Shop Our Store
Farmer's Market
Pick Of the Week
Pomegranate Jelly
|
I have a group of girl friends, foodies and restaurant people who I go out to dinner with a couple of times a month. It is a great opportunity to try new restaurants. As foodies we always order far too much food. (Pete, my lucky husband, loves the leftovers.) However one of us is a vegetarian and I have been really surprised by the lack of vegetarian offerings on a lot of the menus that I have seen. Can’t Vegetarians be foodies too? Do they have to go to restaurants that are exclusively ‘vegetarian’ to have any kind of choice? Like a lot of people I flirted with vegetarianism in college, and I abstained from meat for several years. Eating meat is not an ethical or moral choice for me. I happen to find vegetables terribly interesting. I really love the variety of vegetarian cuisine. I think that vegetarian cooking at its best is exciting, flavorful and delicious. It is a pity that more restaurants do not have interesting vegetarian foods offered on their menus. We have been eating Vegetarian a few times a week for a couple of months at this point. It’s easier on the wallet and it is an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint. Last night for dinner we had a simple dish inspired by Deborah Madison’s ‘Local Flavors’ Cookbook. It was sautéed leeks that had been cooked down with a little bit of butter until they had a melted quality to them, then we added fresh oyster mushrooms from the market, a generous pinch of cumin, chopped cilantro and salt and pepper. We devoured this on hearty country bread slices that had been toasted in olive oil. Served with a green salad this was a lovely light meal. You could easily top the mushroom toasts with cheese if you wanted to. I would recommend a dry Monterey Jack or Aged Cheddar.
Oyster Mushrooms and Leeks on Toast
Adapted and Inspired by Local Flavors by Deborah Madison
1 large leek, cleaned, use only the white and light green parts, sliced into rings
½ pound oyster mushrooms
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. chopped Cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
2 slices of thick country bread
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the leeks and cook the leeks for 10-15 minutes, until shiny, soft and translucent.
- Add the oyster mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms are soft.
- Add the cumin, chopped cilantro, taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Set aside
- To toast the bread in olive oil, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan. Once the oil is hot, place the bread in the pan and gently toast over medium heat until lightly browned. Flip and toast on the second side. Set aside.
- Place the bread on a plate and top the bread with the leek and mushroom mixture.
Enjoy!
Attention: the number is 720. Yes folks I sold 720 cooking classes through Living Social two weeks ago. It’s been really exciting and man have I been busy. It almost feels like the catering scene during the holidays. I have been so busy teaching, e-mailing and scheduling I haven’t had a lot of time for my usual Bake-a-thon during the week.  The zucchini that I had in my fridge was supposed to end up as zucchini bread. But here it was the end of the week and there would be no zucchini bread in our immediate future. Sigh. It still demanded to be cooked. With a fridge stocked piled with Basil, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese I decided that a simple Zucchini sauté with a deconstructed pesto would be tasty, healthy and nutritious. I simply sautéed the Zucchini in a bit of olive oil and garlic, tossed it with loads of chopped basil and toasted pine nuts. Plated and topped with parmesan it was as good to look at as it was to eat!
I look forward to meeting all the members of the 700 club over the course of the year!
Cheers,
Phoebe
The Studio of Good Living 700 Club and a Zucchini with a deconstructed Pesto
Attention: the number is 720. Yes folks I sold 720 cooking classes through Living Social two weeks ago. It’s been really exciting and man have I been busy. It almost feels like the catering scene during the holidays. I have been so busy teaching, e-mailing and scheduling I haven’t had a lot of time for my usual Bake-a-thon during the week. The zucchini that I had in my fridge was supposed to end up as zucchini bread. But here it was the end of the week and there would be no zucchini bread in our immediate future. Sigh. It still demanded to be cooked. With a fridge stock piled with Basil, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese I decided that a simple Zucchini sauté with a deconstructed pesto would be tasty, healthy and nutritious. I simply sautéed the Zucchini in a bit of olive oil and garlic, tossed it with loads of chopped basil and toasted pine nuts. Plated and topped with parmesan it was as good to look at as it was to eat!
I look forward to meeting all the members of the 700 club over the course of the year!
Cheers,
Phoebe
 San Francisco used to be a beat (nik) town. Now, it is a beet town. What do I mean by this, you ask? Well, I think that a roasted beet and goat cheese salad is served at 7 out of 10 restaurants in the bay area. The beet salad has taken over, and everyone loves roasted beets! Beets come in several different varieties, and you can generally find two or three at the Farmer’s market. The most common beet is the purple or red variety, followed by yellow beets and Chioggia beets—those are the pretty striped ones. When you purchase beets at the market, they may have their greens attached. It’s kind of like a two for one deal. The greens are absolutely edible, and you can use them in soups (Watch out: If you are using the greens from purple beets the color will bleed into the soup.) sauté, or stir fry them. Tender, baby beet leaves are a great addition to salads. If you are not going to use the beets for several days, separate the beets from the greens, leaving a couple inches of stem attached. This will stop the greens from drawing out moisture from the beets. Leaving some of the stem attached to the beet root will keep it from bleeding. The greens will keep about 5 days or so in the fridge and beet root can last up to a couple of weeks in your fridge. Beets are high in sugar, which is why we love them so. Roasting concentrates these natural sugars. However beets are also high in folic acid and are a good source of fiber and potassium. So indulge away!
 I picked up some lovely, tiny, baby purple beets at the Stonestown Farmer’s Market on Sunday. They were slightly larger than a marble and perfect for roasting. (Hint: all beets are perfect for roasting!) I wrapped them in foil and popped them into the oven at 400F as soon as I got home. It’s tough to over roast a beet, so don’t worry about overcooking them too much. There is a far greater chance that you will undercook a large beet than over cook it. I frequently roast beets on Sunday afternoons and put them in the fridge to snack on or toss into salads during the week. This week however, I was feeling peckish around 5 o’clock and there they were. Cooked and sitting on my counter, calling my name. I didn’t quite feel like eating them plain so I rummaged through the fridge and came up with some goat cheese. Then I stepped outside to grab some arugula from the planter. I split the beets in half, dabbed them with a smear of goat cheese and garnished them with a sprig of arugula. Drizzled with a little bit of olive oil and garnished with fleur de sel, it was an easy, tasty and sophisticated hors d’ouerves. *These beets were bite size. To make them a little less messy I stabbed them with a toothpick so we didn’t wind up with purple fingers.
Mini Beet, Goat Cheese and Arugula Hors’ d’ouerves
Beets, any color, roasted and peeled
1 or 2 oz fresh goat cheese
A handful of spicy arugula sprigs
Olive Oil, salt and pepper for garnish
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Wrap the beets in foil or alternatively place in a baking dish with a little bit of water and cover.
- Depending on the size of the beets, they will roast anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours. The small ones roasted for about 45 minutes.
- Remove the beets from the oven and let cool.
- Once they are cool remove the tough outer skin. I generally peel baby beets using my hands under running water. Split the beets in half and smear a dollop of goat cheese on the cut side. Top with a sprig of spicy arugula, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
- Place a toothpick in the beet for easy access with no mess.
Enjoy!
Older Posts »
Attend a cooking class at Studio of Good Living in San Francisco and you’ll soon discover a new world full of culinary adventures. More than just a cooking school, the Studio of Good Living shares the art of living well with all its students!
Studio of Good Living offers exceptional cooking classes and events in the Bay Area and Beyond. Want to learn how to cook or brush up on your cooking skills? Take a class with us! Escape to San Francisco for a Taste of San Francisco or indulge yourself with Cook, Shop, Spa. Burned out? Drop into Live Well, Eat Well for yoga lovers. Continue the journey with the Art of Dinner Blog and view our video classes for new ideas to spice up your dinner table. . Need a change of scenery? Join us for a total culinary and lifestyle retreat in beautiful Maine. Discover the possibilities with Chef Phoebe Schilla and the Studio of Good Living. Life is Beautiful by Design.
|
rss feed