Spring has sprung here in Baltimore. Whee!
And after a leisurely spring break, I’m ready to kick butt. I’ll be back later with some recipes. 🙂
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Big Avocado
A couple weekends ago, I found this:
That is an extra-large egg next to the avocado!
It was labeled as a California Avocado, but according to to avocado.org there are several other varieties. The one that seemed to match was the “Bacon” variety. According to the description, the seed should be large and the flavor should be mild. The avocado, true to the online description, had a giant seed.
And the flavor was mild. I made a quick little spread of the avocado (and it made a large bowl!) with a little tomato, cumin, and a diced shallot. It was absolutely delicious!
I couldn’t eat it all, so I ended up throwing half of it away the next morning when it had turned to gray mush. But it occured to me that I didn’t know any other recipes for avocado…. what does one do with lots of avocado?
Gewürztraminer
I first tried Gewürztraminer about 2 years ago, when I had no idea what kind of grape it was, let alone how to pronounce it. My mother, older sister, and I opened a bottle and finished the entire thing before we had finished cooking dinner. We loved it!! I immediately ran out to procure another bottle, but unfortunately the liquor store had closed 3 minutes before I had arrived!
Well, the first bottle I had was a Chateu Ste. Michelle Gewurztraminer. It reminds me of ripe green pears. Generally, Gewürztraminer is a sweeter wine, but unlike Riesling Gewürztraminer is not overly sweet. Some I have tasted are dry but retain that enticing aroma that is reminiscent of exotic fruit.
When my mother visited, I picked up this bottle of Gewürztraminer for us to try. The bottle was a cheerful yellow, and the price was reasonable ($10, I think). I didn’t love it like the Chateau Ste. Michelle, but it was bright and the flavor was clean. It’s an easy wine to sip and enjoy with a some friends. Not the worst, but it isn’t my favorite either. Will I buy it again? Yes, if I have my girl-friends visiting and we’re just toasting the end of the week.
Links to Click
Pea Shoots
I wake up every morning and the first thing I normally see is my dog. Normally she’s perched on her little chair staring me down, but sometimes she’s doing funny things. Like sleeping on my bed… in this position
Seriously, how can you not wake up laughing?
Anyway, a couple weeks ago I found pea shoots at the local market and I loved them. I went back this weekend to purchase some more, because I was so enamored with the flavor, but I had no such luck. Regardless, the first go around with the pea shoots was simple preparation.
After rinsing the shoots, I tossed them with just a bit of sesame oil and garlic over high heat. Just as the shoots wilted, I’d add them to my meal. The flavor is similar to spinach, but it’s heartier and has a bit more crunch. I loved the simple prep and the fresh flavor. So, if you do see pea shoots – I highly recommend them!
Cupcake Brownies
I love anything chocolate. But… brownies? Those must be perfect or I’d rather eat something else. They have to have the right amount of chewiness, the perfect plush and decadent centers, and the perfect crust on top that shatters as you eat.
I know some people claim to have these amazing cocoa brownies – but after trying all of the recipes I have decided that there is NO such thing as good cocoa brownies. You just don’t get all of the texture and delicious brownie essence. Plus, I’m tired of trying cocoa brownie recipes that end up being huge failures and wasting decent ingredients in the pursuit of cocoa brownie nirvana.
I make my brownies in mini cupcake tins, so I pretend I’m only going to eat 2 at a time, and not the whole pan. These brownies are easy and just enough to make a sheet of mini cupcakes – no pesky teaspoons of batter left to worry about. I don’t use muffin tins because I think it’s blasphemy not to get that chewy exterior, but if you don’t want to worry about prying your brownies out of the tin – then that might be the best way to go.
Kaprise Kitchen’s Chewy Brownies
- 8 tablespoons of butter, unsalted
- 1 cup of dark chocolate chips, plus 1 tablespoon of chips
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1/3 cup of flour
- 2/3 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
- In a heatproof bowl, melt the butter and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Allow the chocolate/butter to cool for 20 minutes
- Whisk in the two eggs until smooth
- Stir in sugar and vanilla, it’s okay if your batter is a little grainy looking
- And gently stir in the flour until completely incorporated
- Fill muffin tin and bake brownies at 325 for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the side of the brownie cleanly.
- Cool and enjoy.
🙂
Pesto, Brisket and all things Good
My paper was submitted last night and today? Today was amazing.
I went to buy a suit, and not only did I find that was suitably conservative and girlie (yes… there are little ruffles!) but it was on sale…. super sale. So $85 later, I hooked a pair of $10 sunglasses in the teen department of Nordstrom and headed to the supermarket.
I snagged some of those awesome raw chickpeas again, and a rosy red 2 pound slab of brisket. In addition to the plethora of greens, interesting vegetables, and some fruit. I got home at 3, but have spend the last couple hours sorting through everything and mushing my basil into pesto. Almond Pesto. (I also rubbed my brisket with some chili, cumin and pepper… peeled my chickpeas, cleaned my apartment, and marinated some kick-ass chicken)
I don’t have pictures yet, but here is my recipe
Almond Pesto (the Kaprise Kitchen way)
- 1/2 cup of roasted almonds
- 1/2 cup of shelled edamame (I like the extra texture this gives my pesto)
- 1/2 cup of good olive oil
- 1 medium bunch of basil
- 1 small bunch of parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbl of minced garlic
I throw everything into the blender/food processor and whizz until creamy. I add a little more oil and salt as needed.
Notes:
- I make big batches of pesto and store them in the freezer. I spoon about 1/3 of a cup into mini plastic bags and seal the air out. Then I stack them neatly and freeze. This way, whenever I want some pesto, I just grab a little bag and let it de-frost on the counter while my pasta boils and then just toss it with the hot pasta.
Seared Mushrooms
I was always a picky eater. Finicky too. Even if I liked something, if I wasn’t in the mood, I refused to eat it. My aunt tells me that the only thing she remembers me consistently consuming was orange juice. Anyway, despite my finicky eating, I did like vegetables. I like spinach and green beans, and I loved picking tomatoes out of the garden and eating them during the summer. I liked broccoli with cheese. I don’t remember if I liked mushrooms… but I love them now. I put them in my soup, on my pizza, and sometimes? I just eat them!
A friend told me he dislikes mushrooms because the texture and squish they make in his mouth. Understandable! But, I wonder if I made him mushrooms if he would eat them. I steam them with some wine, and then with a little pat of butter I sear the mushrooms until they develop a delicious golden brown sear. They are a little crisp, chewy and juicy on the inside. Maybe it’s just because I inherently like mushrooms, but they are delicious!
Seared Mushroom (the Kaprise Kitchen way)
- 12 white button mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup of dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- In a non-stick pan, add the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt to release the moisture in the mushrooms.
- Once the pan is hot, add the wine and stir, letting the mushrooms bubble in the wine
- Cook over high head until the liquid has been evaporated
- Stir in the butter, and let the mushroom sear for 3 or 4 minutes per side.
- Serve hot! You can sprinkle chives or a little bit of pepper if you’d like.
Fresh Chickpeas
I woke up on Friday with a horrible cold, but one of my dear friends took me to the Korean supermarket to perk me up. Nothing like spending a little money and buying food to cheer me up!
I bought a plethora of my favorite things (recipes for those to come soon), but I spotted these in the produce section. Fresh chickpeas! I walked by the first time, but I couldn’t resist buying one bag because I needed to know what those mushy little yellow things from the can look like in real life.
This little bag was only $2.56 and I got about two cups of chickpeas, once I had shelled the whole bunch. The little shells are velvety on the outside and shiny smooth on the inside. The chickpeas come in one or two per pod and vary in size. Raw they taste similar to raw green beans and have a delicious crunch. I haven’t tried cooking them yet, but I’ll update you on what they taste like then.
🙂
Arugula, Clam, Corn and Tomato Pasta
What a mouthful to say! But even more delicious!
As a kid growing up, I loved snowstorms. There was something beautiful about the quiet silence that descended after the lush blanket of white snow had just wrapped itself around everything. Snow days in particular were wonderful, you’d wake up with the bright sun shining through the window but know that the beautiful white wall of snow was keeping you home with your mom. My mom once told me that she loved snow days as much as we did, because she got to spend a little extra time with us. My mom would make us delicious breakfasts and in the deepest snows would take us on adventures. Once we went sledding down a huge abandoned ski slope, and another time we went to McDonald’s and sat warming our feet on the car heater eating french fries and ice cream. So, it’s no wonder that I have a wonderfully soft spot for snowstorms and snow days.
Today, after 5 inches of slushy snow descended on the city, my classes were canceled. (Yesterday’s too after 1 inch of snow!) I’ve realized that in this part of the country… snow is considered an apocalyptic event. I went to undergrad where classes were canceled once (and that was because nearly FOUR FEET of snow fell in a single night), so I laugh a little whenever I get a snow day and there are mere inches of snow on the ground.
Since there is snow on the ground and people are swarming the grocery stores, I stayed home with my little muchkin and made a pasta of what I had on hand.
Arugula, Clam, Corn and Tomato Pasta (Snowy day pasta!), Kaprise Kitchen Original
- 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pasta shells
- 2 handful of baby arugula
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 1/4 cup of canned clams
- 1/4 cup of frozen sweet corn
- 1/2 cup of sliced grape tomatoes
- 1/2 cup of white wine (preferably dry)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon of basil
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- 1 dash of Worchestire sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- This makes enough for 2 people
- Boil salted water and cook pasta until al dente
- In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil and saute the onions until lightly brown
- Add the tomatoes and corn, and stir until the moisture has been released from the tomatoes
- Add the white wine, basil, nutmeg, red pepper and Worchestire sauce and heat until bubbly
- Add the clams and simmer for 2 minutes
- Remove the sauce from the heat and quickly stir in the minced garlic
- Drain your pasta and divide into two bowls
- Top the hot pasta with a handful of arugula and then top with a heart scoop of the sauce
This recipe from start to finish took me less than 15 minutes and I ate the piping hot pasta sitting on my windowsill with some warm tea.
Notes on this recipe
- Baby spinach, steamed kale or any other green would be great in this pasta – I personally like the peppery taste of the arugula more than the sweeter and milder greens at the market now
- I added a sprinkle of Parmesan because I do not pepper or salt my food, but feel free to add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the sauce for some oomph in addition to some cheese
- I used a very dry Mediterranean house wine for the sauce, but feel free to use a sweeter wine with spinach so the acidity doesn’t over power the greens.
Butternut Squash and Onion Gratin
The first time I made gratin, it was a potato gratin. It was layered with gruyere, potatoes and heavy cream. Needless to say, as a measly 8th grader, I was horrified by the smell of the gruyere baking for 3 hours. The entire house smelled pungently of cheese, and I refused to taste the finished dish because to my unsophisticated nose the gratin smelled… ugh! My mother assured me that it was delicious, but I was certain my mom would think anything I made was delicious so I didn’t believe her.
Since, I tried a variety of different gratins, using more or less cream and different types of cheese. I’ve grown to like the delicate layers of vegetables baked until meltingly tender and delicious with a golden crust of cheese. However, my rapidly increasing sized bottom multiplied by the long hours I spend in the library have lead me to believe that a decrease in cheese and cream is necessary. So I developed a lighter and slightly sweeter gratin that uses just enough cream to keep it together and just enough cheese to get a golden crust.
Butternut Squash and Onion Gratin
- 1 small butternut squash; halved, seeded, and thinly sliced
- 1 sweet onion; halved and sliced thinly
- 1 small bunch of fresh parsley; fined chopped (you may use basil, tarragon, or any other blend of herbs)
- 1 tablespoon of butter, melted and cooled
- 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard
- 1 cup of finely shredded Parmesan cheese (or any dry, hard cheese that you like)
- Butter baking dish. I used two nested Le Creuset stoneware, one that is 4 by 9 and the other is probably 3 by6.
- Whisk cream, salt, mustard, and parsley together
- Lay discs of butternut squash flat on the bottom of the dish
- Then alternate butternut squash and slices of onion
- Using a small spoon, spoon the cream and parsley over the layers and top with cheese
- Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until bubbly and delicious
(My final product, obviously, is over baked. I got wrapped up in cleaning my apartment and forgot to check on my gratin. It was still delicious, but I recommend baking with a timer to avoid my mishap)
Kaprise! 
