August 2011

While Jeromy and I are getting to know our sweet baby girl, generous friends have offered to fill this space with guest posts. 

This one comes from Amanda of Eats, Love and Happiness.  She is currently in her first year of culinary school so I really appreciate her taking the time to share this post with you. In it, she offeres a variation on gazpacho that she learned in school.  Someday we’ll have to do a side by side comparison!

Enjoy!

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Hi everyone! I’m so glad to be back on The Splattered Apron. My name is Amanda and my blog is Eats, LoveandHappiness. I write about my wedding planning, my pup and most recently, going to culinary school. I am a student at L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The basics of culinary school usually include soups and salads. You can imagine that with it being 100+ degrees outside and pretty close to that in our kitchen, making hot soup has been pretty brutal. Last week, we were finally given a soup challenge that was refreshing – Gazpacho Soup! Or as us French culinary students like to call it, LE GASPACHO ANDALOUS.

Gazpacho is simple, full of flavor and one of the best cold soups for a hot summer day. This recipe is extremely user-friendly. Please be sure to let Lisa or I know if you try it out. We’d love to hear your feedback!

Ingredients:

(per 4-5 servings)

½ red bell pepper
1 stalk celery
¼ cucumber
½ green pepper
2 tomatoes (seeds removed)
4 spring onions
½ red onion
cilantro
2 cloves garlic
tomato juice (if needed)
appx. 1 tablespoon red wine vinaigrette
appx. 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
hot sauce
Croutons (for garnish)

*The cool thing about this recipe, is you can change your vegetables and their amounts. If you like it to have a little kick, add more red onion. If you like it a little soup-ier = more tomatoes. Shape the soup for your taste buds.

Methods:

(It’s crazy simple)

If you have a meat grinder attachment for your Kitchen Aid, put all of the vegetables, garlic and cilantro through the grinder and into a bowl. Add your vinaigrette, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce to taste. Add more tomato juice if your soup is not thin enough. Cool until serving and garnish with croutons.

If you don’t have a meat grinder, finely chop all of your vegetables into even pieces. It’s very important that your pieces are all the same size. You can use a potato masher, your hands, forks, etc. to combine the ingredients. I would not recommend using a food processor (unless it’s a manually operated one). You don’t want to puree this soup. It’s better when it’s chunky and has a salsa like consistency.

I think this recipe might be perfect for Lisa and her family to share once they have that little one of theirs. There’s nothing better than a easy recipe to keep things calm while things are a little hectic. I’m so happy to be sharing another recipe with you all while Lisa is meeting her new baby. I know I speak for all of you when I say that I can’t wait to meet the new family member! Thanks again Lisa!

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While Jeromy and I are getting to know our sweet baby girl, generous friends have offered to fill this space with guest posts.

This recipe comes from my friend Rebecca, who I ran with when I worked at Team In Training and who can consistently make anyone smile at 6 am.

Enjoy!

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What fun to be a guest blogger! I’ll be honest, I’m a lot humbled that Lisa agreed to let me be one of her guest bloggers because I have nowhere near the giftedness that she does with food OR blogging, so here’s to hoping I don’t ruin it for all of you! No pressure! Oh, by the way, I’m Rebecca; see I warned you I did not have her eloquence and skill!

Anyway, moving on – how do I know Lisa? Well several peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at a finish line ago, we worked together with the National Capital Area’s Team in Training. She, a priceless staff member; and I, a training captain (read workhorse for the coach). You have to be a little special to volunteer with a charity organization in the first place and I don’t say that to toot either of our horns but because you really DO have to be a special kind of nuts to have the amount of energy that girl had at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning! It worked though, the team loved her and we were blessed we a great season to work together before she departed on other adventures. I bring the peanut butter and jelly reference to the table because food is a fundamental part of a runners world; some of us probably too much. That would be me, is it baked or sweet? I’m in, give me some!

Eventually when I began to coach, that love of consumption turned into Friday night baking sessions. I spoiled my team with my various culinary escapades and I won’t lie, they have not ALL turned out as beautifully as the scone recipe I’m about to share with you! Generally speaking though my faithful few continue to consume whatever I might tote out and inform me how delicious they think it is–so I keep baking! It makes me happy and they keep eating. Win-win for all I suppose.

So the recipe I chose to share with you all is a little bit mine, a little bit cookbook and a little bit suggestions from friends. A warm scone just cannot be beat but these sweet delights are great for packing up and eating on the go; slowly breaking apart and savoring over a cup of coffee or shared with a friend. As with any recipe, it’s all in the “altering” that makes it even more delightful and delicious.

Cranberry Scones with Orange-Cranberry Butter

Yield  8-10 scones

Scone Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar (I use the Splenda baking sugar so it’s 1/3 cup)

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¾ cup butter (no substitute, the real deal)

1 ½ cup fresh, frozen or dried cranberries (I use the dried in various flavors)

¾ cup buttermilk

Cranberry-Orange Butter Ingredients:

1 ½ cups butter (no substitutes), softened

½ cup fresh, frozen or dried cranberries

2 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar

½ tsp grated orange peel

Baking Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees and get your baking sheets/stones out and ready. I am a “til death do us part” girl with my stones; I have several and don’t know what I’d do when it comes to baking without them! I’m also a little OCD about my kitchen; I clean as I go, I measure my materials out into glass bowls and containers before I roll and put each item away before I go to it. That’s just me, I know some people couldn’t bake or cook if they weren’t creating their own level of hurricane warning alert. God bless you, I just can’t handle the mess. I digress.

First we mix the butter with which you will adorn your warm scone, post-oven-sunbath, for your dining pleasure.

Step 1: Cream 1 ½ cup butter

Step 2: Add in ½ cup cranberries, 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar and ½ teaspoon grated orange peel. I like more orange in mine so I go with an estimate which usually turns into a full teaspoon. Mix well, cover and place in refrigerator while you prepare your scones

Now onto the scone mixture:

Step 1: In your mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients.

Step 2: Cut in butter into the mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs. I use a small spice grater and it works beautifully to get the butter evenly distributed before I start mixing it in with my hands (clean of course!)

Step 3: Next add your cranberries, I actually prefer the dried because I can get them in various flavors and it makes the taste of the scone just *pop* that much more!

Step 4: Now stir in your buttermilk until the mixture is just beyond slightly moistened. I use a fork here as I’ve found it to just be a lot easier than using my hands in this particular step. What you’re trying to avoid is getting the dough all caked onto your hands when you turn it out to knead so it might take a couple tries to get the true amount right.

Step 5: Next turn out your mixture onto a floured surface.  Gently knead, but not too much. If you knead too heartily you’ll actually cause the dough to not rise in the way it should for a scone. Good rule of thumb is be as delicate as possible while combining the ingredients.

Step 6: At this point you’re supposed to cut wedges and do all this crazy stuff; here’s where I just ‘go with the flow’ and eyeball my scones, hand-forming them instead of cutting them. I think it just makes for a more robust and unique shape that I enjoy more than a cookie-cutter shape. Life isn’t perfect; the shape of my scones isn’t either!

Step 7: Slide into the over for 15-19 minutes until lightly browned.

Step 8: Remove from stone and place on wire rack OR on a plate! Top with your cranberry-orange butter and prepare to be delighted.

Life was meant to be shared over great food, all the better when prepared by loving hands. Enjoy!

Lisa, enjoy your beautiful baby girl and may she one day love to not just cook like her mama but it be a intricately woven piece of her that speaks to others like you do to us! Love you girl!

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While Jeromy and I are getting to know our sweet baby girl, generous friends have offered to fill this space with guest posts.  Enjoy!

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Hi Splattered Apron readers! Lisa asked me to do a guest post while she spends time with her new baby girl! So excited for her because being a mom is the best.

My name is Amanda Perry and I blog at Sistas of Strengthwhere I talk about fitness and nutrition as well as share some stories of what’s going on in my life.

Over the last year I wrote a lot about my pregnancy (including my labor and delivery story) and provided ideas for staying fit during pregnancy. Lately, I have started sharing my journey to Banish the Baby Bulge.

I am a 30 year old marketing manager (by day) as well as a certified personal trainer and Precision Nutrition Level 1 Expert (by night) and a new mom (all the time). J My husband and I own a training company called Skill of Strengthin Tyngsboro, Massachusetts (near Southern New Hampshire).

Lisa thought you all would like to see an example of a workout. I notice a lot of people trying to either over-simplify or over-complicate their workouts. Many people (ladies especially on this one) head to the gym to do “cardio” for every workout by hopping on the same machine, reading a magazine and barely breaking a sweat. They do the same thing every day and wonder why they are not getting any results even though they are being consistent. On the other hand, I see other people in the gym working out for hours at a time doing a million different exercises as part of each workout, trying to work each muscle in the body separately. Find out 7 other things you might be doing at the gym that are a waste of time.

How can you use your time more efficiently and still get results? Two words (okay three): Strength training and Intervals! Pick quality exercises and minimize your rest time in between exercises. Add in some intervals for conditioning and then get the heck out of the gym and go enjoy your life. J

Here’s a workout similar to what I would do with many of my clients.

Circuit #1

· Kettlebell Deadlift (see kettlebell deadlift video I took when I was pregnant) (10-12 reps)

· Assisted Pull-ups using a stretch band or machine (As many pull-ups as you can on your own or with stretch band OR 6 reps with machine assistance)

· Plank (hold 30 seconds and build up to 1 minute)

…Alternate these 3 exercises until you repeat each 3 times (work up to 4 rounds)

Intervals #1

· Complete 4 minutes of a :45/:15 interval workout on a cardio machine or outside running. For example: jog for 45 seconds and sprint for 15 seconds.

…Repeat for 4 minutes

Circuit #2

· Push ups on elevated surface (if necessary) or regular push ups (10 reps)

· Single Arm Dumbbell Rows (10 reps Right and 10 reps Left)

· Bicycles (40 reps)

…Alternate these 3 exercises until you repeat each 3 times (work up to 4 rounds)

Intervals #2

· Complete 4 minutes of a :45/:15 interval workout on a cardio machine or outside running. (Choose a different machine than you used last time if possible, but if not no big deal…I know you can just push yourself even harder the second time around.J)

…Repeat for 4 minutes

Good luck and hope you enjoy the workout if you give it a try! Thanks for taking the time to read my guest post. Feel free to come on over to Sistas of Strengthand visit me. I’m always happy to answer any questions.

Do you ever feel like you’re punching the clock at the gym or do you make your workouts count?

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While Jeromy and I are getting to know our sweet baby girl, generous friends have offered to fill this space with guest posts. 

This is my friend Sheila, as you can see she is also a huge Red Sox fan! 

We have known each other since middle school and lived together for a year and a half after college.  She moved back to Boston a couple of years ago so sadly, I don’t get to eat this delicious dish anymore. 

Enjoy!

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Ironic that I am a guest blogger for Lisa since this is the only blog I read with any regularity. But since I love Lisa, The Splattered Apron, cooking, and have some spare time on my hands {I’m a teacher and it’s summer vacation}, I figure why not give it a try!?!

I lived in Sevilla, Spain for a semester during college with a family. My señora, Angela, was a fantastic cook! Throughout the semester I enjoyed spending time with her in the kitchen and learning a few Spanish dishes. She sent me home with pages of hand written recipes of my favorite meals that I still cherish and cook often to this day. Tortilla Española however was a recipe she refused to write down. For Angela (and most Spaniards) there is not recipe for this dish. It’s like scrambling an egg … you just do it! Angela modeled and explained that it is a look, texture, and requires practice. So practice I did! I practiced multiple times a week for a month until I had made a tortilla that met her very high standards. I hope that you can master the tortilla on your first try!

Post-college Tortilla Española became a go-to meal for me. It is something I often made when I had little to no food in the house because it requires only the most basic staple ingredients. It was cheap {perfect for a poor first year teacher and then graduate student}. It was also a wonderful meal to share with my vegetarian roommate in Atlanta. If I had an upset tummy it was bland, yet filling. Lisa and I lived together for nearly two years during graduate school in Arlington, VA. I was lucky to be the recipient of many of her delicious cooking creations, but the one meal she never attempted and often asked me to make was Tortilla Española. There is something inexplicably comforting about this simple food and while Lisa never lived in Spain and had fond memories attached to the food like me, for her it became an instantaneous favorite!

All you need is:

• 3 eggs {in New England we have brown eggs, but the color does not matter it’s just what I had}
• 1 smallish potato {russet, white, or yellow}
• 1 smallish yellow onion
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil {Ideally this would be of the Spanish variety, but that is expensive and hard to find in the U.S.}

Method

First, crack the eggs in a small mixing bowl and whisk with a fork. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

Next, put approximately 2 tablespoons of EVOO in a small frying pan {mine is 8 in.} and begin to heat over low heat. Peel and thinly slice the potato and place it in the pan.

Next, peel and finely chop the onion and add it to the pan. Mix together the potato, onions, and EVOO and cook over low heat stirring regularly until the potatoes are tender when poked with a fork. You do not want this mixture to brown so stir often. This should take about 10 minutes. Over the years I have sped up the chopping process by using either a hand chopper or small electric chopper for both the onion and potato. My señora might cringe at this, but it does save LOTS of time.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the soft potato/onion mixture to the eggs. Make sure the potato/onion mixture is fully submerged in the eggs. Stir everything together.  Put approximately 1/2 tablespoon of EVOO in the frying pan. Heat the oil on high until it sizzles. Move the frying pan around in order to coat all the side with EVOO. Pour the tortilla mixture into the hot frying pan and QUICKLY lower the heat to low.

Fry the tortilla gently over low heat. Shake the pan from time to time to prevent it from sticking. When the edges are cooked and egg in the middle is firming up, it’s time to flip. This should take about 7 minutes because you are cooking on such low heat.

To flip run your spatula around the tortilla to make sure it is loose. Lisa was kind enough to give me a fancy pancake flipper from Crate and Barrel while we lived together in order to make this process easier.

Flipping the dense tortilla takes practice. Try any technique you would like. I use the pancake flipper, but a plate is another option. If you can handle the heat, try your hands! Once the tortilla is flipped cook the other side for just 1-2 minutes on low.

Flip onto a plate. Let the tortilla stand for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Servings: 2 if it’s a main meal, 4 if it for tapas/appetizers

Serving suggestions: If you want to make this more of a complete meal, cut up some asparagus , green beans, or zucchini into small pieces and toss them into the egg mixture. Delicious! (And adds a little additional nutrition and color to the tortilla.) If you are serving this as a tapa garnish with Spanish olives or a few leafy greens on the side. Lisa would hate to admit it, but she likes to eat this with ketchup!

If you are thinking of making this in an omelet pan because of your fear of flipping, DON’T! Tortilla Española is too thick and dense for that. Sorry, you must practice the art of flipping the tortilla.

Tortilla Española is a staple and on nearly every menu in the country. Tortilla Española is NEVER a breakfast food in Spain! On occasions people may eat it as part of their mid-day main meal, but most often it is eaten at night. Tortilla Española is eaten hot or cold and even put on a piece of bread as a sandwich. Spaniards LOVE their Tortilla and so do I! I hope you will too! ¡Disfruta!

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