Banana cream pie

My sweetie's birthday was on Sunday, so I made her this pie to celebrate. I found the recipe after googling "best banana cream pie" (yeah, I know, I'm sooo creative). This one looked complicated, and in things unfamiliar (like cream pies) I tend to think that complicated = tasty. Complete with homemade crust, vanilla pudding and candied whiskey walnuts, it turned out delicious. Happy 33rd, E.

Summer Corn Chowder

the photo doesn't do it justice (it's hard to photograph soup well), so you'll have to trust me when i say this is one yummy soup. the trick is finding a summer day that's not too hot for soup making. i make this when the csa box is full of corn, tomatoes, potatoes and basil.





2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 lg onion, diced
3 tbsp flour
5 c vegetable broth
2-4 russet potatoes (or other kind)
4 c corn kernels (however many ears you have)
1 bell pepper, diced (any color)
1 c half and half
2 plum tomatoes (or any other kind)
1 small handful basil leaves thinly slivered
salt and pepper to taste

i also add green beans, carrots, broccoli or any other veggies i have on hand that sound good. you may need to adjust broth relative to the amount of veggies.

heat butter and oil. cook onion about 10 min. sprinkle flour over onion, cook, stirring 3-5 minutes. add broth and potatoes. bring to boil. reduce heat to medium and simmer till potatoes are tender. add extra veggies along the way. add corn, bell pepper, salt, pepper, half and half. cook over low for about 8 minutes, stir occasionally. serve in bowls, topping with tomato and basil.

Mock Duck Banh Mi Sandwich

I used to get mock duck sandwiches from Jasmine Deli pretty frequently - but now that I never pass by Nicollet Ave, I rarely get over there. These recipes are a culmination of several internet searches and they make for a tasty final product. I made them for a large gathering and they were a huge success: just put out all the toppings and people can assemble their own sandwich. The mock pulled pork is totally delish, and it keeps in the fridge for easy leftovers too.

Banh Mi sandwiches traditionally are some combination of pork, pickled vegetables (carrots and daikon), cucumbers, cilantro, mayo/vegannaise, and jalapeno on a baguette. The pickled veggies are the only thing that take any significant prep time - they need to pickle in the fridge for 3-5 days. Pickled Carrot/Daikon radish recipe is here. The "Mock Pulled Pork" is pretty easy to make and very delicious. I added the full amount of chipotle in adobe sauce along with the jalapeno, and it was plenty spicy.

To assemble sandwich, slice baguette and fill with:
pickled carrots and daikon
sliced or julienned cucumbers
chopped cilantro
thinly sliced jalapeno
mayo/vegannaise
mock pulled pork

biscuits.

these are a favorite of mine. especially good with butter and honey or as an egg+cheese biscuit. the recipe is from "how to cook everything."

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

5 tbsp cold butter

7/8 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk

-preheat oven to 450.

-mix dry ingredients together.

-grate butter into dry ingredients, combine with your fingertips until it's incorporated.

-stir in yogurt or buttermilk (both are equally good).

-roll out until about 3/4" thick and cut into rounds

-bake 7-9 minutes.

these are super easy and they impress out-of-town guests that you're trying to convince to move to mpls, especially when cut into hearts.

bruschetta for breakfast

i had this for breakfast this morning and it was delicious. i have so many gorgeous tomatoes from my mom's garden that i try to incorporate them into every meal. so, here's what i did:

toast bread, rub fresh garlic onto toast.

add sliced tomatoes, fried egg, chopped basil and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

so easy and so good. especially with cold press coffee, if you're into that.

Lavender lemonade and gazpacho!

I thought the title deserved an exclamation point, since both recipes relate to one dear Megan H!

Megan wanted a non-alcoholic beverage for her grad party, and since I've been trying to make everything in Bryant Terry's incredible Vegan Soul Kitchen, this seemed like a good opportunity to try out the lavender lemonade. Megan was also the person responsible for me trying my first chilled soup! (A delicious chilled beet/cucumber.) I have a weird thing about temperature, and get sketched out if something is lukewarm or cool when it should be hot. Piping hot. But, since gazpacho is supposed to be cold, it makes sense to me.

LL:
In a saucepan, combine 2 cups of water with 1/4 cup dried lavender buds (I used a bit more because I looooove lavender. I also used buds that were, ahem, 4 years old, so I thought the recipe might need a bit more pep.) and bring to a boil, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for another 10 minutes. Strain the lavender buds and combine in a big jar (or pitcher) once cool. Add 3/4 c. fresh-squeezed lemon juice (this took me 3 lemons, but Bryant Terry suggested 6-8), 1/2 c. agave nectar or simple syrup, and 4 more cups of water.

Gazpacho (based on Mark Bittman's recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian):
I used 4 medium-sized tomatoes, but he says 2.5 pounds. Since I got 'em at the farmers' market (and don't have a scale), I just guessed. It seems like gazpacho lends itself to guessing.
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
2-3 baguette slices, or more to taste (ideally a bit stale, but I used completely fresh bread and it was fine)
2-3 T. sherry vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil (can drizzle more on later)
1 cup water
SALT (at aforementioned graduation party, I cornered Megan's friend Kate--a chef!--and asked her a lot of questions about cooking. One of her tips was to add a lot more salt to things than you might think.)
pepper

Just toss everything into a blender or food processor and combine. So simple! And then chill, of course.

Fettuccine with cabbage and sausage

We've been swimming in cabbage this year from our CSA. A few heads are still fermenting in Megan's crock, but one can only bogart a friend's fermentation vessel for so long ...
I found this recipe in a magazine whose name I cannot reveal for fear of public humiliation. Thankfully, the meal was pretty good.


1/2 lb sausage
6 c cabbage
3 shallots
olive oil
1/2 lb fettuccine
3/4 c chicken broth

Brown sausage and set aside. Add some olive oil to the sausage pan and fry up the shallots and cabbage (6 min). Add chicken broth and simmer (3-4 min). Combine with sausage and noodles.