Bleu Cheese Creamed Collard Greens with Cherry Tomatoes and Bacon

 

There’s a reason why the humble BLT sandwich works so well; it’s got a little bit of everything without going overboard. It’s not about one ingredient, but how it all comes together with the salty/smoky/crispy bacon, sweet ripe tomatoes that drip down your chin and fresh vegetal crunch of lettuce all on toasted sourdough with a smear of mayo (extra thick smear if you're my dad).

 

 

 

This silky side dish takes a cue from the good ol’ BLT, no need to reinvent the wheel here. Trade the delicate lettuce for sturdy collard greens and melt some creamy bleu cheese into a sauce; toss a few cherry tomato halves in at the last minute to keep their shape and then throw in a crumble of bacon if you’re into that sort of thing.

Serve it up hot to your dad with a perfectly juicy, medium rare steak. He deserves it after making you all those PB&J sandwiches, bean burritos and even a few BLT’s over the years.  After all the countless rides to softball practice, hop hop dance class and to the mall with a car full of giggling girls. All the shopping for back to school clothes and supplies, paying for summer camp fees and acting classes.

Don't cut any corners here: use ripe tomatoes, fresh greens, whole milk and good, strong bleu cheese in a wedge. Buy a fat steak and season it liberally, cook it over a hot grill. And if your dad lives too many states away to cook dinner for, make sure you tell him just how much you appreciate him in a blog post. Love you Dad!

Rhubarb Rose Tarts with Golden Kamut Crust

 

It’s been a long winter. And spring for that matter. I don’t think I’ve ever been so relieved to feel the warm sun rays and cool breezes of June in Seattle. The bright rhododendrons, juicy red strawberries and beers on the deck at sunset make life feel a bit normal again.

You see, just as the last couple of Valentine’s Day chocolates were being hidden away for future late night sweet treats, we got some horrible news. My step had been having severe headaches and nausea every day for the last couple months and nothing seemed to be helping. We thought it was migraines or maybe that he had been playing too rough during soccer practice, perhaps a wheat allergy. However, the MRI images told a different story: a large grey mass in the middle of his brain. It was a tumor, and the neurosurgery team told us it needed to be removed immediately.

After a six-hour surgery, lengthy hospital stay and six weeks of radiation, here we are. We’ve still got a long ways to go. More chemotherapy and hospital stays are on the schedule, an aggressive treatment for an aggressive type of brain cancer.

 

 

Needless to say, there hasn’t been much time or energy for cooking. Heck, even grocery shopping was put on hold for a while. Lucky for us, we have an amazingly supportive community of family and friends who brought us some delicious meals: bubbly mac and cheese, fresh vegetables and fruit, stews, soup, homemade lasagna, some excellent curried salmon and even a few bottles of wine. 

 

I’m finally in a place where I can juggle taking care of my step son (what a champ the kid is, we sure do manage to have a lot of fun playing hooky from school and work together every day!), going to all the appointments, working from home a little, cooking and sleeping again. I might even be able to start posting regularly again.

Beecher's Flagship Panini with Bosc Pear, Kale & Black Forest Ham

This is a perfect sandwich. It’s a bold statement, I know. It's just that it's one of those rare eating experiences that makes you practically incapable of focusing on anything else, not even Pinterest or your yapping dog (oh hey neighbors, bet you like listening to Scarlet as much as I like listening to your raging kegs at one am!). There’s just so much going on: the crispy crust and the tender interior, the creamy and the sharp, the salty and the sweet…the sum is so much greater than the individual ingredients. Let’s discuss this more, shall we?

 

At the heart of things is a substantial leaf of curly kale. It’s been steamed a bit to soften the cruciferous edge, but still has a toothsome bite and a deep, earthy flavor. Next, is the honey-sweet and tender Bosc pear, apty called “the aristocrat of pears”. Creamy, smooth textured and just warmed through, it helps tame the bitter kale. A thin slice of Black Forest ham contributes a welcome smoky and savory angle.

Then there’s the cheese; the cheese that made Martha and Oprah swoon and put Seattle on the map for artisanal ingredients. To call it a cheddar is like calling Thomas Keller a cook. No, no, this deliciously nutty, rich delicacy with a slight tang is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese that could elevate any ho-hum meal to completely craveable. While a small, salty crumble is perfectly delicious all by itself, it helps seal the deal on this melty, oozing panini.

 

Charred Vegetable & White Bean Stew with Turkey

Oh haaay Seattle. You’re looking a little drab these days. After a week in sunny SoCal, returning to the Emerald City is about as exciting as finding a smooshed banana at the bottom of your bag. Well, maybe not that bad, but somewhat painful. I've heard people complain that winter holidays spent sans rain/slush/snow just don’t feel right, but I beg to differ; poolside mimosas on 80-degree Thanksgiving morning feel just about perfect to me.

 

Backyard Apple & Plum Torte

I usually like to post my own recipes on this blog. However, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, especially when you stumble across a perfect recipe that’s easy and delicious every single time. You know, those “keepers” that everyone needs in their baking repertoire. This recipe is one of those special gems, as evidenced by previous posts here and here.  

It’s the first thing that popped into my head when I saw a bag of Italian plums on my porch. A kind gift from our neighbor, the small oval fruits are delicious by themselves but were surely designed by Mother Nature to be made into this torte. We ate half the bag of plums before I was able to start making the torte, so I supplemented the plums with a few chopped apples fom our tree (our neighbors probably had the same dilemma with our bag of apples; they are so delicous raw!)

A simple thing really, it’s nothing but a tender cake with a toothsome crumb topped with melted, roasted sweet fruit. It’s absolutely perfect with Italian prune plums (as the original recipe calls for), but is lovely with any seasonal fruit. I like to brown the butter first, then add a bit of lemon zest for a nutty and sweet background that lets the fruit shine.

Raw Apples & Beets with Yogurt Aioli and Za'atar

 

When life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. When life gives you apples, you should eat them any way you can, and not just to keep the doctor away. I’ve discovered that like most edible things, the apples that taste the sweetest are those that you’ve watched grow on a tree in your backyard all summer. It’s almost a miracle, really, that sweet, ripe fruit can grow in a place where the misty grey cloud coverage persists for about two thirds of the year, but my two little apple trees do their very best to concentrate each drop of summer sunshine into fruit until their scrawny little branches grow tired and heavy with the weight of dozens of green and red tart apples every September.

 

 

I’m not sure what variety the apples are, but I don’t really care all that much. One tree produces a modest crop of fruity, sweet green apples that are prone to brown spots on the skin, but taste delicious. The other tree nearly triples his neighbors’ output, with sour, green-tinged apples blushing red. Both varieties are deliciously crisp and juicy eaten raw, but brown very quickly upon cutting, not that it matters to me. They are free, delicious, organic apples from my backyard.

Just a couple hours’ drive from Seattle is where the real apple growing happens. In fact, billions of apples are grown each year in sunny Eastern Washington, for export all around the world. However, the farthest distance I export my apples is to my cutting board inside.

Vanilla Oat Custard with Nectarines



 It may be September, but that doesn’t mean summer is over. In a month, you’ll hear me singing a different tune, but in the meantime let’s just enjoy it. The days are getting shorter, there’s no doubt about it, but 86°F with a breeze at 5pm and a gorgeous sunset is nothing to complain about. In fact, I could wax on about this time of year like a kid about Christmas morning. The plump apples on our trees are hanging in perfect sweet/tart balance, yet there’s still sweet summer corn and juicy tomatoes at the market. The nights no longer necessitate a fan and bedtime mint tea sounds soothing. The back to school buzz is in the air, and opportunity to start fresh.

 

It’s a perfect time to juxtapose the amazing fresh produce still available with something a little comforting, something a little rich. Perfectly ripe nectarines need no garnish or drizzle, no chiffonade of this or flecks of that. But after savoring a few on their own, there’s no reason not to enjoy them sliced over creamy vanilla oat custard.

 

 

Gai Lan Soup with Chili Oil

There’s days when it’s too hot to be productive. In Seattle, we don’t get too many of those days but I understand that’s what most of the country feels like right about now. If it’s 105°F  and 95% humidity, then honey, cut yourself a break and have a bowl of watermelon for dinner! With a chunk of salty feta and a crisp glass of chardonnay? Sounds like perfect non-productive hot day food to me.

Today however, is not one of those days (in Seattle at least). It’s doin’ its late August thing out here; sunny and in the upper 70’s, quite pleasant really. It’s about dinner time and while you’re hungry, you don’t really feel like a heavy meal. Today is a summer soup day. No, not hearty minestrone or soothing lentil stew, something more along the lines of a smooth and savory vegetable concoction with bright flavors and light body.

Barley & Beet Green Slaw with Nectarines

Some of the best things in life only happen once a year. The arrival of artichokes in the spring, peaches in the summer, satsumas in the fall and my grandma’s cookies in the winter (hey, I don’t eat just produce) are some of the annual events that I look forward to just as much as Halloween and Thanksgiving, if not more.

Okinawan Sweet Potato Tart with Chocolate Shortbread Crust

There’s no denying it: this tart is purple. It’s not lavender or rose, it’s purple. The color didn’t come from a little dropper bottle or baggie of magic powder, it came from purple potatoes. To be specific, Okinawan sweet potatoes.

After seeing the little Chinese grannies at HT Market buying gai lan (good choice) and garlic chives (even better choice), I knew that they couldn’t be wrong about the “Hawaiian sweet potatoes”, or imo (in Japanese). Those ladies know what they are doing! Sometimes I work up the courage to ask them how to cook something (“stir-fry with a little oyster sauce”). Sometimes I just put the strange looking fruit/vegetable into my basket and go about my business.

Fresh Turmeric Carrot Soup

My first thought for the past six months when starting to write a blog post is inevitably some sort of apology for not having written a post in so long. But as a reader, you’re probably here for the creative recipes and juicy pictures, not apologies. So from now on, I promise to give you nothing less than cooking from my heart to yours, without the accompanying explanations of work and family obligations that encompass life as an adult. Fair enough?

This recipe is just about as simple as it gets. A fine example of cooking where the flavor of the end product is a direct result of the freshness of ingredients; buttery orange carrots and bright turmeric are sweated with garlic and onions, then simmered in broth until tender and pureed until silky smooth. The sweet and mild carrots are only enhanced, rather than overpowered, by the earthy, spicy fresh turmeric. Don’t be alarmed by the generous amount of turmeric either, it yields a perfectly seasoned soup that is delicious hot or chilled.

Coconut Kale Berry Smoothie

Don’t be turned off by the somewhat…dull color of this smoothie. It may not be bright orange or red like the smoothies at the mall, but what it lacks in color it makes up in creamy flavor and superior nutrition.

It’s just what the doctor ordered. Literally; I got my tonsils taken out last week and while I can finally choke down real food, smoothies like this are what have sustained me for the last 11 days (along with a certain best friend who created a color coded medication timesheet and woke me up every four hours to ensure I was getting what I needed). What I thought would be a totally quick and easy little procedure turned out to be a painfully slow and tortuous recovery. I won’t go into the gory details, but I can guarantee you it wasn’t pretty. Kinda like this smoothie.

Spaghetti Squash Fritters with Scallion Cilantro Sauce

I love the holiday season. The lights, the decorations, the music, especially that tangible feeling of excitement in the air (even if it’s just for a few days off work); lazy days with family and friends spent eating homemade croissants and mango mimosas, dark Norwegian goat cheese and fluffy kringla, St. Germaine cocktails and tender braised short-ribs (you enjoyed all those things too, right?). And now this leisurely slow week in between, where New Year’s Eve festivities are being planned and resolutions devised.

As if slivers of leftover chocolate tart and my grandma’s walnut fudge aren’t pleasure enough, I’ve been enjoying thumbing through At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, a gift from my brother. The book is perfect for anyone looking to get to know Indian home-cooking from one of the topics' most well-respected authorities.  

Especially intriguing are her vegetable preparations. From Kashmiri-style collard greens and sweet and sour butternut squash, to Sri Lankan White Zucchini Curry to the dozen dal (bean, legume and lentil dishes). I haven’t had a chance to make any of the mouthwatering recipes from the book yet, but the other day I did make some lightly spiced, spaghetti squash fritters that I think Ms. Jaffrey would approve of.

Butternut Squash Gingerbread

Good thing The Salivating Seattleite isn’t my fiancé, because I totally forgot it was my 1^st blogiversary! I know, that’s pretty bad. There are no excuses, just that I’ve been busy enjoying life. I started this blog one year ago because quite honestly, I wasn’t enjoying much of anything. My mom had just passed away; I was searching for a job after college graduation and adjusting to life back in my hometown, Seattle. I had high hopes that posting my own recipes and pictures on this site would distract me enough to rekindle my love of writing and food and get me through an awfully hard chapter of my life.

One year later and life isn’t perfect, but it feels much more fulfilling these days. I somehow managed to snag a handsome and intelligent man, a sweet step-son, and my dream job as a Culinologist/food scientist/nutritionist (culinology: the blending of food science, culinary arts and food technology) aka I get paid to play with food!

Pomegranate Glazed Pork Chops

They say this season is all about hope. Hope for snow. Hope for Santa to be generous. Hope for world peace. I want all those things, especially snow; last year we tied a sled to the back of Ameen’s truck and took turns swinging each other around in a huge icy parking lot. Nothing like being flung off a plastic sled onto icy asphalt to make you feel like a kid again! But today I got what I hope for just about every dreary winter Seattle day: sunshine.

It was a gorgeously crisp fall (it’s still fall, right?) day. I had planned on making a big batch of stew for the week and curling up with a good book, and although it was cold, it just wasn’t one of those days. It was a fine grillin’ day.

Rye Waffles with Chokecherry Syrup

Like rainy days and Christmas songs, rye bread is one of those things that you either like or you don’t. I definitely fall into the first camp, although in a couple weeks I might start complaining about those first two. I like rye; heck, I can’t think many breakfasts more enjoyable than a dark, toasty pumpernickel bagel spread with cream cheese and lox (and that’s saying a lot, because breakfast is my favorite meal!). But I haven’t gotten to know rye as well as I know say, whole wheat flour or cornmeal.

Beyond traditional caraway-flecked rye bread, I haven’t done much experimenting with whole rye berries, rolled rye (like oatmeal), or rye flour. And from what I’ve read, it sounds like I should. A good source of fiber and minerals, rye has been shown to promote weight loss and satiety, in addition to preventing and fighting diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Healthy benefits aside, there’s something intriguing about the flavor of rye; subtly sweet and toasty, earthy even.

After making an awesome rye version of Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread for Thanksgiving, I was inspired to continue experimenting with rye at my favorite meal.Rye waffles. Sound weird? Hear me out: the dark, slightly sweet and complex flavor of a good pumpernickel bread but in waffle format. You could go savory with a topping of chive scrambled eggs and crème fraîche or sweet with kirsch flambéed cherries and whipped cream. Rye doesn’t sound so boring now, does it?

Lentil Stew with Pomegranate

Nothing says autumn like the sound of sniffly noses, hacking coughs and snot-shooting sneezes. Well, they do! So do roasted apples and pumpkin lattes, chanterelle mushrooms and Brussels sprout stalks. But when you feel as crappy as I have the last week (see aforementioned sounds), when you are so sick that you cannot brave the hail and the thunder and sideways rain to get to the store to ‘ooh and ahh’ at the season’s latest offerings, you make soup.

Which is exactly what I proceeded to do yesterday. Opening the produce drawer in my refrigerator didn’t elicit any immediate inspiration….an old cabbage quarter, someone’s forgotten lunch, some picked over pomegranates from a photo shoot at work….so I started rummaging through the cupboards…brown lentils... pomegranate molasses! I was onto something: lentil and vegetable stew with pomegranates.