Fiddlehead Ferns

Yum.  I had never had them before, so when we found some this weekend in Massachusetts, I got excited and grabbed a bagful.  And yep, they were delicious:  cooked in boiling water for about 5 minutes, placed into an ice bath, then sauteed with salt, pepper and olive oil until tender. Then served up with a splash of balsamic vinegar. It was a good first foray into fiddlehead territory.  But, alas, their short season is just about over, so I'll have to wait a year to have another taste.

Chicken Rental

Meet Gladys and Clarice, the chickens who lived with us for about a week and a half.  Since my brother starting raising chickens, I've wanted some, too.  But we have significantly less space in New York City than he does in Arizona.  

Now that we do have an outdoor space, though, we decided to have a chicken test run--maybe it would work out.  We were ready: we built a coop, bought some hay and feed, then went to our friend's Connecticut farm to pick them up.  They came home and got comfortable pretty quick; we had our first egg later that day.  The cats were both excited and terrified, but were certainly fascinated about the new strange things in the yard. By the end of the week, however, Melvin was comfortable enough to lounge out under the coop.

Our first egg was Clarice's and it was blue.  She's the darker Ameraucana, and Gladys is the brown one. Poor Gladys  tended to get pecked by Clarice, but she was definitely the more friendly of the two.

They both went crazy for greens.  We donated our cilantro to keep them away from the ferns and bleeding hearts, and then we bought them some kale which they devoured with crazy intensity.

When the cats first would get too close for comfort, the chickens would start making this "get away" cluck, and then the cats would get scared and run off.  Eventually Melvin realized that the chickens were too big to be food, and he was allowed to be outside if he ignored them.  I'm sure that if there was a scuffle, the chickens would come out on top, though.

They were great to have, but they did decimate some of our plants (see above)  and while the mess didn't really bother me (chicken poop is way easier to clean up than dog poop), the flies it attracted did. There just wasn't enough open space to get away from the flies. So we took them home again and came home with easier to care for plants. But one day we will continue our adventures with chickens.

Delicious Bruleed Grapefruit

My brother suggested this, and we tried it out (a few times) while in arizona. They were so, so good!

1. We started with fresh picked ruby grapefruit, and loosened the wedges by cutting around the membrane with a sharp paring knife.

2. We found that dabbing the top of the grapefruit with a clean cloth or paper towel helped, otherwise the sugar was too juicy and it wouldn't caramelize properly.  Then add the brown sugar in an even layer across the fruit. We ended up with a hard candy top on one of our early attempts, which was certainly delicious--but not exactly what we were looking for. 

 3. Torch it--the sugar takes less than a minute to caramelize.

4. Enjoy!

Dinner

mmm. . . piping hot roasted vegetables from the oven: onions, beets, potatoes and carrots with tarragon vinegar, italian herbs, olive oil, and sea salt.  For some reason, I've always chopped the vegetables and put them directly in the baking dish, but now I've realized that they work better if you toss them with the olive oil/herbs in a bowl first. . . duh.  I also cooked them covered in foil, but uncovered and broiled them for the last 10 minutes.

I made the tarragon vinegar earlier in the summer when a friend gave me more tarragon than I could use. It was so, so easy but this was the first time I've used it. I was a little bit nervous, since I'm not always fond of tarragon's anise flavor, but the vinegar is delightfully mild on the anise, but deliciously tarragon.

Cucumber Lime

Sadly, the Heat Wave is still with us, with no signs of subsiding any time soon.  Even when the temperature drops, the air is still so humid that it is never "nice" out.  Fortunately, the heat gives reason to make more fancy drinks.  This time we're using cucumber and lime.

It's simple: slice the cucumber, drop it in a glass (or jar as it may be) fill the glass with ice, and squeeze in half a lime.  Fill with cold water and--ta da!  Cucumber somehow makes water taste extra refreshing and cold.  I don't know how it happens, but it is a very good thing.  Sometimes I'll let the cucumber water sit for a few minutes (or as long as you want) to let the cucumber infuse a bit more, but you can taste it right away--it just depends on your preferences.

Cherry Season

It's been hot here, and everyone's been somewhat lethargic.  So our cool down trick has been fruit smoothies.  My favorites are cherry and apple: We'll pit the cherries or slice up the apples and freeze them.  After everything is frozen solid, into the blender they go with plain yogurt and some soymilk (or regular milk or --my favorite-- almond milk).  It is so delicious and one of my favorite quick breakfasts or anytime snack.

Sometimes we'll toss in a scoop of protein powder, but the secret to a delicious smoothie is:  cinnamon.  It makes everything more delicious without additional sweetener.  I also like to add a small spoonful vanilla, especially with the cherries.  mmmmm. . . cherry vanilla.

See? even Melvin says it's too hot.

Homemade Granola

There's not much better than fresh, homemade granola and blackberries atop yogurt in the morning:

Mix together 2 cups oatmeal (old fashioned rolled oats--not instant or quick cooking), lots of cinnamon (to taste), about 1 tsb brown sugar, and about a 1/4 tsp of salt.  I also added roughly 1/2 a cup of chopped, raw cashews.

Add in 1/4 cup honey, less than 1/4 cup oil, and some vanilla extract (a teaspoon?--I usually don't measure vanilla).  The honey-oil ratio is what makes it clump together.  More honey means more clumpy, more oil means there will be fewer clumps and more individual oats.

 Pour the mixture into a lightly greased baking pan and bake at 350° until the mixture starts to turn golden brown, stirring occasionally.  I baked mine in a foil lined cookie tray and it was done in 15 minutes.  Check on it early to make sure it doesn't burn.  I poured it back into the mixing bowl to stir it and cool it down (and for consistency in photos).

I started with this recipe, but I added cashews, made less of it, and took out some of the brown sugar.  The first time I made it I burnt the batch terribly in 15 minutes.  I would recommend keeping a close eye on the oven while you're waiting for it to bake.  Add in any nuts or dried fruit to taste.  You can also substitute maple syrup for honey--or molasses.  I may use molasses next.  I can't believe how easy this was to make; I don't think I'll ever buy granola again.

It's so Hot

The past few days have been very warm.  I've been making small batches of iced tea so that I have something cold to drink:

As you may know, I like jars,  and mason jars make nice large sized drinking glasses.  I've found that 4 teabags work well in this size.  Before I pour in the boiling water, I'll rinse it out with hot water from the sink to warm the glass; I let the teabags steep for 15 or 20 minutes (depending on the type of tea I am using).  I like the small batches because I can make multiple flavors.  On the left is rooibos, and on the right is green tea with blueberry.  

Spiced Coffee

French Press Coffee with Spices:

I prefer to use whole spices, coarsely ground; and I just place them in with the ground coffee.  It's delicious.

Hummus and Homemade Pita Chips

This might be my favorite easy to make snack.  It's easy to adjust based on taste and keeps in the fridge (if you don't finish it right away!)  Here's how I like it:

1 can of chickpeas
3-5 cloves of garlic (I know-that's a lot)
half a lemon (or a whole one)
1/4 cup olive oil
cumin
coriander
paprika
cayenne pepper
salt, pepper

I'll blend the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and spices.  Then I add the chikpeas and blend until smooth. If the chickpeas aren't blending well, I'll add some more olive oil or lemon juice.  Usually I go really heavy on the spices--I like my hummus to be super spicy and have a strong flavor.  Remember, though, that the raw garlic will add to the spicyness when you're adding in the cayenne pepper.  I also don't use tahini because I have a mild allergy to sesame seeds, but feel free to add it in!

To make the pita chips, use some of the soft, thick pitas, cut them into 1/8's wedges, rub them with olive oil and sprinkle on kosher salt.  Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 400° for about 10-12 minutes or until they are crispy all the way through. yum.