Category: Recipes

recipes we’ve made

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Recipes

rhubarb sundae with blueberries and shortbread crumble

I had a bunch of fresh blueberries from my mom’s garden, a Sunset magazine in my mailbox, a dinner party to go to and this sundae was born.

This sundae is wonderful—better than I expected. There just is something really magical about cold ice cream with a warm sauce. It’s like a deconstructed blueberry-rhubarb pie, and because each of the components are made separately, you can easily adapt the recipe to the ingredients and amount of time you have on hand. You could swap the blueberries for another berry or even stone fruit—whatever is in season or on hand. I made the shortbread from scratch, but you could certainly make due with a store-bought shortbread or vanilla cookies. And while the rhubarb in the ice cream is really wonderful and I really recommend you give it a go, you could skip that all together if you’re especially short on time and just serve it with vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb Sundae with Blueberries and Shortbread Crumble, adapted from Sunset Magazine

For the ice cream
4 cups vanilla bean ice cream
4 stalks rhubarb, sliced thinly
6 T brown sugar

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the rhubarb and brown sugar. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has a jam like consistency. Remove from the heat and puree. Put in the refrigerator to chill for about 20 minutes.

Once the rhubarb is chilled, stir into the vanilla ice cream and return to the freezer.

For the shortbread
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 T sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 T flour
1/8 t kosher salt
1/8 t cinnamon
1 T sugar

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix 1 T sugar and 1/8 t cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. Beat butter, 5 T sugar, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy. Add flour and mix on low until large clumps form.

Bring the dough together with your hands. Roll it out until about 1/4″ thick on a floured surface. Mine rolled out quite messy, but it doesn’t really matter since you break it into large pieces before serving anyway. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Put in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Bake 15 – 20 minutes, until golden. Cool and then break into large shards.

For the blueberries
2 cups blueberries
1/2 lemon, juiced

Just before serving, heat blueberries and lemon in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, scoop rhubarb ice cream into bowls. Just as the blueberries begin to juice, pour them over the ice cream. Add shortbread shards and enjoy!

-Emily

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orzo with spring peas and burrata

Jordan surprised me with this delicious meal a while back. It is light but still flavorful—a perfect summer dish.

Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell of the cheese is mozzarella and the inside is a mixture of  mozzarella and cream. It is amazing—sweet, milky and soft—perfect for topping pastas or salads. If you can’t find burrata, use fresh mozzarella instead. A poached egg would also be lovely with this pasta.

Orzo with Spring Peas and Burrata 
1/2 lb orzo pasta
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
2 T mint, sliced thinly
1 lemon, juiced
olive oil, salt, pepper
1 cup spring peas
2 T butter

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, shell the peas. Cook the pasta until al dente and drain. Rinse with cold water to cool the pasta. Once cool, toss with olive oil, lemon juice, parmesan, salt, pepper and mint.

In a saute pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Cook the peas until cooked through, but still quite fresh tasting, about 5 minutes. Pour over the pasta mixture and toss to combine. Top with half of a ball of burrata and serve.

This pasta dish can be a main course or a side dish. We had ours with a fennel sausage and sautéed Russian red kale.

-Emily

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pesto potatoes and cauliflower

Jordan and I were brainstorming a menu for our supper club dinner last week with two goals in mind. One, make something simple, and two, use up the lingering produce from our CSA. Well, I must say Jordan was hit with a tremendous stroke of genius when he came up with this idea. The roasted potatoes and cauliflower are delicious in their own right and then you toss them in a fresh basil pesto and top them with a bit of parmesan. Yep, totally awesome.

You can either roast the potatoes in the oven or pan fry them. The first time we made this dish, we fried them. The second time we were cooking for a crowd and decided to roast them instead. Both methods turned out well, but roasting easier and is less hands-on so I chose that for the recipe below.

Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower with Pesto  
1 bunch basil, leaves removed from stems
1 small handful pine nuts, walnuts or pistachios
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1 clove garlic, grated
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper
4 – 6 potatoes, russets or yukon golds, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 head cauliflower, cut into small to medium-sized chunks

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

In a food processor, process the basil with the nuts and parmesan. Add the garlic and some salt and pepper.  Add the lemon juice. Slowly add the olive oil to emulsify the mixture. Taste for seasoning and pour into a small bowl. You can make the pesto days ahead of time and refrigerate it, or even weeks ahead and freeze it.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Toss them with some olive oil and a nice pinch of salt. Roast for 30 – 40 minutes,  tossing occasionally, until they start to brown. After 40 minutes, add the cauliflower and roast another 20 minutes. Once the potatoes and cauliflower are brown, remove them from the oven and season with additional salt. Pour them into a large bowl and add half of the pesto. Toss to coat. Taste and add more pesto if needed. Sprinkle with parmesan just before serving.

We served these potatoes the first night with a roasted pork shoulder. We had the leftovers the next morning with eggs sunny side up.  Both ways were delicious!  It’s worth noting that these potatoes reheat surprisingly well—so make extra.

-Emily

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fava beans with manchego cheese

It has been quite busy in Jobyland as of late. Two product launch campaigns and one major sale in a span of six weeks is a lot for one girl to handle. Thankfully, Jordan finished his semester last week and has been taking good care of me. Last Thursday, he made his famous paella. Paella is one of Jordan’s specialties, but this time he decided to experiment and cook the shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce, instead of cooking them along with the rice. Slathering paella rice with spicy tomato shrimp and a garlicy aioli after a long day of Photoshopping—yep, that’s a very good idea.

But, paella isn’t just one of those things you whip up. It takes a while to come together and so to tide a hungry Emily over, Jordan made marinated fava beans. They were simple and delicious, and only get better the more they sit.

Marinated Fava Beans with Manchego Cheese
1 cup shelled fava beans
1/4 – 1/2 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
zest of one lemon, removed with a vegetable pealer
1/2 t fennel seeds, rosemary leaves and oregano leaves
salt and pepper
1/4 cup manchego cheese, cut into tiny cubes

Put a large pot of water to boil. Remove the fava beans from their pods. Fava beans come in a large pod and then have another external shell that needs to be removed before you eat them—annoying but worth it. Blanche the favas for a few minutes in boiling water, drain and remove their outer shells. Place them in a medium glass bowl.

Add the herbs, lemon zest and cheese. Pour olive oil over the mixture and season with salt and pepper. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for a few hours for the flavors to meld together. Serve with bread or crackers as an appetizer, or as a salad alongside your favorite spanish dish.

-Emily

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asparagus with parmesan and poached egg

Asparagus season is in full swing and I couldn’t be happier. I love asparagus and this is one of my favorite ways to prepare it. This dish is incredibly quick and easy and can be either a side dish or a main course, depending on what else you’re serving. We had it along with a cheesy pasta with fiddlehead ferns that Jordan imagined. The pasta was great, but fiddleheads are more of a novelty ingredient. I’m happy we tried them, but more asparagus in their place wouldn’t have disappointed me.

Asparagus with Parmesan and Poached Egg
1 bunch asparagus, woody parts of the stem removed
1 egg per person
Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper

Turn your oven to broil. Put a shallow pot of water to boil and bring it to a simmer. Break off the tougher part of the asparagus. Toss the asparagus with some olive oil and spread them in one even layer on a baking sheet. Once your water is simmering, put the asparagus under the broiler. Broil for 5 – 7 minutes, shaking the baking sheet occasionally to toss the asparagus. You want the asparagus to brown slightly, but not overcook.

When the asparagus is nearly done, poach one egg per person. I’ve had the most success using a shallow pan with just a few inches of water, plus a tablespoon of white vinegar. Crack the egg in a small cup. Before you add the egg, swirl the water. Slowly pour the egg into the water and let it sit for about 30 seconds, then carefully brush the white around the yoke using a spoon. Cook the egg for another 2 minutes and then remove it with a slotted spoon.  If poaching eggs just isn’t your thing, a fried egg would be delicious also.

Place the asparagus on a plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the egg over the asparagus. Grate a generous amount of parmesan cheese over the entire dish and enjoy immediately.

-Emily

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four-hour baguette

You may be familiar with my sourdough bread adventure—a rustic country bread that in the end took over a year to perfect and became my Sunday obsession for months. Well, my experience with this bread was the exact opposite. I found the recipe, gathered ingredients, made the dough, baked and ate, all in about four hours. It was refreshing.

These french baguettes are very different from my sourdough. Where baguettes are light and delicate, my bread is dense and toothy. This baguette recipe is quick—thanks to commercial yeast—uses all purpose flour and doesn’t require any special equipment, which makes it pretty ideal for most home cooks. On top of that, your house will smell amazing while the loaves are baking. This recipe makes three 14″ long baguettes, which you’ll easily eat all of.

Four-Hour Baguette, from Saveur May 2012 Issue
1 1/2 cups tap water, heated to 115 degrees
1 t active dry yeast
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t kosher salt
canola oil, for greasing the bowl
1/2 cup ice cubes, for making steam in the oven for a good crust

In a large bowl, whisk together the water and yeast. Let sit until foamy. Add the flour, stirring with a fork or your hands, until a dough forms. Let the dough rest 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, sprinkle in the salt and knead it in. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Don’t forget to grease the bowl, this is a very sticky dough. Place in a cold oven to rise. Let dough sit for 45 minutes, until doubled in size.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a 8″ x 6″ rectangle. Fold the long sides into the middle and then fold the short side into the center. Return the dough seam side down to the greased bowl. Cover and let rise again in the cold oven for an hour.

After an hour, remove the dough from the oven. Place a cast-iron skillet in the bottom rack. Position another rack above the skillet and place a baking stone on that rack. Heat the oven to 475 degrees.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide into three equal pieces and shape each into a 14″ long rope (the length of a standard baking sheet). Flour a sheet of parchment paper and place it on a baking sheet. Place the dough ropes on the sheet evenly spaced apart. Lift the paper between the ropes to form pleats so they don’t stick together as they rise. Place two kitchen towels on each long side of the baguettes to support the loaves as they rise. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let double in size, about 50 minutes.

By this time your oven will be hot. Uncover the loaves, remove the towels and flatten the paper to space out the loaves. Use a razor blade to score the loaves with several long diagonal cuts. Carefully, with the loaves still on the parchment paper, slide them onto the hot baking stone. Place the ice cubes in the skillet and close the oven door. The ice will create steam which helps form a nice crust on the bread. Bake the baguettes 25 – 30 minutes, until browned.

Cool on a rack or enjoy straight out of the oven with some salted butter. Jordan and I ate an entire loaf just standing at the kitchen counter, they go down that easy.

These baguettes were delicious don’t get me wrong, but the flavor wasn’t very complex. Next time I’m going to try adding a bit of sugar to the yeast and water and try for a slightly sweeter baguette.

-Emily

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happy mother’s day!

To all the amazing mamas out there, and especially to the mamas and grandmamas in my life that take such good care of me, Happy Mother’s Day!

Now to thank your mom for all her hard work all year long, you probably should make something yummy for her this Sunday. Here are a few of my favorites …

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls. This recipe is great because you get to enjoy fresh cinnamon rolls in the morning without waking up at the crack of dawn to make them. You make the dough and assemble the rolls the night before and the next morning let them rise briefly and then bake.

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake. This cake is delightful. Moist and tender with hint of citrus and olive oil. You can substitute any variety orange for the blood oranges. She’ll love it!

Miykaelah’s Madelines. The cutest cookies in the world. Yes they require a special pan, but they are so tasty and so adorable—totally worth it.

Jordan’s Favorite Chocolate Cake. If your mom is the chocolate type, make her this. It is the best chocolate cake we’ve found yet. We had a ricotta filling between the layers in this particular post, but cream cheese icing, buttercream icing or just fresh fruit would be wonderful.

Hope you have a lovely weekend! I’m off to Humboldt to see my lil’ sis graduate from college (WOW!) and spend time with my mom and grandmas (YAY!).

-Emily

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Recipes

berry aperitif

The weather last Saturday in San Francisco was perfection. It was 80 degrees without a cloud in the sky, and we really only get three days a year just like it. We’d planned to have some friends over for dinner and so Jordan and I devised a summery feast to match the lovely weather, including this delightful cocktail. However, this feasting could only happen after some quality beach time with the Willow Pillow. Right here, photographic proof that our dog has adapted smoothly to the California lifestyle—she will even fall asleep in the sand, surrounded by enthusiastic (albeit pale) beach-goers.

Like I said, perfection.

This recipe is adapted from David Tanis’ book The Heart of the Artichoke. It is actually an Italian digestif, typically made with grappa and served along with your check in restaurants. We decided to make it with gin, having no familiarity with grappa, and served it before the meal.

Berry Aperitif, adapted from The Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis
1 cup mixed berries (We used blackberries and raspberries)
2 T sugar
2 cups gin

Put the berries in a large measuring cup. Sprinkle them with sugar and mush them sightly with your hands. Add the gin. Let refrigerate for several hours. Serve cold in small glasses, making sure to get a spoonful of berries in each glass.  I also think this would be great mixed into other cocktails or topped off with club soda.

Happy Spring!

-Emily

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Recipes

lamb burgers with cucumber yogurt sauce

These burgers were part of our “summer menu” last weekend. They were delicious. In fact, everyone finished their burger before coming up for air to say that they liked it. Do note, it is best if you can mix the meat and cucumber sauce a few hours in advance so the flavors have time to combine. If you’re not making these on a leisurely weekend, you could easily mix both the night before.

This is what a leisurely weekend looks like around these parts.

For the burgers, adapted from The Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis
This recipe makes enough to serve six.
2 lbs ground lamb
1/2 onion, grated
4 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1 t cumin
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
six burger buns

Mix lamb, grated onion, grated garlic, parsley, cumin, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to let the flavors come together. Grill the burgers over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes per side.

For the cucumber yogurt sauce, adapted from The Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis
2 cups greek yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced into half moons
2 T mint, thinly sliced
2 T chives, chopped
2 T dill, chopped
zest and juice of one lemon
salt and pepper

Mix all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving. We used this as a burger condiment, but I also had some as a salad the next day. Equally delicious.

Again, no finished product photo. My apologies!

-Emily

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very spring salad

We had this salad on Sunday and Monday. It is very spring, very light and very lovely. It also used up all of the fruit and veggies left over from our CSA Box—win-win.

Very Spring Salad, adapted from The Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis
a few handfuls of arrugula
a few handfuls of lettuce
1 bunch radishes, cut into thin slices
1 small bulb fennel, cut into thin slices
2 oranges, cut into segments
2 T mint, finely chopped
2 T olive oil
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper

Toss the arrugula and lettuce together. Place in a platter or large dish. Slice radishes, fennel and mint finely. I used a mandolin to slice the radish and fennel. Sprinkle them on top of lettuce. Segment out the oranges and place on top. I segmented the oranges over the salad platter so that the juices from the orange fell into the salad. Just before serving, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Now, isn’t that an adorable radish?

-Emily