Marcella Cooking Stuff • July 12th - July 18th
July 12th - July 18th
There was a lot of berry action this week so I think we should dive into berries. We are in the middle of berry season and our berry consumption is through the roof right now.
My week started with the Sqirl jam mold story. LA Times (and every over news source) posted a story but to do a deep dive you can watch Joe Rosenthals Instagram highlight. Look up the photo at your own risk. It made me think about all the wonderful locally grown berries that were potentially wasted from the um...mold.
The rest of my week was filled with cooking berries. I'm having a moment with roasting berries and topping toast with them...instead of jam.
Then I was told by my lovely husband that we have too much fruit and I needed to find a use for it. Naturally, I turned berries and cherries into a fruit tart. The tart was gone in two days. I enjoyed making the tart so much that I ordered four different tart pans online and went out to buy...more berries!
There is no such thing as too much fruit in my house. Fruit, especially berries, is very versatile. Berries are good for snacks, breakfast, dessert, smoothies, even in salads and right now berries are in their prime. Juicy, SWEET, and full of flavor. Just like corn.
I asked the people of Instagram their favorite berry and strawberry won. I can't say I'm surprised. Flavorful strawberries can be found from March to November and that's longer than all the other berries.
If you are in the Pacific Northwest I am very jealous. Huckleberries only grow up there and they are so delicious. You may also have access to loganberries, Marco's favorite, and olallieberries. Two berries I wish I could eat right now.
Blueberries have a high amount of pectin. They will make smoothies very thick and don't need any added thickeners when baking into a dessert. I was surprised to see blueberries at the bottom of the Instagram favorite berry poll.
Raspberries are my favorite berry. Out of season, they are usually tart but an in-season raspberry is to die for. They are seedy and those seeds are crunchy so I am selective with where I use them. If I baked a raspberry galette the fruit would get bubbly and juicy and then when it cools I would be left with a lot of crunchy seeds. It's not the most desirable. When I added them to the almond ice cream the berries were strained and smooth. It is essential to avoid lots of crunching.
Berry galettes are happening right now as well as pies, tarts, crumbles, and toasts. Head to your farmer's market and buy as many as you can. They will be the most flavorful and we like to support local farmers!
Sunday
Grilled Pork Shoulder + Horseradish Mustard Sauce
Spicy Cucs
After weeks of talking about them, I finally made the grilled pork shoulder steaks. I used a Chris Morocco recipe on Bon Appetit and it was...ehhhhh. I don't have much to say about the recipe. It was easy to make and tasted okay but I would be fine never making it again. My favorite part was the mustard horseradish sauce simply because I love mustard. I am here for the pork shoulder steaks just not with this recipe.
Most of my day was consumed with a Board Babe order and all I could throw together with the pork was Spicy Cucs. I'm pretty sure spicy cucs were inspired by an old Chris Morocco recipe. I'm a fan of most Chris Morocco recipes, like Strawbery Rhubarb Pie recipe.
Monday
Lobster BLT on Challah Buns
The June issue of Food and Wine magazine has a perfect, plump, and vibrant Lobster BLT on the cover. I took one look and said "I'm going to make that" and I did.
A BLT is pretty straightforward, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. The only thing that makes this different is the addition of lobster. You can follow the recipe from food and wine above but you don't need it. I boiled lobster tails, chopped the meat, and mixed with mayo, chives, salt, and pepper. That is all you need.
My favorite part? My challah buns 😏. A butter challah was requested by my godmother so I planned everything out to have some extra dough to turn into buns for the BLTs. Well for my BLT. Marco had a sad GF bun by Canyon Bakehouse.
In all honestly, my butter challah recipe is closer to brioche bread. Challah, brioche, Chall-oche...whatever it is, it is absolutely delicious and made the sandwich.
As pretty as the bacon slices look they are not the most functional for eating. I hate when I take a bite of a sandwich and the whole piece of bacon comes out. Or you have one good bite with bacon and then another with none. This is what I like to do for BLTs and tea sandwiches that call for bacon.
Chop your bacon into small pieces. Almost like crumbles.
Mix that with your mayonnaise to create a "bacon spread." This doesn't have to be very mayonnaise-y. You only need a little to make it stick.
Spread that bacon mayo on the bread and layer in the other components. This ensures bacon in every bite and keeps things a little neater.
Try it next time you make a sandwich and let me know what you think!
Tuesday
Strawberry Toast
Time to talk roasted berries. Throwing berries into the oven without some kind of crust or dessert topping isn't very common. All I'm doing by roasting them is breaking them down so they are soft, tender, and release their juices. Because they are spread out and not in a pot the liquids evaporate quickly and you get that nice syrup consistency from the juices quickly. This is when your small 1/8 sheet pan will come in handy! You don't want them too spread out that all the liquid evaporates.
I took a handful of strawberry, say 10, and cut them in half. Tossed them with about a tablespoon of maple syrup and a pinch of salt. Popped them into an oven preheated to 400 degrees and only cooked for 10-15 minutes. You want them soft but you don't want them so soft that they fall apart and turn to mush.
To assemble the toast:
Butter both sides of a piece of sourdough, or whatever bread you have on hand, and toast in a pan over medium-low. Flip and toast the other side of the bread.
Mix greek yogurt with some lemon zest, juice, and vanilla. Spread a heaping tablespoon over toasted bread.
Spoon roasted strawberries and their juices on top of the yogurt.
Finish with chopped toasty almonds.
This toast is super simple but incredibly delicious. You can make this for an easy breakfast or serve this to guests for brunch.
Toast is all I need for breakfast but Marco was still hungry. I made him a snack plate with leftover Board Babe ingredients. A little bit of everything.
Wednesday
Fruit Tart
Slow Roasted Salmon Salad
More roasted berries! I used the same yogurt, I have leftover, but switched up the berries and nuts. The blueberries cooked beautifully and left a lovely purple syrup. I toasted these cashews on the stove in butter. This toast was decadent! I'm going to try blackberries and raspberries and then I'll write a recipe up.
For fun, I made a Fruit Tart! Assembling the berries taps into the same creativity as making Boards. I love it.
A gluten-free crust of course. I was pleasantly surprised by the texture. It was almost like a crumble shortbread cookie with a pop of lime, from the zest I added. The pastry cream was made using a short cut method I learned from Martha Stewart and all goat dairy. The end result was great. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
The tart was gone in two days and I immediately ordered more tart pans online. I will be making a lot more in the near future.
Marco rating 12/10.
"This is fucking delicious and insanely beautiful. I'm proud of you."
🥰
You guys have seen this Slow-Roasted Salmon before. The one where I use lemons. Not just the juice or zest but the actual flesh. It is my go-to salmon recipe. I used the salmon to make a salad with avocado, arugula, pepitas, and cranberries. The salad and tart balance each other out, right?
Thursday
Kinda like Cava bowls
If you haven't eaten at Cava, it is a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant. They have salads and bowls and you walk down the assembly line adding all the fix-ins one could want. Although they have many locations there isn't one in Kansas City and I miss it!
I made our own assembly line of ingredients and we made some bowls! It was fantastic, curbed my craving, reminded me of home, and was mayyybeee a little bit better than Cava. Maybe.
The bowls were composed of:
Saffron rice
Romaine lettuce
Grilled bison meatballs
Grilled bell peppers
Cucumber and tomato salad
Pickled red onions
Pepperoncini feta
Dill yogurt sauce
All the recipes can be found here in this Kinda Like Cava Bowl Recipe. Make them all or mix and match the ones you want.
Friday
Caramelized Onion, Sweet Potato, & Bacon Hash
Lemon Asparagus Pasta
Summer meals are based around a lot of fast cooking and grilling loaded with in-season produce. Sweet potatoes are more of a fall ingredient but I miss them! I turned them into a hash with caramelized onions and bacon. The crispy salty bacon balances out the jammy sweet onions and potatoes. A sprinkle of smoked paprika compliments the smokey bacon as well.
Marco rating 10/10
"Do you like sweet potato or regular potato hash more?"
"Sweet potato."
"Why?"
"Layers in more flavor."
I did a poll on my Instagram on what I should make for dinner: lemon asparagus pasta or cherry tomato pasta. I wanted cherry tomato because I have a ton from my friend Megan's backyard but the people chose lemon asparagus.
I followed my Lemon Cassarecce and Asparagus recipe. I didn't have cassarecce on hand and I used spaghetti as a substitution. My friend Clare made it this week as well and used penne. You can use any pasta shape you have on hand. To mix things up I used Aleppo pepper flakes instead of red pepper. It added heat with a slight tang. If you have some on hand or see Aleppo pepper flakes at the store, try that substitution.
The recipe uses whole lemons. Peel and everything. Make sure to slice them as thin as possible, Paper-thin. If they don't end up that thin cook them an extra minute or two to make them soft and melty. My slices were on the thick side and I was told it was a little too bitter. Alternatively, you can cut them in half making half-moons instead of rounds. Then there are smaller bites of lemon throughout the pasta.
Random thing of the week:
Please watch this monkey taking a bath on TikTok. You're welcome.
Pet photo of the week:
Josie at the Nelson-Atkins lawn having a picnic.
Thing everybody needs:
Offset spatula or what I will sometimes call "the spreader." These are common in the pastry world. They are flexible and give you the right angle to get things super smooth. I use mine all the time. I used it to spread dijon goat cheese in my galette and spread the pastry cream in my fruit tart.
If you are in Los Angeles, head to the Santa Monica Farmers Market (Wednesday and Saturday) and get Harry's Berries. They are the best strawberries you will get your hands on. I promise.
Make something with them and send me a picture so I can live vicariously through you. Love you, thank you!
See you next week,
Marcella