Cover to Cover Challenge 2013

You might remember, last year I made Shrimp Scampi Meatballs for something called the Cover to Cover Challenge from The Bitten Word. Well, they're at it again and I had to participate. This year they simplified to only one magazine, Bon Appetit with multiple people making each recipe.

My assignment: Creamy White Onion Soup
I thought I got off with a fairly easy recipe, until I realized there are actually four parts to this soup: pickled scallions, an onion jam, the soup, and a Fontina toast. Certainly not something I would be dumping in a pot and letting simmer for a few hours. But then again that wouldn't be a challenge would it?!
The soup itself was absolutely delicious. The combination of ginger and Serrano peppers with the onion created a really complex flavor, and when combined with the Fontina toast it was delicious. Personally I wasn't a fan of the onion jam, too sweet for me, though my other taste-testers enjoyed it.
I would certainly make this soup again for a special occasion or guests, but with all the details it is not a 'throw everything in a pot and forget about it' kind of soup, so not likely something that will be on regular rotation. 

April Garden

This Spring has been a busy one at 765. It hasn't allowed much time for projects around the house,  though we have managed to keep up with the garden. Back in February we planted rows of seeds and crossed our fingers the heavy rains and volatile temperatures wouldn't crush our garden dreams. Thanks to our potent compost, far more than what we planted actually sprouted. We have 25 tomato plants (where we'll find space for them all I'm not quite sure), one of which managed to last through the Winter and is giving us an early supply of fruit. So far it's looking to be a productive season.

Farm to Kitchen / 2 / Red Cabbage

Cabbage is one of those traditional foods for New Year's Day - supposedly for money, though I'm certain it's partially because that's when they are ready to be picked.
We had plenty of red cabbage in the front yard so I opted for a less traditional approach than the boiled greens: Chinese Chicken Salad. Next up, red cabbage glumpkies?!
If we're still putting our garden to use in January I'm liking the prospects for 2013.

Birthday Cake

I came home from an afternoon out shopping to quite the birthday surprise: a homemade cake. Travis spent the afternoon in the kitchen making a chocolate cake with espresso butter cream frosting and chocolate chips. He even managed the double layer - seems he's inherited more than just the birding skills from his grandfather! Quite possibly the best birthday breakfast, err, dessert ever!

Cover-to-Cover Challenge: Shrimp Scampi Meatballs

A blog that is on my regular reading list is The Bitten Word, two guys that cook recipes from monthly food magazines. They recently posed an awesome challenge: to cook every recipe in a single issue of a food magazine with the help of their readers. The response was so amazing they ended up assigning the recipes in SIX food magazines, a whopping 350 recipes! I couldn't pass up a chance to make something new alongside hundreds of others - I immediately signed up.

My assignment: Shrimp Scampi Meatballs in Garlicky Broth from Everyday Food

I was glad to be assigned something I probably would have never chosen out of the magazine to make. Travis is a meatball fan so I was hopeful it would be another option to add to our dinner menu, though I was afraid it might be too involved to be cooked on a weeknight. It turned out to be incredibly easy, especially for a dish that packed such a flavorful punch. Paired with some roasted asparagus, it was a perfect meal. We both decided it would be requested again, but I might work on creating a thin sauce instead of the broth to make it a pasta dish instead of a soup.

A huge thank you to the guys at The Bitten Word for putting this challenge together - can't wait to see what everyone else made and looking forward to the next challenge!

Shrimp Scampi Meatballs in Garlicky Broth
Serves 4 / Active Time: 25min / Total Time: 25min

coarse salt
1/2 pound spaghetti
3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, roughly chopped
1/2 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1/2 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, plus wedges for serving
1/4 pound ground white-meat chicken
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1. In a large pot of boiling slated water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain
2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse shrimp until finely chopped. In a large bowl, combine breadcrumbs, red-pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in milk and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest. Fold in shrimp and chicken until just combined. (do not overmix)
3. In a large pot, melt butter over medium. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add broth and 2 cups water and bring to a rapid simmer.
4. Drop shrimp mixture by heaping tablespoons into broth. Cook meatballs at a gentle simmer until opaque throughout, about 5 minutes, turning halfway through. Divide pasta among four bowls and top with broth and meatballs. Combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest with parsley and sprinkle over soup. Squeeze lemon wedges over soup and serve.

Farm to Kitchen / 1 - Garlic Dill Pickles

Pickling cucumbers are plentiful at our farmers market, so I figured it was time to take my first shot at just that, pickling. I found this recipe for Garlic Dill Pickles and thought it seemed pretty fool-proof. It turned out to be incredibly easy - the hard part now will seeing how long we can let them last.

Garlic Dill Pickles (From: Food In Jars)
Makes approximately 8 pints (total yield varies depending on size of cucumbers)
2 overflowing quarts of pickling cucumbers, sliced into fat coins*
4 cups apple cider vinegar
4 cups water
5 tablespoons pickling salt
16 garlic cloves, peeled (2 per jar)**
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper per jar*** (2 teaspoons total)
1 teaspoon dill seed per jar (8 teaspoons total)
½ teaspoon black peppercorns per jar (4 teaspoons total)

Wash and slice the cucumbers.
In a large saucepot, combine vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a simmer.
Arrange jars on counter and dole out the spices to each. Pack the cucumber slices firmly into the jars. You don’t want to damage the cukes, but you do want them packed tight.
Pour the brine into the jar, leaving ½ inch headspace.
Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
When 10 minutes are up, promptly remove the jars from the pot and allow them to cool on the countertop. When the jars are cool, check the seals (by pushing/tapping on the lid).
Pickles can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to a year.
If you want to skip the boiling water process, these pickles are also wonderful as refrigerator pickles. Just pop the jars into the fridge once they’re cool.

Fig Preserves

To say we have an overabundance of figs at work is an understatement.  It's a battle with the birds of who will get to them first, and we know I don't like to lose. A grocery bag full couldn't be consumed just by eating them with a little goat cheese - I had to find a new recipe. Fig preserves was the answer and I found a super easy recipe from D.I.Y. Delicious for Fig-Rosemary Jam. An evening over the stove stirring and three jars of jam later, I made my first efforts at preserving. It's delicious spread over a hot biscuit, but I'm really looking forward to trying it with a bit of pulled pork.

Pesto

We have loads of basil.  Nearly any passer-by gets an offer of basil and every now and then you see some sneak up to grab a pinch, as if worried we weren't serious. Please. Take some!
I lopped off enough to make a batch of frozen pesto (though you couldn't tell), in hopes of preserving some for the winter. Melt a couple cubes and throw it in some pasta or add it to a pizza - easiest meal every.

Pesto (adapted from Sprouted Kitchen)
4 Cups Basil Leaves
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
½ Cup Lemon Juice
1/3 Cup Toasted Pine nuts (I had none, so I threw in a some pecans for texture)
1/3 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Large Cloves Garlic
1 tbsp. Black Pepper

Harvest / 2

What's left of our garden after the heat took it's toll has finally started ripening. Tomatoes are becoming more abundant, and we've got almost too many red bell peppers.
A bit of good mozzarella and the chance to use just a smidge of our basil bushes made this Caprese salad the perfect evening dinner.

Crabbin'

The story Travis likes to tell is that crabbing is what got me to Louisiana. While it wasn't the only reason, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like filling up an ice chest of crabs, boiling them for our friends, and still having some left over for the freezer.
And we did just that for Cinco de Mayo. Even better though, this time we got to bring a first timer! Our friend Holly joined us bright and early then stayed late for crab cracking (and coronas), and lived to tell about it. You can find her fabulous article about our adventure here!
We had a good haul, but it was still early in the season. A few more trips out to our spot are a must.

Crustless Quiche

Eggs are plentiful in our house.

Even with an egg for breakfast every morning they still seem to multiply, mounding up in our fridge. The only option is to either give them away (who wants some??) and find more things to make with eggs.
I found this crustless quiche recipe on food52 blog, and since we have kale in the yard I couldn't pass it up. It certainly isn't the prettiest thing around, but with eggs, kale and quinoa you just about have a complete meal - any time of the day.

p.s. No, this quiche isn't photoshopped, it's just those real, free-range, fresh eggs!

Eggs!

We've been anxiously hunting the yard in search of an August Easter treasure, and finally after a weekend away we arrived home to a little prize. One skinny brown egg! The littlest chicken, who we've dubbed 'Dinner', is the culprit, explaining why she seems a bit distant from the other two. The next day we found an egg in the shed, lying happily on top of Travis' drill. If that isn't a 765 chicken I don't know what is.

And let me tell you: fresh eggs make the best dipper eggs.

Happy National Junk Food Day?

It may sound like the perfect excuse for gorging on potato chips, candy bars and twinkies, but before you fill up check out this video:



Yum?
I think I'll stick with the farmer's market and my garden.

Pickles.

Travis learned early on that when a sandwich comes with a pickle spear stealing it from me is a very bad idea. Lucky for both of us we have a ridiculous amount of cucumbers in our yard, leaving pickles a perfect solution. So I went venturing to find a recipe for homemade pickles, one that didn't require me to learn the art of canning just yet. Success. This recipe is from a local caterer and I will absolutely be making them again.

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES (from Gourmet Girl)

3 cups vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dill seed
12 whole cloves
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
4 bay leaves
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced (I didn't include this and I think they came out with the perfect amount of spice)
fresh dill sprigs (optional)
8-9 kirby cucumbers, sliced 1/8" thick

1. Mix vinegar with sugar, salt, peppers, dill seeds, cloves, and bay leaves until sugar dissolves.

2. In a large jar, layer cucumbers, onion and jalapeno.  Pour vinegar solution over the cucumbers.  Refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas (a bit delayed) and Happy New Year! Travis and I hosted our first Christmas at 765 and it was pretty awesome getting to be in our own home the whole weekend. We made Christmas Eve dinner, enjoyed a very entertaining midnight mass which included champagne at the Italian priests home afterward, and leisurely opened presents well into Christmas afternoon. A few highlights from our holiday - hope everyone's was fabulous!

{My favorite Christmas cookies}

{Christmas Eve dinner, with our new plates!}

{bag of compost leaves turned nest}

Gumbeaux

Last Sunday Travis and I hosted the monthly 'Spanish Town Supper Club' at 765. The hosts cook the main meal while all guests bring a side or dessert and something to drink. With the theme being "From Your Hand" it was obvious we would make the chickens a part of our meal. Saturday morning at around 6am Gumbeaux made his last "cock-a-doodle-doo".... For those of you that find this terribly gross and inhumane you might want to stop reading right now. (and add Food Inc. to your Netflix queue immediately)

{Gumbeaux}

While I was in the house preparing everything else Travis caught Gumbeaux and put his duck hunting skills to use. By the time I got outside most of the feathers were gone and nearly looked like a whole chicken you buy shrink wrapped at the grocery store. After plenty of cleaning and trimming he made it directly to the BBQ. Travis headed off to the neighbor's house to pick up Pot Pie. Same process again. 

{prepped and ready}

{getting there...}

An hour or two on the pit and it moved its way to the dutch oven for a day of cooking up as gumbo. When we tell people where the chicken in our gumbo came from most seem disgusted and saddened that we have 'eatten our pet'. Simply put, we named our 'pets' after food with a wholehearted intention of raising them for food and eggs. Not only do these chickens have an enjoyable life in our backyard, but they live off the food a chicken is supposed to live off. Not antibiotics, steroids or hormones in these two guys. And they lived to be the ripe old age they should for cooking, unlike a storebought chicken that is about that same size in just a few short weeks. If that isn't enough reason to know where your meat comes from I don't know what is.

{mmmmmmmmm}

With plenty still in the freezer this meal will be lasting us a while. Honey and Cosmo are happily pecking at the yard without a rooster constantly mounting them, laying eggs daily and learning to fend off a bounding puppy. Hopefully little chickies will be popping up in our yard sometime soon to add to our farm.

{Juju Bee says hello!}

The Incredible, Edible...

It has been weeks of checking the yard's nooks and crannies for one of our ladies' prizes and now I can finally say it: WE'VE GOT EGGS!! Travis and I returned home from work one day to find it sitting casually in the cage, left their as if she couldn't quite decide what to do next. Now we find them almost daily in the neighbor's yard, hidden in between fence and weeds, precisely where Juliet can't sneak her head in. So far we think it is likely Honey because of the egg's color, but hopefully Cosmo will follow her lead shortly.

{eggs!}

Travis and I are saving up the eggs to use this coming weekend for the Spanish Town Supper Club we are hosting at 765. The theme, "From Your Hand" is in an effort to get as many neighbors to bring something they grew, raised, harvested or cooked for everyone to enjoy. Yard eggs seem a perfect addition to what our main course will be: Gumbeaux. And what will make the whole preparation of the supper so much easier? Our brand new BBQ! It is completely put together now, every screw accounted for, and just waiting to be fired up. Thanks again to everyone that got it for us!

{I can smell the burgers now}

It seems this colder weather (again, only 80 degrees) has sparked some new growth in alot of things. We have eggs in our yard, a new puppy getting bigger daily, caterpillars and cocoons all over our walls, lettuce starting, and amazingly we have tomatoes. After months of gorgeous plant but no fruit I had nearly given up hope and stopped watering. Now there are tomatoes falling over the fence and into the street. I guess that just goes to show you, patience is a virtue. 

Poor Blog

I know, I know. It's been way too long since the last post, but I promise we didn't forget about the blog. In the past few weeks we have been VERY busy, and the list just keeps on growing. Let's see if I can remember everything we've done:

• Planted a mini-garden with some of our vegetables.
• Got the front doorbell working.
• Backyard security light sensor is up and running. 
• Cleaned out the gutters only to find the concrete elbow completely packed with debris. Fixed just in time for a downpour.
• Finally received our very own recycling bin!!
• Raided the back shed with a bug bomb while we left for the weekend. We came home to a cemetery of roaches. (For someone that grew up where roaches were a sign of a restaurant that didn't pass its health inspection rather than just the southern humidity, the roaches HAD to go.) The mosquitoes somehow figured out how to survive :(
• Bought a rain tank! 
• Picked some tomatoes, blueberries, and peppers from our yard. Watched our oranges get a little bigger.
• Discovered it's about time to begin projects inside, as it's certainly not cooling down anytime soon.
• And.... we got CHICKENS!!!

Yes chickens. Little tweeting baby puff-balls that are beginning to look like real chickens now.  Two brown ladies and one black chick (named Cosmo, in honor of Kwaaammmiieee). They hang out in their coop while we are at work, then come flapping out to peck around in the yard until it gets dark, where they like to roost on the handrail to the backdoor. Pretty darn cute. Countdown begins until the Fall when we will hopefully have a daily dose of fresh eggs!!

{baby cheep}

{getting bigger}

{cheeeeepieeess}

The 200 gallon rain tank will hopefully be installed this weekend, raised and with a drain so we can get some pressure to water our plants and keep excess water from piling up under the foundation. Plus it couldn't hurt our water bill. 

{200 gallons of awesome-ness}

{veggie garden beginnings & the rest to come after the shed destruction}

All of our tomatoes seemed to ripen at the same time, so I ended up making a pizza with our garden prizes. And I have to say, the crust rivaled Trader Joe's herb crust pizza dough, it was THAT good.

{mmmmmmmmmm}

It is finally raining again downtown. I say that because it can easily be a torrential downpour at work 15 minutes away, and not a drop will fall at home, and because I have somehow gotten used to a daily afternoon rain, instead of SLO's 3 days/year. Time to watch the lightning over the river.

Memorial Weekend

We started Memorial Day weekend out with a crawfish boil on Travis' brand new boiler. Minus the mosquitoes eating us alive, it was a great night.

{mud bugs}

Saturday began the Bayou Country Superfest. Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Kellie Pickler, Gloriana, Jason Aldean, Justin Moore, Jake Owen, Brooks & Dunn, and Kenny Chesney.... whew. Two days and nearly 7 hours each, but it was AMAZING. And Keith Urban definitely got me a little weak in the knees when he was singing nearly an arms reach away. Saturday it rained for the first part but the fact that you could drink beer on the field in Death Valley made up for it, even if they were $7 a pop. No doubt we will be in attendance at the 2nd Annual Bayou Country Superfest.... Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw anyone??

{Brooks & Dunn - you don't get much closer than that!}

{Brooks & Dunn in the background... sort of}

After three wild days we spent Monday recovering and getting ready for our arrival: Chickens! Hopefully next week sometime, so we (Travis and Nick, to jump start their new 300 workout for May 13, 2011) prepped by building a coop. I counteracted their workout by making them crawfish scrambled eggs and bacon. Whoops. 

{300}

{ready and waiting}

We finished off the weekend with a bowl of salsa straight from our garden: tomatoes, jalapeno pepper and cilantro. Can't beat that. Now if only I could get the birds to stop pulling my sunflower sprouts out of the ground and nipping off my blueberries before I get to them.

{salsa}