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Tasty

Girls Love to Brunch

November 6, 2013

Every Sunday I tell myself I am going to wake up and whip up an amazing brunch for the hubby and I, and by the time I work my way down my mental to-do list, I am too overwhelmed… this past weekend though I was excited to put together a brunch that tasted like it took MUCH more time than it did.

Brunch

The key to this meal – the best ingredients you can find.  I went to the farmer’s market at 9am and bought farm fresh eggs, Early Girl tomatoes (that no joke you could smell when walking by their stand… I didn’t even know tomatoes could smell amazing!??!), and Levain rustic bread from the Manresa Bread Project.  By 11am I was home from errand running and was eating this meal by 11:30am… doesn’t get much better than that!

Charred Tomatoes and Toast 

  • 4 Slices Rustic Bread
  • 4 Tomatoes
  • 1 Clove of Garlic, peeled and sliced in half
  • 4 Eggs
  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive Oil
  1. Toast your bread (you could put it in the toaster, but I toasted in in a pan on the stove)
  2. Remove from heat and rub sliced end of garlic on bread.
  3. Brush olive oil on bread.
  4. Slice tomatoes in half (I sliced the ends off too, just because I’m weird about them)
  5. Brush sliced end with olive oil.
  6. Heat a pan over medium heat and once pan is warm place tomato, sliced side down on pan.
  7. Don’t move and let them cook for 3-4 minutes (until charred).
  8. Remove tomatoes from pan and place 2 atop each piece of bread.
  9. Drizzle some olive oil in a pan and crack eggs into pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  10. Let eggs cook, undisturbed for 2-3 minutes (until egg white sets)
  11. Remove eggs once finished and place atop tomatoes and toast

Now what is the best thing to wash this meal down with? My easy go to brunch drink – a Michelada Cubana!

Michelada Cubana

Michelada Cubana 

  • 1 Corona 
  • Fresh squeezed lime juice (of 2 limes)
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 4-5 dashes of Tabasco (or more if you love it really hot)
  1. Rim a glass with lime juice and salt. 
  2. Mix ingredients listed above and pour into glass.

Michelada

*I premixed this drink in a pitcher when I got home and refrigerated it while I was making brunch.  Once the eggs were cooked I poured it into the salt rimmed glass and was good to go!

Cocktail Eggs Brunch

Tasty

Hearty Soup

October 30, 2013

Butternut Squash Soup with Pumpkin Seeds

I love the fact that soup is such a versatile food item – it can be a great snack, lunch, starter, dinner… it is relatively easy to make, and (as they say) good for the soul (or is that just chicken soup?!).  One of my favorite soups is my sister Taylor’s homemade Butternut Squash soup.

Squash Soup

So make sure to hit up your local farmers market – pick up some butternut squash, celery, onion, carrot, garlic and herbs and get to the kitchen!

From Threads – By Taylor Feezor

TATA’S BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP:

  • 1 butternut squash (halved… or if you are me and have been told many elaborate stories of forewarning injury due to watermelon or squash cutting by your mother…. quartered)
  • 1 head of garlic
  • olive oil
  • sea/ kosher salt
  • fresh thyme
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 carrot
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • drizzle of garlic and jalapeno olive oil after the soup is bowled

1. Halve or quarter your squash. The rinds are thick, so BE CAREFUL. I quartered mine because my new knives terrify me (I draped kitchen towels on the other end of them to get a nice grip when cutting down through them… recommend!), and noticed after baking that I might have lost some moisture doing this. The cut edge also was less soft than the inside. Do half if you HAVE THE COURAGE.

2. Take the seeds out, remove as much pith and fiber as you can from them. You are going to put these on the baking sheet and make seeds to use for later. FUN!

3. Drizzle olive oil, rub on the surfaces with your hands, sprinkle salt, stuff the cavity with fresh thyme if you have it, sprinkle whole squash with dried thyme if you don’t.

4. Cut tip off of head of garlic, place in middle of baking sheet. Sprinkle with too much olive oil, too much salt. Mix butternut seeds with this extra, cascading olive oil. Keep the whole bit near center of pan to keep things from burning. Some seeds strayed from the pack and the edge ones got burnt immediately.

5. Bake everything at 425 for 40-60 minutes. Squash is done when a fork goes through easily. You’ll know. During this baking time, I threw in a loaf of parbaked bread from TJ’s (12 minutes), and quartered leeks with olive oil and salt on another pan. They get crispy and taste like onion shoe strings (30 minutes). Great on the side, and this whole party in my oven (squash/seeds/garlic/bread/leeks) helps cut down on the old PG&E Bill.

6. WHILE ITS BAKING:

Pan fry yellow onion, thinly sliced celery and carrots in olive oil until everything becomes soft and translucent in a huge ceramic pot (or something that you will eventually be able to add everything to and run through it with a hand blender). Add 4 cups of chicken stock (trick I like…. add a little more of the bullion base than you should to the water. I think it is what made this so good).

Take out butternut, scrape it with a spoon after its cooled a little, add to your big pot of other stuff. Add 4 cloves of roasted garlic to the soup. Run through everything with a hand blender for about 5 minutes. If you want more protein, add the cubes of turkey breast from Thanksgiving your mom gifted to you when you moved in. Drizzle top with the garlic and jalapeno olive oil, and enjoy!

A big congrats to Christa Pulling – the winner of the PopSugar Must Have Box giveaway!!

Tasty

Halloween Meal

October 28, 2013

Last year I put together an involved Halloween menu, and while delicious, was not conducive to opening the door every 20 seconds for a new wave of trick-or-treaters (I’m not exaggerating… we had over 500 kids come to our door last year!). Lesson learned.

Trick or Treaters

This year, I am taking a more relaxed approach and serving a meal that has minimal prep time, can be eaten through the night and requires minimal plating/cooking on my part 🙂  Enter – the slow cooker, the answer to entertaining during the cooler seasons.  I love that you can put something in it in the morning and come home to a yummy meal come 5 o’clock!

Crockpot

My favorite slow cooker meal of the moment is this copycat Chipotle Carnitas recipe. While Mexican may not be the first meal that scream Halloween, it is a favorite in our household and what better way to celebrate a holiday than with some of your favorite things?!

Carnitas

Aside from prep the morning of (browning the meat, chopping onions, etc.), I just followed the recipe up to boiling the tomatoes, etc. and poured it over the meat in the crockpot and let it cook on low for 8 hours (then followed the rest of the recipe).

Carnitas

When served with an array of toppings (which also can be prepped the morning of), everyone can find something they like – make your own burritos/tacos/burrito bowl/salad, and you can focus on handing out candy to all of the best dressed kids in the neighborhood!

And when all else fails… order a pizza!

Tasty

Salt and Vinegar Chips

October 9, 2013

One of my guilty pleasures? Salt and vinegar chips!

Salt & Vinegar Chips

I have been into baking my own chips for sometime, but wanted to take things to the next level and figure out how to make flavored baked chips… here is what I did:

1. Used a mandolin to thinly slice 3 russet potatoes (thinness is to your liking, I prefer on the thinner side).

Mandalin

2. Immediately submerge potato slices in ice water, while you continue to slice the rest of the potatoes.

Ice Bath

3. Drain potatoes and transfer to a large pot.  Fill pot with white vinegar, until potatoes are completely covered.

White Vinegar

4. Bring potato slices to a boil over medium high heat, let boil for 5 minutes.

Boil

5. Remove from heat and cover.  Let sit for at least 30 minutes to let the vinegar flavor marinate.

6. Gently remove potatoes from vinegar and dry on paper towels.

Potato Slices

7. Transfer to a baking sheet (coated with cooking spray) and spray top side of potato slices with oil or cooking spray as well.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Baked Chip

8. Cook for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Salt Vinegar Chips

9. Enjoy!

Vinegar Chips

Tasty

Bruschetta Dip

October 2, 2013

Tomato Garlic BasilI had to prep a gluten free appetizer and got overwhelmed by the fact that pretty much every hors d’oeuvre I love is based on carbs/bread/gluten.  My solution bruschetta dip!  Or as I also call it… Italian salsa!

Bruchetta with Chips

  • 2-3 cups heirloom tomatoes/Sweet 100’s (the key is GREAT produce… I picked everything up from the farmers market that day)
  • 3 cloves garlic (or more if you really love garlic)
  • a large handful of basil
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  1. Slice tomatoes into bite-size pieces (I quartered them), cut basil into thin strips (I rolled  5 leaves at a time and used herb shears to cut thin strips), and mince garlic.  Combine everything in a large bowl. 
  2. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Let sit at room temperature for at least an hour to let the flavors really meld together.
  4. Serve with gluten free crackers (if going the gluten free approach)… otherwise serve with buttered and toasted baguette bread slices!

Bruchetta DipI can’t wait to serve the leftovers with a scoop of burrata cheese and a balsamic glaze drizzle…