Tag Archives: Food Blogs

Raw Corn & Tomato Salsa

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If you’re a member of a CSA or just get carried away at the farmers market, then you probably have a surplus of tomatoes and corn in your kitchen.  Put them to good use with this quick and tasty Raw Corn & Tomato Salsa.

Freaked out by raw corn?  Feel free to char the summer kernels over an open flame, but when corn is this fresh and sweet, I promise it is just as delicious raw!

I make a few cups of this salsa on Sundays and top my salads with it for lunch throughout the week.  It stays colorful, fresh, and healthy for days.  Or spoon it over eggs and black beans for a perfect brunchy treat.  This recipe makes ~6 cups.

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You’ll Need:

  • 6 ears fresh corn
  • 4 small tomatoes
  • 1 Jalapeno
  • 1 bell pepper
  • 1/2 red onion
  • Juice of two limes
  • 1/2 cup cilantro
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • S&P, to taste

To make the salsa:

In a large bowl, shave the corn kernels off of the cob.

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Dice the tomatoes (removing the seeds), jalapeno, bell pepper, and onion, and combine with the corn.

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Add the juice of two limes and olive oil, and season with salt & pepper.  Finish the salsa with a handful of cilantro.

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You can use this salsa immediately, or store for up to 5 days in jars or tupperware.  I do both!

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xoxo,

Liz

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Gingered Peach Mason Jar Cobblers

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Four Pies Finished

In honor of my darling best friend Julia’s birthday and in honor of peaches being abundantly available and ripe this weekend, I knew a fruity dessert was in order.  Since we had made plans to visit a couple vineyards on Sunday with our sweet friends Amy and Ryan, this dessert also had to be easily portable.  And it had to be adorable.  Whew- no pressure!

As it turns out, a perfectly peachy, easily transportable dessert was well within my reach (and yours!).  All it takes is a trip to the farmers market, a quick spin in the Kitchen-Aid, and a few mason jars to make these Gingered Peach Cobblers.

For the Filling (makes 4 individual pies):

  • 4 peaches
  • 2 tbs sugar
  • 1 tbs fresh ginger

For the Pastry Dough:

  • 1 ¼ cup flour
  • ¼ cup ice water
  • 1 stick cold, unsalted butter
  • 1 tbs sugar

To make the Dough:

I have to admit, I’m no baker- I usually leave the sweet treats up to Julia.  But I’ve been pushing myself to mix flour + water instead of trudging to the store for some mediocre pre-made dough, and this recipe couldn’t be simpler.  Just combine your flour and sugar in a food processor or stand mixer.  Add the cold butter (with the mixer on a speed-2), one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture resembles sand.  Then, add your ice cold water and mix for ~15 seconds.  I made my pastry dough the night before the wine tour, and refrigerated it in plastic overnight.

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To make the filling:

When you’re ready to make your cobblers, grease the insides of four mason jars with butter.  Slice your peaches and place them in a sauce pan with 2 tbs sugar and 1 tbs ginger.  Give them a good stir and let them simmer over low heat for ~10 minutes until they’re syrupy and delicious.

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While those peaches are simmering, let’s talk produce!  Since there are really only 4 ingredients in this recipe- flour, butter, peaches & ginger- you can have some fun with the fillings.  I got three different peach breeds- Donut, Yellow, and White- from the farmers market.  And I was inspired to add ginger after finding this incredible baby Hawaiian variety.  No peeling necessary?  I can freeze you?  Hello, new favorite ingredient.

peaches with ingredients

Once your peaches are finished simmering, take them off the heat and let them cool a bit.

Peach Cobbler, Assemble!

Cut the pastry dough into two unequal parts.  Roll out the smaller half, then use the mouth of a mason jar to cut 4 rounds.  These should be thinner, because they’ll be on the bottom of the cobblers.  Roll out the larger half, which should be the thicker cobbler-toppers, and cut four more rounds.  Place the thin rounds of dough carefully in the bottom of your mason jars and bake at 400° for ~5 minutes.

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When the dough is a bit cooked, fill the jar up to the top with peach filling, and finish with the thick round on top.

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If you want to be really cute, and who doesn’t, use some leftover dough to form hearts or initials to pop on top.  Brush the whole thing with an egg wash and place in the oven (on a baking sheet!) at 375° for 30 minutes, or until the crusts are golden brown.

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I pulled these out of the oven about 2 hours before eating them and screwed the lids on for easy transport.  Not only did this make them easy to get to the vineyards, but would you believe that they were still warm when we ate them?  Just plain peachy!

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xoxo,

Liz

oh what?  you wanted to see a photo of the birthday girl on her vineyard trip?  so happy you asked:

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A Hungry Texans Inaugural Feast!

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Hungry Texans Seal(1)Ah, America.  It’s a good time to live in DC, a district buzzing with excitement for the 57th Inauguration.  The Secret Service is in their dry-run stage for Monday’s big event, but we’ve already put together our Inauguration menu fit for the president himself.  Sure, we could have gone with a red, white & blue theme or made 12 versions of apples pie (trust us, we could have).  But we think this POTUS is just about the cutest thing since President Bartlett, so we decided to draw on inspiration from Obama himself.  A man who governed in food-loving Chicago, steals away to his native Hawaii for vacations, and now calls our very own DC his home.  A president who escapes the White House for crowd-drawing trips to Ben’s Chili Bowl and Komi, and, with his lovely Michelle, has reinstated the important White House garden (the produce from which is used not only in the family’s own dinners, but also donated to Miriam’s Kitchen- go WH!)  Yes, I’d say we’ve got quite the foodie president on our hands.

So we created a menu that incorporates many of the POTUS’s foodie roots- from the Windy city to the Big Island.  To escape the crowded Mall (or before you head to a ball), try this Hungry Texans Inaugural Feast!

Inauguration Feast

Featuring:

Chicago Style Half Smokes

Hawaiian Deep-Dish Pizza

Coconut & Pineapple Cupcakes

inauguration dinner hungry texans

Poppyseed Hot Dog Buns

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Well Hot Dog, these buns are delicious.  The best part?  You get to personalize the bun size.  And everyone deserves a perfectly sized bun for their sausage.  We adapted this recipe from Serious Eats and pulled our dough together in a Kitchen-Aid mixer, although you could use your hands!

You’ll need:

1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup instant mashed potato
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup semolina flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Poppy seeds
Egg wash

To start, combine your water, yeast, sugar, and instant potatoes in your stand mixer.  Let this mixture stand for 15 minutes to allow the yeast to activate.  Then, add the salt and flours, kneading until the dough is smooth.

yeast and mixture

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.  Knead the olive oil into the dough, cover the bowl again, and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, until it has doubled in size.  DSC_0199

When the dough has doubled, knead it on a floured surface, then divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.

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Form these 8 pieces into cylinders, then brush with egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds.  You’ll notice that we tried a few different sizes, not really knowing how each would expand or contract during baking.  It really depends on the size of your sausage, but we liked how  the shorter, fatter buns turned out.

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Pop the buns into a 350 oven for about 30 minutes, then slice down the middle and fill with your favorite sausage-y treats.

DSC_0329xoxo,

Hungry Texans

 

new year’s day supper: grilled pork chops with apple & peach chutney

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pork title

Pictured clockwise, from pork: Grilled Pork Chops with Apple-Peach Chutney (progress), Braised Cabbage (wealth), Pan Seared Red Kale & Rainbow Chard with Bacon (prosperity), Black Eyed Peas (luck), Potato Mash (yummy), Ginger-Cabbage Potstickers (multicultural wealth).

Whew!  We sure felt lucky this morning.  Was it from finishing up a year full of adventure and friendship, starting countless new projects, or finishing up the year with old friends?  Maybe.  Or maybe it was the symbol-ripe supper we whipped up last night.    We covered all of the basics- pork for progress, cabbage for wealth & black eyed peas for luck.  And we even found new meaning for mashed potatoes (potato –> irish –> famine –> perseverance?)  Special thanks to Man Chef Alan for bringing his perfect pecan pie and Tex-Pat & Boston Boy for peeling themselves away from the couch long enough to churn out a few cabbage dumplings.

This recipe is for the grilled pork chops, but more New Year’s Day recipes will follow.  I urge you to try this pork for your next lucky supper or just a quick weeknight dinner!

You’ll need:

4 thick, boneless pork chops (you can use bone-in if you’d like)

For the Brine:

4 cups water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp red pepper flakes

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Combine ingredients for the brine in a large bowl.  Place pork chops in a large ziplock bag, then add the brine and be sure the pork chops are covered in the liquid.  Let them sit in a bowl overnight.

For the Chutney:

2 apples, diced

2 peaches, diced

1 jalapeno

2 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs vinegar

2 tbs minced ginger

1/2 cup red onion

1 tsp curry powder

Heat olive oil in small pan and add red onion and jalapeno.  Cook until soft, then add other ingredients and cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes, until soft.  Mash with a potato masher or with an immersion blender, leaving the mixture slightly coarse.

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Remove the pork chops from the brine ~30 minutes before cooking.  Season both sides with salt and pepper.  Heat your grill (or a cast iron grill pan) to medium low heat and cook the pork chops for 4 minutes on each side.  After ~10 minutes, glaze the chops with the apple chutney on both sides.  Pork gives me a bit of anxiety because I’m always afraid to overcook it, so I use a meat thermometer and take it off the heat when the internal temperature is 160°.  Let them rest off the grill for 10 minutes before serving.

kale potato mash

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kale potato mash title

There are few better dinners than a roasted chicken with a hearty side.  Last night, we made a really special miso butter roasted chicken, and these mashed red potatoes were the perfect side.  On a last-moment whim, I threw in a couple handfuls of blanched kale and a bulb of roasted garlic.  The texture from the kale and the mix of of potatoes was a perfect side for a Friday night chicken.

What you’ll need:

5 red potatoes

5 yukon gold potatoes

1 bulb garlic

1 cup white cheddar cheese

2 cups chopped kale

1/4 cup heavy cream

s&p

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice off the top of your garlic bulb and top with olive oil and a pinch of salt, then wrap in foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes, until the cloves are soft.  Boil a large pot of salted water and add your kale.  Let the kale boil for ~4 minutes, then drain.

kale

Peel your potatoes (I liked a mixture of red and yukon gold because it gives the mash a good blend of textures).

sam handsAnd boil for about 10 minutes, until they’re ready to be mashed.  Then, add the kale and the roasted garlic.

potatoes and kaleGive everything a good mash, using a hand masher.  Once combined, add the heavy cream and salt & pepper and give everything a good stir.

mixingAll done!

xoxo,

The Hungry Texans

a hungry texans guide to thanksgiving!

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we all do it- that weekend before thanksgiving when friends gather, drink too much spiced cider, and potluck our faces off for that pre-thanksgiving thanksgiving celebration.  call it Friendsgiving or Fakesgiving, we just call it delicious.

and this year was no different.  the man chefs brought their extremely tasty green beans and a rendition of thomas keller’s stuffing that blew us meat eaters’ socks off (vegetarians beware: this stuffing starts with 1 lb of rendered bacon fat).

use these recipes for your own thanksgiving feast or just as side dishes for a wonderful meal.  click through for recipes!

honey butter chicken biscuits

roasted root vegetables with charred scallion goat cheese & garlic confit

middle eastern spiced roasted cauliflower

jalapeno honey butter & sage roasted garlic butter

cranberry-orange relish

 

happy thanksgiving!

xoxo,

the hungry texans

roasted root vegetables with charred scallion goat cheese & garlic confit

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hearty root vegetables are one of the best features of these temperature-plunging months.  beets, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, celeriac… the list of ground-dwellers is never-ending and these veggies just beg to be roasted and smothered in earthy chevre.  this recipe uses red potatoes, beets & celeriac, all diced into small pieces and roasted until crisp and soft.  find celeriac at your farmers market right now or in the root section of your grocery.

you’ll need:

serves 10

6 red potatoes
3 small beets
1 large head of celeriac or celery root
Olive Oil, to drizzle
3 sprigs thyme
s&p
4 oz. fresh chevre
1 bunch scallions
3 tbs sour cream
20 cloves of garlic (sorry I’m not sorry)

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Dice the vegetables into small pieces.  I left the red potato skins on but peeled the beets and celeriac.  Layer them into a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper.  Separate the thyme leaves from their stems and season the mixture with the thyme.  Roast in the hot oven for 30-45 minutes, until the outsides are golden and crispy and the insides are soft.  The best way to estimate this point of done-ness is by trying the veggies, spoonful by spoonful, until you have depleted the roasting pan by one serving size and they taste done.

To “confit” something is to cook it in it’s own fat.  However, garlic doesn’t have fat, so garlic confit is really just a nice way of saying “olive oil poached garlic.”  While the vegetables are roasting, fill a small saucepan with 1/3 inch of olive oil.  Heat over medium heat and add your twenty cloves of garlic and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until garlic is golden brown and super soft.  Spoon the garlic cloves onto parchment paper and try to resist the urge to snack on them.

In a separate bowl, combine your chevre & sour cream.  If you happen to have a grill on, you could char your scallions on that.  I just popped them under the broiler until they turned.  Dice up the scallion and add to your chevre mixture.

Once the veggies are finished, top with the burnt scallion chevre and the garlic confit.

xoxo,

the hungry texans

jalapeno honey butter

jalapeno honey butter

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combine 1 tbs honey, 1 tbs diced jalapeno & 4 tbs softened butter. spoon onto plastic wrap, roll into a cylinder, and wrap in parchment paper. place in your freezer for 1 hour, until hardened. serve over biscuits, cornbread, potatoes … Continue reading →

Red, White & Blue Nachos

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Don’t wait another four years to make these red, white & blue nachos!  While this patriotic platter is a strong candidate for any gastronomical election, it can also make an appearance at a Fourth of July celebration or your next All-American Sunday potluck.

You’ll Need: 

1 bag blue corn tortilla chips

2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese (I used slices because it’s all I could find, but you could use shredded)

1 cup Pico de Gallo (store-bought, or make your own with tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, lime juice & jalapeno)

1 cup sour cream

1 lime

1 jalapeno, diced very small

1 can black beans

1 bunch cilantro

 

This is all about the construction, people.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and lay aluminum foil over a baking sheet (no mess!).  Spread your blue corn chips over the sheet pan and layer monterrey jack cheese on top.  Then spoon a tablespoon of black beans over each chip.  Yes, I know black beans are not red, white, or blue.  But what they are is delicious and full of protein.  Top with a sprinkle of cilantro and pop these in the oven for 6-8 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling.

While the cheese is warming up, combine your sour cream, juice of half a lime and half of the diced jalapeno.  Start stirring until…bam!  You just made Kicked Up Sour Cream.

Once the nachos are out of the oven, squeeze the other half of the lime over the whole thing.  Then top with your pico de gallo, jalapenos, cilantro & Kicked Up Sour Cream.

peace, love & snacks,

hungry texans