I realized I never posted about my parent’s trip to SF… we had so so much fun! There was a lot of walking, some meals out at a couple of new spots that my parent’s hadn’t tried yet (Cotogna and Wayfare Tavern), a few trips to the Ferry Building, a cozy night in with cheese & salumis for dinner, a long run down on Marina Green and Crissy Field, a Delfina Pizza night in after an awesome day up in Napa, an Oscar Party so they could meet all my college friends with an ultra competitive game on Oscar Bingo thrown in, but sadly no trip to Rose’s (gasp!). Ah well, next time I suppose!
Monthly Archives: March 2012
veggie packed soup with egg salad sandwiches
This week on The Food Matters Project we tackled Mark Bittman’s Curried Tomato Soup with Hard-Boiled Eggs, chosen by Joanne from Eats Well With Others.
I found myself in a bit of dilemma. D doesn’t like curry. I’m not a big coconut fan. The hard-boiled eggs were throwing me for a loop. I wasn’t going to skip out on this week’s recipe so I had to get a bit creative with the recipe… and by “bit” I mean a lot because I definitely took quite a bit of creative license with this one!
I kept the carrot, onion, and tomatoes but omitted the ginger, curry powder, potatoes (I’m not a big fan of potatoes in soup), coconut milk, cauliflower, and cilantro.
I added celery (it felt strange to not include celery to a soup when carrots and onion were already involved) , yellow squash, and zucchini. Oh, and I used chile flakes instead of fresh chile.
And then at the end I blitzed it up in the trusty Vitamix and sprinkled some parsley on top.
But what could I do about the eggs?? I’m not sure why I had such an aversion to sprinkling some chopped up eggs on top, but for some reason it didn’t sound that appetizing to me. But I love hard-boiled eggs and didn’t want to not include them, especially when they’re a part of the recipe title. So I served my soup with egg salad sandwiches on the side.
I told you I had to get creative!
sunday times
- D and I were talking a few weeks ago about what is the best thing to eat before a run, now that we’re starting to increase our mileage. I really have no clue, and usually try to have a smoothie or a banana or something ‘light’, but that probably won’t cut it once we start getting up there in miles. Luckily for me, Runner’s World comes to the rescue again with tips and tricks for eating and drinking before a run.
- This would be so fun to go to… a Mad Men themed wedding!
- Love this interview with Erin McKenna of BabyCakes, the bakery serving up amazing sweets for those afflicted with various food allergies.
- You can’t beat a classic tomato soup, especially with this cold cold weather we’ve been having.
- 2 weeks in St. Barths every year? Sounds amazing.
irish potato bread
Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone!
No, I am not wearing green… but if I type this whole post in green from here on, does that count? Okay, yay. So, San Francisco has been taken over by a bunch of green wearing, beer drinking lunatics. D and I are not partaking in the festivities, and instead went for a run around our neighborhood this afternoon and later are going to Rose’s for dinner. Not a green beer in sight. Actually, I’m drinking a lovely glass of Gloria Ferrer pink bubbly as I type this. Pink is the new green, didn’t you know?
Okay, I realize I’m rambling. What I wanted to share with you all was one of my favorite Irish recipes… Potato Bread. I wish this would catch on here in the States, because although it is easy to make, it’s messy and a bit fiddly, so it would be so nice if I could run down to the grocery store and buy a pack like you can in Ireland. Then again, I’d probably be consuming a lot more potato bread than I do now, so maybe it’s a good thing actually. For now, we will have to rely on Irish house guests paying us in potato bread from Marks & Spencers, or I’ll just have to get my hands a little dirty!
Traditional Irish Potato Bread
2 lb mashed potatoes
1 cup plain flour
2 tbsp butter
1 ½ tsp salt
Melt the butter and mix into the potatoes with the salt. Work in the flour quickly but thoroughly and knead lightly. Divide in two and roll out each half on a floured board to form a circle about the size of a large dinner plate. Cut in quarters and cook for approximately 3 minutes on each side in a heavy frying pan using a little oil or butter.
Although potato bread can be eaten at any point of the day, I think it’s best at breakfast, especially if mum’s cooking. Everyone’s heard of the traditional Irish breakfast I assume, but in case you need a brush up it usually consists of bangers and rashers, fried toast, black pudding (ick!), fried tomatoes, potato bread or fried potatoes, eggs, and lots and lots of Irish tea. That’s a lot of fried. Thankfully mum has come up with her own version with a lot less grease. I suppose it’s a California-ized Irish Breakfast!
wheaten bread to tide everyone over whilst breakfast is cooking
(my Auntie Miriam’s recipe… I’ll ask her if I can publish it here on the blog)
bangers & bacon & potato bread
(b&b done on the bbq, pb crisped up in a nonstick pan)
“fried” heirloom tomatoes
(done with a bit of olive oil in a nonstick pan)
lots of eggs…
(this time she did fried and scrambled, she usually does poached though)
and gallons of Barry’s Irish tea
Oh, and don’t forget… hot plates are an absolute must!
Sláinte!
btw, that’s the view from our holiday home (when we lived there) in Downings, Donegal!
is that hummus?!
Another simply wonderful recipe from The Food Matters Project…
hummus, served hot
(and it only takes about 10 minutes to make!)
blitz chickpeas
tahini
olive oil
together in a food processor
(I also added in a handful of parsley for some pretty green speckles)
then transfer to a saucepan,
add in some meyer lemon (regular lemon works just fine)
and heat over medium low heat until warm
It’s also wonderful served cold or room temperature. For the full recipe, head on over to Erin’s blog, Naturally Ella. I love how she added spinach and made this into a baked dish with melted cheese on top… I’ll have to try that next time!
Oh, and props to you if you know where my title came from!
