asparagus beef roll-ups

hello. my name is dana and i'm an addict.

some while back i noticed a cookbook called 'vegetables for vitality' on a friend's shelf. i thumbed through it, all the while telling my friend how my vegetables are so lame, how my range is so limited because with us it's always about the protein, veggies are most often side dishes, stuff i don't pay much attention to. i decide then and there i must cook more vegetables. i must try new stuff. i must make more salads. she very kindly lends me the book, to assist me in my new resolution. i promise to return it soon. i'm pretty sure that was happening almost a year ago. i cannot return books. that's why i seldom borrow them from the library, it's always so hard to give them back. i love the content, sure, but i also love the book itself, the idea of the book. and cookbooks are a great weakness of mine. i love the new, glossy one with pretty pictures, just as much as i cherish julia child's black-and-white, or my grandma's old notebook. so i guess what i'm trying to say, dear friend, is that i'll keep dodging you until you forget it's me you lent it to. (and don't think you can hold the rushdie i gave you hostage because seriously i will climb up your balcony at night and break it free).

in my defense, i have been cooking quite a lot from it. i have eaten more vegetables. in fact, this whole week i've been perfectly content with tomatoes and feta as dinner, or radishes and cucumbers with goat cheese. not even a dressing on them. really. and after a row of simple snacks like that, this thing tasted like ambrosia.

with some prep work done ahead of time, this plate can hit the table in ten minutes. plenty to get addicted to.

asparagus beef roll-ups

adapted from vegetables for vitality, the reader's digest, 2004

1 lb sirloin steak, thinly sliced

1 bunch asparagus

1 bunch scallions

1 tb olive oil

3 tb teriyaki sauce

1 tb sesame seeds, lighlty toasted

cut the beef so you have rectangles 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. pound them so they're very thin, about 1/8 inch. season with salt and pepper. cut the asparagus in 3 inch long pieces. i like to use only the tips for this. reserve the rest for another use. trim the green part of the scallions to the same size. reserve the white part for another use. blanch the asparagus for one minute. meaning, throw them in boiling water, and after one minute drain and plunge into an ice bath to stop cooking. do not overcook. take 3 asparagus tips and 1 scallion piece and form a bundle. roll beef around middle of veggies. at this point you can refrigerate the whole deal for a couple hours, but be sure to let it come back to room temp before cooking.

heat the oil and sear the beef on all sides, on high heat, about 3-4 minutes. add the teriyaki sauce, lower the heat to medium, and cook 2 more minutes, shaking the pan to get everything glazed. plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds. (this is also when you'd sprinkle some chopped cilantro, if you were so inclined). spoon pan juices all over.

in case anybody cares, the stuff underneath is lemon thyme orzo, which also cooks up in ten minutes and goes with it like a baby with his mama. it has a subtle flavor, with no acidic background because only the zest is used. there's also a bit of parmesan added at the end, which makes it creamy and risotto-like. it soaks up the pan juices and becomes an impossibly delicious sidekick. that's all, folks. eat asparagus roll-ups and don't lend me your books.

cheesy bacon tomato strata

my friends - real life and virtual - who have kids have been taunting me with stories of breakfasts in bed, of coffee drunk while taking in the bacon smells filling the house, of kiddies invading the bed while their husbands presented them with flowers. it's not that my bed doesn't get invaded. it does, whether i want it or not. but my husband is as ineffectual in the kithchen as the proverbial elephant. he doesn't even like to reheat leftovers, let alone cook from scratch. the only way i'll ever eat breakfast in bed is if i cook it in my sleep. so cook it in my sleep i did.

stratas are very smart dishes, very easy to prepare and so tasty. even people who don't really like eggs enjoy them. plus, the strata is infinetely variable. it's a great way to clean out the fridge. it's slices of bread, layered with meat and/or veggies, then drenched in a milk and eggs mixture, and baked. the trick is you can prepare it the night before and let it sit overnight. the bread will soak up the liquid and bake up wonderfully moist and fluffy. (in a hurry, it still must rest one hour).

4 big slices of bread, or 8 square sandwich slices, day old

4 eggs

1 cup milk

2 tomatoes, thinly sliced

2 slices munchee, or provolone, or swiss

5 oz feta, crumbled

4 slices turkey breast, or ham, or salami

1 ts dried oregano

4 slices turkey bacon

salt, pepper

in an 8 inch square dish place two slices of bread - or as many it takes for the bottom of the dish to be completely covered. trim to size if needed. then layer two slices of turkey, two of munchee, half the feta. then arrange one sliced tomato on top and repeat. only this time finish with the munchee on top. beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper. mix in the milk and the oregano. pour over the layers. now cover the dish with some aluminum foil, placing it directly on the cheese, and put some weight on it - a pan with a big can or jar, something to keep it pressed. refrigerate overnight.

in the morning, fake a bout of somnambulism and preheat the oven to 350F. uncover the strata, put it in the oven and sneak back to bed. or make coffee and set the table, i'm not forcing you to sleep. after 30 minutes remove from the oven and place the bacon on top, and bake until it's nice and crispy, about 10 minutes more. i did not have turkey bacon, and i had to blot out a lot of excess fat. entirely not recommended before the second coffee cup. so use the turkey bacon and save yourselves the trouble.

do you see how moist it is? it was incredible, light and fluffy, but very, very filling. we had a late breakfast and didn't need anything until dinner. we spent the day working in the garden, mowing and pulling weeds. it's too cold to plant! my tomatoes are ready to go outside, but the outside is not ready for the tomatoes. how lamentable. the best part of it was that zhara kept yelling 'happy mother's day!' because she saw i was getting a kick out of it. that, and all the hugs and kisses.

laura's orange poppyseed cake

and happy mother's day, too! i made this cake yesterday, after seeing it on laura's blog - boy, i'll never say i don't believe in love at first sight anymore! - and it'll be the stand-in for the usual mother's day cake, which this year will not be happening, as the husband is dieting. i'm not dieting (mind you, not cause i wouldn't need it, but i'm simply, completely incapable). either way, who needs to have an entire cake for themselves in the fridge?! especially when there's still two generous slices of this bundle of sunshine in this house.

for the cake:

2 cups or 270 gr all-purpose flour

1 cup packed or 175 gr dark brown sugar

3 eggs

14 tb or 2 sticks minus 1 tb or 200 gr unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup or 185 gr milk

1 1/2 ts baking powder

2 oz or a scant 1/2 cup or 60 gr poppyseeds

1/2 cup or 125 gr orange juice

zest of one orange, finely grated

for the syrup:

1 cup or 250 gr orange juice

1 cup or 235 gr turbinado/white sugar

zest of one orange, pith removed and thinly sliced

1 vanilla bean

 preheat the oven to 325F or 160C. sift the flour with the baking powder and a pinch of salt and set aside. cream the butter with the sugar and zest. when it's fluffy add the eggs, one at a time. mix in the flour, then add the milk, the orange juice and finally the poppyseeds. pour the batter in a buttered and floured 9 inch cake pan, and bake about 50 minutes, unitl it's nicely golden and it's beginning to pull away from the edge.

for the syrup, remove the zest with a potato peeler and julienne it. laura says to blanch it first, but i completely spaced out about it and it was just fine. blanched or not, mix it with the sugar and the juice. split and scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean and put them in, with the pod. boil gently until syrupy, about 10 to 15 minutes. this happened much faster for me, 5 to 7 minutes. don't let it thicken because it will thicken some once it cools.

when the cake is ready let it rest a few minutes in its pan. invert to plate and pour 1/2 the syrup all over. serve with extra syrup on each plate.

i love poppyseeds, and i'll always leap at a chance to use them that doesn't involve a yeasted dough that takes several hours to make. this cake is sweet, sweeter than i generally like my desserts, but somehow i found myself wanting a second slice. i think it's the candied orange that did the trick - it balances the syrup, giving it the faintest bitter atfertaste, a whisper, really, but that's all that's needed. loved it, thank you laura!

and, happy mother's day to you all. zhara and i picked these lilly-of-the-valley from the spread alongside the garage. their perfume is intoxicating, right now they're my favorite flowers.

green goddess salad

before you all gang up on me and tell me this is not how green goddess is done: i know. this is my green goddess. i don't like anchovies, especially not without the pretense of having cooked them. so there are none of those in this dressing. but you might like the rest...

green goddess is one of my favorite dressings. it occured to me it has no standing salad recipe. so why should cesar feel so superiour? especially when it's spring, and there's bountiful asparagus, and bright radishes and yay, spring mix that actually tastes like it should.

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut in inch pieces

1 cucumber, peeled and cut

1/2 zucchini, cut

5 red radishes, thinly sliced

4 scallions, white and green part separated

3 handfuls spring mix

4 oz feta cheese, preferably an aged one, crumbled

sliced almonds, toasted

1 tb sesame seeds, toasted

to trim the asparagus you hold each end in one hand and you bend it. it'll snap, and that's where you cut the rest of your bunch. save the trimmings for soup or stock. blanch it and set it in a strainer. cut the cucumber and the zucchini to the same rough size as the asparagus. thinly slice the radishes. cut the green part of scallions to size. mix all the veggies and the cheese with the spring mix. if you're reluctant to use raw zucchini, you can always blanch it with the asparagus, or you can roast both at 400F for 15 minutes.

now for the dressing:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup mayo, preferably homemade

3 tb lemon juice

1 tb fresh tarragon, finely chopped

1 tb fresh parsley, finely chopped

4 scallions, white part only

1 tb tahini

1 tb extra-virgin olive oil

salt, pepper to taste

put everything in a blender and give it a whirr. if you have to do it by hand, be sure to mince everything!

you won't need all of it for a single salad. put the rest in a lidded container and keep for a week in the fridge.

when you've tossed the salad with the dressing, toast some almonds and some sesame seeds and sprinkle them on top. serve at once.

i absolutely love the asparagus - sesame seed flavor combo. nut on nut, like tone-sur-tone of the same color. after i took this photo i actually went back and sprinkled twice as much on. please, believe me: homemade mayo tastes nothing like the stuff you buy jarred. all it takes is one sampling to know the difference. it's easy to make, and maybe it's a minor detail, but if you have food on the brain, it will rock your world. go see what posessed nancy of roving lemon's big adventure to make her own. there's reasons beside taste to make mayo at home. (but if you do it just for taste, that's ok too.)

p.s.: this is the first salad i've included on this blog. part of it is, i don't think we really need recipes for salad. part is, salad is not my thing. i don't fawn over salad. it doesn't stay on my mind for days. i don't quiver with anticipation of the first bite. this, however, got me pretty excited. i'd been thinking about it the entire afternoon. in the 2 minutes between putting down my daughter for the night and grey's anatomy starting on tv, i assembled it, top speed and fork in hand i got to the table as my show started. it really was everything i had hoped. and then enters the patient. if tonight's episode didn't spoil my appetite, nothing will. i think maybe i would have stopped eating if i wasn't enjoying it so much. besides, i grew up with my cousins, all boys, and i think i've seen far more disgusting things at the table. anyhoo, long live salad! and spring!

peaches'n'cream lemon braid

i spotted this little wonder on the king arthur flour site. all i did was add peaches to the mix, i found a bag in the back of my freezer while the dough was rising and i couldn't resist. these are best served the same day. if you must store them keep them on the counter, covered with a kitchen towel. do not wrap in plastic. don't refrigerate, and only sprinkle confectioner's sugar the day you serve them. oh, and i also added citrus zest to the dough. one lemon and one orange. i honestly don't think the lemon would have come through without it. and i mixed the lemon curd in the cream cheese filling, i was pressed for time and did not need two separate layers. and i used sourcream instead of yoghurt, you know how i get if i have to go to the store for a single ingredient. and i sprinkled some sliced almonds on top. other than that, i followed te recipe to the letter and it was very good, especially with fruit. went great with coffee. zhara loved this one!

lemon pineapple biscotti

these things have tortured me since sunday night, when the idea of lemon-pineapple biscotti first occured. first thing monday morning i rush to trader joe's, but they had no pineapple (and no hazelnuts, incidentally, which i needed for another project) and as there was no time to go to a different store they had to wait until today. or, i had to wait, and i don't do patient. not with a craving the size of montana.

it was a rough night, but here we are. zhara got very excited at the prospect of cookies, and she yelled 'me too' after every single gesture of mine. not to mention i had to measure the pineapple three times cause some of it kept dissapearing. (one mangled piece mysterioulsy reappeared in her hair.)
this recipe is featured in the recipe booklet that came with my food processor. the other morning i was de-junking my flyer drawer when i found the booklet. it's been sitting there for the past two years. there's more to come from it, a great little recipe for banana bread. anyhoo, this biscotti recipe originally had a lot more sugar and ginger, which i don't particularly enjoy, but i loved the lemon part so i started from there.

3 oz or 87 gr white chocolate
2 oz or 58 gr crystallized pineapple
12 oz or 2 1/2 cups or 345 gr all-purpose flour
2 ts or 10 gr baking powder
1/4 ts salt
zest of 3 lemons
3/4 cup or 158 gr sugar
1/2 cup or 113 gr unsalted butter, room temp
2 large eggs
1 tb brandy or grand marnier
1 tb vanilla extract

preheat oven to 325F or 160C.
chop chocolate so no piece is larger than 1/4 inch. if you have chips you're all set. do the same for the pineapple and reserve. sift together flour, salt and baking powder and reserve. using a vegetable peeler remove the zest from the three lemons in strips. process the zest with 1/4 cup of the sugar until minced. add the remaining sugar and the butter and process until smooth. the mixture may look curdled. with the processor running, add the eggs one at a time. and the grand marnier or brandy and the vanilla. scrape the bowl. add the flour, chopped chocolate and pineapple and process to incorporate. turn out to a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball. the dough will be rather sticky, be sure to flour your hands too. (when zhara saw this, she started again with the me toos, so i pulled the salt dough and talked sweetly about her having her own work station on the other counter. really i was thinking i'd rather be dragged around by wild horses than let her schmear that stuff all over the kitchen. cooks with toddlers, be warned.)

so once you have it into a ball, divide in two and shape into logs. you can make them as wide as you like, they won't spread too much. they will rise to about double. put them on ungreased sheets bake for 22 minutes. remove from the oven, let them sit for 5-10 minutes or until you can handle them, and slice using a serrated knife. place them back on the sheets, cut side up, and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them. 20 was plenty for me. when you take them out they will still be kinda soft, but that's no indication. they will harden as they cool. once they're cooled you can drizzle more chocolate on top, they really are not that sweet and can easily afford another layer. store airtight for 6 weeks. they freeze well, too. they're my number one cookie.

later update: it's been 36 hours since they're out of the oven. they're firm, no doubt, but not hard. they don't really stand up to repeated dunking. it suits me fine cause zhara has taken quite the liking to them, but if you like yours good and sturdy consider adding 1/4 cup fine cornmeal when you mix in the flour. that way you'll get more crunch.

in the garden

i've been spending a good amount of time weeding and planting lately. i'll never be a passionate gardener. those weeds grow too fast and do there really have to be so many worms and bugs in the ground?! fortunately, i like herbs more than i dislike bugs. and once i decided to grow herbs, the rest just followed. i planted onion, carrots, and parsley. i have heirloom tomatoes growing on the windowsill, and when it's warm enough i'll also put in green beans, cucumbers and bell peppers. perhaps corn, just two or three so we can boil it young and have it with herbed salted butter. i haven't photographed all of it, but here's a few...