Cooking Day!!

Recently at work my boss asked if I may be able to help her do some cooking a few times a week. Obviously since cooking makes me happier than anything and especially more happy than sitting at my desk I said yes. Today I made an amazing soup (I'm eating some right now). It's a roasted red pepper and tomato base then I added potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, black beans, garbonzos, tomatoes, roasted red pepper pieces, fresh corn off the cob and onions. It is to die for. And even more awesome with sour cream, avocado, cheese, and/or green onion on top. Next up are enchiladas!

October Class Schedule!

I got my schedule for Sur la Table for October and these are the classes I'm assisting with (as well as some skills classes)...I am way looking forward to this month!


Saveur Magazine's Gourmet Tailgating
Deviled Eggs with Pickled Jalapenos - Spinach and Artichoke Dip - Fiery Oven-Baked Chicken Wings - Grilled Bratwurst - Espresso Brownies


Tuscan Vineyard Supper
Grilled Tomato Bruschetta - Panzanella Bread Salad - Tuscan Rosemary and Lemon Chicken - Roasted Garlic and White Beans - Traditional Cantucci Cookies with Vin Santo Ice Cream


The 5 French Mother Sauces
Hollandaise on Poached Eggs - Sauce Tomate on Grill Bread - Roasted Chicken with a Trio of Sauces (Veloute, Bechamel, and Sauce Espagnole)


Rustic Greek
Marinated Feta Greek Salad - Homemade Pita - Lamb Leg Gyros with Tzataki and Pickled Red Onions - Crispy Olive Oil Roasted Potatoes - Toasted Walnut Baklava


Farmer's Market Autumn Harvest
Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Fennel Seed - Grilled Cauliflower Steaks with Tahini Sauce - Grill Eggplant Cannelloni with Ricotta - Farro Risotto with Jerusalem Artichokes - Heirloom Apple Tart with Almond Filling and Calvados Cream


Martha Stewart Living Halloween Treats
Brownie Coffin Cake - Halloween Whoopie Pies - Pumpkin Chocolate-Spiderweb Tart - Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats


Saveur Magazine's French Holiday Favorites
Duck Breast with Brandied Fig Sauce - Cranberries with Port - Herbed Haricot Vert - Potato Galette - French Pumpkin Pie

Bragging Rights

This weekend I did major cooking. And I loved it. I had a little get together on Saturday night for screenprinting but if I'm honest my motivation for having people over was more so I could cook food.

I wanted everything to be very snack-able and finger food-y so we could art project and eat at the same time. And I wanted it to be really summery fare. I decided on mini burgers and then as a substitute for french fries (which are a pain to make if you do it right) I wanted to do baby twice baked potatoes. I also made individual caprese salads, fruit skewers, salad skewers, and pasta salad.

I made these skewers using blackberries, kiwi, nectarine, and plum. I am pretty sure I could have eaten the entire plate. I originally intended to use watermelon as well but I think they turned out beautifully this way.


Javier and Tiger are always my favorites but they can be crazy face sometimes. When I cook they both just calm down and lay in the kitchen with me. It makes me happy.



I wanted to make a pasta salad but my goal was also to make everything edible sans utensils. I finally realized I could make it work by mixing together all my pasta salad ingredients minus the pasta and stuffing it in shells. It actually worked brilliantly and tasted wonderful. I made a mixtures of cheddar cheese, celery, carrots, black olives, and mayo seasoned with salt and pepper. Super simple.


I made these tiny individual caprese salads by coring grape and cherry tomatoes and then stuffing them with fresh mozzarella and basil. Before serving I drizzled basil infused olive oil (the same one I use in spaghetti sauce) and topped with fresh cracked pepper and salt.


There's this fantastic hidden little restaurant in Portland in the Pearl called Via Delizia. They used to just be a gelato and coffee shop but they started serving food and it's delicious. They have a salad there that consists of greens topped with pear, beets, and roasted carrots. And it's divine. I decided to use that as my inspiration for these skewers. I roasted the carrots in a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary then let them chill in the fridge. Later I skewered them with pears and beets, drizzled them with a blush wine vinaigrette, and topped them with crumbled gorgonzola.


I made these twice baked potatoes by roasting red potatoes. I then cut them in half and used a melon baller to scoop out the insides (worked a thousand times better than a spoon). I threw all the inner potato into my Kitchen Aid mixer with carmelized onions I had made earlier, a bunch of grated smoked gruyere, some butter, sour cream, salt, and pepper and mixed it up with the whisk attachment on low. Then I scooped the filling into a ziploc bag, cut the corner off, and used it to pipe the filling back in. I baked them for a second time and topped them with diced chives. Everyone was a fan. The smoked cheese made it taste like there was bacon in there as well but kept them vegetarian.


I made the burgers using a Le Creuset grill pan I have for indoor grilling. I made tiny patties with a small pat of butter inside and seasoned them with salt and pepper. I'd actually never made real hamburgers before but apparently I'm good at it. I used dinner rolls from a local bakery as hamburger buns and made my secret delicious hamburger topping made from pimento stuffed green olives and mayo.

(Super Secret Editor's Note: I use those little bowls for dips and condiments all the time. Everyone thinks they're super gorgeous but they're actually candle holders I bought on sale at Anthropologie.)

This wasn't a part of the party but I was craving something sweet last night and since I tend to have nothing sweet but maybe some sprinkles for decorating in my home I had to make due with what I had. Also Craig had eaten all my popsicles. I decided to make a s'more in a jar by doing a graham cracker crust topped with mini chocolate chips then topped with marshmallows. I baked it in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes and it was perfect and amazing and delicious.

July Cooking Classes!

These are the classes I'm assisting with in July at Sur la Table. Have I mentioned how much I love this job?

Summer Steak Night
Mozzarella, Basil, and Grilled Tomato Bruschetta - Grilled Ribeye Steaks with Gorgonzola-Walnut Butter - Smashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Garlic-Parmesan Vinaigrette - Strawberry Pie Sundaes

Havana Summer Nights
Grilled Sugarcane Shrimp - Spicy Mojo Steak with Mango-Avocado Salsa - Grilled Corn on the Cob with Queso Blanco and Lime - Caramel Flan

Summer Cupcake Workshop
Mini-Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream - Blueberry Hill Cupcakes with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting - Strawberries and Cream-Filled Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Tuscan Picnic
Grilled Tomato Bruschetta - Grilled Tuscan Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon - Brick-Pressed Italian Sandwich - Homemade Sweet Cream Ricotta with Berries and Pinenuts

Summertime Asian Noodles
Spring Rolls with Shrimp, Basil, and Pickled Cucumber - Soba Noodles with Soy-Glazed Salmon and Snow Peas - Rice Noodle Salad with Lime-Sriracha Glazed Chicken - Chinese Egg Noodles with Cucumber-Peanut Sauce and Red Chile

Summer Cocktail Party
Crab Cakes with Black Truffle Mayonnaise - Thyme-Scented Golden Onion and Gruyere Tartlets with Crème Fraiche - Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Sage and Parsley Pesto - White Bean and Harissa Hummus in Endive Cups - White Peach Sorbet with Basil

Peak of Flavor: Berries
Tomato and Preserved Lemon Bruschetta with Blueberry Butter - Raspberry, Pistachio, and Goat Cheese Salad - Blackberry Gastrique Glazed-Salmon - Strawberry Shortcake with Rosemary Mascarpone Cream

Food-spiration

God, I love Summer foods. It's not even just the tastes but all the colors and variety and how everything is cool and fresh. I love all the produce I've never used before that I discover every year and learning how to use it. I love incorporating fruit into savory dishes. I love cold pastas, frozen treats, and grilled everything.

These are some of the things currently inspiring me for the season...



Stuffed Zucchinis

Strawberry Pesto Pasta

Homemade Sodas

Artichoke and Asparagus Pasta

Cinnamon Orange Iced Tea

Pasta Salad


Spicy Quesadilla with Black Bean Corn Salad

Watermelon Margarita

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Lemonade and Limeade Drinks

Ice Cream Cones via Panini Press

Orzo Salad with Green Veggies


Papaya Lime Sorbet

Cucumber Watermelon Slaw

Baked French Fries


Grilled Apricots

Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups


Corn on the Cob with Garlic and Lime

Black Bean Soup

Garlic Bread Knots

Cucumber Basil Spritzers

Strawberry Peach Vodka Ice Pops

All images via TasteSpotting.

Best. Job. Ever.

I got my schedule for June at Sur la Table yesterday. These are some of the classes I'll be helping host...

Summer Tamales
Basic Masa Preparada - Pasilla Chile Shredded Pork Tamales -Vegetarian Masa Preparada - Green Chile Queso Fresco Vegetarian Tamales - Cinnamon Caramel Flan

Artisan Breads
Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Dough - Classic French Baguettes - Ciabatta Loaves - Focaccia with Herb Oil

Saturday Morning Treats
Challah French Toast - Maple-Pecan Sticky Buns - Belgian Waffles - Feta, Roasted Pepper, and Basil Muffins

Tuscany on the Grille
Grilled Flatbread Pizza with Cherry Tomatoes and Aged Balsamic - Grilled Basil-Rubbed Lamb Chops with Gremolita - Cannellini Bean and Grilled Artichoke Salad - Chianti and Peach Granita

Summer Cocktail Party
Crab Cakes with Black Truffle Mayonnaise - Thyme-Scented Golden Onion and Gruyere Tartlets with Crème Fraiche - Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Sage and Parsley Pesto - White Bean and Harissa Hummus in Endive Cups - White Peach Sorbet with Basil

Italian Summer in Venice
Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Crostini - Grilled Radicchio and Endive Salad with Balsamic-Honey Vinaigrette - Squid Ink Noodles with Scallops and Asparagus - Grilled New York Steak with Pancetta-Red Wine Sauce - Raspberry Tiramisu

Don't hate me 'cuz you ain't me.

Quiche. With Brie. Oh yes I did!

I made quiche last night. Quiche is one of those things I crave. I just love it. Unfortunately I love it because it is a pie made of cheese and cream so you know, one of those special treat foods unless I want to die of a heart attack at 25.

I pretty much always put the same veggies in my quiche. Zucchini, red peppers, and crimini mushrooms. I also use Gruyere because it makes the most fantastic quiche ever. My mom used to make quiche with swiss cheese and it wasn't terrible but it was weird. I made quiche with gruyere for a friend's bridal shower once years ago and I've never looked back. Yesterday though I was at the store and looking at cheeses (I like cheese okay?) and saw some triple cream brie and decided I needed to put it in the quiche I was planning to make. I figured it would either be the most amazing thing ever or a total disaster containing $20 worth of cheese. So, I put in a bunch of gruyere, the brie (sans rind obviously), sauteed zucchini, red pepper, shallots, and mushrooms, salt, pepper, thyme, eggs, milk, and cream and hoped for the best.

Quiche is like cheesecake in that you aren't supposed to brown the top and it's supposed to finish cooking while it's sitting out of the oven. Unfortunately I always, without fail, brown the top of the quiche a bit. It still always tastes great so I'm not too worried about it but I guess if I ever decide to enter a quiche baking competition I should figure that whole thing out.

Even though technically I didn't do the quiche correctly with the whole browning thing it was incredible. I've never made such a light and fluffy quiche. And it was seasoned perfectly. I also made a side dish of roasted red potatoes and green beans with leeks and rosemary. Sometimes I get busy and I forget how happy cooking makes me. I came home yesterday and just cooked for an hour and a half and it felt so wonderful. I ended up making extra of everything to bring to my boss' family too. Then Craig came over and we had wonderful food and watched the Glee finale.

It was a pretty good night if I do say so myself.

Ice Pops!

Craig and I made six different kinds of popsicles last night. And that wasn't even all the ideas we had but then it was like 11pm and we were kind of tired and we'd used up most of the ice pop mold space so we stopped at six. The flavors we made were berry vanilla, Arnold Palmer, chocolate banana, peach mango, watermelon with blueberries, and watermelon grapefruit. Tell me you don't want to eat all of those.


Supplies. Except not even all of them. Because when I do something I do it big.


First layer of the Arnold Palmer pops...you can ignore the nine pints of ice cream in my freezer.


Our watermelon blueberry pops were made of pureed watermelon with some simple syrup. Once they froze a bit we pushed blueberries into them so the berries would stay suspended.


Javier was confused why we were in the kitchen if it wasn't to continually bring him fresh ice water.


Craig was confused by my juicer. Yeah, I don't know why either.


Second layer of the Arnold Palmer pops and some blueberries added to the watermelon popsicles.


I realize that looks like sawdust but it's actually a brick of chocolate I shaved with a Microplane. Added to bananas and milk.


Mango peach pops! We added honey as a sweetener. We also ended up adding some blood orange juice once blending sans liquid was obviously a mistake.


Our berry mix was so good. We used a bunch of frozen berries, vanilla yogurt, pomegranate cranberry juice, and some honey. Incredible.


We made two of each pop so we could each try them and decide what we liked best.


I made my boss' daughters some flower popsicles with fantastic "sticks" (actually straws) with the leftover mixes.


Aaaand...scene.

Warm Weather Eats

I can't wait for it to be Spring and have all the fresh, light foods that come with warmer weather! I always buy high quality ingredients and it's important to me to eat organically and if given a choice I always go for local foods but I haven't been terribly diligent about eating seasonally. Which is really a shame because I feel a lot of creativity comes from using foods you might not be familiar with. This Summer though I'm wanting to make a better effort to shop at farmer's markets and grow my own herbs. I can't wait to make glazed salmon and fresh pasta salads and cold veggies and fruit and popsicles and gallete and everything else. I also see my ice cream maker getting a whole lot of use.

These are some of the things inspiring me right now.