Happy Memorial Day

We hope you enjoy your day with family and friends. Our extended family is enjoying a picnic - I'm taking gluten-free Italian pasta salad, fruit, chocolate chip cookies, and lemon glaze cookies.

We are so grateful for the many veterans who have served and those are currently serving in the military. Their self-sacrificing job protects us and makes them heroes.

Possible New Feature - You Vote!

We are considering adding a reader feature on Fridays! It would be a carnival and give you a chance to share a recipe, photo, kitchen success, story, or whatever food related post you would like. We would really like to know if you, the readers and cooks, are interested in this type of feature! You would link your post here to share with others. We would offer a theme sometimes but most of the time it would be your choice on the type of post. Please vote and let us know how interested you would be in this idea!

[polldaddy poll=3268644]

Weekend Fare: Burgers & Potato Salad

I love cookouts! They are often informal and the food is nearly always delicious! We enjoy hosting them a lot in the summer. We grill hotdogs or hamburgers or chicken or steaks and eat on the deck - drinking in the beautiful weather, enjoying the food, and sharing conversation and laughter. Since we are headed into the summer season and have a holiday weekend before us, it's the perfect time to share a burger and a potato salad recipe. There are so many variations of these American classics and I usually keep mine pretty basic.



CLASSIC BURGER
Print This Recipe

1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 c. onion, grated 
4-6 slices cheese

Combine all ingredients. Shape into 4-6 patties. I make mine fairly thin and push down in the center to help prevent the burger from shrinking too much. Grill to desired doneness. Melt cheese on each patty and serve on a bun with toppings.



 (We like bacon, avacado, tomato, lettuce, onions, and sauteeed mushrooms.) Enjoy!



POTATO SALAD
Print This Recipe

10 c. red potatoes, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1/2 c. red onion, chopped
1 Tb. dried dill (or 1/4 c. fresh)
1 c. mayo
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/4 c. milk
 1 Tb. yellow mustard
1  Tb. dijon mustard 
Salt & Pepper to taste

Place the diced potates in a pot with cold water. Boil until just tender. Drain and allow to cool. Add celery and red onion, salt & pepper to potatoes. In a separate bowl, mix mayo, yogurt, dill, milk and mustards. Pour dressing over potatoes and carefully stir to combine. Refrigerate until serving - at least an hour to allow flavors to develop. This serves a lot.

Off The Shelf: Good to the Grain

Every now and then foodies need a new frontier to explore. Mine, just now, seems to be the up-and-coming world of grains beyond wheat, oats and rice. When I found Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce, I realized I had the perfect roadmap in my hand to begin my exploration.

Good to the Grain delves into the history and uses of flours such as whole-wheat, amaranth, barley, buckwheat, corn, kamut, multigrain, oat, quinoa, rye, spelt, and teff. In this book, each grain has numerous recipes with mouth-watering photos meant to tempt you into branching out beyond your comfort zone and trying some of these lesser-known grains.

Some of the recipes include: wholewheat: gingersnaps, apple graham coffee cake, drop biscuits with strawberries and cream; amaranth: molasses bran muffins, honey hazelnut cookies, flatbread; barley: coconut cookies, barley crepes, maple pecan granola; buckwheat: figgy buckwheat scones, kasha pudding, poppy seed wafers; corn: rhubarb tarts, cornmeal blueberry cookies; kamut: sand cookies, pumpkin pancakes, chocolate babka; multigrain: five-grain cream waffles, spice muffins; oat: granola bars, oatmeal pancakes; quinoa: honeyed crepes, quinoa cookies; rye: apricot boysenberry tarts, soft rye pretzels, maple danish; spelt: currant scones, huckle buckle, focaccia; teff: date nut bread, brown butter scones.

As my family can testify,  cookbook after cookbook passes through this house en route to or from the library. This was one of the few books that made it to the shortlist for almost-instant purchase. I now own my own copy, thanks to Mother's Day and my mom's generosity. My mom was at my house the first time I made these strawberry-barley scones. Neither of us could stop raving about them, and the cookbook came with the request that I make the scones again soon. Believe me, I will!



STRAWBERRY BARLEY SCONES
(Good to the Grain)
Print this recipe

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. barley flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

8 Tbsp. cold, unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used regular milk plus 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar)
1 egg

1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. sugar

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F.  Rub a baking sheet lightly with butter. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back into the bowl any bits of grain or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter.

Cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces and add them to the dry mixture. Use your hands to rub the butter between your fingers, breaking it into smaller bits. Continue rubbing until the butter is in sizes ranging from rice grains to flattened peas. The more quickly you do this, the more the butter will stay solid, which is important for the success of this recipe.

in a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg until thoroughly combined. Scrape the buttermilk and egg into the dry mixture, and mix until barely combined.

Use a pastry scraper or a spatula to transfer the dough onto a well-floured surface. The dough may be too sticky to handle; if it is, dust it with flour and fold it together a few times. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Flour your hands and pat each piece of dough into a disk about 3/4 inch thick and 7 inches in diameter.

Cover one disk with the jam. Top the spread with the other disk and press down gently so that the dough settles into the jam. Brush the dough lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Use a sharp knife to slice the circle into 8 triangular wedges, like a pie. Carefully place the wedges on the baking sheet, leaving a few inches between them.

Bake the scones for 22 to 26 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. The scones are ready when their tops are golden brown and some of the jam has bubbled over onto the pan. To keep the scones from sticking to the pan, slide a thin spatula underneath them while they're still warm and move them to a baking rack. The scones are best eaten warm from the oven or later that same day.

Makes 8.

NOTE: I like to use parchment paper to line my baking sheet as it prevents the jam from making a mess, and it is easy to "unstick" the scones.

Guest Recipe: Wheat Bread

As long as I can remember, my mom has baked bread from scratch. It's wonderful and the house smells amazing when it's baking. One of my favorite memories growing up was having hot, fresh bread and homemade soup for lunch. We would devour an entire loaf with butter melted on each slice. Her recipe has changed a lot over the years but I asked her to share a basic recipe with her notes here at The Cooks Next Door.



MOM'S HONEY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD RECIPE
Print This Recipe

2 pkgs. active dry yeast (or 4 tsp. bulk active dry yeast)
1/2 c. warm water (105-115)
1//3 c. honey
1T. salt
1/4 c. oil, butter, or shortening
3 c. unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
3-4 c. whole wheat flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 c. warm water in large mixing bowl. Stir in honey, salt, oil, rest of water and the white flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough whole wheat flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in a large greased bowl; turn greased side of dough up. Cover with a lightweight cloth (tea towel); let rise in a warm place until double' about and hour. (Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched.)

Punch down dough; divide in half. Flatten each half with hands into a rectangle (9x12). Roll dough tightly starting at the 9 inch side. Pinch edge firmly to seal; fold ends under.

Place loaves seam sides down in 2 greased loaf pans, 9x5x3 or 81/2x41/2x21/2 inches. Cover again and let rise until double, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375. Place loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on wire rack.

Mom’s  notes: Bread dough is pretty forgiving. You can easily adjust the amount of honey or oil according to diet needs and end up with a good product. I have made this completely by hand.

After adding the white flour to the liquids, beat with a sturdy wooden spoon for about 2 minutes, until the batter slips off the spoon in a sheet, sort of. Then add the whole wheat flour a cup at a time and beat in until the dough is easy to handle for kneading. When you knead, you will work in more of the whole wheat flour as you keep the dough from sticking to the kneading surface. Making the bread without equipment to mix or knead will build your muscles and get your heart rate up--good aerobics. :)

A note about whole wheat flour: Use the freshest whole wheat flour you can. The oils in whole wheat begin to deteriorate (get rancid) when the grain is ground. Whole wheat should be stored in the refrigerator (or freezer for a longer period of time). If you have a grain mill, you can grind a mixture of several grains (millet, barley, rice, quinoa, kamut, groats, etc.) having the majority of the grain being wheat (for the gluten). This will produce a multigrain bread. Also if you prefer to use all whole wheat or multigrain to improve the nutritional quality of the bread, add about 1/3 c. gluten for some of the flour. Gluten is a necessary protein for the texture of the bread. The initial beating of the dough and the kneading both help to activate the gluten.

This bread freezes well and the batch can easily be doubled. It's an even better workout!

Market Fresh: Lettuce

Lettuce is definitely coming up in gardens and very seasonal right now. I often use mixed greens for salad and sandwiches but I really enjoy other lettuces, too. Today, I have a wedge salad and a romaine salad. Both of these recipes are easy and yet fancy enough for a nice dinner. As a side note: the tomatoes are still looking a little puny. :)

I'm not generally a fan of iceberg lettuce but this recipe showcases this crisp lettuce with a wonderful blue cheese dressing. This would be delicous with a little bacon!

WEDGE SALAD
Print This Recipe



Dressing:
1/3 c. crumbled blue cheese
2 Tb. c. plain yogurt
3 Tb. buttermilk
1/4 c. mayonnaise
2 Tb. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. white sugar
1 small clove garlic, minced
ground black pepper

Salad: 
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cut into 4 wedges
1 tomato, diced
1/4 c.  red onion, small diced
crumbled blue cheese

Combine blue cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, mayonnaise, vinegar, olive oil, sugar, garlic, and pepper in a bowl; whisk together; chill until serving.

Build the salad by placing 1 lettuce wedge on each of 4 plates. Drizzle equal amounts of dressing over each wedge. Scatter tomatoes, onion, and blue cheese over each salad. Serves 4.

This dressing is fresh and delicious and really enhances the romaine lettuce. The recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray.



ROMAINE SALAD w/LEMON CHIVE DRESSING
Print This Recipe

1/2 a lemon, juiced
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Pinch sugar, honey, or agave nectar 
10 blades chives, chopped or snipped
1/3-1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil (depending on how much juice the lemon has) 
Salt and pepper
2 hearts romaine lettuce 
1 c.  grape tomatoes, halved or any other tomato, diced 

Whisk lemon juice, mustard, and sugar together in a bowl. Add chives and whisk in oil in a slow stream. Season dressing with salt and pepper.

Quarter each heart of romaine lengthwise. Trim core at ends. Place 2 quarters on each salad plate. They're served whole, covered with dressing. Halve a few grape tomatoes and place at plates' edge for garnish. Drizzle salads liberally with vinaigrette and serve. Serves 4.

Weekend Fare: Balsamic-Glazed Salmon

I was contemplating what to share with you for this edition of weekend fare and remembered that I had some lovely salmon fillets in the freezer. We haven't shared much in the way of seafood here. Honestly, my family doesn't eat enough fish. It's so good for you, it's a quick meal, and it's delicious but it's one of those proteins I don't think to make very often.

This beautiful salmon was very red - it's wild caught alaskan salmon. I was a bit disappointed that I overbaked it a little so it wasn't as moist as I would have liked but we really liked the glaze on these fillets. I served the salmon with roasted potatoes and almond green beans which we really enjoyed!

BALSAMIC-GLAZED SALMON
(adapted from allrecipes.com)
Print This Recipe

4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tb. white wine
1 Tb. honey
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
4 tsp. Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tb. chopped fresh oregano (I had to use dried - fresh would be SO much better!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Coat a small saucepan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook and stir garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Mix in white wine, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Divide in half.

Arrange salmon fillets on the greased, foil-lined baking sheet. Brush fillets with half of the balsamic glaze, and sprinkle with oregano.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 14 minutes, or until flesh flakes easily with a fork. Brush fillets with remaining glaze, and season with salt and pepper. Use a spatula to transfer fillets to serving platter, leaving the skin behind on the foil.

Off The Shelf: Picnics

Don't we all love picnics! There are many occasions that come to mind when I think back over the picnics I have enjoyed: the hobo sacks on a stick my mother packed for us as children, the doll tea parties under the lilac bush in spring, eating al fresco beside the Nile River, sitting on the sidewalk in the middle of Paris eating bread and cheese, and celebrating my sister's birthday every year with tea and cake on the lawn of our local Art Museum.

Picnics by Hilary Heminway and Alex Heminway is just the book to inspire you to creating some memorable picnics of your own this summer. The book is filled with beautiful photographs, picnic quotes, and delicious recipes.

Some of the picnic ideas include: sunrise picnic, at your desk, lakeside picnic, in bed, snowshoe picnic, wilderness backpack, riverside barbecue, african picnic, high tea, children's picnics, and rain date.

Alongside of menu ideas, pictures, and how-to's, there are many delicious recipes, including: Wheat Montana 7-Grain Cookies, Biker Bread Salad, Curried Egg Salad Sandwiches, Stuffed Italian Chicken with Oven-Roasted Tomatoes, and Chocolate Scat Cookies (which have been a favorite gluten-free recipe for some time in our house).

While this book may not have enough practical recipes to make it a must-have for your cookbook shelf, it is a must-request from your library for summer perusal.

I decided to try the Tanzania Tomato Soup on our first picnic of the season. It was easy to put together and many of the ingredients are easy to keep on hand.



TANZANIA TOMATO SOUP
(Picnics)
Print this recipe

4 cups V8 juice
2 cups tomato juice
juice of one lemon
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
2 cups plain yogurt

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend well. Serve chilled.

Counter Culture

This past week marked the opening of my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I was so excited to go and pick up the first produce of the season. Here's what we received: one bag of mixed greens, one bunch of asparagus, kale, two heads of lettuce, radishes, eggs, chives, tarragon, spearmint and peppermint.



And here is what we've done with this delicious food:

asparagus -- steamed with butter, salt and pepper
radishes -- although I wanted to make this salad again, I've just been putting these into regular green salads
mixed greens and lettuce -- salad; the first salad I made needed to be quick and consisted of the greens plus snipped chives, including the chive blossoms. Salad dressing also needed to be quick and so I used cream, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. A perfect combination!
chives -- the chives have appeared in salads and our egg supper, and I'm thinking of trying to dry some to use in the winter. I'll have to let you know how that goes.
tarragon -- I'm envisioning turning this into a lemon-tarragon sauce for chicken



kale -- I browned a bit of garlic in some olive oil and then threw in the washed and chopped kale to cook until it was tender. Balsamic vinegar finished it off as a delicious side dish to our pasta dinner.
eggs -- we often have eggs on Saturday night since I plan for a large meal on Sunday. Most frequently I mix five eggs with 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup grated cheese, salt and pepper and bake it in a greased pie plate. This week I added snipped chives.
spearmint and peppermint -- my favorite way to enjoy these herbs is in my tea. I drink Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast Decaf and add a sprig of mint to my mug when brewing the tea (or make a large pot with several teabags and a few sprigs of mint). I drink this hot with milk, but it's also excellent chilled. Some of the mint found its way into the cucumber and sugar snap pea salad that I made again this week.

We enjoyed a delicious meal for Mother's Day, cooked for us by my sister. She made hamburgers on the grill with various toppings such as lettuce, tomato, onion, blue cheese, avocado, and bacon. Side dishes included oven fries, rice salad, and Israeli salad.



Of course the most exciting thing happening in our kitchen right now is the presence of our baby girl -- Laura Elizabeth -- who arrived on April 27th.



And, since Laura's arrival, our family has been enjoying the cooking of many friends who have kindly provided meals for us. We've all enjoyed the variety and I think the kids are sorry to see the meals coming to an end.

Market Fresh: Snow Peas

Snow peas are such a delicious, healthy, and wonderful vegetable. They are great raw on a veggie tray with or without dip and they are an excellent addition to stir-frys. Today I'm sharing three recipes for crunchy, yummy snow peas. They are all adapted from foodnetwork.com and they are all vegetarian and gluten-free. We really liked all three! Hope you enjoy!



SNOW PEA & AVOCADO SLAW
Print This Recipe

10 oz. snow peas
2 ribs celery
1/3 c. toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Avocado, thinly sliced
1 Tb. fresh chives, chopped

Thinly slice snow peas lengthwise. Toss with thinly sliced celery ribs (add
the leaves, too) and toasted walnuts. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice to taste (I used equal parts of both), and
season with salt and pepper. Gently stir in a thinly sliced avocado and minced chives.



ORZO W/MUSHROOM, SNOW PEAS, & PINE NUTS
Print This Recipe

2 tsp. olive oil
2 shallots minced
1 lb. assorted fresh mushrooms, sliced thinly
1/2 lb. of fresh snow peas, julienned
3/4 c. toasted pine nuts
1 lb. orzo, cooked according to box directions
1 Tb. of butter, optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add shallots and saute. Add mushrooms and saute until brown. Add snow peas and cook for 1 minute. Add pine nuts. Add mixture to the orzo. Butter may be added, to taste. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.



GLAZED SNOW PEAS
Print This Recipe

2 Tb. butter
8 oz. snow peas
1 bunch scallions, chopped
pinch of sugar
1/4 c. water
salt to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add snow peas, chopped scallions, a pinch of sugar and water. Cover and simmer 2 minutes, then uncover and boil until the water evaporates, 2 more minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Winner!

I'm finally getting around to posting the winner of our Spring Cookbook giveaway!

The random winner is Michelle Fulk who said:
I love cookbooks so it’s hard to pick. My Martha Stewart’s Baking handbook has been simply a must have, but I have to say I’m really in love with my new TASTE OF HOME CONTEST WINNING 2010 BOOK. I made a chocolate carrot cake with cocoa cream cheese butter cream this week that I was a bit worried about, but it was divine, and the easiest from scratch recipe ever (if you are interested check my FB profile) I belong to your FB and twitter groups and reposted this on both. You are on my google reader too.

CONGRATS MICHELLE! I'll send you an e-mail to get your info!

Weekend Fare: Chicken Curry

We love international cuisine - even our kids enjoy ethnic foods. This is one of our favorite recipes. I served it over rice this time but our absolute favorite way is to have it over mashed sweet potatoes (mashed with a little plain yogurt, salt, and butter). Give it a try! The kids love that they can choose their own toppings.

CHICKEN CURRY
Print This Recipe

2 cooking apples, unpeeled, cored, and diced
1 lg. onion, finely chopped
1-2 Tb. curry powder (according to your taste)
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 c. chicken breast, cooked and diced (I bake it or boil it)
1 1/2 c. chicken broth

Sauté apple, onion, and curry powder in oil in skillet until tender and glazed. Season with salt and pepper. Add in cooked chicken and chicken broth and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Serve over cooked brown rice or mashed sweet potatoes (try mashing with a little plain yogurt and salt). Top with raisins, craisins, pineapple tidbits, toasted chopped almonds, plain yogurt, and/or toasted coconut.

6 servings

Off The Shelf: May Magazines

Bon Appetit -- This month's issue is labled the "travel issue" and contains a collection of recipes from Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. Each collection is lengthy, filled with beautiful photos and art, as well as stories and recipes. There is also a feature devoted to carrots, which, apparently, are in season just now.

I tried the Chicken with Tarragon for a Sunday dinner and it came out very well. I was skeptical of taking time to roast garlic in a pan, but it was quick and easy and worked well. We paired the chicken with the green rice and cucumber salad (also included in this post) and together it was a scrumptious meal. We ended it with the Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble from Monday's post.



CHICKEN WITH TARRAGON AND QUICK-ROASTED GARLIC
(Bon Appetit May 2010)
Print this recipe

3 large unpeeled garlic cloves
4 small skinless boneless chicken breast halves or cutlets
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

Heat small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cover and cook until browned in spots and tender when pierced, turning occasionally, 9 to 10 minutes. Transfer to work surface to cool.

Meanwhile, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate (do not clean skillet).

Peel garlic. Add garlic and wine to same skillet; cook until reduced by about half, mashing garlic finely with fork, about 1 minute. Add broth and tarragon; simmer until liquid is reduced by about half, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cream and simmer to sauce consistency, about 1 minute. Return chicken to skillet with any accumulated juices. Simmer to heat through, turning occasionally, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate; spoon sauce over.

Serves 4.

Everyday Food -- of interest in this issue is a feature on raspberries (apparently these are in season too? Perhaps at the grocery store, certainly not in my backyard) with some amazing-looking recipes included. Another feature tells what to do with jarred, roasted peppers. The Breakfast for Dinner feature dishes up some very tempting meals that look easy and delicious. As always, there are a number of great, everyday meals, side dishes and desserts included as well.

I made the Green Rice and the Cucumber and Snap Pea Salad. Both were easy to make and turned out well. The salad was so fresh and delightful that we'll be having it again soon. Honestly, I couldn't stop eating it. A perfect salad for spring!



GREEN RICE
(Everyday Food May 2010)
Print this recipe

1 cup packed fresh cilantro
1/2 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
1/4 white onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 3/4 cups water
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

In a blender, combine cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic, water, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add rice and stir to coat. Add herb mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let sit, covered, 5 minutes. Add lime juice and fluff with a fork. Serve rice with lime wedges if desired.

Serves 4.



CUCUMBER AND SNAP PEA SALAD WITH MINT
(Everyday Food May 2010)
Print this recipe

1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. white-wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
salt & pepper
2 large cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1 pound snap peas, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal in 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup fresh mint, torn

In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, and mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Add cucumbers and peas. Toss to combine. Stir in mint just before serving.

Serves 4.

Everyday with Rachael Ray -- Once again I am keenly aware that many magazines don't follow seasonal eating very closely. While this magazine does include a number of seasonal-appropriate recipes (like Asparagus, Ham and Egg Pasta, and Rhubarb Fool), I question the appeal of recipes such as Potato-Leek soup, Chili, and Spaghetti Squash for this spring season. I felt this issue belonged more in fall.

However, there is a large section devoted to parties and weddings, which was fun to look through and might be beneficial if you are looking for ideas along those lines.

I tried the Gemelli with Fennel and Hot Sausage and it was an easy and delicious weeknight meal that is worth repeating.



GEMELLI WITH FENNEL AND HOT SAUSAGE
(Everyday with Rachael Ray, May 2010)
Print this recipe

3/4 pound hot Italian sausage links, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used mild)
1 large bulb fennel, cut into strips
1 large onion, sliced
3 carrots, sliced on an angle
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt & pepper
1 pound gemelli pasta (I used penne)
1/4 cup chopped flat parsley

Preheat oven to 425F. On a baking sheet, toss the sausage, fennel, onion and carrots with the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Bake until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl.

Add the sausage -vegetable mixture to the pasta. Add the reserved pasta cooking water to the baking sheet, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to the pasta mixture. Toss in the parsley; season with salt and pepper.

NOTE: My kids liked this with grated cheese sprinkled on top.

Serves 4.

Cooking Light -- While I didn't get any recipes made from Cooking Light this month, I did bookmark a number of recipes that looked appealing. This issue includes an article on sandwiches, healthy eating while in the DC area, and a great round-up of seasonal recipes in the Dinner Tonight feature.

If you are into homemade ice-cream, you may want to check out their cooking class article on light ice-cream. There is also an article on smoothies.

The longest feature is devoted to pizza, with recipe after recipe of delicious and ingenious combinations for this favorite American food.

Other articles include: Haitian-American food, simple spring recipes, spring risottos, and budget cooking.

If you want a magazine that says SPRING!, this is probably the one for you.

My Kitchen View

I bet it seemed like I fell off the face of the earth! Our internet connection in Kazakhstan became more difficult and I wasn't able to post much but I did take lots of food pictures to share!!! The food was absolutely amazing and I enjoyed it so  much. I definitely did not lose weight on this trip! :) For today I will just post one of the pictures of some wonderful salmon:



In other kitchen news, my boys gifted me with raspberry and blackberry bushes for Mother's Day! I can't wait to get them planted and really to enjoy the wonderful fruits!

Thanks for bearing with us and letting me take some time off. It was much needed and my time in Kazakhstan was very good - emotional, challenging, and wonderful.

Market Fresh: Rhubarb

Rhubarb is one of the first vegetables gardeners can harvest in the spring. It is a perennial plant, so it comes up on its own each spring, sporting beautiful red stalks (or sometimes pink or green) which can be turned into a number of delightful treats.

Somehow it was always elderly people in my life who had large rhubarb patches from which they were happy to share. I guess that makes me think of rhubarb as an old-fashioned food, but one I love. As a child, my mom would give us kids a bowl of sugar and a few stalks of rhubarb. We'd dip the end of our stalk in the sugar and then take a bite.

I think my all-time favorite use for rhubarb is strawberry-rhubarb pie. While in the UK I was introduced to exclusively rhubarb pie, which I enjoyed and made several times. Rhubarb is delicious in a crumble (see recipe below), either on its own, or combined with strawberries. And it is well-suited for jams and chutneys. Stewed or roasted rhubarb with whipped cream is a simple but sublime dessert. I even came across a recipe for using rhubarb in a green salad!

If you don't have any rhubarb in your garden, and don't know any elderly friends with large patches, its worth buying a bunch at the grocery store and enjoying at least one rhubarb dessert during the season. And here is a terrific recipe to try:



STRAWBERRY AND RHUBARB CRUMBLE
(Bon Appetit May 2010)
Print this recipe

3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
large pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup husked hazelnuts, toasted coarsely chopped (almonds or pecans would also work)
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (I omitted this)
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
12 ounces rhubarb (preferrable bright red), ends trimmed, stalks cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces

vanilla ice cream to serve

Combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter. Rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in clumps. Mix in oats and nuts. (Topping can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Place 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; whisk to blend well. Add strawberries and rhubarb to sugar in bowl; toss to coat well. Scrape fruit filling into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle oat topping evenly over filling.

Bake crumble until filling bubbles thickly and topping is crisp, about 45 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Spoon warm crumble into bowls. Serve with ice cream.

Serves 8.

Yogurt

I forgot how much I love the yogurt here! In general I am not a big yogurt eater but here, it's wonderfully creamy and delicious! It made for a quick breakfast with some bread. The bread is inexpensive and so fresh. I love it! It's all bringing back so many memories.

Update from Kaz 1

Well, so far my journey has mainly consisted of airline food. It's tolerable. I chose vegetarian, pasta dished both times because I find the meat on planes to be suspect at best. :) On our flight from London, we had some wonderful cheese and butter.

We arrived here in Almaty, Kazakhstan at 2 in the morning (3 in the afternoon at home). We arrived at the house we are staying in and got mostly settled before enjoying an early morning snack of delicious cheese and salami! I love the food here!

This afternoon, we enjoyed a meal with new friends that we will be serving with. It was an American meal made with lots of love and it was so good!