Classic Granola

I make this almost every week. I got the recipe from Liz Gunderson’s Food for Fun blog. My favorite way to make it is with pecans, cranberries, & maple syrup. I also sub flax meal for half of the wheat germ.

Cloverleaf French Bread

From Fresh Eggs Daily. Yes, it’s labor-intensive (5 rises!), but it makes a ton, freezes well, and is super delicious.

Mrs. Foster’s Lime Pie

You can read all about this recipe over on my other blog. This pie made me think of summer, and that’s worth a lot these days.

Brown Butter Soda Bread

This recipe is from Epicurious. I made it as part of our St. Patrick’s day feast.

Almond Raspberry Layer Cake

From the Smitten Kitchen. This was Sara’s birthday cake (hence, the profanity). It was pretty amazing.

So, here is the recipe from Martha Rose Shulman & the NYT. I made it all with kale instead of mixed greens because that’s what was on sale at the store, and it was perfect.

Ingredients:

1 yeasted whole wheat olive oil pastry

1 large onion

1 1-pound bag washed, stemmed greens, such as a Southern greens mix (kale, collards, turnip greens and spinach)

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 plump garlic cloves, minced

Freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons za’atar (see below)

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 eggs

3 ounces feta

1 tablespoon egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon milk) for brushing the crust

Note: To make your own za’atar mix together 2 tablespoons dried thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds, 1 1/2 teaspoons sumac and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Keep in a jar.

1. Mix together the dough for the crust and set it in a warm spot to rise. Meanwhile prepare the filling.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with cold water. Cut the onion into quarters, cutting from root to stem end, then cut thin slices across the grain.

3. When the water in the pot reaches a boil, salt generously and add the greens. Boil for about 3 minutes, until tender. Use a skimmer to transfer the greens to the bowl of cold water, then drain. Take the greens up by the handful and squeeze out excess water. You can squeeze out the water most effectively if you take up small handfuls. Then coarsely chop (they are already chopped but the stems can be big). Set aside.

4. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide saucepan or a large skillet and add the onions. Cook, stirring often, until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. After the first couple of minutes of cooking add a generous pinch of salt so they don’t brown too quickly or stick to the pan. When the onions are nicely colored and soft add the garlic and continue to cook for another 30 seconds to a minute, until fragrant. Stir in the greens and combine well with the onions. Add the za’atar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the chickpeas, taste and adjust seasonings, and set aside.

5. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Crumble in the feta and stir in the greens mixture. Stir well to combine.

6. Dust a large work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Shape into a ball and let rest for 5 minutes. Then roll out into a thin round, 16 to 18 inches in diameter. Line a sheet pan with parchment and place the round in the middle, with the edges overlapping the pan (this will eliminate the need to lift the galette once it is filled). Place the filling in the middle of the rolled out pastry and spread it to a circle, leaving a 3 or 4-inch margin all the way around the pastry. Fold the edges in over the filling, pleating them to cover the filling and drawing them up to the middle of the galette, so that the filling is enclosed. The finished galette should be about 10 to 11 inches in diameter. There can be a small circle of exposed filling in the middle but it shouldn’t be more than an inch in diameter. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour.

7. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the galette from the freezer, brush with egg wash, and place in the oven. Bake 50 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

The recipe says this serves 8-10, but I cut it into 6 pieces and served it with roasted carrots. I think that’s more reasonable for a dinner unless you’re having a few side dishes.

I’m back! You may or may not have noticed, but I took a little blogging hiatus. This hiatus coincided with me starting a new job and, along with that, a new food blog. That, in addition to taking care of three cats and a PhD student, has had me a little distracted. I’m hoping that this little dip of my toes back into the blogging waters will be the start of some more consistent posting.

So what am I eating? Pizza! Sara is allergic to tomatoes, so I’ve been trying out some tomato-free pizza recipes. I came up with a combo last week that sounds a little fancy, but didn’t take very long to put together and tasted delicious. Here’s how it went down:

Fancy Pants Pizza

Brush an unbaked pizza crust (I make my own using the recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance) with some extra virgin olive oil. Top with:

Caramelized Onions
Roasted Beets
Toasted Walnuts
Crumbled Feta

Bake according to pizza dough instructions. When finished, top hot pizza with:

Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Arugula

]]> http://dinnerchronicles.com/2011/11/rosemary-pull-apart-rolls/feed/ 1 http://dinnerchronicles.com/2011/11/veggie-sausage-and-white-bean-stew/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=veggie-sausage-and-white-bean-stew http://dinnerchronicles.com/2011/11/veggie-sausage-and-white-bean-stew/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:16:46 +0000 Megan http://dinnerchronicles.com/?p=322
Sara is working on the research for her PhD dissertation. It’s a grueling process that so far has been full of much excitement and some major lows. At times, it seems like this study is taking over our house.  I’m glad that I can at the very least be a support for her during this process because of love, and because I really believe in the work that she’s doing. And of course, the way that I best offer support is with food. Yesterday we were badly in need of something comforting around here, so I decided to make this hearty stew coupled with homemade pull-apart rolls because, really, what is more comforting than freshly-baked bread? I think this will be a good recipe to keep around for the long, cold months coming up.

"OM NOM NOM" CC BY-NC-SA notemily, flickr

The Internet has been feeding me since my college days when my roommates and I would scour allrecipes.com every week to find new and exciting things to make in our dorm kitchen. I think I was possibly the most well-fed college student ever. Now that the Internet is all grown up, I can spend hours and hours digging through recipe websites trying to find the best version of something to try out (or more likely, the version of this thing that uses ingredients I have in my house). It’s exhilarating/exhausting.

Also exhausting is digging around the web trying to find something I made 5 months ago and am craving again. It’s a precious few recipes I make more than once, so I thought I’d save both you & me some time by rounding up a list of favorites so we don’t have to look all over for them.

Baked Oatmeal with Pecans, Blueberries, & Bananas (ok, I made this for the first time just last weekend, but I already know I’m going to want it again.)

The Moosewood Cookbook’s Thai Salad

Root Beer Cupcakes with Vanilla Malt Frosting (recipe mashups are my favorite kind of mashups)

Basil Hummus

Scrambled Tofu with Greens and Berry Chipotle Sauce

Red Split Lentils With Cabbage and Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

Best Brussels Sprouts