Gaga for Romesco

In my refusal to let the cold weather take away the last bits of my first summer in Chicago, I was looking for a bright and flavorful way to capture the warm weather in a meal. 

Fate was on my side, and red bell peppers were on sale for ten cents a piece. Not only that, Lady Gaga's Bad Romance has been on repeat in my head for about a month now, and that ro-ma-ro-ma-ma line just makes me think of Romesco sauce.

I remember tasting some on a piece of  toast at some random Tapas bar in Barcelona and thinking that the bright, smoky, tangy flavors captured the essence of Spain perfectly. 

My own version is simple, clean, and will smack you in the mouth with smoky deliciousness. Not only that, it's cheap and easy to make! Make sure to get smoked paprika though, it makes all the difference.

Fire roast some bell peppers,

Cover them up with some saran wrap so they will steam and soften for twenty minutes or so.

Cook down some tomatoes with olive oil and garlic...

Blanch some almonds and throw the whole thing in a food processor. 

Romesco Sauce

1 large tomato

2 red bell peppers

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup blanched and dry-roasted almonds

2 Tbsp red or white wine (whatever you have open)

1 slice double toasted loaf bread

1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika

Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper

Roast 4-5 red bell peppers over a gas stove until they are black and mostly charred all over. I know it looks and sounds a bit dangerous, but my grandma showed me how to do this years ago and even though this was my first time trying it, the results are amazing! If you don't have a gas range, you can also grill the peppers on a barbecue. 

Blanch almonds for 2-3 minutes in boiling water, and rub the skins off in a colander under cold running water. Dry roast them in a saucepan until they've dried off and start to turn brown and smell fantastic

Finally, pulse everything in a food processor until the whole thing is well-blended and you have a thick sauce about the consistency of hummus. 

You can serve this on some good crusty bread, over grilled meat, or even use as a dip for carrots. I got a little crazy and spooned it over fried chicken cutlets and served it with roasted cauliflower. 

Figs. Cake. Repeat.

As much as I love sweets, sometimes i'm a little disappointed by a restaurant's dessert-making skills (I'm talking to you, Souplantation). It's happened to all of us. You have an awesome meal, only to be greeted by dry cake, watery creme brulee, or a cannoli that's seen better days. 

I say screw 'em. Go out for an awesome meal, and come home to a homemade dessert!

My awesome friend Sara recently sent me this recipe for  Olive Oil Pistachio Cake with Fig Compote Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting posted on the ever-delicious "In The Kitchen" series over at Design Sponge. 

Say what? 

Yeah. I love Sara.

The cake is good too. It's really really good.

My experience with figs, other than Fig Newtons, is pretty much non-existent. Fate smiled down on me this morning though, when fresh figs and pistachios happened to be on sale at this awesome produce place down the street. Double score!

It's as easy as baking a cake...

(I have a weird obsession with vintage Pyrex)

Cooking down some figs...

And shellacking on some frosting.... (is that word?)

I had been meaning to try out an olive oil cake for a while, and this was the perfect opportunity. With the addition of pistachios and figs, the whole thing has this Mediterranean vibe. The cake is super moist, not very sweet, and the tartness of the figs hold up to the decadent cream cheese frosting... do yourself a favor and bake this cake. Then write Sara a thank you card. She's one of my kitchen heroes. Just wait until i get my hands on her doughy nutty cream cheesy dough ball recipe... 

Here's the recipe with a few modifications from Design Sponge:

Pistachio Olive Oil Cake

1 cup shelled (salted and roasted) pistachios
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 8×8 inch baking pan with olive oil.

Pulse pistachios in a food processor until the texture of big sand. Alternatively, you can put them in a Ziploc gallon bag and beat them with a wine bottle or rolling pin.

In a bowl, whisk ground pistachios, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until combined.  Add oil and milk, and whisk for a couple minutes until everything is well blended.  Add eggs and lemon juice and beat until mixed.  

Pour batter into greased pan.  Bake for about 35 minutes, or until edges are lightly brown, and inserted knife comes out clean.  

Fresh Fig Compote

1.5-2 cups fresh figs

Juice from one large orange (1/3-1/2 cup)

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon honey (or agave sweetner)

Chop figs into about 1/2 inch pieces. Cook them down along with juice and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until most of the liquid is gone (about 20 minutes). Stir in the honey after taking them off the heat, and allow mixture to cool. 

*Note - you can also use dried figs if you can't find any fresh ones... just up the water to 1 1/2 cups

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 block cream cheese (softened)

1/2 stick butter (softened)

2-2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl, whisk together the softened cream cheese and butter until they are well combined. Mix in the vanilla, and begin to add the sugar in batches, whisking well before adding more.

Assembly

1. Slice the cake in half

2. Slather fig compote in between layers

3. Frost the top

4. Eat

I heart pie

I ate 1/4 of a pie for breakfast.

I'm not proud.

It was staggeringly, swelteringly, suffocatingly hot last night, and being the pie addict I am, I needed something to satisfy my sweet tooth without having to heat up the entire kitchen.

Cue Joy the Baker and her take on Martha Stewart's No-bake Peanut Butter Tart.

Bless. Her. Heart.

Seriously. This is better than the peanut butter pie I used to order at Denny's all the time when I was in high school. Not that Denny's is known for being an authority on pies or anything, but I was a fat kid in high school and that pie was freaking delicious.

Here's my take on a classic. I've modified the recipe a bit, mostly because I'm lazy and don't have a stand mixer.

Peanut Butter Pie

Crust
2 cups crushed cookies (Nilla Wafers, Marias, Graham Crackers, Oreos)
1 stick butter, melted

Filling
1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter
1 small can sweetened condensed milk
1 tub cool whip, divided
1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened

First, make the crust. Crush the cookies as best you can in your hands, and finish them up with a rolling pin. You can also stick them in a big ziploc bag and smash them with a wine bottle. Not that I've done that before, I'm just giving you options.

Once they're smashed up and you have about 2 cups, pour them into a 9" pie plate. Pour on the butter and mix the whole thing up really well before patting it down to form a nice crust. Stick the crust in the freezer so the butter can re-solidify while you make the filling.

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, condensed milk, and cream cheese with a wooden spoon until the whole thing is well combined. Next, fold in the 3/4 of the Cool Whip and pour the mixture into the crust.

Top with the remaining Cool Whip, and chill the pie in the fridge for about 2 hours or the freezer for 45 minutes before eating.

Slow Roasted Zucchini

I love squash in its many forms but i feel like it usually takes a back seat to whatever we're eating. I wanted to do something with zukes that would bring them front and center. 

For a while, I was roasting them at 450 or even 500 degrees in the oven like Lynne Rossetto Kasper taught us all how to do on the Splendid Table, but because of their moisture content, I've found that zukes never roast as well as root vegetables like parsnips.

My friend Jeri told me about oven roasted tomatoes a while ago, which is as simple as roasting Roma tomatoes in an oven at 250 or so, for four hours. Those turned out fantastically, so I attempted to do that today with some zukes. 

First, I used my trusty mandolin to make quick work of slicing up a zucchini and a yellow squash:

Next, I tossed the squash with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. 

                                              

Then, I roasted the whole thing at 275 for about an hour and a half. Make sure to spread them fairly thinly on the pan, so that as much surface area as possible is exposed. Also, check them every ten minutes after an hour to make sure they don't burn!

                                              

The moisture of each slice is leeched out through slow roasting and the flavor of the squash becomes really concentrated, leaving you with these crispy little bits of deliciousness!

I had been craving polenta, so i served them on some crispy polenta squares with some soy sausage patties and tomato sauce. I know it sounds time consuming, but these little guys are totally worth it!

                                                

Hello World.

Growing up, every time I'd go out to eat with my grandma, her first comment after receiving our meal would be, "I can make this better at home!" Over the years, i've found myself not only making that same comment myself, but actually attempting to recreate things on my own.

It's something that's happened to all of us, those eggs Benedict you had last weekend that could've used a little kick? The chicken parmigiana you tried that was just a little on the soggy side? The spendy salad you ordered that turned out to be nothing more than iceberg lettuce and some dried-up purple cabbage?

Through this blog, amidst adjusting to law school, the Windy City, and my first winter outside of San Diego, i'll attempt to bring you easy, budget-friendly ways to make some of your favorite things better at home.