FOUR 30 Minute Meals and Some Pro-Tips

If my lack of posting on the blog is any indication, my life has changed dramatically since starting work at the firm. Machiko and I wake up around 5:30/6, go on a walk/hike with Sophie, make tea, smoothies and breakfasts, and I'm out the door at 7:10 to make it court. On non-court days, I get to take a longer hike with them and maybe catch a couple of minutes of my podcasts, before heading out. I work, come home, walk Sophie for another 45 minutes and start prepping dinner.

(Writing that, I've suddenly become acutely aware of how boring my life is.) The system Machiko and Evan and I have worked out is pretty great. Essentially, we split grocery shopping with Machiko picking up produce (potatoes - sweet and yukon, kale, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and anything on sale lol) and interesting protein options (i.e. beef bones, pork belly) and Evan getting the trader joes staples (cheeses, wines, sweets and dough) and me picking up the specialty items day-of when I figure out what I'm going to make us. We try to eat only organic and lean toward lighter meals, although the recipes below feature lots of protein :)

So I come home, make dinner and Machiko and Evan do the cleanup. Boom. This is all memorialized in my Instagram posts. Since we started this, quite a few people have asked how I come home and manage to cook dinner for the three of us, especially considering the time it takes to prep, cook and execute a meal. 

In reality, it takes about 20-30 mins to complete the following meals (not including cooking time). Part of this is that I've planned the menu ahead of time, my kitchen is clean and organized, I know how to slice and dice quickly, and I almost never follow recipes (they take too much time.) I have to thank my mom for the fooducation. We never ate processed foods growing up and rarely got take out, so cooking is just obvious to me. Like brushing my teeth or making coffee. 

You just learn along the way what flavors go together, how long to cook certain types of food, etc. Of course, one always has failures. For instance, last night I tried to make a guava serrano chile sauce for my tilapia. It was AWFUL. Like disgusting. Like Evan had to immediately throw away the barf-inducing contents. I'd never prepared guavas like that (softened with onion and garlic) and apparently, you cannot do that. But the rest of the meal consisted of easy staples - quinoa (cooked in organic chicken broth) and roasted sweet potatoes, Bar Ama style alongside the coconut crusted tilapia.

Although I usually post recipes separately, I thought I'd do a roundup of the best meals we've had in the last couple of weeks where there was a special something elevating the meal from basic to luxurious. 

MEAL 1: Coconut Crusted Tilapia with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Seasoned Quinoa.

Coconut Crusted Tilapia:

- Get fresh deboned tilapia fillets (We like the fish at Gelsons)

- Rinse and pat dry

- Prepare three flat plates with a lip.

- In the first, put in a 1/3 cup all purpose flour with a heavy dose of pepper and paprika

- In the second, whisk up two eggs

- In the last, mix 1/3 cup flour with a 1/3 unsweetened coconut flakes.

- Take a fillet, coat in flour, then dip in the egg, and then coat in the coconut mixture

- PRO-TIP: use tongs, bc it gets gummy; also just flip the fillets in the mixtures rather than spooning the mix on top.

- Do for all the fillets

- Heat up your choice of oil in a pan on medium (preferably one with a higher smoking point.)

- Once oil is hot, meaning you should hear a strong sizzle when you place the fillet in, place fillet in middle of the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, until each side is golden brown. 

- Fish should be flaky and butter

- Serve with a sprinkle of salt and cilantro and a wedge of lime.

MEAL 2:  Cast Iron Skillet Burrata Pizza with Balsamic Onion Jam, Fresh Basil, and Roma Tomatoes on a Garlic Herb Crust

Balsamic Onion Jam:
* I get tired of tomato sauce on my pizza, so I whipped up some really quick onion jam to use at the base sauce.
- Take one big white onion and thinly slice
- Sautee onion in olive oil on medium until wilted and translucent - around 5-7 minutes
- Pour in a couple of tablespoons of balsamic (we used one flavored with elderberry)
- Cover, lower heat, and let cook down for 20 minutes
- You may have uncover and let the liquid cook off so its more jammy and easy to spread on the crust
- Use this as a spread over the unbaked pizza crust and cover with toppings

Meal 3: Ribeye Steak with a Green Salad, Parmesean Mashed Potatoes and a Veggie mix of Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Garlic and Onions

 Parmesan Mashed Potatoes:
*To be honest, I'm not a meat and potatoes girl, but I was craving comfort food and so I whipped this up.
- Take four big potatoes, peel and quarter
- Boil until you can poke them with a fork
- Drain and mash
- Add 1/2 cup grated parm, 1/4 cup heavy cream and olive oil and mix up. You can add more oil or cream to get the consistency you like
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Chop up some italian parsley and mix in before serving.

MEAL 4: Honey Whisky Pork Ribs Served with an Avocado Green Salad with Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette and Roasted Beets and Sweet Potatoes 

Honey Whiskey Pork Ribs:
* This was a bit of a cheat. Generally I cook ribs for 3-4 hours in a dutch oven until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. But I'm in a time crunch in the evenings, so I stole my mom's Nuwave and whipped these up in less than 40 minutes (INCLUDING COOK TIME).
- Rinse and pat dry pork ribs (always do this with protein to freshen the taste).
- Rub in salt and pepper and family spice blend (cumin, cayenne, garlic, ginger, etc).
- Douse with your BBQ sauce (I used a generic honey whisky base sauce, then added soy sauce, (more) honey, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper since we had those things on hand and not much else).
- Place in NuWave, drop on a bit more sauce over top.
- On high heat, roast for 12 minutes
- Turn over and roast for another 12 minutes
- Serve with BBQ sauce
- PRO TIP: If you do have a NuWave, put chopped peeled beets and sweet potatoes in the drip pan so that the pork juices and sauce flavor the veg - two dishes in one!

I Made the Best Meal of My Life

Like seriously.

I made a lemon-provence roast chicken, beet and apple salad with goat cheese mousse, caramelized onions and green beans, and freshly baked baguettes. And everything was surprisingly simple!

 I've been on this French kick for a bit. Reading all the French fashion blogs, dreaming about an apartment in Paris, and imagining Sophie prancing around cobblestone streets in a designer leather collar. Clearly, I need some help. With my new library card (like omg I haven't had one since 2000), I checked out Rachel Khoo's "My Little Paris Kitchen" and got to work. I had to do a bit of modifying, because of Jason's vegetarian tendencies (so bacon was out, damn him) and my mom was against turning on the oven in 85 degree heat. So how did I do it? The secrets are below:

Lemon/Herbs de Provence Roast Chicken:

- quality, organic, roast chicken -> rinse and pat dry
- make compound butter: 3-4 tablespoons butter (preferably organic), sea salt, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, and a hearty helping of herbs de provence. (Save some for the green beans).
- cut slits into chicken chicken and throw in pats of butters
- put salt and pepper in the cavity with leftover lemon remains
- then rub salt and pepper and herbs into skin
- let sit for an hour
- THE SECRET: the NuWave oven. Put chicken breast side down, and cook for 15 mins on high. Turn over and cook for 20 mins on high. Make sure juices run clear, then let rest for ten mins before serving.

Beet and Apple Salad with Goat Cheese Mousse:
- Goat Cheese mousse: 3.5 oz herbed goat cheese softened and blent with 2-3 tbsp milk until smooth; should be like pancake batter. Whip up 3-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks. Fold milk mixture into whipping cream. Put in sandwich bag and chill in fridge until ready to use.
- roast a big beet (peeled and chopped) with salt, pepper and olive oil; let cool
- chop dessert apple
- throw those two ingredients with a herb salad
- make a vinaigrette [blend one clove garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and one heavy tbsp of whole grain Dijon)
- drizzle that over salad
- Take out sandwich bag, clip off corner, and make little goat cheese poufs on salad.

Green Beans and Caramelized Onions:
- blanch a couple of cups of green beans (boiling water 2-3 minutes, ice water bath)
- caramelize an onion in olive oil
- throw in green beans
- THE SECRET: throw in compound butter from the chicken
- cook for about 15 minutes until flavors have melted into each other

French bread:
I did this recipe, but made smaller baguettes. THE SECRET: Then I threw it into our mini toaster over, for about 18 minutes. Everyone got a baby baguette (even Sophie)!



Overall, the meal was AMAZING, despite the fact I burned myself on a baguette. The flavors were so light. I realized that I tend to rely heavily on garlic as my flavor base. It was refreshing to have these light and delicate fragrances, which were new to my cooking, with our traditional Sunday roast. Most definitely making all these things again.

Spring Supper: Brown Butter, Caramelized Shallots and Goat Cheese Pasta; Grilled Artichokes; Kale Salad and Lavender-Lemon Souffle

My weekend deserves a fuller update than the brief/non existent one I am about to do, but I've been procrastinating studying for Trusts and Wills by rearranging my room, watching SVU, and doing laundry. 

I have been a bit daring though, mostly in the cooking and driving with my gas light on for longer than 10 seconds. But I also wore a crop top on Friday, like omg what? And been trying out more difficult recipes.

Last week, I made dinner for Casey, Anthony and Evan. I tried out an amazing pasta recipe, which initially I thought would be rather standard. UM NO. So delicious, I want to make it again and again. (Maybe tonight :) ). The kale salad was grapefruit, apple, avocado with a balsamic dressing. 

The grilled artichoke was a hit. 

The how-to:

- get fresh small artichoke

-cut in half lengthwise

-keep in lemon water to keep from browning until ready cook

- par boil for 5-7 mins until tender

-drain

-then lather with garlic olive oil and grill on high heat until sear marks appear

-serve with lemon-garlic aioli (homemade of course)

The PASTA (recipe adapted from here):

- cook a pound of fusilli or penne

-slice three shallots and sauté in olive oil for 5 mins until tender

-add a tablespoon of brown sugar and allow to cook for ten mins until caramelized (keep stirring)

-once that is browned, throw in 12 oz of baby spinach and wilt in the pan

-in another saucepan, melt two to three table spoons of butter and simmer until butter is browned

-once butter is browned, throw in a teaspoon of minced garlic; allow garlic to cook in brown butter, but off the heat. 

-throw mixtures into pasta and add as much crumbled goat cheese as your heart desires

-I also threw in a few roasted cherry tomatoes

Lavender-Lemon Soufflé: I stole this recipe and will most definitely be using it again.

I am looking forward to more recipes but also revamping my blog posting a bit. I need some more structure and a stronger voice. 

xx

Channa Masala + Kale Salad (Almosttttt Vegan)

So I had a relaxing weekend at home... working... and getting my car repaired. Apparently, having brake pads are like important or something. Whatever, now I'm poor. So in making dinner for Grant, Scott, Brooke, Ivana, Chris and Issac, I essentially had to raid my mom's pantry and MacGyver something delicious and healthy. With contributions of an avocado, two blood oranges, feta and naan, plus my stolen goods and mom's amazing recipes, I made Channa Masala and a grapefruit kale salad.

Channa Masala:
(ingredients: onion, green chile, garlic, chile powder, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, garbanzo beans, potatoes, tomatoes.)


Chop up one onion, three cloves of garlic, two quarter sized pieces of ginger and a green chile. Sautee until translucent in three tablespoons of veggie oil.

I added two chopped potatoes to make a little extra as well as three chopped tomatoes (vine ripened please).

Add 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 tsp turmeric, 3/4 chile powder.

Throw in three cans of rinsed garbanzo beans.

Add a cup of water.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for a half hour. Add some salt.

Serve with warm naan.

Kale Salad:
(ingredients: avocado, balsamic, grapefruit, blood orange, lemons, olive oil, salt, pepper, kale, feta)

Massage juice of lemons in a few bunches of kale.

Segment up some blood oranges and grapefruit. Throw into salad.

Mash up avo with EVOO and balsamic, salt, pepper and vinegar (vegan creamy dressing, mofos)

Throw on salad with some feta (if you want some cheese or just add a little extra salt instead)

Serve.

Addicted. The Bread and Bacon Edition.

So now that I'm obsessed with baking French bread, (I've made six loaves in the last week), I've been experimenting with other things.

Last night, I made orange marmalade to go with fresh warm bread in honor of Mr. Breadman aka Grant Hartwell's visit. Just as I was nervous about baking, I've also been nervous about making jams/preserves, etc. But following through with some personal goals, I used a simple recipe and was quite happy with the results.

Orange Marmalade:
5 small oranges, cut in half, sliced thinly.
4 cups of water
2 cups sugar
roughly a teaspoon of cinnamon

I used a heavy pot and threw in the orange slices and water and brought to a boil. Boil until the fruit is tender. (If I could break the peel with the wooden spoon, it was pretty good.) Add sugar and cin, lower heat and stir until you get the consistency you're looking for. This took about 25 mins. Cool and spread generously on warm bread with butter.

This morning, Arianna and I took Sophie hiking and stopped by Highland Cafe for lattes. I drooled over someone's French toast and then realized I had leftover bread from last night. Done and Done.



Almond and Cinnamon French Toast
Egg mixture:
1 egg
Dash of milk
Cinn
Dash of almond extract

Stir up the egg mixture, heat up pan with a bit of veg oil. Slice French bread thinly and coat with egg mixture.
On medium heat, cook toast until golden brown on both sides. I threw on some sliced banana and some maple syrup for a quick breakfast.

But just in case you aren't in a sweets mood, I also made a legit "salad."

Warmed Winter Bacon Salad
Package of bacon
Two sweet potatoes
Package of shaved Brussels
Half of a red onion
Half package of Kale
a few oz of goat cheese
apple cider vinegar
salt/pepper to taste

This isn't healthy, but don't judge because you'll love it. (You can judge the fact we ate this with Scott's hot wings; my body is still recovering.)

Fry up bacon. Once crispy, throw in chopped and peeled sweet potato. Fry up till sweet potato is tender. Throwing in kale, cook until tender. Then throw in red onion and kale. Stir up, cook until tender. Add salt, pepper, and about a tablespoon or two of vinegar. Then stir in crumbled goat cheese. Inhale.

I'm getting back into my cooking mode, thank god. I just need to aim toward more healthy. But that'll be another post.

In other news, we did have a small house fire this past weekend. Everyone is okay but it was terrifying. Arianna and I were home when it happened and thank god for her sensitive nose and quick instincts. Because of the incident and for other reasons, I am bidding the Fig House adieu and headed toward a new place (at least temporarily) in... ATWATER! Its an adorable neighborhood with generous and amazing people. I am so excited to be a part of their community although I will miss the Fig House (even though I'll probably be dropping in a bit.)

Party Weekend

Post-Tuesday, I decided to relax (aka go to sleep at an appropriate hour, drink more water than other beverages, and eat spinach.) But by Friday, that was a bit old. Cue Matheus, the most amazing social calendar/planner ever.

Friday: We headed over to our friend Pelayo's with Pablo and Almaz and a ton of other people for wine and crisps before heading to this, uh, interesting dance spot. We ended up doing karaoke to the wee hours and I got home approximately 4am. 

Saturday: I slept in and watched documentaries until Matheus, Almaz and Pablo came home and we did sushi delivery (they need to bring this to LA) and watched Horrible Bosses. Matheus and I also had a spirited discussion about gender relations but I won't go into it :)

Sunday: We woke up at then normal 1pm and then headed to the Parvis for a Moroccan/Italian brunch with Pablo. We then headed over to Matheus' great-aunt's house, who I utterly adore and discussed mythology, Italian and American politics and the joys of cognac. Pablo, Matheus and I met up with Almaz back in the parvis for a drink before heading to Pelayo's for a lovely fish dinner (3 courses!) prepared by Chef Andrea with help from everyone. We had fried something or other with homemade mayonnaise, octopus salad, and then some delicious, huge white fish in the courtyard with veg, melon and bread. It was so lovely and relaxing and sweet. I am so grateful to have met everyone. They are so warm and funny and interesting. I feel as though I've been in Brussels for longer than three weeks because I feel as if I've known everyone for ages.

This week, however, I am off to The Hague and Amsterdam. The blog will be a bit quiet but have a lovely week!

xx

Domestic Goddess: Kale-Butternut Squash Salad + Lavender Lemon Cake

In effort to avoid law school, yesterday was a day of relaxation and creativity. I did Bikram in the morning with Kat followed by iced mate and earl grey tea. Then I came home, did some laundry, went to Lowe's to pick up some lavender and potting soil (for my mom.) And then embarked on some new recipes I've been wanting to try.

Last night's menu:

Roasted Butternut Squash with Wilted Kale Salad
Spicy Pork Ribs (my own recipe - see below)
Lavender Lemon Cake (my own recipe - see below)

So, not going to lie, I was impressed with myself. I love cooking and baking, but sometimes I get a little rushed bc I'm so type A and things don't turn out to my standards. However, last night was a win.

Today, I went to yoga, had a wonderful brunch with Kat (my mom made us a spinach goat cheese egg souffle) and I've been doing a little reading here and there :-)

Pork Ribs "Recipe" - there isn't really a recipe, I lied. Generally, buy pork ribs. Salt and pepper them, wrap in tin foil, and roast at 250 for an hour and a half. Then baste with a sauce - I improvised a jamaican jerk recipe. And bake at 400 for another half an hour. Yum.

Lavender Lemon Cake:

I bought my lavender plants yesterday and was eager to use it. So I looked up a few lavender recipes and crafted this one from my mom's poundcake recipe.

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 sprigs fresh lavender buds (just the flower bits and remove them from the stem)
• 2/3 cups milk
• whipping cream
• For glaze: juice of one lemon and a few tablespoons of confectioner's sugar.

I blended the lavender, lemon zest and juice, vanilla, and sugar first, so it was a smooth sort of paste. Then I sifted the dry ingredients, add the milk and eggs, and stirred in the paste. I poured the batter in a loaf pan. Baked at 350 for about 50 mins.

While that was going on, I juiced half a lemon and added that and confectioner's sugar to the blender I had processed the lavender in. Mixed it all up and created a glaze, which I then drizzled over the cooled cake.

Top with fresh whipped cream. Perfect with tea this afternoon and even my brother liked it.