Author: Eric

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread or Muffins!

An all time Amanda favorite! Yummmmm! Moist, chocolatey, and perfect fit the holidays!

Ingredients:

  • 1 and 3/4 cups (220g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil (GREAT w/ olive oil!!)
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2/3 cup (120g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much too soon. Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt together until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin, oil, and milk. Pour these wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix together using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. There will be a few lumps. Do not overmix. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
  3. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. This may be before or after 50-65 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking every 5 minutes at the 45 minute mark or so. (15-20ish mins for muffins!)
  4. Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and slicing. The bread will stay fresh in an airtight container (it tastes better on day 2!) at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. But it won’t last that long.
  5. Make ahead tip: Baked bread can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.

Tiramisú

Ingredients for 8-10 people:

  • 500g mascarpone cheese
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 about 1 inch chunk of lemon peel (for smell)
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • Cappuccino
  • Savoyard biscuits

Prep:

  • Beat 4 yolks with the sugar and lemon peel piece until the mixture is well mixed
  • Mix in mascarpone
  • Use an electric beater to beat 4 egg whites until light and fluffy
  • Gently mix egg white fluff into other mixture
  • Put a cookie in each bowl and soak in 2 tablespoons of coffee
  • Top with the creamy mixture
  • Dust with cocoa or finely chopped dark chocolate

Swordfish Rolls

Ingredients:

  • Thinly sliced swordfish, about 2-3mm thick – easiest if ask butcher or cut when frozen
  • breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 clove chopped garlic
  • big handful of parsley
  • A few capers if desired (Eric thinks not)
  • healthy sprinkle of oregano
  • 3 tablespoons regular olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Toothpicks

Making it happen:

  • Combine breadcrumbs, herbs and spices in a bowl
  • Put oil in a small dish/bowl
  • Take one piece of swordfish at a time and dip one side in olive oil
  • Then press the oily side of the swordfish in the breadcrumb mixture
  • Fold the breadcrumb side inside and into a square – hold with a toothpick
  • Pat square on both sides in breadcrumbs and pan cook in light olive oil only a couple minutes per side and pressing down with spatula

Good appetizer or for a light meal with salad!

Pesto from Liguria, Italy

Ingredients:

  • 100g basilico (basil)
  • 50g parmigiano
  • 30g pinoli (pine nuts)
  • 1/2 bicchiere d’olio d’oliva (1/2 cup olive oil – not extra virgin!)
  • 1 spicchio d’aglio (1 garlic clove)
  • Sale (salt)

Making those things turn into delicious Italian pesto:

Put all ingredients in a mixer and blend to a smooth cream.

Tricks and Tips:

  • Add about half the olive oil to start, once you see the pine nuts and garlic getting small, add the rest of the olive oil
  • Small leaves of basil are better – not bigger than about 2-3 inch leaves
  • Store in the fridge for about 1 week in a tupperware, but add a layer of EV olive oil on the top so the pesto doesn’t oxidize
  • Can store the same way in the freezer (with olive oil) for a long time
  • Serve creamy as is for bread or meat/fish
  • Add EV olive oil until smooth for pasta
  • Always cook with regular olive oil – not extra virgin
  • Always use EV olive oil for serving directly – for example after cooking over fish or over pasta

Cioppino!

We first made this recipe when in Nerja, Spain. It is delicious! Little did we know, Cioppino was created in San Francisco!

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 large shallots, chopped (optional)
  • 2 Anaheim peppers (or 1-2 green bell pepper)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
  • 1/4 tsp (a few shakes) of black pepper
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
  • 5 cups fish stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2-4 shakes of dried oregano
  • 2-4 shakes of dried basik
  • 2 pounds clams, scrubbed
  • 1 pound mussels, scrubbed, debearded
  • 1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 1/2 pounds assorted firm-fleshed fish fillets such as halibut or salmon, cut into
  • 2-inch chunks

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat. Add the bell pepper, onion, shallots, and salt and saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, basil, a pinch of black pepper, and oregano, and saute 2 minutes.
  3. Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.
  5. Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes.
  6. Add the shrimp and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any clams and mussels that do not open).
  7. Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and red pepper flakes.
  8. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve, yum! Serve with some toast!

The Best Stew of all Stews

Yum! Such good stew, even Amanda likes it! :)

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 pounds beef stew meat (or 2 pounds chuck roast, cut Into 2-inch chunks)
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 4 or 5 large cloves garlic, minced
  • one 6-ounce can tomato paste
  • 4 cups low-sodium beef stock , plus more if necessary
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 large carrots (or a bunch of small ones), roughly chopped into chunks
  • 1 or 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
  • one 15-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 Jalapeno, chopped, seeds too if you can handle the spice (optional, but DO IT)
  • 2 bay Leaves
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oil and butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Generously season beef with salt and pepper.
  3. Working in batches if you need to, sauté the meat, turning every couple of minutes but not stirring constantly, until nice and brown on all sides (but just on the outside; you don’t need to cook the meat all the way through at this point).  Using tongs, move the seared beef to a plate, keeping all that brown juicy goodness in the pot.
  4. Add the onion garlic to the pot and cook, making sure to scrape up those brown bits and stains from the bottom with a wooden spoon. (in other words: Flavor!) Cook for a couple of minutes, then add your tomato paste again scraping those brown bits. Cook for another minute or two.
  5. Add beef stock to the pot, getting the last bits of brown up from the bottom one last time. Add the Worchestershire sauce and sugar, then return that seared beef to the pot, plus any juices that accumulated on the plate. Cover, reduce heat and simmer on low for 2 hours (this seems like a short time for stew, but there’s another step!)
  6. Uncover and throw in the carrots, celery, beans, jalapeño and bay leaves. Cover again and let simmer for another hour (if you can wait that long), until the vegetables are tender and the meat is totally forkable.  If you prefer a thinner stew, add some more beef stock (or water), a little at a time.
  7. Taste. Add some salt and pepper until you deem it perfect.
  8. Serve over mashed potatoes! Yum!

Stew-Almost-Done-14

Holiday Cranberry Applesauce

A Colleen Nespor original! Delicious addition to a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, mmmm!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1# apples (granny smiths are great)
  • 1# cranberries
  • 1c sugar
  • 1/4-1/2 c water (start w/ 1/4 then add as needed.
  • Cinnamon (1-2 tsp to taste)HOW TO…
  • Cook over med heat until cranberries pop and apples are soft
  • Mash for chunky, or blend for pureed
  • Cool in fridge, eat!

Eric’s Made-up Spaghetti Sauce

I made this in Nerja and it was pretty tasty:

  • Brown 1 onion in big pot in olive oil
  • Add about 5 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • Add 1 pound of ground meat, I used half pork and half beef because that’s common and cheap in Spain
  • Once the meat is cooked, add 2 large green bell peppers or Anaheim peppers finely chopped
  • Add 2 cans of diced tomatoes with only some of the juice
  • Add 1/2 a small can of tomato paste
  • Add 2 medium sized fresh tomatoes, diced
  • Add 1 cup red wine
  • Add a healthy amount of basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes in to taste
  • Add 1 medium zucchini finely chopped
  • Simmer, stirring frequently for about an hour
  • Add about 1/2 cup almond milk just before serving to add some creaminess if desired

Yum! Served over whole wheat pasta for best effect

 

 

Raggmunk (Swedish Potato Pancakes)

We made some delicious potato pancakes that tasted really similar to the ones we had at the Saluhall Market in Stockholm. We had them with Swedish meatballs we bought frozen from the local market :)

Basically, to make them you make simple pancake batter and you grate potatoes, then… wait for it… you mix them together and cook like regular pancakes.

First, the potatoes

Grate about 3/4 pounds of potato into a bowl of very cold water. Drain the potatoes and press out as much liquid as possible with paper towels.

Then, the batter

Whisk together 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 cup almond milk, and salt & pepper until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon grated onions and 1 egg and continue to whisk.

Combine

Stir the potatoes into the batter.

Cook!

Get a griddle or pan pretty hot, add some oil and then cook like you would pancakes. Flip once when the bottom is golden brown – they will take longer than just pancakes do.

Enjoy :)

Low and Slow Baked Chicken Thighs

This recipe is the basis for what we’re doing here.

1) Brine ~5 pounds skin-on bone-in chicken thighs for at least one hour in the fridge with brine mix of 4 cups water, 1/3 cup salt, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup white vinegar.

2) Create rub from 4 Tbsp brown sugar, 3 Tbsp paprika, 2 Tbsp red pepper flakes, 1 Tbsp black pepper, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 nutmeg, 1 Tbsp salt

3) Generously rub all sides of chicken after patting dry and wrap all chicken in 1 or 2 tight foil packets on a drying rack on a cooking sheet

4) Bake at 260 for 2 hours

5) Open foil packets and pour juices into a sauce pan

6) Remove thighs from foil and place on drying racks in broiler until crisp, flipping once

7) Reduce sauce on high heat and by adding flour. You can cut juice with flour and water to reduce saltiness. Reduce until sticks to a spoon.

8) Serve sauce with chicken and enjoy!