Kitchen Gadget Girl Cooks

More rain is scheduled for this week, and with that, I definitely feel like comfort food. Yesterday, a few of us were chatting about our favorite way to cook vegetables, and roasting was by far the preferred method. Everything from brussel sprouts to sweet potatoes taste better when roasted with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. I mean, really, fat and salt, what could be better than that!

From my last trip to the Farmer’s Market, I discovered I still have a couple acorn squashes, a bag of mixed root vegetables ad carrots, and orach. Using those items, here is my menu plan for the week of Monday, February 8:

Monday: Roasted chicken with mixed root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, turnips, rutabagas), sautéed orach

Tuesday: Dinner out after basketball, while I get to go eat dinner for Check Please! Bay Area!

Wednesday: Pizza for the kids

Thursday: Baked salmon, sautéd orach, roasted Delicata squash rings, steamed rice

Friday: Healthy Mac and Cheese (with acorn squash), salad

Saturday (we will be celebrating Valentine’s early): Sweet and spicy Asian pork shoulder, steamed rice, bok choy

What is on your menu plan this week? Any special Valentine’s Day plans?

Today’s mother-daughter Valentine’s Day party called for a little adult beverage. Something light. Something fruity. Something like Sangria.

Thanks to suggestions from Lisa and Peggy, I thought I would look up a recipe and see what I could pull together. I had a load of citrus from our Frog Hollow Farms CSA box this week, including very outstanding blood oranges. Together with lemons from my garden, I mixed this up in a jiffy and served over ice.

Sangria
inspired by recipe from All Recipes

• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine
• 1/2 cup triple sec
• 1 lemon, sliced into rounds
• 1 orange, sliced into rounds
• 1/4 cup simple syrup
• 8 maraschino cherries
• carbonated water (optional)

Mix all ingredients, except carbonated water, in large pitcher. Chill until ready to serve (ideally overnight, although I chilled mine for 20 minutes and it was fine!). Serve over ice with carbonated water, if desired.

Note: This recipe is easily doubled. Like you needed me to tell you that.

Again, this week, I pulled my menu plan together Saturday night, so I could take advantage of the Farmer’s Market on Sunday morning. After a quick perusal of the Sunday newspaper, I jumped out of bed and swooped through the market to pick up key ingredients.

One of the stands I like offers a whole row of greens, braising and salad, and I picked up a big bag of Orach. I like to cook Orach with egg whites for a quick mid-week lunchtime scramble. They also have bins of root vegetables, including Watermelon Radishes, Rutabagas, Turnips (many kinds) and Potatoes. I stocked up on a bag of these.

From another vendor, I chose Jerusalem Artichokes and pointy Cauliflower (although I am sure that is not what it is called). Another stand had the acorn squash I wanted, and I found carrots and celery at two more places. The celery looks so good, I should probably make a soup with it!

Here is my menu plan for Monday, February 1:

Sunday: Pork Tenderloin with polenta, chard and roasted Delicata squash rings

Monday: Dinner out after basketball game

Tuesday: Moroccan Vegetable Stew (original calls for eggplant and zucchini, both out of season, so I am subbing turnips, Jerusalem artichokes and rutabagas), couscous

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Dinner out with a friend

Friday: White Wine Coq au Vin (along with our Friday movie)

What is on your menu plan this week? Notice, I pulled out my slow cooker this week for Tuesday night’s dinner. Sunset.com has a nice collection of easy slow cooker dinner. For additional ideas, heck out Org Junkie….

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to continue to eat better. Another was to only do product reviews for products I have used and really liked. Fortunately, today, those two resolutions can be together in one post!

Stober Farms sent me a container of their Golden Flax Seed, a cold-milled flax which preserves the benefits of the Omega-3s and lengthens the shelf life. Which is not a problem, since I am sure you, like I, will find many ways to use this product.

Stober Farms Flax Seed is manufactured in North Dakota, on a 5th-generation family farm. Since the beginning of January, I have enjoyed the Golden Flax for breakfast, sprinkled on my yogurt, along with granola and fresh fruit. I don’t even notice the addition, but I know the difference flax seed is making is important to my overall well being.

Flax can be substituted for eggs and butter/oil in recipes and is especially tasty in baked goods. You can also add it to oatmeal, salad, pasta, juice, smoothies or ice cream. It blends in so well, you won’t notice any difference in your final product.

Flax Seed has three main benefits that make it a worthwhile addition to your diet:

1. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, which some research has shown to benefit heart health and positive aging
2. Fiber, both soluble and unsoluble fiber, which has been found to help lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar levels
3. Lignans, which may have a role in preventing hormonally related cancers of breast, endometrium and prostrate

The most important benefit is that for a minor change in your daily eating habits, you can make a major overall change in your dietary health. Plus, flax is great for your cat or dog, supporting joint health and shiny coats and even providing allergy relief!

Note, this review is based on my opinion and experience, with details from FlaxUSA. If you have questions or concerns about adding flax to your diet, please consult with your physician.

Saturday morning I was so excited by all the new recipes I wanted to try that I went ahead and made my menu plan starting this weekend. I plan to cook 5 days this week, with one day for leftovers and another for takeout (got to love Friday Movie Night). Here is my menu plan for the week of January 25th:

Saturday: Chicken Fingers (from Looney Spoons by Janet & Greta Podleski), carrots and rice

Sunday: Marrakech-style Veal Tangia with Preserved Lemons (from Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking by Paula Wolfert), couscous, salad, Lemon Mousse (from Back to Basics by Ina Garten)

Monday: Spicy Moroccan Stewed Fish with Couscous (from Jamie’s Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver, reprinted in Jan/Feb 2010 Cooking Light)

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Turkey Meatballs (also from Looney Spoons by Janet & Greta Podleski), pasta, tomato sauce

Thursday: Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens (I am using the tomatoes I canned last August, as well as Dinosaur Kale)

Friday: Friday Movie Night

What is on your menu plan this week? For more ideas, be sure to check out Org Junkie!

With all the rain, and a holiday week, I need some quick ideas for dinner. I threw this menu together this morning, while standing over the latest edition of Cooking Light, with my iPhone right next to me. Easier to make my shopping list that way!

Here is my Menu Plan for the week of January 19th:

Tuesday: Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Butternut Squash, chard

Wednesday: Vegetarian Chili (from Frog Commissary Cookbook), cornbread, salad

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: TGIF – Take out and movie night

And even though she has no idea what my blog looks like, I want to wish my Auntie Marie Happy 95th Birthday!

My neighbor Amy and I love to chat about baking and cooking. We both share an interest in having fun in the kitchen, and recently she shared these photos of a cake she baked for her friend’s Bat Mitzvah. I was so excited by the beauty of the cake that I wanted to post the details on Kitchen Gadget Girl.

Amy also provided the two recipes she used, which are great basic cakes to have in your repertoire. The cake she made above used 2 batches of chocolate cake and 2 batches of yellow cake – two batches for the “big pan” and two batches split into the small and medium pans.

Brown-bottom Cupcakes
Makes excellent chocolate cake without the filling ingredients

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
12 oz chocolate chips

Cupcake:
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
½ cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
2/3 cup oil
1 egg
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Make the filling in a medium bowl by mixing together the cream cheese, egg and sugar until creamy. Add chocolate chips, and set aside.

Make the cupcakes: Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add 2 cups water, oil, egg, vanilla and vinegar.

Fill cupcake papers about ½ full with batter. Drop 1 teaspoon filling on top.

Bake 15 minutes.

Great also as mini cupcakes (but use less filling per cupcake).

Yellow cake
These make great cupcakes

Recent realization/recommendation: Cream butter and sugar together. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the water. Add the water SLOWLY (or it splashes and makes an incredible mess!) This is a fun recipe for playing with food coloring too.

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cups butter or margarine, softened
4 eggs
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Grease and flour 3 9-inch baking pans, or a 9×13 pan.

Into large bowl, measure all ingredients, and 1 ¼ cup water. With mixer at low speed, beat until well mixed, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat at high speed 4 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.

Pour batter into pans and bake 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

I finally broke down Santa brought me an iPhone for Christmas, so I am now exploring all the iTunes App Store has to offer. Naturally, I am quite interested in the food apps, as there are so many great possibilities. Here are a couple I have downloaded and tried (all free apps, I am cheap like that):

Epicurious has made my mobile life that much easier with the Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List app, and I have to admit, this was one of the reasons I bought the iPhone. One of my big cooking hassles is when I put together a whole menu, and then go shopping, only to find the ingredients I want (usually a meat protein) are not on sale (or in season). Oh, but something else is. And, I feel stuck, since I don’t have a encyclopedic memory for recipes. The Epicurious app allows me to change things on the fly – Lamb Chops are on sale, I want to cook them for dinner in a Mediterranean style. Great, 13 recipes fit that profile. And I am back in business.

My Shopping List Lite, the free version of My List, is a great grocery shopping tool. As I go through my day, I usually run across one or two things that I need at the store, but going every day is a total time sync. So, I use My List to create a shopping list of reminders. The list is set up by Categories, which helps as you cruise through the store. You can even email the list to someone else (spouse, maybe) for pickup on their way home.

Spring, in my mind, is the start of the strawberry season in California. I should know – my birthday is in the spring and my birthday cake growing up was always Angel Food with fresh strawberries and whip cream. Thankfully, spring is right around the corner and the California Strawberry Commission has just released this STRAWBERRIES app offering a collection of more than 50 hand-selected strawberry recipes from some of the most popular food bloggers and chefs from around the web. My friend Lydia, of the Perfect Pantry, has a recipe in there, for Nutella Quesadillas with Strawberries! I can hardly wait for the first berries of the season!

On those days when I am just not interested in cooking, and looking to make a restaurant reservation while waiting for a kid, OpenTable has just the solution. The app is streamlined from the online tool, and allows you to connect easily to restaurants in your local area with open tables for your desired date. You can also do a more detailed search by region, and add refinements based on cuisine and expense.

Aimee of Greeblemonkey turned me onto AroundMe, an app which helps find services in the immediate area, based on your location. Very handy if you find yourself hungry while in the middle of a walk around downtown San Francisco. With a few quick clicks, you can be on your way to a nearby restaurant for a pick-me-up.

BTW, for more great iPhone apps, go check out Aimee’s End of the Year iPhone App Show ‘N Tell, where she really does show her mastery of this device!

What is your favorite food/cooking/grocery shopping app? Please share…

P.S. Things I had to learn for this post include creating a link to an app in the iTunes store and taking a screen shot with my iPhone. The last worked best by holding down the Sleep/Wake button, then clicking on Home. Love a day with learning!

In the first ten days of this new decade and year, I have spent time thinking about my goals for 2010. I thought I might be clever and come up with ten goals and share them with you, and encourage you to adopt my goals, and then decided that, no, that’s silly. But after watching Food Inc., I do have one idea to share:

Care about your food

That is pretty easy.

And apparently, it is the most important thing you can do. Think about what you put in your mouth. Think about the food you buy. Read a label. Or two. Talk to a farmer. Or two. Know what is available and make your own choices. Ask questions (don’t be afraid — if the store/food purveyor doesn’t like the questions, move on).

[Ooops, careful, starting to sound preachy...]

I don’t really want to be. But caring about your food should be a high priority. It is your body, and as far as I know, barring any unusual scientific breakthroughs, it will be your only body in this lifetime.

If you want to eat a bag of peanut M&Ms, by all means, do. I know I would (and have). But understand your choice.

I am not asking you to subscribe to a CSA, shop at Farmer’s Markets, buy only local/seasonal produce, eat only sustainably farmed foods and meat. Those are my own personal choices.

I am not asking you to plant a garden, source local food, and cook from scratch. Those are my own personal choices.

I am asking you to think about your food. Any questions?

If I didn’t know Stephanie, I would miss out on so many local good food options. She only moved down here last year, but has already managed to locate my favorite lunch spot, Tootsie’s, and now has turned me onto Philz Coffee. Originally only in San Francisco, Philz recently opened a spot on Middlefield in Palo Alto, and Philz is my last and final suggestion for 12 Days of Local Christmas.

Started in San Francisco in 2003, Philz is a labor of love for Phil Jaber and his son Jacob. They focus on coffee blends, and they offer these coffees through drip stations, a method of coffee service catching on more and more in the Bay Area. I drink decaf, and usually when I want a cup of drip coffee, I am stuck with the one variety of decaf available that day. Not so at Philz, where each cup of drip coffee is prepared to order!

When ordering coffee beans, you need to know how you like your coffee – light, medium or dark roast. Within those categories, there are more choices to make. We are trying Jacob’s Wonderbar Brew, which has lovely undertones of chocolate and nuts.

Through the end of this month (December 2009), 1 pound of Tesora (House Blend) is on sale for $10. That would make a mighty nice stocking stuffer. Or a New Year’s gift to start the new year off with a buzz!

I hope you have enjoyed these 12 local food suggestions – I know I have enjoyed sampling and putting them together. Merry Christmas!