Wednesday, March 31, 2010

ariel's making ... enchiladas and sesame chard


ever have one of those days when your like "man! there's totally no food in this house!" and you gotta get really creative? this was one of those days. chef sam had made some awesome pasta sauce earlier in the day with tofu and carrots in it and i had few frozen tortillas ... so i thought i'd throw together some enchiladas! yum!


for this recipe (which serves 2) you'll need:

2 c. leftover delish organic pasta sauce
8 organic corn tortillas
1 c. organic beans, mashed (i used black beans)
10 slices of organic shard cheddar cheese
1 t. organic extra virgin olive oil



grease a baking pan with olive oil. layer tortillas, beans, sauce, cheese -- repeat until all your ingredients are used up and add cheese as the very top layer. so easy! pop it in the oven at 350* for about 30-40 minutes, 'til it's pipping hot and cheese top is melted.


ok -- so that was done ... but what was i going to do for greens? i can't have a meal without something green in it -- that's just wrong!



off to the backyard! our bay area chard is super happy this spring so i cut a few leaves and headed back to the kitchen.


first i toasted some sesame seeds i found on the cupboard. i cooked them at low heat 'til they were golden brown in a dry cast-iron pan. careful -- if you toast them too long they start to pop all over the kitchen! (ok -- this is actually kinda fun!)



then i removed the seeds, added a bit of olive oil and cooked my baby card for about 1 minute (seriously! that's all it needed!). into a bowl it went, topped with the roasted sesame seeds and a bit of smoky salt from full belly farm.


popped a bottle of lovely organic albero wine from spain -- and dinner was made!


something from nothing ... well almost ;)

happy kitchen scavenging!

kisses,

ariel

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

ariel's ... ogling over chef sam's bread, p. 2





do i really need to write anything? these came out beyond beautiful and so yummy, using the classic no knead recipe, which you can learn how to make here.

yumm -- i want more!

kisses,

ariel

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

ariel's making ... double chocolate cupcakes


cupcakes are the new vogue dessert -- they're small, sweet and oh-so hip! i need to get on this ... so time to make some chocolate cupcakes ... per chef sam's request ;)


you'll need:

1 stick organic butter
1 c. organic sugar
1 organic egg
2 c. organic un-bleached white flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 c. organic fair trade coco powder
1/2 bar of organic fair trade chocolate (i used a 74% dark chocolate theo bar ... they make great chocolate!)
1 c. organic milk

always use fair trade, organic chocolate when possible. the other stuff just reeks of horrible labor conditions ... you can read more about it here.



start by melting your butter. while it melts, mix your egg, sugar and coco powder. add the melted butter and mix. add the dry ingredients and milk and mix. throw in the chocolate bits and stir 'til it's all gooey and a rich chocolate color.


pour into un-bleached, recycled cupcake holders and bake at 400* for about 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when you poke them.


chocolate! chocolate!

they're perfect with a cup of tea in the garden with a friend ... sitting in the sunshine enjoying these prefect spring days we're having!

happy baking dears!

kisses,

ariel


Friday, March 19, 2010

ariel's making ... tunisian carrot salad


this is a incredibly delicious and simple salad my mom loves to make for potlucks. we're having friends for dinner tonight so i thought i'd try making it too.


to make this salad you'll need:

5 organic carrots
3 T. organic feta cheese

for the dressings you'll need:

2 cloves organic garlic
6 organic olives
2 t. organic carraway seeds
4 T. organic olive oil
2 T. organic vinegar
sea salt
organic black pepper

cut the carrots and boil them in water for about 10 minutes, 'til they are soft, but not mushy.



while the carrots are cooking, make your dressing.


when the carrots are done, run them under cold water (so they stop cooking) and then toss them with your tangy dressings and top with feta.



this is such a great dish! i hope you enjoy it too :)

have a great weekend darlings!!

kisses,

ariel

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Karina plays with filo dough and ear pasta....


Visiting my insanely busy sister and brother-in-law in Los Angeles this past week, I saw how desperately in need they were of a good, home cooked meal. I raided their refrigerator and cabinets for ingredients, ran to the store for a little fresh produce, and blindly jumped in to see what would come out.

I found some filo dough in the freezer and realized as much as I love eating it, I have never cooked with it. As is almost always the case, I was thrilled to find how easy it was! I set one folded filo dough sheet at room temp for 30 minutes until it was thawed, and mixed an egg with a bit of water in a small bowl. I spread the dough over a flour-dusted cookie sheet and brushed it with my egg mix.

I boiled some yams she had sitting around until soft, and put them in the blender with a cup of found almonds that I had been soaking, garlic, onions, rosemary, agave, 1 small tangerine, a few scoops of organic white beans from a can, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and paprika. I blended the mix until it reached a thick paste and still hand some crunchy texture. I spread the mix over the dough and laid out sliced onions, apples and rosemary.

I dabbed flour on my hands and started to roll the dough up, starting at one of the shorter ends (almost like I would do with sushi). I formed it along the way to keep it as even a girth as possible the whole way through. Then I took a clean sharp knife and cut them unto 1- 1 1/2 inch circles and spread them out on the greased cookie sheet. I stuck them in the oven at 400* to bake about 20-25 minutes or until they were golden brown, cooked-through and flakey. While they were doing their magic in the oven, I moved onto the next project..

I starting a sauce for the pasta I found. I sliced an onion, two or three tomatoes, and more rosemary and began sauteing them in a large sauce pot with olive oil.

When everything started to get really soft, I took my sister's fancy new hand immersion blender and began pureeing everything together.

I added avocado, artichoke hearts, almonds and garlic. I spiced with cayenne, salt, pepper, citrus (orange and lemon), agave, champagne vinegar, a splash of black truffle oil, a splash of walnut oil, & almond milk. (I may be forgetting a few things because I sprinkled and splashed all through the spice rack for a good 30-45 minutes while the sauce was maturing!)

I found some Japanese dried shitake mushrooms and had been soaking them in my warm yam water until they were soft and expanded. I then threw them in the mix.

I had bought some fresh dark greens and decided to stem them with my left over yam-mushroom broth that was forming. To be honest I thought this was kale, and my brother in law thought it was swiss chard. I've been looking at photos all morning on line, and the closest thing I can find is Red-Russian Kale, but I could be totally mistaken! (Please let me know if you have any thoughts..) Anyway, clearly I bought them on looks and potential taste and not the name...

I threw some red bell pepper into the pot with the "greens" and steamed until they were soft and tender, but not mushy. I tossed them with some balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon and put them aside for the meal.

When raiding the pantry, I discovered the pasta that I had bought for them for Christmas that they had not yet had the chance to use. It was Orechiette Pasta, which I believe means "ear pasta" (due to their striking resemblance to ears). I found them in the San Francisco Ferry Building down on Embarcadero. I was stoked when they gave me the go ahead to use it.


I mixed in my sauce and topped it with some fresh organic arugula.
I checked the oven and it was time for my yam-apple rolls to come out! They were perfect (and in my opinion the best part of the meal!)

We set the table, opened up a delicious red from Bonny Doon Vineyards and had a feast!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

ariel's making ... mini pumpkin souffles


winter is coming to an end, which means pumpkin season is almost over. i got one of the last sugar pumpkins at the farmers' market last weekend and roasted in the oven. with the remaining half, i decided to try making mini pumpkin souffles.


to make 4 small souffles you'll need:

1/2 an organic sugar pumpkin (about 1 1/2 c.) roasted until tender with the skin removed
1/2 c. organic milk
3 organic eggs
1 T. organic cinnamon
4 big T. organic sugar

blend these all together until smooth and creamy and pour into oven-safe glasses (i used jelly jars). then place them in the oven in a baking dish with water in it.



bake at 450* for about half an hour -- our 'til they're all puffed up and beautiful!


so yummy, so simple and so healthy!

i love winter veggies ... but i can't wait for spring!

kisses,

ariel