Goodbye to Boston and Tuna Tartare

Deep breath.

It's official.  I physically and emotionally survived (part) of the big move.

And life feels almost back to normal.  No more packing.  Or boxes.  For now anyway.

Last Saturday after so many tearful goodbyes we packed the u-haul and the car to the brim and set out for Nashville.  And I have to admit...watching Boston fade away was one of the most heart wrenching things I've ever had to do.  The city of Boston I love, but it's the friends and people that I'll miss the most.  It's hard to find the right words to tell you how wonderful those people are.  Mainly because I'm not good at that, but also because I still feel like I'm on a short vacation and I'm going back to them really soon.  So Boston friends, just know that I adore you all and miss you like crazy.  Okay?  Okay.

**Chokes back any feelings of sadness.**  Because now I'm in Missouri enjoying time with my family and friends before all of the new adventures begin in Nashville!  Whew.  I made it to the other side.



Since it's been so darn long since I've posted a recipe I figured that now would be a good time to post the last true meal I made in Boston.  And I couldn't have asked for a better one.  While the dish itself was to die for, I think that the best part is that it was photographed by one of my good friends.  The pictures are amazing and so is he.  So thank you Evan!

**Make sure you check out all of Evan's other amazing pictures on his tumblr!**

Fish lovers.  Prepare yourself.  It's possible that this dish is the easiest, most delicious, beautiful thing that was produced from my Boston kitchen.  Seriously though.  That presentation?  Gorgeous.  And easy as pie.  Oh and guess what?  It's DELICIOUS.  The smooth, melt in your mouth tuna.  The crispy shallots and crunchy red onion.  The sauce.  Just a wonderfully harmonious dish all around.

These would make for a great dinner party dish.  Or a random Wednesday dish.  Whatever makes you happy.



Adapted from the James Beard Foundation

Makes: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: None 
Total Time: 20 minutes

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh sushi grade tuna, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 avocado, pitted and diced,
1 small red onion, diced
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 shallot, diced
several sprigs of cilantro
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a small pan heat one tablespoon of olive oil.  Drop in the shallots and cook over medium heat until brown and crispy.  Using a slotted spoon remove them from the pan and place on a paper towel.  Set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, peanut oil, and sugar until sugar dissolves and set aside.
3. In another small bowl combine the avocado, red onion, and juice of one lime.  Set aside.
4. In the final small bowl combine the diced tuna, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper.
5. Place a circular mold or a biscuit cutter (which I used) onto a small plate (I used a saucer) or wide bowl.  Press several spoonfuls of the avocado/onion mixture into the bottom of the mold and press down.  Then top with the tuna mixture until the mold is full.  Carefully remove the mold so that the tartare keeps its shape.  Top with crispy shallots and a bit of fresh cilantro and then pour the sauce around the tartare.  Serve immediately.

Homemade Bagels

I'm going to go ahead and admit that I've never really been an avid bagel fan.  I grew up in a household full of weirdos that didn't eat a lot of bread.  We never had buns with our burgers or hotdogs.  Rolls were never a side dish unless it was a holiday.  Sandwich insides were typically thrown on a bed of lettuce.  It had nothing to do with watching our carb intake.  Just something we did.



I still don't eat a ton of bread but interestingly enough, I find homemade bread to be one of the best and most fascinating things to bake.  Dough is so incredibly temperamental.  Everything has to be just right in terms of ingredients and temperatures.  And by making homemade doughs time and time again, you begin to learn all of the little secrets and start to be less reliant on recipes and more reliant on your senses.  It's such a captivating process.  And you end up feeling like a rocket scientist.

So even though my childhood would not deem me as a "bagel" person, I may have become one the moment I walked into my kitchen to see my "mother dough/sponge" almost overflowing out of the bowl and bubbling like crazy.  I ran around the house and made everyone watch the bubbling bread bowl.  However, no one was nearly as excited as I was.

Granted, they've seen a bread sponge before...but so have I...many, many times.  And it's still just as thrilling as the first time.

As you can imagine after my excitement over just the sponge, the whole process of forming the bagels, proofing them, doing a float test, boiling them, and then baking them was almost more than I could handle.  Especially the boiling part.  Boiling bread dough is just not something you do often...so of course it was a highlight.

Unfortunately I can't give you a big comparison between these bagels and all of the other bagels I've had (but Smitten Kitchen can!).  But from all of the oooh's and aaah's and other expletives that rang in my ears while the herd was devouring the bagels straight off the hot pans, I'm going to go ahead and tell you that these are some of the best bagels ever.  They are the perfect combination of chewy on the outside and soft on the inside with neither being too much.  Needless to say...they blow store bought bagels out of the water.  But that was to be expected.

I know they take a while.  But oh goodness.  They're worth it.



Adapted from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice via Smitten Kitchen

Makes: 12 standard or 24 miniature bagels
Prep Time: 3 hours 30 minutes + overnight refrigeration
Cook/Bake Time: 40 minutes (boiling + baking)
Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes + overnight refrigeration

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
for the sponge-
1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups unbleached bread flour
2 1/2 cups water, at room temperature

for the dough-
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 3/4 cups unbleached bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons malt powder OR 1 tablespoon dark or light malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar

to finish-
1 tablespoon baking soda
cornmeal for dusting
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
toppings (I did a combination of asiago, everything, and plain bagels.  For the everything bagels I used 2 teaspoons each of minced garlic, dehydrated onion, salt, mustard seeds, and sesame seeds.)

Directions:

1. Day one: To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer.  Add the water, stirring until it forms a smooth, sticky batter.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly.  It should almost double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the counter top.
2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl, add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir.  Then add 3 cups of the bread flour, the salt, and malt powder (OR syrup, honey, or brown sugar).  Stir until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining 3/4 cup bread flour to stiffen the dough.
3. If working by hand, transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes.  If using an electric mixer, knead for about 6 minutes.  The dough should be firm but still pliable and smooth.  There should be no raw flour and all of the ingredients should be hydrated.  The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 71-77 degrees F.  If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading.  If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the required stiffness.
4. Immediately divide the dough into 4.5 ounce pieces for standard bagels or 2.25 ounce pieces for miniature bagels.  Weigh the pieces if possible to ensure even baking in the oven.  Form the pieces into rolls and place on a baking sheet.  Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and mist lightly with spray oil.  
6. With your finger poke a hole in the very center of the ball.  Gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  Be careful to keep the dough as evenly stretched as possible.
7. Place each of the shaped pieces an inch apart on the pans and mist very lightly with the spray oil.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for another 20 minutes.
8. After 20 minutes check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the "float test".  Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water and gently drop a bagel in the bowl.  If the bagel floats within 10 seconds of being dropped into the bowl immediately return the bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight.  If the bagel does not float return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10-20 minutes until a tester floats.
9. Day two- preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven.  In a small bowl whisk 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water for the egg wash and set aside.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add the baking soda.  Have a slotted spoon or skimmer near by.
10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit in the pot.  After 1-2 minutes (I did 1:30 but wouldn't have minded 2 minutes) flip the bagels over and boil for the same amount of time.  While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal. 
11. As the bagels come out of the boiling water place them back on the cornmeal dusted baking sheets and brush with the egg wash before adding any additional toppings (like asiago or the "everything" mixture).
12. When all the bagels have been boiled and properly "topped" place the pans on the 2 middle shelves in the oven and bake for approximately 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180 degree rotation.  After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450 degrees F and continue baking 8-10 minutes or until the bagels turn light golden brown.
13. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Orange Saffron Bread

I've decided it's time to start working on my horrible recipe A.D.D.

I'll make something, make the effort to take photos, upload them to my computer, even put them into their own file...and then all of a sudden I find myself browsing through entirely new and delicious recipes.  My attention quickly moves to making something new and the "old" recipe goes out the door.  Then, as you can imagine, the process repeats itself.  It's an unbelievably vicious cycle.

Besides the fact that these recipes deserve to make it out of their little files on my computer, I decided that now is the ideal time to start pulling things from the vault.  With a cross country move (we'll talk more about this later) only three weeks away my little apartment is taking a beating.  There are boxes starting to pile up due to some preliminary packing as well as all of the contents of my closet now being distributed throughout the apartment.

**MINOR RANT-My wonderful landlord decided to make the only closet in the apartment into a bathroom for the neighboring unit with one day's notice.  Such a sweetheart.**

Needless to say, cooking and photographing in this little apartment has just gotten that much harder.

But the silver lining is of course there.  Now these sweet little recipes get to present themselves to you! 

As I found this one I wanted to kick myself for not sharing before.  These delicious loaves of bread came from a cookbook that was given to me by the amazing woman that I work for after her and her husband's visit to Rancho La Puerta.  I salivated at first sight and have been making things from it on a regular basis ever since.  It's an unbelievable healthy and seasonal book that you wouldn't regret having on your shelves.

Ramble.  Ramble.  Ramble.

This bread is amazingly rich in flavor.  The orange and saffron are wonderful together and something I never would have thrown together on my own.  You need a piece of this.  Warm.  And slathered with butter.

So get to baking!



Adapted from the Rancho La Puerta Cookbook

Makes: 2 loaves
Prep Time: 20 minutes + 2 hours 40 minutes rise time
Bake Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 4 hours

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Spanish saffron threads
4 cups warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup agave syrup or maple syrup
zest of 2 oranges
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sea salt
4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup toasted pine nuts
4-5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

Directions:

1. Soak the saffron threads in 1/2 cup of the water for 30 minutes.
2. Combine the remaining 3 1/2 cups of water and the yeast.  Let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir the syrup, orange zest, saffron, melted butter, and salt into the yeast until thoroughly combined.  Add the wheat flour and mix until smooth.
4. Stir in the pine nuts and most of the all-purpose flour, reserving 1 cup.  The dough will be a little sticky.  Flour the countertop with some of the remaining flour and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding flour to the surface as needed to make the dough more manageable.  You may not use all the flour, or you may need a little more. The final dough should feel moist and a little tacky, but not sticky or wet.
5. Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl.  Turn over once to coat and cover with a barely damp tea towel.  Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
6. Punch down the dough.  Divide into 2 equal portions.  Spread or roll each portion into a rectangle and pinch the edges together.
7. Place each loaf in an oiled loaf pan.  Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-frea place until the loaves have doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
8. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 1 hour, or until the tops are browned and the loaves sound hollow when tapped.  Cool completely on a rack before slicing.

Tequila Lime Fish Tacos with Slaw and Chipotle Mayo

I said I was getting my buns back in the kitchen this week and I wasn't kidding.  The posts are already piling up on me and it's only Wednesday morning!  What good news for you right?  Let's just cross our fingers that I don't get distracted from a new recipe and forget about the ones that I've already done...because I tend to do that...often.



When it comes to Fish Tacos...the options are quite literally endless.

Which makes it an incredibly fun dish to play around with.  You can go in any direction your heart desires.  Haddock, Halibut, Tilapia, Salmon, Cod...Fried, Pan Seared, Grilled...The sauces...The toppings...The combinations could go on and on.

And of course everyone has created the *best* fish taco combination EVER.  So, I'm not going to claim that.  Because their are more than a few that I happen to really love.  --Mango and avocado salsa with salmon, Blackened fish with a creamy sauce of sorts, Perfectly grilled halibut with bean salsa and a healthy dose of avocado spread...Once again the list could go on and on.

But there is definitely a key to this recipe that puts it up on the top of my list.  The red cabbage slaw.  This stuff is the bee's knees.  And I don't use that term lightly.  Luckily you're going to end up with a bit more than needed for your tacos.  So please liberally add it to everything you eat until it disappears.  That's what I've been doing.  And it's heavenly.

Even though I'm in love with the slaw, the fish, sriracha mayo, and marinade aren't far behind.  I especially love the use of the marinade.  It always hurts my heart a little to throw a big bag of delicious marinade away.  In this case there is no need to waste.

Ugh.  Is it lunchtime yet?  My stomach is rumbling at the thought of these things.



Adapted from Use Real Butter via Good Fish by Becky Selengut

Makes: 4 servings
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
red cabbage slaw (see below)
tequila lime marinade (see below)
sriracha mayo (see below)
1 lb. flaky white fish, I used Haddock
1 tablespoon high-heat oil
corn or flour tortillas
sliced avocado
extra limes for squeezing

red cabbage slaw:
3/4 lb. red cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)
1 apple, cored and grated
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
3/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt to taste

tequila lime marinade:
1 lime, zest and juice (about 1 teaspoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice)
2 tablespoons tequila
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 small jalapenos, halved, seeded, cored, and sliced
1 small red onion, cut into thin half moons
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

sriracha mayo:
1/4 cup mayo
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sriracha
1/4 teaspoon cumin

Directions:
To make the slaw- Place the red cabbage in a colander and rinse thoroughly with water.  Squeeze all of the liquid out and let sit in the colander while you mix the other ingredients.  In a large bowl mix the grated apple, mustard seeds, cilantro, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil together.  Give the cabbage another good squeeze and mix in with the rest of the ingredients.  Season the slaw to taste with salt. Set aside.
To make the sriracha mayo- Combine everything in a small bowl and stir with a spoon until combined. Set aside.
To make the marinade- Combine everything in a gallon ziploc bag and mix it all up.
To make the fish- Place the fish in the ziploc bag and seal.  Let the fish sit for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat in a large pan.  Remove the fish from the marinade and place in the pan.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side until the fish is lightly browned and flaky.  Remove the fish to a plate and add the marinade to the pan.  Cook on high heat for 5-7 minutes or until the liquid has bubbled off and the onions and peppers are charred.
To serve- Warm your tortillas (I like to do it over the open flame on my gas stove) and prepare each taco with a bit of fish, sriracha mayo, avocado slices, charred onions and peppers, and the red cabbage slaw.  And don't forget to serve with lime wedges for squeezing on top!

Homemade Pickles

I've already told you about the over consumption of cheese-hotdogs and macaroni and cheese by my dad and I during our summers at the lake.  But what I didn't tell you is that between those meals...we ate a significant amount of peanuts, green olives, and pickles.

Anyone in my family will vouch for me.  These are a few of my dad's favorite things.  And guess what.  They've turned into some of my favorite things. 

Or at least the green olives and pickles. 

But this wasn't just a lake thing.  On nights that no one was really up for dinner, mom and I would head to the kitchen to prepare the "Bell" cheese and pickle plate of deliciousness.  It's contents always included green olives, pickles (both sweet and dill), cheese, crackers, baby corn, some sort of fruit, and any other random thing we had on hand.  It's kind of like the Missouri version of an antipasti plate.  And I love it.

While I love all of the above things, the love for pickles is pretty deep.  Both sides of the family did some pretty mean pickling back in the day.  And I have sneakily gotten my hands on several of those recipes.  They're beautifully handwritten and just waiting to be used.

But I haven't gotten to them quite yet. 

I went for these pickles in the Flour, Too cookbook A) Because I love it. B) Because I trust everything Joanne Chang writes. C) Because there is no "canning" involved. D) Because simplicity is wonderful.

I mean come on.  Have you ever wanted to make pickles but didn't really want to go through the whole canning process?  Of course you have.  Especially if they produce pickles like these.

At first they were a little heavy on the fennel/black licorice taste but that died down significantly as they chilled.  I was also a little worried that there were far too many cucumber slices for the amount of brine.  But don't worry about this either!  Just keep pushing them into the brine and all will workout.

They are heavenly.  And simple.  It's summer.  You need these.



Adapted from Flour, Too Cookbook

Makes: 1 1/2 Quarts
Prep Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Cooling Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 11 hours 30 minutes

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
4 English Cucumbers, cut crosswise into rounds 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups Champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
4 teaspoons pickling spice
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Directions:

1. Put the cucumber rounds in a large container with a lid.  In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and vinegar.  Bring to a boil over high heat, and boil until the sugar dissolves.  Remove the pan from the heat, add the salt, pickling spice, mustard seeds, celery seeds, fennel seeds, turmeric, pepper, cloves, and cayenne.  Pour the brine over the cucumbers and set aside to cool at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
2. When pickles have cooled to room temperature, cover and refrigerate them.  The pickles are ready to serve after they have chilled for at least 8 hours.  They may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.