Creamy Carrot Pasta

I've never been a huge fan of cooked carrots. Their mushy sweetness compared to the savory crunch of raw carrots always put me off. I tend to like my veggies on the salty side, garnished with some ranch dip or a nice vinaigrette (or, in the case of artichokes, with luscious melted butter.) For most of my life I have picked carrots out of chicken soup and pot roast. I would always try one but I was usually haunted by flashbacks of pre-school lunches at La Petite Academy where I was coerced with threats of no dessert to eat this nastiness:

I just threw up in my mouth a little just thinking about it. It's gross.

So yeah, I don't like cooked carrots. That's why it was weird when I stumbled upon a cooked-carrot pasta sauce recipe on Tastespotting and it sounded good to me. Really good. I couldn't get it out of my head, I felt compelled to make it.  I did. And I loved it. The thyme and parmesan bring out the nuttiness in the carrots and the sweetness is mellowed by the cream. The bacon adds a much needed smokiness and saltiness that make this dish addictive. The leftovers were even good cold!

If you suffer from cooked carrot PTSD, this recipe might be the cure!
(Adapted from this recipe on Cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com)

- 1 lb Carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-1 inch rounds
- 5 cloves of garlic, whole, peeled
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea or Kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for serving
- 6 strips of Niman Ranch bacon
- 1 pound of gluten free pasta (If you haven't tried Ancient Harvest Corn/Quinoa blend DO IT.)

This sauce works best on curly shapes. I used a mixture of Garden Pagoda shape and Veggie Curls.
- 1 1/2 cups of pasta water

First, cook the bacon. This is my go-to method for making a lot of bacon at once. it cooks evenly, is absurdly easy to clean up and leaves your kitchen free of grease splatters. Also, you don't have to hover over it the way you do when making bacon in a skillet.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
Line a cookie sheet  with foil and place a cooling rack on the sheet. Spread bacon out on cooking rack and bake for 20 minutes or until very crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to cool then chop into small pieces and reserve for later.

Increase heat in oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl toss the carrot rounds and garlic with the olive oil, thoroughly coating the carrots and garlic with oil.

Season well with salt and thyme (and pepper if you're into that nasty stuff.)

Roast on a foil-lined about 45-50 minutes until carrots are tender. Take the pan out and stir or toss halfway through the cooking time to ensure carrots cook evenly on both sides.

When carrots are soft and tender, remove from oven.

Cook the pasta in a generous amount of salted water to al dente according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, puree the carrots and garlic with the heavy cream and parmesan cheese in a blender or food processor . When the pasta is done cooking reserve a cup and a half of the pasta water.

Quickly drain pasta and toss into a large mixing bowl with carrot cream sauce, adding pasta water a little at a time until you get a nice consistency and the pasta is evenly coated. Toss in the bacon and stir until it's incorporated.

Serve with a generous grating of parmesan cheese.

Read more...

GLOW Mango Curry Gingersnap Ice Cream Sammiches

I'm a blabbermouth. In school, without fail, my report cards came home with notes from teachers about how I was very bright but talkative to the point of being disruptive. My parents were mostly concerned with my grades and since those were always top notch, they never felt much need to squelch my social nature. I still talk. A lot. About everything. I have strong opinions and when I find something I like or something I dislike, people are going to hear about it.
I found something I like. I like it a lot. I think I might even LOVE it.

I found Glow Gluten Free cookies. They are not bland, or sandy or dry or earthy, or stick-in-your-teethy or off in any way whatsoever. I have tried a lot of gluten free cookies and I have not reviewed them here because one thing my parents did attempt to impart to me through my years of disruptive babbling was that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. So there. Even the very best gluten-free cookies were still good GLUTEN-FREE cookies. These are just good cookies. I would even venture so far as to say these are some of the best packaged cookies I have EVER had. I have to hide them from my non-G-Free Sous Chef and he is a cookie aficionado.

Glow cookies come in four flavors: Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate Chip and Gingersnap. I have never been a fan of gingersnap cookies but I love Glow cookies so much that I was determined to eat every last morsel of every flavor. I decided that I needed something creamy and flavorful to balance out the spiciness of the ginger. I came up with the idea of making ice cream sandwiches using the gingersnaps and homemade mango curry ice cream. The result was catastrophically delicious. I must urge ALL of you out there to not only GET THEE TO LOCALI (or go online) AND BUY SOME GLOW COOKIES but also to MAKE THIS RECIPE ASAP!

Mango Curry Ice Cream Sandwiches

- 6 egg yolks
- 2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- juice of one small lemon
- 2 tsp sweet yellow curry powder
- 2 1/2 cups mango puree (I used 10 very ripe Ataulfo Mexican mangoes)

Peel the mangoes then cut them into chunks and puree in blender or food processor until smooth.

Strain through mesh strainer if puree is lumpy or stringy. Set puree aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the yolks and sugar until smooth.

 Heat the cream in a saucepan to just below boiling.

Temper the eggs by whisking a cup of the hot cream VERY slowly into the egg mixture. Once you've brought them up to temperature, add the tempered eggs to the cream mixture.

Gently heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring often. The mixture will begin to thicken. Continue heating until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat immediately and whisk the mixture for a minute to stop the custard from cooking. Whisk in the curry powder. Strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a metal bowl set over an ice bath.

Stir in the vanilla and mango puree.

 Place the liquid, still in the ice bath into the refrigerator. When it's completely cold, pour it into ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions.

When the ice cream is ready, scoop into a plastic container and freeze for at least a few hours to harden.

Scoop one large scoop of ice cream onto a gingersnap and place another gingersnap on top. Smoosh slightly then place in a zipper freezer bag and freeze overnight (this softens the cookie just slightly and keeps the sandwich together better when you eat it.) Enjoy with a glass of ice cold milk, soy milk or almond milk. Cry from happiness.

Read more...

Crock Pot Balsamic Roast with Sweet Onions

Crock pots might seem a little old fashioned to those who haven't yet discovered how magical they are. It's true, many of the old crock pot recipes are pretty grandma-esque and gnarly but there are a lot of things you can make in a crock pot that might surprise you. I have big plans for some coconut creme brulee and there is just no beating chili that is hot and ready the second you get home from work.

I came across this recipe on Ask Georgie and it looked too easy to be true. It's CRAZY simple and CRAZY delicious. The beef gets so tender it just melts under your fork and the sweet onions combine with the balsamic and tomato sauce to make a rich and flavorful gravy. Not only is this recipe easy peasy lemon squeezy AND packed with iron-rich protein, it's also crazy cheap! When I made it, London Broil was on sale and I made the whole meal (enough for about 6 servings) for under $10!!! You're killing me Larry!

Recipe Adapted from askgeorgie.com

-1.75 lb top round beef (aka London Broil), trimmed of excess fat
- kosher salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp canola oil
- 1 large sweet onion
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbsp white wine

Season beef on both sides with decent dusting of salt and seasonings.

Heat oil in a large pan until very hot, and brown beef on both sides.

Slice the onion into thick half  rings, and place in bottom of slow cooker. Place meat on top.

In a small bowl, stir together tomato sauce and balsamic vinegar.

Deglaze browning pan with water and white wine.

 Pour water/wine/pan dripping mixture and tomato balsamic mixture over beef.

Place lid on crock and cook for 6-8 hours on low.

Mmmmm. If you do all these steps in the morning, you will come home from work to a smell that will make your mouth water!

Serve with a nice starchy side like mashed potatoes or my new fave, cauliflower puree (recipe coming soon!)

Read more...

Make Your Own Red Curry Paste

 Let me begin by apologizing for my prolonged absence from the blog. Over the past few weeks I've been struggling with some pretty ugly headaches. They are not eradicated yet but with the help of my doc, I am working on it. Despite this setback, I want to stick to my promise to post more often so let's start this week right (yeah, I know it's Tuesday, give me a break!)

Spring is here! In Los Angeles, the flowers are blooming, the grass is green, the sun is shining and the fruits and veggies that have been absent all winter are sneaking back into the farmer's market stalls, one by one. Strawberries! Asparagus! Artichokes! WooHOOO! Veggies of all kinds are perfect for today's recipe.

I love Thai take-out but I my sous-chef and I are working on saving money by cutting way down on eating out and ordering take-out. This curry paste lets me make my favorite Thai curries at home! Using fresh veggies and making my own rice, we can eat for pennies and the food is so good, I actually like it better than the take-out we used to get because I can customize it and make it my own. Bamboo shoots: out! Cauliflower: in! SO easy!

I got many of my ingredients from Simpang Asian Market and plain ol Ralph's. If you are having trouble finding these ingredients near you, you might try asking someone from your fave Thai take out place where they get their lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves.

 I learned how to make this Thai curry paste in cooking school. My cooking school blog has been in a holding pattern while I work on merging that blog with this one but I couldn't wait any longer to share this recipe with you. It's incredibly vibrant in color and taste, it will stain anything it touches but will also drown veggies, fish, tofu, chicken or anything else in flavor. I like to mix it into some coconut milk and add enough Sriracha to make it a little spicy then go nuts with add ins. I will share a couple of great curry recipes in the next week or so, but first, you gotta make this curry paste! P.S. It's vegan!

Thai Curry Paste

Ingredients:

- 10 large dried red chiles, Guajillos or New Mexican
 - 2" section of Galangal or ginger
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 2 whole kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
- 1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
- 3 Tbsp cilantro stems
- 3 garlic cloves
- 5 shallots
- 1-2 fresh thai chilis (cut of the top and toss in)

 

Cut tops off dried chiles, cut in half, remove seeds and soak the chiles in HOT water until tender.

 

 Reserve the water to use later in thinning the curry paste.

Pound the chiles, garlic and galangal together until semi-smooth with a mortar and pestle OR blend in a blender.

 

My blender was not up to this task so I moved everything to the food processor and pulverized it.

 

Once smooth, add the remaining ingredients and blend until completely smooth. 

 

 

If needed, add a small amount of leftover chile water to get a smooth paste. (I added too much. My paste ended up with more of a pudding consistency but it still tasted great and works fine in recipes.)

 

This recipe yields 1/3 - 1 cup curry paste. It will keep up to 2 months in the fridge in an airtight container or zippered plastic bag.

 

Read more...

"What the Kale?" chips

I hope I can redeem myself from my last heart stopping post with this healthierish one. The blogs have been ablaze the past few months with eaters extolling the virtues of kale chips. "Addictive!" they proclaimed, "Taste just like potato chips!" they promised, "You'll eat a whole head of kale in one sitting!" they declared. After falling head over heels for kale in this salad, I knew this snack was going to seal the deal. I bought 3 bunches of kale at the farmer's market, rushed home, cooked em up and...I was underwhelmed. Sad to say. My first batch was too salty. My second was better but it sure didn't make a kale-aterian of me. I think I might try again with curly kale instead of the flashy Cavolo Negro I used but many other bloggers seemed to love the CN. For those of you who still haven't tried this recipe (is there anyone still out there?) here is what I did. Please try it and let me know if you think I'm bananas for not jumping on the highway to kale (I'd apologize for the puns, but I'm not sorry!)

Ingredients:
- 1 Bunch Kale (I used black kale or Cavolo Nero, I think curly might work better)
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tsp Seasoned Salt*

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350

Remove stems from kale leaves. If using Cavalo Nero, cut leaves away from hard stems, if using curly kale, just cut off the stem at the bottom of the kale leaf. Rip or cut kale into bit size pieces.

Wash your Kale well. Mine was from the Organic Farmer's Market in SaMo and had all kinds of buggies and crusties up in it.

I washed the heck out of it then gave it a long whirl in the salad spinner.

Blot with paper towels and set out until completely dry. Any wetness will cause the kale to steam rather than bake/roast and it will be soggy and not crunchy.

Place dried kale in a bowl and toss with olive oil.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread kale out in one even layer on baking sheet, you may need two sheets in order to avoid piling the kale up.

Bake for 10-20 minutes or until crispy but not brown.

Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle with seasoned salt.
Serve right away!

*I made one batch with kosher salt and one with garlic salt and I wasn't crazy about the flavor of those two. They were a bit too bitter and waaaaaay too salty. You can play with whatever seasonings and spices you like. Seasoned salt was my fave.

Read more...