I didn't like kale".

I thought the flavor was o.k., but next time I won't cook them as long (and won't salt them as much). They would taste great served alongside fish (perhaps because of the vinegar and sea salt?).