I wish mustardize is a more common verb in our food world. It is a very delicious act to try and experiment with. Mustardized brussel sprouts is a match in heaven; the brussel sprouts’ natural slight bitterness pairs well with the mustard’s own bitterness. The result is surprisingly mellow and the mustard really enhances the grilled preparation on the sprouts.
This idea is not mine by all means. I saw the dish offered on the menu of Grain & Gristle– a local brewpub that walks a fine line between fine dining and your neighborhood corner pub. The dish sounded great but I never ended up ordering or tasting it. Last Christmas I knew I wanted to make brussel sprouts for the family dinner and I decided to look up a recipe for it. I found this one online but you almost don’t need a recipe at all to make this.
To make, simply halve the brussel sprout heads, tearing off any tough outer skin. Sautee the sprouts in hot olive oil (or bacon fat if you want some extra kick) until the sprouts are nicely browned and charred. Then decrease heat to medium and continue cooking until the sprouts are tender all the way through. Season with S/P and turn off the heat. Once the pan cools slightly, toss the sprouts in some mustard. In the picture above I used Inglehoffer’s dill mustard, but any mustard– from Dijon to stone ground, would work well. Now put all of it in a bowl and surprise yourself with your own lack of self control.
I love making frittatas in the morning. I think it is one of the easiest, heartiest, and most forgiving dish you can make in weekend mornings. Especially when you’re still recovering from the “spring forward” of Daylight Savings Time. Here is this weekend’s variation of frittata:
- 6 cups loose chopped kale
- 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (great way to use leftover quinoa!)
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sautee kale with olive oil in a cast iron pan on medium-high heat. Once the kale is slightly cooked, lower heat to medium and throw in mushrooms. Sautee until the kale is cooked down and the mushrooms are brown.
2. Whisk eggs in a bowl with milk and S/P to taste. Increase heat to medium-high and put butter in pan.
3. Once the butter is melted and coats the pan, pour egg mixture into hot pan. Do not disturb the mixture until a crust on the bottom is formed. After 1-2 minutes, sprinkle quinoa evenly into the pan followed by sprinkling the shredded cheese on top.
4. Directly transfer pan off the stove and into the hot oven. Bake for about 7 minutes or until the frittata’s top looks solidified. Once you achieve this, turn heat up to Broil. Broil the frittata until the cheese browns and your frittata is done.
Spring is finally here and the weather in Portland is starting to become less cold but progressively more unpredictable. One hour you might see rain, then snow, then hail, then sun! Half Pint Girl has been pretty quiet lately but there has been a lot of things going on behind the scenes. Stay tuned for many more fun posts!
I posted about Saveur Magazine’s Top 100 list last month and mentioned a jerk chicken recipe in it that I would really like to try. And here it is!
Overall the flavor of the recipe is really great. It’s funny how sometimes you don’t really understand a flavor until you create it yourself. For example, this recipe calls for 3/4 cup of allspice and 3/4 cup of brown sugar. I’ve always known that brown sugar is what gives the seasoning its sweetness and caramelization but I didn’t realize how crucial the allspice is in also lending it its aromatic sweetness.
While the flavors are great, I find that the recipe is a bit problematic in its quantity. The recipe was written for 2 3-4 lbs. chickens, each quartered. Unless you are having a dinner party, that is a lot of chickens to be had, even for a family. So I had to do some calculations to decrease the recipe quantity.
The best advice I have is that you should make the dry portion of this recipe in large quantities and set it aside in a bottle. That way you can make this anytime and only have to get the wet ingredients. While the recipe calls for so many ingredient items and take at least half of a day to marinate, it is worth all the time and effort because what you’ll get is a brilliantly authentic, sweet, spicy, and char-crisped jerk chicken dish.
Served with: Baked potato, boiled corn, and blue-cheese wedge salad.
I enjoy cooking with a lot of kale in the winter but sometimes I struggle to find new ways of using it from the standard braising method. From time to time I’m able to put them on pizzas, in soups, or roasting them into kale chips but all of these methods don’t really highlight the beautiful properties that kale has.
I got this idea from eating at Dick’s Kitchen where they named this salad “Kale Caesar!” and put a grilled hamburger patty on top instead of seared steak. Upon looking for recipes online, I found the Tartine Bread recipe to be the most often-used and well-reviewed recipe. Instead of including the croutons like the recipe, I kept the salad strictly Paleo like at Dick’s Kitchen.
The result was amazing! Raw chopped kale feels so substantial as it is thicker and more fibrous than traditional salad greens. And while caesar salad dressing is not the healthiest option, it is satisfying to be able to make your own, indulge on a little, and not a whole bottle left laying around for you to eat later. You can also modify the dressing to your palate preference by increasing/decreasing the lemon, oil, anchovy, or egg as needed. And it’s a good way to test your whisking and emulsifying skill!
With the seared steak on top, you have yourself a salad that is vibrant in colors and will hold up until the next meal.
Saveur magazine is probably my favorite food magazine; it stands out for its comprehensive global perspective, excellent relatable writing, and beautiful photographs that keep me loyal to this print medium. Saveur’s best issue is its Top 100 issue released at the beginning of each new year.
The Saveur 100 is available both in magazine form and online. The list is full of carefully selected items, recipes, places, and people to be considered as new classics. It has a great source of information and inspiration for any reader to start his/her new year with!
Some of the highlights for me are highlights because they are things that are near and dear to my heart:
- Local favorites Olympic Provisions and Paley’s Place both land on their list
- Bali cuisine earns a spot and deservedly so. I’ve been dreaming of a vacation back to the island since I was last there in 1998.
- Chinese eggs are something I grew up with but never learned to make. Now with a recipe, I can.
And some highlights are simply too mouth-watering to not notice:
- I will be trying their jerk chicken recipe as soon as possible!
- Jambon-beurre, a French ham and butter sandwich.
It’s definitely worth checking out and I promise you will be inspired to try to cook or taste something new this year.
These Adobe Suite pillows have been on my mind ever since I researched great graduation gifts for my graphic designer sister last year. I remember wanting to buy them… and then not because I thought that they would be fairly easy to make.
I made them for Christmas gifts for my sister and to my defense, I could have spent more time on these but I was incredibly swamped with all sorts of crafts and errands. For those of you who are as nerdy about design, each pillow above is the computer icon for its corresponding Adobe Suite programs. In this project I only did the Photoshop and InDesign ones.
Materials & Tools:
- Pillow (I used 14″x14″)
- 1/3 yard of cut fleece for each background color
- 2 sheets of light gray or white felt for each pillow (1 for each letter)
- Fabric scissors
- Giant ruler or cutting mat, or both
- Sewing machine
- Matching thread
- Craft glue
- Needle
1. First, cut 2 squares of fleece slightly larger than your pillow size. Since mine was 14×14″, I cut a 15×15″ square because I like 1/2″ seam allowances.
2. Cut out the letters you need out of the gray felt sheets. This part took me a while to get right and you really need to use precise measurements for the best effect. Ideally you would want to enlarge a picture of the icon and trace it onto the felt so it is as realistic-looking as possible. I used Craft glue to paste them to the fleece and the letters will be bonded through washes as long as you get glue on all of the edges and corners. You can also sew the perimeter of the letters with a sewing machine.
3. Sew the wrong sides of the fleece together (so that the side with the letters are inside). You want to fully sew through 3 sides and about 4″ into the fourth side, but don’t sew all the way through!
4. Turn the stitched fleece pillow case inside out revealing the letters. Use something pointy to really get the corners as crisp as possible. Stuff your pillow inside.
5. Finish the opening of the pillow case with a slip stitch. A slip stitch is hand sewn and is an invisible stitch used to finish openings (in this case so you can stuff your pillow in). Read a tutorial on how to hand sew a slip stitch here.
Your pillows are now done. Silly me I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but you can get an idea of what they look like from the pictures above. My sister really enjoyed it and so will anyone you know who work with these softwares on a regular basis.
It always boggles my mind when I see pre-peeled and cubed butternut squash at the store. It’s truly cheaper and fresher to buy the whole squash on your own and the prep itself is simple. You just have to know the basic steps. This pictorial is for roasted butternut squash–it’s a good preparation both for when you just need the flesh for soups or sauces, or when you want to serve it on the skin as a side dish.
First you want to pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Then you want to butcher your squash properly by first cutting 1″ from both ends. Then split your squash in half where the fat belly meets the narrow stem. Then cut both sections lengthwise revealing the inside of the squash. At this point your squash parts should look like the picture above.
Scoop out the seeds and strings from the belly of the squash. Place on your oven sheet and drizzle generously with olive oil. Use your fingers to make sure that the oil coats the surface of the flesh. Salt and pepper generously.
Place flesh-side down and put into the oven for about 45 minutes depending on how big your squash is. To check for doneness, pierce with a fork. It should go through all the way with only a little force. At this point you can let the squash cool, peel, and use the flesh for another recipe. Or you can have it as a yummy dinner side. I like to sprinkle mine with brown sugar and chili pepper flakes.
This year I fell in love with Egg Press stationary. They are a local business that specializes in screen printed greeting cards, invites, gifts, and they do some custom work too! I picked up a set of 10 holiday cards for $10 at the recent Portland Bazaar. What a steal as their cards are usually around $5.
I enjoy their choices of colors and shapes, I think there’s something very comforting about their layouts and patterns. Their cards usually also have very playful sentiments and they are not afraid to use puns (see alligator card), always a plus in my book! Check out their website, especially the cards section to stock up for the new year or gain inspiration for your own card making and giving.
I’m so excited about this new method of cooking fish, by steaming it in tea! Ever since I got the Russian Caravan tea (see below) which is a lapsang souchong tea, I’ve had it stuck in my head that I need to look up this method of cooking fish. I saw it in a magazine a long time ago. Lo and behold the recipe does exist and I happened to have all the ingredients I needed on hand. This is the recipe I used and I followed it pretty closely.
The only modification I made is that I used 2 tea bags to make the “4 cups of strongly-brewed tea” and I do admit that 2 tea bags is too many. My broth was very strong in flavor, especially with the shiitakes mixed in too. The recipe calls for the fish to be marinated in some of the tea mixture and the braised with the remaining liquid. I served the fish with rice and some crispy Chinese sausage on top. I think the sausage was a really nice touch as the sweetness cut through some of the smoky earthiness that the rest of the dish has.
Overall it was a really pleasant dish to both cook and taste as it was so different from my day-to-day cooking experiences. If you’ve never tried lapsang souchong, I encourage you too as it is a tea of its own class. It’s smoky, robust, and full of soul. I even saw a barbecue sauce recipe that includes the tea on TV recently. Hmm… something to think about.
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