Potato and Gorgonzola Pie

[image: slice of potato and gorgonzola pie]
[image: slice of potato and gorgonzola pie]

HOLY COW THIS IS SO GOOD. Stopping myself after two pieces was a struggle. I wasn’t sure whether to call it a quiche, since there’s just the one egg in it. The original recipe I read called for a tart pan, but since I didn’t have one, it’s now a pie.

I guess I could have done a better job arranging the potatoes, since that slice up there just looks like I stacked everything up vertically. I don’t even care though, it’s just too delicious.

1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 1-4″ thick
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme and rosemary
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pie crust, homemade or purchased (I bought one from Trader Joe’s because I’m lazy, but since it cracked while unrolling, I still had to take to it with a rolling pin to get it back together, thereby sort of undoing the convenience)

Heat oven to 350.

Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Add a dash of salt. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain.

Line a pie plate with the crust, trimming excess. Arrange potato slices in circles, overlapping each other. Sprinkle gorgonzola on top evenly.

Whisk the cream and egg together, then pour on top. Sprinkle herbs on top, as well as 1/2 tsp kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.

Place pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet and put in the oven. Bake at 350 for 45–60 minutes or until browned and bubbling (the original recipe called for 45, but I ended up going for an hour). Cool for a bit on a rack before slicing.

[image: potato and gorgonzola pie]
[image: potato and gorgonzola pie]

Garden Update: November 7, 2015

[image: november 7th tomatoes]
[image: november 7th tomatoes]

Look at all those wee tomatoes! Look at all those flowers! IT IS NOVEMBER.

We’ve had a little bit of rain, and temperatures have generally started to fall, but my plants are continuing their weird “it’s still summer!” behavior. It’s dipped down into the upper 30s a couple nights this week, but the only thing that seems affected is my Casper eggplants. The leaves get kind of limp, but they perk right back up once the sunlight hits them.

I’m just waiting. I still want all the blossoms on my plants to turn into fruits. But… I don’t really want them to ripen, actually? I have plans for pickling! Pickled green tomatoes and pickled green bell peppers and pickled eggplants (okay, these’ll be mostly ripe) and pickled green chili peppers. (Actually I haven’t really decided what to do with those if/when frost hits—if they’ll be pickled or if I’ll make a green chili sauce.) I just want to make pickles! Refrigerator pickles, I should point out. Canning still frightens me.

I have given up entirely on the kabochas. The female bud I was so excited about last month withered and fell off before it had a chance to bloom. It was a sad day in the Hussy House.

Garlic Shrimp

[image: garlic shrimp]
[image: garlic shrimp]

I think this will be the last of the recipes I post from our tapas evening. We made a couple other recipes, but they were not nearly as successful. This one was surprisingly simple and lovely. Oil-poached shrimp with garlic and chilis.

12 31–40 size raw shrimp, cleaned and peeled with tails on (this was 3 small-sized servings of 4 each, but I would gladly have eaten the whole thing by myself)
1/2 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 small chili peppers, cut in half
salt

Pour the oil in a small pan and add the garlic and chilis. Heat over medium until the oil is hot but before the garlic browns. Add the shrimp and cook for 60–90 seconds on each side or until evenly pink. Pour shrimp and oil mixture into a serving dish and serve hot.

Brussels Sprouts and Pearl Onions with Bacon

[image: mess of brussels sprouts, pearl onions, and bacon]
[image: mess of brussels sprouts, pearl onions, and bacon]

This was a “find a use for the leftovers” dish. I went digging around in the freezer and found a partially used bag of pearl onions. In the fridge there were two pieces of bacon and half a bag of Brussels sprouts. The results were delicious!

Today’s experiment was more successful than yesterday’s. I made a pea pesto with two half-bags of frozen peas. I’ll eat it, but I’m not going to post the recipe. It turned out way too sweet. I’m not quite sure how to cut it yet. Might throw in a chili pepper or two.

8 oz. brussels sprouts
8 oz. frozen pearl onions (thawed)
2 slices bacon
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper

Trim and halve the brussels sprouts. Trim and squeeze out the pearl onions, halving them if they’re large (mine weren’t). Slice the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces. Slice the garlic thinly.

Heat oven to 450.

In an oven safe dish (I used a cast iron skillet), arrange the sprouts cut side down. If you’ve halved the onions, put them cut side down as well, otherwise just scatter them. Sprinkle the garlic pieces on top. Lay the bacon pieces on top evenly.

[image: uncooked mess of brussels sprouts, pearl onions, and bacon]
[image: uncooked mess of brussels sprouts, pearl onions, and bacon]

Like that, more or less. Roast for 20–25 minutes until things are well browned and gorgeous. I didn’t stir the mess until it came out of the oven—top photo, right before I crammed it all in my mouth.

Shallot Jam

You will recognize this jam as the companion to the chicken liver spread I posted yesterday. We served it two ways—the other preparation was on toasts with goat cheese broiled on top and sherry-macerated raisins.

This recipe took me forever, because I just read “cover with water” and missed the line in the recipe that actually specified an amount. So I added probably 4 cups of water and was stirring the damn thing for ages.

I had never melted sugar like this before, just BAM sugar in a pot. I stirred it constantly because I was afraid the whole thing would burn, but apparently you’re not supposed to do that? According to the internet, you just shake the pot. I didn’t have any problems with crystals forming, so I guess I dodged a bullet.

6 Tbsp + 2 tsp white granulated sugar (100 grams)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 lb. shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water (or however much it will take to drown everything)
2 Tbsp unflavored oil (canola or vegetable or whatever)
salt

Heat sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the sugar caramelizes. Add the shallots and garlic and coat with the caramel. Cover with water. Add oil and a pinch of salt. Boost the heat a bit and cook, stirring, until it reduces down to a jam consistency and the liquid is pretty much entirely gone.

Chicken Liver Spread

[image: toasts with chicken liver spread and shallot jam]
[image: toasts with chicken liver spread and shallot jam]

That photo has two recipes on it, I’ll put up the shallot jam in the next few days. Brown on brown on brown, such a feast for the eyes!

Today will just be focused on the chicken liver spread. I was going to call it pate, but apparently I already a recipe by that name. Plus I have Julia Child’s recipe for chicken liver mousse. I guess I can’t try another chicken liver recipe until I get a thesaurus. The book calls this one “chicken foie gras,” but that’s way overselling it, not to mention super pretentious. This is just a good basic spread recipe—much easier than the other two I’ve posted. The taste is perhaps a little less… refined? than Julia’s because of the absence of a mega-ton of butter and cream, so you get a bit more of the actual taste of livers. Which I think can be a good thing!

2 Tbsp butter
10–12 oz. chicken livers—drained, rinsed, and trimmed of any green bits or large chunks of fat
1 Tbsp sherry
1 Tbsp freshly chopped aromatic herbs (we used tarragon, thyme, and parsley)
1 tsp white granulated sugar
Salt and pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add livers, sherry, herbs, sugar, and 1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt). Cook until the livers are cooked through (poke them apart and look inside, if they bleed, they’re not done). Transfer to a food processor or blender and puree smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

(P.S. tarragon is delicious)

Coconut Brown Butter Cookies

[image: coconut brown butter cookies]
[image: coconut brown butter cookies]

I snagged this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I don’t know if I thought it was quite the world-changer she did, but yeah, they’re pretty good. My brother puts them on par with my macaroons, and one of my friends said they were better than the potato chip cookies (huh, apparently I haven’t written about those yet). I think they’re both crazy. They are very good, though. I’m still enjoying eating them a lot. I put more actual salt in them than SK’s recipe, as well as using salted butter. They’re almost savory this way (which is how I like my cookies). I live in fear of burning butter, so I only took mine to “tanned” instead of “browned,” but the nutty butter taste is still present and very tasty.

2 sticks butter (1 cup)
up to 2 Tbsp water
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp (aka 5/8 cup) white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp AP flour (aka 1 7/16 cup, but that’s a really unhelpful calculation)
1 tsp baking soda
Highly rounded 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (I used the nice stuff instead of just going for the kosher salt as I usually do)
240 grams flaked coconut (it’s around 4 cups, but definitely weigh it, especially if you’re using shredded instead of flaked)
kosher salt

Melt butter in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Butter will melt and foam before it starts browning. Keep stirring and keep an eye on that foam to see when the color change starts to happen. It will take 5+ minutes. Butter will continue to cook after you take it off the heat, so pull it a little sooner than “dark brown” or you might end up with “black.” Pour butter and scrape all browned bits into a 2-cup measuring cup. Add up to 2 Tbsp water to get the level back up to 1 cup. (The extra room in the cup is to accommodate the fizzing that will occur when you add the water.) Chill the butter in the fridge until solid, 1–2 hours.

With a stand or hand mixer, cream browned butter with the white and brown sugars until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together, scraping down sides when necessary. Add salt, baking soda, and flour in two or three batches, mixing together (and scraping). Add the coconut flakes a cup at a time, mixing in evenly (you may have to do the last cup by hand—make sure if you have a smaller mixer that the flakes don’t overwhelm the capacity and climb up into the mechanism).

Prep baking sheets with parchment paper (people reported spreading problems with silpats) and heat oven to 350. I was able to fit 10 1-Tbsp size cookies to a sheet without them running into each other. Dish the cookies onto the sheet, then flatten slightly with your fingers. Sprinkle a tiny bit of kosher salt on top of each cookie.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, rotating trays at the halfway point. Cool for a couple minutes on the sheets, then remove to cooling racks. I got about 5 1/2 dozen cookies using a 1-Tbsp scoop.

[image: 65 coconut brown butter cookies on cooling racks]
[image: 65 coconut brown butter cookies on cooling racks]

R.I.P. Lettuce and Welcome Wildflowers

[image: front&back of a seed card]
[image: front&back of a seed card]

Farewell to the lettuce scraps I planted in a flowerpot a few weeks ago. Although it had sprouted a few leaves, I think I overwatered and drowned it. It was kind of… squishy… as I removed it from the pot today. So sad!

A few years ago my sister-in-law got me a subscription to Birchbox. In one of the boxes was the card pictured above from Bloomin. I didn’t have anything to plant it in at the time. Well, now I do! According to the instructions on their website, I need to soak the card in water overnight and then plant it in shallow soil. Hopefully they’ll still sprout and grow after four-and-a-half years. It’s a bit out of character for me to be planting a thing I can’t eat, but I think I’ll enjoy a bit of prettiness on my desk next to the celery and scallions (which are both doing marvelously). Again, this assumes that the seeds aren’t totally dead after all this time. Fingers crossed!

Escape: Zombie City

[image: box art for Escape: Zombie City]
[image: box art for Escape: Zombie City]

Happy Halloween! Tonight I went over to my friends’ house to help them hand out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters. Where I live doesn’t get many kids these days, but their neighborhood still does. I didn’t dress up (unless you count “woman with enough nerve to wear bright-ass lipstick” a costume) because obviously Halloween is amateur hour and as a cosplayer, I reserve that stress and work for convention times. I kid, of course. I tried on a couple old costumes this afternoon but I couldn’t muster up the excitement to wear any of them. Ugh, wigs. Ugh, shapewear. Ugh, costume makeup. Not today, Satan. Not today.

Anyway, at our little get-together, my pal Jason brought a game he had helped fund on Kickstarter called Escape: Zombie City. Seemed pretty appropriate for Halloween! Each game session was 15 minutes long. There was spooky background music that timed the game and helped set the mood. We played four games before we won (on the easiest mode, it must be said). It’s very fast-paced, and since there weren’t turns (everyone plays at the same time), you didn’t get bored waiting for someone else to make a move.

The plot of the game is that you’re survivors of a zombie apocalypse, and you need to explore a randomly and continuously user-generated city to find items, return them to your safehouse, stock up your escape van, and leave the city. All while avoiding the undead, of course. We started playing on the coffee table, but then when we kept adding map tiles that went off the edges and dropping our dice, we moved to the floor. I’m pretty sure my back is going to punish me for that tomorrow.

It was really fun! (Once we figured out what we were doing!) It’s fun and fast, and everyone eventually was yelling at each other for assistance. I liked that it was a cooperative game, not pitting us against one another. I look forward to playing this one again!