Escarole and White Bean Soup (Printable Recipe)
Serves 4 as a Main Course

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Lemon, juiced
1 California Bay leaf
1 sprig fresh Rosemary, stem removed and leaves roughly chopped
1 Parmesan rind
10 cups Chicken broth
1 large bunch of Escarole, washed and cut into big strips
4 cups cooked White beans (I used Mayacobas)
Salt
Pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

In a large stockpot over medium heat, add oil, onion, and garlic. Saute the vegetables until they are tender, about five minutes. Add lemon juice, bay leaf, rosemary, Parmesan rind, and chicken broth to the pot. Bring liquid to a gentle simmer, cover pot with a lid, and cook for 25 minutes. Next, use a fork to pull any softened cheese off the Parmesan rind into the soup. Discard the remaining rind and the bay leaf. Add the beans and escarole to the pot, cover, and continue to simmer the soup for 10 minutes until the escarole is wilted and tender. Turn off the heat, and taste the soup adding salt and pepper as necessary. Serve the soup with lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

I have a tiny character flaw. It is not my fault. Really. My father has the same flaw so it must be genetic- right? We both suffer from what Ree of The Pioneer Woman calls LBSCBS (low blood sugar cranky butt syndrome). If too many hours pass between meals suddenly our usually sunny can-handle-anything attitudes are hijacked by a short tempered cannot-deal-with-other-humans mood that threatens to leave a path of scorched earth in our wake. You know- cranky.

My dear mother in her efforts to promote familial peace and harmony learned to recognize the signs of LBSCBS early on and stage interventions as soon as possible. Anytime we would take a family outing more than two hours in length Mom would pack snacks. Cheese, crackers, an apple- anything to keep the dark clouds of hunger from moving in. Her constant attempts over many years to battle the cranky have evolved into an art form. These homemade granola bars are her latest masterpiece.

Infinitely customizable, the granola bars incorporate a variety of nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and whole grains. They are a portable and economical way to keep everyone energized and happy for hours. I have made several batches of the bars already and the ability to mix and match flavors ensures that the granola bars are always appealing whenever you are in need of a quick snack. If any of my offspring inherit the dreaded LBSCBS you can be sure that I will have a few of these bars within arms reach at all times!

Homemade Granola Bars (Printable Recipe)
Makes Approximately 10 Bars

I have listed optional substitutions below, but you can also replace a portion of the ingredients with puffed rice, chocolate chips, toasted coconut, minced crystallized ginger, cinnamon, raisins, M&Ms (frozen), or anything else that sounds good!

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame, etc.)
1 cup nuts, crushed (pecan, walnut, cashew, macadamia, almond, etc.)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey (or 1/4 cup honey, plus 1/4 cup of maple, agave, or barley malt syrup)
4 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup chopped dried fruit (cherries, cranberries, blueberries, apricots, etc.)

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Mix together the oats, wheat germ, seeds, and nuts on the baking sheet. Place the sheet in the oven and toast the dry ingredients for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally and keeping a close watch to make sure they do not burn. As soon as the ingredients are toasted, remove the pan from the oven.

While the dry ingredients are toasting, line a 11×13 inch rimmed baking sheet with waxed paper and spray it lightly with cooking oil.

Next place a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add in the brown sugar, honey (and any other sweetener), butter, vanilla, and salt. Bring the mixture to a strong boil for two minutes stirring constantly. Turn off the heat.

Place the toasted ingredients in a large bowl, and stir in the dried fruit. Pour the hot liquids into the bowl and stir aggressively until all of the ingredients are moist and well combined.

Using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape the mixture into the prepared baking sheet, pressing down to evenly spread out the mixture. Fold over the waxed paper or add another sheet on top and press down HARD all over the granola. Set the baking sheet aside and let the bars cool for 2-3 hours until they are hardened.

Once the bars are hard, peel off the waxed paper and turn the granola out onto a cutting board. Cut the granola into bars by pressing straight down with a long knife (don’t saw or they will crumble). The bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature individually wrapped in plastic wrap for up to a week.

Once our marshmallows were properly toasted (I like mine almost black), we grabbed another ginger cookie and sandwiched it all together. The cookies created a single gooey bite that brought together a mix of childhood chocolate goodness and adult ginger enjoyment. I’m embarrassed to say that we blew through an entire chocolate bar and about 20 ginger cookies in one sitting. It was a sticky, gooey, chocolate mess- the perfect way to bring out the inner kid in anyone. If you haven’t made s’mores this summer, track down a box of ginger cookies and get out there!

Curious Barn Cats

Summer Storm Clouds

Gingersnap S’mores
(Do you really need a recipe?)

Ingredients:

1 marshmallow (You could make your own, but that might not feel like camping)
1 square high quality dark chocolate (We have a weakness for Valrhona)
2 ginger cookies (Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger cookies are preferred)

Fire
Stick

Directions:

Place the chocolate square on top of a ginger cookie, and set it near the fire on a flat clean surface. Place the marshmallow on the clean end of a stick, and roast it in the fire until it is puffy and golden. Use the second ginger cookie to scrape the marshmallow onto the chocolate square and place the cookie on top. Eat. Then lick your fingers and repeat until you have a major sugar high and feel slightly ill. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you!)

With summer now in full swing, I’ve found my urge to spend hours puttering around the kitchen has been replaced with a desire to frolic in the warm air and soak up as much sunshine as possible. I’m sure I am not alone in these sentiments, so today’s recipe is going to be short and sweet.

I have attempted to make sweet potato fries once before but was disappointed with mushy limp fries that couldn’t stand up to a bowl of ketchup. This time around I hunted through the Chowhound forums until I discovered the secret to crispy oven baked fries: convection. That’s right, if you have a convection oven then crispy sweet potato fries can be yours without the greasy mess of deep fat frying.

Quick release foil makes clean up VERY easy!

Dusting the fries with five spice seasoning created an exotic note which complimented our Asian-style barbecued ribs beautifully. The risks of being a food blogger became apparent when I set the bowl of fries down on the table and then stepped into another room to snap a few pictures of the Swiss Chard and Fennel Gratin. When I returned a short five minutes later, only a few lonely fries were left at the bottom of the bowl! As Mr. B is fond of saying, with fries this good, “you’d better get in there!”

Postscript: I followed this method with regular potatoes and it worked like a charm! Perfect crispy oven baked potato fries. Convection is definitely the answer!

Five Spice Sweet Potato Fries (Printable Recipe)
Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into long wedges
Spray Oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Five Spice Powder

Reynolds Quick Release Foil

Directions:

Pre-heat a convection oven to 425 degrees (normal heat – not convection at this point) with a rack in the middle.

Line two rimmed cookie sheets with foil. Spread the sweet potatoes on the cookie sheets in one layer. Lightly spray oil over the sweet potatoes and toss gently with your hands to coat all sides. Sprinkle a light coating of salt, pepper, garlic powder and five spice powder evenly across the sweet potatoes. Again gently toss the potatoes with your hands to coat all sides.

Place cookie sheets side-by-side in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Using a spatula, gently loosen the wedges from the foil and flip them over. Return pans to oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

Next, turn the oven to “convection” and bake for a final 5-10 minutes watching the fries closely, until they turn golden and crispy. Remove pans from oven, transfer the fries to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

The week we returned from San Francisco, I put off going to the grocery store for a few days. I wanted to let the happy afterglow of our trip hang around for a little longer before reality set in for good. When I finally did walk into the store it was difficult not to feel a bit depressed. After glorious piles of freshly picked produce, mouthwatering stacks of cheese and dizzying racks of wine, my grocery store seemed like it was part of a bad 1950′s movie set. The dingy florescent light reflected in the worn linoleum seemed even dingier and out of season wilting produce appeared even more droopy.

I sighed and pushed my cart into the produce aisle- half-heartedly glancing at the hard pieces of pineapple sitting in Styrofoam and the tomatoes that could pass as potatoes save for their color. As I reached in to grab a shrink wrapped cabbage to make Oma’s Roasted Vegetable Soup, an unusual green shape caught my eye. Hidden behind the bowling balls of cabbage, was what appeared to be a lone bundle of baby bok choy. I blinked and looked again, wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me. No, it was still there. Incredulous, I gingerly picked it up and looked at the vegetable up close. Sure enough, I was holding a baby bok choy.

My mood immediately changed for the better, and I couldn’t believe my luck. In three plus years of living here I had never seen a baby bok choy at the grocery store. The odd thing was that there were no other bok choy in the case. Just this one. I had no idea where it came from or why it was all alone hiding behind the cabbage.

When I reached the cashier (a very young teenager who slightly resembled Paris Hilton) she looked at the bok choy and said, “Um, what is this?” Grinning I told her “It’s a baby bok choy!” I was met with a blank stare- she obviously didn’t understand my excitement. “A what?” she asked. “A bok choy” I replied. She turned to the teenage checker in the lane next to her and said, “Sue, do you know how much this is?” Sue looked over blankly and said, “What is it?” The Paris look-alike replied hesitantly and sounding slightly like a chicken, “Bawk Choy”. Then she giggled. Sue had no idea. The produce manager was then called and he had no idea what it was or where it came from saying, “It’s not in the system”. They finally decided to charge me $2.00 and I left feeling like I had experienced a minor miracle. (Okay, very minor compared to what most would call a miracle.) It provided a much needed reminder that when you’re feeling really sorry for yourself life can provide a happy surprise if you just look behind the shrink wrapped cabbage.

After finding a miraculous bok choy I wanted to do it justice by cooking it in a simple way that celebrated the vegetable. Our weather had finally cheered up so after browsing the Internet a bit this recipe for grilled bok choy seemed to be the perfect fit. The flavors came together nicely and complimented a quickly grilled chicken. We savoured the baby bok choy with a glass of white wine and decided that there’s no place quite like home after all.

Grilled Baby Bok Choy (Printable Recipe)
Recipe Adapted from: Jorj.com
Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

4 heads of baby bok choy, cut in half lengthwise, washed and dried
1/3 cup orange juice (fresh or bottled)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Directions:

Place a grill sheet or aluminum foil on your BBQ and heat it to medium heat (about 350 degrees).

In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and dried red pepper flakes.

Brush the mixture onto the baby bok choy, and place them cut side down on the grill sheet or foil. Loosely cover the bok choy with foil, and grill for 8-10 minutes until they are tender. While the bok choy are grilling, baste occasionally with the sauce. Serve immediately.