Partially homemade. Wholly delicious.

Posted on August 25, 2012

Confession: this post is designed mostly to make you drool, and to inspire you. And its theme—quick and easy—is perfect as I sit here in the middle of my California vacation in need of a quick post that allows me to say hi to you all with time to spare to walk the dog, hit the beach, and meet friends for dinner. Man, I love vacation.

Nearly every time I tell someone that I’m getting a Masters degree in Gastronomy (which is usually followed by me clarifying, “That’s food studies.”), they then make the assumption that I eat really healthy, really good, really quality food all the time—food that I cook at home, from scratch, every single night, of course.

Funny thing is, I think I cook less now than I ever have before. When reading an article or writing a paper or doing some other kind of assignment is hanging over your head 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it’s hard to justify the time it takes to cook. Luckily, I am in a food program, after all. So some days I can justify cooking as “studying.” Or “research.” This most certainly works for the consumption of wine and baked goods.

I find the best nights are those when I can cook a little something delicious that doesn’t take too long, so I get to enjoy good food and reduced stress. For this purpose, a little high quality pre-made food helps a lot. A few weeks ago at my farmers market I discovered The. Most. Delicious. Ravioli I may have ever had. And voila. An easy, healthy, quality, partially homemade meal was born.

These ravioli are made from scratch locally in Boston and then flash frozen, so they’re easy to whip up in an instant—well, three minutes to be exact. They have some amazing fillings, including goat cheese and beets (which I have yet to try). But the kind I’m currently addicted to is filled with fresh summer zucchini and caramelized onions. Boil for three minutes, top with good quality olive oil, salt, freshly cracked pepper, and a boat load of freshly grated pecorino romano cheese. Pair them with a zucchini that you quickly sautée in a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. And like I said, voila! Dinner is served.

Foggy coastal scones.

Posted on August 18, 2012

After I graduated from college, I spent the summer living with one of my good friends and her parents in Aptos, a cozy town just outside of Santa Cruz on the California coast. You see, I was moving to San Francisco with a group of my girlfriends that fall but I didn’t have a job yet. So it made the most sense for me to live within driving distance of “the city” (that’s what we northern Californians call San Francisco) while I was job hunting, rather than staying with my folks in southern California.

As much as I desperately missed my family, I wouldn’t trade that summer for anything. It was incredibly formative in so many ways. A job hunt can bring anyone to their knees, and my first job hunt brought my knees to the ground in more desperate, more faithful prayers than I think I’d ever experienced before that.

I suspect that many people find the freedom after college exhilarating. I, on the other hand, found myself drowning in anxiety about finding a job and figuring out who I was now that I was no longer defined by my year in school, the classes I was taking, or the student organizations I was involved with. I remember people telling me, “You can do anything!” I’m quite sure that was meant to be encouraging. But my internal reaction wasn’t so much, “You’re right! Awesome!” It was more like, “Yeah, but where do I even start?!” Without the strength and faithfulness of the God I believe it, I would not have survived that crazy time in my life. Or any others, for that matter.

That summer helped to form not just my faith, though. It also formed a part of my love affair with all things food and entertaining. My friend’s parents were the warmest hosts—it was from her mom that I adopted my habit of having fresh flowers around the house. It’s amazing how therapeutic fresh flowers can be! Equally therapeutic are freshly baked scones on a foggy Saturday morning.

I’ll never forget the first time I woke up to the smell of these scones wafting into my bedroom from the kitchen. Isn’t it amazing how the smell of fresh-baked goods can fill you with warmth and a sense of being cared for? We humans really need these things. Along with buttery bites of scone filled with toasty oat, vibrant berry, and tangy citrus flavors.

I will forever be grateful for the combination of morning beach walks, freshly cut flowers, strong faithful prayers, and freshly baked scones that got me through that summer and into my very first dream job. Faith, patience, and confidence sure helped, too. So, whatever formula you use to get through life’s challenges, I hope these scones can play a teeny tiny role in making your life just a little bit better. And certainly tastier!

Raspberry Orange Oat Scones

Yield: 8 large scones, 16 small scones

Quick tips:

* Keep the butter in the fridge until right before you’re ready to cut it and add it to the bowl, so that it stays as cold as possible before baking.

* If you’re using fresh berries they can easily break apart when you mix them into the dough. In order to keep them more whole, if you want that, rinse, dry, and freeze the berries before using them.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon grated orange rind

1 cup cold salted butter (2 sticks), cut into cubes

2 cups rolled oats

¾ cup raspberries

¾ cup buttermilk or 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice with light cream (fill to 1 cup total)

Turbinado sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If you have a pizza or baking stone, put the stone in the oven while it’s preheating.

2. In the bowl of your beloved Kitchen Aid stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and orange rind. Mix on low until combined.

3. Add butter and oats to the bowl. Mix on low until large, moist crumbs form.

4. Add raspberries and buttermilk (or orange juice/cream mixture) to the bowl. Mix on low until just combined. Do not over mix in order to avoid breaking apart all of the fruit.

5. If making small scones, divide the dough in half on a large floured cutting board or counter. Roll both halves into balls. Gently flatten both balls into 7-inch rounds. If the edges crack, gently push them back together. Cut both rounds into 8 wedges.

6. If making large scones, form all dough into one large ball and flatten into a round. Cut round into 8 wedges.

7. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the tops of the scones.

8. If you’re using a pizza or baking stone, remove it from the oven and quickly place 8 scones on the stone. Put the stone immediately in the oven to avoid the dough softening on the heated stone.

9. If you’re not using a stone, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (Tip: Parchment paper helps with the browning of the bottom of the scones!)

10. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are just browned.

Enjoy!

Summertime on a plate, and in a glass.

Posted on August 8, 2012

Oh my goodness. You guys. When I decided to finally start this blog, the blog I’d thought about for so long, I promised myself I would rarely, if ever, start a post with an apology. You know what I’m talking about…the standard “I’m so sorry it’s been so long since I’ve blogged!” apology. I figured that by making this promise to myself, I’d avoid any gaps in blogging. Who wants to hear an apology anyways?! You just want to read a blog!

Alas, I’m sorry. (Sigh.) It seems the summer challenges my ability to get my act together and find time to talk to you guys regularly between traveling on the weekends, cramming in class work between work work, and spending time doing generally summery things (farmers markets, drinking white wine, seeing friends, drinking white wine…).

Speaking of seeing friends and drinking white wine, my friend Aubree came over the other night to cook and catch up. I’d had a long, hard week and jumped at the chance to get to spend an evening cooking leisurely and chatting with a good friend about life. I even suckered Aubree into doing most of the cooking so that I could ~~drink wine instead of chop vegetables~~ take pictures of her. For you, of course! This also means you get more pictures than usual with this recipe.

I’m excited to report that I once again made something for the very first time. Just like with that ferocious kale, I faced my culinary fears as Aubree and I decided to brave the world of scallops. For years I’ve seen recipes for scallops and read about just how easy it is to pat them dry and sear them for a few minutes on each side. And voila! They’re done! Well, I’m thrilled to report that scallops are, in fact, just that easy to make. And they’re even more delicious.

This dish is nothing if not summertime on a plate. Sweet crunchy corn paired with juicy cherry tomatoes and fragrant cilantro. Tangy tomatillos pureed with creamy avocado and feisty jalapeno. And then the crowning jewels…subtly sweet yet equally “of-the-sea” salty scallops that are so fork tender they truly do just about melt in your mouth. Sip a perfectly chilled Sauvignon Blanc and it’s pure heaven.

Seared Scallops with Tomatillo Guacamole and Corn Salsa

Ever so slightly adapted from Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls, Small Kitchen, featured on www.huffingtonpost.com

Makes 3-4 servings

Ingredients

For the scallops:

12 large scallops

Cumin

Salt

Extra virgin olive oil

For the tomatillo guacamole:

1 avocado, halved and pitted

1/2 pound tomatillos, husked and coarsely chopped

1/2 lime, juiced

1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped

1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped

1/2-1 jalapeno, seeded and coarsely chopped (to taste)

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Salt to taste

For the corn salsa:

3 ears fresh corn, shucked and kernels cut off ears

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Salt to taste

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients for the guacamole in a food processor or blender and pulse until mixture is combined, but still fairly coarse. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Set aside.

2. Combine all ingredients for the corn salsa in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Set aside.

3. Rinse the scallops well. Pat them each dry, on both sides, with paper towels. Set scallops on a plate and sprinkle both sides well with cumin and salt.

4. Lightly coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and set over high heat. When the pan is smoking hot (test by sprinkling water into the pan to be sure it sizzles), add the scallops, making sure not to crowd them in the pan.

5. Allow the first side of the scallops to sear without moving them (2-3 minutes). When the bottom half of the scallops have turned from opaque to white, and the bottoms are a dark brown, flip the scallops and sear on the other side.

6. Cook the scallops for another minute or two on this side, until the bottoms are browned and the tops spring back when you push on them with your finger or a spoon. Remove the scallops from the pan and put them individual plates for serving.

7. Serve the scallops with a generous dollop of tomatillo guacamole and a spoonful of corn salsa on top.

Partially homemade. Wholly delicious.

Posted on August 25, 2012

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Foggy coastal scones.

Posted on August 18, 2012

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Summertime on a plate, and in a glass.

Posted on August 8, 2012

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