In case you were wondering whether that salsa verde goes well with a toasted bagel topped with cream cheese, arugula, smoked salmon, and dill, the answer is yes.
Yes it does.
Category: Five Minute Photo Shoot
Five Minute Photo Shoot: Winter Breakfast
It’s been hard to say it’s Winter lately; the whole month of December (and most of January) felt positively balmy compared to past years. Hardly even a flake of snow, though I understand that all changes tomorrow.
Nevertheless, I’ve been starting my days with a warming, cozy bowl of steel-cut oats (heavy on the cinnamon, just a pinch of cayenne) and a cup of coffee.
And this little guy shows up sometimes.
Five Minute Photo Shoot: One Night Off
After a reasonably intense couple of weeks, I deserved a night off.
This is also known as reason #39584 that I love living in a city: sushi delivery. This place is so great. Love how they didn’t toss the broccoli with the sauce. I hate when broccoli is sodden with thick sauce caught in the florets; it makes me want to rinse it off.
The leftovers were pretty great for late breakfast, too.
Five Minute Photo Shoot: Almost time…
First, a little something healthy before the big feast.
This is beet greens sautéed with Tuscan kale and plenty of garlic, over brown rice. Parmesan on top, of course.
And a few previews of my Thanksgiving menu, still in progress:
More later. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!
Five Minute Photo Shoot: Brussels Sprouts and Soba
For dinner last night: roasted Brussels sprouts, tossed with black and white sesame seeds, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sriracha. Served over soba noodles tossed with toasted sesame oil, topped with Maytag blue cheese and green onions. Cornbread on the side, because cornbread and Brussels sprouts are good friends.
Sesame oil and soba noodles has got to be one of the best flavor combinations of all time. The smell is just intoxicating. I could eat it every day.
The sprouts were roasted according to a method in a recent Cook’s Illustrated: toss with oil, salt, pepper, and 1 T water. Roast in a sheet pan cut-side down and covered with foil at 500° F for 10 minutes, uncover and roast another 10 minutes or so. They steam gently, and the texture and browning are perfect. It’s my new go-to for Brussels sprouts.
Five Minute Photo Shoot: Beets, Oranges, and Black Olives
Dinner, from the book I cannot stop using: Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi. I must be sounding like a broken record, but that cookbook has majorly influenced the way I cook, both at home and for clients.
This is his Beet, Orange, and Black Olive Salad (and I didn’t send you, but you can find the recipe here). The flavors in this one are not shy, but much more toned-down than you’d think by looking at the ingredient list. Overall, it’s extremely well balanced, a little unusual, and absolutely fabulous.
I modified the recipe by roasting (not boiling) the 4 smallish beets for 45 minutes at 425° F, and serving it over a mixture of quinoa and red rice (1/2 cup and 1/3 cup respectively, by dry measure, cooked separately but concurrently).
The (ahem) red salad green was something I picked up at the farmers’ market, and which nomenclature I promptly forgot. It looked like a cross between frisée and some spindly arugula, and had a lovely bitterness.
For the olives, I used the wrinkly oil-cured type because that’s what I had. Those are super-pungent and normally bully past every other flavor, but here, they were actually subdued. I might chop them a little smaller next time (I basically just halved them here), but not by much. The saltiness jumping out every so often, not in every bite, was excellent.
Oh yes, and it’s scallions instead of red onion. I forgot the red onion at the store.
My Favorite Banana Bread
A banana bread muffin, split, toasted under a broiler, with fancy butter and a cup of tea. This is a breakfast for a gray, rainy day, one that never manages to crawl above the mid-40’s in temperature. Three months from now, these temperatures will feel positively quaint.
Ugh.
My Favorite Banana Bread
Adapted from Bon Appétit Magazine
This is my all-time favorite banana bread. It's not too sweet, it's not too rich, it's full of banana flavor and a little nuttiness from the whole wheat flour and flaxseed. It toasts gorgeously; and though it doesn't need it, a little pat of butter is a luxurious accompaniment. Some days require luxury.
If you'd like to make this into muffins, increase the oven temperature to 350º F and bake for about 30 minutes. I always seem to get 15 or 16 standard size muffins out of each batch.
Ingredients
- 127 grams (1 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting the pan
- 85 grams (2/3 cup) whole wheat flour
- 25 grams (1/4 cup) ground flaxseed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 large eggs
- 148 grams (3/4 cup) sugar
- 1 cup smashed very ripe bananas (2 to 3)
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Lightly butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, and sprinkle with flour. Shake the pan around to coat evenly with flour, then turn the pan upside down over the sink and knock on the bottom to remove any excess.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, whip the eggs and sugar together until fluffy and light, about 5 minutes. In a liquid measuring cup, smash the bananas until smooth (a fork works well here). Make sure there's at least 1 cup; if it measures more than that, don't worry one bit. Add buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and stir until combined.
4. Add the banana mixture to the eggs and sugar. Mix until just blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Stir together just until the flour is moistened and no large pockets remain; do not overmix. Transfer batter to the prepared pan, and lightly smooth the top.
5. Bake at 325° F until golden brown on top and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool briefly in the pan before removing to a rack to cool. Excellent served warm, or sliced and toasted.
https://onehundredeggs.com/my-favorite-banana-bread/Five Minute Photo Shoot: Squash Blossoms and Shrimp
For dinner the other night: squash blossoms, fried in a thin batter made with rosé wine, served alongside some Gulf shrimp that was poached and tossed with feta, parsley, garlic, and scallions. Delicious.
One trick to ultra-crispy squash blossoms (or any fried food, really) is to use rice flour in the batter. These guys stayed impeccably crisp for somewhere close to an hour.
Five Minute Photo Shoot: Twice the Fun
I couldn’t decide which of these to feature, so I’m posting them both. These meals were both tossed together in less than 15 minutes with things I had banging about in the kitchen, so no recipes or amounts, as everything was eyeballed.
This first one was a quick sauté of gorgeous yellow squash (orange, really) from my Old Kentucky Grandmother’s house, edamame, mint, parsley, garlic, green onions, and possibly something else I’m forgetting. Served over brown rice, topped with a bit of crème fraîche that melted instantly and tied the whole thing together with tangy lusciousness. Luscious, truly; no other word for it.
And this was last night’s orecchiette with sardines, red onion, garlic, minced green olives, piquillo peppers, white wine, parsley, and dried red pepper. On top are shavings of Parmesan.
Wow, two posts in one week? It’s like I’m taking this seriously.
Five Minute Photo Shoot: Soba, Hijiki, Radishes, and Red Pepper
Leftovers for lunch: soba noodles obscured in an ocean of hijiki (seaweed), radishes, red bell pepper, red jalapeño, mint, cilantro, parsley, lime, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. I made it for a client last week, sans seaweed, and got so hungry for it that I came home and made it again for myself. Recipe is (adapted) from my latest obsession, Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty.
Soba and sesame oil together are one of the world’s most amazing flavor pairings. It’s almost better than tomato and basil.
Yes, I may have made the same recipe recently. This is how I cook: rarely the same dish twice, even from the same recipe. It makes me smile.