Rosemary Fig Almond Crackers

the newest indulgence in our apt is crackers. i think we are somewhere around a box of kashi a week. so that's my usual cue to get in the kitchen, be weird and make them homemade - and ultra nutritious. i found this recipe from elanaspantry and got to work. these guys are gluten free and pretty addictive. the only thing i -personally- would change is cut back a tad on the salt, but that's just me being sensitive otherwise they are delish. josh said they "tasted good" and our friend dom seemed to honestly be infatuated with them; sneaking back and forth to the kitchen to snag more.

ROSEMARY FIG ALMOND CRACKERS

1 1/2 c almond flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

3-4 black mission figs, chopped

1 egg

1 tbs olive oil

*preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with parchment

*in a bowl whisk together the almond flour, salt, rosemary and figs

*stir in the egg and oil to well combined and forms a ball

*roll out the dough between two sheets of wax paper to 1/8" thick

*cut into 2" squares

*cook for 10-15 minutes until browned

*let cool completely

Matzoh Crunch

i had been eyeing this recipe from David Lebovitz for at least 6 months. being thoroughly not jewish - i'm a catholic from Louisiana - i had never even tried matzoh before. so i bought a huge box of it and its been sitting on the counter for this whole time. oddly enough josh either didn't notice it or is so use to my strange cooking endeavors that he didn't bother asking why i decided to start buying passover(ish) food. what's with that - weren't you curious? ha! i thought surely one day the wonder would get to him, but i guess his inquisitive energy has been depleted.

well anyways the new harry potter movie came out last night. josh was there in line waiting for the midnight showing and i couldn't send him empty handed. thus the matzoh was finally used!

this stuff is addictive - really the toasted almond slices are a must. i didn't added any extra salt like mr. lebovitz advises since i am sensitive to sodium.

Matzoh Crunch

4-6 sheets matzoh - unsalted

8oz buter, cubed

1c firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1c dark chocolate chips

1c sliced almonds, toasted

*preheat oven to 375F, line a 11 x 17 rectangular pan with foil

*line to bottom of the pan with the matzoh sheets, breaking them as needed

*in a sauce pan bring the butter and sugar to a boil and continue to boil for 3 minutes. make sure not to let it burn

*pour the hot carmel over the prepared matzoh spreading with a rubber spatula to evenly distribute

*but the pan in the oven and turn temp down to 350F, cook for 15 minutes

*remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate over the hot bubbly mix, let sit for 5 minutes then spread the chocolate evenly around.

*sprinkle the almonds onto the warm chocolate and press lightly to get them to stick.

*let cool completely and then break up into your desired sizes. yum!

Pies, birthdays and Saum

summer has finally begun! i think.

anyways like the summers before josh and i trek upstate to our freind dave's farm as much as our wallets and schedules will allow. the 4th was no exception - just add about a bigilloin other fun-loving (late) 20 somethings. ahh the fun! and confusion.

anyways, it was a friend's (most current) girlfriend's birthday - i can't remember her name. and she didn't like cake. interesting and a little disturbing, but ok. she did like pie however, especially peach pie. i'm no expert at peach pies - apple yes, peach not so much. so add to that a single oven, 6 (no exaggeration) other half drunk and over heated cooks, one guy who is allergic to everything but avocados and one - yes one - moderately sized oven and you have yourself a little bit of stressful fun. ahh a baker's dream. i mean really i love my share of 30lb pork ribs, some undefined bag of shrimp and 10lbs of beef floating around the same counter i am trying to roll out a delicate and very sensitive pie dough and everything, but sometime you just wish it was the early morning before anyone else has even begun to wake up and your all alone in the kitchen, silently working. lah dee dah! but at least i had my lovely friend saum who like me was panicked in the kitchen for 4hours - he was having a serious problem pealing boiled eggs - but he seemed to pull it all off just in time to sit and watch the pies cooling on the window sill (ready and willing to cut in). love ya saum! i like to complain but once it was all said and done the pies came out well - one apple and one peach. even the allergic guy had a piece of the pie.

Zucchini Herb Phyllo Pie

being the creature of extreme habits that i am i find myself checking the NYtimes "dining & wine" section every single day at lunch and every ungodly early morning on saturday and sunday (i don't sleep much). so there is the mark bitman blog bitten and then there is the semi-new bit in the health section called "recipes for health". ahh yes - the ideal section for your truly. so i was checking it out midweek and found that the healthy recipes for this week focused on greek pies. it struck me, not because the greece and pie aren't really a notorious couple but because these healthy recipes called for the use of phyllo dough.

now i know what puff pastry is and it is anything but healthy. somehow after all that baklava i never pieced it together that those flaky light layers where absolutely not puff pastry. phyllo is in fact "healthy" - quotations because its not like i offers nutrients or fiber or anything like that - it is made with very little oil and mostly just flour and water. because its rolled so thin you use multiple sheets and thus all the light flaky layers. yippee! my new favorite food item. thanks NYtimes health section.

ZUCCHINI HERB PHYLLO PIE

12 sheets phyllo dough

2 1/2 lbs zucchini , washed and grated

salt

2 tbs olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1c chopped dill

1/2c chopped mint and parsley mixture

1c crumbled feta

3 eggs, beaten

fresh ground pepper

*place the grated zucchini in a large colander, salt generously and let drain for 1 hour. push down it ever now and then to help along the draining

*place the zucchini in a paper towel and squeeze out as much liquid you can, place in a bowl

*preheat oven to 350F

*place 7 sheets of the phyllo in a 10" cake pan, brushing with oil between each sheet and rotate 180 so the overhang is is even.

*saute the oil and onion over medium heat until translucent

*combine the onions and remaining ingredients in the bowl with the zucchini, stir to combine

*pour mixture into the prepared cake pan

*fold the phyllo sheets on top of filling

*place the remaining 4 sheets of phyllo on top, brushing between each sheet and alternating like before

*tuck the edges into the edges of the pan, cut vent holes

*cook for 1 hours until golden

Sunset

have you ever seen a sunset so beautiful and creepy at the same time? this totally reminds me of the scene in ghostbuster when all the trapped ghosts are released and hell breaks loose in NYC. I feel like i've seen some amazing sunsets in my life but this one by far has to be the most memorable. about 30 minutes before i took this picture as fierce storm rolled through the city and was gone within 20 minutes or so. you could watch it coming over the river and winds from it sucked my curtain clean out of the window and slammed a few doors shut. ok - i don't really have doors - plural. but it did slam my bedroom door shut. whatever ,i'm moderately poor in NYC.

Apple Pie

i can't tell you how many times i have made this pie. every single time it has been perfect. to top that all off it was also the pie that i made for the thanksgiving dinner i made for josh and i the day he proposed. ahhh. i know! so i guess there could be some bias there. non-the-less i have never gotten bad or mixed (which to me is bad) review on this pie.

in the summers when

we go up to our friend's farm and there are pink ladys available i feel almost obliged to cook this up. it just makes sense and what could be more fun that watching southern raised city boys play horse shoe, drink cheap beer and eat apple pie?! i love it!

APPLE PIE

Crust: click here

FIlling:

3lbs peeled apples, cut into 1/2" cubes

1/4c sugar

1/4c packed brown sugar

1tbs cornstarch

1 tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

2 tbs unsalted butter, cubed

1 egg, beaten

*preheat oven to 450F

*roll out one half of chilled dough, line bottom of our pie pan with it - place back in frig until ready to fill

*in a large bowl combine all ingredients except butter & egg

*roll out the other half of chilled dough

*pour filling into prepared bottom crust, distribute butter on top of the filling

*top with the other half of dough, pinching ends to make a decorative edge

*brush with beaten egg

*place in oven and cook for 10 minutes, lower heat to 350F and cook for another 40-50 minutes

*let cool completely (at least a hour) before cutting.

Arugula PIzza

i love greens on pizza, so i ordered my share on freshdirect (online grocer in NYC) and planned out pizza pie night. i was to have a nice tomato basil basil with a sprinkle of fresh mozzarella then once out the oven slather on the fresh arugula - keeping all nutrients in tact. josh was to have his regular "josh and candice original" consisting of tomato basil base, sweet caramelized onions and crispy bacon (can you see a contrast there?) anyways, when i actually took a close look at the arugula freshdirect sent me i knew i couldn't eat that raw. it was for lack of energy to find a better word - crap. all yellow and looked like there was permanent dirt infused into the leaves. yum right?

unlike some people i don't mind sautéed greens - actually i adore them. so i cleaned out the bacon grease from the pan and cooked the arugula off a bit on low, sprinkled with salt and added a few fresh tomato slices to the mix. lovely! the crust is my (now) usual formula of whole wheat and cornmeal as written out here.

josh gobbled his up as well. you can't go wrong with bacon, cheese and men.