Share #4

I'm still recovering from my trip. So much amazing food, so little sleep. But as I sit in my office on this Friday afternoon, waiting for a subject to arrive (the last two did not show up), I have a little time to reflect on my wonderful vacation. Four days in San Francisco, four days in Portland, and one really amazing wedding. I am both sad that it's over and happy to be home. Planning and anticipating this trip were half the fun, bridging this experience out over weeks and months, instead of just a few fleeting days. But I'm so happy to be back to Chicago, back to my own bed, back to the gym, back to work, and back to my kitchen. I've missed my routine. 

I returned just in time to pick up a new share of meat. Every Thursday, Peasants' Plot farm has their produce CSA ready for pickup at the Hideout. Since they are Mint Creek's neighbors, they help out and bring up monthly meat shares on the first Thursday after the second Wednesday of every month. 

Am I becoming a hipster? I recently got new glasses for the first time in about 4 years, and opted for some big bold frames (brown instead of black to mellow them out a bit). I've been hanging out in Logan Square more often. I just spent a lovely long weekend in Portland. And now I pick up my meat CSA share at the Hideout. I can have my meat and a PBR tallboy too.

Note: I'm abandoning the whole Wednesday/Sunday routine, since the point of this to have fun and provide an outlet from my typical work writing, and not just to add another thing to my to-do list. So look forward to spontaneous posts! Happy Friday!

Share #4:
Lamb loin
Whole chicken

Vacation eats: Portland

Home. Took one of the best naps and one of the best showers of my life. Getting ready to start working. Vacation is officially over. 

I ate so many great things in Portland. The best was probably wedding cherry pie, but among things that I had out on the town, poached chicken from a food truck was my favorite. Portland has a great food truck scene. The sauce really made it, full of fresh ginger. With an add-on of chicken liver. 

Vacation eats: San Francisco

I ate and drank so many great things in SF that it was really hard to pick a favorite, so I'm going to cheat and pick the best meal: ad hoc in Napa. I love when I'm really impressed by a salad, and I discovered that sherry is really good. The lamb shank was huge. A great meal with great company. 

Smoky beef tacos

It's a busy time. I'm getting ready to take a trip I've been looking forward to for months. I have a couple of writing projects going on at work -- I should be working on that instead of writing this right now. I'm trying to figure out what the next steps in my career might be. Every weekend day in August is already booked.

I rely on my slow cooker to get me through these busy times. I found a great recipe for beef taco filling in my go-to reference, Slow Cooker Revolution. If you have a slow cooker, you need this book. Smoky, spicy, great over some mashed sweet potatoes and garnished with some avocado, jicama, and cilantro. Relatively easy to prepare, and finished by the time I got home from work. Despite these busy times, I decided to add one more adornment to this meal: Homemade pickled cauliflower. A container of pickled vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, etc.) is waiting on the table at my favorite taquería, so I decided to add some pickled flavor to my taco filling at home.

I will be traveling computer-free for the next week or so. Instead of my regular Wednesday/Sunday posts, I'll post a photo of the best thing I ate in each destination. San Francisco on Wednesday, Portland on Sunday. My list of places to eat is already overwhelming.

Smoky shredded beef
Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

Serves: I lost count. At least 5 servings
Time: 10-15 minutes to prep, at least 6 hours to cook

Ingredients
2 onions, chopped fine (not giant onions)
1/3 cup chili powder
3 chipotle peppers (canned in adobo), minced
6 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 jalepeño, seeded and minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp cumin
1 can of tomato sauce (15 ounces)
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 boneless beef chuck roast, 2-3 pounds

Method
1. Chop the onions and mix with the chili powder, chipotles, garlic, jalepeño, tomato paste, and cumin in a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and mix thoroughly. Microwave for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add to the slow cooker.

2. Add the tomato sauce and liquid smoke to the onion mixture and stir to combine.

3. Dry your meat with paper towels and cut in half. Season with salt and pepper and add to the slow cooker. Mix well so that the meat is coated with sauce.

4. Cook on high for about 6 hours or on low for about 10 hours. Shred with two forks and mix thoroughly with the sauce that has developed.

Pickled cauliflower
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Time: 15-20 active minutes, 1 hour to cool, as much time in the fridge as your patience allows


Ingredients
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
6 tablespoons sugar
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 head cauliflower

Method
1. Toast seeds in a large saucepan over medium heat for about 2 minutes.

2. Add liquid and spices to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add the cauliflower and cover, bring to a boil, and cook for a minute or two.

4. Transfer cauliflower mixture to a large bowl and let cool for about an hour before moving into the fridge.

Sunday dinners #3: Pulled pork and cohort love

My cohort in graduate school is a pretty tight-knit group. Six women, working hard to survive graduate school and support each other, in work and in life. We'll drag each other across the finish line. Even though there are only six of us (most cohorts in our department have 10-12 students), it's not easy to find time for all of us to come together. But when we do, we throw some amazing potlucks. We always have an exciting mix of food, catch up on what's happened in our lives since the last time we all were together, celebrate each other's life events, and have interesting conversations (what is a hipster, really?). Technically our most recent potluck was held on a Saturday, but I think about Sunday dinners as a concept, a big wonderful meal shared with great people, on Sundays or any other day of the week. 

For my third cochon dinner, I decide to make some pulled pork. This recipe is so easy I can hardly believe it. That seemed to be the theme of the night -- everyone was almost embarrassed at how easy their dishes were to prepare, but each one was simple and delicious. I made cabbage salad to accompany the pork. My friends brought udon noodle salad, steamed egg custard, cous cous with vegetables, crostini with olive spread and cucumber feta spread. For dessert, I made a berry crisp to use up more of my blueberry stores (inspired by this breakfast crisp recipe), which we enjoyed alongside espresso chocolate from one member's recent trip to Switzerland.

Photo taken by my friend Carly

So easy pulled pork
Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

Time: About 5 active minutes, at least 8 hours to marinate, at least 6 hours to cook
Serves: You and 5 guests, with plenty of leftovers

Ingredients
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used beet sugar)
1/4 cup paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt

Picnic roast or pork butt (2-3 lbs or more)
1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (I used Lillie's Q Smoky)

Method
1. Mix your spices together to make the rub.

2. Cut you meat into quarters and dry with paper towels. Rub with the spice mixture and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours (up to 24).

3. After it has marinated in the spice blend, unwrap the meat and place in your slow cooker. Cover with barbecue sauce and cook on high for about 6 hours or on low for about 10 hours.

4. When the meat is done cooking, shred with two forks and mix so that it is fully drenched in sauce.

5. Serve on its own, over mashed sweet potatoes, or on a roll or some white bread.

Mixed fruit crisp
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Time: About 10 minutes to prepare, 35 minutes or so to bake
Serves: You and 5 guests

Ingredients

1 peach
1 large handful cherries
2-3 cups blueberries
3 tablespoons sugar (up to 6 if you'd prefer a sweeter crisp)
Generous sprinkle of cinnamon
Juice from 1/2 a lemon

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 of a stick)
6 tablespoons sugar (again, I used beet sugar)
Sprinkle of salt 
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Handful of almonds and cashews, chopped

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Perfect if someone was already using it to toast some crostini.

2. Chop the peach and cherries into small pieces (about the size of a large blueberry) and add with the blueberries to an 8x8 baking dish. Mix with the sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice.

3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. When the butter is melted, stir in the sugar, flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly and spread over the fruit. It won't look like much, but it will cover the fruit. Sprinkle the nuts on top.

4. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the top is golden brown. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before digging it; the fruit will be hot. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I liked this crisp so much that I made it again the next day (since there were no leftovers). I love crisp topping, so I increased the proportions and subbed out regular flour for whole wheat flour. It came out ok, but not as good as the original version.