Julie and Heidi... The Super Natural Cooking Adventure

Two years ago my brother Josiah gave me the cookbook "Super Natural Cooking" by Heidi Swanson
I love to cook and incorporate lots of organic, whole grain, natural ingredients but this book takes it to a whole new level.  I had been a little intimidated by the fact that many of the ingredients I had never seen in any store. Inspired by Julie and Julia, I am diving in. TJ is excited about the idea and is ready to help. Since there are a little over 80 recipes my goal is 2 per week with the goal of finishing in one year.


Recipe #1: Risotto Style Barley with Citrus and Arugula
This recipe despite many good ingredients lacked flavor and pizzaz. The onions and shallots had me crying seriously before the whole process was over. This one will not be added to the make again list but was fun to make once. One new ingredient for me was creme fraiche- a fancy french version of sour cream. I liked it but am not sure it is worth the extra expense.

Recipe #2 Lime- Bathed Peanut Salad

This one was so yummy! It is a winner and I am pretty sure that it will show up pretty frequently. 

Ingredients:

2 cups raw unsalted peanuts (I had roasted and salted and used those)

4 Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped

1 large jalapeno pepper seeded and diced

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 T fresh lime juice

1 T olive oil

1/4 t sea salt

1. Roast peanuts for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees in the oven

2. Combine tomatoes, cilantro and jalapenos in a bowl

3. In a separate bowl mix the lime juice, olive oil and salt. Mix, then add to tomato mixture

4. Just before serving, combine peanuts with other ingredients

Food Exploration 2011

I have enlisted TJ's help for his 2011 creative project Christmas present. One of our favorite parts of living in NYC has been exploring the food. This year our goal is to keep a photo journal of our eating out adventures. Here is the progress to date:

Ben and Jack's Steak House, Gramercy, Manhattan

We celebrate TJ's birthday the first weekend of January. Using a Restraunt.com coupon the meal total was still nice and high. This place has the reputation of being one of the best steak eats in the city and the prices show it. The ambiance was fine but nothing special. We were surprised by how casual many of the other guests were considering how much they were about to spend on their dinners. It was a fun experience but a one time outing. 

The filet mignon did not have bacon which I thought was defining characteristic? It was yummy but I would not say the best steak of my life

Chilean Sea Bass on the other hand was AMAZING!!! TJ and are pretty sure if will be the best one we ever eat. The creamed spinach was also a favorite. Mashed potatoes were standard

TJ at his birthday dinner :)

Le Pain Quotidien, Upper East Side, Manhattan

This place is chain with multiple locations around the city. The locations are all quaint and inviting. We tried it out for the first time and were very pleased. A repeat visit is almost certain. We found a location about 20 blocks north of us that has enough tables that it allows you to linger. The free wi-fi is also appealing, allowing some de-breifing after the meal. 

 Hot pear-ginger spritzer with cinammon stick and mint leaf. This drink was a fun treat, yummy but the ginger was a little strong.  We really liked the cups without handles. 

You order coffee by the "pot"

Tomato avocado omelet with fresh bread... yum!

Hot croissant with french ham and gruyere cheese, three mustards to choose from on the side. 

This one was a winner too.

Paquitos, Gramercy/ Murray Hill,  Manhattan

This little joint is a hole in the wall place just a few blocks from us with a handwritten menu on the wall. We stopped by after church last Sunday. I asked the woman behind the counter for a recommendation to which she replied "I recommend everything." She then went on to recommend the enchiladas. We got chicken enchiladas with corn tortillas that indeed turned out to be amazing. The chorizo burrito was also very tasty. Worth visiting again, especially for the price and proximity to our home. 

Sobaya, East Village,  Manhattan

We were inspired by a student who worked with TJ who was japanese and went to the east village to eat soba noodles. We recently went to an authentic Japanese ramen soup place and really loved it. It seemed like a good time to explore some more Japanese noodle dishes. We found this place highly recommended on Yelp. It did not disappoint us. The food was amazing and, true to the review we read, at least 2/3 of the clientele was asian. Our waitress was very friendly and helped with explaining the menu and giving recommendations in limited English with a huge smile.  Worth visiting again.

This soup has Udon noodles, one of the two main types served at this restaurant. These are made out of wheat flour. The soup additions were mostly from the sea with a tempura fried shrimp, some sort of squid, and another scallop like morsel. This one was the soup she recommended and TJ and I loved it!

This soba noodle containing soup was the daily special with duck and mushrooms. The soba noodles are made in house out of buckwheat flour. TJ said he could not decide which soup he liked best but said this was his favorite broth.

TJ's Christmas Present 2010

Every year since we have known each other I have made TJ some homemade creative project.

Past years have included: stocking ornament with his name stitched on, putting all pictures in albums, laminated place mats made from maps of places we have been together, t-shirt quilt, regular quilt.

This year I transcribed our vows onto these frames and displayed pictures I have taken of our feet together. From left to right the photos are from: US open in NYC, walking around NYC this summer together, at Nick and Rachel Dahm's wedding two summers ago. 

Eggplant Bacon Lasagna

I usually use recipes already created by someone else but I made this one up and it turned out well

Ingredients:
2 medium to large eggplant
(slice into about 1/2 to 1" thick slices, brush with olive oil and roast in the oven at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes on each side)

16 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 clove garlic minced
3 chives
1 egg
(mix these ingredients together)

large jar vodka sauce
6 slices of bacon cooked until crispy
no bake lasagna noodles
mozarella chesse for topping

Layer ingredients:
vodka sauce
noodles
cheese mixture
eggplant
bacon broken into small pieces
sauce
noodles
repeat (I had a lot of noodles so I mixed up the layering adding more noodles between different layers)
end with sauce on top

Bake at 350 covered for about 1 hour or a little more
In the last 10 min of baking add the mozarella topping and uncover

This is a picture before cooking

Brooklyn Bridge

Carrot Beet Salad

This is another winter salad inspired from the CSA. It is refreshing and has a nice tangy sweet taste

Ingredients:
Raw beets peeled and grated (I used the food processor)
Raw carrots peeled and grated
Lemon juice and olive oil in generous amounts
salt and and pepper

Mix and adjust seasonings

I added a picture of the beets because they are so pretty!

Perspective