Chimichurri Sauce

Chimichurri Sauce is a super fresh herbacious blend of parsley, garlic, lemon, and olive oil. A bit like pesto in that it is herb-based and blended with olive oil, but very different in flavor. It's origins lie in South America where it is a popular marinade, dipping sauce, spread, and much more. 

My neighbor dropped off a huge bunch of  parsley on my front doorstep the other day - cut straight from his garden. That's how I got started down this Chimichurri path. I've heard about this amazingly fresh, delicious sauce plenty of times before and I've always been intrigued. But I've never had a big bunch of parsley just waiting for me to do something exciting with it. Thanks to my neighbor, it finally happened this week!

I used this recipe from Food.com as my base. I didn't modify it much because, after reading the reviews and comments, I really didn't want to mess with perfection. I mean, listen to this!

• "My dad is from Buenos Aires and this recipe is spot on!"
• "This makes your steak taste like it was just dragged through a garden" (that's a good thing, right?)
• "One word to describe this marinade: FRESH!"

I used the first of my chimichurri sauce as a marinade for grilled chicken. It'd also be great with steak or shrimp, and it is so easy to do. Simply cover the chicken with spoonfuls of chimichurri in the morning, then grill over hot coals in the evening. Serve with extra chimicurri on the side, as a sauce.  So fresh and delicious!

Other Ways to Use Chimichurri:

• In quinoa patties (leave out the herbs & sub in a few big spoons of chimichurri instead).
• Stirred into a garden fresh frittata. (PS I love this blog & its photography!)
• As a marinade for kebabs.
• As a marinade (or just sauce if you don't think ahead!) for steak or shrimp. 

Chimichurri Sauce

• 1 1/2 packed cups fresh parsley

• 8 garlic cloves

• 1/4 cup vinegar (I used rice vinegar, red wine vinegar is another popular option)

• 3/4 cup olive oil

• Juice from 1/4 lemon

• 1 Tbsp diced red onion

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 1/2 tsp salt

Pulse parsley in food processor a few times to begin chopping it up.

Add all other ingredients.Process until it all comes togther in a sauce. It will still have some texture - you don't need to process it until it is completely smooth here.

Store in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it as a marinade

Lemon Croutons + Links We Love

One day this week for dinner I made a brothy orzo soup with chicken, herbs, and lemon.  It was delicious, but it wanted something crunchy to go on top. I was in the process of making croutons with a stale baguette (chop it up in squares, sautee in olive oil on medium-low until crispy and golden) when I remembered this lemon infused olive oil I had in my cupboard.  So I made lemon infused croutons.  WHOA.  So good. Amazing on soup as well as salad - the lemon is subtle, fresh, and delicious.  You can buy lemon infused olive oil (I got mine as a free sample from here - cute packaging!) or you can make your own.  Here's a recipe.

Some links we're loving this week:

Dulcie's new favorite last-minute supper.
This fresh dish, by Turntable Kitchen, which would be awesome with homemade ricotta! 
Is organic produce better? A science experiment done by a middle schooler.  Cool.

Spring Herb Vinaigrette

Ever wish you could bottle up the essence of spring? We do too, and this is basically the best we could do: a zesty vinaigrette filled with finely chopped spring herbs.

We are always looking for a good dressing to add a little panache to a ho-hum side salad at dinner. With springy chives, mint, and basil, this dressing will adoring our salads all season along, and perhaps beyond. You should use a mixture of whatever herbs you have on hand, as this recipe is easily adaptable. Don't have a shallot? No worries. Leave it out, or sub in a clove of garlic. Anything goes.

Spring Herb Vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 Tb Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup loosely packed chives, mint, and basil, finely chopped
• 1 small shallot

1. Combine vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a bowl. In a slow and steady stream, add the olive oil to the bowl, whisking until blended. Whisk in herbs and shallot.
2. Use right away, or refrigerate up to a day. Mix well before serving.
Makes one cup.

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs (for Food52)

Check it out! We revisited our Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs for Food52 today.  Here’s a link to the full article.

The most exciting things? We experimented with dipping the eggs in multiple different dyes to create new colors.  We love the soft robin’s egg blue that was a result of a soak in blueberries followed by a quick dip in turmeric. And, we shot some new pictures of pretty pastel eggs to share with you!

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

It’s officially summer when you can make the switch from hot to iced coffee. There’s nothing better than a frosty glass of iced coffee on a warm summer morning. 
This recipe isn’t a new one – we’ve been seeing it pop up all over the place this summer – but we’ve been enjoying it so much lately that we thought we’d snap some pictures and share it with you. It goes perfectly with our Vanilla Simple Syrup (and cream)!

Cold brewed coffee can last for up to 2 weeks in the fridge (NY Times says so!). We’ve consumed ours well before 2 weeks have gone by, but it is very handy to be able to make a double batch of coffee and have it ready to drink for more than just one morning.

The idea with cold brew coffee is that because there is no heat involved in the cold brew process, the coffee is smoother and less bitter than traditional coffee. According to America’s Test Kitchen:
Exposed to far less heat, cold-brew is significantly less acerbic than its sweltering sibling. Less bitterness means that the subtler flavors found in coffee beans are more perceptible. For me, good cold-brew balances hints of dark chocolate, caramel, ripe black fruits, and vanilla with a pleasant viscosity, mild acidity, and pitch perfect bitterness.

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

• 4 cups water
• between 3/4 c. and 1 c ground coffee (depending on how strong you like your coffee)

Mix together, then let sit on the countertop for 12 to 24 hours. I do it either the morning before or the evening before.
After the coffee and water have steeped, strain the coffee through a metal or paper coffee filter, into a glass pitcher. Serve! Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Vanilla Simple Syrup

It is no secret that we love vanilla. The distinct, creamy flavor of the vanilla bean adds so much to baked goods and drinks (two of our favorite things). It was only a matter of time before we created a vanilla simple syrup.

I love how versatile this simple syrup is. I've been using it almost every morning in my cold-brewed iced coffee (recipe coming very soon!) When you add granulated sugar to cold coffee, you have to stir and stir and stir, and hopefully the sugar will eventually dissolve. But with a simple syrup, it mixes in a flash. And then of course, you have that kiss of vanilla. And this simple syrup is equally at home in cocktails. It is a clear winner.

Vanilla Simple Syrup

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup water

• 1 vanilla bean

1. Add sugar and water to a sauce pan, and heat until sugar has dissolved.
2. Scrape the seeds out of a vanilla bean, and add to the sauce pan. Let steep for 10 to 20 minutes, and then strain through a very fine sieve, cheesecloth, or (what we used) a permanent coffee filter. Let cool, bottle, and refrigerate. It should last a month or so in your fridge. Yields 1 cup.

Popsicles with Roasted Strawberry & Coconut Milk

In search of something creamy and cool, with a seasonal fruit thrown in the mix, we came up with these popsicles.  With only three ingredients – coconut milk, roasted strawberries, and a spoonful of agave for sweetness - these are simple to make and easy to substitute in any seasonal fruit you’ve got on hand.  Not bad in terms of a reasonably healthy treat that makes toddlers literally squeal (loudly) with excitement!

We decided to see what would happen if we attempted to concentrate fresh strawberry flavors from fresh and light to rich and intense.  We love fresh strawberries, but their flavor sometimes seems too muted when you start using them as an ingredient (rather than eating them straight out of hand).  We did it simply by roasting the strawberries for 20 minutes. Sprinkled with a tablespoon of sugar, they develop bubbly brown edges and deep flavors.  Perfect for blending with coconut milk to create a creamy popsicle with lots of strawberry flavor.

To be honest, these popsicles came together as a result of leftovers. I had some coconut milk waiting in the fridge, and I was itching to use it in a summery dessert. We had leftover roasted strawberries from our latest cocktail over at our Whole Foods column, Locally Mixed.  A little agave for sweetness (chosen for its easy-to-stir-in consistency) and we had ourselves four sweet little popsicles! 

Popsicles with Roasted Strawberries & Coconut Milk

• 1/2 c. coconut milk
• 1/2 c. roasted strawberry puree (recipe below)
• 1 Tbsp. agave

Blend all three ingredients together, pour into popsicles molds, and freeze overnight.  Warning:  This recipe only makes about 4 small popsicles; feel free to double it!

 

Roasted Strawberry Puree

• 2 cups roughly chopped strawberries
• Sprinkled with 1 Tbsp sugar

Yield: 1 cup

Roast at 400 for approx 20 minutes or until edges are browning and the pan contains bubbling & caramelizing strawberry juice.  I highly recommend a rimmed baking sheet for this recipe!  Scoop roasted strawberries into a glass jar for storage and mash them with a fork until they fall apart into a rough “puree”.

If you’re looking for another excuse to make a batch of the Roasted Strawberry Puree, here’s one:  Roasted Strawberry, Gin, & Ginger Cocktail!

Homemade Mayonnaise

Sarah and I have been talking about doing homemade mayo for what feels like forever. Now we're experiencing summer temperatures in Colorado, and our thoughts are on picnic baskets, baguette sandwiches, and potato salads. I am not a huge mayo fan, and I have always used it sparingly on sandwiches, if at all. It was a great point of contention when I discovered that my husband's family dips their artichoke leaves in mayonnaise. (Melted butter, am I right?) But homemade mayo is a whole different creature than the supermarket stuff. Is anyone surprised?

I recently bought the gorgeous cookbook Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. I'm pretty sure that everyone else in the blogosphere (did I really use that word?) already owns this hefty tome, but I tend to be late to the party. When we decided to finally make mayo, I thought Dorie was just the woman to turn to. Of course, I did not read the recipe from start to finish beforehand, and I flubbed it on my first go. (Note to self: read the damn thing first.)

So take it from me, when the recipe says to go slow and literally add the oil drop by drop, it truly means literally. It isn't to say that it takes very long to make mayo (unless you have to start all over again). It actually doesn't take long at all. You just need to do it right. Drop by drop.

Also, I tried it in my food processor which has a gracious 14-cup capacity (love that thing), but it didn't work for this because it was just too big. I switched over to my handy stick blender, and finally things started happening. So if you have a large food processor, use the small bowl attachment, or try another mixing method.

Homemade Mayonnaise

• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

• 2 tsp white wine vinegar

• 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1/2-1 cup oil, mild (such as grapeseed or canola) or more flavorful (we used olive), or a combination

Put the yolk, vinegar, and the mustard in a bowl, blender, or food processor. Whisk or whir to blend. Drop by drop (literally!! don't go to fast here...) start adding the oil, mixing all the while. When you've got about 1/4 cup oil beaten in and the mix is starting to look like mayonnaise (around 4 minutes or so), you can add the remaining oil more steadily, but still slowly. Use at least 1/2 cup oil, and up to about 1 cup to get the consistency you want. We only used the minimum 1/2 cup oil, and we liked how thick and flavorful the result was.

Homemade Pizza Dough

It has been a long time since we published our recipe for homemade pizza sauce. And in that time, we've made many, many pizzas. Some with our pizza sauce and some without. Usually with olives and sausage (my toddler's absolute favorite toppings) and other times with whatever we have rattling around in our fridges. We've tried several pizza dough recipes, and we finally settled on one we quite like, and then we got around to snapping some pictures before devouring the subject at hand.

As always being fans of the easiest option, we liked the idea of a pizza dough that you can make in a food processor. Let the food processor do all the dirty work. I had been using the recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, while Sarah had been working with Emeril Lagasse's version. In the end we melded them together and came up with the recipe below.

 Making pizza dough is surprisingly easy, and once you do it a few times, you might wonder why it ever intimidated you. This recipe makes two 14-inch pizzas, and you can make one and save the other for the next day. Suddenly, a homemade pizza is a simple lunch you are throwing together at the last minute.

Homemade Pizza Dough

makes 2 14-in pizzas

• 1 package active dry yeast

• 1 cup warm water

• 2 1/2 to 3 cups all purpose flour, plus more if necessary

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Combine the yeast with the warm water in a small bowl, stir well, and let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the yeast and water into the bowl of your food processor. Add the flour, salt, and olive oil and process until it forms a ball. Touch it and if it is quite sticky, add more flour until it is no longer very sticky and process a minute longer (for us it is close to 3 cups).
3. Knead the dough for a few minutes on a floured surface until it is a smooth and elastic dough. It should not be sticky, so add more flour if necessary. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat with oil. Cover with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm place for an hour or so, until it has about doubled in size.
4. Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 500 F. (We highly recommend a pizza stone! They are not expensive and they really make a big difference in the crispiness of the crust. They are awesome for baking bread, too.) If you don't have a stone, you can use a baking sheet -- don't put it into the oven until you put in the pizza itself.
5. Divide dough into two portions and shape into balls. Stretch or roll your dough into a circle (we usually just stretch with our hands rather than roll with a pin.) Take your time manipulating the dough. Sometimes the dough needs to rest a bit, so take a break, and then resume stretching until it is the right size and shape.
6. What we do, which may be a bit unconventional, is take our preheated pizza stone out of the oven, lay the shaped dough directly onto the stone and then put the toppings on. The dough will start cooking immediately, so we work fast. But we've had the best luck this way. For us, futzing around with a pizza peel leads to misshapen final pizzas. So we like this way... try it! Or use place the toppings on your pizza on a pizza peel, and then slide the pizza onto the stone that is in the oven.
7. Bake your pizza until crispy with a golden brown crust: around 10-13 minutes. 

Homemade Almond Butter

If you’ve got a food processor, you can make homemade almond butter in a few minutes.  No preservatives, stabilizers, sugar, or salt here.  Just pure creamy almond goodness.  I am loving this homemade stuff much more than store bought, and I can’t put my finger on why.  It seems a little creamier, and the almond flavor is a little more intense.  Maybe I am appreciating the lack of salt and sugar, too? 


Whatever the reason, this recipe is simple, healthy, and delicious.  My top two ways to eat it are on tart apple slices or with toast.  Look how creamy it is!




There are two things to keep in mind when making almond butter.

The first step is roasting the almonds, and you have a choice to make here.  Roast the almonds on the lighter side for an end product that is lighter in color and more almond-y in taste.  Roast the almonds longer, until they’re turning brown and are almost too roasted (we tested this out for you…you know, by accident) and you’ve got a much darker almond butter with strong bitter (almost chocolatey?) undertones.  I think the middle ground (about 10 min at 350) is best, but it’s fun to experiment with how the taste changes as you roast the almonds differently.

The second thing is that you need to let the almonds blend in the food processor for longer than you expect to get a truly creamy almond butter.  The first step is sandy, then the sand starts to clump and you may need to scrape down the sides a few times.  Then the almond butter begins to get gradually more and more creamy – let it go at this point for 2 minutes or so.  Done.

Homemade Almond Butter

• 2 cups raw almonds

Preheat oven to 350, then roast almonds on a rimmed baking sheet for approx 10 minutes or until fragrant and just beginning to turn golden brown.  We roasted our first batch of almonds a bit too long, which resulted in a very dark and slightly bitter almond butter (see notes above)
Let almonds blend in the food processor as they move from sandy to clumpy to smooth and liquid-y.  When they seem like they’re getting smooth, let them run for 2 minutes or so…otherwise our final product tended to be a little more firm than we liked.

Blood Orange Sunrise

Here’s our spin on the classic Tequila Sunrise.  Fresh orange juice, tequila, and then we’ve swapped the traditional grenadine for a drizzle of our homemade blood orange syrup. I love this blood orange syrup – it has such an interesting flavor when it’s concentrated in this syrup form. We’ve been sipping this cocktail ever since we made it, while pretending we’re about to jet off to Mexico for spring break. 

Oh wait, Dulcie actually IS on spring break. Sort of.  She’s visiting her family in Florida where it is 80 degrees.  Meanwhile I’m trudging through the snow to give her cat insulin shots twice a day.  I’m trying not to be jealous…

Now here’s a cool trick about making a beautiful Blood Orange Sunrise cocktail.  You need to add the ingredients in a specific order to create the striations of color.  It’s really easy:  first ice, then tequila, then orange juice, and then the cool part:  you slowly drizzle the syrup over the back of a spoon.  This helps it gently disperse, but not mix into the drink too much, and arrive on the bottom of the glass in a pretty layer of red. Give it one gentle stir, and you’re done.

Garnish with a citrus curl, which we’ll show you a tutorial on next time!

Blood Orange Sunrise

• ice
• 1 1/5 oz tequila
• 3 oz Orange Juice
• 1/2 oz blood orange syrup

Add ingredients to your cocktail glass in the order above, drizzling the blood orange syrup last (and over the back of a spoon, as shown).  Give everything one quick stir, and serve.

Blood Orange Syrup

Here’s another simple but special wintery recipe.  Somewhere along the line we came up with the idea to reduce beautiful (and delicious) fresh blood orange juice to create a syrup.  Probably because we’re always on the lookout for something unique to use in a seasonal cocktail.  This is a winner – sweet and citrusy, but with a slightly bitter piney background note that I really loved.

The recipe is so easy.  Juice a couple oranges, add a little sugar, and simmer until reduced by 1/2.  My main warning to you is that blood orange juice is very…vibrant.  I encountered a few splattering issues.  I had to stop juicing after 1/2 an orange and run to find my apron.  And I may or may not still be finding little red splashes in far flung nooks and crannies of my kitchen.  That may be due to the fact that I’m a bit of a messy cook, though, I’m not sure it’s fair to blame these oranges.

We’ll be back on Thursday with our favorite cocktail (so far) featuring Blood Orange Syrup!

Blood Orange Syrup

Note that this recipes is very flexible – the ratio of ingredients is the most important part.  2:1, juice to sugar.  Reduce by half.  Done. 

• 1/2 cup blood orange juice (we used about 3 oranges to get this much)
• 1/4 cup sugar

Combine in a saucepan and simmer for approx 15 minutes, stirring regularly, until reduced by half.

Oh, and another editorial note.  This recipe is very similar to our recipe for Homemade Grenadine, which is pretty much a Pomegranate Syrup.  Also highly recommend for delicious seasonal cocktails!

Grapefruit Curd

The lemon curd we made a few months ago was such a hit that I’ve been thinking for awhile about trying it again with a different type of citrus. Pink grapefruit is perfectly complex & delicious in a curd.  Especially when served in little glasses, topped with crème anglaise.

The final product is a little sweet, a little sour, and a little bitter.  We added the grapefruit zest, which played up the bitter note.  When the tiny cups were topped with dollops of rich, vanilla crème the dessert was complete.

The effort required here is really quite minimal. Especially when I figured out that you could get the 1/2 cup of fresh juice you need without a juicer – only brute strength and (optionally) popping tendons. Don’t mind those, please.

Slow, low heat and constant stirring are the main things to keep in mind.

I love the simplicity of this one. No crusts to fuss with or icing to pipe – just pretty colors layered in cute glasses and served simply.

I love the specks of vanilla bean in the top crème layer.  The pink of the fresh grapefruit juice is counteracted somewhat by the bright yellow of fresh egg yolks to make a pale coral color.

Grapefruit Curd

• 1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice (little less than one grapefruit)
• about 1 Tbsp grapefruit zest
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 6 Tbsp butter, cut into small cubes

Combine the eggs, milk, and sugar and stir until just mixed.  Pour in the juice and zest, then plop in the small pieces of cubed butter.  Heat everything over low heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat a spoon.  Do not boil or the eggs will curdle – so just keep the heat low, be patient, and stir a lot.  I’d say it took me about 15 minutes of low heat and stirring to reach a thick spoon coating consistency.
When thick, pour through a strainer to catch any errant egg curdles (I had a few, no big deal), cover, and refrigerate.  I poured mine directly into a large liquid measuring cup, then portioned it into six individual dessert glasses right away.  I refrigerated the glasses for an hour or so to let them firm up before topping them with a layer of crème anglaise.  Recipe for that is here!

 

Homemade Coconut Almond Granola

Homemade granola is another one of those things that tastes much better than the store-bought variety, is incredibly simple to make at home, and in the end costs a lot less than buying a box of cereal at the grocery store.

You know how we try to avoid things like Yellow Dye #5 and high fructose corn syrup?  I just read about a new one the other day – cellulose (wood pulp)!  Are you kidding me?  *shudder*

But back to the delicious granola! Dulcie was a little worried that homemade granola would have a sort of weird 70s hippie commune vibe, but I won her over by using big curls and flakes of real unsweetened coconut, local honey, coconut oil, and a smattering of tiny sesame seeds for their delicious taste and texture.



Making one huge batch of granola is super easy. After baking, I let it cool completely on its baking sheet then store it in glass jars in my pantry and enjoy its prettiness all week.



We’ve been eating our latest batch topped with fresh blueberries and whole milk.  Mmmm!

After mixing together the dry ingredients, you need to melt the sweetener and oil together stovetop, then drizzle over all the dry ingredients. I like to use honey and coconut oil but you could sub in equal amounts of maple syrup or agave for sweetness; vegetable oil for the fat.



Thanks to the lovely and talented Sarah at My New Roots for the recipe inspiration. Check out her recipe if you’re a granola lover - she has lots of great suggestions for alternate flavor combinations and ideas to spice things up and make the granola your own unique creation.

Homemade Coconut Almond Granola

3 c rolled oats
1 c large flake coconut (unsweetened)
1 c coarsely chopped raw almonds
1/2 c raw sesame seeds
1/2 c honey
1/2 c coconut oil

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Melt the honey & coconut oil together in a small pot on the stovetop.  When melted, drizzle over the dry ingredients and toss with your hands to coat thoroughly. 
Spread the raw granola thinly and equally over two rimmed baking sheets
Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes, or until toasty golden brown. Check in after 10 minutes to monitor done-ness, and give a quick stir at this point to help everything brown evenly.