I'm a failed ICBCer... I'm sorry. The saddest thing is that I've participated in a number of the challenges and just haven't gotten the entries up into blogging land. You ever have one of those times where you wake up and suddenly a couple months have disappeared? Yeah, that's how it feels right now. Oh my, and I actually was having nightmares out of guilt from not posting! I'm serious, I kept dreaming that I signed up for something and then forgot about it and then thugs came to rough me up for not paying/showing up. Kind of a variation of those dreams where you realize that today is finals and you never actually went to class all semester.
The silly thing is that I really enjoy the cooking fun. A number of the recipes I've tried have made it into my regular dinner rotation (with the turnip Yukon gold mashed potatoes making the top of that list). So I am vowing to get back in the game!
Right now I'll just do an abbreviated post with two of the recipes that I can remember right now. (The full recipes are listed at the end of this post.) The first was for gluten-free challenge. I decided to make homemade tomato soup, because I love tomato soup but haven't been happy with the brands I've been trying lately (Trader Joe's - what a huge disappointment from a store I normally love). I tried out a Food Network recipe because it involved caramelizing onions, and lately I've wanted to caramel everything. Unfortunately, it was still a bit of a disappointment because it tasted more like tomato sauce instead of tomato soup. Also, I didn't have an immersion blender, which sounds like something that would not get used often, so I substituted a potato masher. Yeah. It worked ok, though! Ultimately, I ended up straining the liquid out of the remaining soup and put it over spaghetti the next day for lunch.
The other challenge I have available is garlic. Woo hoo, I love garlic. I went for an option off the gorgeous cooking blog,
Smitten Kitchen. Wow, the pictures alone on the site will make you want to race into the kitchen and whip up something homey. I was intrigued by her post about the shakshuka, a dish from Israel. I mean, I love tomato sauce, I love eggs. Why not be bold and try them together? This was pretty fun to make, especially in trying to get the eggs to plop in without breaking the yolks. I served it with naan, but I think another bread-ish thing would have been better... I'm just not sure yet. Oooh, maybe toasted French bread? Anyway, it was tasty but it didn't quite hit the mark. Brian and I were fighting over the parts with the eggs, so I would recommend throwing at least one more in.
In non-cooking news, life has been busy with its usual ups and downs. We have a couple weddings on the horizon as well as our "official" honeymoon to New York City at the beginning of July. After we get back, we're going to try to move forward on getting a retired racing greyhound. We almost bought a bed at Petsmart but I didn't think they were cute enough (and it's going to have to be a very big bed).
Totally not related, but may I just say how much I love that we are no longer restricted to watching TV on the network's schedules. Brian and I usually watch a show or two at dinnertime and we have a huge rotation going on. Our options currently include: The Office, 30 Rock, Community, Infomania (seriously, check this one out, especially if you like The Soup), King of the Hill, Futurama, House, Real Life, and the terrible guilty pleasure 16 & Pregnant. On Mondays and Tuesdays, when Brian watches 24 and Lost, I'm trying to catch up on Mad Men. It's weird because my family was never big on TV, except for Saturday morning cartoons and TGIF. But now both my parents and I have gotten into "our shows." Are we getting old?
Ehem, now if you'll excuse me, I have to go try out the mid-term Brian has put together for the 20th century American history class he's teaching. Oh no, I'm unprepared!
From FoodNetwork.com
Ingredients
- 1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 small carrot, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream, if using. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.
From Smitten Kitchen
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup olive oil
5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (I was nervous and only used 2 Anaheims; I would go for 3 or 4 next time for a more moderate but still gentle kick)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
6 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Warm pitas, for serving
Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.
Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.
Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.
(As always, the formatting on blogger is driving me crazy. Sorry for the inconsistencies in the text!)
