Raccoon update and a garden

I've been afraid to actually write this because I thought I might be jinxing it, but it's been more than a week and I feel like it's true: The raccoon and her babies are gone. I haven't heard any scratching in a long time and there have been no sightings. I'll probably never know if she left on her own or because of the chemical they used. I laughed pretty hard when I saw the new Allstate commercial; I think it wraps up the whole saga pretty well.

Even in the midst of the raccoon saga, I really love the apartment I have. But one of the things you notice is that the when the house was renovated the money was spent on the inside, not the outside, which I do appreciate. However, I almost chickened out when I saw the porch that looks like it could fall off at any moment, and the backyard seemed to be where lawn tools came to die. The porch is still in bad shape, though I see it as charming instead of ghetto now. But the backyard has been transformed into an actual garden with beautiful flowers and a variety of vegetables -- tomatoes, squash, broccoli, cucumbers. A few pictures:

Of course this was transformed without any help from me. The guy who takes care of the house did all the work, and it is pretty amazing. I can enjoy it from my back deck and not feel like I live in the city. This week I noticed that several of the vegetables were ripe for picking, but no one seemed to be harvesting anything from the garden. Despite the story of the little red hen playing in my head all week, on Sunday night I broke down and picked a tomato to put on my pizza. I'm hoping to get some in my share this week, so I'm not tempted to "borrow" anymore!

I think I'm actually looking forward to this week, even though it will be busy at work, I have some fun things planned in the evenings and for the weekend.

Because I'm from the South

And I had green tomatoes, fried green tomatoes were part of my dinner Sunday night.

I'm not sure what else to do with green tomatoes, but this recipe from my co-op is really good (also I made more than two slices):

• 9 1/4-inch-thick slices green tomatoes (about 3 tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 large egg (or 2 medium), beaten to blend
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Sprinkle all green tomato slices with salt and pepper. Place 1/4 cup flour in shallow bowl. Mix remaining 1/4 cup flour with cornmeal in another shallow bowl to blend. Working with 1 green tomato slice at a time, coat with flour, then egg, then flour-cornmeal mixture. 

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry green tomatoes until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer to baking sheet; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Keep warm in oven.

This is the last weekend for a while that I will be in town. I ended up doing more than I intended, but I still found time to cook Sunday afternoon. I have to say that time in the kitchen is one of the highlights of my week. More recipes to come this week from my Sunday cooking.

Some recipe variations

Do you remember this post when I said I couldn't make up my own recipes? Well, I've gotten braver about varying recipes and coming up with some of my own variations. I have two to share with you today.

I've written about cakeballs before, and I make them semi-frequently, usually sticking with the classic red velvet and chocolate combination. But two of my friends are now on a vegan diet, and they both previously loved cakeballs so I wanted to make a version they could eat. I cheated a bit and used Oreos, so I'd still like to try it with a vegan cake but this version was definitely a success. 

• 1 package of mint Oreos, crushed (I removed the filling of 10 of the Oreos so the mint wasn't too strong.)
• 8 oz. package of Tofuti cream cheese (I didn't use the whole container, but about 90% of it.)
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips (I found Ghiradelli's were dairy-free, but there are probably others.)

Crumble the Oreos in a food processor and then mix with the softened cream cheese. I use my hand-mixer, but a fork and a spatula work too. You don't want to see any white. 

Roll into 1-inch balls and chill in the freezer or refrigerator.

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double boiler. Dip the balls in the chocolate to coat. 

Of course you can use real cream cheese and whatever chocolate you want if you aren't concerned about avoiding dairy. The mint Oreos and white chocolate is also a good combination.

The second thing I made this week was miniature tomato pies. I still don't have the crust right, I want the crust on the mini quiches you can buy at Sam's, but this is the best I could do for now.

• Mini fillo shells
• Cherry tomatoes
• Mayonnaise
• Pesto
• Mozzerella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Slice the tomatoes and put in the fillo shells. You can probably put an entire cherry tomato in there, but I was afraid it would make it hard to just take a bite. Mix together the mayonnaise, pesto and cheeses. (The amount is going to vary based on how many cups you are making. I made 15 cups and was low on mayonnaise, but probably used 1/2-cup of mayonnaise, 1 tbsp. of pesto and a small handful of the two cheeses.)

Scoop mayonnaise-pesto mixture into the shells over the tomatoes. When ready to serve, warm in a 350-degree oven for 6-7 minutes.

They came out really well. I wish they were warmer for the party I took them to, but everyone enjoyed them anyway.

Back in the kitchen

I don't even know what happened last week. It just felt like life took over, and the blog took a backseat. But after a fun trip to a women's conference and some much needed rest, I got to spend most of Sunday in the kitchen. Something I was actually looking forward to.

I tried a couple of new recipes, so I wanted to get them posted.

In my pickup this week, I got some beautiful tomatoes. Lately I've been feeling like my tomatoes have gone to waste, and my sister suggested a tomato pie. My mom sent me her recipe, and it turned out pretty well. Here's the recipe:

Tomato Pesto Tart

• 1 sheet package refrigerated pie crust (I used one of my pie crusts from this recipe that's been in my freezer.)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 5-6 plum/roma tomatoes, sliced (One large tomato thinly sliced works, too.)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbs. jarred Pesto (I used my homemade pesto.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
• 1 Tbs. fresh basil, chopped

Fit piecrust into a lightly greased 9 inch tart pan, trim off excess piecrust along edges. Prick bottom of crust with a fork.
Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella, let stand 15 minutes. Arrange tomato slices over cheese.
Stir together mayo, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Spread mixture evenly over tomato slices.
Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil.

For the first time in a few months, I didn't have anything in my freezer to pull out for breakfast. I finished my last peach scone Sunday morning, so I had to come up with something to eat this week.

My peaches were a little rough this week, and I figured the best way to use them before they were unusable was to put them in something. I found this simple peach muffin recipe in a Google search. It reminds me of my zucchini bread recipe, and it tastes good but the peaches don't have a strong flavor. I got white peaches this week (at least that's what I think they are), so that may have something to do with it. But the muffins taste good to me.

Peach muffins
    •    3 cups all-purpose flour
    •    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
    •    1 teaspoon baking soda
    •    1 teaspoon salt
    •    1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
    •    3 eggs, lightly beaten
    •    2 cups white sugar
    •    2 cups peeled, pitted, and chopped peaches

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 16 muffin cups. (Mine made about 2 dozen medium muffins.)
In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the oil, eggs, and sugar. Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture just until moist. Fold in the peaches. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

I'm looking forward to a quiet week, and maybe even more time in the kitchen. I've got some green beans and peppers I need to do something with.

Evidence

I ran out of flour on Monday night.

I don't think I've ever run out of flour in the middle of a recipe or even run out of flour at all. And this was particularly surprising because I remember actually buying the bigger bag of flour within the last six or seven months.

I mention this because it's the latest sign that my habits are changing. I've gone weeks with only going by the grocery store for cereal, milk and granola bars and maybe a few other odds and ends to complete a recipe. But I've been eating better than I ever have since living on my own.

On Saturday, I stopped by the Farmer's Market and picked up a zucchini and a tomato to tide me over until my share this week. I've made two dinners with leftovers for lunch and my breakfast for the week with those two vegetables. Even four months ago, I never would have thought I could have made even one dinner with those vegetables, much less two when I wanted to eat the leftovers.

But it hasn't just been lunch and dinner that have been affected. The reason I'm out of flour is because I've been making more stuff for breakfast from scratch. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals, and I literally can't even talk to anyone before I've had my cereal. I don't give myself a lot of time in the morning, but I need something besides cereal.

For the past few years, I've made muffins from a package (just add milk), cinnamon rolls from a can or bought banana bread from the store. But I can't tell you the last time I've had any of those things. I've been eating zucchinni bread (also in muffin form this week) and scones and despite their appearance cinnamon rolls from scratch. And I can't wait to get some blueberries (coming this week!), so I can make blueberry muffins from scratch.
 
I look in my pantry and refrigerator, even my freezer, and wonder who has taken over my kitchen. Although the expired stuff that accumulates in the fridge does give me away, I'm still amazed at how different it is just three months after I started this experiment. Another strange thing, I actually gave up my bread share when I realized wasn't eating it because there was too much other good stuff and no need for peanut butter sandwiches.

I am going to leave you with this recipe for grilled pizzas from Every Day Food. I put sauteed zucchini, tomatoes and garlic on it with just some olive oil for sauce and then topped it with gruyere cheese (a rare splurge for me). Best homemade pizza I've ever made (so good I ate it before I took a photo).

Pizza dough

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl and brushing
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

Pour 1 cup warm water into a medium bowl; add sugar and sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, 5 minutes.
 

Whisk oil and 1 teaspoon salt into yeast mixture. Add flour and stir until liquid is incorporated. Turn out onto floured work surface. Knead until dough comes together in an elastic ball, 2 minutes. Transfer to an oiled medium bowl; brush lightly with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; set in a warm, draft-free place place until dough has doubled in bulk, 45 minutes. Punch down dough and cover; let rise another 30 minutes.
 

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Let rest 15 minutes before using.
 

Also, you can refrigerate dough pieces, covered, up to two days, or freeze up to one month.

Grilling

Heat grill on one side at medium-high heat. Lightly oil hot grill.
 

Stretch or roll out one piece of dough into a 10-inch long oval. Brush one side lightly with olive oil and season with coarse salt and ground pepper.
 

Place dough, oiled side down directly over grill. Brush top of dough with olive oil and cook until underside is light charred and bubbles form all over top, 1 or 2 minutes. With tongs, flip dough and cook until lightly charred, 1 to 2 minutes. Slide dough to cooler side of grill (or turn down heat for grill pan).
 

Top with desired cheese and toppings; cover grill. Cook until cheese melts and toppings are heated through, 2 to 5 minutes.

Always go for the bacon

I've had some recipes to share, but I got distracted by the World Cup and my power was out for the second time in three weeks due to a storm.

But anyway, green beans were my challenge this week. I went immediately to Pioneer Woman because if there's a way to make them taste good, she knows it. The only problem I had was that the recipe called for bacon grease.

Here's my issue with bacon. Don't get me wrong, I love bacon. But I don't cook it at my house because it makes my whole apartment (and probably my neighbors') smell like bacon and I hate the way it lingers for the rest of the day and possibly longer. And don't tell me to get the microwave bacon because I only like my bacon crunchy. (This also makes me appreciate a $7 sandwich that has bacon on it.)

Anyway, I skipped the bacon grease and cooked the green beans in olive oil and butter with the onion, garlic, chicken broth, salt and pepper. I also skipped the red pepper because I didn't have one and I don't like peppers (so far).

But the next night in my googling for recipes I came across another green bean recipe that utilized my new potatoes and it also called for bacon. I broke down and bought bacon. And I have to say, it was totally worth it even though I went to bed with the bacon scent lingering. 

Anyway here's the recipe:

Southern Green Beans
    •    6 slices bacon, chopped
    •    3 tablespoons butter
    •    1 red onion, chopped
    •    2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped
    •    8 small new potatoes, diced
    •    1 large clove garlic, minced
    •    1/4 cup chicken broth
    •    1 1/2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar
    •    salt and pepper to taste

Place the chopped bacon in a skillet, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the bacon pieces on a paper towel-lined plate.
Melt the butter in a skillet with a lid over medium-low heat, and cook and stir the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked bacon, green beans, potatoes, garlic, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat until the green beans are tender, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with vinegar, salt, and pepper, and serve.

In addition to the green beans, I also made use of my tomatoes and cucumbers. One night I chopped them up, added some lemon juice and even a little goat cheese, an excellent side to my green beans and bacon.

But my favorite recipe for the tomatoes was in my Every Day Food magazine. Here's the recipe, basically make as many tomatoes as you want and adjust everything else accordingly:

Heat broiler. Place cherry tomatoes stem side up on a rimmed baking sheet (mine were more like grape tomatoes and I just threw them on the sheet). Brush with olive oil. Broil just until skins blister. In a small bowl mash goat cheese and stir in oregano. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. With a small paring knife, cut a small opening in the top of each tomato. Stuff with goat cheese mixture.

Next up: Peaches and cherries.