by Sam Tackeff | Apr 14, 2013 | Pantry Staples, Quick and Easy, Vegetables
I was going to share this recipe last week, but then noticed that Ken and Jody had a wonderful post on Romesco with Grilled Spring Onions, and I suffered a short bout of blogger envy. Mine is the quick version, but be sure to swing over to theirs and check out the gorgeous photos – and then go ahead and make some Romesco! It’ll take you ten minutes, and you’ll be happy all week long.
* * *
I’ve really been enjoying the new era of Bon Appétit with Adam Rapoport at the helm. It feels like they’ve made a good comeback and successfully refreshed themselves. The creative direction feels modern and relevant, and they have been taking chances on some great up-coming photographers. (It was a treat to see the work of Kimberley Hasslebrink and Brian Ferry in recent issues.) Lately I’ve been really excited for each issue to arrive – and when it does, I find myself flagging multiple recipes to try, and actually heading in the kitchen to cook them.
As part of this year’s kitchen resolutions, I’ve been trying to make a new sauce every week – sometimes a pesto, salsa verde, or chimichurri. Or even a good mayonnaise spike with fresh herbs and garlic. Having a sauce on hand is a good incentive to cook when you are feeling uninspired – you know you already have one component finished, a perfect accompaniment to chicken, roasted vegetables, spooned on eggs, or to refresh leftovers.
A few months ago I had flagged a segment of the magazine called “Master Fresh and Easy Sauces”, which had an entire selection of sauces I’d be interested in eating: Romesco, Green Harissa, Avocado-Lime Sauce Vierge, Kimchi Relish, and Charred Lemon-Shallot Chutney. The Romesco made the cut because I had all of the ingredients already in my pantry.
Romesco
adapted from Bon Appétit January 2013
(Recipe by Soa Davies)
The original recipe called for one large pepper, although I used 1/2 the jar from Trader Joes (about 3 medium ones), and substituted almond meal for toasted slivered almonds. I think you’d get a little bit more depth from toasting, although frankly I found that the sauce had enough punch without. For the tomato purée, I’ve used both Italian passata and Trader Joe’s tomato sauce in the can with success here.
1 large roasted red bell pepper from a jar
1 garlic clove, smashed
1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup tomato purée
2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbsp. Sherry vinegar
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a food processor, pulse the first 8 ingredients until finely chopped, and add slowly add olive oil until smooth. Or, if you can’t exercise patience, put all of the ingredients into a large cup, and blend with your immersion blender. (Quick, less to clean, and just as delicious.)
Makes 1 1/2 cups. Keeps in the fridge for a week.
by Sam Tackeff | Oct 8, 2012 | Challenge
Happy Columbus Day everyone! It was very busy around here this weekend, and I just came back from racing in my very first 10k! I’ll be writing a race-recap tonight, but in the meantime, I thought I’d present my weekend in pictures.
Now that my Whole30 is complete, I’m still in the midst of the gym challenge, but a lot more relaxed about eating snacks, eating out, etc. On Saturday morning, I ate a quick breakfast before we headed out on errands: a Chocolate Coconut Chew LÄRABAR, and a banana.
Our first errand was a trip to the Apple Store to pick up my brand new iPhone 5!
I’ve made it over a decade with only three phones:
1. A very trendy Samsung A300 (flip phone! text messages! the front screen lit up green! composer ring tone!), several years later when my poor little Samsung became possessed (it would turn on and off, flashing I kid you not – 666), I moved on up.
2. The Motorola KRAZR. Now I could take pictures with a 2 megapixel camera! Record my own ringtones! The “Itchy and Scratchy” theme song was my wake-up alarm for almost 5 years. Now every time I hear it watching old episodes of the Simpsons, I flinch. I’m not sure what I was thinking. Life was good.
3. And then a few years ago, my (now 20) year old brother insisted that we become data subscribers. He was so insistent in fact, that he purchased me a phone. So for the past three years I’ve been happy with my HTC EVO4G. It’s been particularly good to me, with the exception of killing power charging cords – I’ve gone through half a dozen in the past year alone.
I was due for an upgrade. I got the black one. (Photo via Engadget)
Our second errand was to get the birthday boy his brand new Banjo! He ended up with this Fender Rustler. It’s pretty, and it sounds wonderful. (Photo via themusiczoo)
When we came home, I had breakfast round 2 – a few Romanian sausages from M.F. Dulock, and some eggs.
In the afternoon, I went on a slow run around the neighborhood with a podcast – 3.27 miles in 44 minutes. My last go before race day!
For dinner, we met up with Amanda,
And my mom,
To celebrate this one’s birthday at Sweet Basil!
Sweet Basil is one of my favorite restaurants – a gem of a place in Needham.
The table started by eating inordinate amounts of bright pesto and bread. I, alas, abstained. I did consume a huge amount of roasted beet and goat cheese salad with dried apricots. (Minus the goat cheese which my mom ate, and minus the parmigiano which you see here, which was put on by accident after requesting the dairy on the side. We actually got a new one.)
For our entree, we shared the lamb shank with roasted vegetables over polenta (which I gave to my mom, regretfully, as it’s the most heavenly polenta you’ll taste). When I got home I realized that the shank might have been dredged in flour, and there might have been butter to finish the sauce – even though I had asked about dairy, I clearly wasn’t specific enough. A huge part of this challenge has been becoming more aware of just how difficult it is for folks with allergies and health concerns to eat safely, even when they think they are being careful. And it makes me extra thankful for my health. On the plus side, this was outrageously delicious.
On Sunday morning, I sat down to brunch – an avocado, and two eggs, with some pumpkin spice coffee from Trader Joe’s and some reading – Anne Lamott’s bird by bird. I’ve been taking much too long to read it, but love picking it up in small doses to avoid finishing it.
In the afternoon, we headed for an IKEA date.
I picked up my free IKEA coffee with my IKEA family card. And then, in further proof that something may be terribly wrong with me, I purchased and consumed this entire bag of almonds and raisins. Raisins, for the record, have tasted awful to me for the past two decades. I don’t know. I don’t understand it at all.
It was in IKEA that I discovered the full excitement of the new panorama feature on my iPhone.
We ended up with a new bookshelf, dresser, and bedside table – all part of our efforts to make our house more into a home. When we got back, I went for a short walk.
Fall!
Stately houses!
And came back to put together some furniture. Don’t let them tell you that IKEA sucks. We’ve been really happy with the furniture we’ve purchased from there in the past five years. Especially my beloved Tylosand couch which I had to give away before moving across the country, and mourn daily.
For dinner, I “carbo-loaded” for the race. And by that I mean, spaghetti squash and meat sauce. Not quite the same, I know. But I love my squash, and it twirls on the fork just like real pasta.
Before bed we sat around watching Devon’s Lakers pre-season game, and then got to sleep so that I could get a full 8 hours before my 10k attempt. More on that tomorrow!
