Marcella Cooking Stuff • June 7th - June 13th
June 7th - June 13th
You know in yoga when you deeply inhale through your nose and then exhale everything out of your lungs? Squeezing your stomach extra hard to get every last bit of air out? I have been trying to remember to take a lot of those breaths. Physically and metaphorically.
In our neighborhood, we have a little center with a few shops, restaurants, market, dry cleaners, etc. All the places one could need. Across the street is a pond. Clearly, man made with a fountain but with a surprising amount of wildlife. This week we walked over and sat at that pond...a lot.
It's nice to sit outside. It's nice to escape technology. It's nice to get out of the kitchen 😱. I'm just kidding, I love being in my kitchen but it has been nice to switch things up.
I am starting to switch up my grocery shopping routine too. To limit our outings for quarantine I have been shopping once every two weeks. It is an all day affair. Costco, Sprouts, local health food store, and maybe even Hyvee. Come home, unload, clean up, then plop on the couch.
I'm going back to once a week and buying smaller quantities. I'm excited to get fresh produce more often and I'm going to start venturing to Whole Foods again. Baby steps to get back to "normal," whatever that means.
I took an order for a Board too. It will be my first delivery since March. I have been on the fence about if I want to continue doing The Board Babe full time or focus more on cooking/recipes/writing. I'm leaning toward the latter. I'll see how I feel after the order and decide from there.
Those are the "exciting" things happening with me. I'm nervous about them. It has been a fun time cooking in my house all day long. We will see how things go and I'll be back with the full report.
Sunday
Scallop Pasta
Our first picnic of the week. I packed my hiking backpack with games, books, a towel, and lunch. I had a ham sandwich on my fresh baked challah. I used leftover dijon and rosemary mixture from the rack of lamb I made a while back. YUM.
We walked 1.5 miles to the pond with Josie. We had lunch, played a game, and read for about two and a half hours before we headed home. A very large bird, possibly an eagle, flew above us multiple times. A blue heron hung out by the pond. No phones, just nature. It was one of the best days I have had in a long time. I am grateful.
Along with the rack of lamb, smoked salmon, and lobster I have added to our menu for more variety recently, I picked up scallops. Another thing we don't eat often because...I don't know. They just don't cross my mind much.
I didn't follow a recipe for this dish, I just winged it but here's a loose recipe:
Boil pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente.
In a dutch oven, sautee 1/2 cup of finely chopped onion, leek, and celery mixture.
Add about 10 spears of asparagus cut into 2-inch pieces.
Add 1/4 cup of water and cover with a lid for 3-5 minutes to fully cook asparagus.
Add 1 cup of peas and stir until thoroughly warmed.
Add juice from 1 lemon, zest from 1 lemon, 2T butter, salt, more pepper than you think you need, and the cooked pasta. Stir to combine. Remove from heat.
Fold in a 1/2 cup of basil leaves (torn in half if large). Set aside.
In a clean skillet heat 1T olive oil over high heat.
Pat scallops dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and cook for 90 seconds on each side.
Plate your pasta. Top with scallops. Garnish with fresh black pepper and lemon zest.
It was good, really good. I am so so so into asparagus right now. Fresh basil and lemon zest balanced out the creamy butter. The scallops were perfectly scallopy.
Marco rating 9/10
"Needed more lemon. Also, I ate too many scallops.”
Monday
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Gluten Free Pistachio Pesto Pizza
I hopped on the quarantine bandwagon and made banana bread. I technically made some at the very beginning but no one was following along then.
This is what I like in a banana bread: chunky banana with pieces throughout, big pieces of chocolate that create nice chocolate puddles, not so much spice, nuts for texture, and SALT to balance the flavor.
I played around with my recipe and got great results. I typed it up but I have not tested it again and can not promise it will be perfect. I also only have mini loaf pans (I really need to buy a normal loaf pan). I baked for 45 but for a big loaf, I'm guessing around 60-75 minutes would be needed. Make sure your knife or cake tester comes out clean!
Instead of adding the walnuts to the mix I mixed them with brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and crumbled them on top. It reminds me of a coffee cake. Crumbly textured top, moist cake below. Make sure the walnuts are finely chopped. Mine were too big and were falling off.
Here is the recipe for Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.
Last time I made pizza I ran out of propane right after I threw the crust on 🤦🏼♀️. I was determined to successfully make pizza on the grill this time!!
My intention was a long flatbread pizza. My issue was the GF dough is super soft and the cast iron griddle was 600 degrees. I attempted to press the dough into a long oval shape and then transfer it to the hot pan. It was too long and thin to make it in one piece. So it was shaped weird and broken but it doesn't matter. Lesson learned that I need to make smaller GF pizzas.
Pizzas were topped with pistachio pesto, buffalo mozzarella, and cherry tomatoes. I used some basil but mostly parsley. Play around with different greens and nuts in your pestos, you can get some amazing results.
Marco rating 10/10
I think it was one of the yummiest pizzas I have ever made.
Oh and lunch above was leftover pinto beans, leftover chicken, some veggies, and bacon. Beans will forever be my favorite easy meal.
Tuesday
Grill Chicken Chop Salad
I used up the rest of the not quite ripe apricots. Ten of them to be exact, weighing in at one pound and five ounces. I turned them into jam. No recipe just mixed chopped apricots with a half cup of white sugar. Boiled until thick, bubbly, and smooth-ish. Finished with a squeeze of lemon juice and salt.
It was a little on the soft side with the consistency of a thick fruit spread. This doesn't bother me one bit. It was good on vanilla ice cream and on peanut butter toast. It will be gone in no time.
You can do this with any fruit you have. I don't follow proper canning rules like boiling your glass jars. In my house, any fruit jam/preserve/spread is gone fairly quickly. Within a few weeks. There isn't enough time to go bad. If you plan to make a larger batch and have extra hanging out, make sure you research how to properly can your fruits. I am no expert on this.
Nicer weather = lots of produce = salad season.
Salads can be fun. Salads can be tasty. Salads are tasty!!! Because the internet hates salads I feel like I need to explain myself every time I make one. That ends now. It's salad season, I love salads, and I can make a damn good one thanks to my mom.
Tuesday's Chop Salad:
Grilled chicken breast
Roasted beets
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Navy beans
Salami
Pepperoncinis
Feta
Dressed with 3T red wine vinegar, 2t dijon, 1t honey, 2t dried oregano, and 4T olive oil. Don't forget to season with lots of salt and pepper!
Wednesday
Rice Noodle Salad
If you like reading about food, I highly suggest a subscription to Milk Street magazine. I learn something new every time I read through it. Well, I actually learn a lot of new things. It's one of my favorites.
There is a recipe in the most recent magazine for Cambodian Style Rice Noodle Salad with Shrimp, Cucumbers, and Herbs. It was simple, with very minimal ingredients, and I had everything at home. I loosely followed it and threw everything together in about 20 minutes.
The salad was made of rice noodles, cucumber, shallot, shrimp, peanuts, cilantro, and mint. The dressing was lime juice, fish sauce, serrano, brown sugar, and pepper. That's it.
It was good. More cucumbers next time for sure. The whole time I was eating it I kept thinking "I have had all these flavors before but not this way." I was bugging me. My friend Clara pointed out that it is like a deconstructed spring roll. She was totally right! All the flavors of a spring roll, in a noodle version.
Thursday
Pickled Scallions
Tuna and White Bean Salads
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
I tried something new with pickling. I default to white vinegar out of habit but I'm well aware of all the other kinds of vinegar out there. They all add different flavors. I switched it up and pickled scallions in rice vinegar. Adding fish sauce, sugar, and a serrano for heat. I'm adding this to the How To Quick Pickle Anything recipe. Flavor burst in your mouth!! 10/10 will make again.
We went for a mid-week refresh and had a picnic by the pond. I packed tuna salads, Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies, and sparkling water.
On the topic of pickles, I used the last of the spicy dills that I made a few weeks ago in the tuna. I decided they are better than store bought and I will be making all pickles for now on.
In the Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies, I upped the spice as I mentioned before. Flavor was spot on. My cocoa powder was a little lumpy and I was too lazy to sift it. The outer texture of the cookies is off and they are not as pretty as before. I don't think any of you would have noticed if I didn't mention it but I had to mention it because it bugs me!
Friday
Breakfast Hash with Baked Eggs
Carnitas Tostadas
I am no stranger to the breakfast hash. One thing Marco is not allergic to is potatoes and we eat a ridiculous amount of them. BUT today was the first time I cracked eggs directly into the hash and baked them.
Bacon, potatoes, onion, bell pepper, and kale were cooked in a cast iron. In that order. Generously seasoned with salt and pepper. Then I made a cozy little spot to crack three eggs into. Baked for 7 minutes and done.
I am the girl who will happily spend two days making croissant dough but I am also a lazy girl. Breakfast usually falls into the lazy category. I will be baking eggs into my hash always moving forward. Fewer dishes, same amount of food.
Next time I buy 3#s of masa...I am going to portion it out and freeze some. This didn't cross my mind for some reason and I'm trying to use it all up before it goes bad! (It expired this week.)
Leftover pico de gallo, leftover pickled radish and jalapeno, avocado, sour cream, lime, cilantro, and pork shoulder from the freezer turned into Carnitas Tostadas.
Pork went into the Crock-Pot and cooked all day. I pulled it out and crisped it under the broiler before eating. Easy peasy.
I fried some masa to make the crispy tortillas. There is a tortilla press coming to us but didn't make it in time for this meal. I have been using a skillet to press the masa. It works but I am excited for a proper tortilla press.
Topped with all the toppings these were fantastic. Messy, hard to eat, and unhealthy but very very delicious.
Marco rating "Definitely an 11/10 but we are done with the deep frying."
I agree with Marco. No more deep frying.
Saturday
Everything But The Bagel Salad
And here we are again, Saturday, wrapping up another week.
Not much cooking was done on Saturday. We ran across town, actually across state lines and over to Kansas, to run a few errands. Crate and Barrel, Ikea, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Whole Foods.
Whole Foods was our last stop and at 2 pm we had breakfast. A bag of Late July salt and vinegar chips inhaled in the car. Not very good, don't bother.
Back at home, I made a simple salad. I'm calling it Everything But The Bagel Salad. Arugula and dill tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Red onion, radish, capers, goat cheese, and smoked salmon tossed in.
It would be good with some crackers/bagel/bread smeared with cream cheese on the side. That way you can put some salad on the cracker and have a full bite.
One purchase we made was an ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid Mixer. My friend Megan has one, raves about it, and told me we could borrow it anytime. Marco wanted our own for unlimited ice cream.
The ice cream will be made with goat milk, of course, and I have a few things I am going to experiment with...stay tuned.
Random thing of the week:
I am one of the last people on the plant that still has magazine subscriptions. Nine different magazines and good ones too! I received a little library as a gift for Christmas as somewhere to put my old magazines to give them a second life. Seven months later, I painted the library and Marco installed it.
Hot tip: You can get subscriptions through Amazon for a way discounted price.
Pet photo of the week:
This fuzzy pet bed. My parents sent us TWO more. One more for the cats, pictured below with Chaz, and a large one for Josie!
Everyone is obsessed and if you have a pet, you need one!
Here is the link to the magical fuzzy pet bed.
Thing everybody needs:
A book to be a big cleansing breath of fresh air in your week. This was also coincidentally a Christmas gift from my stepmom. My stepmom danced with Phyllis at Julliard before she entered the culinary world. Phyllis, not my stepmom. Although, my stepmom is a great cook and she just made my Earl Grey Madeleines last week.
This book sucks you in quickly and is easy to read. You can whip through it in a day or two and you'll wish there was more.
This week was my reminder to breathe, to get outside, to try something new, to read, and to do more yoga. It was a good week and more are coming. Remember to try those things too.
See you next week,
Marcella