Elsa Macbebekin's Profile

Whew, we had a 12-hour open house yesterday, so there's no cooking this weekend, just enjoying leftovers:
- tacos with pulled pork for the meat-eaters or sauteed mushrooms and chile-seasoned pinto beans for the vegetarians, avocado, tomatoes, onions, scallions, and all the fixin's, including a giant bowl of shredded lettuce. I think dinner tonight will be taco salad.
- little tartlets of brie and red currant jelly in puff pastry (I had a few left over, still frozen and ready to pop into a hot oven)
- herbed yogurt dip with crudites
- black bean dip with cumin
- cheese dip
- kettle corn
- brownies, snickerdoodles, and a stray cupcake or two

So today we can just laze around, tidy up, and finish off the last bit of wine. Happy Saturday!

Tonight: asparagus and pea risotto, creamed spinach, and garlic bread. I'm making extra-large batches of risotto and spinach because this is one of those meals where the leftovers are even better: crispy risotto cakes (with plenty of extra asparagus, a handful of cheese, and an egg beaten in, then pan-fried) and spinach gratin (plenty of creamed spinach, a beaten egg, and a topping of breadcrumbs spiked with smoked paprika). I'm also making a batch of blueberry liqueur: blueberry-infused vodka mixed with some blueberry simple syrup.

Some friends are coming for brunch tomorrow: mushroom quiche, broccoli quiche, potato salad, spinach salad, and pumpkin streusel muffins.

I also keep a baking stone on the lower rack, which is supposed to help regulate/distribute heat evenly.

So do I, but I think the baking stone also affects the preheating; that big slab of stone takes time to get hot, and while that's happening, it sucks in the heat that would otherwise be circulating in the air of the oven. (At least, that's what seems to happen. Does anyone who knows more about thermal energy want to chip in with an explanation or correction?)

We bought a dozen old-school homestyle doughnuts yesterday, so all my other food-related thoughts have been pushed to the margins while I fell into a doughnut dream. Yesterday, I had doughnuts for breakfast and lunch, and only a fear of scurvy drove me to make broccoli in orange sauce for dinner instead of having another doughnut.

For today: Pumpkin streusel muffins (as a thank-you for a friend). Focaccia. Kale & mushroom frittata for dinner, or maybe some simple pasta dish with broccoli. Or maybe a frittata with a side of broccoli pasta, yeah, that sounds like just the ticket.

Well, that was a helpful chance to ruminate!

Like urbanmermaid, I never bake with lard --- not because I think it's unhealthy, not because I have some kneejerk "ick!" reaction to the idea, but because I eat very little meat and I'm often cooking for people proper vegetarians or observe similar dietary restrictions. Slipping a meat product into dessert, where most people wouldn't even think to worry about it, is not for me.

Other than a batch of whole wheat bread (or maybe anadama) and a pitcher of cold-brewed iced coffee, I haven't planned anything for this weekend. But just reading other people's menus jumpstarted my imagination. For dinner, I think I'll make black bean tartlets, which would nicely use up some leftover serrano pepper and a slightly-too-ripe avocado, and maybe a side of spinach with almonds.

My plan is usually to deliver something before the baby is born; first I confirm with the expectant parent(s) that they have room in their freezer, then drop off some dinners in solidly frozen, ready-to-reheat disposable containers.

My SIL and BIL gave raves to the pulled pork sliders I made them: smallish Gladware containers of saucy (onion- and garlic-free, just in case) pulled pork ready to pop in the microwave and a bag of small rolls, just the thing for a midnight snack or a quick dinner. She actually teared up with gratitude when I brought a second batch shortly after the baby was born.

And that's part of my usual plan, too: deliver some food before the birth, then another batch after: another home-made, home-frozen dinner ready to heat, some bagged salad, and usually a quiche and a coffeecake or muffins, also in disposable pans. That way, the exhausted parents have something on hand for breakfast or to offer visiting family and friends.

We eat a lot of frittata, heavy on the vegetables with just a few eggs to bind everything together. Sometimes I add cheese, often I don't. I do usually top the almost-cooked frittata with nuts or sesame seeds and put it under the broiler until it's browned and lovely. Some favorite combinations in our house: spinach and mushroom, asparagus and scallion, potato and olive, caramelized onion and anything at all. Frittatas allow me to make dinner from whatever we have in the house.

I'm also a big fan of savory pastries, whether they're in flaky pastry crust or a bready dough (think 'calzone dough'). Tonight I'm making black bean empanadas: just sauced black beans, cooked until the juiciness reduces, wrapped up in pie crust (made with a sprinkle of cornmeal and a pinch of chili powder mixed into the flour) and baked until they're crispy and golden. Bonus: I make the pastry with shortening and oil so these are vegan; bonus #2: they freeze perfectly unbaked for a short-notice dinner later on. All kinds of fillings take nicely to a pastry crust: beans, roasted squash, spinach or broccoli and onion bound with a bit of egg and maybe some cheese, sauteed mushrooms with cream.

I also love gratins and sort-of-souffles, which gets you away from the problem of bread-based dishes or a steady stream of egg-and-cheese based dishes. A pretty typical dinner for us might be, for example, spinach gratin (spinach in bechamel with an egg beaten in, then baked in a shallow casserole until it's puffed and crispy on top), roasted sweet potatoes or carrots, and a salad, maybe a wedge of cornbread.

Friday: guests for dinner and a movie. We had herbed yogurt dip (well-drained yogurt mixed with this parsley oil and a handful of chives, layered with romesco sauce, served with crackers and crudites. Rum and blood orange punch. (We watched "The Shining," so of course I had to make REDRUM.)

Then a baked potato bar: cheddar, parmesan, caramelized onions, scallions, broccoli, saucy black beans, bacon, sour cream, and plenty of butter. This was a good excuse to put out a few kinds of salt: plain ol' kosher salt, smoked salt, and fleur de sel. For dessert, I put out a dish of store-bought cookies: stroopwafels and little chocolate biscuits.

Tonight: baked stuffed potatoes (to use up the leftover potatoes and toppings), maybe with a vegetable-heavy frittata on the side topped with a dollop of romesco.

To make this weekend: oatmeal bread, almond granola.