I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for awhile…and yes, judging from the clothes that we are wearing in the photos, I made these pot pies a few months ago when it was still warm, but made them recently again, perfect for a Fall meal.
 
Chicken Pot Pie (makes 4 individual pies)

Ingredients for Dough:

8 ounces butter, cut into small pieces

8 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces

4 cups flour

Ingredients for filling:

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup diced onion

1/3 cup diced celery

1/3 cup diced carrots

2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary

1/2 teaspoon sage

2 Tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken stock

1 pound chicken, diced and cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup potato, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

Salt and black pepper to taste

First, make the dough.  Combine all the ingredients for the dough in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed until just combined, there should still be visible streaks of butter and cream cheese.  Form the dough into a ball and refrigerate for 15 minutes.  When ready to roll the dough, divide it into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece to about 1/8-inch thickness, large enough to fit the inside of your individual pot pie dishes (a standard crème brûlée dish is the perfect size).  There may be extra dough, in which case freeze the scraps for another use.  Press four of the dough circles into your dishes, taking care to push it completely into the corners, and leaving about 1-inch of dough overhanging.  Keep those, and the other four dough circles, in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  For the filling, melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Add the onion, celery and carrots, and stir for several minuter over medium-high heat.  Add the herbs and flour, and continue to cook and stir for one more minute.  Add the chicken stock, stir well, then add the chicken and potato cubes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, and let it simmer for a few minutes.  Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before filling the dishes.

Fill each dish to the top with the filling mixture, making sure to have enough of both the chunks and the liquid.  Place a reserved dough circle over the top, and seal it together with the overhanging dough from the bottom.  Moisten the dough on either side with a little water if it has trouble sticking together.  Crimp the dough with your fingers or a fork, and trim any extra overhanging dough.  Cut a small slit in the top of the top crust to allow steam to escape while cooking.  Put the pot pies on a baking sheet, place in the preheated oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling underneath.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for just a few minutes before serving.
 

We were at my parents’ house again this weekend, our only full weekend off from summer markets this summer. We didn’t really feel the record breaking heat all that much and I guess that’s one thing the suburbs have over us. When you’re shuttling in a car from one indoor space to another, you don’t really have a chance to sweat it up if you’re not walking miles through city blocks.

Random stuff:
After taking swimming lessons for 10 weeks in the Spring, Mia’s becoming quite a little swimmer. We spent the better part of the day Saturday at the town pool where my parents live, and by the end of our day there, Claudine got brave and started dunking herself completely and learned how to float too by doing the running man underwater.

You ever laugh at how different your tastes are from your mom’s? I mean we were one of those families who had plastic covers on our couches growing up. Ok, maybe that was more of an 80s thing than anything else. Meanwhile my mom thinks most of the stuff in our apartment is plain, though she does like the black walls. Then again, she totally let me have all black walls in my room when I was a teenager. Ahead of my time I was, I tell ya.

Claudine, unlike Mia, doesn’t like mealtimes here at my mom’s because there is never anything on the table that she wants to eat (she’s picky, remember?). So dinner time always ends up being plain rice, which she does like, but she doesn’t like the kind here because my parents make rice mixed with all kinds of beans and grain and it turns the rice purple. The only way she’ll eat any is if we roll it up in seaweed, so there’s that. I swear, we’re never going to be able to travel anywhere overseas with this girl. She’d starve.

The girls are off from camp this week. At the time when we reserved camp slots waaay back in the winter, we thought it’d be nice for them to have a break from camp for a week because camp days are so hectic. Uh, what the hell was I thinking? I have work to do and we have no childcare and no camp this week. I’M GOING TO DIE.

Long ago, before I moved to New York, I would hear stories from Jenna about all the cheap and tasty food that she missed in NY when she got homesick. There were the big fat quesadillas and burritos at Benny’s Burritos, the Hijiki-Tofu Patties from Dojo, the Chinese food from House of Vegetarian, and most of all the Falafel Sandwiches from Mamoun’s in the West Village. Coming from a part of the country that used to lack authenticity in certain culinary genres, I always got jealous. And hungry.

We’ve been making efforts to eat less meat in our diet again lately, so I made falafels last week, using a recipe someone gave me a long time ago when I decided I should just cook the foods I craved if I couldn’t get them where I lived. The chickpeas are not cooked before frying, only soaked in water overnight. They should be ground up in a food processor until they just start coming together, but not too much so that they might become a paste. Easy enough to make, as long as you don’t mind the deep-frying.

Falafel (makes about 15-18 patties)

1 cup dried chickpeas
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1 large clove garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
juice of 1/2 lemon

Soak the chickpeas in plenty of cold water overnight. The next day, drain them well, then put them into a food processor. Grind them until they will hold their shape, but not enough that they become a paste. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well ground and fully incorporated. Form into balls or patties about 2 inches across and refrigerate while the oil heats up.

Begin heating about 6 cups of vegetable oil in a large saucepan. When it reaches about 350°F you should start frying the falafel. Carefully drop them in one at a time, and cook them for about 4 minutes, or until they are golden brown on the outside and fully cooked on the inside. Repeat until they are all cooked. Serve immediately. They can be made into pita sandwiches, or served with other middle eastern items (tabbouleh, tzatziki, hummus, etc…) as part of a mixed platter.

Mark’s had a little more time to cook these days, so we’re back to eating better dinners. We’re also cutting back on meat and trying to eat healthier overall. We haven’t posted any recipes in a real long time and if I wasn’t feeling so lazy (actually I am sick, legit excuse) I would have taken more photos and maybe we would have posted this dinner of homemade whole wheat parathas, chickpeas with crisp fried onions, and yogurt marinated chicken. It was really good, just take my word for it.

We’re taking it easy this weekend. There may be more snow. Mark’s got the Flea on Sunday and I plan on cleaning up around here. We may not even leave the house.

We love Mexican food in our house. Normally we eat it at least once a week, although it usually comes in the form of simple tacos or fajitas (and always pickled jalapeños, which Jenna seems to have become addicted to). Last week I felt a bit ambitious and decided to make enchiladas with a homemade mole sauce. There are many versions of mole, the most famous ones being molé poblano and mole negro. I made neither of those, and ended up making an approximation using what I had on hand. As many Mexicans I know will be quick to point out, a traditional mole can use more than 40 ingredients. The most essential ingredients are the dried chilies, and I’m lucky to have a wide variety at my local supermarket. I chose a mixture of guajillo and mulato chilies, but ancho or pasilla chilies are also good choices. Just make sure to allow plenty of time to make the mole, or even make it the day before – it is quite a process, but well worth the effort. I’m going to try to have some of this in the fridge all the time.

Homemade Mole (makes about 4 cups)

4 ounces dried chilies (see above)
10 tomatillos, husks still on
8 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 large vidalia onion
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/3 cup date sugar (brown sugar may be substituted, but less will be needed)
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove the stems from the dried chilies and shake out the seeds. Put them on a foil-lined baking sheet along with the tomatillos and garlic. Roast them all together. Remove the chilies when they have darkened considerably. Remove the tomatillos when they have become noticeably soft, and remove the garlic when it is golden. Put the chilies in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let them soak for at least 30 minutes. Peel the tomatillos and garlic, and set them aside.

Peel the onion and cut into 3/4-inch thick slices. Preheat a grill pan on high heat, then grill the onion on both sides until nicely charred and softened throughout. Drain the dried chilies, and put them in a blender or food processor with the tomatillos, garlic, onion, cumin, oregano and tomato paste. Blend it all together, adding enough stock to reach the desired consistency. Add date sugar and salt to taste. Transfer it all to a saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Use right away, or refrigerate and use later.

I went on quite the shopping spree last week at the Union Square Greenmarket. Among the goodies I picked up were these nice zucchini flowers and a loaf of fresh ciabatta bread. Stuffed zucchini flowers are one of our family’s favorite summertime treats, but the dilemma, as always, is what to stuff them with. This time I chose the ciabatta bread, dicing up the crispy ends of the loaf and cooking it with onions and herbs. The mixture ended up resembling, well, stuffing, like the kind you put in a turkey, only without the heavy flavor of sage. This filling worked surprisingly well and would also work well with other things added (cheese, seafood, etc…). Just get the zucchini flowers while you can, the season doesn’t last long!

Bread and Onion Stuffed Zucchini Flowers (serves 4, or really 2 because you will want to eat them all)

12 zucchini flowers, washed well
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
2 cups crusty bread (ciabatta, baguette, etc…), cut into very small cubes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
Approximately 1-1/4 cups flour

Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until soft. Add the bread, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes. Add enough water to the mixture to bind the bread pieces together, and continue to cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and cool for a few minutes. Stuff each zucchini flower with the bread mixture, taking care not to tear the sides of each flower too much. Now, heat the vegetable oil in a clean frying pan over medium-high heat. Coat each stuffed zucchini flower in some buttermilk, followed by a nice coating of flour, then put it in the frying pan. Cook for just 1-2 minutes on each side, until they are crisp and golden all over. Drain on paper towels, then serve.

We ate the flowers with some fresh heirloom tomatoes and some homemade ricotta that I made earlier that day. Drizzle some olive oil, sprinkle some coarse sea salt, and you have a perfect bite of summery goodness.

Some random shots from my parent’s house out here in Lawn Guyland.

The morning light streaming behind my toes remind me how translucent skin is. Kinda freaky.

Lettuce, perilla leaves and some other greens we don’t know the English word for all came from my dad’s garden and onto the dinner table for lettuce wraps.

Yeah, Claudine still sucks her thumb. And she can’t suck her thumb without twiddling her left ear. She once drew a picture of a girl with one hand over her mouth and the other over her left ear. It was a self portrait.

Speaking of drawings, this is Claudine’s latest portrayal of me and Mia. I’m the one in the striped dress because, well, I was wearing a striped shirt today. Mia is wearing a ruffly dress (and yes, she was in a dress today that had ruffles at the neckline). I am a fairy doctor which is why I have a stethoscope plugged into my ears and I am checking out Mia’s head because she has a scrape on her forehead. The object between us is an ice cream truck. We’re standing in the street and behind us in the field is a flower, a pitcher of water and a bunny. The bunny’s name is “Hank”. You gotta love the imagination of a 3 year old.

One of the best parts about coming to our “country house” is the home cooked Korean meals. My mom made cold noodles for dinner tonight (Naeng Myun) which is a summer staple. It has pickled radish, cucumber, asian pears, apples, pine nuts and a cold icy broth (aided by an ice cube or 2 right in the bowl) mixed in with some spicy mustard. One of my favorites.

We totally did the suburban thing today – went to Target for various sundries, Michaels for craft supplies since Mia doesn’t go to camp for another 3 weeks, and then the mall in search of some kid sneakers. In the afternoon we blew up the kiddie pool and let the girls splash around while we watched the soccer game. We get to enjoy the perks of the suburbs without actually having to live in the suburbs.

So this summer is turning into the summer of starts and stops and shakeups. For the time being, once again, I will be living the life of leisure (oh freelance, you are so crazy). So we’re staying out here one more day and after deciding that it would be too crowded on a Sunday, we’ll be heading to the beach on a Monday morning. Just because we can.

I came back into town late last week knowing that I wanted to cook a nice hearty meal with some oxtails I had bought earlier in the week. I also thought it would be fun for the girls to give the pasta machine another try. As far as the oxtails, I have never cooked with them before so I needed some guidance. I found this recipe from Mario Batali, but made a few changes. I substituted bacon for the pancetta and red wine for the white wine simply because that’s what I had on hand. It also seems that in the original recipe the meat is left on the bone, but I instead chose to remove the bones and incorporate the meat back into the cooking liquid (after reducing it a bit) to make a sauce not unlike a ragù. There is no pasta in the original recipe either – it is served more like a stew, but this was great with our homemade fettuccine and ended up being exactly what I wanted to make. Once again, I’ll do my best to use the pasta machine more often because it is easy, tasty, and fun for the kids. I made a similar proclamation almost two years ago, so we’ll see how it goes this time around.

We have a small farmer’s market across the street from our house that, until this year, ended in December. This winter, however, they have teamed up with the Can Factory Market so that we in the neighborhood can have our fresh veggies and pickles year-round. Mia, Claudine and I ventured over on an especially cold Sunday to check it out. I was actually a bit surprised by the selection. Lots of fresh herbs, good apples, and this beautiful orange cauliflower. Orange cauliflower is a bit sweeter than the standard white variety, which makes it perfect for roasting or sautéing. Make sure to get it nice and caramelized for the best flavor. We ate it with foccacia, roasted beets and salsify soup that day. Makes for a perfect winter meal.

Orange Cauliflower with Garlic and Lemon (serves 4)

1 head orange cauliflower, broken into florets (other colors of cauliflower can also be used)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Coarse sea salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the cauliflower and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil on high heat in a large sauté pan. Add the minced garlic and fry until it just starts to brown. Add the cooked cauliflower and continue to cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally. It should start to brown a little bit. When the cauliflower is brown enough for you, squeeze in the lemon juice, cook for another 30 seconds, and serve immediately.

Maybe it’s ironic, maybe it’s not, but back when Mark worked a regular old day job as a Pastry Chef, we used to eat like Kings. Yes, he’d leave at the ungodly hour of 4:45am in the morning every day, but that also meant that even after putting in a full day’s work he’d get home in the afternoon around 3. Back then, there wasn’t much to do after work except cook a nice dinner and play with the kids. Once dinner and bedtime routines were done, he’d be in bed himself by 9:30. So in his spare time, he’d plan meals, go to the store and cook these really great dinners and desserts pretty much every single night.

I think even you can see that we’ve been posting recipes less and less since we started this blog. One of the main reasons we set up sweet fine day was to post and archive recipes. It was meant to be a sort of collecting place and a first pass at recipe documentation for a future (waaay in the future) project like a cookbook. If you’ve ever known a chef, then you may know that many chefs don’t write recipes down in a manner that most normal people would be able to follow. At least in Mark’s case, it’s just measurements and maybe a bit of chicken scratched notes. There might also be a tiny drawing of what the dessert might plate like – I mean, like really little, a drawing smaller than a postage stamp – but often nothing else written down. But there have been fewer recipes on the blog and it most definitely is a reflection of what’s going on in our house.

So what are we eating these days? Sadly it’s been a lot of thrown together fare or stuff pulled from the freezer. There just isn’t as much time anymore, especially these days when we are at our busiest of the year. A few times a week if we’re lucky, there might be a roast chicken or pork, a pasta, and maybe some kind of easy build-it-yourself Mexican Food night, but we’ve been in a food rut and we’re getting tired of the same old same old. We’re often left craving satisfying food. Because of our finely tuned food budget, we only buy what’s on a grocery list which prevents us from buying a lot of crap at the store. The upside? Our monthly food costs are fairly low for a family of 4 and we rarely waste food ever (yay). The downside? Our fridge almost always looks empty and we never really seem to have any extra “stuff” to snack on (boo). Ironic, yes? So, dear readers, what are you making for dinners these days? ‘Cause as you can see from above, tonight we had Chinese take-out (hot and sour soup for my newly sore throat, oh no!). It’s something we rarely do so it was definitely a treat, especially for the girls who love wonton soup, but it’s not a habit we can take on no matter how busy we get.

So…I’m guessing many of you can relate?