soup of the month

A work inspired post - in more ways than one! Today is my first day back to the office in almost two weeks. Prepare yourself for an odd comment - it actually feels a little good to be back to work. There I said it - now never speak of this again. 

My colleague, Irisa, mentioned that a "soup of month" post would be a good idea, and I (as a soup lover) totally agree. Oddly enough, I brought a nice bowl of soup for lunch today. I find soup to be the finest of the packable lunch selections. Today's special is cauliflower, corn & chicken chowder. Yum.

1 medium head of cauliflower, roughly chopped

1/2 onion, diced

3 tablespoons EVOO

1 quart chicken stock

1 cup frozen corn 

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

1/3 cup chopped parsley

lots of S&P to taste

shredded chicken from a rotisserie bird or roughly 3-4 breasts cooked and shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the cauliflower and onion in 2 tablespoons EVOO and season well with S&P. Assemble in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for about 25 minutes until tender. Over medium heat, heat a tablespoon of EVOO and saute the bell pepper until just soft, remove to the side. In the same large pot, heat the chicken stock. Add cooked cauliflower and onion mixture - puree with an immersion blender (or remove to blender and puree in batches). Add in bell pepper, thyme, shredded chicken, corn and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a light simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in parsley and taste for seasoning. The cauliflower helps give this soup a creamy feel (yet with no cream - it is a cauliflower miracle).

Okay lunch break is over - happy Friday all!

no place like home for the holidays

How is that Christmas comes and goes so fast? We had a great time in Pennsylvania, celebrating with family and friends, eating and drinking too much and just enjoying the comforts of home. This is the first year we have been home for Christmas since we got married! A few holiday treats to share...

sour cherries (either fresh or canned - cans are roughly 14.5 ounces)

Maraschino liquor

You will need about 1 cup of liquor for a pint (or can of cherries). If using canned cherries (which I did), rinse in a colander. Bring liquor to a boil, add cherries, remove from heat and allow to cool. The cherries are much tastier than the jarred variety at the grocery store. Keep cherries in the refrigerator and enjoy for the next few months on your sundaes or in your favorite cocktail. 

Speaking of cocktails - try your cherry in an apple & bourbon cocktail.

1-2 shots of bourbon

apple cider

Stir together with ice and garnish with lemon peel and a cherry.

Before we left for the holiday, I had a luncheon with some of my Nashville girlfriends. We had Ina's butternut squash soup and some delicious almond chicken salad. This recipe looks a bit festive with the red grapes, and it is delicious in a sandwich or atop fresh greens.

4 chicken breasts, bone-in and skin on

1 tablespoon EVOO

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

extra S&P for seasoning chicken

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 cup roughly chopped almonds

1 cup red grapes, halved

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1/3 cup honey

1 and 1/3 cup Hellman's Olive Oil Mayonnaise

3-4 celery stalks, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, rub the chicken breasts with olive oil and season with S&P. Assemble on a baking dish and bake for about 45-55 minutes until cooked. While chicken cools, mix together mayo, honey, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Remove chicken skin and shred chicken into a large mixing bowl. Add celery, nuts and mayo mixture - stirring to incorporate. Add in grapes and mix gently. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes at least 6 servings.

a snowed in Thanksgiving

A belated Thanksgiving post!

We headed to meet family in Asheville, North Carolina for Thanksgiving this year - where winter had arrived already. We stayed in a fantastic cabin in the Smokey Mountains at Wolf Ridge Ski Resort, about 30 minutes north of Asheville. 

On Friday, we enjoyed downtown Asheville - so many good spots to eat and drink!

Vance, Grandma-ma Helen & Kayla at Salsa's for lunch.

Peter with him pom-pom-pom for lunch.

Vance & his memorial.

Enjoyed exploring a few great breweries including Lexington Avenue Brewery, Wicked Weed and Asheville Brewing Company. We also toured the Biltmore and had a great brunch at Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village. 

Of course, we also visited French Broad Chocolates. 

The weather actually ended up keeping us in our cabin on Thanksgiving day so we dined on pasta bar with a few sauces I had frozen in the fall. It was no turkey dinner but still hit the spot. Getting up the mountain - in the snow - and darkness - and ice - and wind - was on the stressful side, but it made me realize that the most important thing is just being together. Doesn't really matter what you eat or where - just spending Thanksgiving with family was great. But...I am craving a nice holiday turkey dinner and can't wait until Christmas!

thankful for maple & apple & more

It was a great Thanksgiving - more on that soon. Here is how I started the long weekend...

maple applejack cocktail

1 ounce good maple syrup

3 ounces Applejack

squeeze of lemon wedge

2-3 dashes Agnostura bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a well-chilled martini glass and garnish with lemon peel. 

This cocktail isn't overly sweet because of the citrus and bitters. A bit of orange, in place of lemon, would be delicious also.

Hope Thanksgiving 2014 was great!

a new duo

Cumin carrot and basil asparagus soup - nothing beats a warm bowl of soup on a rainy Sunday. Enjoy each soup solo or let them share the bowl for a delicious duo.

cumin carrot soup

1 pound carrots, peeled and quartered

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons EVOO

1/2 teaspoon tumeric

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 cup white wine

3 &1 /2 cups chicken stock

generous amount of salt and pepper

basil asparagus soup

2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into thirds

2 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons EVOO

1/2 cup white wine

3  & 1/2 cups chicken stock

generous amount of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss the carrot, onion, EVOO and salt and pepper. Roast on a pan in the oven. Do the same with the asparagus, onion, EVOO and salt and pepper on another pan. Test after 30 minutes (toss occasionally) - the asparagus will be done but carrots will likely need another 15 minutes. To prepare each soup, add the roasted vegetable mixture to a stock pot with remaining ingredients - bring to a light simmer and then remove from heat. Using an immersion blender, blend the soups until smooth.

Assemble in a bowl so it looks pretty and enjoy! 

The weather turned quite chilly last week which has me thinking of the holidays. For the Nashville locals - you may wish to check a new spot in Cool Springs (especially when you are taking a break from Christmas shopping!) called Salad Works. The store on Frazier Drive opened last week and they were kind of enough to treat me to a salad. I opted for a build your own salad with a delicious avocado vinaigrette, but then spied a great looking steak salad. Something to try next time!

SF & Napa 2014

Vance and I took a few days in California at the end of October. A much needed escape together, as November is already blur of work travel, events and conferences for us both. Is it Christmas yet?

We visited family and friends in San Fran, but also fit in an overnight in Napa, where we had fabulous food and wine (as to be expected!). We started our trip with a great dinner at A16 with friends, Jordan and RJ, then headed up to Napa the next day.

Delicious burgers at Gott's Roadside - Oxbow Public Market in downtown Napa.

Cocktails at Angele.

An amazing dinner at Ad Hoc - thank you to my friend, Liz, who suggested this great spot!

Ad Hoc is Thomas Keller's "test" kitchen of sorts. Keller opened the French Laundry (a supposedly amazing restaurant with a very high price tag) years ago and wanted a different space to test out new dishes. This spot was absolutely fantastic - a must if you are looking for a nice dinner in Napa.

We did a very nice tour of a wine cave - Del Dotto.

XXX

Couldn't be happier.

Mo/Fo Cab.

Tasty lunch at Mustards Grill before heading back to San Fran.

We toured Alcatraz in San Fran and went to the San Francisco Symphony with my aunt and uncle on Saturday night.

I got out.

Alcatraz Gardens

Great lunch spot.

It was such a nice trip - just a few more weeks of work until we can relax again over the holidays!

walnut * pepper * paprika

Tasty walnut & roasted red pepper relish to try on tofu, pork, or chicken.

 

¼ cup walnuts

2 red bell peppers (about 1 lb.)

1 clove garlic, grated

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon EVOO

1 teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon hot cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon (or more) fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar

S&P to taste

Preheat oven to 350°. Place walnuts in a small bag and crush a bit with a mallet (I prefer this method over chopping on a cutting board). Toast walnut pieces on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing occasionally, until fragrant and slightly darker, 8–10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Heat broiler. Broil bell peppers on a broile rproof rimmed baking sheet, turning occasionally, until softened and skins are blackened in spots, 20–25 minutes. Transfer bell peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam 15 minutes. Peel peppers, seed, and chop. Toss bell peppers, garlic, mint, oil, paprika, cayenne, lemon juice, vinegar, and walnuts in a small bowl; season with S&P.

We had our relish atop dry fried tofu and a quinoa, black bean & spinach salad. Very fall, very yum.