9.13.22 An Accidental Tomato Sauce

9.13.22 An Accidental Tomato Sauce

We’re in that lovely in-between time of year where Summer seems to be slipping further and further away, but Fall just isn’t ready to commit. In Texas, anyway, we have twelve seasons. It’s true, Google it. So I find myself wanting to cook the same colors I’m seeing all around us, moving into darker green, reds, and even some oranges here and there. That’s my dramatic way of telling you I’m really feeling red sauces lately.

I made A Nice Lasagna this weekend by Julia Turshen for some of our dear friends who just brought a baby boy into this world! I like to think that lasagna has some very special powers to those who consume. We dropped off the lasagna and went out on the town to seek out our own slide of lasagna from Il Brutto.

So my official review of Il Brutto is the martinis are truly one of kind. From the glass, to the temperature, to the twist or olive (whatever you prefer) – they are delightful. We also had a small bite before lasagna of crostinis with burrata and an anchovy. These literally melted in my mouth. SO delightful. Also the lighting game at Il Brutto is fantastic, the back patio is lovely but inside near the bar is very sultry and divine. OKAY back to the lasagna. I give the lasagna a 6/10. Now let me first say, this wasn’t a red sauce lasagna which is what I was searching for, so I think I was set up for disappointment. The lasagna has a large amount of green and bechamel which while very unique, was a bit overwhleming on the fats and I felt needed a kick of acid. But this is just my opinion!🤷‍♀️

So still feeling a need to get more red sauce in my life I turned to my freezer. Normally I have slow roasted tomatoes ready to go for a quick sauce but instead I found ground beef and ground turkey. Meatball time 😎 Meatballs were such a staple in our house growing up. I’ll never be able to make them quite like my mom, but I also never make them the same! That’s right, I riff my meatballs literally everytime I make them. So if you like them, too bad we’ll never be able to recreate. Anyway, for this Monday night dinner I went back to Julia Turshen Small Victories Turkey and Ricotta meatballs (with the addition of ground beef because I needed another pound of meat!). I highly recommend this meatball recipe that’s online, in Small Victories (the best cookbook of all time), AND you can recreate these because…recipes lol.

So the tomato sauce wasn’t as straight forward for me. I realized I only had one can of whole peeled tomatoes and three ripe tomatoes I could cook down. So I sliced five cloves of garlic, added those to a large pot (the meatballs go in later!) with olive oil to sizzle for about one minute. I added the tomatoes I had on hand and let that cook down. After about 30 minutes I knew there would not be enough tomato sauce (which is what I really wanted!!!) so I had to make some choices.

1. I added creme fraiche (the entire tub lol) and that really over corrected my tomato sauce to an orange bisque consistency.

2. I added in tomato paste to correct the color back to red and bring back the tomato flavor

3. After that I realized there STILL wasn’t enough liquid and I decided to add a cup of red wine*

*side bar: I’ve recently realized I’m an “Old World” gal when it comes to wine. I go immediately to Europe (France, Spain, Italy) and never dabble in “New World” (Napa, Pacific Northwest, etc.). SO last weekend I decided to reevaluate my taste and bought a Pinot Noir from Oregon by Underwood. It. Is. Garbage. Like actually tastes smokey like tobacco and I confirmed via reviews it’s a trash 2.5 rating. Bleh, I’m sipping a French red as I type. 

This ended up being one of the best sauces I’ve ever made. The universe has a way of working out.

8.23.2021 R O U N D U P | What’s Tay Cooking This Week?!

Have I mentioned how much I *love* a good ~roundup~?! Well, I do. See the below post on link roundups for some fun internet Tumblr feeling vibes. Anyway! This is less of a link roundup and more of a “what I’m eating this week” roundup/list/brainstorm!

It’s one of those weeks where our fridge isn’t quite empty but it’s not strategically full. Meaning, I should probably *not* buy more groceries and turn to more pantry style meals to use up what I have while it’s still fresh! We’re also heading out of town on Friday for a getaway weekend in Fredericksburg with my family! We’ll be at the local fair and horse races one night but the other nights we’ll be grilling and doing big family meals in this lovely outdoor kitchen.

A couple of fun things I’m planning to bring for my dad to try:

-Kimchi and Escabeche from the Texas Farmers Market that I grabbed for him on Saturday

-Fresh loaves of sourdough bread

-Sourdough starter so my dad can start making his own bread!

-Some type of stone fruit dessert so ours don’t go to waste!

What I have in the fridge that we need to eat before we head out Friday:

  • Okra
  • Lots of fresh basil
  • Eggs
  • Cauliflower
  • Spinach
  • Celery
  • Lamb stew meat
  • Yogurt
  • Ricotta cheese
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Stone fruit: peaches, nectarines, and plums
  • Tomatoes
  • Potatoes

So what am I thinking I’ll fix up this week…

Monday: I’m making up a smoked pork shoulder and cauliflower bowl. I have some leftover smoked pork shoulder from the farmer’s market (photo above is the pastrami from the same smoked meats truck!) that I’ll reheat. I’ll roast my cauliflower head (cut into florets) with a jalapeño, hatch Chile olive oil, and some apple cider vinegar. I’ll combine one avocado with some greek yogurt and lime juice to make creamy base layer for the bowl. I think I’ll probably top with some roasted pepitas and fresh cilantro!

Tuesday: Lamb Biryani by Tejal Rao (with tomatoes and basil)

Wednesday: Peach, tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad with turkey ricotta meatballs

Thursday: I have a HH so we may order in this night OR leftovers. I should have everything prepared to bake the stone fruit cake from Amy Chaplin’s Whole Food Cooking Everyday book!

Friday: Spinach yogurt smoothie (I need to drop this recipe for y’all soon!) for lunch/breakfast but then we need to hit the road!

PS – I haven’t told this DIEC world yet but I’m ENGAGED!!! So I’m adding a fun little photo (check out our amazing photographer Shelby Cox!) to the mix this week that reminds me of being a finace and makes me very happy.

7.19.2021 simple ingredients, simple life

Somewhere back in 2020, maybe it was 2019 (who could know), I set a goal for myself to simplify my cooking. As I looked back at my cooking over the years, it was clear I was doing A LOT of in the moment learning. Exploring new spices, combining textures, and most obviously, using flavors like they were going extinct.

It was a glorious time in my kitchen! To be growing my own herbs and adding dill to almost every dish I damn well pleased. What’s not to love?! Well recipes are a lot like fashion and not everything you own needs to be part of your outfit that day. It just doesn’t age very well and it’s as “timeless”. As I cleaned out my closet with the aim of quality over quantity, I thought to myself, this is what I need in my cooking.

Timeless cooking is simple recipes and they are tried and true throughout the years. I noticed this the most when we spent a week in Italy a few years ago and attended a cooking class in Tuscany. Learning about the limited ingredients the Tuscans had explains their desire to let no scrap of food go wasted and to use minimal ingredients for incredibly rich and timeless dishes.

A tomato sauce is just that, very few ingredients will take you so far. I made this tomato sauce right before we were heading out for a staycation. My tomatoes were perfectly ripe, but I knew they wouldn’t last a week on the counter. I put my mis en place together and let the sauce simmer as we packed. Right before we left I let the sauce cool and stored it in the freezer. It should last for a few months, but I’m craving stuffed cabbage so I’ll probably pull it out this week 🙂

    xo – Tay

3.15.2021 2020 thoughts and a healing soup

WOW. Y’all, I did not even realize my last post was a year ago ON THE DOT. That is just wild. Time knows so much more than we can ever understand. 

It’s been a year in quarantine. In a pandemic. In a world with social distancing, with masks, without normalcy. It’s been, a year. Personally, the below round up is the last thing I wrote. I had big dreams that 2020 would be a nice “pause year”. A year where I FINALLY had the time and space (we were supposed to be alone after all) to finally get all of my creative projects done. To accomplish ultimate productivity and get my ideas into the world! 

Well. Life had other plans for me. Let me tell you. 

What I thought would be a year of inner peace and tranquility was probably the biggest listening, learning, and selfless year of my life. Right about in March I quickly realized that my voice would not be taking the lead this year. Not at all. In fact, I was quite silent in 2020. Not in a “silencED” way, but in a calm yet active listening way. This pandemic was stirring people in ways they’d never sat before. What a person becomes and presents as when they are left with so much of themselves, is fascinating. It seemed the majority of people had never had to spend this kind of time with just their own thoughts. This does kind of outrageous things to people. When you aren’t used to sitting with and wrangling in your thoughts, it can be easy to lean on someone else’s. 

For years I’ve been thinking about principles. What are my principles, do I have any, where did I learn them, am I consistent with them, etc. In a time of silence, stillness, and aloneness, your principles are some of the only things you can rely on. Things you can always come back to. Things you can leave and return to and keep working and tweaking them as needed. In 2020 I really leaned in on my principles. There were many tough and divisive conversations happening throughout the world. Conversations that you cannot walk into without principles. Like I said, when people are left with just themselves and you add in social media, anyone’s thought is everyone’s thought. Having principles doesn’t come overnight and it doesn’t stay if you don’t work at it.

Looking back at 2020, I’m so god damn glad I was quiet. I’m so happy that I put the phone down more than I picked it up. I’m so grateful that I didn’t force myself to attend those virtual creative working sessions and I didn’t mind telling people “I’m on a self sabbatical”. Yeah, I’m lucky that I got to do that. But you know what? It’s actually not that easy to sit with your own thoughts. To force yourself to really try and examine an issue from all angles. To really ask yourself what your ethics are and what you believe is right and wrong and not just trendy. 2020, if you were really listening, what a very intriguing year. 

2020 wasn’t awful. It wasn’t a disaster. I don’t hate 2020. And guess what, something like 2020 might happen again. Life has highs and life has lows. Keep your principles close, always have canned fish in the house, and use your best judgment trying to do right by yourself and the world around you. We are only here once, you should really try to listen closely. 

Okay so back to this healing soup already! I do think it’s incredibly interesting that I have not logged onto this blog in literally one year and I have a healing soup to give you all. YOU’RE WELCOME TY FOR COMING TO MY SHOW. ok here we go:

Mise en place! That is French fancy for prepping your ingredients! In this instance, I thought i was simply going out for a golden happy hour which actually turned into dinner at Hotel Ella, but that’s fine! I kind of drunkenly came home and tucked it all away nicely and Saturday night dinner turned into Sunday afternoon lunch. 

So the next morning I added some avocado oil (like 1 Tbsp) to a medium/low heat Dutch oven. I added the onions and let them get a bit soft. Then I added the garlic, jalapenos, and ginger. Once everything was fragrant I added chicken stock I made a few nights ago from a leftover Roasted Za’atar Chicken from the Sababa cookbook. I also added some water because I wanted more soup. Like maybe 8 cups total with half broth and half water. Use whatever you have! One secret ingredient goes in the soup now as well. Take a piece of cheese cloth, like a square the side of your hand. Add peppercorns, whole cloves, star of anise, fennel, etc. and whatever you have that’s aromatic. Put these in the center of your cheese cloth square and tie it up on both sides so it’s like a little ball (see picture). Add this to the liquid so it will start to add aromatics and make your home smell amaze.

During this time I also added about 1lb of boneless chicken thighs and two pieces of kombu (kombu is not necessary but fun to have and always add to a stock!). These thighs did have skins which I would not have chosen but it’s fine! OH! I forgot to say. I had also salted the chicken the night before and left them in the fridge uncovered which I think is better for salt to get into meat? I’m not sick so it’s at least safe 🙂 

I brought this all to a boil and then a low simmer that I let cook uncovered for probably 3.5 – 4 hours. I only did this because I really wasn’t that hungry and it smelled nice and I was doing a workout while it was cooking. Cook it long enough so the chicken is definitely cooked! My only way to tell is either cook it a very long time or use a meat thermometer and that chicken should be 165 F internal temp girrrrrl. Shred that chicken once it cooks to a tender place and you have a nice little chicken soup going!

Once it was almost eating time I added rainbow swiss chard I had cut in ribbons the night before. I added this directly to the soup because chard is pretty hearty and can hang in a soup without getting disgust. I served the soup over some leftover Thai food rice that was purple (not sure why) and this was a very fun combo! I added a soft boiled egg, scallions, a couple drops of sesame oil, and some dulse sesame seed rose mix that I make from Amy Chaplin’s book!

That’s it y’all. Simple, healing soup, for a heavy, complex year. Cheers to 2021 and I hope it brings me as many learnings as 2020 did! 

 

    xo – Tay

3.15.2020 Do I Even Cook Link Roundup

If there was a ever a time for distractions, NOW is the time. In true millennial form, I love a good roundup of links to take me into a rabbit hole of creativity and ideas. Once upon a time, all of the early 2000s blogs I followed were rounded up in Google Reader. Bless you, GR and those early Blogger sites—they were game changing for my teenage days. Here’s a brief history on blogging for those of you who only know TikTok as truth.

What was so amazing about these blogs was the consistent roundup links. It would typically appear as an end of week treat, in true bullet point form, hyperlinked, bolded and italicized, and full of diverse yet consistently positive, creative content. Now it’s my turn to deliver the roundup of links to you. Stay calm, stay positive, and enjoy some non-Covid19 content:

12.17.19 Do I Even

Thanksgiving? 

Opinions about Thanksgiving? I have…a few. Honestly, Thanksgiving food can be…boring? I know, it’s an unpopular opinion. But it’s true! We all get tired of the leftovers starting by day 2? 3? The energy of being creative enough to serve up turkey ramen (honestly worth it) on day 4 and a turkey Katsu sandwich on day 5 is a. lot.

I just feel like it could be more fun with more tang, less brown, and maybe new spices? Anyone?

Maybe you’re already mad and you’re not reading anymore? Can’t care, we must move on.

If you’re with me, my next qualm with Thanksgiving is that people are trying to serve me food and have me in a seat by 2:30pm???? I won’t. 

Everyone spends all of October ignoring Halloween and preparing their Thanksgiving dishes (lol except me #doievencook) so they are ready to go on the big day. Then! We arrive on the eve of Thanksgiving and everyone has 75% of their recipes cooked and “all you have to do is heat it up”. Why? Because some really insane people made a really insane decision to implement a 2:30pm eating time that no one who is making anything worth eating can meet! It. Is. Crazy. 

I want to spend all of Thanksgiving on food which means I want to spend the day in the kitchen, getting pretty lit on spritzers and cooking every single dish that goes on that table! Does that mean we break bread at 9pm? I hope so. Let us all light candles on the table when it’s actually dark outside and there is a reason to switch to dark liquor with pie. 

Okay, my final exhaustion when it comes to Thanksgiving. Every single holiday has a Sunday scaries effect post-big event. It’s hard for a family and hostess to keep the energy up, especially post so much brown food at 2pm in the afternoon! Back to my complaining, Thanksgiving can be kind of boring? You took cooking all day away from me, you made me so sleepy at 4pm, and now you all want to take a nap? I just really am not made for Thanksgiving. 

Why can’t we have games we need to play post-eating? How about we all commit to going on a post-feasting hike? Well, I took my own advice and this year we not only built one of the biggest bonfires in the Texas mesquite, but we also spent time making art inspired by the 4th serving of Thanksgiving dinner. 

Maybe turkey day isn’t so bad after all. 

8.19.19 Peppered Summer Squash & Orzo Tostadas

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, orzo is underrated. It’s not quite rice and it’s not quite pasta, left alone in the middle. I push the limits of orzo and swap it with rice as often as I can. In addition to using your back-of-the-pantry orzo, this dish there’s a couple of other small wins at play. In the case of these tostadas, much of the ingredients had been made throughout the week and the tostada really brings it all together. Some people like quesadillas or dumplings, I’m a tostada gal through and through. You can choose your favorite.

  1. Corn tortillas stored in your fridge will last much longer than you think. Aka, tostadas ready to go whenever you are. 
  2. If you participate in “Roasting Day” in your home (everyone should be doing this), you probably have quite a hefty amount of roasted vegetables you’re trying to go through during the week. Well friends, tostadas are one of the best ways to clean out your fridge. 

In the case of these tostadas, much of the ingredients had been made throughout the week and the tostada really brings it all together. Some people like quesadillas or dumplings, I’m a tostada gal through and through. You can choose your favorite.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

3-4 corn tortillas

3-4 T of a creamy base (I used green goddess dressing* that was leftover from earlier in the week, feel free to swap with plain greek yogurt, sour cream, etc.). 

2 C roasted veggies (I wanted to clear out all of my veggies and the amount was closer to 3 C) – I went with summer squash and zucchini

2 T Aleppo pepper

1 lime

1 C orzo (there will be left over so feel free to reduce)

2 C water

Pickled red onions + radishes for garnish (optional)

Fresh cilantro for garnishing (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 350℉ to either roast your veggies for the first time or reheat “roasting day” veggies. Place veggies on a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil, covering most of the veggies. Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast the veggies for 15-50 minutes (maybe shorter if you’re just reheating).

2. As the veggies are heating, bring your very salted (should taste like sea salt) water to a boil. Add your orzo and cook for 10-ish minutes. I like for my orzo to stay semi firm.

3. Remove vegetables from the oven when done roasting and add your Aleppo pepper and juice from half of a lime. Stir around to coat all veggies and cover with foil until ready to serve. Bring over to 400℉.

4. Once orzo is firm but cooked, drain in a colander and rinse with regular cold water to remove some of the starch. Place orzo in a serving bowl and add a drizzle of olive oil and freshly cracked pepper.

5.  Once oven is ready at 400℉, add your tortillas to the top oven rack and let them crisp for 2-3 minutes. Remove once crisped and wrap them in a hand towel to keep warm until you’re ready to serve. Careful they don’t burn! My broiler will burn them instantly.

Now you can create a tostada bar. Set out your tortillas, sauce of your choice, roasted lime-pepper veggies, pickled red onions + radishes, cilantro, lime wedges, and the hot sauce of your choice (duh).

*My creamy “green” goddess dressing recipe:

2 cubes of feta

1 C plain Greek yogurt

1-2 bunches of cilantro (other herbs work here as well)

Pinch of kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Drizzle of olive oil

½ lime juiced

Add all of the ingredients together and blend in a food processor. For more green of a green sauce, find more herbs. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days.