FFwD: Warm Weather Vegetable Pot au Feu

vegetable pot au feu

This French Fridays with Dorie meal was delicious (of course they are all delicious)! But for this one, I opted to make my own vegetable stock with the recipe for the best vegetable stock ever, which you can find at epicurious.com. I pretty much did exactly that, except I omitted the canned tomatoes (I tossed in a small handful of sundried tomatoes instead) and I think I used less mushrooms (a few shiitakes). Oh and I used 5 cups water instead of a quart.

Things I learned/notes:
1. It is not warm weather here (in Portland). We are still 50-ish. Therefore, a nice hot bowl of soup was just the thing.
2. I made the herb coulis with basil.
3. I was surprised how much I liked the poached egg on this, the yolk added to the broth nicely.
4. I used kale from the garden instead . . . → Read More: FFwD: Warm Weather Vegetable Pot au Feu

Marinated Eggplant and Zucchini with Capers and Mint & Crisp Rosemary Flatbread

Marinated Eggplant and Zucchini w/ Capers and Rosemary Flatbread

Yes, I am still on a Mediterranean kick. This is a great side dish or appetizer-ish snack. Even a tapas, if you will. I added the zucchini to the original eggplant only dish and I liked it a lot. Personally, I do enjoy eggplant but I enjoy it even more when it has a co-star.

The flatbread was really fun to make. I used my pizza stone and it crisped up very nicely. I think I’ll be making the flatbread again. I am even thinking of rolling the dough out and then cutting it into little cracker shapes and just…well, making crackers.

Both of these recipes were in the now-defunct Gourmet Magazine. Thankfully, they were still on Epicurious.com! Hooray!

Marinated Eggplant and Zucchini with Capers and Mint
Adapted from a recipe in Gourmet Magazine
1 small eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 medium . . . → Read More: Marinated Eggplant and Zucchini with Capers and Mint & Crisp Rosemary Flatbread

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts and Capers

brussels sprouts

This is now my favorite Brussels Sprouts recipe ever. As a late convert to sprouts, I thought I had done almost every delicious thing with them so far — braising, roasting, shredding & tossing with tasty things, but this roasting + tossing with tasty things has them all beat!

The original recipe was for frying, but due to the other items I was making for dinner (salmon w/ a feta and artichoke topping and couscous) and the attention they would need, I opted for roasting, since I know that produces a fairly golden, crunchiness that would work just as well here. And, most importantly, I was able to just pop it in the oven, while leaving the stovetop and my hands free for other things. Yeah, it worked well.

My substitution are included below in the recipe ingredients. Originally, the dressing was chopped/minced and whisked together and . . . → Read More: Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts and Capers

It’s Summer! Roasted Corn and Edamame Salad

Corn and Edamame Salad

The other day, I checked the freezer and discovered a bag of frozen, shelled edamame. Then, I searched online for something interesting to do with it. I found something that was both interesting and delicious, for this is a very tasty and refreshing salad. The ginger works well, as does the garlic I added to the original recipe, which sadly, had none. So sad. Everything needs garlic.

Anyway, we had this salad on the side with some Japanese grilled fish (salmon). That recipe is here and was also quite good. Together, the pair made a great, light Summer dinner.

Oh! And big discovery — I pulled the husks and silks away from the cobs, rubbed the corn with olive oil and grilled it on my grill pan! About 15 minutes total time and it was done and ready to use in the recipe. That’s a . . . → Read More: It’s Summer! Roasted Corn and Edamame Salad

The Best Roasted Vegetable Stock & What To Do With It

vegetable broth

Okay, so this is not the most season-appropriate dish ever but if you lived in Portland, you’d understand. We have been rainy and a little cold, although today and tomorrow are promising to be nice, sunny and *gasp* Summer-ish!

If you do have a day that is not so hot, this is a great thing to do with your oven and stovetop. I have even made the chicken version of the posole in the crockpot before, when it was too hot to simmer it stovetop.

The vegetable broth you do need the oven for, so either wait for a cool day, roast your veggies in the morning, or throw caution to the wind and crank up your oven in a 90 degree day!

Roasted Vegetable Stock
Adapted from a recipe in Gourmet Magazine
3/4 lb cremini mushrooms, halved
1 red onion, chopped
3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut . . . → Read More: The Best Roasted Vegetable Stock & What To Do With It