Tummy Treasure

You’re going to love these Simple S’mores Bars.

I had a s’mores type cookie in mind for this coming holiday weekend, but I really wasn’t finding what I was looking for.  The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted it to be a bar cookie, and that I wanted marshmallows and chocolate.  After searching and not finding, I took a few different recipes, combined them, and came up with this version which is spectacular.  And dangerous.  The cookie base is made from oats, flour, and brown sugar and bakes up nice and chewy- a lot like a chewy granola bar, actually.  Well, at least it was chewy straight out of the pan, I suppose it could harden as it sits.  After the initial baking of the cookie base, chocolate chips and mini marshmallows take turns being sprinkled on top, and then into the oven for a final toasting.  And I’ll tell you, it’s a tough gig waiting for these babies to cool, but totally worth it if you want to cut into them.

Cutting was where I had a difficulty.  With  the first slice of the knife I was pulling marshmallow in 12 different directions.  I remedied that quickly with some cooking spray, and merely kept the knife sprayed after that point.  Once the knife was slippery, the bars cut very cleanly.  I debated even tasting these, because they are for this weekend after all, but since I had no idea what they would taste like…well, I went in for a corner.  Someone had to take care of the quality control- I know, the sacrifice.  I love these bars.  They are incredibly simple to make and very tasty- just like a s’more at the campfire.  The best part?  It makes 24 s’mores instead of just one.  :-)  You should really consider this as a last-minute addition to your holiday weekend.

Simple S’more Bars

2 cups oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 cups miniature marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray- make sure to spray the sides as well.

In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda.  Mix well to combine.  Add the melted butter to the oat mixture and stir together.  Press the mixture into the bottom of your 9 x 13 pan.  Bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes, remove from the oven.

Sprinkle with half of your chocolate chips, then all of the marshmallows, and finally, the last 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.  Place back in the oven and bake for another 7-10 minutes, or until the marshmallows are lightly golden brown.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

To cut into bars, remove the bars from the pan, using the foil to pull it out and set the bars on a cutting board.  Spray a knife with cooking spray before cutting the bars evenly.  Cut into 24 bars, spraying the knife again as needed.

And the grand total is 24 pints of strawberry jam, 10 half-pints of blueberry-strawberry jam, 10 half-pints of strawberry-peach jam, 13 quarts of frozen whole berries, 7 quarts of sugared berries, and a big ole bowl of cleaned and ready-to-eat berries in the fridge.  I’ll tell you, the best part about strawberry picking is my children.  At the berry patch I continuously hear “can I eat just one more” and then the ride home is entirely filled with the sounds of juicy strawberry eating.  After we get home the flats of berries are laid out on the table, and all day long, when the kids walk by, they reach out for just one more berry.  I cleaned a bowl for them to take outside and share with the neighbor kids and I heard one of the boys say “your mom is the best cook, ever” followed by Abigail’s remark “she didn’t cook these silly, they’re freshly picked”.  It was fun.

I’ve ignored my garden for a few days, so it was a complete surprise to me to walk out to the peas and see that the sugar snaps are full of pea pods and just beckoning to be eaten.  Once given the green light, the kids made quick work of the bush, and I managed to snag a few myself.  These peas were planted simply for the joy of eating them straight off the plant.  There’s nothing like it.  My shelling peas are also ready I think, and I’m a little concerned, because I don’t know that I’ll have the time to actually shell them and process them over the next few days, so I have hopes that they’ll make it at least to Sunday afternoon.  We’ll see if I get a few extra moments later on today.

Other than that, dinner last night was an absolutely delicious french toast topped with berries, and who knows what’s on tap for tonight.  Later this week I have hopes of squeezing in a few salad ideas for you, and maybe a new bar or two.  We’ll see, it’s a busy holiday week here! Even Abigail was getting into the action by making a snack mix to share over the holidays.  You can check out here story in today’s Kids Cuisine article.

Happy Wednesday!

You know what I love about strawberries in Wisconsin?  There are different varieties!  And different varieties mean that you can go from patch to patch for some time, because no two patches seem to be ripe and ready at the same time.  Two weeks ago we went and picked the first early berries.  Small and tart, these ones were quickly eaten out of hand, used in baked goods, and used to top breakfasts.  Now two weeks later, we’re picking the later berries- larger and sweeter and perfect for making jam.  They also are perfect for freezing whole and sugaring and freezing for topping shortcakes in the dead of winter.  Yesterday the kids and I went to a new-to-us patch thanks to a tip from a friend. It took us no time at all to fill two large flats with bright red berries- so ripe they were almost purple, and bursting with juice.

After arriving home, Abigail set right to work helping me slice and crush berries for the first of four batches of jam we would end up making.  All told we ended up with 15 pints of strawberry jam, and 10 half-pints of strawberry-peach jam.  And that only took care of one of the flats!  We also now have 8 quarts of whole berries in the freezer, as well as a quart of sugared berries.  The remaining two quarts or so of berries are in the fridge, as my son was very concerned that I was using all the strawberries and not saving him any.  Not to worry though, despite the busy week we’ve succumbed to total madness and are out doing it again this morning!  How could I not? I think today though while I’m at the berry patch I’ll also be placing an order for blueberries.  Our growing season started late this year- hence the late timing of the strawberries, but now that it’s started it’s fast and furious, with one season right on top of each other.  All of the blueberry patches seem to be advertising now, so they’re expecting a great crop this year.  I can’t wait.  And word is that the peaches are officially coming in as well- the first peach trucks from Georgia will be in the area next week, and I’m debating a case or two for freezing and jamming.

I may need to research a second stand-alone freezer.

This was such a fun idea!  Last week I decided that I wanted to make pizza for our Sunday Company Dinner.  Since it’s summer, our group dwindles sometimes, so with pizza I thought I could be prepared for just a few people, or a lot of people.  But how best to do it?  It had to be homemade- there’s nothing like homemade pizza.  And we have a friend with dairy allergies- could pizza be done well without mozzarella cheese?  Well, I think it was a success all around, and here’s how I did it.

The first thing I did was to make the pizza crusts a day ahead of time.  I used my recipe for Pizza Dough/Focaccia, only I made four batches of it.  This really wasn’t difficult to do, I did it kind of assembly line style, and I had four bowls of dough rising in about half an hours time.  The tough part was keeping track of which timer went with which bowl.  As each batch finished its rise time, I divided each batch into 6 portions and rolled out the dough into smaller pizza crusts.  This way, when topped, two pizzas would fit on one baking sheet.  And to make the whole thing even more fun, each pizza was personal sized- everyone was going to build their own pizza.   I ended up with 24 pizza crusts- I simply baked them up four at a time on the baking sheets until they were golden- and I actually flipped the crusts as well to get the color on both sides.  It worked very well, and I stored them overnight in large plastic bags.

The toppings were even more fun.  I wanted a little bit of everything available, making it friendly to both veg-heads and meat lovers alike.  For the most part, this simply meant slicing and dicing and putting toppings into bowls, but there were some things that needed advance preparation.  The Italian sausage, for example, needed to be pre-cooked, so I did that.  I also roasted some zucchini and broccoli together for a fun topping.  The best topping in my opinion though came from my garden.  I picked some of my gorgeous rainbow chard and wilted that on the stove with some minced garlic.  Holy cow, that made the best pizza! Of course, it was kind of sad to see this huge pile of chard wilt down to nothing… I also used both the stems and the leaves.  The stems I sauteed in the pan in olive oil for about 5 minutes, then I added the garlic.  Once the garlic started to have some color, I added the leaves, stirred them together, covered, and let wilt for another 5 minutes. I highly recommend wilted chard and mushrooms for the perfect pizza experience!

For the dairy allergy I decided that pizza probably wouldn’t be pizza without cheese of some kind, so I picked up a package of Veggie Shreds.  I’ve always wanted to try them, and they were pretty comparable to mozzarella cheese, flavor wise.  They didn’t get as melty and gooey though, so the texture was a little different, but on the actual pizza it tasted fine.  Everyone else had mozzarella, and you could definitely see the difference when side by side.  I’m looking forward to seeing what else I can do with these shreds though.

Overall the toppings on hand were:  ham, pepperoni, Italian sausage, pineapple, mini bell peppers, vidalia onons, portabella and button mushrooms, rainbow chard, black olives, green olives, artichoke hearts, roasted red and yellow peppers, and roasted zucchini and broccoli.  For the sauce I used two large cans of Muir Glen Crushed Tomatoes with Basil, and overall the pizzas were wonderful.  All the kids had a blast making their own pizzas especially, but I think even the adults had a good time customizing their pizzas to their specific tastes.  We popped some in the oven, but for anyone who wanted it, Andy also took several of the pizzas out to cook on the grill and add that nice smokey flavor to the pizzas.  I think most everyone inhaled their pizza, and it was so fun we’re planning on doing a similar pizza night camping with an open fire.  With plenty of planning ahead and just a touch of work to prepare ingredients, a build-your-own-pizza night is really fun and easy for a crowd.

Pizza Dough

Combine 1/4 cup water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl. Stir to combine, and set aside for 5 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flours and salt.  Mix with a whisk to evenly incorporate the salt. Add the yeast mixture, remaining water,and olive oil.  Stir with a wooden spoon as long as you can, and then use your hands to bring the dough together.  Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth.  This should take between 3-5 minutes.  Place in a bowl that has been oiled, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.

Punch the dough down, knead it briefly, and cover again.  Let rise for 30 minutes.

Turn the dough out of the bowl onto your work surface.  If you are making pizza, this is the time to stretch the dough to fit your pan, add your toppings, and bake at 500ºF for 10-15 minutes.

If you are making focaccia, gently stretch your dough to fit in your pan- I use a half-sheet pan.  Use your fingers to press into the dough and put little dimples in the whole thing.  Brush the dough lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with any toppings you’d like.  You can use fresh herbs, dried herbs, coarsely chopped olives or garlic, Parmesan cheese, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, etc.  The only must is that you must sprinkle it with salt and pepper at the very least.

Cover your focaccia dough and let it rise again for 1 hour.  When there are about 15 minutes left, preheat your oven to 500º so it is good and hot when the focaccia is ready.

Bake the focaccia for about 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on it.  You want to bake it until it is golden brown.  If it is browning unevenly, rotate your pan or move it to a different shelf.  Cooking at 500ºF will make the inside of the dough nice and fluffy while the outside gets crispy.

If desired, after you pull the focaccia out of the oven, you can brush it again with olive oil or melted butter.

I still have cookies on the brain.  After nibbling on those chocolate chip cookies all week, I really had a desire to see how that dough fared with white chocolate and macadamia nuts.  So while out doing the weekly shopping I picked up the nuts and white chocolate chips.  I was very excited to find that Mauna Loa is packaging chopped macadamia nuts for baking.  They are the perfect size for a batch of cookies at six ounces, and it was so much easier to use than having to chop up those roly-poly nuts.  Abigail was thrilled to peer through the grocery bags and find the bag of white chocolate chips, for some reason my kids have picked up a love of white chocolate chip cookies, and have been requesting them at every opportunity.  So despite the near-80 sticky temperatures, I went ahead and mixed up another batch of dough, this time using the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut adaptation.

Other than swapping out the chips and adding nuts, I decided to make a few minor changes to the recipe.  Since I find white chocolate to be sweeter, I thought that increasing the salt to a full teaspoon would help counter the sweetness of the chocolate.  The other change I made was to the process- instead of adding the vanilla at the end, I opted to beat it in with the eggs and yolks. I didn’t notice any discernible change to the final cookie as a result of that.  Adding the extra salt was the perfect decision as the dough perfectly balances the sweet white chips.  We all are having a difficult time staying away from the cookie jar, and I daresay, this variation of the cookie dough may be even better than the original.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Based on a recipe for Lee Napoli’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 lb.  butter — (2 sticks)
1c.  light brown sugar
1/2 c.  dark brown sugar
3/4 c.  white granulated sugar
2 whole  eggs
2 egg yolks
3 1/4 c.  flour
1  t.  salt
3/4 t.  baking soda
1T.  vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Pour into a large bowl. When the butter cools to slightly warm, add the light brown sugar, dark brown sugar and white sugar. Mix well. Beat in the eggs, yolks and vanilla. Add the flour, salt and baking soda, and combine well. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheets and bake until nicely browned, about 10-11 minutes.  It’s always best to slightly under bake cookies so when they cool they remain chewy.

Makes approximately 6 dozen cookies.

Last week, my husband actually challenged me to come up with a veggie or bean burger that I think he’ll enjoy.  I keep playing with vegetarian food while he’s out of town working,  but he’s really intrigued by the idea of an “alternative” burger.  So my goal is to find one that tastes fantastic and has a texture similar to that of a standard beef hamburger.  I suspect that’s going to be a pretty tall order.  However, it will be fun experimenting and trying to find the right one.

Last night’s was the first attempt.  We’d had a long, fun day, it was hot and muggy, and cooking just didn’t seem too exciting to me.  I picked some lettuce from the garden and made a quick salad, made some mac-n-cheese for the kids, and then opened up the fridge to see what else I could top my salad with to make it a meal.  I saw the container of black beans I’d cooked earlier in the week and remembered that I’d planned to make black bean burgers.  A quick flip through my How To Cook Everything Vegetarian and I realized I could have one of the Simplest Bean Burgers in about 15 minutes, so I got that going.  The only thing I wasn’t able to do was give my mixture some rest time.  In retrospect- I think that rest is key to the texture.  As it sauteed up in my skillet I was impressed by how “burger-like” it appeared.  I decided to serve it on some semolina-sesame bread I had and top it with that yummy smoked-paprika mayo from the other day.  At the last minute I added some cheddar cheese and some salmonella-free sliced tomato.

Taste-wise, the burger was delicious.  The crispy bits around the edges were especially tasty, but overall, the flavor of the burger was wonderful and I think it could rival a real beef burger any day of the week.  Texture wise though I had a few problems.  Because I’d skipped the rest time, the oatmeal hadn’t had  a chance to really start working, and I think as a result, it was much softer than I’d anticipated.  It squished readily between my two slices of sturdy bread, but the flavor really more than made up for that- in my mind anyway.  The smoked paprika mayo actually was perfect with the chili-powder infused beans, and I had a delicious last-minute dinner.  I’m not entirely sure though that this is the burger for Andy.  I have some of the bean mixture in the fridge, so we’ll see how it cooks up after a long rest, and that may help.  But I think the search will continue, I’m determined to find the perfect bean burger.

I’ve been meaning to share a few things here on my blog, but then things have come up or a new recipe caught my eye and got some attention.  I keep a running list of blog-topics and recipes to share, mostly so that I don’t repeat myself, but also to help me remember what pictures and recipe I have waiting in the queue to be shared.  For example, the first thing I wanted to share was about bacon. Bacon- who doesn’t love bacon!?  Imagine what would happen if you found that you couldn’t eat bacon.  That was me a few months ago.  For years now I’ve been battling migraines on and off, and I always wondered if I did something to trigger them- they have to be caused by something, don’t they?  One of my first suspicions was food.  If my migraines were being caused by something I ate, that should be easy to remedy, so I started keeping track of what I ate.  It didn’t take long to notice that my headaches would occur first in the afternoon most frequently.  And always after lunch- but sometimes after dinner as well.  Upon examining packaging and reading labels- I found a common thread- Sodium Nitrite.

Sodium nitrite is a preservative used in sausages, hot dogs, luncheon meat, bacon, and hams. (And I’m sure many other things.)  I stared in horror at the website that I’d found that said that nitrites were known to cause migraines in some people.  So I quit eating anything with it in it, just like that.  No lunch meats for me, no bacon, no sausage, etc.  If I really want to eat sausage or a hot dog, I need to find one that is preservative free.  There are some out there, and in fact, Kosher products so far all seem to be nitrite free, so those are okay for me to eat (albeit a bit pricey).   But since I stopped eating these products over 2 months ago, I’ve been blessedly headache and migraine free.  It’s wonderful!  But I’ve missed bacon.  Oh, have I missed the bacon.  And then one day last week, at my small-town local grocer, a package of bacon practically leapt off the shelf and into my cart. “All-Natural” “Nitrate and Nitrate Free.”  Ah! Bacon that I could eat! But how would it taste… Absolutely wonderful.  It was still smokey and salty and fill of bacony goodness, and I could eat it without fear of a migraine.

All this is to tell you the easiest way to cook bacon, and I am so glad I found it.  I used to hate cooking bacon, getting spattered with grease as I flipped the slices over in the frying pan or on the griddle.  But guess what? Bacon can be cooked in the oven.  Preheat your oven to 350º, and get out your large sheet pan. (Two if you’re making a lot of bacon.) Lay the slices of bacon out onto your baking sheet- making sure that they don’t touch or overlap in any way.  Then simply pop them in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.  Remove the bacon then to a paper-towel lined plate to let them drain, and you have effortless bacon.  No flipping necessary- the bacon takes care of that itself while in the oven.  If you use more than one baking sheet you may want to rotate the pans during baking, but other than that, it’s the easiest bacon ever.

And now that I’ve completely got you all craving some crispy baked bacon, why don’t you head on over to Garden Notes and see what my garden is up to.  Yesterday I found something completely new to me, and I can’t wait to see what comes of it!

It’s been far too long since I’ve made homemade cookies.  I was feeling like a bad mom, and feeling like a bad wife, sending my husband off to work without homemade goodies to grace his lunchbox.  The fact is though, if there are cookies around- guess who eats them?  That’s right- most of them end up in my gullet.  And with my recent vegetable madness, I’ve been feeling a little virtuous, and like not making anything that would tempt me.  But then the other day, Anna from Cookie Madness tempted me with a chocolate chip cookie recipe, Lee Napoli’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I copied it and saved it, thinking I’d make them “some time” but then I just kept thinking about those cookies!  After a few days had gone by, I realized I had an obsession on my hands, and, well, the cookies were made.

And oh, are they good!  The recipe is written by a pastry chef in Boston- but I love that it doesn’t call for any out-of-the-ordinary ingredients.  No fancy chocolate, no fancy salts or sugar, just a combination of light brown, dark brown, and white sugar.  That in itself was different, as was the extra egg yolks called for- but one taste of the cookie dough and I knew I was onto something.  The cookies called for a full tablespoon of vanilla as well, and I really think that added a lot to the cookies.  The directions stated to bake for 7 to 8 minutes for a more chewy cookie…I found that 11 minutes was perfect for my tastes, 7 or 8 just left them a little to raw for my tastes.   In the interest of full disclosure, I also used less chocolate chips than called for.  Instead of 3 cups, I used 2, because 2 cups looked like an awful lot, and it sure was plenty for us.  Nuts would be a great addition I think, but really, they were spectacular as is.  While the recipe indicated it makes about 3 dozen I got more like 6 dozen, and then promptly shared some with our neighbors.  Really, these are an excellent cookie and worth the trouble of making sure you have both light and dark brown sugar.  They’re sweet and chocolaty, and I have definite plans for this batter.  I think the dough itself is the perfect foil for other chips and mix-ins and right at the top of the list is going to be some macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips, which Abigail requested.  Otherwise, try these cookies- you won’t be disappointed.

I guess I really like chard! Before sampling this rainbow chard from my garden, I had only ever had spinach, as far as a green goes- and as far as I know, I guess.   They always intimidated me.  For one thing, with greens, you usually need a substantial amount to cook, as they all cook down to practically nothing. And for a second reason, I frequently hear about greens being bitter, and I’m not a fan of bitter anything.  But this rainbow chard has me happy.  We’ve been eating the tender babies as salad greens, but now that they’re getting bigger, I’ve been exploring them as greens, and I’m thrilled.  I love chard, and I’m looking forward to continuing to plant it as long as I can this year. Yum!

So last night’s dinner was from a new cookbook I received last week.  A Year In A Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop has been on my radar for some time, and after trying a recipe from it last week, I knew I had to have it.  I haven’t even read through the book very far, because just a few pages into the spring section, I had a list of recipes to try. They just all seem so accessible- fewer ingredients, and quick preparation much of the time- exactly what I’m looking for in a weeknight meal. The first recipe I decided to give a whirl was White Bean Puree with Sauteed Greens.  The only thing I needed for this recipe was a can of beans- the chard would come fresh from my garden, and I was intrigued by the idea of a bean puree.

It did come together very quickly. I pureed the beans with some veggie broth, and then added them to a saute pan where a clove of garlic had been sauteed until golden.  The beans bubbled away for a bit, and then I added a bit of thyme as my herb of choice.  The puree itself was kind of soupy.  It definitely wasn’t a mash- it wasn’t substantial like  a potato puree- it was going to require a bowl for eating.  The greens came together almost as quickly.  It took a little longer to lightly brown the onions, and then as I did the other day, I added the chard stems to cook a bit as well.  Really though, it wasn’t long before I was sitting down to a complete dinner in a bowl.  The greens themselves were perfect- I could eat them simply sauteed in onions and garlic all day long- simply delicious.  The beans, well, they were okay.  There wasn’t anything really special about them, and while they did combine nicely with the greens, I couldn’t help but think that leaving the beans whole would have accomplished a similar thing with a better texture.  in fact, with whole beans, I could see this as being a flexitarian dish, meaning that meat-eaters in the family could add some Italian Sausage to great effect.   Overall, I did enjoy my dinner, and since the point was to feature the chard I say it was well done, I just maybe don’t care much for a bean puree.

“It looked really good and tasted great! Tell your blog readers that.”

…but I didn’t get a picture of the finished product.

For Sunday Company Dinner this week, I had decided that I wanted to do something easy and sandwich like.  I’d been fighting off the ants all week, and I really felt like I needed to give my attention to scrubbing and cleaning my cooking space.  I was waffling…did I want to just do burgers? Brats and dogs? I had sort of settled on simple chicken breasts when the new issue of Gourmet magazine showed up in my mailbox. On page 82 a recipe for Beef Tenderloin with Smoked-Paprika Mayonnaise spoke to me.  It looked incredibly easy to do, the picture was appealing, and the mayo told me that this would be a great candidate for a sandwich.  So I went shopping.  I needed a fresh jar of smoked paprika and the tenderloin, and I would be in business.  I wondered how much tenderloin I’d need for our crowd…the recipe as written said that a 4 pound tenderloin would feed roughly 12 people.  But then I looked at the tenderloins. Pork I’m used to- they’re inexpensive and one of our favorite cuts of pork.  But the beef… I have to say the 8 pound tenderloin I was looking at looked awfully small, and I could see that I was going to need at least 2 for our gang.  And the sticker…well, I truly could have prepared a Prime Rib for the same cost.

So I discussed it a bit with the butcher, and we decided that I could pull off the same recipe, with modifications, with a rump roast- the kind that are boneless and tied with string.  So that I was able to buy 10 pounds of and be satisfied that I wasn’t going to have to leave a limb behind as payment.  I had to change toe recipe to suit my cut of meat.  I wasn’t going to be able to cook it at the high temperature called for and end up with a succulent bit of meat.  Low and slow was going to do the trick- making sure the fat cap was on top so that it would ooze into the rest of the roast as it cooked.  The rub smelled fantastic when I made it- I absolutely love smoked paprika.  It adds a fantastic flavor similar to a chipotle- but without the heat. I rubbed and massaged my roast, plopped it in the roasting pan, covered it tightly and then let it go at 350º for almost two hours.  I probe with my thermometer then told me that the roast was still tough, so I turned it down to 325ºF for another 2 hours.  Then I let it rest for a full 30 minutes before slicing in.  Flavor-wise, it was spectacular.  Texture wise, the rump worked very well, and sliced thinly, it was tender enough for sandwiches. I thought it was just a touch on the dry side, and in retrospect I would have either taken it out 20 minutes earlier, or I would have cooked it at 325ºF the entire time.

The mayo is fantastic.  Again, that smoked paprika is wonderful, and it totally added to the beef in every way.  The only thing I felt was missing was that I thought it could use just a hint of horseradish to accompany the beef.  So tableside I encouraged everyone to add just a dab of horseradish- since I know everyone is not a fan of the stuff, I didn’t want to mix it in and turn someone off. The horseradish made it sing. Truly.  I did manage to snap a photo of the mayo- it really is that bright shade of orange, and honestly, it will serve double duty on other sandwiches here.  I left out the meat drippings as called for in the recipe, because most of my drippings were greasy.  I was already serving mayo, I didn’t think that adding beef fat to it was very appealing- especially since I was using a heart healthy canola mayo.

Overall- this was a real winner.  I have several other recipes from this newest issue of Gourmet earmarked to try, it’s full of seasonal comfort food- my favorite, although there are several that I’ll have to wait on, as the produce called for is not in season here yet.  On tap for tonight I have a new vegetarian recipe on my radar from a new-to-me cookbook. I’m really looking forward to it, as it will also use some of the amazing chard from my garden.  Watch for a garden update or two this week, as every day I find something new.  It’s a new week here, and I’m loving summer.

Beef Tenderloin with Smoked-Paprika Mayonnaise

from Gourmet magazine, July 2008

For Beef:

2 large garlic cloves

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (3 1/2 to 4 lb) trimmed beef tenderloin

For the Mayonnaise:

1 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons meat juices from beef, or to taste (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 500ºF with the rack in the middle.

Mince and mash the garlic to a paste with the salt.  Transfer to a small bowl and stir in paprika, cumin, oil, and black pepper.

Pat the tenderloin dry, then rub garlic mixture all over it.  Roast in a roasting pan until an instant read thermometer inserted diagonally 2 inches into center of meat registers 120ºF, 25 to 35 minutes for medium-rare.

Transfer to a platter along with any pan juices and cool, loosely covered with foil, 30 minutes to 1 hour.  (Internal temperature will rise to about 130ºF as it rests.)

Make mayonnaise: Stir together mayonnaise, paprika, cumin, and pepper.  Stir in meat juices and salt to taste.

To serve: Cut meat into thick slices.  Serve warm or at room temperature, with smoked paprika mayonnaise.  Mayonnaise will keep, chilled, for 2 weeks.

One of my intentions with this year’s garden was to explore greens that I was unfamiliar with.  I tend to shy away from greens other than spinach in general, which is a shame, since I would probably love most of them.  The first green to emerge victorious also happens to be pretty, and that is my rainbow chard.  I initially planted it simply because Zander saw the photo in the catalog and was excited about the prospect of colored celery.  Yet, while we’ve been harvesting spinach left and right for salads, I’ve also been harvesting a few baby chard leaves, and we’ve all been enjoying them as salad greens.  A few of the clusters have started getting a little large though, so I wanted to do something more them- really explore them as a green.

When I saw the title of this recipe the other day on the CLBB, I knew I wanted to make it as soon as possible.  Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Dried Cherries, Chard and Walnuts sounded right up my alley. I needed two ingredients- the whole wheat spaghetti and the dried cherries.  All day yesterday I’d planned a drive into town to do a little shopping, but it was just such a nice day that before we knew it, it was nearing the dinner hour and I was still missing ingredients necessary to make my pasta.  We took a walk to the local grocery store, and my dinner’s fate lied in the hands of our small town grocer…would they have the dried cherries?  If they didn’t have the cherries could I substitute dried cranberries to good effect? Or should I save the dish for another day.  Would they have the whole wheat spaghetti?  I knew they carried some Dreamfields products, but whole wheat?  My concerns were soon put to rest as I found a small package of tart dried cherries on the top shelf near the raisins, a nice box of Hodgson Mill whole wheat spaghetti also found its way into our basket, and dinner was back on schedule.

This dish came together fast.  It probably took me longer to pick the chard than it took me to cook the entire meal.  I also added a few handfuls of spinach, just because I could.  I set the water to boiling for the pasta, and before the pasta itself was done, the “sauce” was done.  It was simple, I browned garlic and chard stems in olive oil, then tossed in the chard and spinach leaves to wilt, and then finally added the dried cherries and walnuts.  This was tossed with the pasta and a small ladle-full of pasta water, and I had a perfect dinner.  I loved the chard in particular, but the whole dish was very satisfying and delicious.  Had I made this when Andy was home, I suspect he would have needed a chicken breast or some pork cutlets to fully satisfy his manly appetite, but for myself, it was perfect just as it is.  My one change to the recipe was to utilize the chard stems.  Since my chard was young and tender and just a few minutes out of the garden, I wasn’t about to waste a bite.  Instead, I chopped up the stems and added them in with the garlic to saute.  It worked beautifully, and I would do it the same again in a second.

The rainbow chard is a hit, and is already a must plant again. In fact, I plan to plant it continuously as long as I can, because I’m really enjoying it, and I know the nutrient boost I’m getting from it is fantastic! To find out more of what’s coming up in my garden- be sure and check out the Garden Notes with yesterday’s update.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Dried Cherries, Chard, and Walnuts

from A Year In A Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop
Serving Size  : 4

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium garlic cloves — minced
1 1/2 pounds chard — stems and thick center ribs discarded, leaves washed, shaken to remove excess water, and chopped (about 10 cups)**
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped dried cherries
1pound whole wheat spaghetti

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot for cooking the pasta.

Place the walnuts in a large deep saute pan or Dutch oven. Turn the heat to medium and toast, shaking the pan occasionally to turn the nuts, until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a small plate.

Add oil and garlic to the empty pan and cook until the garlic is golden, about 1 minute. (Do not let the garlic burn.) Add the damp chard, stir to coat the leaves with the oil and garlic, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the chard has wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cherries, remove the pan from the heat, and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Toss the pasta, chard, and toasted walnuts together, adding cooking water as needed to moisten the pasta. Serve immediately.

**Note: I used tender, young chard and instead of discarding the stems, I chopped them up and added them to the pan with the garlic.  I would do this again in a second.

but, oh, was it good!  We did end up heading out the the berry patch yesterday morning.  I wanted to pick some simply for eating and sharing.  Usually we pick berries and make jam, but with my kitchen under seige by the ants, making jam wasn’t even in the realm of possibility.  I’ve also heard that the best berries for making jam are the ones that are picked a little later on in the season anyways, so we’ll likely be picking late next week for jam berries.  We picked about a bucketful, and on the 2 mile ride home, all I heard from the backseat was lip-smacking as my two berry pickers helped themselves to as many berries as they could.  We stopped and dropped off some for my parents who are heading out on a weekend excursion and will definitely enjoy the berries on their journey.  Then we headed for home, where we gathered around the box and simply enjoyed.  It took us no time at all to decide that waffles for dinner were an order, and I set about choosing the perfect waffle.

While the chosen waffle was indeed, absolute perfection, it may not have been the ideal dinner candidate. :-)  Why, we opted to try our hands at making Chocolate Waffles, and by all the stars in heaven, did we succeed.  The batter came together quickly- the only trickery involved beating one egg white into stiff peaks, but other than that, it was a fairly straightforward waffle recipe.  3 tablespoons of cocoa were added to give it chocolate flavor, and I daresay, I was mighty impatient waiting for that light to blink off on the waffle iron.  I was disappointed at first.  The waffles were very floppy hot out of the iron, but since I was cooking bacon in the 350ºF oven, I tossed the waffles in the oven for five minutes to crisp up.  They crisped up perfectly after that- and before long I was snapping off a piece to sample. Flavor-wise it was perfect.  It wasn’t a sweet waffle, but the chocolate flavor came through loud and clear.  We topped them with some strawberries that had mascerated in some vanilla sugar and, of course, some real whipped cream.  Clearly, this was not a balanced dinner by any stretch of the imagination.  However, as a once-a-year treat, this could hardly be surpassed.