For the two of us, this summer has been all about fresh fruit.  Of course we all know my love affair with strawberries, but now that the season has passed, I’ve branched out to enjoy the other tasty sweets nature has to give us [...]]]>

For the two of us, this summer has been all about fresh fruit.  Of course we all know my love affair with strawberries, but now that the season has passed, I’ve branched out to enjoy the other tasty sweets nature has to give us along with the bright summer sun.  Whether it be sharing a fresh carton of blackberries while walking home from work, picking raspberries on a path out on an evening walk, or waking up in the morning with yogurt, granola, and slices of apricots that aim to be as sweet as the ripest of peaches, we certainly have been enjoying our fruits!  And then there are figs.  I like to wait til they are super soft, so delicate a firm grip would end them in a fit of a sticky disaster oozing everywhere.

Not every fruit needs to be sweet to be enjoyed.  Currants are a tart little explosive burst of flavor when they enter your mouth.  At first I was a bit skeptical of my potential love for this fruit because of that, but they have really become a staple in our kitchen the past few weeks.  I enjoy their tartness, especially paired with something sweet.  They are perfect for balancing sweetness, and are exactly why they are such an integral part of this salad.

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Read the rest of My Love Affair with Fruit Continues – Summer Fruit Salad (260 words)

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I tend to lose my appetite easily when it is grossly hot outside like it has been this week, tending towards fresh fruits and greens over carbs & meats.  There’s just one problem with desiring such lighter fare day after day – I don’t consume enough [...]]]>

I tend to lose my appetite easily when it is grossly hot outside like it has been this week, tending towards fresh fruits and greens over carbs & meats.  There’s just one problem with desiring such lighter fare day after day – I don’t consume enough calories and then I am hungry.  So how to eat something more substantial when I don’t feel like anything heavy?  Why of course, a chilled flavorful pasta salad!

Unfortunately, pasta salads for me often invoke images of mayonnaise laden macaroni concoctions at a sweltering hot picnic brunch that leave my stomach in that “sunken” feeling after eating, like a giant boulder decided to take up residence in my tummy.  It’s usually not an awesome experience.  However, thanks to my friend Stacy over at Little Blue Hen, her Greek pasta with colorful visions of artichoke hearts and olives was exactly the inspiration I needed.  A light olive oil and vinegar dressing and some great bright flavors sounded perfect to me.

Most everything I had already in my pantry too, which means I didn’t have to go back out in the heat to the store to buy things.  Not that going to the store is an issue, but climbing the freaking hill back up to our apartment is.  Did I ever tell you that I am a complete wimp in the heat (especially if there is no A/C to be had)?  There’s a reason why most of my work & travels have been to cooler regions, or why my husband and I chose the chilly windy New England shore in the Autumn rather than a tropical Caribbean island for our honeymoon.  A beach all to myself on a day where the high is 50ºF with 30 knot winds?  Now that’s my kinda vacation:

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I had a post ready for you all.  I was so moved by Shauna‘s recent post where she poured out her heart and soul about her life; it was exactly the wake-up call that I needed.  I immediately wanted to share with you all [...]]]>

I had a post ready for you all.  I was so moved by Shauna‘s recent post where she poured out her heart and soul about her life; it was exactly the wake-up call that I needed.  I immediately wanted to share with you all my story, and my struggles with my own body.  For, while not nearly to the same magnitude of hardship as Shauna went through, over the past few years I have had extremely valid reasons for maybe finding a little too much comfort in food.

I let two of my best friends read it first.  I wanted to make sure it was still relevant for you all.  And I think it is.  But, I’m not ready, not just yet, to share all the gory details.  It’s a story for sure, but one for another time, a different day.  Not this day.  For now, I give you the brief version.

There was a time when very suddenly, several instances of tendinitis in my legs all at once rendered me unable to walk, let alone even stand on my own.   It was not so long ago.  Eventually, after some harrowing and some fantastic experiences, the problem was fixed – only a momentary disturbance in my well-being.  Though I remember that summer, not just for the experience I went through, but also for how those events marked the time when food became my comfort.  I remember the strawberries at the farmer’s market were heaven that year.  My mother and I gorged on them every weekend because they were as sweet as candy.  As time went on I could stand and walk a little, and after several months found the strength to stand and make a quiche for my darling now-husband.  I watched a lot of TV that summer, and taught myself to make risotto by watching Gordon Ramsay.  Cooking became an outlet.  This was something I could do, when so many things were so far out of my reach.  While I was cooking I got excited about the possibilities that presented themselves, and for a few moments each day, the pain went away.  Cooking, creating, and eating, took away pain for me, and gave me hope that things would return to normal.  Maybe too much so, and it continued to be this way with each major life-changing event that occurred from then on.  Even now, the role food plays in the status of my emotional well being is a bit out of whack.

(we interrupt this regularly scheduled program for a Technorati claim token – wooo Technorati!) SMEAARW4R7P4 – I promise this will be removed once verified….For now please keep reading the rest of this post for some delicious shrimp & avocado salad

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It is Springtime!  The cool rains gently fall, coating the earth a thin damp blanket that threatens the sun’s best attempts to show its face after the long harsh cold.  I hang my head staring hopelessly out the window, mourning the end of a depressingly brief cameo of the [...]]]>

It is Springtime!  The cool rains gently fall, coating the earth a thin damp blanket that threatens the sun’s best attempts to show its face after the long harsh cold.  I hang my head staring hopelessly out the window, mourning the end of a depressingly brief cameo of the sun’s warm glow, strangely not comforted by the rhythmic pattering of drops rattling against the panes.  However, the ground responds to the steady storm by ushering forth its best efforts to welcome the coming warm weather, painting a Seurat-esque watercolor of flowers that dot the landscape with a vibrancy I previously thought only existed in my imagination.  Even in the rain, the earth shows her beauty, even in the smallest of ways with something as humble as a flower.  The petals embrace the falling water, soaking it in, their cheerful color a stark contrast against the gray skies.

Spring is a time of renewal, laughter and my favorite, fresh bright colorful produce.  I still cannot get over the quality and freshness of the foods ones can buy here – seriously, this was my lunch last week – lettuce with carrots, radish, and local garlic & herb goat cheese -

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Winter is the season for endives (pronounced ahn-deev in French), and nothing could have said that more than their prevalence at every single stand at the market last weekend.  Red ones, white ones, Belgian endives are totally in their prime right now.  They are a crunchy and [...]]]>

Winter is the season for endives (pronounced ahn-deev in French), and nothing could have said that more than their prevalence at every single stand at the market last weekend.  Red ones, white ones, Belgian endives are totally in their prime right now.  They are a crunchy and slightly bitter salad green whose flavor pairs well with a variety of foods.  I particularly like to match them with the sweetly acidic blood orange, also in season right now.

My husband and I literally created the idea for this salad as we were perusing the fresh produce stands in the city center.  I saw beautiful Belgian endives, and though my husband was at first a little skeptical, agreed to humor me that this would turn out well.  I bought them from my favorite vendor, who is a middle-aged woman that each week very politely and patiently helps me out with my lack of French while I ask her the names of each kind of produce I buy.  Last week I learned that leeks are called “poireaux” and she called curly endive “salade Lyonnaise“.  Not only is she helpful, but her produce is exquisite.  Living here I feel like I am learning how to taste and eat food for the first time all over again, finding out that there are foods I never knew I was in love with, and others that I am falling more in love with than I ever imagined.

For example, consider the radish.  Oft neglected, at least in my experience, this colorful root vegetable can be quite bitter and require teeth of steel to bite into.  At least that is my memory from say around 15 years ago, as I am sure that was the last time I had ventured to eat radishes.  Maybe it was just an unfairly biased viewpoint I held, but now I cannot get enough of them.  I love the crunch they have and am not turned off by the bitterness at all.  Maybe they really are different here, or maybe it was just the right time in my life to rediscover this great veggie.  Either way, I am now officially a fan of radishes.

So this salad is blend of all sorts of things, containing a contrast in flavors and textures all at once for the tongue to dance upon, with just a very light dressing to tie it all together.  I love how the color of such a dish can cheer up an entire room, even in the dead of winter on these grey days.  Such brightness speaks of the yearning for warm sunny spring days hopefully soon to come.

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Ingredients (Serves 4):
4 Belgian white endives
200 g (about 1/2 lb) of salade Lyonnaise (curly endive)
2 blood oranges, peeled and segmented, each sliced into quarters
1 avocado, sliced
4 fresh radishes, thinly sliced
If desired – 2 slices bacon per person
For the vinaigrette:
2 tbs walnut oil
2 tbs. white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
a little squirt of lemon juice

Directions:
1. Separate the leaves of each endive and arrange on a plate.  On top, add the greens (curly endive).
2. Arrange blood oranges, avocado, and radishes, and bacon (if desired) on top of salad.
3. Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl and whisk quickly to make the dressing.  Drizzle on top of salad.  Enjoy!

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us

One of my friends suggested that this should be called “Hello Fall, I love you” salad, and I think she is right.  With roasted butternut squash, fresh pomegranate seeds, toasted pecans, and gruyere cheese, this salad epitomizes several of my favorite flavors of the season.  Pomegranates are in [...]]]>

One of my friends suggested that this should be called “Hello Fall, I love you” salad, and I think she is right.  With roasted butternut squash, fresh pomegranate seeds, toasted pecans, and gruyere cheese, this salad epitomizes several of my favorite flavors of the season.  Pomegranates are in season now (so is squash), and I use them in just about everything that I can.  All of these flavors are pretty distinct, but complement each other very well in this dish.  The butternut squash is the mildest of the flavors, but adds a nice mellowness to the salad.  I love pairing pomegranates with the squash here.  Pomegranate seeds have a really bright tart flavor that adds a little punch of zing, let alone a gorgeous contribution of color that makes this salad just appear warm and bright.  They really do shine like little jewels on the plate.

These flavors can work in other dishes besides a salad – for example this morning we made a hash with the butternut squash, spinach, some bacon, eggs, and pomegranate - simple and quick, yet perfect.

Pomegranates can be a bit umm..messy to open up though.  I recommend slowly breaking apart pieces of the pomegranate with your hands, rather than just slicing straight in, which is the most surefire way to get bright red juice everywhere, like below – Who dunnit?

Mr. Pomegranate in the kitchen with a knife!

Ha sorry, I know it’s corny, but I just couldn’t resist…..I used to love that board game as a little kid lol.  I’m titling this photo “Death by pomegranate” ….but yumm that blood red juice is delicious! This is one of the few photos where I was actually intending for that grainy look, which I got by shooting with a very low f-stop so that only the tip of the knife was in focus, having a high ISO and then applying reduce noise in photoshop to smooth out the grainyness a bit.  I’m a bit unhappy thought hat it is a bit dark.  I haven’t been able to set up my tripod yet, so longer exposure times are going to have to wait until next week…

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Ingredients:
For the Salad (for 4) -
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
One pomegranate, deseeded
1 butternut squash, peeled deseeded and chopped into bite size pieces
salt, pepper, evoo
1 c. pecans
2 oz. gruyere cheese, shredded
For the Dressing:
4 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs. pomegranate juice
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tbs. lemon juice
salt
pepper
thyme

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place squash on a baking pan and generously salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for at least 30 min, until tender (i.e. you can eat it with a fork).
2. Lay out pecans on a baking sheet, and broil until toasted. On “lo” broil, this is around 5 minutes. Check often and take care not to burn them.  When they are done you will know by taste though, as they will be only slightly browned but will no longer taste “raw”.
3. To make the dressing, combine dressing ingredients together and vigorously whisk together.
4. Assemble each plate with lettuce, squash, pecans, cheese, and pomegranate seeds, top with dressing. Enjoy!

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us

I cannot get over the quality and variety of my new local farmer’s market.  The one I used to love in the city paled in comparison to the size and breadth of my current favorite weekend location.  We decided to bring the puppy last week.  Unfortunately, she got sick [...]]]>

I cannot get over the quality and variety of my new local farmer’s market.  The one I used to love in the city paled in comparison to the size and breadth of my current favorite weekend location.  We decided to bring the puppy last week.  Unfortunately, she got sick in the car on the way there and on the way back, and my poor sister was sitting in the back seat having to deal with it.  But, once we got out of the car, everything was fine.  Turns out, the puppy doesn’t care a thing about other dogs, but just LOVES it when kids come up and give her attention, which was so adorable to watch.

But I digress.  At the farmer’s market was the most beautiful butter lettuce.  I love butter lettuce.  It has a sharp bite that makes it much more exciting to eat than romaine or iceberg (blegh, I can’t stand iceberg lettuce – totally flavorless!), but not quite as pepper as say arugula.  Just enough to give a nice flavor to a pretty leafy green.  Mixed with some grilled chicken and a garlicky creamy dressing, this salad was just the refreshing light lunch on a hot-very-much-still-summer day.  Some tomato on the side and a little bit of cheese adds the perfect garnish and complements the salad quite nicely.

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Ingredients:
1/4 lb. grilled chicken per person (I used leftovers from a previous meal), cut into bite-size pieces
1 head butter lettuce, chopped
1 ripe tomato, sliced
4 oz. Vermont sharp cheddar
For the Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup or so extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. sugar (or sugar substitute if making this for a diabetic)

Directions:
1. Prepare the dressing in a small bowl, by whisking mayo and lemon together.
2. Add in olive oil gradually while whisking constantly.  Then whisk in the rest of the seasonings.
3. In a large bowl, combine lettuce and grilled chicken, and toss with the dressing.
4. Serve in a bowl with sliced tomato on the side, and top with slices of sharp cheddar.  Enjoy!

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

This was the salad that I served with the soufflé.  Light and simple (I know, who calls anything made with bacon light? ha.  But it does feel like a light side dish). I added just a few slices of cheese to dress the salad up a bit, but it [...]]]>

This was the salad that I served with the soufflé.  Light and simple (I know, who calls anything made with bacon light? ha.  But it does feel like a light side dish). I added just a few slices of cheese to dress the salad up a bit, but it really didn’t need it since the soufflé had so much cheese in it already.  To make the strawberries seem sweeter without adding any sugar, I macerated them in some lemon juice.  The acidity from the lemon juice helps pull the sugars out from the strawberries to make them taste sweeter than if you just bit into one.  Lime juice works really well too for this, and also adds some flavor to the fruit!  I really love the strawberry & bacon flavor combination.  The sweetness of the strawberries and their soft texture are contrasted perfectly with the salty and crunchy taste of the bacon.  And a quick fresh homemade balsamic adds just the right amount of zing to pull it all together.

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Ingredients (for 4 servings):
juice of one half lemon
about 2 cups strawberries (3-4 large per person)
1 head of big green leafy lettuce
6 slices of bacon, cooked to your liking
thin slices of Muenster cheese
For the dressing:
juice of one half lemon
2 tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil and rosemary
salt/pepper

Directions:
1.  Slice strawberries and set aside in a bowl.  Squeeze lemon juice all over strawberries, and let set for an hour.
2. When ready to serve, plate lettuce, tear bacon into bite size pieces, add strawberries, and thin slices of cheese.
3. Make the dressing by mixing together all the dressing ingredients and mixing vigorously for 30s or so with a fork or whisk to form an emulsion.
4. Pour dressing over salad and eat.

Photography Note – Now that we have moved, I really need to find a place to set up my photos again.  Also, we are eating dinner later, and it’s getting dark earlier, so natural light seems to be in short supply these days….Need to build a light box!  So I apologize for the direct incandescent light, it’s what I’ve got to work with for the moment…

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Mayonnaise is a bane of my existence.  I have never ever liked it, and only if its flavor is so well hidden that I cannot taste it will I even tolerate it.  I have no idea why, that’s just how it is.  There are a number of foods [...]]]>

Mayonnaise is a bane of my existence.  I have never ever liked it, and only if its flavor is so well hidden that I cannot taste it will I even tolerate it.  I have no idea why, that’s just how it is.  There are a number of foods that I have never liked, including mayo, chocolate milk, ketchup, cottage cheese, or the taste of sour cream.  Call me weird, haha.  I certainly made for a strange kid – I mean what kid doesn’t like chocolate milk??  What’s even funnier is the reason for my dislike of  just about every kid’s idea of candy in a glass.  I felt that it tasted fake – it didn’t taste like REAL chocolate, and I liked REAL chocolate so much better.  I guess that was my foodie self showing through even in my younger years, lol.  But I really have no idea about the mayo.

Unfortunately, my distaste for mayo poses problems for me with just about any creamy summer salad out there – potato salad, cucumber salad, many coleslaws, etc.  That’s one big reason why I normally add in TONS of curry powder to chicken salad, so I can’t taste the mayo, lol.  But no longer!  Now that I have been experimenting more with plain yogurt, I have found yogurt to be the perfect substitute for mayonnaise.

This cucumber salad is a great example of my experiments with yogurt in dressings – the result is creamy, cool and refreshing,  just perfect for a warm summer’s day.  And yet, it still packs a punch of flavor.  The yogurt makes it rich and creamy without actually being as indulgent as it tastes – yes, sometimes I do actually make food that is somewhat healthy, haha.  This is also a total budget salad, and amounted to about $1.50 per serving.  Definitely grad student budget friendly and super easy to prepare, and a great way to use up those summer farmer’s market veggies!

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Ingredients (2 servings):
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tbs. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
salt, pepper, dill to taste
small pinch oregano
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 scallion, chopped

Directions:
1. Combine yogurt, vinegar,  mustard, and seasonings together in a small bowl to make the dressing.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Toss with the dressing.

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us