When Foodie Visits Foodie (including: a Granola recipe and instructions for Rosemary Balsamic Vinaigrette)

A week and a half ago, my dear friend Kristina of college days (Go Dawgs!) paid us a visit up in Blacksburg: four days of mountain-vista filled travel to-and-fro airport, marketing, cooking, baking, coffee drinking, lounging, more marketing, more cooking, more lounging. More coffee (Bollo's Pumpkin Pie Spice blend!). A late morning spent in Floyd with accompanying eating, shopping, and being one-with-the-culture (which Kristina will surely document in her next installment on Fungirl Cooks).

For now, I'll direct you to Kristina's account of our first fabulous day of cooking. Despite a full morning of air (Kristina) and road travel (me), we found our immediate way to the local market and then the Kroger, spent a happy hour catching up over an afternoon glass o' vino, and proceeded to heat up the kitchen to the tune of Cheddar Corn Chowder. To this initial evening's cooking venture, I have little to add besides: 1. Find this recipe and make it for yourself. It's a Barefoot Contessa; 2. Half the recipe unless you intend to feed a small army. Or if, like me, you plan to serve your family leftovers for the next week and a half (not actually a bad idea); 3. Consider leaving out the required cream addition - which, admittedly, is what makes it a "chowder." It is not necessary. The, um, butter, olive oil, bacon grease, creamy gold potatoes, sweet corn (especially if cut fresh from the cob), and generous portion of cheddar cheese are quite enough for fullness of flavor and texture. Look this recipe up now, immediately, while the first cool days of fall are inspiring you to eat hearty, comforting soups, and make it. You and your family can thank me later for how fantastically delectable your kitchen will smell.

On to Day Two of Kristina and Rebecca's Grand Culinary Adventures, Kristina's account of which I intend to supplement today with two relevant recipes: The Martins' favorite Granola and Rosemary-Balsamic Vinaigrette. Both are staples in the Martin household. Both are favorites of ours and relatively easy to make (if you don't mind a bit of a leftover mess). Both make me feel like I'm In Charge in my kitchen, which is a really good feeling, you know? So without further ado:

Granola de Martin

(adapted from Granola de la Arms, one of our favorite Charlottesville families. They follow the recipe pretty closely. I don't. And that's the beauty of this recipe for me.)

In large pot (5 quart +), warm over low heat, stirring periodically, till thin (without bringing to a boil):

1/2 c. light olive oil (or other oil with light flavor: canola, safflower)

1/2 c. to 1 c. honey or maple syrup, or combination of both

(note: I generally use a heaping 1/4 c. honey and 1/4 c. maple syrup for a lightly-sweetened-but-flavorful mix. The more honey or syrup added, the "bunchier" the granola will be; the less added, the more separated and dry/roasted the texture, the latter of which is our particular preference.)

Meanwhile, mix together in large bowl:

7 c. (generally 1/2 a large-sized oatmeal container) old-fashioned oats

1 c. wheat germ

1 1/2 c. flaked unsweetened coconut

2 c. nuts roughly chopped or crushed (whatever your preference! mine: pecan, walnut, almond)

optional: spices, to taste (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cocoa)

When oil-and-sweetener mix is thinned and blended together, remove pot from heat and immediately stir in:

1 T. vanilla

Then add:

Dry mixture, above

Stir until dry mixture is well-coated. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and divide and spread granola mixture evenly across both sheets. Bake on low oven heat (200 - 250, depending on how "roasted" you'd like the results to be). After the first 30 minutes, remove baking sheets and stir mixture, adding in (if desired):

optional: 1 c. dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, etc.)

Return sheets to oven and bake for 30 more minutes, or until granola reaches your preferred browned-ness. Remove granola from the cookie sheets to cool on the foil. Once cool, stir to break up larger pieces and roll the foil sides together to create a funnel for pouring the granola into an airtight container.

Makes: about 10 cups

Keeps: two weeks + in an airtight container

Optional adjustments:

• try this granola with more honey or syrup to result in a gooier, clumpier cereal;
• leave out the nuts, or leave nuts whole (or halved) for a crunchier granola experience;
• experiment with your favorite spices to larger and lesser extents (my favorite is a generous, several-Tablespoon inclusion of allspice);
• if you're short on the supplementary ingredients (fruits, nuts, coconut), bump up the spices (e.g. the granola Kristina had at our house and loved was sans nuts or fruits. To make it more interesting, I included all the spices generally used in gingersnaps: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ground ginger, cocoa.).

Rosemary Balsamic Vinaigrette

(This recipe is non-too altered from an Everyday Food recipe, found in an early 2009 issue. I made it first at the beginning of summer when our CSA was bestowing upon us all things green and leafy, and my salad-consuming life has never since been the same.)

In a food processor, combine

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

1 T. Dijon mustard

1 small garlic clove

1 T. fresh rosemary leaves

2 T. water

1/2 t. coarse salt

1/4 t. ground pepper

Pulse steadily until smooth (though there may remain larger bits of rosemary leaves). With machine running, slowly drizzle in a thin stream:

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

(note: Drizzle/drip the olive oil as slowly as you can stand; I spend at least three minutes on this portion - after one impatient-and-thus-failed attempt involving pouring in the olive oil rather quickly; little emulsification resulted, the dressing was very separated. This dressing should be very smooth, requiring little shaking before use. To achieve that ideal consistency, be patient: drizzle the olive oil in sloooowly.)

Pulse steadily until creamy.

Makes: 3/4 cup

Keeps: 2 weeks + in an airtight container (I find that leftover jelly jars are ideal.)

Spicy Peanut Soup

I gave this one a post on down the rabbit hole last winter. Today was the day for its cold- weather, Fall 2009 resurrection . . . No part of me wanted to eat something so creamy, so spicy, so root vegetable-y during the summer months. But arrive fall, an evening of truly crisp weather, and Hello! peanut soup.

Quite the "hello" it was; last year, Kenton and I both particularly enjoyed this particular outcome of my Winter 2009 Soup Craze, but this time around, it was - somehow - even tastier than remembered. I determined (take note here) that the perfection of flavor arose from two new differences: homemade vegetable stock (rather than the store-bought stuff of yester-season) and a creamier-than-usual peanut butter. (We usually keep the natural must-stir stuff on-hand for the man's work lunches, which gets a bit dry down around the bottom. This week's canister is Kroger's crunchy organic which is non-stir and, I think, lended tonight's particularly creamy texture to the mix that was just . . . oh . . . so good.

There really are no words appropriate enough to describe the flavors that came together. You must try it for yourself, and now - cold weather ensuing - is just the time for it.

P.S. I tried to take a picture. (Read: I tried to get Kenton to take a picture whilst I ladeled.) My camera battery failed to comply. You can take my word for it: this soup is thick, brownish, and goopy-looking. So you really didn't need to see it in a photograph, after all.

A few more notes:

~ The chili powder could be increased for more heat for those of us with a Southwestern bent of taste bud. My New Englander husband likes it just as-is. (With the two Tablespoons, you get just a hint of hotness at the end of each swallow.) I also threw in a couple dashes of ground cayenne.

~ Yukon Gold (or another particularly creamy variety of) potatoes work best.

~ The soup can do without the corn and celery; just remember you'll lose the crunch that way. We actually like it better (it's more fallish/wintery) sans crunch.

~ Be careful of adding additional peanut butter, even if you're a peanut addict (like my husband). I've already bumped the PB content up a few notches from the original recipe. Any more, and you'll end up with Peanut Butter Soup, which is pretty gross. Trust me. (If you do go too heavy on the peanut butter, just dilute with more stock. And vice versa: if the soup is too soupy for you, add peanut butter . . . caaaarefully, though.)

Spicy Peanut Soup

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. spicy (not sweet) chili powder

2 red bell peppers, seeded and finely chopped (*I used red carmen sweet peppers this time, with success)

2-3 medium carrots, finely chopped

2 large or 3 small/medium potatoes, finely chopped

optional: 3 celery sticks, sliced

4 cups vegetable broth (*homemade makes a huge difference!)

9 T. crunchy peanut butter (*trust me: you need the crunch)

optional: 2/3 c. corn, fresh or frozen

salt & ground black pepper

optional: unsalted roasted peanuts, fresh cilantro, and/or fresh parsley for garnish

1. Heat oil over medium heat in large pan (at least 3 quart-sized; a dutch oven is ideal) and cook onion for one minute, then garlic for an additional 1-2 minutes. Add chili powder and cook for about 1 minute more.
2. Add red peppers, carrots, potatoes, and celery. Stir well, then cook for further 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add vegetable stock, followed by peanut butter and corn. Stir until peanut butter is thoroughly melted and combined.
4. Season with salt & pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender. (*this is where you will want to test for soupy-ness v. over-thickness and adjust with more PB or more stock.)
5. Optional: garnish with peanuts and cilantro or parsley for serving.

Salsa Verde

I'm momentarily between steps three and four (four and five?) of this recipe. It's not the recipe I'm going to tell you about today, though, since it's not yet made its way into (much less out of) the oven. I have high hopes for it, and will surely come back and tell all if those hopes come to fruition. But for now, another kind of fruit - or vegetable, if you feel more comfortable with that idea: the vibrant (verdant?), strange, and lovely tomatillo.

I have long held a distant interest in the tomatillo. They show up at our farmer's market weeks before the influx of red tomatoes, small, round, and curious in their decidedly non-tomato-like shells. (Not even the same vegetable, I know, but still - don't you think of them as similar, the tomatillo and the tomato? You have to draw comparison, you really have to. Because they are. Somewhat similar. The name dictates it.) And lo and behold, a bag of eight of these little green delights, packed happily in their crisp, green husks, arrived in my CSA bag on Tuesday. Tomatillos! I exclaimed. I've been wanting to try you! Why hadn't I bought them before now? Can't say - besides that abhorrence at tossing away uneaten produce and a fear that something so unknown to me might go the same way. But today - today, I have no excuse for not trying or for tossing, and I really don't want one. Because I have the tomatillos. (Tomatillos! Doesn't the word itself make you want to throw in an exclamation point?) And because -

Because bread-rising time is a great moment in which to squeeze ten minutes of such simple peeling and chopping as - it turns out - is all that is required for this version of salsa verde, for which I expect the local Mexican restaurants to soon be contacting me (if I do say so myself). The focaccia dough ball went into the bowl, under cover of requisite clean towel, and the tomatillos, jalepeno, and half-onion (leftover from Wednesday's tomato potato soup, which Kenton has dubbed Tomtato Soup) came out of the fridge for a quick shuck and slice and throw into the food processor. And now I have something - something with a satisfying convergence of heat, sweet, and salt - to tide me over till the bread's ready to accompany the leftover soup for dinner this evening.

The recipe is altered from one that actually came out in the "bag notes" of our (wonderfully organized and informative) local CSA. I made a number of prep simplifications and several ingredient changes, and am completely satisfied. Kenton just arrived home, tasted, and agreed.

Salsa Verde

Ingredients

4 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered

1 large garlic clove, peeled and quartered

Jalapeno pepper to taste (I found that a scant half of a medium-sized pepper added just the right amount of heat. And I was raised by Texans, so take that into consideration. You can always add more if it's not hot enough for you.)

1/2 or more cup loosely packed, roughly chopped cilantro

1/2 medium white or yellow onion

Lime juice (I used, ahem, bottled juice. Please don't judge. I'm sure fresh lime juice would be absolutely delightful.)

Directions

(Are you ready for how easy this is?) Combine the quartered tomatillos, garlic, pepper, and cilantro in the food processor. Puree! (Kind of requires an exclamation point, like "tomatillo!") till . . . pureed. Add lime juice and salt, pulse a couple times, and taste to see if more is needed. Add onions and pulse several times, until onion is chopped but a little chunkier than the rest of the mixture.

Pour into bowl. Go at it with a bag of chips. Share only if you want to.

Later, a recipe for homemade granola. Nearly-perfected and Kenton-approved.

Roasted Edamame

Is it a snack? A side? An appetizer? I don't know, and I don't care. I just want to eat more of its spicy, savory, soft crunchiness.

Adapted/simplified from recipe on Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 cup shelled fresh edamame

1-2 teaspoons olive oil (too much will make for oily beans)

1/4 teaspoon: chili powder, dried basil, ground cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

salt to taste (don't need much)

*note: cayenne could be left out and/or chili powder reduced for less heat

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Mix beans, oil, and spices in bowl and transfer to small cookie sheet, baking dish, or (for faster cleanup!) square of aluminum foil. Bake in oven for at least twenty minutes. Serve immediately (cold soybeans = ew). Enjoy the soft crunchiness! The crunchy softness! These were made to be shared. Yum.