Spring for your tummy...

Spring is here! 

My front yard :)

Everyone seems to be walking on sunshine in the SF Bay Area.  

Neighbors who have yet to show me more than the whites of their eyes through spread blinds have started nodding from their mailboxes, mouthing unintelligible things while shrugging and waving around at the warm air. 

The smell of flowering trees and backyard barbeques fill the air.  Walking has become the mode of transportation in a small town where parking is only an issue 3 times a year; for the Art & Wine Fest, The 4th of July parade and Oktoberfest.  People are walking on purpose again...and they like it!

As beautiful as it is, this is the time of year when some (most) of us start to panic. It's time to pack up those wonderfully cozy winter layers that don't just hide the extra lbs but cradle them and let them know that weight is just a number, and everything will be alright.  

But now the sun is out, it's 70+ degrees and that cashmere cardigan that has become your end of the day/start of the evening Mr. Rogeresque routine is not as convincing as it was when you were eating pasta directly off the stove and swallowing Girlscout cookies without chewing that stormy night a few weeks ago!  

It's time to pull out the much more revealing summer wear. No sense trying to avoid it.  Throw a "thank you for the winter we shared" party for you and your grandpa sweater

...then move on.

Don't fret, along with the warmer weather comes the light and delicious flavors of Spring.

The moment I laid eyes on Emily's Spring Stuffed Peas I knew this would be my Spring & Summer culinary obsession (second to heirloom tomatoes of course).

Emily's Spring Peas {Emily Style City Life & Adventures Blog}

A dozen shelling peas (or snap peas)

1/4 cup of neufchatel cheese (or whipped cream cheese)

2 tablespoons of plain yogurt (I used Greek Yogurt)

1 tablespoon of fresh dill (roughly chopped)

Zest from a small lemon (use the juice as well)

Salt, pepper to taste

Dash of cayenne pepper (or dashed liberally)

I also diced up chives & teenie squares of peeled cucumber.

Mix your cheese, yogurt, dill, lemon and spices in a small bowl until creamy. Taste and adjust the seasoning as you'd like. Split the tops of the peas open with a dull knife. Open the peas into little pockets. It would be faster to pipe in the filling (you can dump the filling into a quart Ziploc bag and trim the corner off to create a piping bag), but works perfectly well with a kitchen knife. Decorate with tiny sprigs of dill. 

If you want to do a picnicky type dinner here are some of my favorite, easily thrown together fares...


Caprese Salad on a Stick


All you need are:
Toothpicks
Little Fresh Mozzarella Balls
Cherry Tomatoes
Fresh Basil Leaves
Balsamic Glaze or Dressing


Shove all three edibles on a toothpick and drizzle with Balsamic.


Peach & Goat Cheese Bruschetta


All you need are: 
Thin Baguette
Peaches
Goat Cheese
Shallots
An Herb: Chives, Mint & Basil are all lovely with this.
Butter
Cracked Pepper


Thinly slice baguette, butter and grill until those pretty lines show up, flip & repeat
Slice Peaches and throw on grill
Thinly sliced shallots in a foil pouch on grill with a small amount of butter.
Sprinkle goat cheese on baguettes fresh from the oven. 
Add a few stripes of grilled shallots
Cut grilled peaches into rough chunks and lay on goat cheese.
Throw a dash of herbs down.
Crack some pepper over the top.


You can turn anything into a bruschetta!

One of my favorites is lox with goat cheese, capers and thinly sliced red onion.


Add a grilled prawn cocktail, chicken satay with peanut sauce, or some grilled, seasoned beef tips and you have a Spring dinner that won't have you rushing out to the gym the next morning filled with regret!  

Of course you are going to need a signature drink if entertaining (even if it's for a party of one).  
This evening it's...

White Wine Sangria 

  

Patio, Spotify Playlist & White Wine Sangria.

How Easter's Ham Bone Became Split Pea Soup...

After our glimpse of Spring the grey and rainy weather is back so it's the perfect time to throw some hearty soup on for dinner.  I gave this recipe a whirl a couple weeks ago and it was incredible.

Before we start you are going to need a good pair of cooking moccasins (or house slippers), there is a bit of waiting to do so you might as well be comfortable.

This was my journey...

I have never attempted to make split pea soup before. 

In fact I don't remember even trying it until last winter, at Mary's Pizza Shack of all places!  But, if I liked the soup a pizza place can throw together I know I'm going to love this.  

A while back I picked up this little vintage recipe book that is essentially a road map for eating your way across the States in the 1950's.  The Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous Eating Places, these must have flown off the shelves!  The illustrations alone make it worth leafing through.  On the left coast any mention of pea soup is synonomous with Anderson's Pea Soup and my little book happens to have the recipe.

Since my pea soup manual was at home, I was at the office and the market is right in between I starting searching all my go-to sites online for a recipe.  I quickly realized that there is a lot that I don't know about the basics of this soup.

For instance, the main ingredient ...Peas.

Some recipes called for frozen peas, some for fresh (I'd have to fill my entire trunk with pods to get a pound of peas!),others for split peas; which I couldn't picture for the life of me so I had to look those up too! Turns out they are those little things we glued to cardboard when making the grass for our California Mission Projects as kids! Even these need to be picked through looking for "rocks". I assume that means extremely dried up peas.  Some say soak the dried peas others say absolutely do not.  

Now for the ham bone...I saw recipes that called for ham bone and others that require ham hocks.  I had no idea if that was just a different word for the same thing so I opened another search window.  I'm pretty sure my bone just has ham that our beautifully buzzed host couldn't remove from the bone, not whatever the skin wrapped, fat, ligaments and tendons shown in the image I pulled up was.  Of course that fatty thing is suppose to provided a unique taste and consistency so I added it to my shopping list.

I was getting overwhelmed fast and seriously considered throwing the bone to my pups and grilling up a steak.

There were so many unique variations that you could make enough for an army, separate it out, freeze it and then turn the base into something new each time.  There are recipes that use yellow curry, chorizo, sausage etc.  I am absolutely addicted to Jimmy Dean's Sage Sausage I put it in pasta sauces, soups, eggs, pizzas etc.  I'm thinking I may need to find a way to squeeze it in here if the ham thing doesn't work out.


After all this I got on the phone with my genius twin and she has tried and tweaked the following recipe into a masterpiece!

Time: 2 ½ hours

1lbs dried split peas

Pick through (black or super dried) and rinse (dusty)

1 tablespoon Herbs De Provence

Salt to taste 
(No need, ham is SALTY...especially the next day. Seriously, don't do it.)

1 quart chicken broth/ 1 quart of water or 2 quarts of chicken broth 
(In hind sight I would use low sodium.)

3 carrots peeled and chopped

1 whole small yellow onion

2 ribs of celery chopped

1 cup cubed ham

 *Boar’s Head Sweet Sliced Ham 
(Butcher/deli will cut one inch slab)

2 tablespoons of lemon juice
(I added a preserved lemon)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

*Sarah's favorite :)

Directions:

Put water, chicken broth, bone, ham, peas, garlic, herbs (no veggies or lemon juice) into soup pot, bring to boil & cover…bring down to simmer for an hour.

Then add carrots, onion, celery until peas break down (approx ½ hour)

Take out bone (meat should be off) let cool and remove any additional meet. Use a slotted spoon to remove additional meet. 

Remove and throw out skin other things you wouldn’t want to eat. I.e. ham hock

Boat motor (I giggled, briefly misunderstanding what she had said and teased her a little making her explain exactly what a boat motor meant at her house)/hand mixer/drink mixer to puree soup, or you can use blender.  It will smooth out the soup by breaking down veggies leaving you lovely chunks of meat to return after blending.

Stir in lemon juice, salt & pepper (lemon pepper would be a nice touch).

You can load this baby up and top it with a dollop of sour cream (I used Greek yogurt), chives or scallions, bacon crumbles (seared PORK BELLY!), cheddar etc.

If you are planning ahead, the night before would be a good time to give the easiest bread ever a try! It needs to rise for 8-12 hours.

Since this made a lot of soup and there are only two of us I brought it in to the office the next day.  The guys loved it (which I'm not going to let go to my head since they are a couple of Mikey's and will eat just about anything)!  Warning: It was quite a bit saltier after sitting over night.

So what I'm about to say next goes against just about everything I normally practice but you have to either do the dishes as you go or immediately after.  If you don't you will need a jack hammer or a perfectly timed sale on a new blender, pot and serving bowl. I recommend as you go because afterwards you are going to be full and enjoying that big, juicy red that you just refilled since wine almost always accompanies soup & bread...especially on rainy nights.   

Here are some of the recipes that caught my eye...

Cook Better Than Most Restaurants warns not to funk it up by getting fancy:

Mom's Split Pea Soup 

The brilliant Emeril Lagasse pairs his Ham & Split Pea Soup with Parmesan Truffled Potato Chips

and Real Restaurant Recipes boasts that their Split Pea Soup Recipe would cause Split Pea Anderson to change to this recipe!

I found this one on Pinterest and it was truly the prettiest bowl of soup I've ever seen!

Better Homes & Gardens Ham and Pea Soup

I know I got a little link crazy but it was the rabbit hole I fell down so I'm taking you along for the ride!

Balsamic & Black Pepper Strawberries

 It's 89 degrees ~ just one week after the storm of the century (using Californian standards), a chilled drink in hand, spotify master mix playing and on my patio are two of the cutest dogs I've ever seen!

Let's rewind...

It's 4 o'clock on a Friday afternoon (4/20 to be exact) and my desk is the only thing keeping me from my deck...more accurately, the slow ticking of the clock above me.

Fast forward...

Home sweet home.

The grill has propane, the arbor is draped in bulbs for when dusk turns to darkness, a stack of wood by the chiminea if it gets a little breezy and there is plenty of wine.  I could quite possibly spend all weekend out here.

This Spring evening's menu:

Balsamic & Black Pepper Strawberries 
on a bed of spinach with goat cheese & almonds
(and later a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream).

Grilled Ginger Orange & Thai Chili Prawns

Grilled Filet Mignon

Let's start with the balsamic & black pepper strawberries because they need time to marinate.

The first time I had this bite of summer was at a gathering of lovely ladies years and years ago, my mouth still waters every time I think about it.  A dear friend of mine Cassie introduced it to us.  As she laid the ingredients out on the counter I was baffled...this being a different time, me in my early 20's with lightening fast metabolism and an undeveloped palate to say the least.  I had no problem eating a hot dog and pizza in the same meal...I've probably even had a hot dog pizza!

Ingredients:

A batch of large, fresh strawberries

Balsamic vinegar 

Sugar

Cracked Pepper

Basil (optional)

Steps:

Wash and De-Stem Strawberries

Place berries in a large serving bowl if you will be serving them fairly soon.

In a separate bowl whisk together equal parts balsamic and sugar, 

start with one cup of each and go from there. 

Pour balsamic and sugar mixture over berries and add as needed until berries are covered.

Cover in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

I wanted to chill mine for a day so I threw this together late Thurday night after class. I used tupperware for storing that way you can  just shake it every now and then. 

I love pepper so I peppered them during this stage and again later, but you can wait and pepper maybe an hour or so before serving so the pepper pieces absorb some of the sweetness.  Mine is an adjustable grinder so the pepper pieces came out a bit bigger than I would've liked so be sure to set it to fine.

Read slowly and trust me on this...you are going to want to put some aside rather than take your chances that there will be left over because these are incredible over a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzled with sweet balsamic especially when that ice cream is topped with crushed thin mints!

Gently stir to coat the berries just before serving. Transfer berries with a slotted spoon into a serving bowl.  Save the sweet balsamic.  It can be used as dressing, reduced down to a dipping sauce or to marinate chicken in for the grill...add some kick to it though. 

If you are serving the berries as a side dish a nice touch would be a ramekin with thin strips of fresh basil, one with an herb goat or feta cheese, sliced almonds etc. 

Tonight these beautiful berries were gracing the top of a spinach salad to be accompanied with a wall of filet and spicy citrus prawns.

If you are going on the full ride the next step is the prawns.

First you clean, devein and butterfly the prawns.

Jennifer's specialty is throwing together whatever clean, bright & citrus flavors she can get her hands on.  Tonight it was...

The juice from a couple oranges

Ginger

Lemon grass 

Thai chili sauce

Cracked pepper

Marinate for 30 minutes.

Now for this glorious hunk of meat!

I am hands down a dry rub girl!  My favorite being cracked pepper and sea salt.  

Pack in salt and pepper and let sit for 30 minutes or longer.

Pour some wine.  Light the grill and relax.

 Now is about right.

If you're still working on your grilling techniques this works for me...

Sear your filet well on each side for about 4 minutes (if it's a thicker cut) at 400-450 degrees.

Move filet to upper rack and bring heat down to med-low.  Depending on how you like it, start testing after 8 minutes or so.   Ours went 10 minutes and came out perfect at medium rare.

It is now 7a.m. next day and I am drooling over this!

and so were they!

 

Dinner is over.  Clean up can wait.  Plug in your lights...

 

light a fire...

 

open another bottle, turn up the music and unwind.

If it's still cold where you are I've got you covered!

Click Here.

Dainty little egg cups...

I found these dainty little egg cups on Pinterest just before Easter and thought they would be perfect for brunch.  Of course my lovely friend always cooks as if we multiply like bunnies!  

So this was my contribution...

 Hibiscus Flower Champagne

 Which come to think of it would look quite cute next to the flowery shape of an egg cup!

Easter being what it is we indulged in everything cheesy, chocolaty, sweet and savory that we could get our hands on!  I didn't think I would ever need to eat again (I didn't say want).

Monday....groooaaan.

{As the mad hatter would put it, I had lost much of my muchness.} 

  I sauntered home from work tonight exhausted from my ridiculously gluttonous weekend and day that ran about 8 hours too long.  After a breakfast of tea and a lunch of pretzels I was ready for something a little more substantial but light for dinner.

These came together together in a matter of minutes.

The Simple Delights 100 Calorie Pack

There is really nothing to it...

take a cupcake tin and spray it with cooking spray.

Line the cup with a thin, round piece of deli ham.

Crack an egg in, sprinkle it with salt & pepper.

After about 12 minutes at 400 degrees the whites will be cooked and the yolk will be a little runny.

Keep in mind that the egg will continue to cook even after it has been pulled from the oven.

Sprinkle it with parmesan cheese and scallions.

Next time I want to try shredded basil, mozzarella and thinly sliced cherry tomatoes. 

Or cilantro, scallions and queso fresco with a splash of tapatio sauce.  

Or sauteed mushrooms and white onion with blue cheese.

So truly you can use whatever you like.

Pull the egg cup from the tin and plate it.

Aren't they darling?

It's filling, healthy, quick and easy

...all good things.

and they really would be perfect for brunch since you can make several at one time.

Napa, Napaland and the epicurious empire that surrounds it.

Once upon a time...a short, short time ago and not so far away,

 two princesses who refused to be grown up for a 6th day in a row escaped their hectic lives for a slow paced weekend in Napa, Napaland.

Our demands (okay, not so much demands as hopes) were small...

#1 A Bathtub.

Avia ~ Napa, CA

Gorgeous, isn't it?

It was a weekend almost entirely unbooked.  Aside from our first night, an incredible dinner at
Michael Chiarello's Bottega ~ Yountville, Ca 

which requires a post of it's own.


#2 Fireplace(s).

Avia's Petaluma Free Range Chicken Hash.

#3 Delicious food.

Quite amazing...I've been craving it ever since!

#4 No rushing.

Day two, breakfast and off to Calistoga.

 

Just in time for the Mustard, Mud & Music Jazz Festival

While window shopping we crossed paths with the

"Mobile Man Cave"

It's pretty incredible inside but I wouldn't last 5 minutes in a van filled with cigar smoke.

Now a Mobile Martini Cave with finger foods and Mad Men/Pan Am playing over the flat-screens would be my home away from home!

We popped into a couple galleries, a wine shop and a funky little consignment store, bought Girl Scout cookies out of a little red wagon and had a lovely chat with the local Special Olympic super star before resting for a bit at Brannan's Grill  for some Hog Island oysters, a bowl of clams & some Napa Smith Pale Ales while jazz floated in through the windows.  

I love this town.

After a stop at Tomey Cellars' tasting room we hit up
the Culinary Institute of America for second lunch.

Today's Temptations: The Chef's Choice

Students hard at work.

After a long bath and a short nap it was 10pm and time for dinner.

Oenotri came highly recommended, the ambiance welcomed us in like a sideways grin from an old friend.  It was ridiculously good and allowed us the perfect a slow finish to a long day.  We left our order in the extremely enthusiastic and capable hands of Damian who took us on a guided tour of as he put it "save my life good" food.

Asparagus & Kumquat Salad.

WILLIS FARM PORK SAUSAGE WITH SAN MARZANO TOMATO, ONION, HOT PEPPER
AND STAR ROUTE FARMS WILD ARUGULA PIZZA

And round two...

MARGHERITA PIZZA: MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA WITH SAN MARZANO TOMATO AND FIRST OF THE SEASON TOMATERO FARM BASIL WITH CALABRIAN CHILI. IT'S CRAZY HOT!

Pinkus...we were introduced to an insanely good beer in wine country.

 Mini whoopie pies for the short walk across the street.

Day three

local paper by the fire...

 

a light breakfast,

and a trip to Oxbow Public Market.

I have never heard of this place before but I will never forget it.  The O.P.M. will be a part of every trip to Napa I make from here on out.  Just so you understand the greatness of this place it'd be like going to San Francisco without cruising through the Ferry Building or going to Boston without visiting Faneuil Hall!

So many cheeses to choose from.

There is so much to see...

More oysters!

A glorious cove of spices.

1800's English Motar & Pestle.

More spices!

How cute are these cards fruit cake?!

I want this burl wood bowl so badly!

Now those are knives!

Five Dot Ranch ~ Bloody Mary NY Strip!

C Casa

Seasoned buffalo and rotisserie duck tacos.

CUPCAKES!
(Be warned, Kara's gives Sprinkles a run for their money!)

Kara's Cupcakes

They make minis too! Road trip goodies. :)

Don't forget to visit the shops outside!

The Model Bakery.

The plan was to grab some bread for chocolate bread pudding but it barely made it home.

The Fatted Calf.

By far my favorite spot!  Like a kid in a candy store, I could have spent all day in here.  They are so helpful and extremely knowledgeable. I got a lesson in meats and now know who to call with any questions! (Probably even ones that have nothing to do with pork, beef or foul...that's how wise these guys are!)

We boxed up some duck pate to have on toasted pain levain for dinner.

Turns out my preserved lemons are just right!

Everything you ever wanted to know about meat.

Duck Pate and Pork Belly.

And as we pulled out of this mecca of madness I heard a gasp
and quickly looked over my shoulder to find this...

I've already started planning my next trip!