Love and Food

I spent Valentine’s day tired, hung over, hanging out with my parents, watching a movie in sweatpants with Evan and Amanda, and going to Mexican food with friends. And you know what? I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Maybe it wasn’t all romantic and pink hearts, and chocolates, and roses...but I can’t think of a better way to spend Valentine’s weekend than surrounded by love.

Mel and John were in town for the weekend, and we all went to Amanda’s dear friend Becky’s wedding. Ahem… the best wedding I’ve ever been to. Seriously, it was good… the food was fantastic (I had the pork tenderloin), the dancing lasted all night was out of control, the bride and groom were beaming, the room was filled with so much love… and there was a Dante’s hot-dog cart at the reception. Drinking bubbly, dancing with my sweetie, and eating cream cheese smothered hot dogs (a Seattle favorite)… can you think of anything more romantic? I certainly can’t. Except for maybe cooking with your valentine and enjoying an absolutely amazing meal together. Which is what Evan and I did on Monday, post V-day, to celebrate.

Now, Evan and I have had quite a few Valentine’s days together, so we’ve done the fancy Valentine’s restaurant dinner (Melting Pot and an Italian place), the romantic Valentine’s retreat (a stay in Leavenworth), the staying in thing (homemade sushi and 2 seasons of Nip/Tuck), and all those other Valentine’s activities that aren’t appropriate to talk about on a food blog. And after all that, we decided we really liked the staying in thing. Don’t get me wrong, I like to go out for a fancy, romantic, expensive meal now and then, but something about the prix fixe V-Day menu, the red and pink streamers, and sharing the day with all the other happily in love couples with their jewelry exchanges and hand holding… seems contrived. And that’s why we decided to recreate one of those fancy schmancy dinners at home, where we could really be ourselves, just the two of us (well, three if you count Biscuit).

First:

We started out with a lil’ bubbly and fresh raw oysters from my new favorite store, with a mignonette of vinegar, cilantro, jalapeño, vermouth, and shallots. They were so refreshing and delish... and Evan is now a shucking master. I only tried raw oysters for the first time a few months ago, and I think I’m in love (oysters, will you be my valentine?). I can’t believe I’ve missing out on them all these years!

Second:

After our refreshing first course, we had a lovely little salad of mixed baby spring greens, crumbled blue cheese, and shallot vinaigrette, and broiled oysters on the half shell with Sriracha lime butter—spicy and still tasting fresh and briny—a Food 52 recipe I highly recommend! They reminded me of the grilled oysters my dad used to make for us squeamish kids that refused try the ol’ shuck and suck method.

Entree:

For the main course, we went the surf and turf route. I steamed mussels and clams in a broth of vermouth, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, lemon, and green onions, served with crusty French bread for dipping. They were amazing. It was my first time making clams and mussels (crazy, right!?) and I totally winged it, throwing in this and that leftover from Evan’s cutting board. They were pretty great, I’d say they rival my favorite clams at Latona Pub.

Evan was a champion, and got right in there…preparing perfectly cooked NY Strip steaks with cilantro-butter melting sauce. He picked out the recipe and then tweaked it to our liking (cutting back on the butter and subbing cilantro for tarragon since his Valentine detests tarragon). He did everything—from mixing up the delicious marinade, reinventing the melting sauce, and cooking the steaks to the perfect slightly pink doneness—with only a tiny bit of help. It was delish!

Dessert:

Then for dessert, as if we weren’t already bursting at the seams, we had coconut bread pudding with chocolate rum sauce and vanilla ice cream. There's nothing better than the combination of coconut, chocolate, and rum... especially in a creamy, custardy, rich bread pudding. It was like an even more decadent and creamy version of the macaroon. I won’t lie… I had it for breakfast this morning.

Sharing in the love of two good friends, spending time with my parents and sister, and cooking a delicious dinner with my boyfriend… it might not be your typical Valentine’s day, but really, can you think of anything more lovely!?

Coconut Bread Pudding with Chocolate Rum Sauce

1 14 oz can of unsweetened coconut milk (about 2 cups)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1.5 cups sweetened coconut flakes
1 pinch salt
1 pinch fresh ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter
1 loaf of day old french or italian bread
unsweetened flake coconut
chocolate rum sauce

Tear bread in 1 inch cubes and set aside in a large bowl. Combine everything except the bread and butter, and whisk to mix well. Pour mixture over bread and stir (works best with your hands) to combine. Really get it soaked! Let sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x9 casserole dish. Transfer bread mixture to dish and dot with butter. Bake until the center is set, about 50-60 minutes.Top hot bread pudding with chocolate sauce and flaked coconut... delicious with a little vanilla ice cream on the side! Enjoy

Chocolate Rum Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
1 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk (about 2 cups)
8 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1 tablespoon dark rum

Melt butter over medium heat in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Add coconut milk and simmer until just bubbling, stirring often. Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until melted, smooth, and well combined. Add rum. Serve over coconut bread pudding!

Time Travel

Ok, first of all… I’m in some serious need of new photography supplies. I’m sorry about the weird yellowish-orange 1970s quality of my photos… it seems that my super professional photo studio (i.e., my bedside lamp and my point and shoot camera) can’t keep up with the lack of natural sunlight in these here parts. I’ll try to fix that...the equipment part, not the sunlight part. Although I would fix the sunlight part if I could…but for now, I guess its all “groovy” and “far-out.” That’s ‘70s lingo…right?

I’m not sure if it’s the lack of sunlight or what, but I just don’t have that much to tell you about right now. I mean, I’m clearly not starving or anything, but I’ve been a little unmotivated in the kitchen, and I haven’t gone anywhere particularly exciting. Not to say that I haven’t had some delish dinners, because I have, just nothing super special or eventful to share with you. I think Evan put it best: “we suck at eating lately.” Definitely not the stuff that good food-blog posts are made of.

But, the good news is…even though I’ve had nothing exciting going on lately…I just remembered that I totally forgot to tell you about this:

I think I teased you with a photo of it awhile back, but never got around to actually giving it the attention it deserved. And trust me; it deserves attention… a lot of it! So, in the spirit of time travel (1974 with my photos, 2009 with my recipes)....here's an oldie but a goodie!

I haven’t even told you about the amazing foraging we did over Thanksgiving. Sometimes I don’t even realize how awesome it was to grow up eating seasonally, locally, and naturally organic. During fishing season, we ate fresh salmon that Mel and John caught, and the rest of the year we ate smoked salmon that they caught, smoked, and canned. In the summers we had an over abundance of vegetables from the garden: tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, peppers, peas, green beans, and squash. We also never ran out of home canned jam and pickles (if you haven’t tried Mel’s habanera dills, you haven’t lived). All of our eggs came fresh from our own chickens, and we even picked our own chamomile to make tea. As a picky child, I turned my nose up at a lot of this…never knowing how good I had it! Especially when it came to mushrooms. With a forest for a backyard, Mel and John have always been big on foraging for morels and chanterelles…which, as a child, I thought were hideous, disgusting things.

I’ve since changed my mind about wild mushrooms, especially chanterelles. And, why pay $13 a pound for measly little chanterelles when you can forage your own for free!? And that, my friends, is exactly what we did when Amanda and I were home for Thanksgiving. Mel, John, Amanda and I hiked up into the woods, past bear tracks, past snow, well past civilization…until we stumbled on a gold mine of fresh, golden chanterelles. On our hike out of the woods, Amanda and I dreamed up recipes we would make with our bounty. A teriyaki marinated flank steak with wild mushroom teriyaki sauce just so happened to be the first one I delved into.

This recipe creation for sweet, tender steak with earthy mushrooms is definitely a keeper...even if you hold on to it for a few months before sharing it. I recommend using chanterelles you foraged yourself, but any wild mushrooms will do! There are a few steps to this: marinade overnight, sauté mushrooms, make sauce, and broil steak... so be sure to read ahead before you get started!

Wild Mushroom Teriyaki Flank Steak
Serves 4

1 cup soy sauce
3 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar (cider or red wine)
Fresh ground black pepper
1.5-2 pounds flank steak
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup fresh wild mushrooms- cut in bite size chunks
Splash red wine
Salt and pepper
Optional- fresh thyme

For Marinade: Combine first 4 ingredients (soy through pepper) in a bowl, stir to mix well. Pour in a large resealable plastic bag (zip lock freezer bag), and add the steak- seal bag. Make sure that the steak is well covered, and lay in a flat a dish that’s larger than the steak (I use a baking dish). Marinate overnight in the refrigerator, turn the bag once or twice.

For Mushrooms: Heat butter over medium heat in sauté pan. Add mushrooms and sauté until golden brown. Add wine, and season with salt and pepper. Sauté until wine evaporates.

For Sauce: Line a broiler pan with aluminum foil, and remove the steak from the marinade, placing on broiler pan rack. Pour the marinade into a saucepan, and bring to a boil over high heat for several minutes, reduce heat to low. Whisk together beef broth and cornstarch until starch dissolves. Add to the warm marinade mixture, and whisk. Add mushrooms. Simmer (stirring) until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency.

For Steak: Place broiler pan 2 to 3 inches from heat. Leave the oven door open, and broil 5-7 minutes on each side (for medium rare) up to 10 minutes on each side for medium well. Thinly slice steak across the grain, and serve with mushroom sauce. Sprinkle with fresh thyme.

A Meal Fit for a King

For Evan's birthday, I wanted to make him something that we both would enjoy...meaning it had to have meat, preferably of the steak variety (for Evan), and veggies, preferably of the fresh variety (for me). I had been perusing Thai Steak Salad recipes on the ol' web for quite some time, and decided that would be the perfect meal for Evan's birthday, fit for a king. Not to mention, we had just returned from cheesy, saucy Mexico and I was yearning for a little variety in my diet, a lot of green-food on my plate. After looking at a few recipes, I had a general idea of what needed to go into a Thai Steak Salad to make it a Thai Steak Salad, and went off to create my own version... off to Uwajimaya! For under $5 I was able to get a huge bunch of fresh basil, lime leaves, and fresh mint. What a steal! I was super stoked about the lime leaves, as I had seen them in recipes before and couldn't wait to give them a try. While most of the recipes I looked at called for fish sauce, I decided to forego the briny brew and make it work without. And work did it ever! The flavors of the fresh herbs (basil, lime leaves, cilantro, and mint) melded together so perfectly and intensely that they totally made the dish. I'm in love with lime leaves. Evan, of course, loved the steak. Such a fun dish to create, and a delicious way to celebrate Evan's birthday. We both licked our plates clean and wished we had room for more... a meal truly fit for the King of Thailand... or just for a couple of hungry kids in Seattle. Delish.

Thai Steak Salad Step 1: Marinate flank steak in teriyaki sauce overnight Step 2: whisk together: 1 spoonful brown sugar 1/4th cup soy sauce Juice of 1 large lime 1 shallot- diced 1 hot Thai pepper – sliced in half and deseeded (or diced finely if you like it hot)- I removed pepper after sauce sat for about 30 min Dash of black pepper Step 3: put in a big bowl: 1 red bell pepper: julienned thin- 2 inch long pieces 1 carrot: peeled and julienned thin- 2 inch long pieces 1 medium cucumber: peeled and sliced thin ½ small head of green cabbage, sliced thin Fresh basil- about 10-15 leaves torn into pieces Fresh mint- about ½ cup- chopped/torn into pieces lime leaves- about 5 leaves, sliced VERY thin Cilantro- ½ cup- chopped Pour sauce (from step 2) in bowl with veggies Step 4: Pile spring greens mix on each plate Step 5: Broil steak- about 5-7 min/side Let sit for 5ish minutes before slicing- then thinly slice across the grain Step 6: Pour sauce off veggies- strain into small bowl or cup (do not discard) Add dash more soy, spoonful more brown sugar Dash of hot sauce (sriracha) Whisk together Step 7: Split veggie mix evenly on top of salad Arrange steak slices on top Sprinkle with crushed peanuts, sliced/chopped green onion, and drizzle with sauce