Summertime!

So I'm glad that I gave you the heads up back in April (was it April?!?) when I last posted that I'd be on a bit of a hiatus while all these major life changes happened. Since then I've finished my thesis, finished my job, finished my two internships, packed up my stuff in my parents' wee little Mazda, collected my boyfriend from the airport and drove my worldly goods halfway across the United States. So you may be able to understand if I've been a little AWOL. My next posts should be more along the lines of the recipe-per-post sort of thing but this one is going to be a bit more like a pictorial diary of what's happened between April and now.

THE ROADTRIP
 (in no particularly coherent order):

A visit to Taos pueblo. I haven't been back for so long; it's always really strange to sort of half-remember a place and to remember where certain streets or shops are but not the overall layout. It was a beautiful morning stop between Santa Fe and Laramie. 

Rice Noodles with Chicken and Fish Sauce

If you want a lovely, lively weeknight pasta dish with great flavor and colorful representation from all the best food groups, check this recipe out. Crunchy radishes, tender poached chicken and a deliciously funky, spicy fish sauce concoction. As you know, if I hear the words "fish sauce," I come running.

Pork Tenderloin with Date and Cilantro Relish

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I'm a sucker for a dish that has three major components: 1)it must be delicious (duh) 2) the cheaper the better and 3)the less work I have to devote to a weeknight meal, the better. This dish neatly falls in to all three categories.

Clover Rolls

As you might remember, I promised everyone that I was going to go a little nuts this Thanksgiving. And I did. I made a ton of food which, for the most part, was gobbled down. There are certainly one or two things that I'm definitely going to turn into a yearly tradition, and this particular recipe was one of them. While I'm not usually the type of person who'll invest a couple hours into making dinner rolls for an everyday meal, these particular rolls are perfect for a special occasion. They're pretty and delicious and surprisingly un-temperamental to make.

Duck Week: Duck Soup with Rice Noodles

Duck week item three: a cure for whatever ails you. Intensely rewarding rice noodles swimming in happy, healthy hot broth of homemade stock and ginger, with cabbage and slices of salty ham. As my mother would say, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this soup. Plus, there is an intensely satisfying feeling of being able to use every part of an animal (in this case, the duck carcass for the broth) to its fullest extent.

Duck Week: Pan-Roasted Duck Breast With Apple and Caraway

Duck week, volume two! Continuing my obsession with any and all things Canal House Cookbook, I used this recipe straight from its hallowed pages for the duck breasts I harvested. I've tried a bunch of different methods cooking duck breast, usually pan-seared with some sort of berry or fruit reduction to offset the meaty flavor of the duck, but I have to say that this one turned out to be one of my favorites.

Duck Week: Duck Confit with Spicy Pickled Raisins

Item one of duck week: duck confit. I know that duck confit has been blown up in our cultural psyche to rather ridiculous proportions--the oh-so-French decadence of eating something that has been packed in fat, but sometimes I feel like you have to just gird your loins and go for it.

And boy, was I glad I did. 

Pork With Red Wine Shallot Reduction and Three Cheese Polenta

Okay, how on earth haven't I posted a pork recipe yet? I know I've used bacon, but...oh, dear reader, I apologize for neglecting you so. Let's get this situation under control immediately. I love pork because it can either be coaxed into being the star of the show or can take a backseat to be the perfect base for great sauces or sides. Here, courtesy of my beloved Black Dog Cookbook is this stunning recipe, with a pork chop (grilled, or if you're sadly grill-less like me, pan-seared), a red wine shallot reduction that I challenge you to not just eat straight out of the pan, and cheesy, creamy polenta that will blow your sweet mind.

Cardamom Rice with Poached Egg

This recipe is a simple weeknight meal that can be thrown together in a jiffy--most of the main ingredients can be found around the home and the rest (spices, for the most part) can be scooped up from your grocery store's bulk section. It's a bit of a variation on the phenomenal chicken and cardamom rice that I was so in love with from Jerusalem, but the idea of a slightly easier, mostly vegetarian version of that rice was immensely appealing.

Marinated Lamb Pizza with Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce and Yogurt Dressing

It's recipes like these that really help to transform the average weekday "pizza night" into something spectacular. What Katie Ate features a couple of truly delectable-looking pizza recipes that I've been dying to try since I got my hands on the cookbook; and this one in particular really leaped out at me. I mean, what's not to like about this amazing combination of ingredients? Marinaded lamb? Mint yogurt sauce? Oven roasted tomatoes? Salty feta cheese? Crunchy hot chiles and nutty almonds? Best of all, the recipe makes individual pizzas so you don't have to bother about sharing your portion with someone else.

Lemon and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Pink Peppercorn and Tarragon

While we're talking about obsessions, let's talk for a second about pink peppercorn. I'll admit that until recently I hadn't really been exposed to it very much, either as a seasoning or as an ingredient. I was over at my friend Hallie's house about to make what would develop into our delectable Pink Peppercorn Macarons when she pulled down her jar, opened the top and grinned. "Take a whiff of that!" I did--what an incredible sensation! Peppery and fruity and sweet all at once. I'd never smelled anything like it and boy, was I hooked. The flavor is unlike anything else and the visual appeal of that bright pink bumps up any dish.

Fricassée of Chanterelles

Have I mentioned recently how much I love mushrooms? I really love mushrooms. Maybe it was finally switching grocery stores (to one that actually carries varieties other than white button, grumble grumble), maybe it was finally buying the mushroom-loving cookbook Canal House Cooks Every Day, but there's just something about mushrooms that clicks with me. I love their weird, alien shapes, I love their infinite variety, I love the skill that it takes to correctly harvest them. But most of all, I love their taste.

Lemon Chicken with Herbed Rice

Sometimes it's funny to have one of those moments when you look at your sibling and thing "Wow, we really are related." Case in point: this delicious lemon chicken recipe. When I had first rented What Katie Ate from the library in Portland this was the very first recipe I decided to try. And when I was back in Texas and brought it home as part of my birthday loot? I asked Piper which recipe she'd like me to make and she immediately pointed to this one. Maybe it's DNA...or maybe it's the fact that this chicken looks (and tastes) so darn good.

Pasta in Cream Sauce with Morels, Pancetta and Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

You know how sometimes life hands you lemons and then sometimes life pelts the lemons at you and then switches to grapefruit and then finally smashes a large melon over your head before cackling with glee? That's basically what's been going on right now. It's just been one thing after another and I feel like I'm just now beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Without getting too share-y, our apartment was basically out of commission for a while. Everything was packed up and inaccessible and Piper and I were living out of the trunk of our car--this atop health problems and school starting and internships and jobs. The only thing that kept me feeling remotely normal or sane was the ability to cook things in the kitchen. So when the tide finally turned I decided to celebrate by making this dish: a compilation of my very favorite things.

Tea-Poached Salmon Soba Bowls

As Sarah so eloquently puts it in her cookbook, there's nothing wrong with a meal in a bowl, especially one that contains three of my favorite things: noodles, salmon and oven-roasted broccoli, all seasoned and flavored to perfection.

Red Lentil Soup

I'm not usually a lady who really goes in for soups, not unless I already am familiar with them or they've really got something going for them. Which is why I love living with my sister. She'll be brave and go for things I normally wouldn't try, like this lovely, homey lentil soup from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook. I'm usually afraid of making soups for dinner because I feel that sometimes soup isn't substantial enough on its own, but trust me: this one delivers. Plus, it's healthy! Yay!

Chicken and Cardamom Rice

This is why I love cooking. You can think you've got it under control, think you're pretty flavor-savvy, and then boom. One day someone suggests that you mix in a little olive oil with your yogurt to make a sauce and it's like an entirely new world opens up. 

But seriously, guys. You have absolutely GOT to try this recipe. After hearing about its popularity with other fans of the fantastic Jerusalem cookbook, I decided I wanted to try it. And it completely blew my mind. This dish is everything; complex, sensual (yeah, I said it), exciting and deeply satisfying. As my mom said as she dug in, "Every bite gives you a different flavor." Make this and you will feel proud of yourself when it's done.

Lamb Kofta b'siniyah

Let's face it. Anyone and their great Aunt Sally can grab some Brie, grab a baguette, hack it up, bring it to a party and call it good. And it's as equally true that the guy who brings brie is usually a pretty popular guy (especially in my family). But there are some occasions when the urge arises to go a little above and beyond the cheese-plate call of duty. Here is a recipe for one of those occasions. 

Because everyone loves the meatball guy.

Poached Chicken Risotto with Tarragon and White Truffle Oil

Oh, creamy, cheesy, truffle-y, chicken-y risotto heaven. How I love thee. This is an incredibly rich weeknight (or party time) meal; it requires a lot of attention and stirring but the results are fairly heavenly. There are some pretty decadent ingredients (saffron, truffle oil) which you can decide to use if you want to splurge. (Bailey note: I would suggest looking in Trader Joe's for the saffron--$5.99, yeeha!--and our HEB in College Station has very modestly priced truffle oil that I've been steadily been making my way through for over a year). The creamy rice is sumptuous and addictive and the chicken is tender, flavorful and really bolsters the satisfaction of the dish. A little goes a long way here and the serving described can easily serve five. A real winner.

Prosciutto and Arugula Pappardelle

The reaction to this dish was pretty much as good as I could have hoped for. Peter cleaned his plate, looked at me and said, "This might be the best thing you've ever cooked for me." Part of me could have been a little miffed (as this dish is far easier than some of the others I've made for him over the years) but when your goal is to satisfy and please the ones you love with food, well...that's a job well done right there.