at home with ann

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon in Portsmouth, NH with my older sister and her two boys.  We had lunch at the Portsmouth Brewery , which has a great atmosphere.  It's casual, you can see the giant brewing machinery, has good beer, and works for little kids because they give you crayons and as many straws as you want.   My dining companions, the amazing Sarah of Nourishing Path , and her sons Wallace (almost 5) and Lysander (age 1). We didn't imbibe today, so I can't comment on the beer, but had great food.  I had the Hummus and Baba Ganoush plate which came with a few slices of french bread, focaccia, cucumber, carrot, and red bell pepper.  It was delicious, but my nephew's french bread pizza looked pretty good too, so you might be seeing pizza here soon. Since I didn't actually do any cooking today, I thought I would share my own recipe for hummus.  My favorite store bought hummus is Sabra or Trader Joe's, and this is pretty close.   Hummus 1...

Frittatas are great.  They are healthy, easy to make, and reheat reasonably well in the toaster oven. Broccoli and Potato Frittata adapted from McCormick Ingredients 2 cups cubed potatoes (I used baby red) 2 cups chopped broccoli florets 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion (I used red onion) 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon salt (I always use kosher or sea salt) 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 6 eggs 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk, any kind will do) 1/2 cup chopped or sliced tomatoes 1/4 cup grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar, any kind that melts well is fine) Directions Put cubed potatoes in a saucepan.  Fill with enough cold water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat.  Cook until almost tender (about 6 minutes).  Add broccoli, cook 1 minute more.  Drain. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  I used a 10 inch All Clad stainless steel skil...

This is one of those recipes that tastes even better the next day when the flavors have had a chance to blend together.  It tastes good warm, cold, or room temperature, making it an excellent take-with-you meal.   Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta slightly adapted from Cooking Light Ingredients 1 3/4  cups  water or vegetable broth, or a combination 1  cup  uncooked couscous 1 1/2  cups  small broccoli florets 1/2  cup  finely chopped red onion 1/3  cup  shredded carrot 2  tablespoons  red wine vinegar 1 1/2  tablespoons  olive oil 1  tablespoon  sugar 1 1/2  teaspoons  curry powder 1  teaspoon  bottled minced fresh ginger 3/4  teaspoon  salt 1  (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese Preparation Bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually st...

I like to try cooking new things on Sunday nights.  I have the entire afternoon to work on it if I need to, and it's one of two nights a week we have dinner together, so I like to make it a little fancier than normal.  Many of the dinners I normally cook are one-dish meals, so this is a time when I can expand a bit.   I don't cook meat very often, but in my continuous efforts to improve my skills, I am trying.  This was my first time working with a pork tenderloin, and it was very easy.  I found the recipe on the Food Network, and it appealed because the glaze sounded good and was made up of all things I had in my pantry. Pork Mediallions with Balsamic-Honey Glaze adapted slightly from Food Network Ingredients For the balsamic-honey glaze: 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dried 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 3 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoons Dijon mustard Salt and freshly gro...

Since I know I'll be eating a lot of cookies today (the current count is 3...), I thought we could talk about something a little lighter for lunch.  This salad is great because it has protein from the chickpeas, vitamins from the greens and tomatoes, and healthy fats from the tahini dressing, avocado and goat cheese.  The dressing is the one I posted about a few weeks ago.   Here is the link .  Quick, simple, and filling. In the mix: greens cherry tomatoes chickpeas avocado goat cheese Lemon Garlic Tahini Dressing

We aren't big on Valentine's Day around here, but we are big on cookies. I used a classic Martha Stewart  recipe, but opted for a soft powdered sugar frosting instead of royal icing.  Royal icing can be beautiful, but it can also be frustrating. I started with the usual ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.  (There are two sticks of butter in this picture, but I only used one.) And then I used the basic cookie dough technique. I creamed the room temperature butter and sugar in my mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy.  This is an action shot. Then I added the egg and vanilla and mixed well. And finally added in the dry ingredients and stirred until just mixed. The dough is pretty crumbly, but sticks together when pressed.   Finally, and this is an important step, I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and chilled in the fridge for at least one hour. Once chilled, I rolled it out to about 1/8" thickness, ...

I had big plans to make a healthy spinach dip using pureed white beans as the creamy base.  When I opened my container of beans from the fridge I found they were no longer at their prime, or edible at all, so I had to rethink the recipe.  This is a pretty basic recipe, and I promise I'll try it with the beans soon, but in the meantime... Regular Old Spinach Artichoke Dip 1 14oz. can artichoke hearts 1/2 - 1 bag spinach 1 garlic clove 1/4 - 1/2 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt 2-3 Tablespoons mayo 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Parmesan cheese, for topping Paprika, for garnish (optional) You can make this by hand, but it's much easier in the food processor. Put artichoke hearts, spinach and grated garlic in the bowl of your food processor.  For dip recipes like this or hummus, I grate the garlic on a microplane so it's a paste.  This prevents anyone from taking a big bite of raw garlic. Give it just a few pulses, I think I had five.  You don't ...