January 30, 2013

Like No Other Polenta

January 30, 2013/ Mary McDonald

Last week Jeff and I were over in Oakland and had lunch at Oliveto, a northern Italian restaurant. They had polenta on the menu, with a few choices for topping, farm fresh egg, cheese and herbs or beef spezzatino. We ordered the polenta with egg and polenta with beef. It was so amazing, like no other polenta. It's course-milled, grainy and tasty with a lot of flavor and texture. Served on traditional wood boards. It's called Red Flint Floriani Polenta, grown in Lodi, California. It has much more nutrition than yellow corn and is gluten-free.

January 27, 2013

Green Lentil Salad with Spices & Yogurt

January 27, 2013/ Mary McDonald

This is my first time cooking with green lentils, lentilles du Puy to be exact. They're from France and are the most fantastic lentils in the world according to David Lebovitz. And I would agree that they have a unique taste all on their own (has something to do with volcanic soil). I'm quickly becoming a fan. I found a recipe for a lentil salad in Greens cookbook, it's vegetarian and tastes really good. Greens restaurant has such amazing vegetarian food and I'm hoping to learn as much as I can with this book.

January 25, 2013

Berry Crumble

January 25, 2013/ Mary McDonald

A little off season posting a berry crumble but I had to share. The photo is from last summer when I first made this recipe (and have been making it ever since!)

It's adapted from La Tartine Gourmande and it's a gluten-free recipe, but I'm all about gluten so I use flour instead. The thing that's nice about this recipe is you can easily swap out different fruits or nuts and it still rocks. And it comes together fairly quickly so in less than hour you have a yummy treat or dessert. Bea has all kinds of wonderful recipes on her site, I recommend checking it out, especially if you want gluten-free recipes. The only changes here are the flour swap and fruit. I've also made this with almonds and I wan't sure which I liked better, the pistachios or the almonds, they both worked so well. This was the first time I've used green pistachios and they are really special when they toast up in the oven. Also if you're using a lot of really sweet berries, like strawberries, you can skip the sugar in the fruit mix, last fall I made this with very very ripe strawberries and it really didn't need the sugar at all. Hope you enjoy once berry season kicks in!

January 24, 2013

Chicken Meatballs

January 24, 2013/ Mary McDonald

I absolutely love these chicken meatballs, I came across the recipe about a year ago at Smitten Kitchen and have been making them ever since. Everyone who has had them agrees they are delicious! You will get hooked on these things. I've pretty much followed the recipe with a few changes here and there. One difference is that I grind my own chicken, if you have access to a meat grinder I recommend it, it tastes better and you know exactly what is in it. I use chicken breast and trim off any fat so that the meat is lean.

January 22, 2013

Blood Orange Salad

January 22, 2013/ Mary McDonald

It's blood orange season once again and they are tasty as expected! I love them for their brilliant color and flavor. And believe it or not I've been missing them all year. Last spring while out on a sunday brunch I had the best blood orange mimosa, then we went back a few weeks later and they were out of season, I was so disappointed because I knew I had to wait until… now! I haven't gotten around to the mimosa yet but it is sure to come with recipe and photos. (sparking wine, juice, complicated I know).

January 16, 2013

Mushroom Soup

January 16, 2013/ Mary McDonald

A few weeks ago Jeff and I went to Fish & Farm for dinner (which was wonderful, I recommend!). While we were waiting for appetizers they brought out complementary shot glasses of mushroom soup, and it was good! Really good, so good that in fact I've been craving mushroom soup ever since. Sifting through some books and food blogs, I realized I didn't want cream in the soup and wanted the mushroom flavor to speak for itself. Heartily. And this did. The recipe is partially Jamie Oliver and partially from Fields of Greens cookbook from Greens Restaurant here in SF.