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Orange and Rye Bread Pudding

Posted in Breakfast, Dessert, food, food photography, Natural Foods, recipes, tagged , , , , , , on March 10, 2013 | 4 Comments »

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Boy, did this daylight savings throw me off. A touch of insomnia and, I’m embarrassed to admit, an oven left on all night led to a restless (and very warm) sleep and more than a little sleep-in. I won’t tell you what time we woke up this morning, but suffice to say, I feel rested as a result. I wish we could put this daylight savings thing to a vote because I am sure most of the country would want to turn it off for good. On the plus side, a late morning blog shoot brings you this incredible bread pudding.

After scouring the internet for a bread pudding recipe that didn’t involve seemingly pounds of sugar, I turned to one of my favorite cookbooks, Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce. I’m not sure why I didn’t turn to her book first. I mean, as we know, I always do. Alas, lesson learned and I present you with a bread pudding that Adam and I nibbled on in the wee hours of the night last night. Technically midnight…but for all intents and purposes 1AM. Way past my bedtime….but it was worth it :)

Cheers!

spoonhome

Orange and Rye Bread Pudding

Inspired by Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

I forgot to pick up whole milk, which the recipe calls for, so I used a
rice/quinoa milk I had on hand. It worked great, but
I’ve listed the whole milk as I think it would have lended a richer custard.

Ingredients:

One loaf day-old rye bread, cubed into one pieces

5 eggs

3 cups whole milk

1/4 cups buttermilk or heavy cream

Zest and juice from two oranges

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 dried cherries

2 tablespoons cold Irish butter, cubed

~

Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and place in oven.

Turn oven to 350 and let the cubes gently toast until mostly toasted. About 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and buttermilk until well combined. Strain into a large bowl.

Stir the orange juice and zest, sugar, nutmeg, sea salt, cherries and 1 tablespoon of the butter into the custard.

Stir the cooled bread into the custard and let soak for about 10 minutes.

Butter a dutch oven or a 10 inch baking dish that’s fairly deep and pour the bread and custard into it.

Dot the second tablespoon of cold butter on top of the pudding.

Place the dutch oven into the oven and bake at 350 for an hour and a half.

Check on it at an hour and if it looks like the bread is starting to burn a little, place a sheet of foil on top of it for the final half hour.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

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1859 Magazine Oregon Charcuterie Shoot

Posted in food photography, tagged , , , , , , , on March 7, 2013 | 1 Comment »

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You don’t have to twist my arm when it comes to magazine assignments, but ask me to visit three of the best salami producers in the state, and I will say yes before you’ve finished asking. 1859 Magazine sent me to Fino in Fondo in adorable McMinnville, Chop and Olympic Provisions here in Portland for their Farm to Table section in the March issue and I’d thought I’d share the tear sheets from what was three incredibly fun shoots.

You may have noticed a couple of changes around here. First, Leek Soup’s url is now http://www.leeksoupblog.com. No need to worry as the former wordpress.com address will still get you here, but I thought you’d like to know. Also, you may have noticed an ad at the end of my blog post. I do hope it doesn’t bother you, but if it does, please let me know. Monetizing our blogs is one way us food bloggers pay the bills, but if you find it obnoxious or distracting, I will definitely reconsider.

I PROMISE a recipe post coming soon. I already have an idea of what I’d like to make for you..and it’s delicious…just need to make the time to do it!

Cheers and xo!

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Winter Fennel Soup

Posted in food, food photography, Magazine Shoot, recipes, Seasonal Eating, Soups, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2013 | 4 Comments »

© Dina Avila

All images © Dina Avila 2013

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I wasn’t sure if I was going to share this recipe with you. I found it while sifting through soup recipes at Saveur.com and it stopped my in my tracks. I absolutely love fennel. Adore it. But I’ve never made fennel soup and the recipe kind of took my by surprise. It’s original version has all of seven ingredients-including salt and pepper. I, of course, tweaked it here and there and, I have to admit, this soup kind of blew me away. The fennel simmers for a long time and you would think it would develop a concentrated licorice-y flavor. It does not. In fact, it stays bright and green tasting even when cooked to virtual mush. Granted I added a splash of Champagne vinegar and a dash of tarragon towards the end of cooking to facilitate that brightness, but I think the soup would be perfect if the original recipe was followed to a T.

Adam and I stirred it pieces of freshly roasted chicken and it took this soup to a new level. It became what chicken soup aspires to be. Perfect when it’s barely 29° just on the other side of the windows.

Speaking of roasted chicken, I usually make my roasted chicken according to my recipe that you can find here, but decided to rub the skin in slightly melted butter (along with salt, pepper and dried thyme) rather than olive oil. What a difference! It may very well have been the most delectable crispy chicken skin I’ve ever had. So good that I had difficulty resisting peeling bits of skin off to nibble on before serving.

Cheers!

spoonhome

Winter Fennel Soup

Adapted from Saveur.com

Ingredients:

3 medium fennel bulbs

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

4 cups chicken stock

2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed clean and quartered.

About a teaspoon of dried tarragon

A pinch or two red pepper flakes, to taste

A splash or two Champagne vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

~

Trim and quarter your fennel reserving about two tablespoons of the fronds.

Remove the core and cut the fennel into medium-sized chunks.

Warm the butter and olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.

Add the fennel, shallots and one cul of the stock.

Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Until the fennel is soft and becoming translucent.

Turn the heat up a notch and add the potatoes.

Pour in the remaining 3 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes and stir the tarragon, Champagne vinegar and red pepper flakes.

Let simmer for another 10 minutes until the potatoes are very soft.

Season with salt and pepper.

Gently mash the vegetables with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon. Until the soup is creamy but still a bit chunky.

Add water or stock if the soup is too thick for your taste.

Remove the pot from the heat and let sit for about 5 minutes before serving so the flavors can develop.

Serve warm with a few fresh fennel fronds and a drizzle of olive oil on top. Some slivers of fresh pecorino romano would be a great addition.

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Two Forks Farm

Posted in farmers market, Farms, food photography, tagged , , , , , , on August 6, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Jennifer, Nate, Jasper, some (mostly) friendly bees and about an acre of leased land on Sauvie Island is Two Forks Farm. I’ll really try to not talk about Jasper too much, but if you ever meet this kid you’ll understand.

If you’ve been reading my posts you’ll know that Two Forks is responsible for the famed fava beans that I just can’t get enough of.

Two Forks has a tiny little stand at the Buckman Farmers’ Market where they sell their wares out of galvanized steel tubs while greeting each shopper with the kindness and generosity they show their produce, and each other. They are some of the nicest folks you’ll ever meet. Trust me, you want this family growing your food.

Jennifer graciously invited me up to the farm on Wednesday morning so I could take a look around and make some pictures. What you’ll see in this post is sustainable farming, healthy weeds and the smartest six year old I’ve ever come across. Did you know that it’s the female mosquito that sucks your blood for the proteins? And the males consume flower nectar? I didn’t. Not until Jasper.

When I arrived on Wednesday he immediately posed for a picture, (read: ham) asked me a few a questions, then gave me a thorough tour of the farm introducing me to cucumber beetles, perfect summer squash and wild blackberries-one of the best things about the farm, according to J.

I left with a head of fresh-cut red leaf lettuce under my arm of which I nibbled on the way home.

Cheers!



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Swordfish is a Good Thing

Posted in farmers market, food, food photography, recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 26, 2010 | 6 Comments »

Summer means two things in our house-seafood and berries. Ok, maybe three things-seafood, berries and beer (we live in Portland after all). I had something else in mind for this weeks post, but Adam had swordfish on his mind and I thought why not bring the two together? Hence, this weeks dish – Swordfish with Blackberry Mint Chutney.

I know there are many reasons you might be wary about eating swordfish. I won’t list them here, but I will tell you why you want to eat this particular swordfish. We purchased our swordfish from Whole Foods Market who are huge supporters of MSC certified fish. MSC is the Marine Stewardship Council who, through strict standards and a rigorous certification programs create responsible and sustainable fishing. If that doesn’t do it for you then maybe this will-these swordfish are harpoon caught. How cool is that? These cats go out on the Nova Scotia waters with hand thrown harpoons (seriously, click on that link). They specifically target mature swordfish-one by one. Using harpoons means no nets. No nets mean no trawling and catching various species of fish or damaging marine habitat. Supporting these folks means supporting, not only a way of life, but a sustainable way to fish. Don’t we do enough damage?

Ok, I’ll step off of my soapbox now.

Because of the way this swordfish is caught, it calls for a very short season. If you’re thinking about trying this recipe I suggest you hit your local Whole Foods soon.

The blackberries I picked up were amazingly sweet and tart. Some of the riper berries tasted just like blueberries to me. We have the little family run Liepold Farms in Boring, Oregon to thank for these wonderful blackberries.
The mint in this recipe comes from my very own garden….at the end of our kitchen table in our apartment, two flights up. Oh how I dream of having a garden again. Some day….

MSC certified Swordfish with Blackberry Mint Chutney

(New feature on my blog. If you click on the recipe title you will be taken to a printable google page)

Disclaimer: There are about a million chutney recipes out there and none that I came across really jived with me. So I pretty much made this up as I went along. I apologize for the vague directions.

Blackberry Mint Chutney

About a pint of fresh blackberries, halved

Half a shallot, minced

Three or four dried apricots, coarsely chopped

About a tablespoon of minced fresh ginger

Olive oil to coat your pan

About a tablespoon or two of raw honey

A pinch or two of fennel seeds

Zest of a smallish lemon

Juice of half a lemon

Couple of generous pinches of kosher salt

Few splashes of apple cider vinegar

About 1/4 cup or less of water

A couple of generous pinches of ground sumac berries (optional as it can be difficult to find)

One seeded and minced serrano pepper (you could use red pepper flakes too)

Smallish handful of gently torn fresh mint

Warm olive oil in a saucepan-nothing too large.

Sauté shallots, ginger, fennel, apricots, lemon zest and pepper. After a few minutes add honey, water and apple cider vinegar. After everything starts simmering again add berries, kosher salt, lemon juice and sumac.

Cover and let simmer for about an hour. Stirring often. If you notice the sauce reducing quickly, lower heat, or simmer for less time. You want it to be juicy without being watery.

After the hour, gently tear mint leaves and stir into chutney. Let sit on very low heat for a few minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool

While the chutney is cooling warm olive oil in a skillet

Season swordfish with lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper

Place swordfish in skillet and sear for about 30 seconds on each side

Place seared swordfish on your favorite plate and spoon chutney over fish. Serve with fresh summer greens.

Leftover chutney can be stored in a tightly sealed glass jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Cheers!

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Ceviche Cordials

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on July 19, 2010 | 2 Comments »

I blame Anthony Bourdain for my changing palate. Ok, really I’m grateful. Before Bourdain, my steaks were cooked medium. So was my fish. I can see some of you cringing.

Here’s the deal. Raw fish used to scare me, except for sushi. For some reason sushi has always been exempt and I have no idea why. I was a very picky eater as a kid and nothing weird or unidentifiable would pass my lips. I didn’t even like orange cheese because it just made no sense to me.  Monterey Jack was as good as it got.

Lately, however, Adam (beautiful boyfriend) and I have been eating our fish (and our meat) virtually raw. Barely searing it until it is beautifully pink and juicy in the middle. The pinker the better. Evidently my palate is changing and I suspect late nights drinking wine with Adam and watching Bourdain eat blood sausage and sweetbreads on No Reservations has something to do with it. And I’m ok with that because the way I see it, how will I ever understand a people or culture if I’m afraid to eat their food? So, the adventure begins and, yes, sweetbread is on the list. But first, let’s start with ceviche.

I’ve never had ceviche, well, because, not surprisingly, it has always creeped me out. I never believed that lime juice and lemon juice actually cooked the fish. There is a very similar dish in Hawaii called Poke (poke-eh). Poke generally involves cubed chunks of ahi, or some other fish, seaweed, Hawaiian sea salt and other seasonings.  It’s more like chopped up sushi (minus the rice) than ceviche. It marinates, but there is nothing acidic in it to technically cook the fish. I once had to shoot an event devoted entirely to poke. Me and my camera, in a hotel convention room with every poke creation under the sun. Boy did it smell good.

My mom loves poke. It’s one of those foods that she’ll buy knowing (until recently) that I’ll never ask for a bite. We all have that sort of food, don’t we?

What’s on your list? Because my list is kinda long. If you’re drinking a root beer, eating rocky road anything, or sour cream/ranch, it’s all yours. I may even wander away so I don’t have to smell it. No offense. Really.

This recipe is an adaptation from Epicurious who borrowed it from Anna Getty’s book Easy Green Organic. My version is a little different.

Scallop Ceviche

Half a pound Bay Scallops, quartered

Couple of handfuls cherry tomatoes, diced

1/4 to 1/2 a red onion finely diced

1/2 cup or so chopped fresh cilantro

1 (or more to your liking) Serrano pepper, seeded and minced

About a cup total of freshly squeezed lime and lemon juice (I went a little heavier on the lime)

Half a cucumber finely diced

1 tablespoon or so shredded, unsweetened coconut

Salt to taste

Place all the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl (glass, ceramic), cover and place in fridge anywhere between 2-16 hours. I tasted mine after 7 hours and it was amazing. The scallops are firm and fall apart in your mouth as if they just had a good sauté or steam.  Serve with corn tortillas or chips and a yummy lager or crisp white. Delicious!

Cheers!

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