Homemade French Onion Dip

I couldn’t help but to stop in here to share this really delicious French Onion Dip that I made last weekend for our condo warming party/Dave’s 29th Birthday!

Takes a little planning since you need to let the dip rest and chill overnight in the fridge but it is seriously worth the wait.

Beyond delicious. I can’t wait to make it again

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chocolate guys

Why hello there. Yet another recipe that I need to get up on the blog for easy access. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. It was a much needed break from a particularly nuts December at work.

Zucchini Corn Fritters {and I’m back!}

Somehow I managed to go a year without posting to this space. Sure there are a million excuses (new job, no time, long commute) but really, I just didn’t want to blog anymore. It was just too much to take the perfect picture to get onto Tastespotting or Foodgawker (which ironically, I never visit anymore), try to say something witty and meaningful and keep up regular posting. So I just stopped. But now I’m realizing that I have a years worth of recipes I’ve tried out with no documentation. Take these Zucchini Corn Fritters. I made them last year around this time. I know this because the picture was still on my iPhone. Once again, I am overrun with zucchini from my CSA share and corn just hit the market, so I went to my blog to find this recipe and I realized, it wasn’t there. Thankfully, some searching with Betsy of our GChat histories allowed us to find this recipe. So, I have no idea how often I will make it back to this space. But I’m going to try to start posting again, mostly just for me, my family and my friends so that I can remember the highlights in my kitchen. But if you happen to still be reading after all this time…all the better.

Zucchini Corn Fritters
Recipe adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 2 ears of corn
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
• bunch of chives, minced
• 3/4 cup flour
• 8-10 grinds of black pepper
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Sour cream, for serving

Directions:

1) Shred the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater or with the shredding disc of a food processor. I used the food processor. Place the shredded zucchini in a colander in the sink or over a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Toss to combine. Let drain while you get the rest of the recipe ready.
2) Crack the eggs into a large bowl and give them a quick scramble with a fork. Cut the kernels from the cob using this method and add the kernels to the bowl along with the onion, scallions, cilantro, chives, flour and pepper.
3) Grab the shredded zucchini in small fistfuls and squeeze out as much water as possible over the sink. You want to get out as much liquid as you can. Add the zucchini to the bowl and mix well to combine.
4) Pour the oil in a large frying pan to a depth of about 1/4 inch. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until not but not smoking. Drop a handful of the zucchini mixture into the pan and press down with a spatula to form a disc. Cook in batches without crowding 2-4 minutes on each side. You want the side to be golden brown. Remove to paper towels on a plate to drain. You may need to add some more oil between the batches.
5) Serve with some sour cream on the side. The fritters should be crisp on the outside and slightly custardy on the inside.

sour cherry jam with balsamic

Summers are just different in the midwest. After a long winter, a short spring, summer is a welcome change. The markets are finally filled with something other than potatoes and storage apples. Sure I get excited for asparagus and peas but one of the truly special market arrivals are sour cherries. i have spent the past two saturdays spending a lazy afternoon of watching the Women’s World Cup (YAY USA!!!) while pitting a few quarts of sour cherries. Some of last week’s haul went into a delicious pie and I have a few bags tucked away in the freezer to save for a chilly fall or winter day but I was really the most excited by this sour cherry jam.

creamy roasted jalapeño salsa

It is pretty hard to grow up in Texas and not have a thing for salsa. The quality of the salsa can make or break a Mexican dining experience. If I sit down at a Mexican place and the salsa is lackluster it is rather difficult to look forward to the rest of the meal. However, really good chips and salsa can almost ruin the rest of my meal, because I just can’t stop eating the scoops of salsa and I spoil my appetite for the rest of my dinner.

a happy 4th

Even though it is only July 3rd, it is already a pretty awesome 4th of July weekend. A long weekend out of the office. It actually has warmed up and feels like summer here in Chicago. The Crosstown Classic. A game of bocce in the park. BBQs at friend’s apartment while watching with suburban firework shows in the distance to the west from balconies. Summer is really a great time in Chicago. If I can suggest one thing, make a batch of these paletas tonight, so they are ready for the 4th tomorrow. You could probably even tweak the recipe a tad and make some boozy sugared blueberries and strawberries for a festive look. The sour cream base just screams to be tinkered with.

growing home csa week 2

Even though it is only the second week, I’m already so happy that we joined a CSA this summer. It is pretty nice to drop by Green City and just buy some strawberries and cherries and know that I’m already set for most of my veggies. This week we received a few repeats in our CSA share from the week before including asparagus, kale, lettuce, bok choy, japanese turnip, dill and spinach. But we also got carrots, broccoli, garlic scapes, and cilantro. I decided to make a big pot of veggie soup, loosely inspired by this recipe, to pack for lunches for the week. Since the summer solstice is tomorrow, celebrate now with this “spring” soup.

Last Day of Spring Soup
Recipe loosely based on Spring Minestrone Soup

I used what I had on hand but this is really adaptable. Let me know if you try another mix of veggies!

1 onion, diced [I regretted not grabbing a bunch of spring onions to use]
2 large or 3-4 carrots, diced
1 russet potato, diced into spoon sized pieces
1 quart of chicken or veggie broth [I used chicken since I have 6 quarts to use up before next month’s move]
5-6 stalks of asparagus, diced
1/2 a large bok choy, stalks diced, leaves cut into ribbons
quick pesto (just food process a handful of basil leaves with a clove of garlic and some olive oil)

Saute onion in some olive oil in a dutch oven or other large pot until softened. Add carrot, bok choy stalks and potatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Salt and Pepper to taste. I threw in a little ground chipotle pepper at this point to give it a little depth. Add the quart of chicken broth and a quart of water to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes, until potato chunks are fork tender. Add asparagus and bok choy leaves. Simmer for a few more minutes. Taste, adjust seasonings as necessary.

cacio e pepe {and my honeymoon in Italy}

A month ago I became a Schmidt.  I’ve only legally changed my name with the social security office because there just hasn’t been time for all the other places (DMV, banks, credit cards, ARDC, etc).  I still haven’t totally mastered my new signature.  And just this Wednesday, I signed my old WM initials while signing a lease for a new! bigger! apartment {we move at the end of July and I can’t wait to share our new home with you!}.  But in the past month, I’ve mastered Cacio e Pepe.

growing home csa week 1

This summer I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) through Growing Home. My best friend Betsy recommended their CSA not just for their delicious organic produce all summer long but also for their social mission of providing job training to those who might have difficulty finding traditional employment. I thought it would be fun to try to let you see what I get every week and one dish I created from the produce box. Dave and I are splitting our box with Betsy This week we got asparagus, kale, green garlic, lettuce, bok choy, japanese turnip, radish, spinach, mustard greens, dill and oregano. I decided to cook up the kale and bokchoy with the green garlic and eat it over rice with a fried egg on top. It was a good decision. I’ve also enjoyed a few salads with the lettuce and spinach with sliced radishes and the japanese turnip (mildest and sweetest of turnips, best eaten raw) and some carrots I picked up from another vendor at the market. Looking forward to the summer season of produce and experimenting in my kitchen!

CSA Greens & Garlic over Rice with Egg

3 stalks of green garlic; sliced then roughly minced
1-2 heads of garlic, diced
1/2 head of bokchoy stalks sliced into 1/2 inch pieces, greens roughly chopped
1/2 bunch of kale, stems removed*, roughly chopped
olive oil
soy sauce, I used low-sodium
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper
cooked white or brown rice
1 egg, preferably also from the market or at least an organic, cage-free source
Sriracha, or your favorite hot sauce

Saute the green garlic in a good glug of olive oil for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes, just don’t burn it. Add the bokchoy and kale with a splash of water. Cover and allow to cook down, approx 5 minutes. Once the greens feel tender, throw on a good glug of soy sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a separate pan with cooking spray and fry an egg sunny-side up.

Put rice in a bowl and top with the greens, then slide on the fried egg. Squirt on some srircha for good measure.

spouseless eating

Today I caught up on a handful of Spilled Milk podcasts at work and listened to a perfectly timed topic: spouseless eating. Tonight my husband (and it feels weird to finally call Dave that) had his book club meeting (yes, our group of guy friends was jealous of our girls’ book club and started their own) so I was on on my own for dinner. Spouseless eating usually means to me epic amounts of braised kale and spaghetti (or a trip to McDs if you are Dave) but since it is springtime at the market it is time for epic amounts of asparagus. I picked up two bunches yesterday at the market with plans to make this salad but I’ve been flipping through this book the last few nights and remember a recipe that featured asparagus. And it was especially perfect for a dave-less night because it called for anchovies.