Blueberry Cucumber Granita

There were some blissfully cool weeks in August where the temps were about 80 degrees and I was able to wear pants for the first time in months. Unfortunately, temperatures are creeping back up so I am looking for new ways to cool down. Long time readers know, I love combining cucumbers and fruit. There is just something so cooling about a fresh cucumber with a juicy fruit and I keep coming back to the combination. This time it's with blueberries which I love because the season lasts longer than other berries and the flavors are so versatile. This is the perfect end of summer refreshment, and I may make this again over the weekend while I escape Chicago to my first midwestern summer retreat in Michigan. I won't tell you how to live your life, but we may or may not be adding some vodka to our granitas to give it a little kick.



One year ago: LudoBites 7.0
Two years ago: Watermelon Cucumber Cocktail
Three years ago: End of Summer Cuban Feast
Four years ago: Bacon and Tomato Hash


Blueberry Cucumber Granita
(By Esi)

Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
Zest from 1 lime
1/4 cup mint leaves
1 pint blueberries, washed
1/2 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
Juice from 1 lime

Heat the sugar and water over medium low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the mint and lime zest. Let the syrup steep for twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, blend the blueberries and cucumbers in a blender until smooth.

Discard the mint leaves from the syrup. Once the syrup  has cooled completely, mix it with the blended blueberries, cucumber, and lime juice.  Strain the mixture into an 8x8 pan. If would like a little more texture to the granita, add 1-2 tablespoons of the pulp to the strained mixture.

Place the dish in the freezer and freeze for 4 hours, scraping the mixture with a fork every hour until it is frozen.

Printable Recipe

Spaghetti with Stuffed Roasted Tomatoes and Bacon

As with every year, I am gobbling up as many summer tomatoes as I can before the season ends. I am trying to find new ways to use them besides my usual suspects of pico de gallo or slow roasted tomatoes. I found this recipe via Pinterest months ago and wanted to wait until the perfect tomatoes were in season to make it. Now that the temps have (temporarily) cooled to below 80 degrees for the first time in two months, I am more prone to turn on my oven and make something more interesting than a turkey wrap. The anchovied bread crumbs and bacon give this dish an intense savoriness which is balanced with the sweet roasted tomatoes. I followed the recipe as found on the blog The Italian Dish. A few notes though: I used whole wheat spaghetti and whole wheat breadcrumbs. I used bacon instead of pancetta which renders a lot more fat. If you use bacon, I would suggest either draining some of the fat from the pan or omitting the olive oil when toasting the bread crumbs. Also, I scooped out the entire inside of the tomato instead of just the seeds. My oven is smaller and cooks food a little faster so my tomatoes were done at 25 minutes. I suggest checking them early on to make sure they don't fall apart.




One year ago: Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread
Two years ago: High Tea at Jin Patisserie
Three years ago: Greek-ish Salad with Spelt Berries
Four years ago: Honey, Pistachio, and Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Greek Nachos

Sometimes I find a recipe and make it right away. Other times, I hold on to recipes for years and a memory will spark my desire to make it. Lately, I have been looking way back into my archive of saved recipes and I have had some fun playing around with them. This recipe isn't that old. It dates back to the summer of 2009, but that was a time in my life when I wasn't doing much cooking. The summer mix of ingredients made me hang on to it until now. It is a quick and fun dinner and absolutely great for a party. I couldn't find ground lamb at my market so I used ground turkey. Beef would work as well. Store bought pita chips ensured I would not have to turn on my oven on a hot day. The tangy feta and yogurt sauce is great, and the toppings were just as good on spinach rice the next day. Summer is quickly winding down so I encourage you to find the best tomatoes and cucumbers and not wait three years to make this recipe.



Other bloggers who love Greek nachos:
Closet Cooking
Vanilla Sugar
Macheesmo
Not Without Salt

Greek-Style Nachos
(Adapted from the New York Times)

Makes 4 servings

For the sauce:
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used 2%)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
Zest and juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

8 ounces pita chips (homemade or store bought)

Toppings:
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
1/2 pound ground turkey (or ground lamb or beef)
1 tablespoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup cucumber
1/2 cup red onion
1/2 cup sliced black olives (or kalamata olives)
Sliced pepperoncini
Crumbled feta

To make the sauce, combine the feta, Greek yogurt, olive oil, mint, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a food processor or blender. Mix until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and cumin. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the turkey is cooked through, about 7 minutes.

Divide the pita chips among plates. Top each plate with a bit of turkey, the feta sauce and a mix of the other toppings.

Printable Recipe

Wassada

My trip to LA was a wonderful, fantastic blur of food, cocktails, friends, more cocktails, and more food. I have a ton to share about the places I ate and experiences I had and I will be sharing parts here as well as on the website The Daily Meal. It was fun being a tourist in a city I lived in for so long and I certainly discovered some new places during my time there. One of the most...interesting dinners I have ever had was our last hosted dinner at Wassada in Koreatown on Sunday night. By this point in the weekend, I was very tired and full from two full days of stuffing our faces. I knew what we were in for at Wassada, but I was still greeted with a bit of sensory overload. Perhaps you can see why in this video I was able to capture:



Wassada is known for serving live seafood. As far as I know, there is no menu. You choose what kind of seafood you want and for how many people and then they bring you out whatever they have made for the day. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy...well, as much as you can enjoy squirming seafood on your plate. This isn't everything that we had, but hopefully you can get a good idea of the experience from this post.

When you first sit, they bring you a spicy salad and a series of mostly forgettable banchan.





Then the seafood starts. They brought us two plates of octopus. One plate was quite calm, but the other plate was not so much. I was actually set to try a piece from the calm plate, but then the squirmy plate was put in front of me and I just couldn't do it. I'm not the best at chewing my food properly and knowing I would have to thoroughly chew the little buggers combined with the fact that they were practically climbing off the plate was just too much for me and I wimped out.



I also opted out of the live shrimp.



But once they took the shrimp heads to the back and fried them, I was all about that seafood goodness.



They also brought out live lobster. I honestly didn't even realize this was on the table until they were taking it away to be steamed.



I treated myself to a steamed lobster claw.



We were served some of the biggest oysters I have ever seen.



As well as presented with the biggest sashimi platter I have ever seen.



The monkfish liver was thick and smooth and went down easily (unlike the octopus in some people's case)



I think everyone's favorite dish of the evening was the rice bowl with different types of roe, bonito flakes, and a sweet and slightly spicy sauce.



There are some other accompaniments to the meal like a platter of garlic and onions, potato and onion fritters and kimchi handrolls. I wasn't quite sure what to eat the garlic and onions with so I didn't. The potato and onion patties were nice and crisp, but lacked seasoning. The kimchi handrolls were nice and spicy and a welcome change from all of the fish.







Just went I thought dinner was about to wrap up, the fried mackrel was brought to the table. I tried just a bite of the crispy fried fish and the accompanying baked clam casserole.



I had a few spoonfuls of the spicy fish soup. It was quite comforting and reminded me of something my mom used to make whenever I got sick as a kid.



There was also a burnt rice soup which I think was meant as a palate cleanser, but was just unpleasant. Again this dinner was overwhelming mostly because of all of the food I had consumed prior, but also because everything comes out really, really fast and it is hard to keep track of what is what. Wassada is a fun experience that everyone should try at least once. There are many braver souls than me that have tried the live seafood and lived to tell the tale. Plus, who can beat those bragging rights?

Wassada
377 N. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 464-3006

Tin Roof Ice Cream (Birthday) Cake

Today is my favorite day of the year. As a single woman, there are very few days to celebrate just me. I love celebrating my birthday. Whether it’s going out for fried chicken and beer with a few friends, to going out to dinner and a movie with just myself, I always find a way to make my birthday fun for me. Despite a recent setback, I am still going to make the most of it. Today I am heading on a plane to Los Angeles to escape the heat and humidity of Chicago (never thought I would say that). I’m going for a press trip for dineLA, but I am also going to squeeze in as much time with friends as possible. It will be weird to be a tourist in a city I lived in for ten years, but it should be a fun weekend and I am so excited. For my birthday, I normally bake a cake or cupcakes, but this year the thought of turning on the oven frankly, scares the crap out of me. Thankfully, there is ice cream cake, which is fun and easy to assemble and requires no oven. It has the addictive peanut butter and chocolate combination and the salty peanuts put it over the top. This recipe comes from Aida Mollenkamp’s fantastic blog and can be found here. 




One year ago: Thirty One
Two years ago: Dirty Thirty
Three years ago: Root Beer Cupcakes
Four years ago: Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

Favorite Summer No Cook Recipes

The recent heat wave has left me with little to no desire to cook. I can't bare the thought of spending time in the kitchen right now, so I either order in, go out, or eat something like a banana and a cold glass of wine and call it dinner. However, you need not resort to such drastic extremes to come up with a great meal. Here are some great recipes that require no cooking time and can be prepared with minimal effort:

This peach and tomato salad with burrata is like summer on a plate. Juicy peaches and tomatoes are paired with creamy burrata and a basil oil to highlight all the fresh and light flavors.



I have been known to eat an entire cantaloupe in one sitting. However, instead of displaying that particular talent, how about trying it in this refreshing salad. With a bit of salty prosciutto and fresh mint, you will feel cooled down in no time.



It's hard to play favorites with summer produce, but I think tomatoes are at the top of my list. I love this bright salad with different types of tomatoes paired with spicy arugula.



I don't normally like cold soups, but this gazpacho is kind of irresistible. It's tangy and fresh and filling as well.



Keeping all of the ingredients ready in my fridge makes these Mediterranean-style turkey wraps a snap to prepare when I get home from work. When I get home from the market I spend a little extra time slicing everything so I can have dinner in minutes.



At the end of a meal, you may still want a sweet treat. Here is a great no-bake option with sweet figs, creamy ricotta, and crunchy pistachios.



My "signature" drink a couple of summers ago was this watermelon cucumber cocktail. With or without the booze, it is one of the most refreshing ways to cool down quick.



Are you like me and avoid the kitchen when it is hot, or do you ignore it and press on? I would love to hear about some of your favorite ways to beat the heat so leave them in the comments!

The Peasantry

My friend Andy was recently in town for an extremely brief visit. However, in less than twenty-four hours, we managed to cram in some insanely good eats. We started at The Peasantry, a relatively new restaurant by the owners of Franks 'NDawgs just a short walk from my apartment. The Peasantry calls their cuisine “elevated street food”. It’s fun and affordable in a very relaxed setting.

 

There is a selection of gyros on the menu, but none resemble the street meat I ate several times on the streets of Mykonos. The baby octopus gyro ($11) comes out more like a flatbread and filled with tender hunks of grilled baby octopus, house-made chorizo and a fingerling potato and grape gremolata.  In spite of the meat and potatoes, the dish feels light with the impossibly delicious octopus.

One of the specials of the day was the curried flatbread ($11). It came topped with a light curry sauce, thinly sliced pears and radishes, arugula, and two sunny side up eggs. As well as being pretty, it was delicious. The curry had just the slightest hint of heat and paired well with the sweet and crunchy pears and the drippy egg yolk.

The dish that impressed the most was the duck burger ($14).  It is a duck and coriander burger with apricot and orange marmalade, mustard greens and a tarragon and foie gras torchon. It was full of orange flavor and was perfectly cooked. The foie gras didn’t add any additional texture, but provided the burger with an intense richness that we all appreciated.

The pasta in the rabbit pasta ($15) was house-made and perfectly al dente. The tender pieces of rabbit were nice, but the wine used for the sauce was too light and fruity. A heartier wine would have made this dish a winner.

We couldn't resist an order of triple truffle fries ($6). Waffle fries are not usually my jam, but with truffle butter, truffle salt, and truffle salt, these were impossible to pass up. 

We saved a little room for dessert. The macadamia nut crusted churros ($6) are served with a white chocolate and hibiscus anglaise sauce. The bright hibiscus cuts through the sweetness of the white chocolate and there was a light fresh crunch in the churros.

I am thrilled that The Peasantry was as good as I had heard and I am so happy that it is so close so I can stop in any night I am too lazy to cook…which in this crazy heat we have had, seems to be all the time.

The Peasantry 

2725 N. Clark St.

Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 868-4888

Website

Shrimp Biryani

Several months ago, my friend Ben made me sit with him in a bookstore while he scoped out Indian cookbooks. I couldn't complain, because the cookbook section is really the best section of the bookstore. He ended up picking a book by the goddess of Indian cooking, Madhur Jaffrey. He has raved about every recipe he has made from it. A while later, Serious Eats posted this recipe for Shrimp Biryani. I really like Indian food and don't eat it nearly as often as I should. I had also never tried cooking it and this recipe seemed like a straightforward recipe for my first attempt. Soaking the rice keeps it from getting soggy while cooking. The spices are simple, but potent and a spritz of lemon juice keeps this fresh. I loved the simple flavors in this biryani and it was much more cost-effective to make it at home versus spending a bunch of money on takeout.

This recipe comes from Madhur Jaffrey's book, At Home with Madhur Jaffrey (links to Amazon, I'm no longer a part of the affiliate program) and can be found on the Serious Eats website here.

One year ago: Blueberry Pomegranate Donuts
Two years ago: Yatai Ramen Twist at Breadbar
Three years ago: Broiled Chicken with Bacon over Egg Fried Rice
Four years ago: Pan-Seared Steak with Salsa Verde

Whole Wheat Couscous with Sardines and Tomatoes

Summer has officially arrived, but the unrelenting heat arrived a few weeks early in Chicago. It's made me completely lazy in regards to cooking (I'm not just blaming my jam-packed schedule), and most nights all I want to do is pick up something quick instead of putting thought into making a healthy meal. Enter Mark Bittman and his 100 ideas for quick summer dishes. I saved this list ages ago on Pinterest and it has proved to be a life saver in the last couple of weeks. Many of the recipes actually call for turning on the oven which I refuse to do until the temperatures dip below 85 degrees (and by 85, I mean 70), but a few are just things that require little to no contact with heat. I have made this couscous four times in the last month and it hasn't gotten old yet. It only takes the time required to cook the couscous to throw together this simple and filling meal. It's great warm right away or at room temperature the next day. I used lightly smoked sardines which were a great accompaniment to the sweet juicy tomatoes. I am already skimming my printed out pages of this list to see what next deliciousness I will be making next this summer.

One year ago: Prosciutto and Cheddar Pretzel Bites
Two years ago: Poached Eggs with Prosciutto, Mozzarella and Basil
Three years ago: Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
Four years ago:Venetian Rolled Pizza

Whole Wheat Couscous with Sardines and Tomatoes
(Adapted from Mark Bittman)

Makes 2 servings

1/2 cup whole wheat couscous
3 1/2 ounces smoked sardines packed in oil, bones removed if desired
2 handfuls grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive for drizzling

Prepare couscous according to package instructions. Meanwhile, remove the bones from the sardines, wash the tomatoes, and chop the parsley.

Divide the couscous among plates. Top each plate with half of the sardines, tomatoes, and parsley. Sprinkle each serving with salt and pepper and drizzle each plate with a bit of olive oil.

Printable Recipe

Bacon, Tomato, and Cheddar Breakfast Bake with Eggs

Regular readers of this blog know that eggs are my favorite food, and I just can't pass up cheese, eggs, and bread at brunch so when I came across this recipe on Food & Wine, it was a no brainer. The combination of creamy eggs with smoky salty bacon, sweet tomatoes, and tons of melted cheese is a crowd pleaser. This dish can be prepared way ahead of time so if you have a brunch or potluck to go too, you won't have to stress yourself out the day of to get it ready. Despite the eggs getting a little overcooked, leftovers of this dish are equally as good since the flavors have time to meld. The only change I made to this recipe was to used diced tomatoes and cut the original amount in half. It comes from Food & Wine, November 2010 and can be found here.





One year ago: Parmesan Truffle Popcorn
Two years ago: Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers with Smoky Paprika Glaze
Three years ago: Free-Form Onion Tart
Four years ago: Greek Orzo and Shrimp with Mustard-Dill Vinaigrette