California Barbecue

The Northwest has been experiencing a record breaking heat wave the last few days (107 degrees today!) With no a/c in the house, not even I am crazy enough to cook in this weather, so I thought I would post a recipe from my trip back to California last weekend. As always, we barbecued! Californians love to barbecue, especially my family, and especially tri-tip. On a 4 day trip we had tri-tip 3 different days, cooked by 3 different relatives, and served 3 different ways: My grandma barbecued hers beforehand and then warmed it back up in the oven for a wonderful pool party lunch, my sister cooked hers in the oven to very well done, cutting holes in the meat and filling the holes with Worcestershire sauce, and my dad barbecued his rare, pouring apple cider vinegar on top (he is on a apple cider vinegar kick these days!) After all that tri-tip we still weren’t tired of it, or of barbecuing. I mean, what’s not to like about sitting outside enjoying great food with friends and family? California barbecue is meant to be fast and quick, allowing you to cook with drink in hand and then sit down and enjoy a meal with your guests. There is no special process or method, just a few required ingredients: fresh food, a nice cut of meat, good wine, and some friends!

My step mom Diane made this salad with the seasons first zucchini, this is an adapted version of a recipe she got from the health section of the New York Times. The salad is creamy and delicious, you would never know it was actually good for you ! The salad made an excellent side dish to the barbecued chicken and fresh grilled corn. If you wanted, you could leave out the lettuce and then the dish would be more like a salsa that you could serve with chips!

Zucchini-Avocado Salad

Makes 8 side-dish servings

1 Head Romaine lettuce, chopped for a salad
1 Medium zucchini, finely diced
5 Medium tomatoes, chopped
2 Jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 Cup chopped cilantro
1 Large avocado, finely diced
3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt

Croutons (optional)

Sprinkle the zucchini with salt, and drain in a colander for 15 minutes. If the zucchini tastes too salty, give it a rinse. Combine the tomatoes, peppers and cilantro in a serving bowl. Mix the zucchini, avocado and lemon or lime juice in another smaller bowl. Season to taste with salt. Add zucchini/avocado mixture to tomato/cilantro mixture and toss gently. Toss in lettuce leaves and season to taste. Garnish with Croutons and serve!

Shameless Self-Promotion

Some of you may or may not have noticed that my posts lately have been less frequent than usual. A small part of this can be blamed on the summer weather and the fact that I would just rather have my feet in the kiddie pool than in the kitchen. The bigger part of this story is also that my mind and energy have been on other things, like starting a little business with my girlfriend Julie. The company is called Pookie&theBean, and we specialize in hair accessories for little girls, or clippies. We have been very excited about this project for a long time and thanks to Julie's tech savvy husband Gavin, our website is finally up and running! We are also on Facebook so if you are a member look us up! Please tell your friends & family about us and if you can, come visit our booth at the Multnomah Days Celebration in Portland, Oregon on August 15th! Our clips will also be available at the Felicity Boutique in Salem, Oregon starting in September!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know, I know, two dessert posts in a row! With this summer heat, we've really been eating very simple, grilled meats and veggies, light pastas, that sort of thing. The only reason I have turned on my oven is to bake, I like to think no matter how hot, most people would, in the name of chocolate....

In the heat of summer I like to mix this cookie dough up at night and then bake them first thing in the morning, before it gets too hot. After making the best cookies ever, I am also now a firm believer in the refrigerated dough method. This cookie recipe is for a small batch of cookies, if you want more, just double it. I like the fact that this recipe only makes a small batch, with only 2 adults in the house, we really don't need to be consuming 3 dozen cookies, and if they were there, well, we would!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 18 2-inch cookies

2 Sticks (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 Cup peanut butter
1 Large or XL Egg
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 Cup flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 Cup semisweet chocolate chips

With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix until well combined. Add in egg, stir well, then vanilla also stirring well! Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a spoon, drop little scoops of dough on parchment. Press down on the centers slightly to flatten a little with the spoon. Bake for 13 minutes or until golden brown. When done, remove cookies and place parchment paper with cookies on wire rack to cool.

Ice Bath Brownies

The greater part of seven years ago, I was out on my own for the first time, and learning how to cook by myself. My kitchen was carpeted (horrible I know, I know!) One evening while pulling my mastered specialty of Gouda stuffed chicken breasts courtesy of the Betty Crocker Cookbook out of the oven, I accidentally set the glass baking dish on a burner I had forgotten to turn off. In less than 5 seconds, there was a loud popping sound and glass shards and Gouda stuffed chicken were everywhere, including that lovely carpet. Luckily no one was in the kitchen at the time, and I considered it a lesson learned, and vowed to never do something like that again.

Time passed, I learned to be more careful and during the next 7 years, exploding glass didn‘t occur in my now un-carpeted kitchen again, until last week that is.... In a previous post I mentioned my brownie recipe disaster. Now the recipe itself was not disastrous, but the baking methods of a tired mama were. This specific brownie recipe calls for the brownies to be placed directly in an ice bath after coming out of a 400 degree oven. Due to the whole ice bath thing, the brownies need to be baked in a tin pan, and I unfortunately baked them in a glass pan. Well what happens when you put a 400 degree glass pan into an ice bath? Um, it uh, explodes and you end up with soaking wet brownies and little pieces of glass all over your kitchen! Using a glass pan is not recommended! PLEASE WHEN MAKING THESE BROWNIES USE A METAL PAN! If you use a metal pan, these brownies will come out moist, fudgy, and decadent, the way they did the next time I attempted to make them. The ice bath method creates a brownie that is crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, equalling brownie perfection! These brownies would taste even better if you added walnuts, I did not because the hubby is a not a walnut fan. Next time I make them I think I will use walnuts, and then I can have them all to myself……

When choosing a chocolate for this recipe, use something decent, like Ghirardelli. Don’t be tempted to buy the Bakers chocolate because it is cheaper, it tastes cheaper too!

Ice Bath Brownies
Makes 16 2-inch brownies

8 Tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 ¼ Cups sugar
¼ Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Large eggs
½ Cup all-purpose flour
2/3 Cup walnuts (optional)

1 8-inch square metal pan, lined along the bottom and sides with parchment paper or tin foil.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Position the rack in the lower third of the oven.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan or double boiler. When the mixture is melted and smooth, remove from heat. Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the flour and beat with a spoon until the batter in smooth and glossy. The batter is ready when it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Stir in the nuts. Spread the batter into the pan. Bake for 20 minutes or just until the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the pan. The center of the brownies will still be gooey when tested with a toothpick. While the brownies are baking, prepare and ice bath. Fill a large baking pan or roasting pan with ice cubes and water until about ¾ inches deep. When the brownies are ready, remove pan from the oven and set immediately in the ice bath. Be careful not to splash any water on the brownies. Cool the brownies in the ice bath, and then cut and serve!

Twilight Ale

I have to say that when it comes to beer, I am usually a self-proclaimed Widmer girl, as in Hefeweizen. In fact, today, driving through town running errands, I pulled up next to a Widmer delivery truck. As the truck turned off onto a side street, for a split second I felt the urge to follow it, but just for a split second. That is how much I like that yellow and black labeled brew! But lately in the name of education*, I have been trying to expand my beer palette. I have been venturing out to different brewpubs and when picking up a 6 pack at the store I will mix and match it, creating my very own sampler pack, instead of just buying a 6 pack of all the same brewskis. (I am pretty sure by now the beer stocking guys at Fred Meyer have me on a hit list!) Mixing up a 6 pack is lots of fun actually, and a lot more economical than say buying 6 bottles of wine when you want a little variety in life. Holding our own little beer tasting is also a favorite activity at the Markum house for a stay at home date night. This last time I mixed up a 6-er of Deschutes Brewery Beer. In the pack I had selected a bottle of their seasonal brew, Twilight Ale. I really liked it! Twilight Ale is a light, drinkable summer beer, but still has a nice malty character. I love what the website says about it " Best when served chilled and consumed outside." Doesn't that already sound like a good time? Deschutes Brewery also makes my favorite Porter: Black Butte. Try that one as well if you haven’t already. Plus, if you are in the state of Oregon, July is Oregon Craft Beer Month, so a part of the proceeds of beer sold during this month will help go to support the Oregon Food Bank. The breweries I have confirmed to be participating are Deschutes, Widmer & Bridgeport. So in celebration of Craft Beer Month and in the name of charity and education* go mix up your own 6 pack today!.

Linguine with Snap Peas, Zucchini, Basil, & Gremolata

I was busy rifling through recipes to utilize some snap peas I had received in last week’s CSA box. Inside the box, I had found the attached instructions on how they should be eaten to be completely unacceptable. They were to: “just eat the snap peas, raw.” No thank you! Healthy eating can only take me so far, and it doesn’t take me far enough to sit and eat raw vegetables with no seasoning for dinner. If I died the next day I don’t want my last meal on earth to be raw snap peas, or carrots, or cauliflower, you get the idea. This was this reason for my fervent pursuit of a recipe, so I could use up the snap peas. I ran across this one, in the May 2008 issue of Bon Appetit, adapted it a little, and it turned out to be a pretty darn good summer pasta. I got my flavor kicks and also ate my veggies. Now that is a healthy compromise!

Serves 4!

Gremolata is garnish of parsley, lemon and garlic. In this recipe capers are substituted for the garlic.

Gremolata:

3 Tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
1 Tablespoon lemon peel finely grated
1 Tablespoon capers drained & chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Mix parsley, lemon peel, capers and olive oil in a small bowl set gremolata aside.

For the Pasta:

¼ Cup olive oil
12 Ounces linguine
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Red jalapeno chiles, thinly sliced
2 Zucchini cut crosswise into 1/3 inch slices
1 Cup snap peas
1Cup packed fresh basil leaves
1 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Make sure to reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. I like to do this buy sticking a heavy mug into the boiling water and scooping some out. While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and jalapenos, sautéing until soft, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini and snap peas and sauté until tender about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add drained pasta, the cooking liquid (salted boiled water), basil and grated Parmesan cheese to the skillet. Toss until the basil is wilted and the pasta is coated. Season with salt and pepper. Top with gremolata and extra Parmesan cheese.