Elk Loin with Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Turnips, and a Red Wine- Rhubarb Apple Sauce

Amazingly enough, at Piper's house this was another pantry meal. She had the elk in her freezer from a hunter friend, and the brussels and turnips from her CSA. We rubbed the elk with a spice mix (black pepper, juniper berries and herbs), seared it on the stove and then roasted it in the oven. The Brussels sprouts and turnips were cooked in bacon fat until they caramelized, and we improvised the sauce using rhubarb, apples, red wine, rosemary, and a little gin to compliment the juniper in the meat.

Beet Bruschetta

Stuck in Chicago during "Snowpocalypse 2011," my friend Piper and I have been working with what food she has in her pantry... by which I mean, the most amazing assortment of ingredients! Inspired by a meal we had at Lula before the blizzard, I used the beets from her last CSA box to make my favorite salad, and served it atop her incredible homemade sourdough with her homemade farmers' cheese. Yum!

Roasted Beets with Olives, Capers, and Oranges; Smashed Chickpeas and Toast

Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart, Reprise

We made this tart again. You have no idea how good it is!

Coconut Rice with Squash and Black Beans

From Tartelette... Terrible picture, but this was delicious! The lime zest and lemongrass in it really give it that something extra.

Cherry Custard Tart with Anise

This came from the Moro Cookbook- the cherries (which I had frozen from last summer) are cooked in anise liqueur, and then you make a syrup with the juice to pour over the finished tart. Please note that due to the low lighting, this looks much more yellow and eggy than it really was!

Penne with Olives, Capers, and Breadcrumbs

Cranberry Beans, Roasted Squash and Apples

Lentils and Spicy Squash with Avocado Toast

Spiced Almonds

Inspired by Moro, these are just almonds I roasted and tossed with olive oil, paprika, salt, and a little cayenne and white pepper.

Mashed Sunchokes and Millet with Cranberry and Purple Shelling Beans, Caramelized Onion, and Arugula and Persimmon Salad

Inspired by this post. I am not a big cauliflower fan, and I had some sunchokes in the fridge so I decided to use them instead. I think it came out great, and it was delicious with the sweet, caramelized onions and fresh shelling beans.

Roasted Beet Salad with Yogurt Dressing and Nigella Seeds (Reprise)

I made the beet salad from Moro again for our pumpkin carving party, and served it in these adorable little cups, with some daikon sprouts on top.

Leftovers

Spicy, roasted squash and hand-pulled mozzarella from our party the other night, served with lentils.

Pluot Galette

Inspired by a tart I had at Chez Panisse last month, we served this with rosewater whipped cream, which really brought out the fragrance of the pluots. (Pictured below with our favorites from the River Cafe books: Chocolate Walnut Torte and Pear Almond Cake)

Spicy Squash and Hand-Pulled Mozzarella Skewers

Erik pulled the mozzarella just moments before we served the skewers. Recipe from Jamie.

Smashed Canellini Beans with Thyme and Garlic, Arugula Salad, Toast

Arugula and Avocado Salad, Avocado Toast

Black Cod Tagine with Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Potatoes, and Olives

Also from Moro.

Fava Bean and Cucumber Soup

I had this at Moro when I was in London this summer, and now that I have their cookbook I've been dying to make it myself. It was just as delicious as I remembered and surprisingly easy to make. We made it with fresh fava beans instead of the dry ones in the recipe, which made it even quicker to put together.

Tagliatelle with Roasted Tomatoes, Olives, Capers, and Arugla

Inspired by River Cafe, as always...

Cranberry Beans with Arugula and Corn Salad

I cooked the beans with garlic, tomato and sage.

A Very Camino Dinner (Polenta, Cranberry Beans, Roasted Tomatoes and an Egg)

Leftovers

Smashed chickpeas, toast, roasted cherry tomatoes, pot roast from Chez Panisse, beet and carrot salads.

Smashed White Beans and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes on Toast

Roasted Carrots with Lemon and Cumin

Made with carrots from my garden!

Beet Salad with Yogurt and Nigella Seed

This is from the first Moro cookbook.

Tagliatelle Carbonara with Zucchini

Roasted Beet Salad with Olives, Capers, Shallots and Buffala Mozzarella

I harvested my first beets last week, and made them into this amazing salad. It was so good- I expect to be eating it lots more this winter.

Roast the beets, covered with foil, at 450 degrees for 45 minutes with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan. When they are done, you can slip off the skins and roots and cut them into chunks or slices if you prefer. Dress them while they are still warm with a bit of red wine vinegar, finely chopped shallots, and salt and pepper. Let them soak up the vinegar before you add any olive oil, and then add the chopped olives and capers.

Homemade Mozzarella with Tomatoes and Basil From the Garden

Treviso with Gorgonzola, Walnuts, and Shaved Parmesan

Leftovers

I had leftover jerk chicken and dirty rice from Brown Sugar Kitchen, so I cooked up some black beans and fried some plantains to go with them. Yum!

Watermelon Salad with Lemon Verbena and Basil

Breakfast Tacos with Sweet Corn, Chilies, and Caramelized Onion

Manchego, French Mustard, and Homemade Pickles

Fresh Black Eyed Peas with Roasted Tomatoes, Olives and Feta

I found fresh black eyed peas in the market today so we decided to adapt Hank Shaw's recipe for a Greek-inspired salad. By keeping the beans warm, along with the roasted tomatoes (as opposed to sun-dried), we made it into less of a salad and more of a hot meal. Yum!

Spaghetti with Smashed Cherry Tomatoes, Sweet Corn and Basil

Spaghetti with Quick Tomato Sauce and Garlic Bread

Erik's been craving spaghetti, and the heatwave earlier this week made my tomato plants explode with fruit, so I decided to make sauce. I just sauteed some onion with marjoram and dried chilies, threw in a couple of whole garlic cloves, and then added the tomatoes and let them caramelize. The result was amazingly sweet, and perfect with bread smeared with salted butter and roasted garlic.

Polenta with Strawberries and Cream

Arugula, Homemade Ricotta, Olives and Chilies

Made with leftovers from our bruschetta last week.

Peach Pie with a Thyme-Scented Crust

Arugula Salad with Watermelon and Lemon Verbena; Smashed Chickpeas on Toast with Preserved Lemon and Chilies

Pear Almond Tart with Custard

Another River Cafe recipe, made with Warren pears from my dad's orchard, and served with warm vanilla custard... yummmm.

Hand-Rolled Fennel Pollen Pici in Fennel-Tomato Sauce

Inspired by this amazing blog post, and Hank's recipes, Erik and I went foraging for fennel pollen last week. After about a half hour of gently shaking fennel flowers into a tupperware container, we had about a tablespoon of pollen and at least as many bugs. Newly convinced that the price of imported, dried pollen was worth it, we gave up and bought a jar. Making the hand-rolled pasta (which has the pollen in it) was surprisingly easy and fun- I think it would be a great meal to make with kids if you have them.

Broccolini with Garlic and Chili

Whole Halibut Baked in Salt

We made this using a combination of instructions from Jamie Oliver, River Cafe, and an episode of Two Fat Ladies. It was a little scary at first but turned out amazingly!

Bruschetta!

with homemade ricotta, arugula, olives and chilies


with smashed chickpeas and sauteed chard