Last month for Secret Recipe Club I got Mangia! an Italian blog.  I was so excited, any excuse to make Italian food is fine with me.  Then I made Double Chocolate Almond Joy Pretzel cookies.  So not Italian, but oh so delicious.

For my assignment this month I got Cookin with Moxie, Jamie lives in Boston and is from a big Italian family! Quelle Chance! Wait that’s French, anywho, woohoo!  I put my blinders on to all her other great looking recipes and stuck to her roots (you know that’s typically my thang).

I did the usual Secret Recipe Club lurking throughout the month, trying to make the difficult decision of what to make.  Then Jamie posted a recipe for Steak Pizzaiola and I knew instantly that it was the ONE.  How could you go wrong with steak and pizza(iola) in the title?

So I planned to cook it last Wednesday, but I ended up with some leftover ingredients from my grilling class the night before, so I grilled pizza for us and Steak Pizzaiola slipped my mind…

Thursday I afternoon I was typing up my post for Friday and then boom it hit me, like I a V-8 moment; I need to make my SRC recipe.  Only I had a banquet to go that night and then for the weekend we were camping with the Boy Scouts.

“That’s a fine mess you’ve  got us into, Ollie!”

Anyone know who that quote is from?

I had all the ingredients on hand (I already had planned to use elk instead of beef), but time wasn’t on my side.  Enter the pressure cooker!  Any recipe that calls for braising is a perfect pressure cooker recipe.

A quick side of pearl couscous (my newest obsession) and dinner was ready in less than an hour.  That meant the Baby boy and McGyver had dinner for the night and didn’t have to fend for themselves. Plus the Baby boy was set for the weekend while we were away!

Even though I had a banquet to go to that night, you know I couldn’t help but try it.  The steak is super tender, so tender in fact that I had a hard time lifting a piece out of the cooker with out it falling apart.  The tomato sauce with the herbs and crushed red pepper, well, it tasted uncannily similar to pizza sauce. It was perfect served over a bed of pearl couscous that I toasted first and added some toasted pine nuts.  The couscous added a nice textural element to the dish.

I used fresh herbs versus dried since I have them available in my garden (yay), if you want to use dried herbs you can refer to Jamie’s original recipe.  Because there are so few ingredients in this dish I highly recommend that you use a high quality whole canned tomato product like Cento brand or some type of San Marzano tomato.

Jamie, thanks for my Italian fix!

Please me and sure to check out all the great recipes from Group C, hosted by Debbi.

FYI, I won’t be participating next month, I’m going back to Washington State to visit family, I’ll be back after that but I’ll be thinking of my Group C-ers.

When I lived in Europe, Asparagus was a revered vegetable.  The season started in May and ended around Mid-Summer’s day.  In England they treasured nice meaty stalks (but not woody), in Germany the white asparagus was on every menu and in France and Italy the small dainty little asparagus showed up salads, pastas and any where else it could be incorporated.

Did you know that Asparagus is a modified stem? They have thin flat ‘leaves’ called cladophylls; it’s modification allows it to photosynthesize.    Other edible plants that have modified stems are potatoes, onions, ginger, strawberries (the stolen is a modified stem), peas (the shoots are the modified part), apple trees (fruit spur) and succulent plants like cacti (Source). So basically when you eat asparagus you’re eating a stick?

Stick or stem, it’s still one of the sexiest vegetables you could prepare and photograph.  How do I love to photograph asparagus!  I need to start growing my own, if nothing else to just photograph.  But the planting time has passed and it takes 2 to 3 years before you can start to harvest them.  Now that I have a plot in the new community garden I just might do that.

For this asparagus dish I combined my love of lemon with my new found love, dill (I have 3 plants started in my garden, yay).  The asparagus is cooked until just tender crisp then it’s bathed in lemon juice and chopped dill.  A healthy portion of toasted panko crumbs with lemon zest is served atop them.  Once you cut into them you are delighted with all the wondrous textures and flavors!

It’s a quick and simple side which would be a perfect accompaniment to my Flounder Olympia (more panko and dill). Asparagus season here is pretty much done, hopefully there is still some in your area.  Personally I’d be happy to fly to Europe for last of their season!

I need to apologize to my blogger friends for being a bit absent and not leaving comments regularly.  This whole community garden, and my camera club and Boy Scouts and work…well, I just don’t have a moment these days.  I am thinking of you all and I’ll be back stalking you in no time.

Here’s the latest at our garden: The city donated 6 dump truck loads full of wood chips.  Really, 6 dump truck loads full!  I don’t even know what amount that is but it’s a heck of a lot to spread around! The first couple days I didn’t have a lot of volunteers to help.  I was spending all day out there (as evidenced by my sunburns), making headway but it seemed like the piles grew overnight every day.

The volunteers that I did have were super troopers though.  And then on Wednesday when I went out I saw a ton of people there and my heart swelled.  We didn’t get it all done but nearly so.  We also planted 4 trees but have 15 more to plant. We currently have a children’s garden and we are planning a berry garden also.  Big, big plans for the gardens!

The first load delivered to the middle of the gardens

Far end of the garden

Another truck load at the far end

Wednesday I drove up to see this, hooray! (This is the other end of the garden)

To me this epitomizes community gardening. One of my Master Gardener volunteers attending a baby, rake in hand and directing where chips need to go.

]]> http://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/2013/06/13/dill-asparagus-lemon-panko/feed/ 3 http://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/2013/06/11/sun-earth-chocolate-orange-mini-muffins/ http://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/2013/06/11/sun-earth-chocolate-orange-mini-muffins/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:36:43 +0000 Giggles http://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/?p=9742

If only I could give you the sun and earth, I would.  But, I can’t.  What I can share with you is probably, no not probably, definitely the best chocolate orange muffins I’ve ever ate.

I made these for our Community Gardens grand opening which I mentioned in my last SRC post Double Chocolate Almond Joy Cookies.

This is a guest post that I’ve done for my friend Jane over at The Heritage Cook while she’s away at the BlogHer Food conference in Austin (wee pang of envy as I type that).  Please check out my post and get the recipe for these Sun & Earth muffins, and make them, you must make them!

Last month I taught a cooking class, it was Mexican cooking.  Not your standard heavy Tex-Mex loaded with cheese, sauces and sour cream.  Our theme was Mexi-light, Mexi-easy, Mexi-delicious.  We started off with the basics, salsa and guacamole and then things got better.

Taking my cues from Baja and the Yucatan region we started off with a mock shrimp ceviche, this citrus salad, Baja style fish tacos, Arroz Verde con Piña, finished off with a tres leches and fresh berry trifle.  Of course I came up with a cocktail fitting the menu.

As always my Winter Sals-tice (and I don’t mean that arrogantly) gets rave reviews.  The students were surprised at how delicious a simple guacamole of avocado, salt and lime juice was.  My opinion alert! I think our Mexican chain restaurants put way too much in their version, hiding the beautiful flavor of the avocado. I have to say that the surprise dish of the evening was this Arroz Verde con Piña.

There are two things that are essential to this dish, it’s short grained rice and…wait for it…

Canned green enchilada sauce.

But why?

Would you believe it if I told you that this rice dish is more like a Mexican risotto than anything else?  The short grained rice is super starchy, similar to arborio rice, which helps make it thicker-er.  Adding the canned green enchilada sauce during the last 5 minutes of cooking gives you that creaminess, that’s so risotto like.

But why the canned stuff?

Everything has it’s place, like beer and Velveeta at Super Bowl parties.  The super velvetiness of the canned sauce makes a huge difference. And the mild flavor compliments, rather than competes with the pineapple.  Not to mention it’s Mexi-easy! (my homemade sauces tend to be a bit chunkier, spicier and more time consuming)

If you are looking for a change to your regular Mexican inspired side dishes, if you want something lighter and easy you have got to try this rice dish.

(Photo taken with iphone driving down the road to our cabin…window up obiously)

I’ve been blogging for years about the progress on our cabin.  Our little piece of heaven in Big Sky country.  The cabin itself has gotten to the point of really being finished.  Oh we have our issues (like no hot water due to problems with an on demand heater), we have our grandiose ideas: expanding the cabin, permaculture landscaping, a full outdoor kitchen with a cob/rocket stove, developing one of our springs and having water pumped to the cabin, rain water catchment system so we can garden, having a wood shed, building a pole barn, etc. etc.

We talk about this stuff like you do when you talk about “what would I do if I won the lottery”.  Suffice it to say that we do not have enough time and money to fulfill our grandiose ideas.  I guess it doesn’t really matter if all that cool stuff happens, we still enjoy the little things.

Here are things that we have done and experienced over the last two weekends that made my heart sing.

Stepping outside and going for a walk in my pajamas and seeing a dusting of snow on the spring flowers. Also knowing that my cabin had a roaring fire to keep me warm when I got back.

Doing a little decorating, like hanging this map that the baby boy won at the Made in Montana show.

Finding a home for my old sports equipment. I am not athletic but I have a thing for antique sports equipment, most of it I purchased at “boot” (read flea market/yard sale) sales in England.

The baseball glove belonged to McGyver when he was a wee lad.

Braided rugs that my great grandmother made, rugs that are older than me.

This one is made of old nylons.

Putting a garbage dump find (the TV tray) to good use.

Having enough rugs for each side of the bed, so you don’t feel the cold on your feet when you get up. This is another rug that my Great Grandmother made, it’s made from rags.

Feeling like a quirky  interior designer, obsessed with antique sports equipment.

Psst, that little flower plaque on the right, I made as a child with yarn and aquarium rocks.

Unintentionally hanging up wooden ice skates from Holland, near an old sleigh from England.

Finding that new things can integrate well with old things, like this fishing mirror and wooden fishing box.

Or these lamp shades (see above photo for previous one)

The lamp on the left is an old bowling pin that McGyver and Grandpa HoHo redid when McGyver was a young boy.  The lamp on the right, one of my great uncles made, like 50 years ago.  McGyver and I had to replace both of their lighting kits…that was fun, not really, but it was cool to do it together.

Trying out an old fashioned toaster, a second hand store find.  Which works brilliantly by the way.

And fresh flowers picked by McGyver, special for me.

There was only one thing that I ever wanted from my Grandpa’s house after he passed away, and it was this sign from his logging business.  My mother saved it for me. McGyver picked the place and hung it up.

A friend made these bird houses, we hope some birds will move in.

Having one afternoon of no snow or rain so I could explore what new flowers were coming up.

Even though I had over 2000 pages of documents to review, I had this view.

That despite all of our little work projects and the mostly stay indoors kind of weather, that McGyver actually got to take some time and do something he wanted (he’s messing with his rifle before he goes target shooting)

And of course these goof balls, drooly and ratty as they might be.

Gotta love em and all the little things that make my heart sing.

What little things make your heart sing, is it something old, something new, a perfect meal, hugging carrots from your garden?

A long weekend, a beautiful spring day what could be more wonderful than a romantic picnic for two?

Salted almonds mixed with dried cranberries to snack on.

Splurge on amazing cheese and delicate crackers.

Wrap up a cold cut ciabatta sandwich in parchment paper for that deli look.

A salty briny accompaniment of pickles and olives pair perfectly with the sandwich.

Berries add a fresh touch.

Of course there must be a sweet finish and these sea salt chocolates are just the right size for packing in a picnic basket.

Fresh flowers add the extra romantic touch.

Package it all up in a basket fitted with vintage plates and silverware.

Don’t forget some sparkling water or wine!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with sunshine, good food and romance.

If you read a foodie’s blog and they claimed at one time that they couldn’t go a week without a cookie what would you do?  You would make one of their cookie recipes of course!  At least that is what I did when I got assigned the oh so cute Chelsy’s blog Mangia!

But it’s not what I thought I’d make.  I was positive as soon as I got my email from our Secret Recipe Club super leader Debbi of Debbi does dinner healthy that I would be making Italian.  My heart sang at the thought, just like it did when I was first assigned Manu of Manu’s Menu (love that gal).

As  I cruised through her blog and started pinning recipes on my “secret board” (thanks Veronica for that idea) I ran across her little comment about being a cookie fiend.  And that particular cookie caught my eye.  It called for a bunch of ingredients that I really, really, no kidding really needed to use.  Let’s just say my pretzels were labeled: best if used by May 2012.  Yeah, I probably have had these for the last 2 years.

Plus I had another good reason.  Ever do something you never ever in your whole entire life imagined doing?  It just so happens that I spoke these words “I’d like to start a community garden on the Air Force base”. And. I. did. it. With a lot of help from others, especially River City Harvest.

We now have 42 (300 square foot) plots, a children’s garden, planned berry garden and picnic area and composting.  19 trees and shrubs donated by http://www.gardensfromgarbage.org/(thanks Mike you are a gem).  The city is donating 18 yards of mulch for our pathways and our local master gardeners are volunteering their time.  This little seed of a thought bloomed in just a few short months!  My partner in crime Amber Gardener, the base housing community director has been a godsend!

All this is leading to these cookies; on Saturday we had our ribbon cutting ceremony/grand opening.  I made these cookies and some chocolate orange mini muffins (recipe coming as a guest post for The Heritage Cook  in June).  There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing families work together in a garden and chocolate smear on their faces.

I adapted Chelsy’s original double chocolate pretzel stuffed everything cookie to suit what I had on hand.  Because I used almonds and the recipe called for coconut oil, coconut and chocolate I renamed them with the Almond Joy candy bar in mind.  I didn’t have pretzel twists and obviously buying more pretzels was NOT going to happen, I just broke the sticks in half and laid them on top.

Since they weren’t this super cool stuffed cookie, I upped the attraction with a chocolate drizzle.  Chelsy, thank you for being a part of incredible day, the cookies were a big hit.

Mangia!

Be sure to check out the rest of Group C’s reveal on the blog hop.

Remember when I received all that dill in my Bountiful Basket?  I posted these deviled ham eggs and then I posted the Flounder Olympia (which you need to try if you haven’t yet).  But that’s not all baby!  I made this fantabulous quiche also.  Actually I made quite a bit more but didn’t photograph it all.

After dosing ourselves in dill I realized that I never really used it enough in my cooking.  Fresh dill was always paired with fish, or some creamy dressing/dip and used, of course, for pickling.  Honestly I use more dried dill than fresh.  But that wrong has been righted by the insane amount that I received and a new found appreciation and love for fresh dill.

I so enjoyed the flavor that I will be planting at least 4 dill plants, maybe more?  I’m also planting a bunch of Boston pickling cucumbers.  A good pair is a good pair.

Speaking of a good pair; asparagus and dill!  Why have I never done this before?  I know asparagus gets pickled (they’ve been known to show up in my Bloody Mary’s and Caesar’s); logically this thought should have occurred to me before!  I am mourning the missed opportunities I could have had with dill and asparagus…

Believe if or not I adapted this recipe from King Arthur Flour, it calls for a mere 1/4 cup flour, which can easily be substituted for 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to make a gluten free version.  Besides the dish being a quiche with a potato crust, the similarity ends there, and you know I had to sneak a little lemon in there also.

I can’t think of a more perfect brunch dish (or dinner), the potato crust can be cooked (through the first 25 minute baking step) the night before and finished the next morning.

Just a side note: I’ve been lax about sharing my articles that I write for a quarterly publication.  My summer article in The Best of Great Falls is on page 50.  It’s on lemonade(s) and a towheaded blonde girl who rode a green bike with a banana seat. 

Would you believe that I’m sitting outside, drinking coffee and typing this post?  To me this feels so luxurious.  This is how, in my little mind, I imagine a writer’s life.  The perfect writer’s life, where you could put pen to paper (or type) anywhere when inspiration hits.

I have always thought writers to have a glamorous job where they dictate their hours and only panic near deadlines.  Sipping coffee while the words flow or enjoying wine and thinking that you do your best writing then.  Staying up late, sleeping in or vice versa.

I think that probably Hollywood had some influence on this image that I have.  The outsider looking in only sees what they see.  The garbage men just drove down my alley, they looked over at me sitting al fresco, hacking away on my laptop and I know their thoughts “it must be nice…wish I could do that…but someone has to actually get up and go to work”.

I know that’s their thoughts; before I started freelancing if I saw someone doing something I wanted to do or perceived as “the life” I was a bit envious, I had those very same thoughts.  Usually our image, or if I may say, the cover of the book, isn’t necessarily what’s going on inside. 

Since I’ve become self-employed, I have had more sleepless nights and bouts of stress.  All the responsibility is upon me and I take it very seriously.  Lists upon lists are created in my head and on paper (can’t quite embrace the electronic list making).  And somehow I feel that I should not only get all my work done, but also my chores and all my volunteer things I do; done in the same amount of time as a work week.  The goal is to have time in the evenings with the family.

I work all hours, even weekends, if I’m not working I’m doing chores, if I’m not doing chores I’m doing something for the community gardens, the camera club, Boy Scouts or anything else that I can’t say no too.  This book does not look like it’s cover!  I have also discovered that writing, especially if technical is not so glamorous.  Research is work and usually means snooping on the internet, going to the library, consulting experts, etc.  All of which take time, although interesting, it’s really not glamorous at all.

No this book is not like it’s cover.

Nor is this pavlova.  Long on my bucket list, I finally tried my hand at making one.  At first glance it appears to be a crispy disc, curious looking and really not so enticing by it’s mere looks.  Most pavlova’s are topped with something, where in the attraction begins…that beautiful cover.  Lovely fruit or lemon curd atop a crispy meringue disc, or so it appears.

Of course you have to open this book up to get the real experience.  Once you break through the small shell of the crispy exterior, you are greeted with an almost gooey, slightly chewy marshmallow center.  A certain delight and surprise for everyone.  It reminded me of a campfire marshmallow that has been torched on the outside but held it own on the inside (sans charcoal flavor of course).

I understand, now that I’ve read this book why it is accompanied with lemon curd and fresh berries, they are the perfect foil for this very sweet base.  I got the recipe from Simply Recipe’s site, where Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater, did a guest post on pavlovas.   I recommend that you reference Elise’s site for superb directions and tips, so I’ll not post the actually pavlova recipe here.  I’ll just share my delicious strawberry and mint topping, which is also excellent on shortbread, pancakes and waffles and warm over ice cream.

I’ve decided that Mother Nature is either a manic depressive or severely PMSing during the spring.  She’s definitely a moody one, especially in Montana.  Maybe it’s because she loves us so much that it incurs this severe differences in our days (you know the saying, you hurt the ones you love the most).  For example, Sunday before last it was a gorgeous beautiful spring day, by Tuesday there was 6 inches of snow on the ground. Moody, moody, moody!

If Mother Nature PMS’s all spring, then I must have become in sync with her living in Montana over the years.  Just as quickly as the weather changes so does my mood.  If I wake up and the sun is out, so am I.  I become an amazing production machine; whether it’s yard work, house work or ‘real’ work.  I feel like I have boundless energy and can conquer the world.

I had to cut these because the heavy snow broke their stems.

Then the grey clouds move in and I am grey, lethargic, a virtual waste.  I want to do nothing but watch old black and white movies and nap on the couch.  Snacking in between or getting back into to that winter comfort food.  Just like our winter clothes, the winter food never really gets put away in Montana.

Fact: it’s been documented to snow in every month of the year in Montana.

I may not wear a parka this summer but I can promise you that I’ll have to wear a coat at some point.  And so it was with my pasta, it was like putting on a coat in spring.  On a cold dreary Mother Nature ultimate PMS day  I wanted something hearty..yet kind of spring like, something to match my mood.

Pasta is the perfect base for any mood and a refrigerator stocked with colorful carrots and baby spinach spoke spring.  Canned tomatoes, dried herbs and some hot venison sausage from the freezer fit the comfort bill to a ‘T’.

I realize other parts of the country are already picking some early ripe tomatoes and have fresh herbs right out their doorstep. If you do, sync with Mother Nature in your area and replace the canned tomatoes and dried herbs with fresh and maybe swap out the hot Italian venison  (pork) sausage for turkey sausage or maybe shrimp.

No matter how you prepare it, it will definitely put you in a good mood. Now if someone could send Mother Nature some über strong prescription Midol so we can get on with spring, I’d appreciate it.