Life – Page 26 – Gastography

Orange and Fennel Israeli Couscous

April 9, 2012October 11, 2013Life, Recipes1 Comment

This makes a nice light weeknight vegetarian meal for two. If you have someone who is sensitive to texture in the house like I do, make sure to slice the fennel into manageable slices before caramelizing. The original recipe called for serving the fennel in wedges and this elicited the ick face from my DH. The original recipe also called for kalamata olives, which would be great, but that’s another DH no-no, so I omitted them. Capers would make a nice substitute for the similarly olive-challenged.

Orange and Fennel Israeli Couscous

Adapted from The Kitchn’s Couscous with Chickpeas, Fennel and Citrus

1 large bulb fennel

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1 can low sodium chickpeas, drained

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Zest and juice of 1 orange

1 big pinch citrus salt (if you have it)

1 big pinch regular kosher salt

1 cup Israeli couscous

Zest the lemon and orange. Set aside. Juice the zested orange into a measuring cup and add water until you have 1 1/2 cups of liquid.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 1 Tbsp. olive oil up to temperature. Add the couscous and stir to coat. Let the couscous toast 2 minutes or until it starts to brown just a hair and get the slightest bit nutty. Add the zests, 1 big pinch kosher salt and liquid. Bring to a boil and drop the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer until the couscous is softened, about 15-20 mins.

Meanwhile, prepare your additions. Trim the fennel and slice, reserving fronds for garnish. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the fennel and cook until deeply caramelized (but not burnt), stirring occasionally to avoid burning, 8 minutes or so. Add coriander, chickpeas and stir to combine. Sautee until chickpeas start to toast. If they get too dry, add a splash of water. In the last minute or so, add the lemon juice and stir.

To serve, combine all components and toss. Finish off with a big pinch or two of citrus salt and a sprinkle of chopped fennel fronds.

Serves 2 for dinner.

A Spring Stroll In Brooklyn

April 3, 2012LifeLeave a Comment

It was nice to be able to whip out the camera a couple of weekends ago while we were in Williamsburg looking for a vintage desk. Sadly this is the first chance we’ve gotten to stroll with the camera since relocating to our new home. It’s been mostly too freezing for our thin Miami blood to handle doing heavy strolling, much less standing still and taking pictures. With Spring in full force and blossoms a’ popping, hopefully this sad state of affairs will be rectified soon.

In the meantime, here are a few shots out & about in Williamsburg. All were taken on the D300 with the Lensbaby Sweet 35 optic (because that’s what was on the camera when I put it into my bag. Not the best walkaround lens of all time).

Beautiful iron work on quite a few buildings in the area. This was on a very lively looking Mexican? Restaurant?

I'm a font junkie. Love it and the purple.

Williamsburg Bridge, taken by my ever-talented DH

This is my favorite of the day, taken by my DH

Thai-Style Peanut Chicken Noodles

April 2, 2012October 11, 2013Life, RecipesLeave a Comment

This Thai-inspired peanut stir-fry comes together in a jiffy for a healthy, satisfying weeknight meal.

Thai-Style Peanut Chicken Noodles

3 stalks celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 carrot, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1/2 lb. chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbsp. canola or peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. whole wheat spaghetti, cooked until barely al dente

For the sauce

1/4 c. peanut butter
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. pomegranate molasses
2 tsp. rice vinegar
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. chili garlic paste
4 Tbsp. rice wine
4 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. +1 tsp. lime juice
Water to thin

Whisk all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Add water, a Tablespoon full at a time, until thin enough to pour as a sauce (I ended up using 4 Tbsp.).

Heat 1 Tbsp. canola or peanut oil in a large wok over high. Add chicken and stir-fry until golden brown and cooked through. Set aside.

Add the rest of the oil, onion, celery and carrot. Stir-fry until beginning to brown.

Add garlic, stir-fry until softened. Add spaghetti and sauce. Remove from heat and toss to combine.

Serves 2 for dinner.

Pasta with Broccoli, Pistachio Pesto & Lemon

March 25, 2012October 11, 2013Life, RecipesLeave a Comment

Pasta with Broccoli, Pistachio Pesto & Lemon

Adapted from Pasta with Pistachios Meyer Lemon & Broccoli from the Tasting Table newsletter

1 cup shelled pistachios
1 Tbsp. kosher salt plus
½ pound whole wheat elbow macaroni
2 cups broccoli, chopped
2 garlic cloves
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Juice of ½ an orange
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 cup flat-leaf parsley
½ cup mint
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
½ cup finely grated Pecorino Romano (omit for vegan)
2 Tbsp. finely chopped chives

Preheat the oven to 350°. Bake the shelled pistachios until really fragrant and just starting to brown, about 5 – 6 minutes. Watch your nuts carefully; they can go from pleasantly golden-ish to a hot mess in seconds. Set aside to cool, then whiz in a food processor until they resemble a coarse meal.

While you’re babysitting the pistachios, bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Chop your broccoli while you are waiting for the water to boil and set aside. Once the water is at a boil, add a handful of salt and the pasta and boil until the pasta is almost al dente, about 7 minutes. In the last 2 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli. You want tender but not overdone. Drain the whole shebang, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid for the sauce. If you aren’t ready to add the pasta back to the pot for saucing at this point, run it under cold water to stop the cooking process.

While you are cooking the pasta/broccoli, add the garlic, lemon zest, red pepper flakes and kosher salt to the food processor and grind into a fine crumb. Add the parsley and mint and pulse to process down. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive and sesame oils. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add the reserved pasta water. Bring the watery pesto to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add the pasta/broccoli. Stir in the lemon juice and cheese and let sit for 5 minutes to give the lemon a chance to work its magic. Top with the chives and serve.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.

Coconut Curry with Naan

March 18, 2012October 11, 2013Life, RecipesLeave a Comment

photo(4) — I never promised it was pretty. This pic was taken right before plunging into after-dinner snack bowl full #2.

A nice light Thai-style coconut green curry that’s perfect over noodles or simply scooped up by naan bread. Mixed with a little Greek yogurt, I could see this becoming a go-to dip.

Coconut Curry with Naan
Based on Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Rice Noodles from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Curry paste
1 inch piece of ginger, peeped and roughly chopped
2 green chiles, seeded and roughly chopped
2 lemongrass stalks, outer layer and tough ends removed and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 small shallot, roughly chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
zest and juice of 2 limes
2 Tbsp canola oil

Sauce
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp sugar
Big pinch salt
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 can (15 oz) light coconut milk

To make the curry paste: Combine all the ingredients in a small spice grinder, food processor or mortar & pestle. Grind/blend to a paste. If your mixture is too dry and isn’t paste-ing, add a little more lime juice or oil and move things around in the bowl. Your paste won’t be smooth, but it will come together and the lemongrass fibers will break up. It’s not the prettiest thing in town, but it gets the job done.

To make the sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil until it begins to sputter. Add the onion and sautee, stirring to avoid burning, 3 minutes or until softened, translucent and beginning to brown around the edges. Add curry paste and continue to sautee, stirring frequently, 3 minutes more. At this point, everything should be looking rather toasty in the pan and the smell should be incredible. Add salt, sugar, lime zest and coconut milk. Stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring up to a boil, knock the heat back to a simmer and let go 7 minutes.

At this point you have a very lovely coconut green curry sauce. You can serve this over rice noodles and broccolini like the original recipe calls for (which is great), or you can spoon some leftover curry sauce into a small bowl and scoop it up with naan bread. This makes an addicting after-dinner (or any time) snack. So addicting I managed to eat 2 small bowls worth right after dinner and i wish I had more.

I would imagine this sauce would keep in the fridge for a few days, but since I decided playing garbage disposal by myself last night was a good idea, we have no leftovers. Which is a total shame, I would eat this again today and in mass quantities.

Note: This is a very, very mild curry. Not hot in the slightest. If you want more heat, I would suggest leaving the seeds in the chiles or adding a bit of heat at the end.

Serves 2 if I’m one of the 2, 4 if I’m not. Really, there is enough curry to happily sauce a family of four’s dinner.

Big Cypress National Preserve

January 18, 2012LifeLeave a Comment

This was our first photo taking trip of the year, and only our second visit to this area of the ‘glades. We took a leisurely trip through the Big Cypress Nature Preserve (technically not a part of the Everglades National Park), ending up in Florida City for stone crabs.

The Big Cypress Nature Preserve (established in 1974) is the first preserve in the National Park System. This area was designated as a preserve rather than a park because the land has traditionally been used for oil and gas exploration, hunting, off road vehicle use, private land ownership, cattle grazing, as well as by Native American tribes. While this area is primarily inhabited by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida at this time, it has also played host to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, as well as early non-native settlers.

The preserve was created to prevent logging companies from stripping the area bare and to prevent the Big Cypress Jetport (which was set to become the world’s largest airport) from destroying the wetlands and decimating local ecosystems. This use of the land would also have eliminated traditional Indian uses for this land and would have harmed the populations living there.

The Big Cypress Preserve consists of five habitats connected by the water that flows through them, with a max elevation of 17 feet above sea level. The water connecting the habitats flows from hardwood hammocks, to pinelands, across prairies, into the cypress swamps, then mixes with seawater in estuaries before it hits the Gulf of Mexico.

More on this area from the National Parks Service.

Now, on to the pictures!

This picture was taken with the Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic. The daisy itself isn’t quite as crisp as I would have liked (operator error), but I love the bokeh.

Another Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic shot. This is a raised boardwalk bridge thing above the path, which was boggy at best.

Another Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic shot a little further down the path. This is some sort of swamp (I’m guessing Cypress, but with pine mixed in as well).

This is the first of many shots of these ravens roosting in a stick jungle along the side of the highway. We saw just the sticks going into the preserve, and I’m glad we caught the golden hour to come shoot them. I was obsessed with them all day. This was taken with the Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic.

Also taken with the Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic.

DSC_1538w — A brief respite from bird pictures.

This was taken by my DH with the macro.

Also taken by my DH with the macro.

Little pine cone ball things taken by my DH with the macro.

Pine needles against a completely untouched sky taken by my DH with the macro.

DSC_1593w — I wonder if he'll make it to fossilization?

This isn’t the greatest shot in the world, but I was in love with this snake skeleton. If I wasn’t scared of getting a: eaten by a gator, or b: dysentery from whatever that skeevy cloudy stuff on the water is it would totally be on my bookshelf.

The stick jungle raven roost part 2 – taken by my DH with the macro.

This bird was great to watch, and I’m thrilled my DH got such a great shot. He flew this low over the canal for quite awhile before giving up and flying elsewhere.

Ravens in the stick jungle + the moon. Taken by my DH with the macro.

I particularly like the cloud of flying ravens in this one. Taken by my DH with the macro.

DSC_1613w — The sky isn't dirty, it's just getting later.

All of these shots are untouched (minus web optimization) from the originals. The sky looks dirty here because the sun is dipping down.

DSC_1621w — Across the road stick jungle birds

These birds were in the portion of the stick jungle accessible via the hunting/AV trail across the road.

Soba with Starfruit

January 9, 2012October 11, 2013Life, Recipes1 Comment

Soba with Starfruit

Adapted from Ottolenghi Soba Noodles from 101 Cookbooks

1/2 c. rice vinegar

1/3 c. brown sugar

large pinch kosher salt

2 garlic cloves, pressed

2 big pinches red pepper flakes

1 tsp. sesame oil

zest and juice of 1 lime

canola oil

5 small Asian eggplant

soba noodles (2 bundles or enough to serve 3)

2 star fruit

Red onion

Handful Italian basil

Handful cilantro

Prep your eggplant by trimming the ends and cutting into a small (about 1/4 inch) dice. Set aside.

Prep your starfruit by cutting into 1/4 inch slices and quartering.

Put a large sautee pan on medium high heat and a large pot of water on to boil. Add a good glug or two of canola to the large sautee pan (you want the bottom covered).

While your pan and pot are coming up to temperature, combine the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved fully (about 1 minute). Set aside. Add the pressed garlic, red pepper flakes and sesame oil.

Your oil should be just getting up to temperature (you’ll know it is hot enough when a drop of water sputters when added to the pan). Add half of the eggplant and fry until nice and browned. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt. Add the second half of the eggplant and repeat.

When the water comes up to a boil, add the soba noodles. Cook according to package directions until al dente (about 3 mins). Drain and immediately rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Knock as much water off as possible. Add a little olive oil to your hand and toss the cooled noodles around in the colander to coat. This will help the noodles from clumping all together into a gluey mess while they sit.

Prepare the rest of your ingredients.

Slice the onion into wafer thin slices (you only need a handful or so).

Sliver the basil.

Chop the cilantro.

Zest and juice the lime and add to the dressing.

In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients. Toss with the dressing and let sit an hour to give the flavors a chance to marry.

Toss again just before serving & enjoy.

Serves 2 for dinner with enough left over for a nice-sized lunch.

Welcome!

January 4, 2012LifeLeave a Comment

It’s been a great first year for Gastography and I am happy to announce that I finally got off my butt and registered my very own blog domain. If you are visiting from http://www.cpluscdesign.com/gastography, welcome!

Don’t forget to add the new RSS feed address to your reader.

Thank you for your continued support!

Taste of Fall Pumpkin, Arugula & Pecan Ravioli in Brown Butter Sage Sauce

January 2, 2012October 11, 2013Life, RecipesLeave a Comment

This is a riff on one of my favorite uses for canned pumpkin. I make this pasta a thousand different ways – with fresh pasta, with wontons, with greens or without, but always with pumpkin and nutmeg. The combo is great, and a perfect light weeknight meal.

Taste of Fall Pumpkin, Arugula & Pecan Ravioli in Brown Butter Sage Sauce

1/2 can pumpkin puree
4 oz. goat cheese
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 bunch arugula, finely chopped
4 leaves fresh sage
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
olive oil
butter
Approximately 30 wonton wrappers

Combine the pumpkin, goat cheese, nutmeg and 2 big handfuls of arugula in a small bowl. Stir, mashing with the back of your spoon, until the mixture is integrated well.

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.

Arrange your wontons in a single layer on the countertop. Fill each wonton assembly style with 1 tsp or so of the filling (place the filling in the middle of the wrapper. Dip your finger in a shallow bowl of water and lightly moisten 3 sides of the wonton wrappers. Fold the edges of the wrapper together so you have a rectangle ravioli. Make sure to press out any excess trapped air.

When the water comes up to a boil, add the raviolis in batches of 6 or less at a time. You don’t want to dump them all in at once, or they will stick together in a soggy messy lump of grossness. As each batch floats to the surface, skim off with a slotted spoon and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. I then moved each batch of six to a plate so there was no chance of stickage, which worked great.

While your last few batches are cooking, put a large pan over medium/medium-high heat. Add the butter. I used a little less than a Tablespoon for serving 12 wontons. When the butter is starting to brown and turn nutty, add your ravioli. Cook, swirling in the pan with the occasional flip until the bottoms just start to brown. Add the remaining arugula and sage and cook, continuing to stir occasionally until the arugula wilts, approximately 3 minutes. Add a shot or so of olive oil if the sauce looks lacking and serve.

30 wontons serves 2 for a light dinner or 3 for an appetizer. I served 12 as a stand-alone dinner and was hungry an hour later.

Candy Bacon Brussels Sprouts with Mustard Vinaigrette

November 26, 2011December 29, 2014Life, Recipes1 Comment

DSC_1478w — Candied Pecans & Bacon, what’s more Thanksgiving than that?

Candy Bacon Brussels Sprouts with Mustard Vinaigrette

Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine’s Brussels Sprout Slaw with Mustard Dressing and Maple-Glazed Pecans

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 c. pecan halves
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. whole grain Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb. brussels sprouts, outer leaves removed and bottos trimmed
4 oz. home made bacon, sliced into 1/8 in. batons
Kosher salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 325 F. Wrap a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with nonstick spray. Add the pecans. In a small bowl whisk maple syrup, big pinch salt and a pinch of pepper. Pour over nuts, toss to coat. Spread over pan in a single layer. Bake 5 minutes. Stir. Bake an additional 6 minutes or until the nuts are toasted and the sugar is bubbling. Transfer the foil off of the pan & separate nuts. Set aside until cooled.

Meanwhile, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, lemon juice and sugar. Add the oil & whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the bacon batons to a large pan over medium heat. Cook until fat has rendered and bacon is crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain.

Using a food processor fitted with a shredding blade, shred the Brussels sprouts.

Add Brussels sprouts to pan with bacon fat and raise the heat to medium high. Cook, stirring frequently, until sprouts just begin to soften. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add bacon and toss with enough dressing to coat. Let stand 30 mins to an hour to let the favors marry. Top with pecans and serve.

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