De Ma Cuisine

A Cooking Show with Rachel O Archive

Wednesday

24

April 2013

1

COMMENTS

Strawberry-Balsamic Tart – Episode 64

Written by , Posted in A Cooking Show with Rachel O, Abundant Harvest Organics, Appetizers, Baking, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Fruit, Nuts, Roasting, Snacks, This Week's Feast, Vegetarian

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I love to cook. That’s not a secret. I’m better at it than some, much worse than others. I fail and I succeed.

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I made some Fish Tacos the other week. They were a definite fail. But, today, my friends, was a good cooking day because of a little thing called Tart (it might actually be more of a dessert pizza, but I like the word tart, so that’s what I’m calling it).

It surprised me with it’s deliciousness. I love surprises. But, usually culinary ones are more along the lines of “Wow! That’s really gross,” or “Darn, the pan with the sauce for today’s main dish fell on the floor”… You know what I mean?

But this tart, this little Strawberry-Balsamic Tart, is the good kind of surprise.

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Strawberries get all melty and soft when they’re roasted. Reduced balsamic vinegar is syrupy and thick. Pizza crust is thin and crispy. Walnuts are slightly toasted and crunchy. Onions are caramely and sweet. And, maybe the most surprising ingredient, black pepper, adds just the right tiny kick of spice.

Be still my heart.

I can’t stop thinking about this tart.

It was love at first bite.

I ate this on its own for lunch… and had a hard time not eating the entire thing by myself. However, should you want to share, I think it would be great alongside a Spinach Salad topped with Shredded Chicken (use leftover Roasted Chicken), Walnuts, and Strawberries. It could be a brunch food – how about with the Spring Frittata I made a few weeks ago?! Or maybe serve it as an appetizer? Why not?! You could also also also serve it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and call it dessert.

Ready? Set. Go!

StrawberryBalsamicTart

Strawberry-Balsamic Tart

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 29 minutes

Total Time: 39 minutes

Yield: 4

Strawberry-Balsamic Tart

Ingredients

  • 1 T butter, divided, melted
  • 1 pint strawberries, hulled, and quartered lengthwise
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 1-2 medium onions, sliced
  • 2 T honey
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
  • 1 pizza crust
  • 1/4 C coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1/4 C raw walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • pinch freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 425F. Melt butter.
  2. In a hot, dry skillet, add onions, honey, and salt. Cook over medium-low for about 15-20 minutes, or until they are caramelized, stirring occasionally.
  3. While onions cook, in a small saucepan, bring vinegar to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until thickened and syrupy, about 12-18 minutes (being careful not to let it burn).
  4. Meanwhile, roll out pizza crust. Par bake for 5 minutes.
  5. Toss strawberries with 1/2 T melted butter and nutmeg.
  6. Brush crust with 1/2 T melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar and press into crust slightly (with a spatula or fingers). Top with onions, walnuts, strawberries, and black pepper. Bake for 7-9 minutes (or according to your pizza dough's recipe instructions), or until crust is done.
  7. Let stand for a few minutes.
  8. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. If you can wait that long, serve at room temperature. If not, I totally understand. 😉
http://www.de-ma-cuisine.com/it-might-be-love-ep64/

Happy Eating!

This episode is sponsored by: Abundant Harvest Organics, Waterfall Creative, Molly Jenson.

Wednesday

17

April 2013

3

COMMENTS

Not Your Average Spinach-Artichoke Dip – Episode 63

Written by , Posted in A Cooking Show with Rachel O, Abundant Harvest Organics, Appetizers, Cheese, Gluten Free, Lunch, Nuts, Potlucks, Sides, Snacks, This Week's Feast, Vegetables, Vegetarian

SpinachArtichokeDip3Today I made dip. It’s not your average Spinach-Artichoke Dip. No way. It’s made with artichokes, walnuts, spinach, and beet greens. There’s a little cheese too. Cheese is always a good addition to dip in my books. I’m totally a fan of creamy dips and sauces. But this time, I exchanged the mayo for balsamic vinegar…

Really, I use the term “dip” loosely. It’s more of a “scoop”, but I don’t know if that works…

If you didn’t blend it, this could be a side dish of wilted greens that you eat with a fork. I’d be ok with that serving option. Or maybe you might want to add some of the water from a pot of cooking pasta and make it into a pasta dish? Be my guest! But, my plan is to scoop it out of a bowl with a cracker or some French bread and call it dinner. Yes, dinner. Or snack, appetizer, lunch, breakfast (alongside a fried egg? Sure, I think so.)…

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I’ll admit that it’s not quite as pretty as one of those creamy Spinach-Artichoke dips. It’s the balsamic that gives it the dark color. Totally worth it.

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Something I didn’t do that I’m regretting: I didn’t add bacon. That would have been a good addition. Great, now not only am I hungry, but I’m hungry for bacon…

Happy Eating!

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 4-6

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 8-10 artichokes (outer leaves, tip, stem, and choke removed), finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1 C walnuts, chopped
  • pinch or two coconut palm sugar (or any sugar)
  • 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
  • 3/4 to 1 t dijon mustard
  • 1/2 t to 1 t salt
  • pepper
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • 3-4 C spinach, torn
  • 3-4 C beet greens, torn
  • 1-2 C cheese, grated (mixture of parmesan and gruyère)
  • crackers, bread, or bagel chips for serving

Instructions

  1. Heat skillet. Add oil. When oil is hot, add artichokes, shallot, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Cook for 3-5 minutes, over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add garlic and walnuts. Cook 2 minutes, over medium heat, stirring often.
  3. Add vinegar and reduce down for 3-4 minutes (or less!).
  4. Stir in dijon. Add beet greens and wilt down for 2 minutes, (to help greens wilt down: using tongs, pick up greens and bits from the bottom and turn over). Add spinach and wilt down for 2 minutes, or until all greens are wilted.
  5. Using the chopper attachment of a hand blender (or a food processor), working in batches (if needed), blend the dip to desired consistency.
  6. Stir in cheese.
  7. Serve topped with a little more cheese.
http://www.de-ma-cuisine.com/better-than-average-ep63/

This episode is sponsored by: Abundant Harvest Organics, Bari Olive Oil, Waterfall Creative, Molly Jenson.

Wednesday

10

April 2013

1

COMMENTS

Today I Learned… – Episode 62

Written by , Posted in A Cooking Show with Rachel O, Abundant Harvest Organics, This Week's Feast, Thoughts

CreamyCauliflowerSoup5Here are some things I learned today that I kinda wish my now self could go back and tell my this morning self:

When your four year old friend, Clara, suggests that you make soup for your show, do it. No hesitations necessary. It will be a good idea.

When the energy saver lightbulb (you know, the kind that contains mercury) breaks, you don’t need to cry. Just go for a walk and let the apartment air out (then clean it up, obviously, in the safe manner that Husband found online).

The smell of garlic cooking and gruyère broiling can make the day just a little bit better.

When there are leftover pieces of toasted bread with melty, crispy, browned gruyère, it is the best idea to put a few layers of rosemary ham between them and call it lunch.

Taking a break from sorting through photos to rearrange your desk counts as work, even though it’s fun.

If you put the funny nose and mustache glasses on the dog and he refuses to knock them off, laugh as much as you need to. He doesn’t mind. He will take them off later and you can tell him he’s a good boy.

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And, it is always a good idea to eat as much soup as possible.

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This soup is the epitome of simple. Butter and olive oil browns. Cauliflower, spring onion, and garlic cook until they’re tender. Homemade stock is added. Soup is puréed. Bread is toasted and covered with cheese.

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Enjoy, friends. And thanks, Clara, for suggesting that I make soup. I hope you like it as much as I did!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Last modified on 2013-04-10 22:05:28 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
It’s like a creamy Cauliflower Soup crossed with French Onion Soup.
Ingredients
  • 1 T unsalted butter
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 small heads cauliflower (I had one purple and one white one, use what you have), chopped into small pieces
  • 1 spring onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, diced
  • 4 C vegetable stock
  • 1 1/2 t salt
  • 1-2 T fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 C milk
  • 1-2 T lemon juice
  • 3-4 slices toasted baguette (or GF Bagel Chips)/serving
  • 1/4 C gruyère cheese, grated/serving
Instructions
  1. Heat soup pot. Add butter and oil and let it brown, covered (to prevent splattering), over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add cauliflower, onion, and a pinch of salt. Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
  2. Uncover, turn heat to medium-low and add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring often.
  3. Add lemon juice, remaining salt, parsley, and vegetable stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
  4. Using a hand blender (or regular blender with plug from lid removed and the opening covered with a clean towel), purée soup to desired consistency. Add milk, stir, taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
  5. Dish soup into oven-proof bowls or ramekins and top with toasts. Top toasts with a sprinkle of gruyère. Broil in the toaster for 5-10 minutes (in the oven broiler, broil with the door open, paying attention the whole time, it should be a much shorter amount of time).
Notes
The toasts will soak up some of the soup as they broil. If you’d rather, you could toast the bread with the cheese and place it on top of the soup right before serving. Leftover soup makes great pasta sauce.

 

Need some ideas for your week’s menu? Here you go!

Happy Eating!

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This episode is sponsored by: Abundant Harvest Organics, Bari Olive Oil Company, Molly Jenson, Waterfall Creative.

Wednesday

3

April 2013

0

COMMENTS

Crispy Veggies with Fennel Pollen Dipping Sauce – Episode 61

Written by , Posted in A Cooking Show with Rachel O, Abundant Harvest Organics, Appetizers, Condiments, Dinner, Fennel Pollen, Fruit, Gluten Free, Kid-Friendly, Roasting, Sauces, Sides, Snacks, This Week's Feast, Vegetables, Vegetarian

VeggiesWithSauce2I think at this time of year, the word pollen might be a bad bad word. I, for example, have sneezed approximately seventeen hundred thousand times in the past two weeks. I wonder if I’m allergic to something?!

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Here’s a kind of pollen you can get into: Fennel Pollen. I told you about it in December when I’d just begun to try it out. I’m still experimenting, but so far, everything I’ve added it to I’ve liked (not to be confused with “add it to everything”).

I used it on two episodes of the show and made some bright green Savory French Toast that is holy moly good, and some oh boy this is good too, in a totally different way, Mahi Mahi, Fennel, and Potato Chowder.

And this week, I used it again. This time in a dip for some beets, fennel, potatoes, and carrots. Not just any beets, fennel, potatoes, and carrots though. They’re roasted. Which makes almost any vegetable about a thousand times better (and that’s saying a lot, because I like vegetables).

They’re meant to be served alongside Fennel Pollen Burgers. But, those weren’t for the show. They’re for Friday’s post, so you’ll just have to wait… If you can’t, just make the veggies twice!

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It’s time to get dippin’, friends.

Happy Eating!

Crispy Veggies with Fennel Pollen Dipping Sauce

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 57 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 12 minutes

Yield: 4

Crispy Veggies with Fennel Pollen Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 potatoes, chopped
  • 1 fennel bulb, core removed, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 beets, peeled and chopped
  • 1 T olive oil, divided
  • pinch salt
  • pinch pepper
  • 1 lemon wedge/serving
  • sauce: 1/8 to 1/4 C buttermilk (1 T white vinegar and fill to 1/4 C with milk - stir and let sit for a few minutes)
  • 1/4 C Greek yogurt
  • 2 T mayonnaise
  • 1/2 stalk green garlic, diced
  • 2 pinches salt
  • pinch pepper
  • pinch fennel pollen
  • 1 t red wine vinegar
  • 1 t to 1 T olive oil

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
  2. Cut veggies to be about the same size. Using a separate bowl for the fennel, and for the beets, toss with 1 T olive oil, salt, and pepper.
  3. Put beets on a baking sheet and bake for 2 min. Place the carrots and potatoes on another baking sheet. Add to oven. Bake for 15 minutes.
  4. Add fennel to beet sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until veggies are tender on the inside, crispy on the outside.
  5. While veggies roast, whisk together dressing ingredients, adding olive oil last, and whisking it in. Let it sit in the fridge until veggies are ready.
  6. Serve veggies with a squeeze of lemon and the sauce to dip them in.
http://www.de-ma-cuisine.com/boom-roasted-ep61/

This episode is sponsored by: Abundant Harvest Organics, Bari Olive Oil Company, Waterfall Creative, Molly Jenson.

Wednesday

27

March 2013

0

COMMENTS

And Then There Were 60 – Episode 60

Written by , Posted in A Cooking Show with Rachel O, Abundant Harvest Organics, This Week's Feast, Thoughts

SpringFrittata7It is spring. It’s time for asparagus and sugar snap peas, tank tops and flip flops, BBQs and Burgers. I like spring. I like the leaves that are greeting us with their green cheer, and the blossoms that mean fruit is just around the corner.

I do not like the allergies that come with spring. But, since spring means that the baseball season is about to start, allergies schmallergies.

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On this lovely spring day, I used eggs from Burroughs Family Farms. They are the best eggs. (If you’re an Abundant Harvest Organics subscriber, you can buy them from the add ons list, same with Bari’s awesome, so awesome, olive oil.) They have these amazing bring orangey-yellow yolks and incredibly hard shells. Wowza! I combined them with just a few springy ingredients for this simple Frittata: asparagus, mushrooms, green garlic, potatoes, fresh parsley, and leeks. Toss in a bit of salt and pepper, and you’re almost ready to eat.

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SpringFrittata2The Frittata is topped with Parmesan cheese and baked to perfection. Then it’s time to have a bite. Yes, I ate what appears on the fork below. It’s hard to wait for dinner on filming days.

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Welp, that’s 60 episodes done done done. Thanks for watching and being a part of this yummy journey.

Spring Frittata

Last modified on 2013-03-28 01:11:00 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

 

Spring Frittata
Recipe Type: Main, Side, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Eggs, Stove Top, Baking, Vegetarian
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6
Using some of the first spring vegetables of the year, this Frittata is perfect for an outdoor brunch.
Ingredients
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 medium potatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 lb. mushrooms, quartered
  • 1/2 large leek, chopped
  • 1 stalk green garlic, chopped
  • 1 bunch (about 20) asparagus, ends trimmed, chopped
  • 1-2 T fresh parsley, rough chopped
  • 1/2 to 1 t salt
  • 1/8 t pepper
  • 1/2 C milk
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.
  2. Heat ovenproof skillet. Add olive oil. Add potatoes and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook covered, over medium-low or low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.
  3. Add asparagus, leek, and mushrooms. Cook uncovered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.
  4. Add green garlic and cook 1 minute more.
  5. Whisk eggs with milk, salt, pepper, and parsley. Turn heat to medium-low and add eggs to pan. Stir once. Cook for 1 minute, stir again, then cook for 3-5 minutes, or until eggs are starting to set.
  6. Sprinkle with cheese and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the eggs are set.
  7. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

 

Here are some ideas for what to do with the contents of this week’s Abundant Harvest Organics box!

Happy Eating!

Last modified on GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Note: you may want to oil your pan a little more than I did. I have a bit of a time cleaning it, but it was worth it (stuck on cleaning in a Cast Iron skillet requires oil, salt, a paper towel or cloth, and lots of elbow grease).

This episode is sponsored by: Abundant Harvest Organics, Bari Olive Oil Company, Burroughs Family Farms, Waterfall Creative, Molly Jenson.