Chipotle Pork Chops with Squash Puree and Green Apple Spinach Salad

It's been so great to get back to cooking. It's a great outlet for me, not just creatively, but also mentally. With the stress of a long day working, even if it's after 8pm and all I want to do is sit down, spending some time in the kitchen actually helps me unwind. I may not be mentally there enough to be creative, but regardless, I always prefer a real meal as opposed to something from the freezer, and in many cases, over going out to dinner as well.

I go through waves, but I find that when I'm the busiest, especially when we have a lot of travel plans, I end up cooking a lot more from cookbooks as opposed to developing my own recipes. I usually end up changing a little something regardless, even if it's something as simple as the seasoning, but when I don't have the time on the weekends to prepare a more detailed menu plan for the week and brainstorm unique recipe ideas, I pull out the cookbooks. Generally when I go back to the US I pick up a few and the combination of having new cookbooks and adjusting to being back, catching up on things from being away, etc, leads me to experiment with what's in the cookbooks for a while before getting bored and pushing myself to think outside the box.

Okay, so I know I do this every time I get a new cookbook -- every recipe reference is to it for a good two weeks and sorry, but it's going to be the same this time. While I did get several cookbooks over Christmas, I'm finding that Ellie Krieger's So Easy is just that. It's been perfect for quick, but innovative dishes on late work nights, but new ideas so I feel like I'm making something a bit different.

This was such an easy dinner, although I opted for fresh squash as opposed to her recipe using frozen, so I baked my squash earlier in the day. Although we're slowly getting out of the squash season, I'm up for a few more recipes with this new-found favorite.

Ellie Krieger's
Chipotle Orange Glazed Pork Chops with Maple Squash Puree and Spinach-Green Apple Salad

Pork Chops:
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp finely chopped seeded, canned chipotle chile plus a little adobe sauce it comes in
cooking spray
4 thick center cut bone-in pork chops
salt

Combine the syrup, orange juice and chipotle. Spray a grill pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high. Sprinkle the chops with salt, then brush one side with the glaze. Put the chops on the grill glaze-side down. Brush the other side with glaze. These only need about 4 minutes per side.

Serve with the following:

Maple Squash puree

1 butternut squash (as I said, I roasted mine, then I cut it into cubes to eventually smash it into a puree)
1/2c water
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp butter
salt

Add the squash and the water to a saucepan over medium heat, smashing any solid pieces of squash down with a spoon. Add the syrup, butter and salt and stir to mix.

Spinach Green-Apple Salad

2 Tbsp e.v. olive oil
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
5 oz baby spinach leaves
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into match sticks
1/2c walnut pieces, toasted in a dry skillet for a few minutes

Whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard, then season with salt and pepper. Toss the spinach with the dressing, then top with the apple and walnuts.

Leftover tip: I wasn't really into eating the leftover squash in it's puree form, so I added it to some pastina, as I had done previously here. It was a quick lunch and as delicious as I remember it being.

Results: This tasted like a healthy meal, but in a good way. There was definitely enough food that you still weren't hungry and while everything tasted fairly healthy, it was all really tasty too. Squash in its rather naked form is growing on me more and more and while this still isn't my absolute favorite thing, I can enjoy it. The salad was a great change from the typical green salad, although unfortunately the photo doesn't capture it (Dave accidentally deleted it so I recreated most of the meal the next day for my lunch from leftovers). The standout was the pork chop -- I have trouble getting a lot of flavor out of pork chops, but this was a hit. Slightly tangy and with a bit of spice, it really perked up the pork. Not sure I'd repeat the full meal on a regular basis, but I'll definitely make the pork chops this way again.

Fondue Dinner featuring a Tricolor Salad with White Beans & Parm

Dave got me the perfect present for Christmas (although I may have tipped him off), a brand-new fondue set after our last one proved pretty crappy. I didn't have time to test it out before the holidays and Dave had been hinting towards fondue for at least a week so we finally tested it out. What a relief! It works so much better. So for all our guests who have experienced fondue before the new set, you'll need to come back and try it again ;) No smells of the cheese burning, then the flame going out, having to re-light numerous times, then the cheese hardening, etc. This was just like in the restaurants.

I'm pretty set on the fondue recipe, although this time, I kept the heat really low and let it take its time. The past few times I've made fondue, I think I've had the temperature too high and the cheese has started to separate. This technique worked much better.

While fondue at the McDowell house is definitely a full meal with all the dippers I make, I still like to at least have a salad accompanying the cheese feast. I found a great one in (once again) Ellie Krieger's So Easy cookbook.

5-Minute Salad: Tricolor salad with white beans and Parmesan

5c lightly packed arugula (about 5 oz)
1 head radicchio, core removed, sliced
2 Belgian endives, bottom 1/2 in removed, sliced
1 15-oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2c shaved Parmesan cheese (about 2 oz)
1/2c extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, toss together all the ingredients except the liquids and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and salt. Toss the salad with the dressing right before serving.


Results: The addition of the white beans in the salad really made it more fulfilling. It was actually a bit much for the fondue, but would be great alongside a piece of fish or maybe a pork chop. I have never made anything with radicchio or endives and even though it's a few extra ingredients at the store, I really liked the variety to a simple green salad. The Parm on top is always tasty, but again, perhaps unnecessary with fondue!

Sunday Roast: Leg of Lamb; Plus Lamb Wrap Leftovers

I think everyone knows I love a deal. I spend much of my time at work researching deals but my love of knowing I got a great price doesn't end with travel. As I've said before, I often take my recipe cues from what's on sale at the grocery store. It's rare that leg of lamb is in that category so I immediately snatched one up for our Sunday roast.

One problem with this technique of buying what's on sale and maybe what's not on my weekly menu plan, means that I need to think on my feet for what else I'll need to make the meal. That's not so much of a problem, but generally I like trying new techniques, or if it's something I haven't really made before like leg of lamb, I like to look through my cookbooks and see what the different recipes call for. In this case, it was easy, most call for the same and a simple preparation is best.

One of the cookbooks I trekked back with from the US this time is an autographed version of Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc. I can't thank my aunt enough for that wonderful gift! While I have Keller's other 2 cookbooks from his other Napa Valley restaurants, this is the first one that works with every day ingredients in way that your average at-home cook can relate to. Ad Hoc serves homestyle food, so this is right up Dave's alley as well. Not surprisingly, there is a simple recipe for leg of lamb in Keller's book. Making various small slits in the piece of lamb, you insert 10 thin slices of garlic throughout. A drizzle of olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and tucking in a bit of rosemary and voila! The meat needs to reach an internal temperature of 135 degrees F. I used a meat thermometer and also followed Keller's instructions to let the meat rest for 45 minutes. This is a long time, but I decided to listen to the master. The meat was perfectly cooked, the only downfall is that it was a bit cold after resting for so long. He didn't mention to tent it, so again, I wanted to follow exactly and I didn't either. It was still tasty but I guess I'd tent it in the future and maybe only let it rest for 35 minutes. I don't have a microwave and somehow reheating seems wrong, but perhaps a quick zap would do the trick.


As you can see from my photo, a roasting pan with rack is not something I have in my collection so I decided to make my own. I cut up potatoes and leeks and added those below. I forgot that lamb really doesn't have much fat though, so halfway through I drizzle some olive oil over the potatoes as they weren't getting my from the lamb. I had to continue cooking the potatoes as well, for about 15 minutes longer than the lamb.


Leftover tip: We got a 2.2 kg roast so there were definitely leftovers. Knowing we wouldn't have slices of lamb again, I decided to make a lamb wrap for lunch for several days after. I heated a tortilla on the stove, cooked the meat for just a few seconds to warm it up (it loses the rareness immediately so don't cook longer than that!), added some greens, tomatoes, red onions and plain yogurt spiked with a bit of Tabasco and paprika. Delish! Unfortunately it wouldn't really stay 'wrapped' for a photo :)

Sunday Ski Day Power Breakfast: Blueberry French Toast Bake

The much-awaited (read: dreaded) ski season has arrived, well it arrived a while ago but I've been putting off my first day on the slopes for a few weeks, letting Dave go by himself last weekend. Dave is already anxious to get to some other ski resorts in the coming weeks, but I told him I needed a 'warm-up' day at our easy resort first.

I'm happy to report that it was my best first-day-of-the-season ever. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that we skied quite a bit last year, much more consistently than I ever had in the past. I always dread getting back on the slopes because I have a fear that I'll need to start back at square one. It usually takes me a while to get comfortable with my turns and worked up to speeding (which really isn't that fast anyway) down the slopes like I did at the end of the previous year. But after the initial nerves wore off and I successfully made it off the chair lift (I can't even remember the last time I fell doing this, so not sure why I worry so much!), and then one good run down, I really felt like I was back at the end of last season.

I think we'll head to Chamonix next weekend and I've never skied there before. This always worries me because there's nothing I hate more than ending up on the wrong type of mountain for my level and having to painfully find a way down. I'm not exactly where my fear came from, I never had a terrible experience with skiing in the past (although I still have bad memories of the all-day ski lesson I had when I was maybe 7 years old, or more specifically the horrible spaghetti they served at lunch). Dave is always so positive and is convinced I'm a good skier, and I actually am fairly confident on runs that are my level, but nothing puts me in a worse mood than getting stuck on a run that's too hard for me.

But I won't turn down a ski weekend in Chamonix. This is the cutest town and it's only about 45 minutes from where we live so we don't even need to stay overnight. There are tons of adorable shops and restaurants and my favorite part of the ski day is apres ski, of course! And here it means hearty French dinners which I'm up for any day.

But since today was just a warm-up, we just needed something to get us through a few hours. In fact, we got a 2-hour mid-day pass for just €9! So browsing through my latest favorite cookbook for ideas, I decided this one would be the perfect fit for a pre-ski power breakfast. Filling, but not heavy, warming and sweet, but not too sweet. I wasn't sure how this one would turn out, but it was a hit. I added a bit of nutmeg to my version, but otherwise, it's all Ellie Krieger's from her So Easy cookbook.

Blueberry-Almond French Toast Bake

Cooking spray
1 whole-wheat baguette, but into 1-in cubes
2c low-fat milk
6 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1/3c maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
several dashes of nutmeg
2c fresh blueberries
1/2c sliced almonds
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

I adjusted the eggs in the recipe slightly as I didn't want to go with the recommended 8 large eggs and 8 large egg whites for just Dave and I. Therefore this recipe is best in a 9x9 baking square, for 4 servings.

Spray the baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the bread in the baking pan (you may not need the full baguette - start with a single layer in the baking pan). Whisk together the milk, eggs, egg whites, maple syrup, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the pan, spreading it around so the liquid saturates the bread. I seemed to have a lot more egg mixture, so I add more bread cubes, but note, it will still be very soupy. Scatter the blueberries evenly on the top. Sprinkle with the almonds and brown sugar. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Serve hot, no additional syrup is needed.


Results: Light and delicious, this did taste like French toast. I didn't stick to the single layer of bread as the recipe originally called for, but continued adding pieces to soak up some of the egg mixture. The amount was perfect as it wasn't too dry, but also a few bread pieces that were on the top got a nice toasty crispness to them. Sweet, but not too sweet, this is definitely something I would make again. It's pretty quick to prep and great that it can be done the night before; the only downside would be the long cook time. I usually wake up before Dave, so he lucks out, breakfast is ready just as he's waking up!

Prosciutto-Wrapped Cod w/Pesto Potatoes and Green Beans

It's been so nice to settle back in and while we've been dragging our feet all week due to the time change, work for both Dave and I has been so chaotic that there's really no time during the day for our bodies to realize how tired we are. But then 8pm rolls around and we force ourselves to stay awake a few more hours to avoid waking up too early the following morning. So needless to say, we were both looking forward to a relaxing weekend and it turned out to be just that. Besides a trip to the grocery store (yay, finally some good homemade meals!) and a few hours on the slopes for Dave today, we lounged around and did pretty much nothing.

It's rare that I like weekends of nothing. Don't get me wrong, I like relaxing, especially after lots of traveling, but I'm currently at a standstill with many of my weekend projects -- I haven't cooked in a while since we've been gone, so not much to update on the blog, unfortunately I don't have any of my recent trip photos printed out so I couldn't catch up on my scrapbook and we don't have any trips booked :( so no research needed there either.

Of course, I would drive myself crazy with literally nothing to do, so after reading most of my new Ad Hoc cookbook, I convinced Dave to sit down with me to start scheduling some of the trips we'd like to take in 2010. Luckily our list of places we want to visit has dramatically shortened this year, as we're hoping to focus on a lot of Swiss daytrips or weekend destinations this summer and planning to do a longer trip over Dave's birthday that will combine several of our must-see destinations. But even just narrowing down the destinations gives me enough inspiration to start checking flight times, hotel recommendations and everything in between. I didn't book anything yet as we still have several things up in the air that could affect plans, but I already feel better knowing some of our holiday weekends are slotted in.

So finally a fridge full of food and several new cookbooks later, I was a happy camper. So for our exciting Friday night at home, I chose a recipe combination from Ellie Krieger's So Easy. All the recipes are just that, in fact, this took about 20 minutes start to finish. I almost don't know what to do with something that fast. In fact, on Friday night, Dave got home from work too late for us to go to the store, so we resorted to frozen pizzas for dinner. I was going stir-crazy for the 20 minutes it took for the oven to heat up and the pizzas to cook -- I realize that especially since I don't have any commute, cooking is a way for me to wind-down from my work day. I can't just sit down on the couch and watch TV, I need to transfer some of the stressful energy that has built up. Unfortunately, if Dave walks in too early and I've only begun preparations, I haven't had the same 'cool-down period' he's had through his commute home from work. Although I feel bad, sometimes I need a few minutes to get things going and start to relax. A 20-minute recipe is just enough time to do that.

Prosciutto-wrapped cod with pesto potatoes and green beans
(from So Easy by Ellie Krieger)

2 cod fillets
salt and pepper
2-4 thin slices of prosciutto
cooking spray

1 1/2 lbs red new potatoes, cut into 1-in chunks
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-in pieces
3 Tbsp store-bought basil pesto
salt and pepper to taste, crushed red pepper if desired

Place the potatoes in a large steamer basket over a pot of boiling water. Cover and steam for 6 minutes. Add the green beans to the basket and continue to steam for another 4 minutes or until the beans are tender but still have a crisp. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the pesto. Season and set aside.


Season the fish on both sides, then carefully wrap the prosciutto around each piece of fish. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add the fish fillets to the pan and cook until the prosciutto is crispy, about 4 minutes until side.


Results: I like that Ellie's recipes are supposed to be healthy and balanced. Both Dave and I agreed that this was a good dinner, but perhaps not one of our all-time favorites. I have to say, oftentimes I have trouble wrapping fish, but this was super easy, it stayed in one piece and even the prosciutto generally stayed in place. I thought the potatoes and green beans were a strange combination from the start, but again, decided to try it. I'm not overly convinced either way. It was better than expected, but not necessarily a flavor combination epiphany.

Holidays (and Great Meals) with Friends and Family in the Good-Old US of A

It's always hard coming back from a long vacation, but I have to say it was a relief to unpack our bags one final time. We were gone for 18 days and in that time, we transported 4 suitcases, plus carry-on luggage, on 6 flights (add two more for me but since it was a day trip, I only brought a carry-on) and stayed in a total of 8 different accommodations including condos, hotels, parents' house and friends' houses. Thank goodness we stayed in the same condo for the full week in Florida or it would really have gotten ridiculous.

There's no good way to pack when you'll be gone for such a long time, plus traveling to two different climates. That takes away any chance of just washing and re-wearing stuff throughout the trip. Add Christmas presents and chocolates to the mix and trade that out for all the gifts and things that we want to bring back from the US and luckily we just made the weight limit.

But now that all the laundry has been done and the suitcases have been stowed away, we can slowly get over the jet-lag -- or lie awake at 4am -- thinking about the great time we spent with friends and family over the holidays. I want to thank everyone for making such an effort to see us, I feel like this time wasn't as rushed (maybe because I wasn't running all over San Francisco trying to change my last name on my driver's license, social security card and passport, in the span of a few days, like I was last year).

We started in Florida with Dave's family and while we had many great dinners out, I don't think anything beats Christmas on the beach with Don's now-famous lasagna. Although the weather was a bit iffy that morning, the sun came out just in time for dinner. Since last year's Christmas, this is the only lasagna I'll make now.


We had so much fun catching up with Dave's parents and Aunt and Uncle, seeing movies, reading books on the beach and of course checking off some of our US must-eats, Mexican and sushi.



Next stop was the big New Year's party in San Francisco. Our flight was scheduled to get in at 5:45pm, but as it was routed through Chicago, I wasn't holding my breath to arrive on time. Thankfully we had no problems and Dave and I were cracking a bottle of champagne at the hotel by 7:30. What a great night out with the gang.


The next day we were moving slowly, but finally made it up to Napa where I caught dinner at Rutherford Grill with Stacey. Always fun and the food is always good!

Saturday was the big Geilhufe family reunion in Windsor, near Santa Rosa where we met up with my dad's side of the family, plus my immediate family, including my sister and her family (and 3 nephews!). After the country club luncheon and professional family photo (sorry, no proofs yet...), we headed back to the condos for a night of swimming (yes, outdoors! only in California in winter!) with the boys.


After hanging with the family a bit more the next day, Dave headed back to Sunnyvale where he stayed most of the next week to work and I went back to the East Bay with my mom. We stopped to see Up in the Air on the way home and then I headed over for Lobster Risotto at the Pytlewski's. Always so much fun to catch up with Stacey's family and Betty never disappoints in the kitchen!

While spending a few nights at home with my parents, I met up with Annie for dinner at CPK (yum! although the third menu they now share with all the nutrition info of each pizza is unnecessary...) and then back to her place for the premier of the Bachelor. So much fun!

My mom took the day off work on Tuesday to hang out with me, which started with massages and facials at my favorite Danville salon. Mom was a bit nervous about her Christmas present (first massage ever!) but as expected, she loved every minute. After a few more appointments and a trusty Costco hot dog for lunch, we headed into the city for more shopping and then dinner with my brother and sister-in-last that night. After so much greasy food, a huge bowl of Pho tasted so good. I said good-bye to my mom that night and stayed with my brother, after seeing his new place that should be closing any day now.

Wednesday started with me lugging a 50-lb suitcase and my old-standby Coach carry-on, plus a bag of Christmas presents for friends, down several SF hills to the muni train, which unfortunately above ground means several steep steps to get on. I did get chased from the train by a girl shouting I'd forgotten my suitcase... duh, I'm really forgetting a massive suitcase right there? nope, just couldn't get everything off all at once. But I did make it to my old mani-pedi place and they totally remembered me, of course saying, 'You don't come long time!'. One more trip on muni, this time with red nails and toes and I made it to the Four Seasons to finally leave my bags (gotta love the Lyngs!). I was so glad to get rid of all that baggage before heading to lunch with a few Zooers in the Financial. Always good to catch up and see what's going on on this side of the pond. Shopping and fortunately or unfortunately, not finding anything really, Megan and I picked up the bags and headed to Ashleigh's for a dinner party that night.


Ash's place is so cute and of course perfectly decorated. Mariela and Alisa were coming for dinner that night too and we decided on salmon with a ginger/honey/soy sauce glaze, plus mixed veggies, wild rice and a salad with a similar dressing to the salmon and mandarian oranges. Although the satay peanut sauce to go with the shrimp appetizer didn't really stay in a sauce form, everything else turned out and the company was even better. What a fun night!

Next stop, a day trip to Portland. I couldn't miss seeing Jenn, Jon and Dominic, who I can't believe will already be 1 in just a few weeks! We had a great day and Dominic was all smiles the whole time. Even without a nap (he didn't want to miss the action), he was adorable and so much fun. We had an early dinner of Taco Soup which I've been wanting to try ever since Jenn told me about it and she even baked me a Lemon Meringue Pie! I left Jenn's with 2 Julie Child cookbooks so this will definitely be a busy year!


After arriving back from Portland Thursday night, I headed to the hotel to meet Dave for what would be our last accommodation of the trip (thank goodness!). Friday was a fairly relaxing day of dentist appointments, a haircut, lunch with Mariela, some shopping and I even managed to see Leap Year before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the big dinner. I've wanted to eat at Fleur de Lys for some time, but after watching Hubert Keller on Top Chef Masters, I made a point to reserve a table for when we were home.

Ashleigh and Ryan joined us and we each chose the 4-course menu and I dined on 'A Symphony of Choucroute Fondant with Cavier' including a foie gras & smoked duck 'burger', sesame beef tartare and golden panisse fries to start, followed by Wild Jumbo Prawns with Brioche Crust, sweet and sour radicchio, cannellini bean emulsion and crispy pork belly - one of my favorite parts. My meat course was seared filet mignon with a lobster truffled mac & cheese and finally I ended with a cheese plate.

Dave had a chilled dungeness crab salad with shavings of young vegetables, lobster infused vinaigrette and lobster fondant with cavier, followed by Maine scallops, toasted pinenuts, sliced potato marvles, sundried tomatoes, olive sauce and Banyuls reduction. For his meat course, Dave had an oven roasted venison chop with truffled baby bok choy accented with a rich cocoa nijb red wine reduction, Spanish chorizo and coco tuile. He finished with a chocolate souffle. And no, I didn't remember all these names, they sent us home with menus :)

The dining experience was great, not as formal as French Laundry, which I really liked. I love experiencing these restaurants as you get to try so many different ingredients and combinations that you wouldn't normally eat. I would say the most memorable part of the meal for me was the steak; it sounds simple enough, but it was cooked to perfection and it's a world of difference from other steaks I've had, even in high-end steak houses. It was also a stark contrast to the multi-course French dinners we've had in France. Fleur de Lys is much more California-French, lots of lighter, seemingly fresher ingredients and the smaller portions that are associated with multi-course meals in the US (at least in comparison to the Paul Bocuse dinner in Lyon). We left feeling that we had gotten a great taste of many different things, without feeling heavy from larger portions of rich sauces.

Ashleigh's dessert

Also noteworthy was the sommelier. He was informative and attentive, with a great approachable personality (not at all snobby like some sommeliers can come across as). He almost seemed like our host for the night, not only checking on the wine but also the food.

Obviously the highlight of the night was when Hubert Keller came out and said hello! I had requested to meet him if he was working that night and it was no disappointment. He was so friendly and approachable and although I didn't get much out (I'm star-struck around chefs!), I managed to at least get a few greetings out in French.


This was a great end to the trip (although I agree French food shouldn't be my last meal in the US!), but to top it off, we had an hour to kill before heading to the airport on Saturday morning so we walked over to the Ferry Building Farmer's Market and had breakfast with my mom. As Dave most certainly knows, there's nothing I love more than a farmer's market. I love the local feel and although in San Francisco it's probably as trendy as a new wine bar opening on Chestnut Street, I try to overlook that.

Thanks to all the family and friends who took time out to see us over the past few weeks. I enjoyed each meal I had with every one of you.

But you know the trip is coming to an end when Dave says he can't wait to get back to 'Lo Food'. I lugged 3 very heavy cookbooks back with me so there will be plenty of new recipes to come in 2010.