farmers market spinach + leek frittata

Someone recently asked me if I plan out all my meals before going to the farmers market and the answer is yes and no. There are weeks where I have dishes in mind, but more often than not, I let the seasonal ingredients decide for me. This spinach + leek frittata was inspired by the latter. I was trying to figure out how to incorporate a handful of ingredients from my recent market hauls into one dish. A frittata was the perfect avenue. It’s versatile and uses up produce in the fridge that you may not have other plans for. Feel free to substitute other veggies/herbs you have or prefer instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of spinach, from Kirsop Farm.

• 2 small leeks, from Kirsop Farm. Light green and white parts only, halved and sliced (not pictured because it was a last-minute add-on!).

• 3 small shallots, from River Run Farm. Thinly sliced.

• 8 large eggs, from Skagit River Ranch.

• About 1/4 cup of basil leaves, from Spring Rain Farm. I left the basil leaves whole since they were small, feel free to chop if yours are large or if you don’t like whole leaves.

• 1 cup of cheddar, from Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. Shredded.

• 1/3 cup of heavy cream.

• 1/2 cup of parmigiano-reggiano. Shredded or grated.

• Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F, and set an oven rack in the middle position.

• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, pepper, and salt. Set aside.

• Heat the oil in a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and leeks, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Do not brown. Add half of the spinach and cook until wilted down, about 1 minute. Add the remaining spinach and season with salt and continue cooking until all of the spinach is wilted, 1 minute more.

• Add the cooked spinach mixture, cheddar, parmigiano reggiano, and basil to the egg mixture and stir to combine. Pour the mixture back into the pan, then place it in the oven and bake until set, about 21 minutes.

• Use a spatula to loosen the edges and slide the frittata onto a serving platter. Slice and serve. We like ours with a little bit of hot sauce. We used the Habenero Hot Sauce from Yellowbird.

cooking: homemade pizza

Originally published 12/1/19. Updated 9/24/2020 with new photos.

A while back, andy and i took a pizza class at The Pantry (which we loved) and finally decided to try the recipe and method we learned at home. I’ve been hesitant to make this dough because it makes eight 11” pizzas — the recipe cannot be cut down any further. It’s a whole lot of pizza, so I’ve been putting it off. However, I felt an evening itch to create something last night, so I started on the pizza dough, which requires 16-20 hours of rest time.

This pizza recipe/method is p-e-r-f-e-c-t-i-o-n. It’s a light and crispy pizza with the perfect amount of char along the crust, close to restaurant quality! We made a couple of pies tonight and froze the rest of dough for another day. You can keep it up to a month in the freezer or 24 hours in the fridge.

I didn’t include details on toppings, just use whatever your heart desires. However, our instructor advised no more than four (including cheese) for the best results!

pizza dough recipe from The Pantry
(yields 8 - 11” pizzas, the recipe cannot be cut down any further)

• 933 grams cold water

• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of active dry yeast (the former during warm weather)

• 1362 grams of all-purpose flour

• 38 grams of kosher salt

- mix the yeast with water in a large bowl and stir until dissolved. Set aside.

- mix the salt with the flour. add the flour mixture to the water gradually, stirring with a wooden spoon. once all of the flour is incorporated, it will be difficult to stir. it’s ok if it doesn’t look even. mix by hand if needed to get all of the dry bits of flour incorporated. do not knead, you are not trying to develop gluten.

- if your mixing bowl is not large enough, place the dough in a larger tupperware and let it rise at room temperature. cover with plastic wrap — not a towel. the goal is for the dough to smell yeasty and a bit sour, and it should grow 2 1/2 times its original size. to get maximum flavor, this should take around 16-20 hours. if it is ready sooner, then note to use less yeast at that temperature. when the dough has finished rising, place it in the fridge to cool completely.

- once the dough has chilled, cut the dough into 270-gram portions.

- shape the dough into boules.

- place the boules a few inches apart on a floured sheet pan. seal tightly and allow the boules to rest for at least an hour, so the gluten can relax. if you are not using them within an hour, they can be chilled in the fridge for up to 24 hours, or frozen for up to a month. be sure to remove them from the fridge 45 minutes before stretching them, because dough that is cooler than 65 degrees is difficult to stretch.

cooking the pizza

- place a sheet pan on the bottom of the oven and line it with quarry tiles. alternatively you can use a pizza stone, but the smaller surface area will not create as much heat. preheat the oven to 500F or as high it will go, with tiles for at least an hour before you start baking.

- one at a time stretch or toss your pizza. it should be roughly 11” in diameter. any larger and it will be too thin, and prone to drying out in a home oven.

- place the stretched pizza dough onto a very lightly floured pizza peel and begin topping. remember that thin crust pizza wants minimal toppings — four max, including the cheese! also, move quickly, before the pizza sticks to the peel!

- give the pizza peel a shake to make sure it isn’t stuck. if it is, lift of the edges and toss some more flour underneath it. open the oven and place the peel all the way in, at an angle, with the pizza directly above where you want it to land. gently shake the peel back, letting the pizza fall into place.

- close the oven and bake the pizza (no peeking, you’ll lose heat) until it’s nicely charred.

- remove pizza from oven and grate with fresh parmesan or grana. slice and serve immediately.

cooking: roasted tomato + charred sweet pepper soup

I look forward to tomato season every year because it’s the only time of year that I really eat tomatoes. My dream is to someday have my own garden where I can grow and harvest things like tomatoes, but for now, I’ll leave it to the pros at the farmers market.

Over the years, I’ve made several variations of tomato soup. I ate a ton of it in college (i.e. Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup from Trader Joes), but have since grown away from the store bought variety because homemade is SO much better (and usually healthier, too).

Tomatoes from this week’s farmers market haul (many used in this recipe)!

I made my first tomato soup of the season last week and while it was good, I immediately started noting a bunch of ways I wanted to modify it and that’s how this new recipe was born! This one is more robust in flavor and creamy without any cream. Additionally, if you omit the parmesan (a garnish), the soup is vegan!

I N G R E D I E N T S

• 6-10 tomatoes, depending on size (see recipe notes)

• 1 sweet onion quartered

• 8 cloves of garlic smashed (see recipe notes)

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 4-6 sprigs of fresh thyme (see recipe notes)

• 8 fresh sage leaves

• 3 sweet peppers (see recipe notes)

• 1/2 cup of basil

• 1/2 to 1 tsp of dried oregano

• kosher salt, to taste

• freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

• freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

• basil oil (optional) (see recipe notes)

• garlic crostini (optional)

• parsley or basil for garnish (optional)

R E C I P E N O T E S

• I used two medium to large heirloom tomatoes + 8 small heirloom tomatoes from the farmers market. if possible, use garden or farm fresh tomatoes — they work best for this recipe, especially when they’re in season.

• I always use extra garlic! Feel free to scale back if garlic is not your jam.

• I roast the entire sprigs of thyme and then remove the sprigs (keeping the leaves) before blending. They come off easier when they’re all toasty, but you can also just use 2 tablespoons of leaves and not have to worry about the sprigs later.

• I used two red gyspy sweet peppers and one green italian sweet pepper. Any sweet pepper will do!

• I keep a jar of homemade basil oil in the fridge during the summer time. It goes on a lot of things (salads, soups, sandwiches, eggs, etc.). The recipe I use is from Jack Gilmore’s cookbook.

• I think the consistency of the soup is perfect as is. However, if it’s too thick for your liking, add vegetable broth to thin out the soup. Alternatively, if you want it even creamier, add a little bit of heavy cream in step 4.

Peppers and garlic from this week farmers market haul.

I blistered the gypsy and italian sweet peppers.

I N S T R U C T I O N S

1. Preheat the oven to 425F degrees. In a large oven safe pot, I used a 5.5 QT Staub Cast Iron Round Cocotte, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, thyme, sage leaves, olive oil, red pepper flakes, a pinch each of salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer to the oven and roast for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to char and release their juices. Let it cool (10-15 minutes).

2. While tomatoes are roasting, char your peppers. I charred mine over a gas stove until they were nice and blistered on each side. If you don’t have a gas stove, check out these alternatives.

3. Tent the peppers in foil and allow them to steam and cool a bit. Remove the stem and seeds.

4. Transfer the roasted tomato mix and their juices to a blender; puree until smooth. Next, add basil and charred peppers and blend again. Alternatively you can keep everything in your pot and use an immersion blender.

5. After blending, transfer back to the pot, turn to medium low heat, and add in oregano. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Once the soup is warm and at your desired consistency (see recipe notes), ladle soup into your serving bowl and top with parmesan cheese, basil oil, garlic crostini, and chopped basil or parsley. Serve with a grilled cheese, if desired. Enjoy!

Produce & such featured in this post that are from local Washington Farmers and businesses:

• Tomatoes: One Leaf Farm and Lyall Farm

• Peppers, garlic, shallots: Alvarez Organic Farm

• Basil, sweet onion: Kirsop Farm

• Sage, thyme: Spring Rain Farm

• Shokupan (for grilled cheese): Ayako and Family

• Aged Cheddar: Beechers Handmade Cheese

Additional notes:

• All photos in the post were taken on my iPhone.

• Any Amazon.com links in this post are part of an affiliate advertising program.

farmers market haul: week of august 16

I love the farmers market. I love being able to buy local, seasonal produce and products directly from the source. You can really taste the difference both in the quality and care. Plus, I’ve found that it pushes me to try new things and gets me excited about cooking. I’ve shared several of my market hauls, but what happens to all these amazing ingredients?

Over the last week, I documented the things I’ve cooked using many of the items from these amazing farmers. I included a list of items from my August 16 haul (categorized by farm) and linked adapted recipes where applicable. If you have questions on modifications I made or about something that doesn’t have a recipe link (some things I made up!), let me know in the comments below.

A few notes…

• I didn’t use everything I bought from the market this week and I also used some items from past purchases.

• All the photos in this post were taken with my iPhone.

• Any Amazon.com links in this post are part of an affiliate advertising program.

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FARMERS MARKET HAUL

I haven’t been in a couple of weeks because I’ve been out-of-town, so this is a hefty haul!

Kirsop Farm
- Baby Leek Bunch
- Romaine Lettuce
- Celery
- Red Leaf Lettuce
- Basil
- Scallions
- Carrots
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Boneless chicken breast
- Chicken wings
- Chicken drumsticks

Stokesberry Sustainable Farm
- Whole chicken (3.89 lbs)

SpringRain Farm
- Heirloom tomatoes
- Duck eggs
- English cucumber
- Thyme
- Mint

Ayako and Family
- Shokupan

Lyall Farm
- Tomatoes

Sea Breeze Farm*
- 40-day dry aged rib eye steak
*picked up at the University Farmers Market on Saturday

One Leaf Farm
- Lacinato Kale
- Fennel
- Green Beans
- Basil
- Heirloom Tomato
- Escarole
- Rainbow Carrots

Alvarez Organic Farms
- Big leaf basil
- Thai purple basil
- Shishito peppers
- Bell peppers
- Sweet corn
- Cucumbers
- Tomatillos
- Shallots
- Yellow onions
- Cantaloupe

Skagit River Ranch
- Skirt Steak

Wilson Fish Markets
- Wine / maple smoked salmon

Collins Family Orchard
We get a weekly CSA box from Collins Family Orchards delivered to our apartment on Tuesdays. Below you’ll find photo of the fruits we got this week and what they are.

collins family orchard: sugar crisp apples, yellow + white nectarines, white donut peaches, freestone yellow peaches, amber jewel pluot, ginger golden apples

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THE MEALS

s a t u r d a y

I picked up this glorious dry-aged ribeye from Sea Breeze Farm at the University Farmers Market on Saturday (before the regular Sunday Ballard Farmers Market I usually attend). I adapted this recipe (David Chang, Momofuku).

s u n d a y

Brunch: Everything Bagel with Smoked Salmon

• Everything Bagel (Seattle Bagel Bakery)

• Wine / maple smoked salmon (Wilson Fish Market)

• Scallions (Kirsop Farm)

• Other ingredients: everything but the bagel greek yogurt dip (trader joes), red onion.

Snacks: Blueberries and strawberries (SpringRain Farm)

Prep: Chinese Salted Duck Egg - adapted recipe

• Organic duck eggs (SpringRain Farm)

Dinner: Vietnamese Chicken Pho (IP) - adapted recipe

• Whole chicken (Stokesberry Sustainable Farm)

• Thai basil (Alvarez Organic Farm)

• Scallions (Kirsop Farm)

• Onions (Alvarez Organic Farm)

• Apple (Collins Family Orchard)

• Jalapeno (SpringRain Farm)

• Other ingredients: organic chicken stock, fish sauce salt. Remaining ingredients can found in this recipe that I adapted.
  

m o n d a y

Brunch: Veggie Bagel

• Everything Bagel (Seattle Bagel Bakery)

• Tomatoes (Lyall Farm)

• English Cucumber (SpringRain Farm)

• Celery & Celery leaves (Kirsop Farm)

• Other ingredients: cream cheese, salt & pepper

Snacks: Blueberries and strawberries (SpringRain Farm)

Prep: Salad dressing - adapted recipe

• Dressing: shallot, garlic (Alvarez Organic Farm) lemon, dijon mustard, olive oil, crushed red pepper, salt & pepper

Dinner: Gazpacho (not pictured - adapted recipe) & Blue Ribbon Tomato Tart (Ashley Rodriguez, Let’s Stay In) with Basil Oil

• Heirloom tomatoes (SpringRain Farm, One Leaf Farm)

• Tomatoes (Lyall Farm)

• Cherry Tomatoes (Kirsop Farm)

• Basil (Kirsop Farm)

• Cucumber, garlic, basil (Alvarez Organic Farm)

• Jalapeno (SpringRain Farm)

• Other ingredients: olive oil, goat cheese, heavy cream, parmesan, butter, flour, cold water.

t u e s d a y

Lunch: Kale Quinoa Salad (with yesterday’s prep salad dressing) & Leftover Tomato Tart

• Kale (One Leaf Farm)

• Tomatoes (Lyall Farm)

• Celery & Carrots (Kirsop Farm)

• Other ingredients: quinoa, pine nuts

Snacks: Collins Family Orchard fruit (various)

Prep: Marinate pork belly (Skagit River Ranch)

Dinner: Steak tacos with homemade tomatillo + avocado salsa, and homemade pico de gallo.

• Skirt Steak (Skagit River Ranch)

• Tomatillos, onions, green bell pepper (Alvarez Organic Farm)

• Jalapeno (Spring Rain Farm)

• Tomatoes (Lyall Farm)

• Homemade Tortillas (flour, water, shortening, salt)

• Other ingredients: cilantro, mexican blend shredded cheese, avocado, garlic

w e d n e s d a y

Brunch: Leftover Kale + Quinoa Salad

See ingredients in previous post

Snacks: Collins Family Orchard fruit (various)
Bonus: Cookies & Cream Cookies - adapted recipe

Dinner: Spring rolls with pork belly, two-ways (exact recipe from David Chang, Momofuku; adapted recipe from RecipeTin)

• Pork belly (Skagit River Ranch)

• Red lettuce & scallions (Kirsop Farm)

• English Cucumbers & mint (Spring Rain Farm)

• Purple Thai Basil (Alvarez Organic Farm)

• Other ingredients: banh hoi, nuoc cham (adapted recipe), bean sprouts, rice paper wraps.

t h u r s d a y

Lunch: Steak salad & blistered shishito peppers

• NY Steak (Skagit River Ranch)

• Shishito peppers, corn, onions, tomatillos, & green bell peppers (Alvarez Organic Farms)

• Romaine lettuce (Kirsop Farm)

• Tomatoes (Lyall Farm)

• Other ingredients: tortilla chips

Dinner: Bursted sungold cherry tomato pasta

• Sungold cherry tomatoes (Kirsop Farm)

• Basil (One Leaf Farm)

• Other ingredients: olive oil, garlic, parmesan, thin spaghetti

Snacks: Collins Family Orchard fruit (various)

f r i d a y

Brunch: Breakfast sandwich & hash brown

• Organic chicken egg (Skagit River Ranch)

• Other ingredients: english muffin, white american cheese, black forest ham, jalapeno hot sauce

Snacks: Collins Family Orchard fruit (various)

Dinner: Pasta alle vongole (check out my post on this adapted recipe!)

• Manila clams (Hama Hama Farms)
  Not a farmers market purchase, but I ordered them from a fifth generation family-run shellfish farm on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

• Onion (Alvarez Organic Farms)

• Other ingredients: check out this post

cooking: pasta alle vongole

I love shellfish. Dungeness crab, clams, spot prawns, oysters — almost like I was destined for the PNW!

In recent years, I stopped cooking clams at home because I just couldn’t get them clean enough, sand bombs all over my broths and sauces. However, early on in COVID-19 quarantine, I saw a promotion for free (local) direct-to-home delivery from Hama Hama, a fifth-generation family-run shellfish farm on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Andy and I love indulging in Hama Hama oysters at Walrus and the Carpenter, so I thought we’d give their clams a try.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen that I think they are fantastic! In addition to being high-quality in taste, they are also nicely pre-cleaned. I give them a bit of a rinse when I get them and they are sand bomb free. That’s inspired me to cook with them at home more, including in this pasta alle vongole.

Hands down, the best Italian food I’ve had to date (keeping in mind that I have not been to Italy) is Pink Door in Seattle. The Linguine Alle Vongole is one of our favorites and is what inspired the recipe in this post. Also, the next thing I’m about to say has nothing to do with this post but I have to say it. The Pappardelle Al Ragu Bolognese at The Pink Door is OUT OF THIS WORLD. If you haven’t been, are thinking about going, or someday stumble on The Pink Door. Order it. No regrets.

I adapted this recipe from Samin Nosrat (Salt, Acid, Fat, Heat). Below are the ingredients I used, along with my modifications. Check out the full recipe from Splendid Table or in Samin’s cookbook.

I N G R E D I E N T S

• Salt (I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt)

• Extra-virgin olive oil (I like using Lucini or California Olive Ranch)

• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced, root ends saved

• 3 parsley sprigs, plus 1/4 finely chopped leaves

• 4-5lbs of manila clams, scrubbed well

• 1 cup dry white wine

• 6-8 cloves of garlic

• 1 tsp of red pepper flakes

• 8oz of linguini (I like using De Cecco)

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 4 tbsp of unsalted butter

• 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan

M O D I F I C A T I O N S + T I P S

• I used all Manila clams because that’s what I had, but you can use a combo of Manila and Littleneck Clams, or just more of one.

• Since I only used one variety of clams, I treated them like the Littlenecks in her recipe. I skipped chopping them because they were already small and I reserved a few in the shells for plating.

• I used half the amount of pasta the original recipe called for.

• I like it a little more garlicky and added more than the original recipe called for.

• I used about half of a large lemon in the sauce, but taste and adjust to your preference. I served the additional lemon on the side. Andy likes the extra acidity.

• There’s no set amount for how much of the clam juice to use, I was more liberal because I like the briny taste.

• The pasta should be saucey. Serve with a side of crusty bread to soak that extra goodness!

• Buy a small block of parmesan and freshly grate it at home. It makes a difference, I promise!

• Invest in good olive oil to up your sauce game.

DISCLOSURE: Links in this post are part of the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

cooking in quarantine

Washington has been under a shelter-in-place order for 8 weeks (and counting), so I’ve been spending all of my time at home. It’s where I work, live, exercise, relax, have fun? It’s a meld of weird boundaries I’m still trying to understand. It makes me overwhelmingly anxious. In an effort to keep my mind preoccupied, I (like many) decided to try cooking a bunch of things I presumably didn’t have time for before. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve witnessed many of those ventures, but here are some if you haven’t. I included little anecdotes and some notes on modifications I made, original recipes are also linked below!

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

Adapted recipe from: Gordon Ramsay
I modified this recipe.

Confession, I’ve made these eggs before. This is not a first-time quarantine cook, like a few other of the recipes you’ll find in the post.

Unlike things like layered cakes or bread, I’ve had a lot of time and practice to perfect breakfast making throughout the years. Breakfast food was one of my favorites growing-up, so I spent many years mastering the art of eggs.

I cook mine slightly more than Gordon does. His appear to be very creamy, almost runny, but I like my eggs to have just a tad more texture. So I cook them for just a bit longer. They’re still creamy and perfect for my personal taste.

Zosui (Japanese Rice Soup) 雑炊

Adapted recipe from: RecipeTin Japan
I modified this recipe.

I’ve made this several times before but this is such a good one that it resurfaced during quarantine. Andy and I enjoy supporting local chefs and checking out the ones who happen to Beat Bobby Flay. Which is how we stumbled upon Shota Nakajima, owner of Adana in Capitol Hill.

We had the Chef’s Tasting Menu during both of our visits and they both concluded with a dish similar to this. It reminds me of congee, though through my research I found that it’s actually considered more of a soup in Japan.

I like this recipe because it’s packed with umami. I made mine with homemade dashi. I used this recipe and often double or triple it. I usually add a bounty of mushrooms and cod and find that I need more broth than specified in the original recipe. Plus, you can use the extra dashi broth for a variety of things, like miso soup!

The original recipe also calls for carrots and shiitakes. I usually leave out the carrots and add a mix of rehydrated dried shiitakes and fresh ones. I also add cod (cut into 1” pieces), and a bounty of scallions. Perfection.

Biang Biang Noodles (油泼扯面)

Adapted recipe from: Souped Up Kitchen
I modified this recipe.

I love this dish. Andy and I order it whenever we come across it on a menu. We’ve had it at several places in Seattle, but my favorite has been at Xi’an Noodles in the University District.

I saw this recipe when I was endlessly scrolling through Instagram and was excited to finally try it. The recipe calls for bread flour, which is essential if you live in the U.S. You can hear why in the tutorial video accompanied in the original recipe link.

Luckily, I had leftover bread flour from that thing I made once that one time (ha). I made the noodle recipe exactly as written but I modified the sauce and toppings, including: using chili oil versus chili flakes, and adding scallions, spring onions, spring garlic, and cilantro.

A few tips!

1. I found it helpful to read the instructions and watch the tutorial video.

2. In the video, an oiled dish is used to rest the rolled dough. I found that oiling a small sheet pan allowed me the space I needed without having to stack them.

3. The noodles are cooked simultaneously while they’re being stretched in the video. I stretched all my noodles first. I let them rest in the same oiled sheet pan, covered in plastic until I was ready to cook them. I checked on them frequently to make sure they weren’t sticking.

Homemade Pasta

Recipe from: NYT Cooking + Samin Nosrat
I made the pasta dough recipe exactly as written.

Andy and I took a pasta making class at the The Pantry last year and the biggest revelation was that he is very good at kneading and rolling out dough. It wasn’t just beginner’s luck either. We took a pizza making class the following night and he was a star baker, ha.

Since that class, I have been itching to make my own pasta. I’m too cheap to buy the Kitchen Aid attachment that rolls the dough for you, so I bought the manual pasta roller and I actually really love it. You don’t have to have a pasta roller, but I’d highly recommend it.

It took almost a year to finally make the pasta. And while during quarantine wasn’t my first at-home attempt, I’ve definitely made it a couple times during. The shaped pasta freezes nicely for later use too.

NYT Cooking* has an extensive section on making homemade pasta that was done in partnership with Samin Nosrat. A complete walkthrough and tutorial on making pasta, including making the dough, forming shapes, creating fillings, etc. There are great videos references too. If you’re just looking for the basic pasta recipe, Samin also has it on her website.

*Once you’ve used up your NYT Cooking free trial, you can access ONE recipe (per device) a day without running into the paywall. So if you’ve already used up your free trial and don’t want to pay for a subscription, access this recipe the day you want to make it or keep open open on your browser until you plan to make it. If you close out of it and try to come back (the same day), you’ll run into the paywall. Alternatively, you can print it if the videos aren’t important to you.

Tapioca Pearls (Boba) with Brown Sugar Milk Tea

Adapted recipe from: EmmyMadeInJapan
I modified this recipe.

I came across this video on Facebook. Yes, I still use Facebook, I use every social media platform because it’s my job. And no, that job is not influencer. Ha.

I’m usually not a huge fan of video recipes that don’t follow any written instructions. While Emmy does provide measurements, I went through the whole process feeling pretty skeptical.

But alas, it turned out really well! The pearls had nice texture and flavor to them. In the video she uses milk and heavy cream, but I used a mix of oat milk and black tea instead. After watching other milk tea videos, I realized it would’ve likely yielded a better result to seep the tea in the milk. Either way, it was good.

This is a recipe I’d definitely categorize as a craft project. While it was fun to make it, I can’t say that I would choose making it at home versus getting it at my favorite boba tea cafe. You know, when quarantine is over. =)

Caramelized Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats

Adapted recipe from: NYT Cooking
I modified this recipe.

This recipe is a winner. I love that it comes together with just a few ingredients and is oh-so-delicious. Browned butter is all the hype, but it gives the treats a slight caramelized nutty flavor that I am here for!

I halved the original recipe, because I didn’t need 60 rice krispies treats in my two-person household. I also used mini marshmallows instead of the regular ones, because that’s all that was left at the store. I used salted butter as listed in the recipe and didn’t find it to be too salty, but if you’re concerned, you can use unsalted butter and add salt at your discretion.

Fresh Herb Risotto

Adapted recipe from: Ashley Rodriguez
Cookbook: Date Night In
I modified this recipe.

I got really into making risotto when I found the Mushroom Risotto with Peas from NYT Cooking. I’ve made it with a variety of different mushrooms that I find at the local farmers market, but maitake and chanterelle are my favorites for that risotto.

I didn’t think I’d find another risotto recipe I’d like more until I found this one! Ashley’s cookbooks have some of my favorite recipes. Risotto can be a heavy dish, but the bright fresh herbs here make it feel lighter. I had an abundance of amazing herbs from the farmers market that I used, and I modified the recipe slightly by including fresh spring asparagus. I poached the asparagus here, but I think I’d grill them next time.