Tasty Oasis | Page 8 of 9 | Finding Comfort In The Kitchen

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

August 27, 2014 By Karen

Growing up the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I knew came on the back of a bag of Toll House morsels. And let’s be honest: that recipe stands the test of time. Simple, no fuss, and tasty. As a kid I’d hang around the kitchen while my brother would stir together a batch with a friend, anxiously waiting to lick the spoon. Back then nobody feared raw egg (even Orange Julius threw it into their smoothies at the mall to get that amazing froth), and the only possible repercussions were sticky fingers or fewer cookies in the end.

Until I hit my 20’s, I was perfectly content with getting my cookie dough fix from a refrigerated tube of Pillsbury. Even though I knew better, salmonella never deterred me (and still doesn’t.) I’m certainly glad there’s no way to go back and count how many times girlfriends and I would devour the whole thing in a night. Never baking it, we would get down to the end and squeeze what remained out of the plastic like it was the dregs of the toothpaste, but so much more delicious. Admittedly, I feel a little ill looking back on that.

Jump ahead a few years, and my baking obsession kicked into gear full swing. Pre-made dough became a thing of my past, because I learned how quickly I could throw together a batch from ingredients I typically keep at home. I tried recipes from favorite cookbooks (the one in “Best Recipes” from America’s Test Kitchen was my go-to for years,) the classic Neiman Marcus one that went viral long before social media made “like” and “share” buttons, and whatever popped out from my online searches.

But when a friend brought hot from the oven chocolate chip cookies to our book club on a cold night back in 2011, I took one bite and knew there had to be a winning recipe behind it. (Okay, so it wasn’t one bite. It was more like 47 bites because I could not stop eating them!) Deb at Smitten Kitchen had done it again. Her “Chewy Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies” found its way into my binder of “keepers,” and I haven’t looked back….

Roasted Peaches with Basil and Ricotta (in the toaster!)

August 23, 2014 By Karen

I really want to tell you these peaches came from a trip to an orchard with my angelic kids or the local farmers’ market, but that would be lying. Because although I had every intention of going to the farmers’ market the other night after the camp and daycare pickup, the 5pm meltdown I was faced with in the car made that… unappealing. Dragging tired, cranky kids with me so I could fawn over gorgeous produce just seemed foolish. So luckily I had stopped during my lunch hour the day before at some random grocery store for a quick fruit run, and I scored a few peaches carted in from a state far away. Ideal? No. But real life? Yes. And the basil, you ask? Growing freely in big bunches in my yard? Ha. It too came from the store in one of those dreaded plastic clamshells. I may see myself as the CSA box girl, creating wild creations from whatever lands in my neighborhood pickup every week, but the honest truth is that year after year I keep forgetting to sign up. So in the meantime, I make do with what I’ve got. Lunch hour peaches. Welcome to my world.

The Six Stages of the Roasted Peach

But look at these peaches!!! They were pretty perfect on their own, because it is summer after all and it’s prime season for them. Straight up, they’re delicious. But with a little extra effort, they become heavenly. Halved and filled with a buttery brown sugar and basil concoction, they’re roasted for just 20 minutes and transform into a simple summer dessert that makes everyone happy. Okay, you’re shaking your head because I said roasting and summer in the same sentence, and you remember me just telling you about my ancient hot house where the last thing I want to do is turn the oven on in August. But wait! I have something that may blow your mind… You can just use your toaster oven!

I started making this recipe nine years ago, when I saw this life changing article in the New York Times by Melissa Clark. (I know, my version of life changing might not be yours, but go with me on this.) It was called “No One Ever Slaved Over a Hot Toaster Oven.” I was living in my tiny Manhattan apartment at the time, which barely had a kitchen to speak of. My actual oven served as my version of storage, and all of my pots and pans and baking sheets made a home there. The idea of emptying it out to cook anything small seemed like a waste, and the risk of heating up my apartment during a New York summer was beyond me. (Confession time: today my oven still is filled with muffin trays and baking sheets, even though I technically have room elsewhere for them. So I continue to face the same self-imposed obstacles. Please tell me I am not alone in this!) But Melissa turned me on to using my toaster oven to cook real food, and not just make frozen waffles and cinnamon toast in it. It was revolutionary. I started baking chicken, and roasting vegetables and making these amazing peaches all on my counter top. I haven’t looked back since….

The Easiest Crockpot Ribs (and a Thank You)

August 20, 2014 By Karen

Since I officially announced Tasty Oasis on Monday with an email blast and a Facebook update, I have been overwhelmed by the response. Your messages and comments have been so kind and encouraging, and I am thrilled that so many of you have shared Tasty Oasis with your friends already. I can’t thank you enough! Creating a food blog has been something I’ve thought about for years. I think and read about food constantly. I have been collecting cookbooks for ages, and I go through them like novels, reading them from beginning to end and writing notes about what I’ll make one day. I’ve had magazine subscriptions on and off since I left college, and I have only recently tossed the towering stacks of ancient Gourmets, Bon Appetites, Cooking Lights, and Everyday Foods, saving precious recipes in binders instead. And the blogs. For the last many years I have read a ridiculous number of blogs daily. I started off with Smitten Kitchen back in her very early days, and the list just grew. With the ease of subscription services and feed readers, it’s like having my own set of food magazines every day, tailored to exactly my taste. Personally, I read everything on Feedly, and am always happy when one of my favorites has a new post up. It’s because of this hobby, or distraction, or whatever you may call it that that I decided I wanted to write my own blog. I know exactly what I like to read and see on a food blog, and now the challenge is to produce that on my own for all of you. I’m so excited to finally be doing it!

Moroccan Carrots, Garlic for a Miso Chicken, Turkey Chili and Everyday Granola Coming Soon!

Many of you wrote and asked who’s taking the photographs on Tasty Oasis. I am! It’s me! When I decided to start this project, I knew that I had to up my game and move on from my 8 year old point and shoot camera. In January I bought a Canon Rebel T3i, and have been playing with it constantly. Even though I’ve interpreted undergraduate photography classes over the years, I never really applied what I heard and always used to stick with the automatic settings. But I bought myself a food photography book, and pay close attention to other bloggers’ photography choices, and am experimenting every time I go to shoot something. The up-close macro shots seem to be working out, but if you saw the number of blurry kid photos I’ve taken you would have to laugh and wonder if it’s the same photographer! At the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens last week I experimented with flowers, and again, things that stay in one place seem to be where I have the most luck. I’m hoping with time I can actually get some good people shots though!

From the last couple of posts you have probably noticed that I use dried spices to flavor a lot of my cooking. There are a bunch of reasons, but the big ones are that they are easy, convenient and healthy. As a working mom, I often feel like I am running around with my time and brain split in 84 different directions. I am constantly looking for shortcuts, and tend to favor recipes that don’t have too many moving parts or specialty ingredients. Fresh herbs are fabulous, and you absolutely will see them frequently on Tasty Oasis, but they sadly die in my refrigerator over and over again. If I didn’t kill every plant I ever tried to grow (I know, watering would help, but that’s just another thing to remember to do), I would grow my own herbs and just snip what I needed, but I never seem to make it happen. So dried herbs and spices often come to the rescue. Plus, a spice rub means you can avoid making a heavy sauce, skipping the creams and coconut milk and the oils. Those all make things tasty, but don’t necessarily help for making a meal on the lighter side. That said, they have their place in my kitchen and when I use them I make sure to enjoy every bite.

One strategy I use to feed my family home cooked food is the crockpot. I can throw something together before leaving for work, and walk into a house that smells amazing. A lot of people think crockpot cooking is only for the winter for stews and soups, but summer is the perfect time to use the crockpot because you can avoid turning on the stove and heating up your kitchen. Living in a house that’s almost 100 years old without central air, that is brilliant. I’m such a fan of this contraption that I typically have two going on the counter at once so that I can double my recipes and freeze several extra meals at a time. This way I can have dinner ready with even less work later in the week or month. (I’ll be writing more posts about how to cook and freeze meals, so stay tuned!)…

Spice-Crusted Roasted Salmon

August 18, 2014 By Karen

Fish is one of those things that everyone says they want to make more often. I know I do. Healthy for you, fast to prepare and usually a hit, I always intend to cook it more frequently than I do. Truth be told, the reason is a matter of convenience and cost. I typically do my main grocery shopping once a week, and often at a place without a proper fish counter or one that leaves something to be desired. And when you factor in buying sustainable fish, you’re looking at wild caught varieties or the ethically farmed ones, and it can become expensive. So I fall back on tilapia most of the time, or defrost something frozen, but am always so happy when I throw fish into my kitchen rotation.

But I was on vacation last week in Maine, and seafood was a daily part of our eating. From lobster rolls, to fried clams, to haddock tacos, I was in heaven. We rented a cottage right on the water, with a tree house and plenty of rocks to climb on and tide pools to explore. Although I had a list a mile long of places to go, we ended up hanging out most of the time in this picture postcard setting.

A glass of wine at sunset in Maine, with a view of the water from our vacation cottage

With a view like this, I never wanted to leave Maine

And as luck would have it, there was an amazing deal on wild caught Alaskan Sockeye Salmon at the local market. As part of my arsenal I happened to pack a selection of spices, which worked out perfectly for this recipe which is a tried and true favorite. My sister-in-law started making a version of this years ago for family gatherings, and I’ve adapted it only slightly. As I wrote about recently, I toast and grind my own cumin and coriander for this recipe, which is such a simple step that coaxes out amazing flavor from something that can be stored in your pantry. (If this sounds like a deal breaker for you, I am all for using already ground spices so please don’t tune out!) I switch the paprika to smoked paprika, double the amount of spices, and keep it simple by just roasting the fish on its own….

Toasting and Grinding Whole Spices

July 19, 2014 By Karen

I don’t know about you, but I often get bored cooking the same dishes over and over again. When I run to the store, I tend to pick up a set list of staples, and then have the task of figuring out how to make them exciting once I’m home. I don’t always remember to buy specialty ingredients for a specific recipe, so I have to look to my pantry for some last minute flavor help. That’s where spices come in as a perfect kitchen save.

When I think back on the spices in my mom’s cupboards, I picture a bottle of poultry seasoning, a container of Mrs. Dash, an ancient Herbs de Provence, some cinnamon, garlic salt and onion powder. I’m pretty sure that was the extent of it, although there were probably some others tucked away in the dark recesses of her shelves for decades. I didn’t know that spices could come any other way than in a red and white McCormick bottle, and so as a kid I was perfectly content with the food she made. She was (and still is) a good cook, but not exactly an adventurous one. California cuisine in the 80’s meant everything was fresh, steamed or grilled, and lightly seasoned. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I had no idea that spices could be combined in different ways to turn your food into flavors that jump across the globe.

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Toasted Oatmeal with Flax and Chia Seeds

March 31, 2014 By Karen

Sometimes the simplest foods become special because you take the time to make them from scratch. There’s nothing more basic than a bowl of oatmeal, but with a few extra steps it can go from being a sensible heart-healthy breakfast to a dish that you actually look forward to with anticipation.

I didn’t grow up eating oatmeal. Maybe it’s because my mom didn’t like it and so she didn’t offer it, or that warm mornings in sunny California didn’t call for it. But I discovered it as an adult, and admit to being a frequent buyer of the quick cooking oat packs. In order to make myself feel better about these sweetened conveniences, I tried to stick with the Oats and Flax ones, but even those have more sugar than I feel comfortable with, especially since my toddler began requesting them daily for his breakfast at daycare.

So when a couple of months ago I noticed several food bloggers posting about the same oatmeal recipe from the cookbook “Whole-Grain Mornings,” by Megan Gordon, I decided to give it a shot. We had family coming for breakfast, and instead of my typical homemade granola with fruit and yogurt or waffles I serve to feed a crowd, I went a different route. Toasted oatmeal for company certainly isn’t the obvious choice, but that morning it was a huge hit. And it couldn’t have been simpler….

Chipotle Turkey Meatballs

March 3, 2014 By Karen

FAST AND EASY CHIPOTLE TURKEY MEATBALLS

Dinner is often a scramble in my house. Most days I’m lucky enough that the kids are already home from school (thanks to their grandparents,) but at 5:30pm I rush through the door and head straight to the kitchen, barely saying hello and giving kisses. I drop my bags, and before I do anything else I put a pot of water on to boil and turn on the oven. Even if I haven’t planned what I’m going to cook, I do these two things just to get the process moving. Only then do I wash my hands and check in with everyone, asking if homework’s been done and how the day’s been. For our night to go smoothly, not only do I need to get our meal prepped, but our family dinner needs to be enjoyed and completed within an hour and fifteen minutes. It’s a tall order, and not always successful, but it certainly is the goal.

I have my standard kitchen fallbacks, the dishes I throw together without thinking and without a recipe, but they’re not exactly exciting. How many times can I possibly cook turkey burgers, or toss pasta with a quick turkey meat sauce? I love pulling a bag of something homemade out of the freezer and just reheating, but it’s not always an option. So I’m thrilled when I find a great recipe that’s fast and flavorful, pleases all four of us, and can even be doubled so I can freeze half for another night. Chipotle Turkey Meatballs fits the bill perfectly. It’s slightly adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, “Mexican Everyday,” by Rick Bayless. It’s a book that uses easy to find ingredients, most recipes can be made in less than an hour, and for dishes that take longer he has crockpot cooking instructions so your meal can be waiting for you when you get home. I’ve made several dishes and every single one of them works. It’s a book you should have on your shelf….

Cooked Vanilla and Chocolate Almond Frostings

February 22, 2014 By Karen

Chocolate Almond Frosting, So Good You’ll Want To Eat It Straight

I have a confession: I have never been a fan of the always popular buttercream. I’ve genuinely tried to like it, and have certainly had my share. I’m not known to turn down a cupcake, and the stock topping is always a combination of butter and powdered sugar. Most of the time it is cloyingly sweet, and it just doesn’t get me excited. Let’s be honest, I still gobble it down, but it’s never what I really want. In my early baking days, a friend bought me The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. At the time, the bakery it’s from was all the rage in New York, especially after it was featured in an episode of Sex and the City. It was before cupcakes became a “thing,” and even before the long forgotten donut craze. As soon as I got it, I made their traditional vanilla birthday cake (which is great), and then did what was expected and followed their recipe for traditional vanilla buttercream. I was so disappointed. I mean really disappointed. It calls for EIGHT cups of powdered sugar for two sticks of butter! Remember, I was still new to the whole playing in the kitchen thing, so I followed the recipe exactly, not tasting it as I went along. When all was said and done, it looked beautiful, but I felt like eating it would send me straight to the dentist.

Over the years I have searched for a frosting recipe that actually makes me happy. Some have been better than others, but a few years ago I found the winner on Tasty Kitchen. This recipe looks bizarre though, like nothing I had seen before. It first calls for you to heat milk and flour together on the stove. FLOUR. In a frosting. Once that turns thick (the original recipe describes it like a brownie batter), you let it cool and then beat it to death with creamed butter and granulated white sugar. There is no powdered sugar in this. And the proportion of sugar to butter is a fraction of what you normally find in buttercream recipes. I’ve always assumed this has to be an old recipe, the kind you would find written on an index card in a box at your grandmother’s. (Certainly not my grandmother’s, but maybe yours.) Clearly priced right, with no heavy cream and a fraction of the sugar (2 cups of sugar to 4 sticks of butter, compared to SIXTEEN cups of powdered sugar to make the same amount of Magnolia Buttercream!), I figured that the flour had to be there for a reason. With a few minutes search, I found one explanation on Chowhound. Because the flour and milk are cooked like a roux, this has been referred to as Gravy Icing, and the poster called Making Sense wrote, “The Gravy Icing was terrific in the hot, humid South. In addition to being economical, especially in the lean Depression and War years, it stood up to the heat and humidity in the days before air-conditioning. Buttercreams slid right off a cake and down onto the tables.” This is a no nonsense frosting. (Or icing if you rather, but frosting is typically fluffy and thick while icing is glossy and thin.)…